Chapter 3: But I Refuse
Lu Li noticed an empty lunchbox beside Wen Hupo and thought to himself, not without a hint of malice: So even the ethereal Miss Shirley needs to eat? He had wanted to complain about this in his past life. Every time he went out to eat with Wen Hupo, she would list all the things she wouldn’t eat: hot pot was too greasy, barbecue was too heavy, Western food wasn’t authentic. “Then what do you want to eat?” “Anything.”
´Anything´. This one word was a man’s curse.
“What do you want?” Wen Hupo was drawing on her laptop, a pink one, connected to a digital tablet. Lu Li peeked and saw that she was only working on a black and white sketch, determining the lighting.
“About the use of this classroom…” Before Lu Li could finish, Wen Hupo quickly replied, “No.” She was always like this, anticipating what others were going to say before they even spoke, always responding before they even finished their sentence.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to discuss it yesterday?”
“That was before you tricked me.” Wen Hupo said this with a straight face, but Lu Li could still sense the resentment radiating from her. “Now I don’t want to talk anymore. Unless… unless you agree to one condition.”
Here it comes, Wen Hupo’s classic push-and-pull tactic. She always set a low psychological threshold in her words and then offered a condition that was above her bottom line. If you directly said you wanted to open a window, people would refuse. But if you said you wanted to tear down the whole house, they might find opening a window not so unacceptable after all.
If Lu Li agreed so easily, he would truly be manipulated by Wen Hupo. He had known her for twenty years, how could he fall for such a simple trick? Moreover, the current Wen Hupo was still quite naive.
“I refuse. We can just share this classroom.” Wouldn’t it be nice to have a beautiful blonde girl to look at while organizing club activities?
Wen Hupo wasn’t surprised by his answer. She sighed softly. “You’re truly shameless, Lu Li.” Wen Hupo always hit the nail on the head. This description of “shameless” fit Lu Li perfectly, like an arrow hitting the bullseye. Lu Li felt a bit ashamed himself, but he maintained a calm expression. “Miss Wen Hupo, what do you think?”
She didn’t want to continue this topic and turned back to her drawing. Lu Li tactfully waited by the side, watching Wen Hupo draw with interest. When she drew on the computer, she always started with a black and white sketch, then determined the lighting and shadows, before adding a base color and further refining the details. This was slightly different from the steps of traditional painting. She also had a habit of using a large canvas and very fine brushstrokes to depict the details of the image.
“Is there something wrong with the anatomy?” Lu Li suddenly asked.
“Where?”
Lu Li pointed at the chest of the girl in the drawing. “From this perspective, the ribcage should be shifted to the right, and the left side of the body should completely cover the right side. Your current drawing looks like the head is turned sideways, but the body is facing the camera directly…”
Wen Hupo nodded thoughtfully. “Yes…” She suddenly realized, “You know how to draw?”
Actually, he didn’t really know how to draw. But he had often watched her draw in his past life, and naturally, he developed some ability to critique.
“No, I don’t.” Lu Li was a humble person. He would say “I’m okay” for things he was good at, “I don’t know how” for things he wasn’t good at, and “I’m terrible at it” for things he was completely incompetent at. “I just used to watch a close friend draw a lot.”
“Was your friend good at drawing?”
“Yes…” Lu Li nodded reminiscently. “She was very talented. She even held exhibitions in China and abroad. They say that paintings aren’t worth much when the artist is alive, but she achieved success at a young age.”
“Holding exhibitions doesn’t necessarily mean she’s talented. Maybe she’s just good at socializing.” Wen Hupo corrected him softly.
“She’s not good at socializing at all. She’s a very aloof person, rarely speaks.” Lu Li looked at Wen Hupo pointedly.
They chatted casually. Lu Li occasionally offered suggestions for Wen Hupo’s drawing, and she readily accepted them. Sometimes, she would even correct Lu Li’s misconceptions. The atmosphere between them became very harmonious, like old friends, with an unspoken understanding. No matter what topic they discussed, the other person could always follow along perfectly. They talked about drawing, then about primary colors, then about the increasing entropy of the universe, and finally about skiing. Lu Li said he had a dream of becoming a dual-nationality skiing champion, which earned him a mocking laugh from Wen Hupo.
Lu Li’s restless heart, troubled by Zou Yameng, gradually calmed down. It wasn’t until the bell rang for the end of lunch break that he realized he had forgotten his main purpose.
“Um, Miss Wen Hupo, would you consider joining my club?” This was Lu Li’s true intention. His game only lacked a top-notch artist. If he missed this chance with Wen Hupo, he didn’t know when he would find another one. “Our game development club needs an artist. If you join, you can use this classroom however you like, how about that?”
“I refuse. We can just share the classroom.” Wen Hupo threw Lu Li’s words back at him, giving him a taste of his own medicine. Was this girl still holding a grudge?
Seeing Lu Li’s frustrated expression, Wen Hupo felt a sense of satisfaction. She stared at him, wondering what his true intentions were. Did he really just need an artist? Or was he trying to find an excuse to get close to her? She tried to see through Lu Li’s heart like a god observing ants, but she found his gaze clear and innocent. This was unusual. Besides Chu Jingyi, no one else had such pure eyes, unless he was pretending.
A faint smile appeared on Wen Hupo’s lips. She suddenly felt that this world wasn’t so boring after all.
“I refuse.” Wen Hupo repeated. She wanted to see Lu Li’s frustrated expression, just like Lu Li wanted to see her lose her composure. This was their strange, unspoken understanding. It didn’t matter if she couldn’t achieve it today, tomorrow would be fine, or the day after… She would eventually make this boy named Lu Li reveal his true colors.
After school, Lu Li returned home and saw Sister Yameng cleaning his room. She was hanging the light blue bedsheet on the balcony and had even washed all his clothes that had been piling up for days. The absurd memories from last night resurfaced one by one, like bamboo shoots after the rain. Lu Li felt his mouth go dry. He greeted her awkwardly, “Sister Yameng, you’re back early today?”
Zou Yameng turned around, smiling brightly. “Zhou Wen said I might have thrown up on your bed last night after I got drunk, so I came back early to wash the sheets. Little Li, I drank too much last night, I didn’t do anything stupid, did I?”
Lu Li’s heart jolted. He couldn’t tell if his sister was genuinely asking or… testing him.
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