“What do you mean?”

The man did not answer. He simply turned and walked forward. She stood there, watching his tall, upright figure drift further away into a hazy white mist until he could no longer be seen.

It felt as though she would never see him again.

Ruan Mian startled awake from her dream. Clutching the quilt, she sat up. The chill outside the window was heavy. She hugged herself tightly, yet the melancholy she couldn’t show during the day was now illuminated by the moonlight, exposed and inescapable; it followed her like a shadow.

She could easily tell it was a dream because when he said goodbye to her, it was at dusk. The setting sun was still beyond the green mountains, and the red clouds were as clear as if they had been soaked in pure water.

He had stood very close to her, a spark of crimson light held between his slender fingers. His refined silhouette was faint behind a veil of white smoke; even the slight furrow of his brow was beautiful.

Everything at that moment was heart-stoppingly lovely.

However, one thing remained the same: whether in reality or in the dream, she had never received his answer.

I did these things only because of you, not because of anyone else. Do you understand?

With such poor comprehension skills, how did you manage a high score like 125?

In this cool autumn night where she could no longer sleep, she thought over those two sentences repeatedly. Slowly, she untangled the meaning; all his kindness toward her wasn’t because she had once saved his mother, but simply because of her.

In her memory, this was the first time he had said such things to her. Because it was so rare, she had to be extra, extra cautious.

Now, every word she picked apart was sweet in its every stroke.

Ruan Mian thought she had analyzed everything thoroughly, yet before the man left, he had said another thing that plunged her back into a daze.

“Ruan Mian, guard your heart.”

Guard… my heart? Did he mean for her not to fall for him?

But how was that possible?

How could she… possibly guard it?

Before him, she was ignorant of what it meant to like someone. After meeting him, she understood; he was the entire meaning of the word.

He was so good, so very good. Falling for him was as natural as eating or sleeping; it was an instinct.

He appeared when all the starlight in her world was dim. He picked her up in the rain and brought her home. He quietly covered her with a thin blanket. He refused to be her “backing” in the twilight, yet secretly resolved all her troubles. He attended her parents’ meeting. He gave her many plush dolls on her birthday to make her happy. He sat in a pool of warm light, making a lotus lamp for her…

This man might not be gentle most of the time, but the small bit of tenderness he did have was already enough for her.

During the time he was away, in the deep nights where longing became a disaster, she relied on these precious memories to feed the sense of loss that lingered through the long hours.

Unknowingly, dawn broke.

Ruan Mian brushed away the long hair clinging to her cheek and rubbed her eyes gently for a moment. She took her jacket from the bedside, threw it over her shoulders, and got out of bed to wash up.

She hadn’t told anyone at home about her transfer to study art. The only person she had an “obligation and necessity” to inform had been impossible to find, even a shadow of lately.

She likely knew the reason. Economic news was constantly broadcasting, and the mock political exams followed current events closely. This was a new round of economic crisis; the US dollar had depreciated significantly, and several foreign banks had already gone bankrupt. The situation was bleak.

Domestic enterprises were walking on thin ice. Most small businesses couldn’t hold on and were collapsing one after another.

Although Ruan Mian didn’t have a deep understanding of these matters, she had heard from Auntie Wan that Qi Yan was engaged in venture capital. It wasn’t hard to imagine how busy he would be, so she didn’t dare to disturb him.

After brushing her teeth, she washed her face with warm water and smiled at the person in the mirror.

He had his career, and she had her direction. Yet, like tree roots, they shared a secret intersection beneath the earth.

After preparing everything, Ruan Mian shouldered her bag and left early.

The cultural classes at school had stopped for her. Teacher Zhao had found her a private studio outside. She heard it was opened by an old professor from the Z University Academy of Fine Arts. His requirements were very high, and he didn’t easily take on students. This time, he had made an exception only for the sake of Teacher Zhao’s late father.

The studio was in a somewhat remote suburb, difficult to find. This was Ruan Mian’s first time here. This area was originally a residential district, but most of the houses had been rented out as art studios or workshops.

Colorful flyers were plastered everywhere on the walls. Ruan Mian stepped on one; it was a discount coupon for a hair salon, and the model’s hairstyle was so bizarre it made her want to laugh.

No wonder they had to use such deep discounts to attract customers.

Just then, a few students walked out of a small alley chatting and laughing. They bought pancakes and soy milk from a nearby breakfast stall, eating as they walked toward school.

Ruan Mian headed toward a small convenience store on the left, intending to ask for directions. As soon as she stepped inside, she was choked by a wave of heavy cigarette smoke.

A man who looked to be in his forties was sitting on a sofa smoking, his legs propped up on the coffee table. Judging by his appearance, he was likely the owner.

“Hello, I’d like to ask…”

The owner looked up and saw a beautiful young girl standing at the door, her voice soft and sweet. He quickly stood up and walked over. “Wencui Studio? See that small path? There, just follow that road…”

He was quite enthusiastic and ended up drawing her a route map, circling all the important landmarks.

The owner pressed his cigarette butt into the ashtray. “That studio doesn’t take many students, but in the future, which of them won’t get into the Z University Academy of Fine Arts, the Central Academy, or the Tsinghua Academy… or go abroad for further study? Every student who comes out of there is exceptionally successful.”

“Looking at your features and temperament, you’re bound to be a great artist in the future. Don’t doubt it; my judgment of people is very accurate. Back in the day…”

He spoke incessantly. Ruan Mian felt it was a bit rude to interrupt, so she simply listened quietly.

Fortunately, someone came in to buy something. She also took a bottle of mineral water, paid, thanked him again, and walked out to head toward her destination.

After walking about a dozen meters, Ruan Mian looked back at the convenience store. The owner had lit another cigarette and was exhaling clouds of smoke.

It was strange. She had seen many people smoke, but she instinctively felt that Qi Yan’s movements were the most elegant. She quickly concluded, perhaps in her heart, that everything related to him was the best.

Ruan Mian’s sense of direction wasn’t great. After a few turns, she finally found “Wencui Studio” deep in an alley.

The four glossy black characters on the plaque were unique; one could glimpse an extraordinary spirit in the brushstrokes. She heard they were written by that highly respected old professor.

Although she had left early, she had been delayed on the road and arrived late. When she walked in, several students were already at their easels, painting. They didn’t even lift their heads when someone entered, completely focused on their own worlds.

The scent of paint floated in the air.

Ruan Mian stepped back out and looked at the award-winning works posted on the walls in the corridor, one by one.

Half an hour later, someone pushed the door open from outside. She instinctively looked over, and her gaze froze.

A stunningly beautiful woman stood at the door, wearing a light purple Hanfu. A jade hairpin was tucked into her black hair. She walked closer, her posture graceful; she looked as if she had stepped out of a painting.

The beauty’s voice was also lovely, delicate with a hint of noble detachment. “Are you the new student who arrived today?”

Ruan Mian was stunned for a moment before nodding.

Her nose caught a faint, clear fragrance. It wasn’t the scent of perfume, but something indescribable.

Her intuition told her that this ethereal woman might be difficult to get along with.

“Ah!” The beauty suddenly quickened her pace and walked over.

Ruan Mian clearly saw that her face, which had been cold and glamorous just three seconds ago, was now filled with a smile. Before she could react, her hand was seized. “It’s you, it has to be you… Heavens, the professor told me last night to take on a student. I thought it was just a similar name, but I didn’t expect… how could it be you? Heavens, let me calm down first…”

Ruan Mian also really wanted to calm down.

They both calmed down for ten minutes.

The beauty held Ruan Mian’s shoulders. “Listen, I can’t teach you. I have to go talk to the professor…”

Ruan Mian was completely baffled. The woman released her and walked straight inside, muttering as she went. “Sigh, how can I teach my little idol…”

Ten minutes later, the beauty walked back out and handed her a glass of water.

“The professor hasn’t arrived yet. I’ll talk to him when he gets here.”

“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Jiang Chu. I’m the teaching assistant for the studio. I’m currently in my first year of graduate school at the Z University Academy of Fine Arts.”

Even her name was beautiful.

Ruan Mian turned the glass in her hand, her lips moving slightly. Another voice spoke first. “Your name is Ruan Mian. Ruan, as in the ‘Yuan’ with a left ear radical, Mian as in sleep. You’re a third-year student at Z High.”

Ruan Mian guessed she had her records, so she wasn’t surprised.

“You recently won the Special Prize in the city painting competition. Your winning work was a starry sky painting. It caused quite a stir because that painting was almost identical to a photograph. Before that, no one knew it was possible to paint that way.”

“When the host asked you where you got your inspiration, you said: ‘Because I cannot see this world clearly, I want to paint it clearly.'”

“How do you know all this?” Ruan Mian was incredibly surprised.

Jiang Chu smiled beautifully. “Would you believe me if I told you I’ve watched that video no less than ten times?”

She had studied oil painting as an undergraduate. When she saw that starry sky painting, she felt her worldview was shattered. How could someone paint oil paintings in such a way? Moreover, it was painted so beautifully; it was so lovely that it made one lose their focus, as if they would be sucked into that mysterious starry sky.

She heard the artist was only an eighteen-year-old high school girl. Alongside her shock, much admiration grew in her heart.

“Oh, the professor is here. Have a seat, I’ll go talk to him.”

Jiang Chu knocked and entered after receiving permission.

“Professor, you’re giving me too much credit. I’m not capable of teaching this student.”

“Why not?”

“You’ve been lecturing abroad recently, so you probably don’t know what happened.” Jiang Chu pulled up a video on her phone. “Look at this, and you’ll understand.”

After watching the video, the professor was silent for a long time. He sighed rarely. “Fortunately, I didn’t miss such a promising talent.”

Little Zhao hadn’t said much on the phone earlier, only that there was a student with a decent foundation who wanted to study art halfway through and asked if he could take her on.

He was close with Old Zhao, and hearing it was the former student of an old friend, he agreed without much hesitation.

He rarely taught students personally these years, so he intended to give her to Jiang Chu. She was his prized pupil, talented and perceptive. Ruan Mian would learn a lot from her; it would fulfill the request.

“How about this?” The professor quickly made a decision. “I will teach this student personally. However, I’ve been quite busy lately, so you will help look over her daily practice…”

“No problem.”

The professor was indeed busy. Ruan Mian only saw him once a week, and every time he came and went in a hurry. The teaching time was between ten minutes and half an hour. However, his vision was sharp, and his critiques were straight to the point. Although he was strict, she benefited greatly from studying under him.

The art joint examination mainly consisted of three items: sketching, speed-drawing, and coloring. Currently, what she needed most to overcome was the problem of picking up the brush again.

“Don’t be too anxious.”

Jiang Chu sat beside her with a plate of grapes. She looked at the sketch paper, picked up a grape, and fed it to her. “Is it sweet?”

Ruan Mian ate it and nodded. “Sweet.”

A moment later, she realized. “Senior Sister, did you wash and eat the grapes the studio bought for the still-life practice again?”

At first, she thought this great beauty would be difficult to get close to, but after a few days, that judgment was completely overturned. She was incredibly easy to get along with.

“Forgotten again?”

Ruan Mian quickly changed her address. “Sister Chu Chu.”

“Good girl.” Jiang Chu fed her another one. “There are plenty of grapes; eating a few is fine. The day before yesterday, a student complained that there were too many grapes for the still-life. We’re doing a good deed, helping lighten their burden. But we can’t sneak any more apples; there are only three left, and it would be too obvious.”

She always had her own set of skewed logic.

Ruan Mian found it funny. Every time she “sneaked food,” she would pull Ruan Mian along. Over time, she had become her “accomplice.”

“Sister Chu Chu, what if my hand still shakes when I hold the brush during the exam?”

Jiang Chu wiped her hands with a tissue and thought seriously. “Is there something that can make your heart calm? The kind of thing where, when you think of it, everything around you automatically disappears.”

There is.

“Try it and see if it works.”

Ruan Mian began to move the brush lightly back and forth on the paper. At this moment, she had forgotten all her techniques; she was simply painting with her heart.

She drew the eyes she liked most. They were narrow, with the corners turned up. Most of the time, the gaze was indifferent, but when he looked at her, a gentle smile would appear…

Where would he be at this time? London or Zurich?

Was he thinking of her just as she was thinking of him?

“Wow!” A cry of surprise suddenly came from her ear. Ruan Mian snapped back to her senses completely. She stared blankly at the familiar handsome face on the sketch paper, her breathing rapid and her heart pounding like a drum.

“Mianmian, you did it! I was watching from the side just now. Except for your hand shaking once at the beginning, it was very steady afterward. Look at these lines…”

Jiang Chu looked at the portrait sketch with admiration. “Sigh, I just realized this man is so handsome. Are you a fan? But I feel like I haven’t seen him before…”

“He’s not a celebrity,” Ruan Mian said softly.

Jiang Chu saw her blushing even to her ears and understood instantly. “Oh, oh, oh. Is this your… sweetheart?”

Sweetheart?

Ruan Mian’s heart felt as if it were soaked in honeyed water; every beat sent a wave of sweetness through her.

The person in her heart was currently far away. She was waiting for him to return.

Autumn turned to winter; the weather grew freezing.

The January art joint examination was approaching. Z High’s art class held a special parents’ meeting in advance. Every night before sleeping, Ruan Mian would think over his sentence: Perhaps in time to return for your next parents’ meeting.

How long had it been since he left? Sixty-seven days. It wasn’t long, but it wasn’t short either.

At the thought of meeting him, her mood could not be calmed. She wished she could drag all the time forward and burn it into ash.

On the day of the parents’ meeting, Ruan Mian wore a wool dress and a pair of brown short boots. Jiang Chu had helped her tie her hair, dressing her beautifully from head to toe.

She stood in the cold wind at the gate for more than two hours, but she didn’t see the man appear. Even when the meeting ended, he still hadn’t arrived…

She was frozen through. When she returned home and crawled into bed, she was still shivering. She held her phone and dialed that familiar number over and over; every time it connected, but no one answered.

The disappointment and sadness were diluted by worry. Had something happened to him?

So she dialed his assistant’s phone. This time, it connected quickly.

“Mr. Qi is still in a meeting…”

The assistant’s voice betrayed no anomaly. Perhaps it was also because the wind was too loud; she couldn’t hear clearly.

“Nothing happened to him, right?”

The assistant recalled the heart-stopping scene from last night. His palms were filled with cold sweat. He had been ordered multiple times; yes, ordered. The man lay in a pool of blood, nearly unconscious, yet he ordered the assistant absolutely not to let this young girl detect anything wrong.

The assistant looked at the still-lit surgical light not far away and tried to keep his voice steady. “He is still in the conference room. His phone is with me. Do you need me to have him take the call personally?”

Sure enough, the other end was silent for a moment before she quickly said, “No need.”

The assistant took a deep breath. In the end, he had utilized this young girl’s thoughtfulness and soft heart.

“If there’s nothing else, let’s leave it at that.”

“Okay. Thank you. Goodbye.”

Ruan Mian put her phone away. Her heart was still a mess, a bit uneasy, yet also a bit…

The next day was Christmas. She rode her bike to the studio early. After wasting a few sketches on the easel, the sun, which had been hidden behind thick clouds, finally emerged. A soft light filled the world.

A sliver of light rested on her fingers, swaying gently, as if trying to wipe away a small piece of charcoal dust on her pale skin.

Just then, the sound of chaotic footsteps approached. A girl from the studio pushed the door open, carrying breakfast. “Ruan Mian, there’s a man outside looking for you. He’s so handsome!”

Another girl behind her echoed excitedly, “Yes, especially the way he lowers his head to smoke…”

Ruan Mian could hear nothing else. She pushed aside the easel with a flurry of movement, rushed past them, and ran outside. A certain spot in her chest was screaming, nearly jumping out…

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