Fu Yushen was slightly dazed.
His gentle gaze passed through her, and after a few seconds of focus, he lowered his eyes and said,
"The National Art Exhibition is the most authoritative and largest top-tier exhibition in China's art world. To put it more colloquially, it's the competition with the highest gold content."
He explained in a low voice, his tone softer than usual, like a whisper between lovers, or like doting on a junior.
It was a blurred line, but ultimately it was all indulgence and pampering.
Wen Tingxue was slightly taken aback, partly by the content of his words and partly by his surprisingly strange tone.
She hadn't been painting for long, and she hadn't even undergone intensive training.
Except for the period from the latter half of her second year of high school to before preparing for her third year, when she studied systematically at her uncle's wife's house, she had been exploring on her own at other times.
Therefore, she wasn't very familiar with many things in the art world.
The National Art Exhibition sounded very impressive.
A place where masters gathered, she, a novice, should probably stay away.
"I... I'll wait a few more years to try," the young girl said, beating a hasty retreat.
Fu Yushen chuckled, "Then you'll have to wait another three years."
Wen Tingxue: "..."
Three years seemed so long.
"But I really am..." the young girl hesitated, puffing out her cheeks.
The brush in her hand began to doodle on the white paper.
Fu Yushen glanced at her movements and said, "Starting next June, with award-winning works and works for the Beijing exhibition selected in December, there's plenty of time."
"Next June?" Hearing the timeframe, the young girl's spirits immediately lifted, her eyes shining, "Then I can give it a try?"
A newborn calf isn't afraid of a tiger. Whether she wins or not, she won't have regrets.
"Mhm," Fu Yushen took the brush from her hand and said as he corrected her work, "Don't always think about giving up.
"Sometimes, being bold isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you don't understand something, or can't figure something out, you can always ask me."
He put down the brush, and Napa pushed him towards another student.
Wen Tingxue stared blankly at his upright, straight shoulders, then mustered her courage and said, "I'll try!"
Picking up her pencil again, she found that the lines she had idly doodled had been given form and structure by him, as lifelike as a leaping leopard.
"!"
Wen Tingxue looked at him in astonishment. In the dappled light filtering through the window, he was critiquing a student's painting, speaking gently, his expression serene, exuding an ethereal aura.
Wen Tingxue twirled her pencil, thinking that such a top-tier master would be hard to seek guidance from once he left school.
It was better to seize the opportunity, while he was still teaching her, and bravely attempt the National Art Exhibition.
She didn't aim to win, just to gain some experience.
-
After a busy period, it was Yu Wenli's birthday.
It happened to be a weekend, with bright weather and a pleasant breeze.
Wen Tingxue, carrying the prepared gift, rode her electric scooter to the Conservatory of Music to find him.
As soon as she reached the school gate, she saw a beautiful long-haired woman holding roses and confessing her feelings to him.
Yu Wenli was obviously taken aback. After a moment's pause, he calmly and distantly refused,
"I'm sorry, I have a girlfriend."
"You have a girlfriend?!" the girl's eyes widened in disbelief, "No way, why haven't I seen your girlfriend come to find you?"
Although he wore a small rubber band on his wrist, they had observed that in nearly two months, no girl had come to the school to see him!
This didn't look like someone with a girlfriend at all!
It was clearly a lie.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have dared to confess.
After all, such an outstanding and handsome young man would be hard to find if she didn't pursue him now.
"..."
The nascent spark of anger in Wen Tingxue was instantly extinguished.
Fine.
She awkwardly touched her nose. She really hadn't visited him much.
If it weren't for his birthday, she wouldn't know when she would have come to the Conservatory of Music.
It seemed... she was indeed quite neglectful.
She wondered if he would be angry.
Just as the young girl was lost in thought, the boy's clear, ice-like voice came from ahead.
"Oh."
Yu Wenli responded lightly, "I'm quite attached to my girlfriend, so I always go to her."
The girl: "..."
The onlookers: "..."
Was this considered being eager to eat dog food?
"Do you really have a girlfriend?" The girl remained skeptical, "Or are you politely rejecting me?"
You couldn't blame her for overthinking.
Yu Wenli was known as the "Iceberg Flower" of the academy.
He was usually incredibly unapproachable, how could he be clingy?
Besides, with his looks and demeanor, would he need to cling to a girlfriend?
Wouldn't it be the other way around, with his girlfriend clinging to him?
He was a magnet for admirers; shouldn't he keep a close eye on them? Why hadn't his girlfriend shown up for so long to declare her ownership?
Yu Wenli had initially been worried that the young girl, being her first time, might get lost and he wanted to meet her partway to prevent her from getting lost with her confused expression.
He hadn't expected to run into this situation, and being repeatedly questioned, his temper quickly flared.
"You..." His completely chilled gaze indicated that what he was about to say wouldn't be pleasant.
However, the moment the words left his lips, he saw the young girl in the distance, sitting on a pink electric scooter, her head bowed, lost in thought.
His heart instantly sank, but his expression softened.
"Excuse me, please make way, my girlfriend is here to pick me up."
His exceptionally pleasant voice made everyone instinctively clear a path.
Yu Wenli bypassed the girl holding roses and strode towards his beloved.
His pace was faster than usual.
The daydreaming Wen Tingxue only looked up vaguely when a shadow fell over her. Her face, framed by a pink helmet, looked even more bewildered and adorable.
"You..." she blinked her large, watery eyes in surprise, "When did you see me?"
"Just now."
Yu Wenli, his expression indifferent, lifted her collar, motioning for her to sit behind him.
Sensing his displeasure, Wen Tingxue obediently took out her helmet from under the seat and handed it to him, complaining softly.
"You were the one being confessed to, why are you taking it out on me?"
Yu Wenli glanced at her, "What are you doing sitting here?"
"Reflecting."
"..." An unexpected answer, Yu Wenli was stunned for a second, "Reflecting on what?"
Wen Tingxue looked up and said seriously, "I haven't been to your school, and I haven't treated your roommates to a meal."
"..."
Yu Wenli thought she was upset because he was being confessed to, but was afraid to speak up, so she was sitting there like a scared quail.
He hadn't expected her to be thinking about this.
"Silly," Yu Wenli patted her little head through the helmet and smiled, "I don't mind."
"But I do," the young girl insisted, staring at him, "How about you pick a date, and I'll treat your roommates to a meal."
Yu Wenli slowly put on his helmet. Wen Tingxue stood on tiptoe to help him adjust it. He leaned down to spare her the effort.
"No need for such trouble, how about tonight? I'll call Jiang Yi out, and we can all get together."
Yu Wenli hadn't told her that Lan Shuo and Kang Wei were his roommates.
He didn't want her to worry.
"Just one person?" Wen Tingxue was surprised.
Yu Wenli said, "The other two are busy and basically not on campus. We don't interact much usually."
"Oh." Wen Tingxue didn't doubt him; such things were common in art schools.
After the electric scooter left, the crowd finally came back to their senses.
"I bet she's the real girlfriend! I've never seen Yu Wenli be so amiable to anyone."
"Is that amiability? That's outright obedience!"
"Setting aside other things, that pink helmet, a non-girlfriend wouldn't be able to put it on him, the vibe is too mismatched."
"Actually, I think it looks quite good, a cool male god being cute?"
"Suddenly I remember that post about rabbit ears on the forum a while ago, I didn't believe it then, but now I do."
"I believe it too."
-
After grocery shopping and returning home, Yu Wenli remembered to settle the accounts.
"Wait a moment," he hooked his arm around the waist of the young girl who was about to go into the kitchen.
Wen Tingxue sank back into his embrace.
She lowered her eyes and asked, not understanding, "What's wrong?"
Yu Wenli lifted his eyelids to look at her, the tear mole at the corner of his eye particularly captivating at this moment, "Don't you have anything you want to say to me?"
"Say? Ah," the young girl suddenly realized, her voice filled with joy, "Happy birthday, boyfriend! Be happy every day!"
"..." Yu Wenli was silent for a moment, then reminded, "Confess your love."
"Huh?" Confess what?
A few seconds later, Wen Tingxue realized, hugged him tightly, and kissed him fiercely, saying, "It's not that I don't care, it's that I truly believe in you."
Seeing the person they liked being confessed to, no one could remain unaffected.
She didn't speak, didn't mention it, didn't make a fuss because he gave her enough security.
She always believed in her place in his heart.
Her sweet, soft voice successfully dispelled Yu Wenli's slight displeasure, "That's more like it."
He pinched her chin and kissed her again, asking, "Where's my gift?"
Speaking of which, Wen Tingxue quickly took out a lifelike rose from the bag.
"Here! I'll give you a rose that will never fade, just like my love for you, long-lasting and unwavering!"
Yu Wenli reached out and played with the velvet flower in her palm, a smile slowly forming on his lips, "Unwavering? I can't do that."
Wen Tingxue: "???"
"Are you trying to rebel?" the young girl pouted and twisted his ear.
Just as she was contemplating how to dismember him, he laughed and said, "My love for you today is more than yesterday, and tomorrow will be more than today. How can it be unwavering? It's clearly growing every day."
There might not be an update at midnight. It will be posted together during the day, most likely in the afternoon.