A beautiful summer night

Jiang Baichuan stayed overnight in the adjacent bedroom.

But when he woke up at seven in the morning and opened the door to Yunli's room, he found that Yunli was already gone.

How could someone with a hangover possibly get up this early?

A seed of doubt was planted in Jiang Baichuan's mind, but he didn't delve into it.

Lychees need time to ripen.

He also needs to give Yunli time.

But after that day, Yunli seemed to have forgotten this memory, treating him like a stranger.

After enduring it for several days, Jiang Baichuan had no choice but to seek help from someone else.

Xia Wanzhi opened the door and looked helplessly at Jiang Baichuan, who had an antique in his left hand and fruit in his right, pointing to the door across the hall: "Let's go sit at Xie the Vinegar King's house. He'll get furious if I let other men in."

Jiang Baichuan: "..."

It felt like someone had stabbed me in the heart.

"Why don't you two just live together?" Jiang Baichuan suggested sincerely.

Xia Wanzhi opened the door, and Xie Qiyan inside clearly heard what she said. He immediately chimed in, "That's a good idea. Can you ask my girlfriend if she's willing?"

Jiang Baichuan ignored him.

Xia Wanzhi coughed lightly and chuckled to change the subject: "You came all this way, why did you bring such an expensive gift?"

“Compared to Yunli, it’s not heavy.” Jiang Baichuan got straight to the point.

"The Jiang family is not short of money, there's no need to feel sorry for them." Xie Qiyan came up to take the things and, unusually, showed a bit of human kindness by welcoming them in.

Xia Wanzhi seemed to have known he would come looking for her, and wasn't surprised at all. Like a hostess, she invited him in to sit down, handed Jiang Baichuan a cup of tea, and said directly, "I don't know what happened between you two that night, but Yunli told me that if you come looking for me, I should tell you directly not to go looking for her again."

Jiang Baichuan had heard the same thing from Yun Li, and now his expression hardened slightly as he lamented that the video recording from that night had been a waste.

"I'm here to ask you a question." Asking on WeChat wasn't sincere enough, so he came in person to ask.

Ask Yunli, and she will lie.

But asking Xia Wanzhi might give you the answer you're looking for.

Xia Wanzhi asked doubtfully, "You said I would definitely tell you everything I know—"

"Does Yunli like me too?"

“Inexhaustible…” The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds. Xia Wanzhi weakly finished saying the last two words and her heart skipped a beat.

How did she answer this?

He probably asked the wrong person.

The two sat facing each other. Jiang Baichuan stared intently at her, while Xia Wanzhi seemed to be still hesitating.

With a "thud," Xie Qiyan took out the antique that Jiang Baichuan had brought and placed it on the coffee table, making a sound. He didn't look at Jiang Baichuan, but his tone was warning: "Is President Jiang interrogating me about my girlfriend?"

Jiang Baichuan pinched the bridge of his nose: "I'm sorry, I..."

"I don't know, you should ask her that question," Xia Wanzhi told the truth.

Jiang Baichuan's heart sank.

“But she doesn’t like Liang Jing,” Xia Wanzhi continued. “I guess you should know this, so unless this situation is broken, your question will never be answered.”

That night, she begged him to help save Yunli, hoping he could take Yunli out of her misery.

But it's hard.

She knew it would be difficult.

Yunli also knew it would be difficult.

Therefore, Yunli had already given up long ago.

Xia Wanzhi was unwilling to see Yunli give up like this.

She knew that Jiang Baichuan was the only one who could break the deadlock.

-

Before you know it, it's National Day. Autumn is getting stronger and the nights are a little cool. Xia Wanzhi set up her easel in front of the French windows at home and stood there blankly, staring at a Polaroid photograph in deep thought.

There were three other easels around, each holding three paintings that looked exactly the same.

However, from a painter's perspective, the facial features of the figures in these paintings are not entirely the same.

Bottles and jars of paint were scattered on the ground. She tied her hair up high, held a palette in her left hand and a paintbrush in her right. After comparing the photo with several other paintings, she added two more strokes to the new painting.

This is a tedious process.

If you make a mistake, you have to start all over again.

This is the fourth painting.

The painting depicts a 30-year-old Ms. Yao Qin, based on her imagination and comparison with the previous three paintings.

The difference between twenty-seven and thirty years old isn't significant, but Xia Wanzhi always felt something was off.

If she felt something wasn't right, she couldn't put pen to paper and had to pause.

There was a noise at the door, and Xia Wanzhi took a step back and turned to look.

She knew it was Xie Qiyan who came.

Xie Qiyan heated up a cup of milk and placed it on the table. Then he walked straight to Xia Wanzhi and untied the apron she was wearing, his eyes filled with undisguised heartache: "It's very late."

Xia Wanzhi blinked: "I'm also getting ready to wrap up work."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Qiyan pulled her into his arms.

She hesitated for a moment: "Be careful with the paint, it'll get your clothes dirty."

Xie Qiyan didn't let go, his voice slightly deep: "So what if it's dirty?"

"No way, these clothes cost tens of thousands of yuan." Xia Wanzhi teased with a smile, bumping her head against his chest and ordering, "Let go quickly, I'll put the things down before you hug them."

Xie Qiyan released her hand, took the palette and paintbrush from her and placed them aside. He glanced at the four almost identical paintings and his body tensed up involuntarily.

Xia Wanzhi tilted her head, walked up to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and looked up at him with a smile: "Wait a little longer, there's no obvious difference yet, but it will be drawn soon."

Xie Qiyan shook his head; that wasn't what he was thinking.

"Don't force yourself. I'll accept it even if you can't finish drawing it." He lowered his head and pressed his forehead against Xia Wanzhi's, feeling heartache. "I don't want you to be tired."

"The word 'force' doesn't exist in Xia Wanzhi's dictionary. When it comes to painting, there can be bottlenecks, but that doesn't mean I can't do it." Xia Wanzhi shook her head, her nose lightly touching his, and then she tilted her chin up slightly and kissed his lips.

Xie Qiyan's breathing became slightly heavy. He closed his eyes and said in a tender voice, "Okay."

Outside the window, thousands of lights shone brightly. They stood embracing each other, in the middle of the four paintings.

In the painting, Yao Qin smiles gently, as if she is gazing tenderly at them.