Chapter 16 Portrait
"I'm fine. How about you? How are you?"
"I... am doing okay too! Are things going well in the village?" he asked.
"There were some troubles. But they've all been resolved!" Tian Xin said casually.
After not seeing each other for so long, Lin Zhou hadn't changed at all. A closer look revealed that, aside from a touch of maturity between his eyebrows, he looked just like he did back in school. When their gazes met, she could almost see the twinkling lights of stars in his eyes.
"I knew you could do it!" Lin Zhou said with a smile.
The two walked side by side. Lin Zhou was a head taller than him. She would look up at him from time to time, her pretty face smiling slightly, adding a bit of sunshine.
"How do you know?" She turned her head to look at the road, her hands unconsciously clenching the corner of her clothes.
"You're a fearless person. You can hold up the sky even if it collapses. How can you not handle the affairs of the village?" Lin Zhou turned around and stopped, lowered his head to look into her eyes, and said seriously: "The Tian Xin I know is a fearless......"
"What?"
"...Nothing? Let's go!" He suddenly stopped the last half of the sentence and turned away...
"Hey, finish what you're saying..." She hurriedly caught up with him.
"Aren't you going to buy wool? Come on, I'll take you there!"
…………
Why... do you always speak half the sentence?
After buying the yarn, the two of them found a place to have lunch. Lin Zhou talked about his experiences over the past two years.
Since graduation, he has been running his father's company in Gucheng.
He studied business administration in college, had his own understanding of management, and quickly took over from his father.
The business has been very stable in recent years, so he returned to the county from the ancient city and planned to start a business here.
"Starting a business?" Tian Xin was puzzled: "You have a wealthy family and a big business, do you still need to start a business?"
"No matter how big the family business is, it doesn't belong to me alone." Lin Zhou said, and looking at his expression, he seemed a little indifferent.
"What do you mean? Aren't you an only child?"
"Who told you that?" He turned his head and laughed.
"Liang Xiao! She used to talk about you so often in the dormitory that we got calluses from hearing it so often."
"Then she is so dishonest! I have a younger brother, a half-brother."
“…”
This...she...really doesn't know! Liang Xiao didn't say this!
So embarrassing!
She quickly lowered her head to eat. Lin Zhou glanced at her and said casually, "I guess I haven't told you this! Actually, my parents divorced when I was 10. My dad remarried and had a younger brother! He's 10 years old now."
He spoke very frankly, without any hesitation or embarrassment at all! Tian Xin could tell that he had already accepted this fact! Speaking of which, it was rare for a young man like him to be so motivated at this age and not be influenced by his family! She admired him for this!
"I'm sorry! I... didn't know!" She looked at Lin Zhou and apologized sincerely!
"It's okay, it's not a secret." Lin Zhou turned around and smiled at her, then continued, "So I want to start my own business and have my own career! Let's leave the family business to them!"
The "family" he mentioned didn't seem to include himself!
Tian Xin felt a little regretful about bringing up this topic. It was a bit like "bringing up something that is not relevant to the topic!"
He quickly changed the subject: "I just heard from the boss that you asked him to wait for me to come and tell you. What's going on? Are you looking for me?"
"Ah...that!" Lin Zhou touched his neck awkwardly after hearing this: "It's...nothing, I...just said it casually, I didn't expect him to take it seriously!
"Yeah?"
"Yes!" Lin Zhou regained his composure and turned to ask her: "What about you? Tell me about yourself! How have you been these past two years?
"Don't you know everything about me? When I was in school, I only ran back and forth between a few places: classroom - cafeteria - library - dormitory!"
"After I came back, nothing much changed. My home - village committee - working in the fields - occasionally visiting the factory."
"Then your life is much more exciting than mine. I really envy you." Lin Zhou said with a smile.
"Same here." Tian Xin sighed and replied with a smile: "I envy you for being able to succeed in the business world!"
"How do you say that?"
"In fact, my ideal before was to do business and make a lot of money. I wanted to take care of my brother and my mother, so that we could live a good life and never worry about money again."
"Then why, do you want to be a village official again?" Lin Zhou held his chin with one hand and turned to look at her.
Why?
"Maybe... he wants to be a hero!" Tian Xin said seriously.
"Hero? How do you say that?" Lin Zhou was puzzled.
“There is only one kind of heroism in this world, and that is to love life after seeing the truth of life.”
Tian Xin restrained her smile and said seriously, "Romain Rolland said so."
Lin Zhou didn't say anything, but looked at her quietly, his eyes bright.
She thought for a moment and explained, "Actually, I just want the villagers to suffer less. You've been to our place before, it's really tough! If I can do my best to improve everyone's plight, then why wouldn't I do it?"
She spoke with great seriousness. After listening, Lin Zhou said slowly, "I really admire you! You have a great love in your heart, which I can't compare to!"
"Come on! You're being too modest!"
After dinner, it was still early, so Lin Zhou suggested taking a stroll. The two of them walked slowly along the street to a small park on the corner.
It was the beginning of spring, a time of rebirth. The park was filled with a variety of flowers, and people were everywhere enjoying the blossoms. The two of them wandered around for a while, then sat down to watch the people taking pictures.
There was a photo booth in the corner where they could take all sorts of artistic photos. Lin Zhou looked at it for a while, then dragged her along to take a photo.
In the photo, the two stood side by side under a pear tree in full bloom, smiling brightly. The white pear blossoms on the tree fluttered down like snow, pure white and gorgeous.
This was the first photo of the two of them together, and it almost became the only one.
For years afterwards, Tian Xin regretted not taking more photos. She had made two copies of the photo, and she had slipped her own copy into her bag, but somehow, she couldn't find it when she got home.
Later, when Lin Zhou got into trouble, she often thought of this trip and this photo, but she could never find it.
"Do you want to draw a doll?" Lin Zhou pointed to a stall nearby that was drawing plaster dolls.
There were many stalls in the park selling plaster dolls, and many young people were playing. This was a game that required a lot of skill, and Tian Xin knew nothing about painting and had never tried it before.
"I can't do it!" She waved her hands repeatedly, refusing in her heart.
"It's okay, I'll teach you. I can do it."
Lin Zhou was full of confidence. He pulled Tian Xin to pick out a Sailor Moon plaster doll. They sat at a small table and started mixing the paint.
"Have you ever learned to paint? Your technique is very professional!" Tian Xin watched Lin Zhou use several different colors of paint and easily mix the color of the beautiful girl's hair in two strokes.
This is too... magical!
"Try it, it's very simple." Lin Zhou took a very thin small brush, dipped it in paint and handed it to Tian Xin: "I studied painting for a while in high school. At that time, I wanted to go to art school, but my family wouldn't let me."
“Oh, how do you draw?”
"Just like that, brush it along your hair. One brush, one dip."
He picked up another pen to demonstrate to Tian Xin, and the two of them finished drawing the hair together.
"I didn't realize that. Then can you draw portraits? The kind that sketches, with pencils."
"Yes! This is the basics of art!" Lin Zhou said calmly, "Do you like it? I'll draw one for you."
"Ah? Really?" Tian Xin asked in surprise.
As for art, she actually loves painting! But she is really not good at it, so she envy those who can paint.
"What's the big deal? Just wait, I'll be back soon!" Lin Zhou mixed the paint for her to paint clothes and turned to leave.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Wait a minute, I'll be back soon!" Lin Zhou ran quickly towards the shop on the side!
After a while, he came back with a small bag. She saw that it contained pencils, erasers, sketch paper and other drawing tools.
"Boss, can I borrow your drawing board and easel?" he asked.
"Sure!" The boss readily lent it to him.
He took out several pencils of different sizes and sharpened them, borrowed an easel, and taped a piece of sketch paper to the drawing board.
"How do I sit?" Tian Xin was a little at a loss.
"Just like that, be casual."
He took his easel, found a suitable light source, sat not far from her, and began to paint.
She was drawing a doll with a brush, and he was sitting not far away drawing her.
Such a scene has a bit of the artistic conception of "you are watching the scenery on the bridge, and the people watching the scenery are watching you under the bridge."
The years are quiet and good, that’s all.
How wonderful it would be if this moment could last forever!
"Okay, it's done!"
Tian Xin showed the painted doll to Lin Zhou. The sunlight shone through the leaves onto her face, making her facial features look even more delicate.
She had large eyes, a high nose bridge, and a slightly smiling mouth that tilted upward. Although her delicate round face was unpainted, it possessed a natural beauty like a lotus emerging from clear water.
Lin Zhou Yi looked up and stopped writing consciously!
His heart seemed to skip a beat! He stared at her blankly, with nothing else in his eyes!
"Look, I'm done drawing!" Tian Xin shook the doll in her hand and said to Lin Zhou.
"Oh...oh...I...I'm fine too!" Lin Zhou hurriedly withdrew his gaze, took the drawing paper from the drawing board and showed it to her.
In the picture, Tian Xin is sitting on a bench, painting obediently. Holding a paintbrush in one hand and a doll in the other, she is applying paint seriously.
She tucked her slightly curly short hair behind her ears, revealing her pretty profile.
"It's so beautiful! The picture of me looks much better than the real me!" Tian Xin couldn't contain her excitement and kept praising.
"I was worried that my drawing skills were too poor and I couldn't draw well!"
"No, not at all! It's great, very good, I like it very much, thank you! Lin Zhou!"
She really thinks it’s good! Really good… very good!
"You're welcome. Can you give me this Sailor Moon?" Lin Zhou asked, pointing at the doll in her hand.
"ah?"
This... is really rough!
Tian Xin was a little embarrassed: "If you... don't mind, then of course there's no problem!"
She slowly handed the doll to Lin Zhou!
"Thank you!" Lin Zhou took the doll and seemed very happy!
"Why are you being polite? I should be thanking you. I will keep this painting well!" She raised her hands to hold the painting high, looking up at it, not noticing Lin Zhou's eyes looking at her.
She didn't know how hard it was for Lin Zhou to come to this moment!
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