The atmosphere in the Fine Arts building was somewhat subtle.
Several male oil painting majors sat huddled in the studio. Before them stood canvases of unfinished works all of which, upon closer inspection, were portraits of Zhu Yawen.
“So, Yawen really… went into academia?” a boy with a small ponytail muttered, his palette knife unconsciously scraping a mark across the canvas.
A boy wearing a beret next to him managed a bitter smile. “I saw her in the library yesterday. She was reading Introduction to Quantum Mechanics.”
“Introduction to Quantum Mechanics?” Another boy nearly knocked over his paint tray. “Isn’t that a Physics department course? Isn’t Yawen an oil painting major?”
“She even signed up for electives in the School of Management,” added a boy who had just walked in. “My roommate is in Management, he said he saw Yawen sitting in the front row, taking notes more diligently than anyone else.”
Silence fell over the studio.
In their memory, Zhu Yawen was the “Flower of the Fine Arts Department” who could stand in the studio for an entire day, her fingers always stained with pigment. She was the girl who danced ballet on stage, so light she seemed ready to take flight. She was the foolish girl who was gentle and submissive to Gu Mingyuan, with nothing but love in her eyes.
She was not… this person. Clad in a white shirt and black trousers, cradling heavy professional textbooks, weaving through the Science buildings… a top-tier scholar?
“What’s the deal with this?” the ponytail boy finally choked out. “Abandoning her major for love?”
[Trending Post] The Fine Arts Department is Collectively Heartbroken: Our Department Flower Has Been Abducted by Academia!
OP (Heartbroken Oil Painting Boy): Brothers, I can’t take it anymore. The girl I’ve crushed on for three years, Zhu Yawen, is now living in the library. The books she’s reading are more hardcore than what I read back when I was a science track student in high school. Yesterday I asked her: “Yawen, why aren’t you painting lately?” She said: “Painting? Oh, that. I don’t have time for now. I need to help Xia Yaojin prepare for her assessment.” Xia Yaojin! It’s Xia Yaojin again! So, to chase a scholar, Yawen is giving up her own major? Is our Fine Arts department really that unappealing?
1L (Equally Heartbroken Sculpting Major): I can testify. Yawen dropped all her art electives this semester and replaced them with Science and Management courses. She’s even auditing Topology in the Math department!
2L (Confused Music Major): So, does she really like Xia Yaojin that much, or… was she hexed?
3L (Shocked Dance Major): Yawen’s ballet foundation is so good. The teachers said she’s a once in a decade talent. She’s just giving that up?
4L (Puzzled Design Major): I don’t really get it. Xia Yaojin is a genius, sure, but Yawen is an artistic prodigy! To chase someone, you’d throw away your own talent?
5L (Shipper Arriving at the Scene): Wait, wait, wait! Doesn’t this make it even better?! “For you, I am willing to give up the whole world” what kind of legendary devotion is this! Wenwen moved from the arts to the academic circle for Jinjin, what a sacrifice! What love!
6L (Heartbroken Oil Painting Boy): You… is this a sacrifice? This is self-destruction!
7L (Psychology Observer): From a psychological perspective, Zhu Yawen’s behavior might be a “value restructuring.” The terrible experience with Gu Mingyuan made her re-examine her life, and Xia Yaojin’s appearance provided a new frame of reference. She isn’t giving up art, she’s searching for a more complete life.
8L (Art History Grad Student): Actually, many artists have interdisciplinary backgrounds. Da Vinci wasn’t just a painter; he was an engineer and anatomist. Michelangelo wasn’t just a sculptor; he was an architect. Maybe Zhu Yawen is taking a more comprehensive path.
9L (Chief Shipper): And how do you know she’s given up art? Maybe she’s studying art through scientific methods? Like using optical principles to analyze color, or mathematical modeling for composition?
10L (Heartbroken Oil Painting Boy): …When you put it that way, it actually makes some sense?
11L (Frontline Reporter): Breaking news! Someone saw Zhu Yawen in the Physics lab! She’s discussing “The Application of Fractal Geometry in Artistic Composition” with Professor Chen!
12L (Entire Fine Arts Dept): …WHAT??!!
In the Physics lab, Zhu Yawen stood before a whiteboard, marker in hand.
“So you see,” she drew a complex figure on the board, “the fractal structure of the Mandelbrot set, if applied to painting composition, can produce a unique visual rhythm.”
Professor Chen adjusted his glasses, his eyes shining. “Interesting! Go on!”
“Traditional painting compositions are often based on the Golden Ratio, but fractal structures provide a more dynamic, natural aesthetic framework.” Zhu Yawen added a few more strokes. “Furthermore, from a cognitive science perspective, the human brain processes fractal patterns more efficiently, which might explain why certain artworks resonate more deeply.”
Several graduate students in the lab were stunned.
Was this really an Arts student? This foundation in physics and math was more solid than theirs!
“Student Zhu,” a PhD senior couldn’t help but ask, “did you study this before?”
“I started self-studying after deciding to pursue Xia Yaojin,” Zhu Yawen said nonchalantly.
Everyone: “…” What on earth does “after deciding to pursue Xia Yaojin” mean?
Professor Chen was thrilled. “Good! Excellent! This research direction is very promising! Would you consider coming to the Physics department for grad school? We could apply for an interdisciplinary project!”
“Thank you, Professor, I’ll consider it,” Zhu Yawen smiled. “But for now, I want to focus on helping Xia Yaojin prepare for her assessment.”
At the mention of Xia Yaojin, her gaze visibly softened.
Outside the lab, several Fine Arts students who were “just passing by” peered through the window, dumbfounded.
“Yawen… she’s really discussing academia?” “And she looks so professional…” “I suddenly feel like… we never truly knew her.”
In the library, Xia Yaojin received a screenshot from Zhou Xiaoyu, it was the post from the Fine Arts department.
She stayed silent for a long time after reading it. Then, she sent a message to Zhu Yawen. “I heard you’re studying physics and math?”
Zhu Yawen replied quickly: “Yeah, I find it quite interesting. Why?”
“Are you… not studying Art anymore?”
This time, the reply was a bit slower: “I am, just in a different way. Art and Science were never meant to be separate.”
Xia Yaojin stared at the screen, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. She remembered a quote she had read in her past life: “Someone who loves you will love you for who you are and won’t ask you to change.”
But now, Zhu Yawen seemed to be changing for her, crossing from the world of art into the world of academia.
It made her… feel a sense of unease.
“You don’t need to change anything for me,” she finally sent.
Zhu Yawen’s reply came quickly: “I’m not changing for you; I’m doing it for myself. Xia Yaojin, do you know what the thing I’m most grateful for since my rebirth is? It’s discovering a much wider world. And you are the one who led me to see it.”
Xia Yaojin froze.
“The old me only had eyes for Gu Mingyuan, only for love and those narrow joys and sorrows,” Zhu Yawen continued messaging. “But now, I see the elegance of physics and the rigor of mathematics. I see how knowledge can transform a person and the world.”
“So, I’m not giving up on art. I’m using new tools to understand art anew. And you are my most important… guide on this journey.”
Looking at these words, a complex surge of emotion rose in Xia Yaojin’s heart. There was touched warmth, relief, and a flicker of… a throb she didn’t want to admit to herself.
“Good luck with the assessment,” Zhu Yawen sent finally. “No matter the result, you’ve already changed many people’s lives. Including mine.”
Xia Yaojin put down her phone and looked out the window. The sunlight was beautiful, and the campus was bustling with people. Perhaps she really didn’t need to overthink it. Everyone is searching for their own path, and she and Zhu Yawen just happened to meet on this particular stretch of the road.
As for the future…
She picked up her pen again and opened her exercise book. The future could be left for the future to answer.
In the Fine Arts studio, the atmosphere had completely shifted.
The boy with the ponytail looked at his half-finished portrait of Zhu Yawen. Suddenly, he picked up a palette knife and began to make revisions.
“What are you doing?” the boy in the beret asked.
“Repainting it,” the ponytail boy replied without looking up. “The old Yawen only had love in her eyes. But the current her…” He paused. “There’s light in her eyes.”
The other boys exchanged glances and, one by one, picked up their brushes. They began to re-examine the girl they thought they knew so well. Perhaps they never truly understood her. Perhaps love was never meant to be the entirety of her life. Perhaps her world was much vaster than they had imagined.
Just then, the studio door pushed open. Zhu Yawen stood at the doorway holding a stack of documents.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she smiled. “I wanted to ask, if I wanted to create a series of oil paintings using the principles of fractal geometry, what should I look out for from a technical standpoint?”
The studio went silent for a few seconds.
Then, the ponytail boy was the first to speak: “Fractal geometry? You mean like the Mandelbrot set?”
“Exactly!” Zhu Yawen’s eyes lit up. “You know about it too?”
“A little bit,” the ponytail boy said, looking slightly embarrassed. “My cousin is in the Math department. I’ve heard him talk about it.”
“Great! We can research it together!”
The Fine Arts boys looked at each other and then all broke into smiles. Perhaps this was Zhu Yawen’s true self, not someone’s accessory, not a girl driven mad by love, but an independent, powerful soul forever exploring.
She chose to walk toward Xia Yaojin not because she was giving herself up, but because she saw that same radiance within Xia Yaojin.
On the forum, the Fine Arts thread had been updated.
OP (Oil Painting Major No Longer Heartbroken): Brothers, I was wrong. Yawen hasn’t given up on art; she’s redefining it using science. She came to the studio today to discuss the application of fractal geometry in oil painting with us. That look in her eyes, that passion. I’ve never seen anything like it. So maybe… love doesn’t make you lose yourself; it helps you find a better version of yourself. I’m officially shipping the “Wen Jin” pair! PS. We are now collaborating on a project: “The Practice of Fractal Aesthetics in Contemporary Art.” Students from all departments are welcome to join.
1L (Entire Fine Arts Dept): Shipping it! Shipping it!
2L (Shipper Ecstatic): Welcome to the “Wen Jin” family!
3L (Psychology Observer): Typical case study: A healthy intimate relationship promotes individual growth. Under Xia Yaojin’s influence, Zhu Yawen achieved the transformation from “love brain” to “independent personality,” while Xia Yaojin is gradually opening her heart through Zhu Yawen’s company. This is a model of mutual progress.
4L (Computer Science – Zhang Ming): So the current situation is: Zhu Yawen installed an “Academic Expansion Pack,” Xia Yaojin installed a “Social Expansion Pack,” and both are leveling up.
5L (Math – Wang Zhe): Establishing a new relationship model: Let the initial states of the two be A (Art) and S (Scholar). After interaction, A → A+S (Art + Scholarship), and S → S+A (Scholarship + Social). This is classic co-evolution.
6L (OP – Oil Painting Major No Longer Heartbroken): In plain English: They make each other better.
7L (Everyone): Well said!
In the library, Xia Yaojin finished the last problem and closed her book. She looked out the window at the setting sun, where a brilliant sunset glow painted the horizon.
Her phone vibrated, it was a photo from Zhu Yawen. In the studio, several Fine Arts boys were gathered around a whiteboard covered in fractal patterns.
“Our new project is very interesting,” Zhu Yawen’s caption read.
Xia Yaojin smiled and replied: “Keep it up.”
Perhaps this world really was interesting. There was knowledge, there was art, there was friendship. And there was… that person who said they would “take it slow.”
She packed her things and walked out of the library. Tomorrow was the assessment. And she was ready. Not just for herself, but for everyone who believed in her. Including the one who opened the door to a new world for her.
As night fell and the stars began to rise, a new story was about to begin.