Chapter 52: It’s too erotic!

Jiang Ling held her phone, circling the wooden cabin before finally sitting back down in front of the door.

Lu Yuyao appeared in the frame again, sitting by the pond.

Only then did Ji Qingyan notice her movements; she seemed to be writing or drawing something.

Curious, Ji Qingyan asked, “What is Lu Yuyao doing?”

“She is… working on an assignment for the Fine Arts Club. She is quite interested in painting, and we came here today because she wanted to paint the lotuses.”

Jiang Ling made up an excuse.

She couldn’t let Ji Qingyan know that Lu Yuyao was actually drawing a “self-portrait” of her.

“I see. Can I see it when she is finished?”

Ji Qingyan tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

It was a simple gesture, yet it radiated intellectual elegance.

Ji Qingyan was very interested in things like calligraphy and painting.

Moreover, she felt like she and Lu Yuyao got along well enough that the request didn’t seem out of place.

“We’ll see. If she doesn’t do a good job, she might be too shy to let you look.”

Ji Qingyan nodded.

That made sense.

She understood a beginner’s shyness regarding their debut work.

When she had first submitted a story to a novel magazine years ago, she hadn’t dared to use her real name either.

“Are you staying home for the holidays? You didn’t go out to have fun?”

Jiang Ling asked, looking at Ji Qingyan’s background and clothing on the screen.

She was certain the girl was at home.

Ji Qingyan’s family background was certainly not bad.

Even through the screen, Jiang Ling could see how spacious the balcony was.

Recalling that all the supplies for the club were bought by Ji Qingyan out of her own pocket—and were all brand names—Jiang Ling suddenly realized something.

‘It seems I’m surrounded by little rich girls,’ she thought.

“No, I didn’t really want to go out,”

Ji Qingyan answered bluntly, which was very much in character for her.

After a brief pause, a look of hesitation crossed Ji Qingyan’s face.

She added, “How much longer will you be away?”

Jiang Ling thought for a moment and said, “We’ll probably stay for two more days.”

“I see. When you get back, do you want to go out for a walk together?”

Ji Qingyan’s tone was flat, but the way her eyes darted around betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

This was the first time she had ever invited someone out.

“Sure.”

Jiang Ling agreed readily, but then a sudden thought struck her.

“Should we invite Xia Yu and the others? We could make it a club activity.”

‘This idiot.’

For the first time, such a thought crossed Ji Qingyan’s mind.

Jiang Ling chuckled, seemingly thinking her suggestion was great.

However, Ji Qingyan’s eyes lowered, and her voice became somewhat strained.

“You can contact them if you want. I don’t care.”

“Do you really not care?”

Jiang Ling burst into laughter.

Ji Qingyan froze, realizing Jiang Ling was teasing her.

Her cheeks immediately flushed crimson, and her gaze turned shy.

“Alright, it’ll just be the two of us,”

Jiang Ling said with a smile.

“I’m not that close with Xia Yu and Ding Rui anyway. I feel like it would be a bit awkward if we all went out together.”

“Whatever works for you,”

Ji Qingyan said stubbornly, seemingly still annoyed by Jiang Ling’s teasing.

Jiang Ling didn’t call her out on it and simply kept smiling.

“Then it’s settled. Just wait for me to get back, and I’ll contact you then.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll hang up now then.”

For some reason, Jiang Ling’s tone sounded a bit panicked.

She turned off the camera first, but Ji Qingyan didn’t pay much attention to it and simply replied.

“Okay, bye-bye.”

The tone signaling the end of the call rang out, but Ji Qingyan remained holding her phone.

She reached up and touched her face, which felt slightly hot.

‘I feel so happy. What should I do?’

Ji Qingyan picked up Da Ju, who was lying on the floor and about to fall asleep.

The cat looked up at her in confusion and let out a soft meow.

The smile in the girl’s eyes deepened.

Ji Hai had been standing in the living room for a long time.

Even the sound of him opening the door earlier hadn’t startled Ji Qingyan.

Seeing the smile on her face, he felt nothing but shock.

It had been a very long time since he had seen her smile like that.

‘Someone invited Qingyan out to play?’

Ji Hai had only heard the last few sentences.

Because he was standing at a distance, he couldn’t identify the gender of the person on the other end of the call.

However, out of a father’s instinctive sense of crisis, he was certain it was a boy.

Since middle school, Ji Qingyan had rarely had any friends.

Moreover, after what happened in her first year of high school, she became even more indifferent toward making friends.

Someone was definitely trying to capture his dear daughter’s heart at a time like this.

The more Ji Hai thought about it, the more certain he felt.

‘Qingyan is still holding her phone with such a happy expression, completely lost in the tenderness that person has laid out for her!’

If Jiang Ling knew she was being treated as an imaginary enemy by Ji Hai, she would definitely complain about how wild his imagination was.

To avoid being caught eavesdropping, Ji Hai crept back into his room.

He began to ponder a solution.

Suddenly, his expression wavered.

He wasn’t sure if he should interfere.

He had already made a mistake once, and the price was that Ji Qingyan was no longer close to him.

If he failed again… Ji Hai sat on the edge of the bed and covered his face with his hands.

Only a deep sigh remained in the room.

***

Jiang Ling had hung up because if she had stayed on for even one more second, the lewd art Lu Yuyao was drawing would have appeared on the screen.

“Hey, you scared me.”

Fortunately, Jiang Ling had turned off the camera fast enough.

She breathed a sigh of relief and glared at Lu Yuyao, who had suddenly rushed over to her side.

Lu Yuyao felt wronged, her eyes looking pitiful.

She had clearly just finished the drawing and wanted Jiang Ling to see it right away.

“Who were you talking to?”

Jiang Ling’s words had also piqued her curiosity, so she asked.

“Ji Qingyan, our club president. You met her last time.”

“Oh, Sister Qingyan.”

Lu Yuyao simply nodded after hearing the name and said nothing else.

Instead, she excitedly held the tablet up to Jiang Ling’s face.

“The first drawing is done. See what you think.”

“So fast?”

Jiang Ling was a bit surprised as she took the tablet.

She had heard from other people online that commissioning a single drawing usually took at least three days.

Lu Yuyao had only started last night and was already finished.

After marveling at Lu Yuyao’s talent for a moment, Jiang Ling looked seriously at the image on the tablet.

She had experienced Lu Yuyao’s previous works before; without exception, they were all top-tier masterpieces.

One very impressive thing was that Lu Yuyao’s drawings always made people’s imaginations run wild at a single glance.

Under the warm sun, a blonde beauty wore a sundress and low-top canvas shoes.

The sun hat on her head was slightly tilted.

The white fabric across her chest was stretched taut and full, looking soft and delicious.

Her jade-like arms were tucked behind her back, and her face was lit with a mischievous smile.

It was a very youthful and vibrant scene.

Jiang Ling couldn’t help but marvel again at Lu Yuyao’s superb skills.

Without relying on erotic clothing or exposing large amounts of skin, her art style naturally made the characters feel incredibly risqué.

Even a girl full of such youthful energy made one feel a surge of desire.

‘Is this me? It really is.’

Jiang Ling observed the image closely, her cheeks flushing slightly.

Her gaze moved back and forth over the graceful body of the girl in the painting, but it always seemed to linger on the considerable softness of her chest.

Jiang Ling excused herself in her mind, blaming Lu Yuyao for drawing it so provocatively.

Still, looking at a drawing where she was the model felt like a very strange sensation.