Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Subconsciously holding

Pei Shuyu subconsciously turned her head, and the warm breath beside her ear made her skin itch.

The occasional sound of a paintbrush hitting the rim of a bucket echoed in the studio.

Pei Shuyu propped up the drawing board, resting her chin on the painting at the top of the blackboard, as if to welcome the compliment: "I drew this this morning."

Ji Yan looked in the direction she pointed. From a distance, she could see that the drawings on the blackboard were similar in size. She lowered her gaze and saw the unfinished drawings on other people's drawing boards.

Still feels the same.

Pei Shuyu was a little anxious: "Look closer."

Ji Yan took her anxiety in calmly, then walked slowly through the aisle to the side and came to the blackboard.

Various colors fall into the eyes.

One of the paintings is rich in color, with objects shaped in three dimensions and fullness, and a strong sense of reality and distance, making it stand out among the other posted paintings.

And at the corner of the drawing paper is Pei Shuyu's very artistic signature.

Ji Yan's fingertips touched the paper of the painting, and colorful colors were splashed above it.

Pei Shuyu shook Ji Yan's sleeve and asked eagerly: "How is it, how is it?"

Ji Yan understood her thoughts and simply praised her: "It's good, but why are there apples in almost every painting?"

The one in front of me is even worse. There are three apples of different sizes and colors placed on the plate, and a long spoon extends from the edge of the plate.

A similar position is sometimes used for the hilt of a knife.

Pei Shuyu placed her arm on Ji Yan's shoulder with familiarity and deliberately lengthened her tone: "Because apples are representative."

Ji Yan didn't know much: "Let's go to the fruit store to buy some apples later?"

Pei Shuyu waved her hands exaggeratedly: "Come on, Apple has been my model every day, and now I have to eat Apple. Apple is too unlucky."

"Hahaha," someone who was still drawing laughed out loud, "That's it, I'm just going to have an apple for lunch."

"No wonder you can't draw an apple well. People are your models, but you still eat them." The person next to you laughed.

"It's obviously too difficult to draw three apples together."

“…”

Pei Shuyu said cheerfully, "It's time to eat. Is there anything you want to bring?"

"A bottle of yogurt, thank you."

"I want one too."

＊

Outside the painting school is a gathering place for various vendors.

Art students do not have to return to school on Saturdays and can study in the morning, so every Saturday at mealtime, small stalls and electric tricycles come driving in.

Students who don't want to run back and forth between school and studio often stop here.

"I'm so fed up with this damn school," Pei Shuyu couldn't help but mutter, "Why do art students have to go back to school for morning, afternoon, and evening self-study on Thursdays and Fridays?"

"Maybe they're worried about someone running around," Ji Yan smoothed over her hair, her tone as gentle as ever. "You won't have to go back to school after your training."

Thinking about the days she'd spent in the studio during the training camp, surrounded by charcoal ash and paint, Pei Shuyu felt like crying. "Is there anyone who can comfort you like this? During the summer training camp, you were out having fun while I was toiling away in the studio." Her face fell as she consoled herself, "It's okay, it's still a while before the training camp."

Now, except for the fixed rest time on Sunday and Saturday nights, art students spend two and a half days a week painting in the studio and the remaining three days studying academic subjects at school.

It can be considered as relaxing in moderation.

As usual, she went to her usual stall and ordered two bowls of rice noodles. While the stall owner was busy, Pei Shuyu turned around and went to the vendor at the other end to buy two boxes of yogurt.

Ji Yan stood there, his deep gaze fixed on Pei Shuyu, his eyes sliding to the thing the girl was holding.

"Garlic and cilantro?"

The environment here was simple and the vendors did not bring any extra tables and chairs. When Pei Shuyu came back, the rice noodle stall owner was packing for them.

Pei Shuyu added casually, "I want cilantro, not minced garlic."

The stall owner responded, quickly tied up the plastic bag, took out two chopsticks, put them in, and handed it over.

As they were carrying their lunch back, people who had the same idea as Pei Shuyu and wanted to eat a whole meal came back to the studio with the food they had just bought.

"Hey, didn't you say you were going back to get the charger? Why are you still here?" Qi Ying's voice, like her person, interrupted the two of them at an inopportune time.

Pei Shuyu was squeezed so hard that she had to move aside: "Be careful, don't spill my rice noodles."

Qi Ying didn't realize there was anything wrong. He put his free hand on Pei Shuyu's arm and said, "Could it be..."

She turned her head to the other side: "Ji Yan, did you bring your charger?"

Without waiting for Ji Yan to speak, Pei Shuyu nudged the person holding her arm with her arm, pulled her arm away, and took another half step to the side. She pretended to be disgusted and brushed the place where she was touched: "Ah, hey, hey, why do you like to touch me? Don't touch me."

Qi Ying was just about to punch Pei Shuyu to show her how powerful he was when he heard a voice from the side.

Ji Yan's voice was low: "Yes, I brought it. Does Qi need it?"

Qi Ying was surprised: "Did you really bring it?"

Didn't they have no contact all morning? What's going on? Are these two people telepathic?

Ji Yan explained: "My phone ran out of battery this morning, and it's inconvenient to charge it at school."

Unlike art students, Yuelan High School has extremely strict control over the use of mobile phones by students of academic subjects. If caught, they will be criticized at the very least and sent home to reflect for a few days at the worst.

But there are always people who commit crimes against the wind.

Ji Yan is no exception.

Pei Shuyu tsk-tsk-tsked, stepped back, and walked around to the other side of Ji Yan before answering first: "Even if I bring it, I won't let you use it."

Qi Ying rolled his eyes: "Rare, I might come late this afternoon, remember to cover for me."

Pei Shuyu: "I understand."

After Qi Ying left, Ji Yan asked, "Is she going to skip class?"

Ji Yan had heard about art students skipping classes before, so forcing art students to go back to school for self-study in the morning was a form of restraint.

Qi Ying had been there the few times she came before.

Pei Shuyu: "Is there something wrong?"

Ji Yan suddenly asked, "Have you ever skipped class?"

Pei Shuyu shrugged and chuckled: "What's wrong, is classmate Ji here to supervise me?"

Pei Shuyu always likes to tease her childhood sweetheart, who only cares about studying, intentionally or unintentionally.

Whenever Pei Shuyu saw Ji Yan, who could handle any difficult question with ease, showing a helpless expression when facing her, she felt inexplicably happy.

Just like now, Ji Yan's delicate brows were locked: "I'm asking you, Pei Shuyu."

Are you angry?

Pei Shuyu's playful heart paused for a moment, and she leaned over and smiled flatteringly: "I didn't do that, don't frame me."

The April noon sunshine, with its spring warmth, softly shone on Pei Shuyu's bright facial features, injecting even more brightness into her upturned eyebrows and eyes.

Ji Yan was stunned for a moment. In a trance, the scene in front of her kept enlarging, with a faint scent of orange.

This is the scent of hand sanitizer that Pei Shuyu usually uses.

A hand reached out, and the owner of the hand said gently, "Don't move."

Ji Yan lowered her head slightly, and the fingers that were resting on her forehead brushed across her skin, and a light white object was removed.

Pei Shuyu flicked the white spot away: "Why are there willow catkins at this time?"

Ji Yanbei started: "Are you hitting my head on purpose?"

Pei Shuyu smiled and asked, "Am I that kind of person?"

Ji Yan imitated her tone: "Isn't it?"

Pei Shuyu spread her hands innocently: "Okay, I am, but..." She lifted the things she was carrying, "The soup from my rice noodles is about to be sucked away."

Without giving Ji Yan time to react, she grabbed Ji Yan's wrist and walked quickly towards Studio No. 5.

Ji Yan was passively led away by Pei Shuyu, and her eyes fell on her held wrist.

The fingers on the wrist are slender and strong, the finger bones are tense, and the tiny blue veins on the back of the fingers connect to the back of the hand, and can be seen beating faintly.

Like a hand made of handicraft.

Slowly, Ji Yan raised her head and shifted her gaze back to the person in front of her.

As she approached the studio door, Pei Shuyu panted slightly and slowed down. She looked back and saw Qi Ying standing at the entrance of the painting school, talking to someone with a silly look on her face. She couldn't help laughing out loud: "Why is she so funny?"

The skin under his palm slipped away little by little, and Pei Shuyu subconsciously held it again.

But Ji Yan was much stronger than her, and her palm was clenched in an instant. Pei Shuyu saw that most of Ji Yan's body was covered by the shadow cast by the building, and she couldn't tell what his expression was.

While he was stunned, the restraint became increasingly tighter, and a circle of red appeared on his palm. Pei Shuyu belatedly cried out "It hurts".

Ji Yan's clenched hands suddenly loosened, and her gentle eyes reflected the calmness that Pei Shuyu was familiar with: "I was distracted just now, but are you and Qi Ying close?"

Pei Shuyu blew on her still sore hand and said, "We've known each other since freshman year of high school, and now we're both in the art class, so naturally we're not bad at all. What's wrong?"

Ji Yan put the tip of her tongue against her upper teeth: "It's good, I have a companion sometimes."

Pei Shuyu was used to talking to make people happy: "That's true, but" she changed the subject, "you are not here today."

After saying that, she walked into the studio with a smile. As she entered, she subconsciously glanced at her own painting on the blackboard. Pei Shuyu suddenly stopped in her tracks and her face instantly darkened.

Ji Yan followed him in and sensed something strange about the person in front of her. She followed the girl's gaze.

The painting that should have been at the top was a mess, dripping with water, and the colored water droplets formed a small puddle on the ground.

Several paintings around were affected and seemed to be hanging down, with their heads drooping as if they were about to fall off.

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