Chapter 97
September is almost over, and the National Day holiday will be in a few days, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is also in these days.
Chen Jiangfu planned to go to town to buy mooncakes and fruits on National Day. Since she was alone at home, she didn't want to buy a lot of mooncakes, just a few as a token of her appreciation to create a festive atmosphere.
These days, Shen Jiangfu learned that Xie Jing had been staying at home for a few days for the exhibition in the Young Painters Exhibition Hall. She was very curious about the exhibition and asked him many questions.
For example: Where is the exhibition held, and can she go to see it? What kind of painters can participate? What kind of paintings can be included in this exhibition, and what are the requirements?
And so on and so forth.
The first question was purely for the sake of conversation. She knew that this exhibition had an online ticketing channel. She had searched for this exhibition online and found that there were indeed ticket sales for previous exhibitions.
Xie Jing answered her one by one, but he was not sure about the first one. Li Qingsheng happened to call her to add more details about the exhibition, and Xie Jing asked him about the ticket sales.
"Why are you asking this? I don't need to buy a ticket to enter. Do you want tickets for the exhibition?" Li Qingsheng was puzzled. Xie Jing had never paid attention to these things before, so why was he asking him this question?
Li Qingsheng asked tentatively, "Do you have any friends coming over?" He frowned, a thought dawning on him, and asked again, "Could it be someone I know online? Be careful when making friends online. Don't share everything, especially your address."
Li Qingsheng knew that Xie Jing didn't have many friends in Kuantang Village, so he suddenly asked him for tickets. He might be a friend he met online.
Xie Jing sighed softly, he was thinking about how to tell him that it was Shen Jiangfu, "No, it was a teacher in our village who asked me, she was interested in this."
"Oh! Teacher, the January art exhibition should be closed for the holidays." Li Qingsheng agreed readily, "No problem, I'll ask the exhibition and see if they can give me a ticket. For your sake, I can at least give you one. I'll send the ticket to you when the time comes."
Li Qingsheng seemed to have a lot of respect for his teacher. He didn't think much about it, nor did he ask any more questions. He immediately sent the ticket. "I'll get back to you after I've figured it out. Then you can ask for the teacher's address and I'll send it to you."
Xie Jing saw that everything was settled, and when he heard that Li Qingsheng was going to send it over, he thought about the distance between him and Shen Jiangfu, "You can send it to me, and I will give it to her when the time comes."
Li Qingsheng thought Xie Jing was going to school to give it to the teacher, so he agreed: "Okay, you go to school to give it to the teacher when the time comes."
The next day after the call, Li Qingsheng replied to Xie Jing that he had obtained the ticket.
When Xie Jing told Chen Jiangfu the news, Chen Jiangfu directly sent a question mark and an exclamation mark.
Shen Jiangfu hadn't considered attending the Young Painters Exhibition. If she could go, that would be great. If not, she could just go to Fengcheng on her own. However, she hadn't expected Xie Jing to help her get the tickets.
She remembered that the theme of this exhibition was [Advent], and wondered what kind of paintings Xie Jing would draw. She suddenly felt a little excited for this exhibition.
She remembered another thing: she had never seen Xie Jing's paintings.
The painting that Xie Jing drew in his living room last time was painted by him and his father together. She had never seen any painting that Xie Jing drew alone in real life!
Thinking of this, Shen Jiangfu hummed twice, but still expressed her gratitude to Xie Jing: "Thank you! You can visit the exhibition for free. I look forward to seeing your paintings."
Xie Jing: [You're welcome. I'll give you the ticket when the time comes.]
Chen Jiangfu took this opportunity to talk to Xie Jing about the class: "Are you busy lately? Are you free to attend the class after National Day?"
Xie Jing looked at the paper balls on the ground and felt a little discouraged. This theme painting was a little difficult for him and he couldn't draw it right no matter how hard he tried.
He typed two words with his hands: [OK.]
Now that he has agreed, he should go to class first.
Chen Jiangfu saw Xie Jing's reply and said cheerfully, "Okay! I was worried you were too busy to go."
There were two more words typed: [No.]
Then came another message: [I promised to do it.]
*
It’s almost time for the holidays. Today is September 30th.
Shen Jiangfu's classes were all in the morning, so after explaining the holiday arrangements to her class, she headed home. She planned to nap until three or four in the afternoon, then go shopping in town.
I was originally thinking of going tomorrow, but since I have time this afternoon, I decided to go today. I made the decision so quickly.
When Chen Jiangfu passed by Xie Jing's house on her way home, Xie Jing was watering the flowers there wearing the same black pajamas she had seen him in last time. The scene looked leisurely and relaxed, as if the years were peaceful.
She was a little envious, it would be great if she could skip classes. Thinking about it, Shen Jiangfu drove the car to the door of Xie Jing's house.
Xie Jing was a little surprised to see Shen Jiangfu coming back, thinking that she was looking for him for something.
He manually turned off the water and greeted her, "Good afternoon."
Shen Jiangfu didn't know why she came over. She didn't have anything to do with Xie Jing, she just wanted to chat with someone she knew. "No, I finished my classes today and came back early."
She looked at the roses and jasmine, one red and the other white, growing beautifully and making people feel happy. "Your flowers are growing really well and look very beautiful. It's up to you."
Xie Jing's expression remained unchanged as he said to Shen Jiangfu, "Thank you."
While Shen Jiangfu was looking at the flowers, Xie Jing looked over at her. A bag hung from the front of her electric bike, seemingly filled with student workbooks. Her hair had grown a bit longer, ready to be tied up. Her eyes were bright, though with a hint of dark circles under them. She stared at the flowers for a long time, seemingly enjoying them.
The wind carrying the heat wave blew slowly, gently brushing the faces and hair of the two people. The sun shone on the ground, and the originally wet ground was soon left with only watermarks, and it would dry up in a while.
Shen Jiangfu looked at the flowers for a while. She couldn't stand the scorching sun anymore, so she zipped up her coat all the way and said, "It's been too hot these days. I hope it will rain in a few days."
"The weather forecast says it will rain the day after tomorrow." Xie Jing saw Shen Jiangfu's actions and the sweat on her face. He put down the water pipe, went home, got a pack of tissues and handed it to her without saying a word.
Shen Jiangfu took a few without hesitation, and said while wiping the sweat off her face: "I'm going to the supermarket to buy mooncakes and fruits this afternoon. Do you want to go with me?" Shen Jiangfu said it very naturally, as if she had thought of something and then asked.
After saying that, Shen Jiangfu looked at Xie Jing. Seeing that he was hesitant and did not immediately refuse, she asked again: "Do you have anything to do today? Do you want to paint?"
Xie Jing shook his head gently, "No."
"Since you have nothing to do today, why don't you go shopping with me this afternoon? Okay?" Shen Jiangfu persuaded softly, staring at Xie Jing, her hands habitually intertwined with her fingers, "Okay?"
The voice that reached his ears was light and fluttering, and Xie Jing saw Shen Jiangfu's pleading look - her eyes were wide open, her eyebrows were slightly raised, and her pupils were particularly beautiful under the sunlight, as clear as amber.
He thought of the wild orange cat that would come to his door at night and meow for food. It often squatted in front of the door and meowed when it saw him, and would not leave unless it was given food.
After a long while without Xie Jing’s reply, Shen Jiangfu pressed the issue again, “Is it okay?”
Xie Jing's eyes flickered, sweat dripping from his forehead. He shifted his gaze to look at Jasmine beside him, "Okay...okay."
"Okay!" Shen Jiangfu said happily, "Then let's leave at four in the afternoon, okay? We'll take a nap and go when we wake up."
Xie Jing hummed, "Okay."
"See you this afternoon, then?" Chen Jiangfu looked at him, stretched out her fingers and made a four to him, confirming again, and said, "Four o'clock!"
"Yeah, four o'clock."
"I'll come down to see you at four."
Xie Jing was feeling a bit excited and a bit regretful. One voice said he should go, the other said he shouldn't.
In short, his emotions were mixed, but he still agreed: "Okay, four o'clock."
Normally, he should refuse, but he would feel uncomfortable if he didn't agree.
But...why does it feel bad?
Shen Jiangfu saw Xie Jing's face in deep thought. She couldn't tell what he was thinking about. Anyway, he had promised her, so he should be thinking about something else.
"Okay, I'm leaving. It's too hot." Shen Jiangfu said to Xie Jing and turned back home. After turning the car around, she turned around and said goodbye as usual, "Bye."
Xie Jing came back to his senses. He was still a little uncomfortable saying these two words, "Bye."
After Shen Jiangfu left, Xie Jing put away the water pipe, went home, picked up the cup of water that still had water and took a big sip.
This time, he felt awkward being alone with Shen Jiangfu. Why did he feel this way? It was as if something was leading him to a strange place. He was looking forward to it, but he was also not used to it. It seemed as if he was about to undergo a new change.
Suddenly, in a flash, Xie Jing thought of something in his mind. He quickly ran up to the living room on the second floor, sat in front of the drawing board and began to mix the paints.
Xie Jing kept thinking about the feeling just now. He wanted to catch it and keep it.
He drew for three hours and drew the general outline - from far to near, there was a small forest in the distance that was dark purple, and the largest gap between the trees revealed a dim sunset. The sunset was like a flame, and the scattered light penetrated into the gaps between the trees. The green saplings in the front seemed to be covered with a layer of light, and compared with the lush green on the ground, they looked much darker.
Xie Jing glanced at the time. It was almost three o'clock. He stopped painting and looked at the unfinished work in front of him for a long time.
He looked at the sunset between the treetops, and something in his heart seemed to light up like the sunset. But unlike the midday sun, which was so glaring that it made it hard to open your eyes, this sunset light was very bright and gentle, allowing people to look directly at it without being disgusted.
Xie Jing shuddered suddenly as he realized what this was.
After a while, he felt his mind going back and forth between sudden enlightenment and feeling as if he was sitting in a cloud.
As usual, he put his brushes and dye tray aside, stood up and went into the bathroom to wash his hands.
Xie Jing felt his heart beating faster. He rubbed his hands and thought about the thought that had just appeared. The sound of flowing water in his ears seemed to disappear.
The strange feeling became more and more obvious, and was immediately captured by Xie Jing the moment it appeared.
At this moment, Xie Jing's eyes seemed to be out of focus and he couldn't see what was in front of him. He couldn't believe it and asked himself, "Am I in love with her?"
No one spoke.
The only answer he got was the sound of flowing water and a clear face appearing in his mind.
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