“What’s wrong, not accepting it?”
Lin Yi turned off her phone and placed it on the windowsill.
She leaned against the wall, wearing a sorrowful expression.
Every frown and every furrow of her brow made Jian Shuye’s gaze linger on Lin Yi’s face.
Lin Yi hugged her own chest and let out a long sigh.
“At first, I just thought, Jian Shuye… no, Shuye, you were a mysterious young lady from a wealthy family.”
“When we first met at the badminton hall, you were standing under the scoreboard. Your face was so stunning it seemed to outshine the colors of the sunset. I thought at the time that there probably wasn’t anything in this world more beautiful than that.”
Lin Yi’s fingers traced the pattern on the wallpaper.
“I actually really looked forward to doing club activities with you, Shuye. Whether it was the Art Club or the Literature Club, it all fit my impression of you—fresh, otherworldly, untainted by worldly affairs.”
“Right up until you told me you wanted me to be your private model, I was actually hesitating about whether to give up joining the badminton team. Although money shouldn’t be the pillar defining our relationship, in the end, it still…”
Lin Yi paused, seemingly engaged in an internal struggle.
“Now, I’ve realized it. This isn’t a normal classmate relationship, nor is it a normal employer-employee relationship. Because classmates don’t use money to trade time, and in an employer-employee relationship, the superior would never ask the subordinate to take their clothes off!”
Lin Yi turned her head, her exhaled words brimming with emotion.
“So stop this. I’m not that kind of person. Money and such… it’s just too insulting to what’s between you and—”
She stopped mid-sentence because she realized Jian Shuye wasn’t listening to her at all.
The beautiful girl in the white dress before her was completely focused on her painting.
Even the tiny dust motes in the light seemed to avoid her body, leaving only that faint glow.
Wouldn’t it be nice if time just stopped here?
Lin Yi didn’t even dare to breathe heavily.
She just leaned against the windowsill, posing as if ready to be plucked.
‘This is fine,’ she thought.
‘This is probably the final line.’
Indeed, for the sake of art, one must still sacrifice certain important things that belong to themselves.
Especially for a charm A beauty like Jian Shuye, right?
Half an hour later, Jian Shuye leaned back and put down her brush.
Lin Yi, meanwhile, was starting to fight to keep her eyes open.
“Work is over.”
Jian Shuye stood up.
“You can put your clothes back on.”
Lin Yi opened her eyes and rubbed them.
“O-over… is it over?”
“Mhm.”
“I want to see… what you painted…”
Jian Shuye didn’t refuse.
She took a step back, effectively clearing a path for Lin Yi.
Lin Yi rubbed her arms, feeling a bit cold, but she wanted to see the painting first.
…
“Seen enough?”
Jian Shuye twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.
“What’s that expression on your face?”
“Wait.”
Lin Yi squinted at the painting, then looked down at her own body.
“Why is the girl in the painting… not wearing anything, and why are her breasts so huge?”
Jian Shuye pointed to her own head.
“A true artist, even without the conditions, will fill in the details the artwork requires within their mind.”
Lin Yi was puzzled.
“Is this me?”
“It’s you.”
“This is absolutely not me!”
Lin Yi was filled with grief and indignation.
“When I didn’t take my clothes off, you didn’t paint me. After I took my clothes off, you still didn’t paint me. So didn’t I take them off for nothing?!”
Jian Shuye showed no remorse whatsoever.
“You didn’t get any less money.”
“Hmph!”
Lin Yi took out her phone and fiercely pressed to accept the red envelope.
2,200 yuan received.
1,200 was for two hours of work.
The extra 1,000 could be considered compensation for emotional distress!
A sad barrier of money now stood between her and Jian Shuye.
“Why are you angry?”
Jian Shuye moved her pink feet, walking over to stand before Lin Yi.
“Huh?”
The girl in the dress slowly leaned closer to Lin Yi’s somewhat flustered face.
She extended a hand stained with a little paint and pressed it against the tip of Lin Yi’s small nose.
“Is it because you feel wronged… for not being used?”
“That’s not it!” Lin Yi protested. “I just…”
“Could it be that you’d only feel satisfied if I did this?”
As she spoke, Jian Shuye’s hands moved to rest on Lin Yi’s shoulders.
Simultaneously, she whispered into Lin Yi’s ear, “Do you want me to personally take them off? Is that the idea?”
Her breath, her hair, her collarbone—they all grew clearer in Lin Yi’s vision.
The wandering fingertips on her skin stirred her sensitive nerves.
The warmth at her ear sent tingles from the outside all the way to her heart.
No, no.
I’m going to melt…
Lin Yi, since the day she was born, had never been treated like this before.
In her panic, she extended both hands and pushed away Jian Shuye, who was almost lying on top of her.
Fleeing to the clothes rack, Lin Yi swiftly put on her white shirt in a few moves, then draped her navy-collar coat over her shoulders, glaring warily at Jian Shuye.
Jian Shuye clasped her hands behind her back.
Without saying anything, she picked up the still-wet painting from the easel.
“Anyway, your task for today is complete.”
In front of Lin Yi, without the slightest hesitation, she folded the painting several times and casually tossed it into the trash can.
Lin Yi looked at the trash can and asked sullenly, “Doesn’t that mean wasting these past few hours?”
“I don’t feel it was a waste.”
Jian Shuye sat on the bed and picked up her phone.
“How I allocate my energy is my own freedom. You’re overstepping by caring about that.”
She was right.
The thought processes of the wealthy were different.
Besides, what Lin Yi wanted to get, Jian Shuye hadn’t withheld.
How she handled the painting was her freedom.
Lin Yi fastened the buttons on her coat and looked out the window.
“Today… you seemed to know I was here.”
“Mhm.”
Jian Shuye crossed her legs, her crystal-clear toes wiggling in the sunlight.
“It wasn’t hard to find out your whereabouts.”
“I thought young ladies from rich families were all very busy. Like having painting lessons, etiquette classes, foreign language lessons, piano lessons on weekends and such.”
Jian Shuye shook her head.
“I finished learning all those things before I even started junior high, and graduated with top marks.”
“Then… why are you still hanging around the club building? Clearly, these hobby-type clubs offer no further improvement for you.”
“…”
Jian Shuye pinched her chin with one hand, seemingly pondering the question.
After a moment, Jian Shuye looked up.
“While I have no obligation to answer your question, what I can tell you is that I’m not seeking to join a club. I’m gathering material.”
“Gathering material?”
Lin Yi remembered what Yan Jianxing had told her that day—about this person hanging around the badminton hall for several days to gather material.
“The creation of art can never completely escape reality, and school is a microcosm of society. So, I like gathering material among all of you.”
Wow, that’s really looking down from on high.
Lin Yi asked, “Aren’t you in the Art Club?”
“Of course not. The current Art Club president wanted to hand the position to me, but I refused.”
Jian Shuye sounded dismissive.
“Their average level isn’t sufficient to make me stay.”
“So you don’t have a club?”
“Mhm.”
Jian Shuye placed her hands on her thighs.
“If I had to say, I’d rather form my own club. The student council would approve it one hundred percent.”
Such big talk, but Lin Yi felt it was probably true.
Glancing at the time, Lin Yi felt she should head back.
As if sensing what Lin Yi was thinking, Jian Shuye lifted her chin slightly.
“You can go back anytime. Tomorrow is Sunday, I won’t call you.”
“Let’s be clear. If there are any more of these… these kinds of modeling jobs that are hard to accept in the future,” Lin Yi pouted, “I’ll choose to quit.”
“That is your freedom.”
Jian Shuye lowered her head to look at her phone, not bidding Lin Yi farewell.
Only after the sound of the door closing did Jian Shuye look up.
She glanced toward the trash can.
The folded painting inside had disappeared.
The ultimate solution to all problems, Miss Jian Shuye, allowed the corners of her mouth to lift by about ten degrees.
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