He Rou stared blankly at the white paper on the drawing board, her mind somewhat empty.
The brush in her hand didn’t know where to start.
She didn’t know how to draw, and she didn’t even know how to mix the three primary colors squeezed onto the palette.
The sky in the distance was still covered in dark clouds, especially with the strong wind blowing wildly.
In their eyes at that moment, it looked like a scene of the apocalypse.
Soon, the wind grew stronger, and even the drawing board began to tremble slightly on its easel.
“The wind is already strong. The heavy rain will come soon. I’m going down now. If you think you can draw, then I’ll give you one day. If you can’t, then please help me move these tools downstairs. The key to the rooftop is in the box under the easel. Goodbye.”
Luo Yun gently brushed her flying hair, said her farewell to He Rou, and left the rooftop.
She didn’t care how long He Rou would stay here, no matter how strong the wind blew or when the heavy rain would come.
She only wanted to know if this person would remember what she said, because that set of drawing equipment had been with her for quite a while.
He Rou didn’t turn her head to look, because she wanted to maintain a little dignity.
bang
After the sound of the door closing reached her ears, He Rou finally couldn’t hold it together anymore and started to regret.
Drawing?
How could she possibly do that?
She didn’t even know how to hold the brush.
He Rou could only grip the somewhat thick handle with the posture of holding a pen.
‘It all feels pretty much the same…’
Although she was alone now, the situation was still grim.
The wind grew stronger, the sky grew darker, and before the rain even fell, she could already smell the dampness.
“…”
He Rou still didn’t know how to start.
Just as she was scratching her head in frustration, she caught a glimpse of the half-finished painting that Luo Yun had discarded underneath the easel.
To be fair, the quality of that tape was really good.
Luo Yun had just casually thrown it there to make room for He Rou, and it still hadn’t come off despite the strong wind blowing for so long.
He Rou didn’t know how to draw, but she was somewhat confident in coloring an object.
“Just now I mocked Luo Yun, saying that her painting was unrealistic and presumptuous. Since that’s the case, I’ll just paint according to the current scenery.”
So she had an idea. With an idea came motivation, and with motivation, the problem was no longer a problem but a goal.
The paint box was right next to the chair.
He Rou couldn’t understand why there were only three colors on the palette when there were countless colors in the box—more than she could count on all the fingers and toes on her body.
Creation in progress…
He Rou didn’t know how much time had passed.
She only knew that just as she finished covering the blue sky and white clouds with gray paint, the rain came.
The rain was strange.
The entire family of dark clouds had crowded over this city, and the gloom had been building up all day.
Anyone who saw it would surely think that the sky and earth were about to have a fierce battle, but that didn’t happen.
The rain came politely at first—a few sparse drops gently touching the unsuspecting humans.
He Rou was standing on the rooftop.
Behind the drawing board was an endless expanse of dark clouds, so although the rain came stealthily, she still noticed it.
Looking at the scene, she realized she couldn’t stay here any longer.
Getting drenched was a minor issue, but having her first painting ruined was a major one.
Although He Rou packed up quickly, no matter how fast she was, she couldn’t outpace the change in weather.
The raindrops soaked the earth and wet the city.
The sneaky raindrops grew bolder.
The painting was still soaked by the rain.
Just as He Rou didn’t know what to do, a white umbrella suddenly appeared above her head.
“Why are you still here? I clearly warned you it was going to rain.”
A somewhat impatient voice came from behind her.
He Rou turned around and saw Luo Yun holding an umbrella, the hand gripping the handle tilted slightly toward her.
“I… I didn’t notice.”
“Hey, did you finish painting? Let me see.”
Luo Yun’s attention was now entirely on the painting behind her, and she didn’t pay much attention to what He Rou said.
“No… It’s just a half-finished product.”
He Rou used her body to block the painting.
There were still many traces of Luo Yun’s brushstrokes on it, and she didn’t want the person behind her to know that she had only filled in some colors on that half-finished piece.
Even though most of it was covered, her pride didn’t want this person to know that her first painting was stolen.
“It’s actually not bad. Why won’t you let me see?”
He Rou was shorter than her, so from Luo Yun’s perspective, although the painting was partially blocked, most of its content was still visible.
“Not bad?”
He Rou was puzzled by her words.
She had just grayed it out and casually sketched a few lines according to her own ideas.
So she stepped back a little and finally saw her own painting.
Because the paint wasn’t dry yet, and some white clouds hadn’t been fully covered, and the two of them hadn’t been sparing with the paint—it was very thick—the raindrops didn’t soak through the paper but instead made the paint drip down like teardrops.
The raindrops mixed with white and gray, forming perfect droplets on the painting. Luo Yun’s buildings were still on the canvas, perfectly matched with He Rou’s rain.
Luo Yun wanted to see it clearly, so she reached out, grabbed He Rou’s wrist, and pulled her into her arms, revealing the complete painting.
“!”
He Rou’s face flushed as she stayed in Luo Yun’s embrace.
She wasn’t embarrassed by romantic feelings between people; she was embarrassed that her laziness might be discovered.
“This is my painting, isn’t it…”
“So what if it is?” He Rou’s voice grew softer.
“Didn’t you say my painting was ugly?”
“But under my hand, didn’t it become better?”
He Rou argued.
“Yeah, it did. Then…”
Luo Yun praised without hesitation, but before she could finish her sentence, a loud thunderclap came from the distance.
rumble
He Rou was clearly startled by the sound, and fear overwhelmed her body.
The discomfort of being in Luo Yun’s arms turned into a tight embrace.
“Let’s go downstairs. You take the drawing board.”
“What about the rest?”
“They’re already soaked. I’ll have Mom replace them with a new set.”
Luo Yun said it casually.
These things had indeed accompanied her for a long time, but her parents had never taught her to use inferior items.
Although she said she didn’t want them, the real reason she came up with the umbrella was to see if He Rou had brought her things up.
She just never expected that He Rou had actually painted something.
If she had known this would be the outcome, Luo Yun wouldn’t have brought just one umbrella, because two people squeezing together was still a bit uncomfortable.
The rain soon grew heavier.
How could one umbrella shield two people from the wind and rain?
Because He Rou was holding the painting, the person behind her kept tilting the umbrella toward her the whole time.