Yu Qiao took a drag of her cigarette, repeatedly savoring the bitterness within. “Don’t think like that.”
“So I don’t know what to do either,” Wen Xi’s smile gradually faded. “What capability do I have to make her remember me for this long? Could it be that I dumped her and hurt her too deeply back then?”
Yu Qiao reminded her in a low voice: “But you haven’t forgotten her either.”
Wen Xi let out a sigh so faint it was almost imperceptible.
A flicker of nostalgia appeared in her eyes.
How could she forget?
In this lifetime, she had only ever met one person as good as Shen Yu.
Wen Xi remained silent, and Yu Qiao didn’t mind, continuing to ask: “What else did she say?”
Wen Xi: “Told me not to move house, told me not to run away.”
Yu Qiao hesitated: “Then what do you plan to do?”
Wen Xi curled her lips. “I’ll move in a few days. I’m not that obedient anymore.”
Yu Qiao: “Should I arrange it for you?”
Wen Xi refused: “No need. She might still be investigating you; anything handled by your hands might be flagged by her. I’ll do it myself.”
Yu Qiao couldn’t deny it. Compared to Shen Yu, or rather, the CEO with a sister complex standing behind Shen Yu, her current standing was still a bit lacking. She couldn’t evade Shen Yu’s investigation.
Yu Qiao stubbed out her cigarette. “Alright, pay more attention yourself. If you need anything, find me.”
Wen Xi responded, “Okay, I’m hanging up then. Talk tomorrow.”
After hanging up, Wen Xi returned to the private booth.
She hadn’t intended to drink, but upon returning, she felt a slight craving and directly asked the waiter for a few bottles of sparkling wine.
Sparkling wine isn’t intoxicating; at most, it brings a hazy sense of tipsiness.
Pu Tao glanced at her with concern and then stealthily snatched two bottles away.
Finding her out, Wen Xi teased, “Don’t be so sneaky. These were ordered for you guys too; I can’t drink all this by myself.”
Pu Tao scratched her head and laughed awkwardly.
Wen Xi didn’t know exactly when she had fallen in love with drinking. She wasn’t an alcoholic; it was just that her stomach wasn’t very good, so Yu Qiao and Pu Tao didn’t let her drink much.
She rarely got drunk from drinking; occasionally, when she overindulged, it was merely because she had difficulty falling asleep.
While others took melatonin to help them sleep, she used alcohol.
Because Pu Tao had also had a few drinks, she hailed a taxi to send Wen Xi home after the gathering ended.
After returning home and performing a simple wash-up, Wen Xi quickly fell asleep under the influence of the wine.
However, the quality of her sleep was mediocre; she saw Shen Yu in her dreams again.
She dreamed of the day they first met.
Shen Yu usually didn’t come to the art exam prep center; her instructors were private tutors who went directly to her home.
However, she had come today to listen to a public lecture by a famous teacher, as such opportunities were rare.
It was summer back then, and the weather was extremely hot. Although the classrooms had air conditioning and fans, the temperature in the corridors was still very high.
Wen Xi had been left behind to clean up. The scrap paper in the classroom and the paint marks on the floor needed to be cleared, and the drawing boards had to be put away.
After class, Shen Yu happened to pass by the classroom where Wen Xi was.
In the vast studio, Wen Xi was alone, repeatedly bending over to mop the floor, occasionally using a tissue to wipe away sweat.
As Shen Yu passed by, she caught a clear glimpse of Wen Xi’s profile and couldn’t help but stop. After seeing Wen Xi’s situation inside the classroom clearly, her brows furrowed instantly.
After hesitating for a moment, she walked to the classroom door and knocked on the open door. “Sorry, excuse me. Do you need help?”
Wen Xi, who was busy wiping sweat with her head down, was startled by the sudden voice.
She turned around in a slight panic and froze in place upon seeing who it was.
Strands of sunlight filtering through the curtains stopped at Shen Yu’s feet. Shen Yu had her hair in a high ponytail that day and was wearing a short skirt; her youthful aura was intense and stunning.
To have such a beautiful person looking at her with concerned eyes, Wen Xi’s pupils dilated slightly.
Wen Xi hurriedly raised her hand to tidy her messy bangs. She shook her head. “No… it’s fine. I can do it by myself, thank you.”
Shen Yu’s furrowed brow did not relax. “Why isn’t the air conditioner on?”
The classroom air conditioner was turned off, leaving only a few ceiling fans blowing. However, they were only blowing hot air, which did very little.
Wen Xi unconsciously toyed with her clothes as she explained, “I don’t know where the AC remote is…”
“Wait here.”
Leaving those two words, Shen Yu turned and went to another classroom to fetch a remote.
Shen Yu turned on the air conditioner and placed the remote on the podium.
She said to Wen Xi, “The air conditioners equipped in the classrooms are all the same type. If you can’t find the remote, you can get one from another room.”
“Okay, okay!” Wen Xi nodded, and then she saw Shen Yu walk over and pick up the mop she had set aside. “Classmate, wait a moment, it’s fine, I’ll do it!”
“Go move the tables,” Shen Yu ignored Wen Xi and began mopping on her own. “The weather is very hot; finish up early so you can go home early.”
Wen Xi stood rooted to the spot, her heart pounding wildly. “Thank you…”
“Don’t thank me,” Shen Yu glanced at Wen Xi and said, “I’ve seen you before, the other day in the small grove downstairs.”
At the mention of the “small grove,” Wen Xi’s mind went blank. She didn’t know what Shen Yu had seen, though she imagined it wasn’t anything good.
“Don’t let people keep bullying you. Go tell the principal later and give him my name. I’m Shen Yu.” Shen Yu mopped with force, thought for a moment, and added, “Forget it, I’ll look for the principal later.”
“There’s no need…” Wen Xi’s face turned slightly pale. Even though the temperature in the classroom was gradually dropping, she didn’t feel any coolness. “Don’t get yourself in trouble with them because of me.”
“Them?” Shen Yu was somewhat disdainful. “It doesn’t matter. If they can manage to come looking for me, then they’ve got guts.”
As she mopped, Shen Yu got a little tired. She set the mop aside and crossed her arms over her chest. “Was it your turn to clean today?”
Wen Xi had already moved more than half of the drawing boards during this time. She whispered, “It… it was me.”
Shen Yu tapped her finger on the table. “Don’t be afraid. Just tell the truth.”
Looking at Shen Yu’s somewhat stern expression, Wen Xi felt a strange fear that Shen Yu would be unhappy because of her, yet she also didn’t want Shen Yu to get involved in this mess…
In short, by the time Wen Xi regained her senses, she had already told the truth.
In short, Shen Yu was quite displeased.
Shen Yu tilted her chin up. “Don’t move any more things. Leave them.”
“But…” Wen Xi hesitated.
Shen Yu smiled, reassuring her, “Don’t be afraid. When the teacher finds out tomorrow, will they make things difficult for you, or for her?”
“And don’t worry about her bullying you again afterward. She won’t dare to. Trust me.”
On the other side, several hundred kilometers away, Shen Yu herself couldn’t explain why she had suddenly felt such a mysterious surge of kindness back then.
The first time she saw Wen Xi, she was on the second floor. From a distance that was neither too close nor too far, she could see clearly what was happening below.
Wen Xi was crouching on the ground, surrounded by a group of people.
She was crouching down to tie someone else’s shoelaces.
“Tsk tsk… Wen Xi, these hands of yours are so impressive, you draw so well, yet here you are tying my shoelaces? Thank you so much.”
“Next time, you’re not allowed to draw that well. Do you hear me?”
“…I understand.”
Wen Xi pursed her lips, her loose long hair obscuring her expression.
“You haven’t said it yet? Why did you want to help her?” Xu Shuili’s voice came through the phone, interrupting Shen Yu’s memories. “Could it be love at first sight?”
“No, I didn’t even know I liked girls back then,” Shen Yu held a wine glass, gently swirling it. “I probably saw a shadow of myself in her, meek and submissive, yet unable to resist… but I was able to help her.”
Xu Shuili felt like she had caught onto something. “That’s not right. Then why didn’t you help her the first time you saw her?”
“That day, before I could step in, she took action herself,” Shen Yu recalled. “While she was tying the shoelaces, she tampered with them. It wasn’t obvious, but it caused that person to accidentally trip. Perhaps she felt awkward herself; she ran off after a couple of minutes.”
Xu Shuili paused for two seconds and burst into laughter. “Your ex-girlfriend is actually so interesting! No, wait, you didn’t pass by her classroom on purpose, did you?”
“Was it? I’m not sure,” Shen Yu said nonchalantly. “It was so long ago, I’ve almost forgotten.”
“…I don’t believe you for a second,” Xu Shuili finished, then asked, “But why didn’t she just…”
Shen Yu immediately understood Xu Shuili’s meaning and explained, “Both her parents are dead. The only elders left are her maternal grandparents, but they aren’t close to her. She lived alone at home; her only income came from occasional drawing commissions, along with the inheritance left by her parents. At that time, art institutions were very expensive, but because her situation was special and her talent was good, the institution gave her a discount. She cherished that hard-won opportunity.”
Xu Shuili was stunned hearing this. “…She was so young back then.”
“She was very independent. When I met her, she had already been living alone for two years.” Shen Yu leaned back against the sofa, her eyes lowered. “The people bullying her had families with a bit of money; she didn’t dare make a scene and chose to swallow her pride. She had studied drawing for over ten years; she had to take the art exam.”
Xu Shuili heard the underlying meaning in Shen Yu’s words. “So you still find it hard to understand why Wen Xi didn’t go to take the art exam.”
“I know Wen Xi didn’t take the art exam at that time, but afterward, I always believed what her homeroom teacher said, that she had gone to repeat a year,” after Shen Yu said this, she emphasized, “The art exam was very important to her.”
“So you think there’s something fishy?” Xu Shuili asked on the other end, stroking her chin.
A dark light flashed in Shen Yu’s eyes. “Yes. The way Wen Xi has been refusing to communicate these past few days actually proves that there’s a 70% chance something is fishy.”
Xu Shuili clicked her tongue a few times. “Were you testing her that day?”
Shen Yu laughed and didn’t deny it.
“You really are,” Xu Shuili cursed, “you actors have such dirty hearts!”
Shen Yu reminded her: “You are an actor too.”
“That’s different,” Xu Shuili huffed. “Haven’t you seen the recent trending topics? Everyone says I’m a breath of fresh air in the entertainment industry; they must all think my heart is perfectly clean!”
Shen Yu: “…Hanging up.”
Shen Yu hung up the phone; it was almost eleven o’clock.
Shen Yu opened WeChat and looked at the blank chat history with Wen Xi.
She tilted her head back to drain the wine and typed with one hand.
[S: Goodnight.]
Nowadays, the basic information of public figures is mostly transparent. Wen Xi’s information wasn’t too hard to find, and her graduating university was visible.
That was why she couldn’t understand no matter how she thought about it, why did Wen Xi graduate with a major in photography?
She loved drawing so much; why would she give it up?
Wen Xi’s family had been well-off when she was a child. Her father was a civil servant, and her mother was an office worker who traveled frequently.
At that time, her grandfather was getting older and loved ink wash painting. Although he hadn’t achieved much fame, Wen Xi became interested just by watching.
Every time she went to her grandfather’s house, the four-or-five-year-old Wen Xi would huddle by his desk, watching him paint with a brush.
Seeing Wen Xi staring intently at her grandfather, her mother would stroke Wen Xi’s head and ask, “Does Xixi like watching Grandpa paint?”
Wen Xi looked up at her mother, then down at the painting under her grandfather’s brush. “Grandpa’s painting is so amazing, I like it!”
Her mother smiled, crouching down to watch with Wen Xi. “Then does Xixi want to become as amazing as Grandpa?”
Wen Xi’s eyes lit up. “Can Xixi do it?”
Her mother reached out and tapped Wen Xi’s nose. “But you can’t give up halfway; you have to keep going.”
Wen Xi nodded her head vigorously. “I definitely will! Grandpa, I can paint too!”
The grandfather laughed. “That’s right, our Xixi can paint too.”
Wen Xi’s mother often traveled for work and kept up with the times; she had originally intended to send Wen Xi to cultivate a hobby.
Thus, by the time Wen Xi reached her third year of high school, she had already been studying drawing for nearly fourteen years.
What exactly happened back then?