painting
The autumnal equinox brought lingering summer heat, and the afternoon wind whipped through the collar of Luo Yan's thin blue shirt, making her look like a sail about to be blown away. As night fell, her nose itched, and a small fireball burned on her forehead.
She had caught a bit of a cold. She didn't take it seriously, put on a light jacket, curled up on the sofa, and flipped through a picture book. The rustling of the pages made the rented room even quieter.
On Thursday morning, a light rain turned the sky gray. Luo Yan forgot her umbrella and ran all the way to school, raindrops clinging to her hair. She suddenly sneezed several times, startling a few sparrows from the branches.
Daytime classes felt like soaked cotton, stifling and making everyone sleepy. Only the afternoon activity classes were like a piece of candy, whetting everyone's appetite—the sports meet on Saturday, followed by the National Day holiday, making time seem exceptionally long.
Lin Yi leaned her shoulder against Luo Yan, and as the two of them were getting bored and about to burst into flames, she suddenly turned her head, her eyes sparkling: "Luo Yan, let's go see that person today."
"Who?" Luo Yan looked up.
Lin Yi winked and gave Luo Yan a meaningful look, and Luo Yan instantly understood—it was the boy she had mentioned but hadn't allowed her to meet.
"Can you finish drawing in half an hour at the gymnasium during activity class?" Lin Yi asked.
“It’s a minor issue,” Luo Yan nodded.
In the afternoon, the sun was still hiding behind thick clouds. Luo Yan and Lin Yi walked hand in hand toward the stadium. The puddles on the ground were slippery and felt like walking on melted chocolate.
The venue was sparsely populated, and Lin Yi spotted her target at a glance, giving Luo Yan a knowing smile: "Let's go see the stage."
After settling down, Luo Yan slowly asked, "Which one? Point it out to me."
Lin Yi leaned close to her ear: "The one in the blue shirt, with the headband, the one who plays volleyball."
Luo Yan nodded thoughtfully.
"You know him?" Lin Yi pressed.
"We were in the same class before, his surname was Han, I think," Luo Yan recalled.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Lin Yi exclaimed excitedly, lowering her voice, "What's he like as a person?"
Luo Yan sighed helplessly, "I can't even remember all the names, so guess if I know them or not."
“Okay, okay,” Lin Yi pushed her, “then you draw it.”
Luo Yan took out paper and pen, and while looking the boy up and down, asked, "What kind of effect do you want?"
“He watches anime,” Lin Yi thought for a moment, “and draws a shot of someone jumping and spiking a ball, the more exciting the better, like a Japanese anime boy.”
Luo Yan almost burst out laughing: "I'm a realist, can you accept that?"
"Go ahead and draw," Lin Yi said generously.
Luo Yan immediately started making a draft. Lin Yi quietly watched the boy play ball, without disturbing her.
Time passed, and the outline on the paper gradually became clearer. Luo Yan was always absorbed in her drawing, but this time, her gaze inexplicably drifted away—she was thinking about the soreness in her arms when she was setting the ball in volleyball class, and Qi Sheng's sharp hand gestures when correcting her movements, "I need to control the arc of the ball better next time..."
"Finished drawing?" Lin Yi waved her hand in front of her eyes when she saw that she hadn't moved for a while.
"Ah, no." Luo Yan snapped out of her reverie and smiled faintly. "I was thinking about how to generate power in volleyball."
Lin Yi was slightly taken aback, feeling that the smile was like the warm winter sun, probably because the person was thinking of something pleasant.
After Luo Yan finished drawing and handed over the paper, she was somewhat dazed and could barely hear Lin Yi's praise.
As they left the gymnasium, the rain suddenly started pouring down, turning from a drizzle into a downpour. Luo Yan pulled Lin Yi towards the roof, causing Lin Yi to stumble and her backpack strap to swing wildly in the air.
They rushed to the eaves and got soaked to the bone, but luckily Lin Yi protected the painting well.
"Haha, you're pretty amazing, you didn't get a drop of water on your painting." Luo Yan laughed, her cheeks flushed, tears welling in her eyes, but her gaze was unfocused.
Lin Yi had wanted to complain, but seeing her expression, she swallowed her words and touched her face: "Are you alright?"
"What could possibly happen..." Before she could finish speaking, Luo Yan's vision went black, and she collapsed straight down.
"Luo Yan!" Lin Yi's voice seemed to come through a pane of glass, growing ever more distant.
"39 degrees Celsius, high fever."
Luo Yan was startled awake by these words. She blinked with difficulty and found herself lying in a hospital bed, where Ren Qin was anxiously talking to the doctor.
"I've won the lottery." She smiled bitterly to herself, touching her burning forehead, her memory already blurred like mist.
When I tilted my head back, the stinging sensation from the IV needle on the back of my hand was clear, and the saline solution dripped down from the bottle above my head like a countdown.
"Sigh..." Luo Yan sighed, not knowing whether she was tired or had really caught a cold.
Ren Qin noticed the movement and came over to cover herself with the blanket. Luo Yan felt uncomfortable from being suffocated and stretched her neck.
Seeing that only Ren Qin was by the bedside, Luo Yan pouted and asked, "Where's my dad?"
"Go get some water," Ren Qin said, pointing to the door.
"You actually came? What a surprise." Luo Yan put on an indifferent face, pretending to be calm.
"Get some rest." Ren Qin wiped her forehead with a wet wipe and murmured, "Are you feeling unwell with a fever?"
Luo Yan's heart softened, and she almost burst into tears. Just then, Luo Zhongheng brought in a glass of water, and she quickly held back her tears.
As soon as Luo Zhongheng arrived, he scolded, "I always tell you to wear more clothes, so who's to blame for getting a fever?"
"Say less." Ren Qin nudged him with her elbow and helped Luo Yan drink water. "I asked the teacher for leave, so you can rest at home tomorrow."
Luo Yan pouted and nodded, then suddenly remembered something: "Mom, what day of the week is tomorrow?"
"Friday, perhaps," Ren Qin thought for a moment.
Friday... then the sports meet is the day after tomorrow.
Luo Yan suddenly sat up, startling Ren Qin and Luo Zhongheng.
"Can I still go to school the day after tomorrow?" she asked earnestly.
"What?" Luo Zhongheng asked in surprise. "You still want to go to school?"
Luo Yan ignored the complaints and eagerly looked at Ren Qin.
Ren Qin said helplessly, "It depends. If the fever goes down sooner, we can go back to school sooner. If I don't want to go, I'll ask for leave again."
"Okay." Luo Yan's body went limp, and she fell back onto the pillow—not because she really wanted to go to the sports meet, but because she still had something on her mind.
Maybe.
That evening, her fever miraculously subsided. Luo Yan felt bored, so she told Ren Qin and slipped out of her rented room to go for a walk in the small park.
The autumn night wind carried a chill, clearing her mind. As she passed the outdoor basketball court near the school, she glanced up and froze.
Under the dim lights of the basketball court, Qi Sheng was there. He wasn't wearing a tracksuit, but a dark hoodie pulled low over his shoulder. He dribbled a basketball, one thud after another, the "thump-thump" of the ball hitting the ground particularly clear in the night. His posture was relaxed, his dribbling rhythm unhurried, as if he were doing a relaxation workout, or simply enjoying the tranquility of practicing alone at night.
Luo Yan instinctively shrank into the shadows.
The lamplight outlined his focused silhouette; his dribbling hand was steady, his knuckles turning a faint white from the effort. Luo Yan, almost unconsciously, pulled out the paper and pen she'd had left over from the afternoon, hid behind a tree, and, by the dim light, quietly sketched his profile—the taut curve of his jawline, the deftness of his wrist as he dribbled, the calm in his eyes when he occasionally glanced at the basket… The soft scratching of the pen on the paper was like breathing; she was afraid of disturbing his concentration.
Only when Qi Sheng stopped moving, bent down to pick up the ball, and prepared to leave did Luo Yan fold the drawing paper, stuff it into her bag, and quickly walk away from the basketball court. Her heart was still pounding, and her fingertips seemed to still hold the tension from when she was drawing.
The next day, Luo Yan still felt weak and told Ren Qin that she wanted to rest for another day. She sat at her desk, looking at the portrait of Qi Sheng that she had secretly drawn the night before. After hesitating for a long time, she sent a message to her senior, Yu Qing. Yu Qing was in the student council and had work to do with Qi Sheng.
[Senior, can you do me a favor?]
"What's up?" Yu Qing replied instantly.
I'm not feeling well and would like to ask you to deliver something to Teacher Qi...
What is it?
"It's nothing," Luo Yan thought guiltily. "I'll give it to you when you pass by my rented apartment tomorrow."
Yu Qing didn't ask any further questions. "Okay, no problem."
Luo Yan breathed a sigh of relief, carefully folded the portrait into the envelope, and deliberately concealed the signature.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
