“What’s wrong, not accepting it?”
Lin Yi turned off her phone and placed it on the windowsill.
She leaned against the wall, a sorrowful expression on her face, every frown and sigh holding Jian Shuye’s gaze on Lin Yi’s features.
Lin Yi shielded 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 sitting under the scoreboard. Your face outshone the colors of the setting sun, so much so that I thought at the time, there probably wasn’t anything more beautiful in this world.”
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 just fit my impression of you—fresh, ethereal, unworldly.”
“Right up until you told me you wanted me to be your private model, I was actually hesitating, wondering if I should give up on joining the badminton team. Even though money shouldn’t be the pillar defining our relationship, in the end, still…”
Lin Yi paused, as if wrestling with herself.
“Now, I’ve realized it. This isn’t a normal classmate relationship, and it’s not a normal employer-employee relationship either. Because classmates don’t trade time for money, and in an employer-employee relationship, the superior would never make the subordinate take their clothes off!”
Lin Yi turned her head, her exhaled words brimming with emotion.
“So please, stop this. I’m not that kind of person. Money and such… it’s just too insulting to what’s between you and me…”
Halfway through her sentence, Lin Yi stopped 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 specks of dust in the light seemed to avoid her body, leaving only that soft 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 offering herself to be plucked.
This is fine, she thought.
This is probably the final line.
Indeed, for the sake of art, one must still dedicate something important that belongs to oneself.
Especially for a charismatic beauty like Jian Shuye?
Half an hour later, Jian Shuye leaned back and put down her paintbrush.
As for Lin Yi, her eyelids had already begun to feel heavy.
“Work is over.” Jian Shuye stood up.
“You can put your clothes back on.”
Lin Yi opened her eyes and rubbed them.
“O-over? Already?”
“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 completely naked, and why are her breasts so… huge?”
Jian Shuye pointed to her own head.
“A true artist, even without the conditions, will mentally fill in the details required for the work in their mind.”
Lin Yi was confused.
“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 I took my clothes 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 ‘Accept’ on the red envelope.
2200 credited. 1200 for two hours of work, and the extra 1000 could be considered compensation for emotional distress!
Between her and Jian Shuye now stood a sad barrier of money.
“Why are you angry?”
Jian Shuye moved her delicate, pink feet, walking over to stand in front of 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.
“Are you feeling aggrieved because you weren’t… used?”
“Absolutely not!” Lin Yi protested. “I just…”
“Could it be, you’d only feel satisfied if I did it like this?”
As she spoke, Jian Shuye’s hands slid onto Lin Yi’s shoulders.
Simultaneously, she whispered into Lin Yi’s ear, “Is that the idea? You wanted me to take them off with my own hands?”
Her breath, her hair, her collarbone, grew increasingly clear in Lin Yi’s vision.
The wandering fingertips on her skin stirred her sensitive nerves.
The warmth by 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.
In her panic, she stretched out 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, simultaneously throwing her navy-collar coat over her shoulders, glaring warily at Jian Shuye.
Jian Shuye placed 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 quietly, “Doesn’t that… mean wasting these past few hours?”
“I don’t consider it 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 buttoned up 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 wealthy families were all very busy. Like, having painting lessons, etiquette classes, foreign language lessons, piano lessons, and such on weekends.”
Jian Shuye shook her head.
“I finished learning all those things before I even started middle school, and graduated at the top of my class.”
“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, seeming to ponder the question.
After a moment, Jian Shuye looked up.
“While I have no obligation to answer your question, I can tell you this: 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 girl 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, how condescending.
Lin Yi asked, “Aren’t you in the Art Club?”
“Of course not. The current Art Club president wanted to hand the position over to me, but I refused.” Jian Shuye scoffed.
“Their average level isn’t high enough 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 definitely approve it.”
Such big talk, but Lin Yi felt it was probably true.
Glancing at the time, Lin Yi thought she should head back.
As if sensing what Lin Yi was thinking, Jian Shuye lifted her chin slightly.
“You can go back whenever. Tomorrow is Sunday, I won’t call you.”
“Let’s be clear. If there are any more of these… these kinds of hard-to-accept modeling jobs in the future,” Lin Yi pursed her lips, “I’ll choose to quit.”
“That’s 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.
Looking over at the trash can, the folded painting inside had disappeared without a trace.
The Ultimate Solution to All Problems, Miss Jian Shuye, allowed the corners of her mouth to lift by about ten degrees.
lol i wonder how many other girls she’s invited as models