Lady

Yun Aonan wanted to move out of the school, and the counselor certainly wouldn't stop him, since the Yun family was safer traveling in Ruobei than he was.

The day the two moved dorm rooms happened to be the day graduate students and freshmen were enrolling. In the narrow stairwell, some people were carrying things up and others were carrying things down.

Their beds remained untouched, and they didn't bring much luggage. Pei Yao still came to help with loading the car. Ju Hui then realized that she had been so busy lately that she had forgotten she was still his graduation project assistant.

Pei Yao comforted her, "The studio just distributed the keys. I won't be working on my graduation project this early. You can finish it next year. It's not a big deal."

Ju Hui nodded. It was too early for Yun Aonan to have her volunteer to be Sheng Qijing's graduation project assistant...

"Alright, alright, you can go now. We can handle this ourselves." Yun Aonan shook off the hand he was holding.

They stood downstairs at the dormitory's main building, surrounded by a crowd of people turning to look at them. She was terrified that these younger students would point at her and say, "I think I saw her on the gossip wall before."

Pei Yao withdrew his hand, but before leaving, he suddenly remembered something and turned back to Ju Hui, saying, "Qi Jing is currently out of town. You can go back to the studio and move your things back."

The new address they moved to was a community chosen for them by Bian Jiaping. It was safe and reliable, located within the Fourth Ring Road, close to Ruomei and 798 Art Zones, and also quite close to the Yunque Hotel Group, making it convenient for her to work.

Recently, Huiling arranged for her to join the new cross-border collaboration project between Mochen and Yunque, becoming the direct liaison between the two parties.

This was something that long WeChat post secured for her.

That day at the headquarters of Yunque Hotel Group, Bian Jiaping saw Ju Hui, who had skipped class, appear at the kick-off conference table. A strange look flashed in his eyes, but he quickly returned to normal.

Bian Jiaping smiled and shook hands with her as a business partner; her grip was very strong.

On Sunday, Ju Hui was scratching her head while working at the gallery when Bian Jiaping called.

"What are you doing?"

Bian Jiaping's voice was thick and dark from the clumps of coffee grounds. When Ju Hui heard this, she moved the phone away, and the citrus smoke drifted out from the receiver. He was thinking about Sister Zeng Yue again.

“I’m busy, translating a proposal into Chinese. Could you please not bother me for now… Don’t hang up if I’m wrong.” Ju Hui straightened up from her slumped position. “President Bian, do we still need that set of printed porcelain for the room? It wasn’t clear at the meeting.”

"..."

"General Manager Bian?"

Bian Jiaping stubbed out his cigarette and impatiently called over the project manager, handing him the phone.

The person in charge smiled awkwardly, gripping his phone tightly, when he heard a clear, pleasant female voice on the other end greet him politely.

Seeing that the two were getting more and more engrossed in their conversation, Bian Jiaping gave up his office and arranged a half-hour video conference for her. Ju Hui gladly accepted, and the plan was more than half completed.

The team members expressed their admiration. Just then, the Starbucks coffee arrived, and the team leader personally handed her a cup of coffee, smiling and saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Ju Hui."

The team leader carefully wrapped the cup with a tissue to prevent her hands from getting cold. When she handed it over, the sound of the ice cubes hitting each other was particularly loud. The cup was full of ice, and it had never melted for anyone else and belonged only to her.

Ju Hui thanked them, feeling a sense of satisfaction at work for the first time.

After the final version was submitted, her boss, Huiling, allowed her to leave work early. Ju Hui turned a corner, took her coffee, and headed towards the studio.

Having not seen her body for almost a week, Ju Hui had to admit that romantic feelings had still tripped her up.

The weather hadn't turned cold yet, and the sky shone with a pure orange-yellow hue as the sun approached sunset. This time, Ju Hui didn't enter through the back door; that door had been blocked off again by Sheng Qijing.

Even after the sheep are lost, Sheng Qijing's conscience remains pitifully small.

The studio was quiet, with the crisp sound of Ju Hui's footsteps echoing throughout. Not much had changed since her last visit; her second human skeleton remained in place, while the first human skeleton, now covered with an additional membrane, had been moved to the center of the open space, roughly where Sheng Qijing had originally been.

She looked around, but Sheng Qijing's body was nowhere to be seen.

Should we send it to an exhibition?

Ju Hui guessed that Sheng Qijing's work was generally well-done, and if it were to be exhibited and awarded, the results would certainly be remarkable. This was probably the reason he went to another place.

She put down her coffee. Their impulsive night had left the workbench in a mess; carving knives and sketches were still mixed together and hadn't been put away. Ju Hui guessed he hadn't been in the studio lately either.

As Ju Hui tidied herself up, her throat went dry. Suddenly, she remembered the feeling of his abdominal muscles when she first touched them that night. She tightened her fingers and gently rubbed them together.

The feel was completely different from what I had imagined.

Ju Hui picked up her coffee to cool it down.

Each of her sketches was in a specific order. The large hash mark and the number 1 in the upper left corner were drawn on the first day, a quick sketch of Sheng Qijing's general work.

She tilted her head slightly, looking back at the sketch in the sunlight. Some details of the figure seemed to resemble Sheng Qijing's work. Ju Hui studied the sketch for a long time, and the more she looked at it, the more she felt it resembled it...

"That was probably Sheng Qijing himself?"

Ju Hui voiced her true feelings.

Although the general portrait features foreign faces, which he is good at, the body is sculpted according to his own features.

To others, this is a standard, healthy adult human body, and there shouldn't be any elements specifically referring to Sheng Qijing. But the blame lies with Ju Hui for being too purposeful that night, as if she had already understood every inch of his body through a 3D scanner.

Ju Hui, who was quite knowledgeable, threw the paper away.

If that's true, she wouldn't need to touch him in person at all; she could just touch the artwork right in front of her!

Then she found the second and third, and so on up to the twelfth. Ju Hui flipped through them faster and faster, her brows gradually relaxing from a furrowed brow. She picked them up and looked at them; these sketches were covered with various annotations—

"The third anatomical model should not be too complex; we won't be able to finish it."

"The installations at the back won't be finished and will distract the audience. I suggest canceling them, but of course, I won't stop you if you really want to."

"This part is suitable for silicone molding."

...

She had seen Sheng Qijing's handwriting on the day of the job fair; it was flowing and elegant. But now, these thin sheets of paper were filled with neat Song typeface.

Ju Hui didn't know when he wrote this. It was probably before she invited Sheng Qijing to be a model. His annotations were also mentioned by his instructor. The sketches she brought back later were also corrected based on these issues.

However, Ju Hui thought about the last point. Her teacher had never mentioned making silicone molds, and she had never tried it before, so she wasn't very confident.

"I can teach you and help you with the mold making."

The sentence suddenly caught her eye, and Ju Hui was startled by this thirteenth page; it was as if Sheng Qijing was speaking directly to her innermost thoughts. She then turned to the next page—

"Those words were arbitrary and rude; I underestimated your abilities. I'm sorry."

The last one—

"I know a lot about the styles of the artists signed by MoChen, I can help you."

"I hope you come back for the sketches, not to take them with you."

July 15, 2015

Sheng Qijing

Written in mid-July, around that time she was probably drawing her first picture in her advisor's studio. The apology from two months ago... Sheng Qijing really is...

She wanted to put the sketch away, but the original bookcase had been lost in the heat of that night.

Ju Hui took out the sketch that was under the quick-sculpted head of Sheng Qijing; there was also a book clip on it.

The two stacks of sketches were thus held together by the pale yellow book clip, one above the other, holding her up throughout the summer.

She deliberately placed the "I'm sorry" sign at the top, and put Sheng Qijing's portrait in the center of the table.

She took a half step back, put her hands on her hips, observed carefully for a moment, and then laughed maliciously, as if he himself had apologized to her again.

"Ju Hui".

"ah!"

Ju Hui leaned against the table and exclaimed in surprise. She immediately looked towards the door and saw Sheng Qijing leaning against it. She almost didn't recognize him.

He was dressed in a formal suit today, his hair was styled so that his forehead was exposed, his bone structure was delicate, and he was beginning to show signs of maturity. Ju Hui wondered how long he had been standing there, and where the weariness in his eyes came from.

"Aren't you out of town?" Ju Hui asked, quickening her pace.

"I'll be back after I finish my business in Shanghai."

The air fell silent again. The two stood there, and Sheng Qijing never called her again after Ju Hui blocked him.

She knew the two of them would have to meet sooner or later. They were both adults, and although the ending was so ugly, they still had to maintain a dignified appearance when they met.

But Ju Hui didn't want to see him today, nor should she see him looking so pitiful.

Are you very tired?

Ju Hui had nothing to say, so she just made up a casual remark.

"Hmm." Sheng Qijing took off his suit jacket, his red-soled leather shoes making a distinctive sound on the cement floor, and walked over. "Can I lean on you for a bit?"

"good."

Ju Hui lowered her head and took a step to the side.

Before she knew it, a heavy weight suddenly fell from her right shoulder as Sheng Qijing leaned in and pressed down on her. She staggered backward and landed squarely on the workbench, thankfully without falling.

Ju Hui heard him take a deep breath.

"Thanks."

His voice disappeared into the depths of the cave, as if he were asleep.

Ju Hui's mouth was slightly open. She thought he was referring to the chair on the workbench. The shock she felt at that moment made her lose the composure she had when reading data, and the string representing rationality in her mind was being plucked back and forth by him.

A faint fragrance lingered around her, the bitter orange scent of cologne slowly rising with their increasing body temperature, and her shoulders began to ache.

Ju Hui called him "senior" several times, but he didn't respond.

"Sheng Qijing?" Ju Hui poked his back and called him by his real name. "Could you sit down? My shoulder is sore..."

Sheng Qijing lowered his eyes, raised his chin, shifted the weight from his right shoulder to his left, and quickly brushed his lips across her right cheek, even her lips as she spoke.

She stopped breathing.

Sheng Qijing seemed oblivious, taking two more steps forward, resting his head against Ju Hui's bony shoulder, carefully searching for a suitable spot, and then continuing to sleep.

Liu Juhui remained bewildered in her lucid state.

It's really annoying.

The reason she didn't want to meet Sheng Qijing was that he was like a cat toy owner who could easily manipulate Ju Hui by simply flicking the feather bell a couple of times.

After a while, dusk fell outside, and Sheng Qijing should have had enough sleep, at which point her politeness was completely exhausted.

“Sheng Qijing, I hate you too,” Ju Hui said.

Ju Hui knew that Sheng Qijing could hear her, but he did not respond.

When was the last time we had a sunset that was just the two of us?

That night, he specially took Ju Hui to stroll around Mo Cun. The white dress did not disappoint, and Ju Hui was very happy that night.

"But I still need you to be my model."

He suddenly lost even more strength, and Ju Hui gritted her teeth, stubbornly holding on at the original angle to prevent him from pressing down on her.

"Since you already consider me that kind of person, you shouldn't be surprised that I'm saying these things."

She was just a cat, and Sheng Qijing would only scratch her belly at most. That was a reward for her, as she needed to touch things to get inspiration.

Not to be outdone, Ju Hui braced herself on the table with one arm and stroked the back of his head with the other, gently smoothing his hair. She noticed his body stiffen and secretly turned the tables.

“I need an intimate relationship that exists only in your loft, until we both have our boyfriends/girlfriends ended.” Ju Hui stopped. “If you’re not willing, then pretend I didn’t say anything.”

"...No, there's no unwillingness."

Sheng Qijing's voice was muffled as he wrapped his arms around most of her waist, pulling her closer to him. Ju Hui didn't resist at all; he buried his face even deeper into the crook of her neck.

"Thanks."