At the entrance of the restaurant, two oil paintings were hung, with landscapes in the paintings looking like copies. However, with Hao Jian's keen eye, he still spotted the flaws in these two paintings. "If that mountain and that woman could be painted a bit better, these two paintings would at least be worth something." Yuan Shanshan heard Hao Jian's sigh, covered her mouth with a smile, and looked at Hao Jian, saying, "If it weren't for these little mistakes, the owner of this restaurant wouldn't just hang these two paintings at the entrance casually." She also knew that the owner of this restaurant bought these two paintings for a few thousand yuan, and if they didn't have flaws, perhaps they could be sold for hundreds of thousands. However, neither Hao Jian nor Yuan Shanshan were particularly enamored by such things. Even if a Qingming Shanghe Tu were placed in front of them, they wouldn't care. After all, Hao Jian wasn't the kind of person who liked paintings and calligraphy, and Yuan Shanshan's world only revolved around jewelry carving and design, so neither of them was very keen on paintings. Chatting and laughing, they pushed open the restaurant's door and walked in. Upon entering the restaurant, Hao Jian's gaze flickered slightly. The restaurant was somewhat quiet, with only some people whispering, but overall it was still fairly quiet. A rough glance showed more than thirty people, both men and women, with men ranging from thirty to seventy or eighty years old, while the women were mostly in their twenties or thirties, in their prime. Following behind Yuan Shanshan, Hao Jian looked at these people with slight curiosity. Just when he was waiting for Yuan Shanshan to introduce them, a voice suddenly rang out in unison, startling Hao Jian and causing his eyebrows to raise. His gaze fell on Yuan Shanshan, seeing her pretty face lit with joy. However, upon hearing Hao Jian's voice, she turned her head, stuck out her tongue at him, hooked her arm with his, smiled slightly, and said, "Today is my birthday, and these people are all my friends. They're all into the arts..." "But your birthday isn't..." Hao Jian remembered that this girl told him her birthday before, and it wasn't today, right? How come... "Hehe, I did tell you my birthday, but that was the lunar calendar, and today is the solar calendar. There's still more than half a month to the lunar one..." Upon hearing this, Hao Jian was amused. He didn't expect this girl planned to celebrate two birthdays, but from what she said, it seemed she planned to celebrate her lunar birthday with him... Shaking his head slightly, Hao Jian lifted his gaze to look at Yuan Shanshan's artist friends. He didn't interfere much with Yuan Shanshan's circle. Finding like-minded friends was a good thing for Yuan Shanshan, so why would he stop something that made her happy? However, he was a bit surprised because he detected varying levels of anger from these people. A surreptitious glance revealed that two or three people harbored a faint sense of jealousy, simply because they envied him for being with Yuan Shanshan. On the other hand, another person's anger, which was almost palpable, made Hao Jian instinctively touch his nose and shake his head inwardly. People did say this girl was a troublemaker, but even attending her birthday party would lead to such events. The person looked no more than twenty-eight years old but had a much higher taste in clothing compared to Hao Jian. At least the clothes on this man gave him an artistic vibe. "You little devil..." He gently rubbed Yuan Shanshan's hair, causing her to frown slightly, but she still smiled at Hao Jian without speaking. The meaning was clear to Hao Jian, so he withdrew his hand and held hers a bit tighter. "Haha, our main character has finally arrived. She's five minutes late. I thought she was busy with something, and it seems she really was busy..." As the voice fell, a giggle suddenly came from the crowd. Hao Jian turned his head and saw that the owner of the voice was a pretty beauty with a graceful figure. She was wearing a fisherman's hat and carrying a small artistic bag. Through the opening, you could see the dense array of paints and brushes inside. Evidently, this beauty was a professional painter. Everyone laughed out loud at the words, but it wasn't clear how many of those laughs were genuine. "Alright, since the main character is here, don't just stand there, take a seat, and your little boyfriend too..." Zheng Rou moved her small bag behind her and then smilingly came up to link arms with Yuan Shanshan, leading her away. "Her name is Zheng Rou, she's a classmate of mine from university. She majors in oil painting and traditional Chinese painting, while I major in jewelry design. Many of my jewelry inspirations were drawn from her." Noticing Hao Jian's somewhat dazed look, Yuan Shanshan smiled warmly at him, then gently tugged on Zheng Rou's arm, pointing at Hao Jian, she said, "Xiao Rou, this is my boyfriend, Hao Jian." "Hello! I'm Shanshan's girlfriend! My name is Zheng Rou!" Faced with such a serious introduction from Zheng Rou, Hao Jian was momentarily stunned. He then looked at Yuan Shanshan, his eyes seemingly asking, "Are all your friends ?" "This mischievous girl is just like that. Since university, she's always called me this way." Yuan Shanshan's pretty nose crinkled slightly as she explained. "Hi, I'm Hao Jian, Yuan Shanshan's boyfriend." Hearing Yuan Shanshan's voice, Hao Jian shrugged his shoulders, realizing his own mistake. He smiled apologetically at Zheng Rou and extended his hand, then quickly released her soft, boneless hand like a dragonfly skimming the surface. Many young people, seeing Hao Jian's rapid release of Zheng Rou's hand, sighed in relief, and their gazes towards Hao Jian carried a touch of approval. These people were already interested in Zheng Rou, but Zheng Rou's standards were exceedingly high, so they were still striving arduously, fearing that a Cheng Yaojin would suddenly appear and snatch away the beauty they sought to pursue. Today, Hao Jian's clothing remained the same, still without taste, but no one would comment on it. Most of the artists attending this gathering didn't care about appearances. If it wasn't for this rising star's birthday party, they wouldn't have dressed so formally. Moreover, he was the boyfriend of the party's protagonist, so his attire didn't concern them, especially since his girlfriend hadn't said anything. Everyone harbored their own thoughts, greeting Hao Jian and Yuan Shanshan with smiles, and the couple responded courteously, avoiding any faux pas before taking their seats. Perhaps this was an artistic preference, but despite there being over thirty people in this not-so-small space, they did not sit apart. Instead, they brought in a long table arranged in a rough polygon shape, allowing everyone to sit comfortably. The table was already laden with a wide variety of exquisite food. It was either fate or coincidence that the man burning with jealousy toward Hao Jian ended up sitting directly opposite Yuan Shanshan, essentially at the same table. "This is Mr. Xie Ping, a national second-level top writer and painter, and quite a prominent figure among us." Seeing Hao Jian's occasional glances toward Xie Ping, Yuan Shanshan squeezed Hao Jian's hand, whispering an explanation, although Hao Jian could still detect a hint of disinterest in her words. Then again, considering Yuan Shanshan, who was already a top international designer at a young age, she was levels above someone aiming to be a leading domestic writer and painter. What was more unbelievable was that this man was thinking of pursuing Yuan Shanshan, akin to a toad lusting after a swan. But perhaps in Xie Ping's eyes, Hao Jian was more like that toad... "Shanshan, is this gentleman Mr. Hao Jian?" Xie Ping noticed Hao Jian's gaze, and with a cold smile in his heart, he took advantage of the close distance to remark, "It's Shanshan's birthday today, aren't you afraid of embarrassing Shanshan by dressing like that?" He had planned to dine comfortably with Yuan Shanshan today, but unexpectedly, this man appeared, and Yuan Shanshan even introduced him as her boyfriend. His heart was filled with dissatisfaction. Now, seeing this guy constantly eyeing him, his anger bubbled over. At twenty-eight, he was on the cusp of becoming a top-tier master in painting and calligraphy; when had he ever been watched so disdainfully in a formal setting? From the first gathering, when he saw Yuan Shanshan, he knew this woman was the object of his desire. He moved from living in the Capital City to Hua City and even bought a large villa five or six kilometers from Yuan Shanshan's home just to be closer to her. Regrettably, after an incident with Yuan Shanshan's relatives, she moved from her old home to a famous villa area in Hua City. The villa area being far from him, he often couldn't see Yuan Shanshan and was relegated to chatting with her online. Unfortunately, Yuan Shanshan wasn't responsive to him and would sometimes only reply with a sentence or two, making her lack of interest evident. However, this guy brazenly messaged her every day without getting discouraged. Today was the happiest day for Xie Ping, naturally because it was Yuan Shanshan's birthday. Meeting her on her special day made him exceedingly happy. He had prepared for everything, yet out of nowhere this Cheng Yaojin appeared, which made Xie Ping quite furious. But in front of Yuan Shanshan, he had to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor. However, seeing Hao Jian's indifferent gaze further stoked his ire. After all, he was nearing the status of a first-rate calligraphy and painting master. How could such a person look down on him?!