Chapter 17

On Monday, Gu Fang set the alarm clock at six o'clock.

Because he moved to a new house, he could save a lot of commuting time, but the schedule he developed in the first week of school still made him open his eyes at 5:30.

He faintly heard noises coming from the kitchen.

The house had been renovated and the soundproofing was already very good, but although Gu Fang was tone-deaf, he had very sharp ears. The sounds of his careful movements and the moving of pots and pans were gradually amplified.

A thin ray of sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains. He closed his eyes and pulled the quilt over his head, but he was no longer sleepy. He simply sat up slowly and stared blankly at the two pots of mint on the windowsill.

Mondays always have a bad vibe, after all, no one likes going to class.

Gu Fang finished washing up and opened his wardrobe. The weather in September was a bit changeable, sometimes cool and sometimes hot. The best way to dress was to wear a T-shirt over a school uniform jacket, putting it on when it was cold and taking it off when the sun came out.

He doesn't like attending classes, he just likes going to school.

Maybe it’s because it’s something new and fresh that I’ve rarely experienced before. Maybe it’s because everyone comes together for a common goal, even if they complain, they’re still working towards it.

At the same time, Lu Si is also an undeniable main reason.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have to transfer all the way to No. 12 Middle School.

When people are young, they always have some spiritual idols.

Gu Fang pulled his white school uniform with blue stripes to the collar, walked to the window, and drew aside the curtains. The light suddenly streamed in, and his skin seemed almost transparent in the dim light, revealing a morbid beauty.

His beautiful eyebrows were slightly furrowed, showing a hint of distress.

After the real encounter, his spiritual idol fell to the ground. His world wasn't as perfect as he had expected. But in Gu Fang's eyes, those imperfections became perfection, making him dizzy. He actually felt that there was nothing about the real Lu Si that didn't attract him.

Mortals, more than spiritual idols, can evoke the unspeakable fantasies of young people.

——Is this normal?

Gu Fang sighed, this is deterioration.

But after all, he was still in adolescence. Gu relaxed his brows.

Then he frowned again. Was it abnormal for an adolescent Omega to dream of biting an Alpha's glands?

His brows tightened and loosened, until he had packed his schoolbag. Gu Fang straightened up, pinched his eyebrows, and finally gave up struggling.

If he likes someone, he likes them. He is struggling with this fact and cannot and does not want to change it.

"Good morning, Auntie Lin." Gu Fang took his schoolbag outside and greeted the aunt who was setting the table.

Aunt Lin narrowed her eyes and smiled: "Good morning, little one."

When he moved here, Aunt Su and her family still lived there. So my uncle hired a housekeeper who would come to the house to cook but not stay overnight. That was Aunt Lin.

"You're here really early." Gu Fang pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Did I disturb you?" Aunt Lin looked at him and served him a bowl of porridge.

"No," Gu Fang smiled and shook his head, "I just got up at this time."

"I have a child in junior high school," Aunt Lin said. "Junior high school students should be up at this time. I guess you guys in your senior year of high school are even busier."

"It's okay." Gu Fang was not very clear about the differences between the various schools.

Aunt Lin took off her apron and carried the garbage bag to the door. As she changed her shoes, she turned and said, "Xiao Fang, just put the dishes in the dishwasher. I'll clean them up tonight. Mr. Gu said, 'You won't be back for lunch?'"

"Yeah." Gu Fang held the bowl of porridge and nodded slowly.

"Eating in the cafeteria?" Aunt Lin didn't wait for his response. Perhaps after spending a few minutes together, she realized that the child was a man of few words. She picked up the garbage bag and left in a hurry.

Hearing the door click shut, Gu Fang put down his bowl and breathed a sigh of relief.

He wasn't exactly a social butterfly, and after just a few minutes, he felt like he was suffocating. Fortunately, Aunt Lin was quite straightforward and didn't waste time talking to him.

It only takes five or six minutes to get from the Shanding Community to the Dongmen Market.

Gu Fang got the flowers he had ordered last night from Suyuan, walked back, and waited at the clinic at the entrance of the community.

It was not yet six o'clock when the sound of small wheels rolling lightly was heard.

Gu Fang raised his eyelids and looked.

Lu Si happened to look up at him. From his perspective, a standard-issue handsome boy, whose beauty couldn't be concealed even by his sack-like school uniform, was waiting at the clinic door, holding a bouquet of blooming red flowers. He looked up, and a pair of bright eyes stared at him from behind his mask.

A ray of sunshine shines down at the right time in the early morning.

The little white rabbit's eyes are glowing.

Lu Si swallowed unconsciously, paused, hesitated for a second, and walked up to him dragging the small pink box.

The bouquet of flowers was then brought in front of him. Gu Fang's ears flushed, and he restrained himself as he whispered, "A reward for changing the dressing today."

But he hasn't changed the dressing yet.

Zhi A was silent for a moment, swallowing the words back. After taking it, Lu Si thanked him and looked at it with his eyes downcast: "Does this flower have a name?"

"Yes." Gu Fang was not like him. After answering yes, he would obediently add the name, "Poppy."

"Is this a poppy?" Lu Si had heard of it before, but the name didn't match its appearance. He turned the bouquet over and over, then suddenly glanced away and asked casually, "That flower from last night... also has a name?"

Gu Fang didn't think much about it: "Blue Star Flowers? Lu Qi picked them for me."

Lu Si raised his eyebrows, and a hint of inexplicable joy flashed in his eyes.

The last sentence clearly soothed him.

Ha, the gift for Xie Ziyao was picked out by Lu Qi for him, not by him personally.

...Tsk.

Lu Si felt something was wrong. Why should he be happy about this?

The doctor at the small clinic came to the door to pour out the leftover tea and gave them a strange look. "Are you two here to change the medicine, or are you here to chat and make love? I've been watching you two for a long time."

Lu Si brushed his hair back awkwardly, picked up one end of the small pink box with one hand, and walked up the steps to the clinic.

Gu Fang felt so hot that he could only hear the burning sensation on his ears, and he buried his head in helping him.

Neither of them spoke, and no one refuted the doctor's misunderstanding from beginning to end.

The next day, Wednesday, the same thing happened.

Gu Fang was waiting at the door of the clinic and said that he bought it on his way out in the morning, so Lu Si received another bouquet of red butterfly peonies.

If he continued like this, Lu Si felt that he could match most of the red flowers with names.

The meaning of sending flowers is actually very ambiguous. It is not only for lovers, but also for friends, classmates, teachers and students, and even for visiting patients.

What's more, I am indeed a patient, a classmate, and also a friend?

If other Omegas sent him flowers, Lu Si would definitely refuse them and not give him any hope, because such flowers clearly carried another meaning.

But Gu Fang...

Lu Si didn’t think that such a pure and clean look could carry any other meaning.

He even felt that Gu Fang would not be associated with words like liking someone, as Gu Fang was born to be the kind of person who was liked by everyone.

Of course, sending flowers to Xie Ziyao doesn’t count.

Being a star-chaser during adolescence does not fall into this category.

The last class on the schedule for Wednesday morning is art class.

Everyone was already speculating whether it was Chinese, math, English, physics, chemistry, or biology. Suddenly, the student council member walked into the classroom with an enigmatic smile: "Brothers and sisters, let's go to the Cultural and Sports Building later."

The students asked, "Why go to the Cultural and Sports Building? It's so far?"

The student council member yelled, "——Of course it's art class!"

One sound caused a thousand waves.

"Oh shit! Art class!"

"It's the end of the world today, right?"

"Hasn't art class been in name only since the second year of high school?"

The student council member smiled reservedly: "Lao Du said that we just finished the science test and asked everyone to relax for a while."

"Hiss..." Someone got goosebumps, "It smells like the Last Supper..."

"Science Comprehensive Test—Quiz," someone else smacked their lips. "That's a brilliant word."

In short, the group of people no longer felt any pain in their legs or sore in their hands, and they pushed and shouted as they ran towards the distant cultural and sports building.

The whole floor knew that the group of test-taker in Class 2 were actually taking art class in the last period.

I can’t believe that we still have a healthy art teacher in our senior year?

In fact, yes.

Arriving at the large studio, a young and beautiful female omega teacher was already waiting there. Everyone rushed in, but upon seeing the beautiful teacher, they felt a little shy and lowered their voices unconsciously.

The art teacher had the gentle buff of a secondary subject teacher and smiled at everyone: "My last name is Su, Su Yan, the smoke as in fireworks. You can just call me Teacher Su."

"Hello, Teacher Su——" everyone shouted obediently.

Teacher Su smiled and said, "Everyone, please find your own easel according to your student number. We will be painting oil paintings this class, and the painting frames have been prepared by the teacher."

After finding the easel, Teacher Su taught everyone how to squeeze paint. Perhaps understanding that this was the first and last art class, Teacher Su didn't dwell on the topic, simply teaching the basics of dipping the paint and brush strokes, then had everyone gather around the fruit set in the center to paint a still life.

"Don't worry about whether your painting is realistic or not," Teacher Su encouraged everyone gently, noticing their hesitation. "The most important thing about oil painting is actually the color. As long as you mix the colors right, you'll find the general direction."

Teacher Su displayed the paint ratios that could be used this time on the projector in the form of color cards.

"You can refer to the teacher's color palette or improve it yourself. Everyone sees color differently from different angles. Maybe the colors you choose are bolder, more vivid, and more lively than the teacher's."

Teacher Su's encouragement praised the top students to the sky. Each of them picked up their paintbrushes and claimed that they could rival Van Gogh and Monet.

There is even a modern-day Picasso who is no longer satisfied with painting small fruits and confidently raised his hand: "Teacher, can I draw people?"

Teacher Su was a little surprised, but quickly nodded with a smile: "Of course, then let's find a model?"

I was so bold when I raised my hand, but I felt embarrassed when I was asked to be a model. Teacher Su said, "This is not a sketching class. Sketching is too difficult without a basic foundation. Is there anyone wearing brightly colored clothes?"

Everyone looked at each other, all wearing sack school uniforms.

Chen Yi suddenly raised his hand: "Teacher, is black considered bright?"

Teacher Su hesitated for a moment: "It's quite difficult to paint black well, but... we are just experiencing it."

Chen Yi suddenly became bolder and pointed at Lu Si beside him and said, "Brother Lu, that's the black T-shirt you're wearing underneath!"

The group of boys in the corner immediately let out strange laughter that made no sense.

Maybe they think it's fun to draw Lu Ge, or maybe it's fun to have Lu Ge be a model.

Teacher Su cast an inquiring look at the tall and handsome boy in the corner.

Lu Si held the brush and tried a few strokes before realizing his hand no longer belonged to him. He glanced at Gu Fang in the opposite corner—their schoolmates were quite far apart. He was puzzled. Why had Gu Fang's painting seemed so playful to him before?

He would rather be a model than torture himself with the pen.

Lu Si cast a cold look at Chen Yi, and Chen Yi immediately shut up his teasing. Lu Si nodded to Teacher Su, zipped up his jacket neatly, slung it over the easel, and walked toward the center.

Gu Fang followed him quietly.

Teacher Su brought over a chair, and Lu Si sat down at the table. Teacher Su then told him to put one hand on the orange, "This way the picture will be more cohesive. You can sit anywhere else you like, however you feel comfortable."

"Everyone, please draw carefully." Teacher Su looked at the picture, with some pity in his eyes. "After all, Mr. Lu is so handsome."

Everyone laughed foolishly and promised the teacher that they would draw Lu Ge in a horrible way.

As for whether he was so handsome that it was heartbreaking or so unbearable to look at that it was heartbreaking, these smart people didn't mention it.

For the first time, Lu Si discovered that he had the potential to be a part-time model.

——He closed his eyelids, slumped back in the chair like a boneless person, and slept for the entire class.

The school bell rang on time at noon.

Teacher Su is well aware that a painting cannot be completed in one class. But this is for normal painting methods. For abnormal painting methods, even ten minutes is too long.

However, Teacher Su was already very pleased that everyone could stay quietly in front of the easel for forty minutes.

"Leave the painting on the easel, and the students can leave after they finish it."

Those who were trying to grab the cafeteria rushed out the door.

Teacher Su seemed to recognize Lu Si and smiled at him as he opened his eyes sleepily: "Xiaolu can walk now."

Returning to the corner, Lu Si picked up the school uniform hanging on the wall, put it on, and tilted his head to look across.

Gu Fang was still holding the paintbrush, with a hint of hesitation and worry, his lips tightly pursed, his eyes lowered in concentration, covering his empty blue eyes.

Lu Si scratched his hair, retracted his sideways gaze, put his hands in his pockets, and walked out of the studio with a casual look.

Teacher Su called the cultural and arts committee member Shu Nanzhi outside the door. Teacher Su seemed to have known her for a long time and asked her about her willingness to take the art exam at the end.

Lu Si took a look as he passed by and saw Shu Nanzhi biting her lip and shaking her head with great difficulty.

Gradually, the crowds left.

Gu Fang finished the last stroke, still glancing at the painting in front of him with dissatisfaction.

Teacher Su returned to the classroom and wanted to come over to comfort the student. However, when he saw the painting clearly, he was immediately shocked: "This... was drawn by you?"

Gu Fang's eyebrows were drooping. "Sorry, Teacher Su, I'm not very good at drawing figures, so..."

His painting ends abruptly with the hand resting on the orange.

The fingers are slender, dotted with halos, like butterflies landing on distinct knuckles, and the cold hands are covered with a layer of warm light, which is even warmer than the orange underneath.

As for the person who owned that hand, he was not included in the painting.

Teacher Su disagrees: "The structure of this hand is very well drawn. Without years of drawing figures, one cannot achieve such a high level of quality."

Gu Fang pursed his lips and said nothing.

Teacher Su smiled and said, "This painting is very warm. The use of colors and light and shadow seems to be the focus. The fruit on the table -"

Teacher Su paused, her smile growing wider. "But in my opinion, you paint a hand with more emotion than anything else. The whole scene seems to be just for this hand. Little student, you're not good at this."

The real world is fair, but the painter is biased, or perhaps unconsciously biased, and the protagonist has his own selfish desires.

"Feel sorry."

Gu Fang looked away and said to someone unknown, "But I'm really not very good at it."