“I’m going to the studio. Go to sleep early.”
After tossing out those words, he left without looking back, leaving Lin Wangxi alone on the sofa in a mess.
Lin Wangxi stayed on the sofa for a while. There was truly nothing for her to do, so she could only return to the bedroom and sleep.
With that mattress now in place, she had been sleeping much better.
But while sleeping, she had another nightmare.
This time in the dream, she had taken the initiative to be friendly with Lin Lin and build a good relationship with her.
The two of them had become like real sisters.
Her adoptive parents were also pleased, and the whole family was harmonious and reunited.
Then, on some unknown day, while she was sitting on the toilet relieving herself, before she had even finished, a sudden sharp pain struck her heart.
She died again.
Lin Wangxi suddenly opened her eyes and stared at the dark ceiling, gasping for breath.
Her hand landed over her heart. The intense twisting pain from just now seemed to still echo inside her chest.
At least let her flush the toilet before dying!
If she died bare-bottomed in the bathroom, she felt she would die with everlasting regret.
Lin Wangxi took a deep breath and struggled to sit up in bed.
She turned on the light, picked up the thermos cup by the bedside, and unscrewed it. The water inside was still warm.
She drank several mouthfuls before her racing heart finally calmed down.
The urge to urinate struck. She felt around for her crutch and dragged her injured leg as she struggled out of bed.
When she opened the bedroom door, she discovered the lights were still on.
Zhou Jinyuan was not on the sofa. Instead, she found him in the dining area.
At that moment, he was wearing a thin shirt and sitting at the dining table.
The table was covered with all sorts of miscellaneous things. He had his head lowered, several strands of hair hanging over his forehead, his expression exceptionally focused as he pinched something in his hands.
Lin Wangxi was in a hurry to use the bathroom and had no time to see what he was doing.
She hopped to the restroom. After coming out, she finally went over to Zhou Jinyuan to see what he was busy with.
He was actually playing with modeling clay.
She leaned close beside him and asked, “Why are you playing with this? Is it fun?”
Her warm breath unexpectedly brushed against his ear. Zhou Jinyuan’s fingers paused, and the clay in his hand was flattened.
He subconsciously turned his head. Because they were so close, his lips brushed across Lin Wangxi’s cheek.
Both of them froze.
Lin Wangxi also turned to look at him and met his eyes at extremely close range.
At that moment, the distance between them was less than half a centimeter. If either of them moved even slightly, their lips would touch.
Warm yellow light enveloped the two of them, casting their overlapping shadows onto the floor.
The air carried the plastic scent of clay, mixed with the just-awakened fragrance of body wash from her skin.
Lin Wangxi looked at that face. With the atmosphere like this, it would be unreasonable not to take advantage.
Just as she was about to kiss him, Zhou Jinyuan turned his head away and continued kneading the clay in his hand.
“Why are you still awake?”
Lin Wangxi felt a little regretful and thought to herself that she did not know whether she would ever get the chance to sleep with him in this lifetime.
She sat beside him and said weakly, “I had a nightmare. I can’t sleep now.”
“What are you making?”
“A model.”
“What kind of model?”
“A bone joint.”
“Oh… Can I play too?”
Zhou Jinyuan paused, then reached behind him, picked up the bag of clay beside him, and placed it in front of her.
Lin Wangxi opened the sealed bag, took out the clay inside, and began kneading and shaping it.
She tore off a piece of yellow clay and rolled it in her hands.
But this was different from the soft clay she remembered. It was hard and not easy to shape.
“Why is this clay so hard?”
Zhou Jinyuan glanced at her hands.
Her hands were very fair, her fingers slender, her nails trimmed round and clean. They were hands naturally suited for playing piano and living a pampered life.
“Because this is rubber clay.”
“Isn’t it all clay?”
Zhou Jinyuan curled his lips slightly and did not argue with her.
On the shelf diagonally across from them sat a small green clock. The hour hand had already reached three in the morning.
Both of them leaned over the table, busy with the things in their hands.
In the deep silence of the night, Lin Wangxi’s delighted voice suddenly rang out.
“Zhou Jinyuan, look! Doesn’t it look alike?”
Hearing that, Zhou Jinyuan turned his head to look.
A clay figure the size of a palm sat on the table.
Its head was huge, its body tiny, and its arms and legs were different lengths. It was a very abstract clay person, like a potato that had come to life.
“Looks like what?”
Lin Wangxi carefully picked up the clay figure and held it beside Zhou Jinyuan’s ear for comparison.
“It looks like you.”
Zhou Jinyuan looked doubtful. He turned his head and stared at the clay figure for a long while.
His expression became strange.
“You’re sure… it looks like me?”
“How does it not? It has a nose where a nose should be, eyes where eyes should be.”
Zhou Jinyuan: “…”
Seeing her look so smug, as if she had completed some extraordinary masterpiece,
he raised a hand and rubbed his temple. In the end, he chose to give up resisting.
“If you say it looks like me, then it does.”
“It obviously does.”
She placed the ugly-cute clay figure in the center of the table, as if displaying some priceless artwork.
“It’s for you. No need to thank me.”
Zhou Jinyuan instinctively wanted to say the words I don’t want it, but his gaze landed on the unbelievably ugly little clay doll.
Then, as if possessed, he picked it up and carefully examined it in his palm.
As if thinking of something, he turned to look at Lin Wangxi.
“Why aren’t you going back to sleep yet?”
Lin Wangxi drooped her shoulders.
“I already told you. I had a nightmare and can’t sleep.”
“Then what should we do?”
Lin Wangxi found it amusing.
“I can sleep during the day too. Shouldn’t the one who needs sleep be you? It’s already so late, and you still have to go work tomorrow.”
Zhou Jinyuan glanced at the time on the phone beside him.
“I’ll sleep after I finish this.”
Lin Wangxi propped her chin on both hands and said with a smiling face,
“Alright. Then I’ll keep you company.”
Rather than saying she was accompanying Zhou Jinyuan, it was more accurate to say Zhou Jinyuan was accompanying her.
Because she could not sleep and did not want to be alone. With Zhou Jinyuan beside her, she felt very at ease.
Zhou Jinyuan nodded slightly, placed the little clay figure to his right, and continued his own work.
Time passed slowly.
No one knew how much time had gone by when Zhou Jinyuan used tweezers to adjust the final details on the model.
After finishing, he pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly and subconsciously turned to look beside him.
The woman who had said she would keep him company had already fallen asleep on the table.
He looked at the time again.
It was already four-thirty.
Her thick long hair was scattered messily across her shoulders and the tabletop, covering most of her cheeks. Her curled eyelashes cast faint shadows beneath her eyes.
He quietly looked at her.
Only after a long while did he shift his gaze away.
He extended a hand and hovered it above her shoulder. After pausing for a moment, he withdrew it again.
He stood up, bent down, and gently lifted the woman into his arms.