Chapter 42: 42

No matter what she did, Ruan Nan could never outdo Qin Juran’s teasing.

After scrapping the option of seeing A Different Lover, Ruan Nan tried to think of other things to do.

“Wait a minute,” Qin Juran interjected as she typed in a location in her phone’s GPS and directed Ruan Nan to follow the directions.

Ruan Nan glanced at the map. The destination was near an art gallery in the outskirts of town, but the address was not exactly the gallery’s.

However, she didn’t ask any questions or protest, only starting the car and heading towards the direction of the gallery. Qin Juran stared outside the window along the entire ride; since she had never visited this town before, this trip gave her the sensation of exploring a new place. The trees grew denser the further they drove from the center of town, and the warm afternoon sun filled the town with a sense of coziness.

By the art gallery was a row of unique, decorative artisan shops. Qin Juran had pinned a shop called “Accompaniment” that gave off an artistic vibe.

Ruan Nan parked her car outside the shop, which was overlooking a small courtyard. As they approached, they could see that the courtyard was full of bonsai plants and stone ornaments, all of which were carefully pruned and arranged. The green plants against the white walls created a very refined atmosphere.

The two girls entered the shop to see walls and tables displaying handmade soaps, filling the air with a fresh fragrance. The décor in the shop was also very tasteful, as if it was a small-scale art gallery itself.

There were only a few other people in the store, and Ruan Nan noticed some customers busy painting peacefully on canvases. A young craftswoman, with her hair strapped in a low ponytail, walked towards the two girls with a smile. She asked in a low voice, as if to not disturb the other patrons: “Are you two interested in making handcrafted soaps today? Have you ever joined us previously or have any experience in it?”

Ruan Nan shook her head, while Qin Juran remarked that she’d heard of it before.

“Alright.” The craftswoman led the two to the long bench where the other guests were sitting. In front of them were two female art instructors wearing white collared shirts, and next to them was another couple. They smiled and nodded at Qin Juran and Ruan Nan as they sat down.

Ruan Nan took the inner seat, while Qin Juran took the outer. The craftswoman gave them a brief overview of the course, then concluded by asking whether they wanted to print a custom picture of their choice onto the handmade soap, or whether they wanted to choose from a template. Qin Juran thought back to Ruan Nan’s painting that was hanging on the school wall last time, which was extremely well done. Thus, she replied, “We’ll draw them ourselves.”

The craftswoman nodded, handing each of them canvases. Since the paintings were to be scanned and shrunk afterward, the canvas size was not very big.

Ever since she was a child, Ruan Nan rarely took part in these kinds of novelty experiences, so this was her first time making handmade soap. She looked like an innocent kitten, chin propped up in her palms, staring at the couple across from them in wonder as they removed their soaps from the molds. She blinked and turned towards Qin Juran, “It looks really pretty.”

Qin Juran laughed: “I think they chose from the templates.”

With some hesitation, Ruan Nan picked up her paintbrush: “What if my painting turns out horribly?”

Qin Juran reached a finger out to poke Ruan Nan’s nose: “Nobody can make it perfect on the first try; no matter how it turns out, this still marks our first time painting together, doesn’t it?”

Upon hearing her words, Ruan Nan supposed that she was right. She took off her jacket, straightened up in her seat, then began brainstorming.

Qin Juran also picked up her brush. Of course, she took various lessons in piano, dancing, and art as a child, but unfortunately, she was too busy and gave up on everything besides piano after a short while.

She spent a long while coming up with a design in her head. However, as soon as she made the first shaky, unruly stroke on the canvas, all of her potential ideas shattered.

Qin Juran decided to use a different color in an attempt to fix her mistake. But she didn’t realize that the paints were too watery, leaking over her painting as she brought the brush to the canvas. She waited until no one was looking and quickly wiped away the water with a napkin.

This was annoying.

Qin Juran sighed inwardly, then glanced at Ruan Nan, who had also begun painting. She leaned closer for a better look. Ruan Nan seemed to be painting a starry sky; she was painting a deep navy for the base layer and had already mixed the pale yellow paint on the side.

Noticing that Ruan Nan’s hair kept hanging close to the canvas, Qin Juran slid her stool back, then reach towards Ruan Nan’s neck to help her tie up her hair. Ruan Nan was wearing a long sleeve shirt with a low collar, and the sensation of Qin Juran’s fingers on her neck tickled her. Holding in a giggle, she turned and asked in a whisper, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Qin Juran didn’t reply and continued to gently stroke Ruan Nan’s hair into a ponytail, then tugged off a hair tie from her wrist and used it to bind it together.

Ruan Nan’s entire body seemed to go limp as Qin Juran’s fingers sent warm sparks wherever they brushed against her neck.

Whenever she tied her hair up herself, Ruan Nan felt that she didn’t look very good with a ponytail. So she felt a bit apprehensive after Qin Juran tied it and turned to ask: “Does it look good?”

“Very good.” Qin Juran replied without hesitation.

Ruan Nan sighed in relief, then turned back to her painting.

“Yes, your starry sky painting is very good.”

“…..” She definitely said that on purpose.

Ruan Nan’s hand stilled, and she leaned closer to inspect Qin Juran’s canvas. There were hardly five strokes, and the last stroke seemed to have run through the entire canvas. Ruan Nan chuckled, “Doing abstract today?”

Qin Juran didn’t bother retorting. She flung down her brush and replied, “I think I’m done painting, Ah-Ruan. I’m not feeling it today.”

“Then do you want to go browse around? Otherwise, you’ll be bored just sitting there.”

Qin Juran shook her head: “I won’t be bored.” After she said this, she seemed to have thought of something: “How about this, Ah-Ruan. I’ll be your model – you can look at me and paint me.”

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Ruan Nan narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She was about to remark that she wasn’t great at painting people, but suddenly her eyes lit up with an idea: “Sure, then you go sit across from me so that I can get a better look.”

“Wouldn’t you get a better view if I sit next to you?”

“That’s a weird angle.”

Seeing that Ruan Nan was really about to paint her, Qin Juran didn’t protest further and got up from her seat. Since the table wasn’t very wide, the two of them would still be in close proximity.

Qin Juran sat on the stool directly across. With her long legs stretched out in front of her, as well as her tousled hair and skirt draped neatly across her knees, she created an elegant and captivating pose. She already had the face of a starlet, but her delicate makeup today made her look even more exquisite. She even attracted stolen glances from the couple sitting nearby.

Without batting an eyelid, Ruan Nan cleared her throat and began painting. The sunlight shone in from the large windows behind Ruan Nan, highlighting Qin Juran’s small face and long eyelashes. When she wasn’t speaking, she exuded a sense of freshness and purity.

After a while, Ruan Nan raised her head: “Qin Juran, wink for me.”

Qin Juran cocked her head, fluttered her eyelashes, then shot a wink like a bolt of electricity in Ruan Nan’s direction.

Ruan Nan jolted back as if she were actually shocked, then righted herself and continued to paint.

Although Ruan Nan wasn’t as tall as Qin Juran, she still carried herself with a distinct sense of elegance. At this moment, there was a determined and enchanting expression on her face, with her silhouette lined against the sunlight as she kept alternating her eyes from Qin Juran to the canvas.

A ray of sunshine landed upon the hand that was gripping her paintbrush, accentuating her long, delicate fingers.

Qin Juran’s thoughts wandered off as she stared at Ruan Nan’s hands. Eventually, Ruan Nan put down her brush and waved in her face: “You good?”

Qin Juran snapped out of her daze, the corners of her lips lifting in a charming smile, “Ah-Ruan, don’t you feel that your hands are missing something?”

Ruan Nan froze. She took a look at her ringless fingers, then tucked her hands away. “It’s too early to be talking about that.”

Qin Juran didn’t quite understand. “Is there a specific time for that? If you want to do it, then just do it.”

“Are you like this with other people too?” Ruan Nan narrowed her eyes.

“Hey, Ah-Ruan, don’t you know how much of a gentleman I am?”

“How so?”

The two stared at each other head-on. Suddenly, Qin Juran realized that they were both talking about two completely different things.

“You mean – rings?” Qin Juran asked.

“What did you mean?” Ruan Nan countered.

Pshh…her mind immediately went to engagement rings…although this young missus doesn’t express anything outright, she’s already thinking this far? Qin Juran couldn’t help letting out a small chuckle, but she quickly pretended to look away so that Ruan Nan wouldn’t feel embarrassed.

Nonetheless, Ruan Nan felt her self-consciousness creeping up as it dawned upon her that Qin Juran was talking about something else. But what would it have to do with being a “gentleman?”

Since she didn’t continue, Ruan Nan followed with, “So what were you talking about?”

Qin Juran shook her head: “It’s nothing really. A bracelet – I just thought your wrist was missing a bracelet.”

“You won’t tell me? Then I won’t show you my painting.” Ruan Nan held up her painting away from Qin Juran’s view.

There was no way that Qin Juran wouldn’t want to see the painting after waiting for so long. She quickly reached out her arms in an attempt to deter Ruan Nan, but Ruan Nan noticed her movement and turned around in defense. Instead of grabbing the painting, Qin Juran’s arms ended up looping around Ruan Nan in a back hug.

The other patrons were all peacefully painting or chatting, so no one noticed this little act of theirs. Ruan Nan huffed in a small voice, “Hug all you want, but I won’t show you until you tell me.”

Left with no other option, Qin Juran could only tighten her grasp around the other girl, answering, “What I meant was – your fingers are missing a pretty manicure, especially a set with those little pearl decorations.”

A manicure? Ruan Nan looked at her bare fingernails. Although she got them done before, she felt that they were impractical.

Manicures, gentlemen…Suddenly, Ruan Nan thought back to the nail cutters and hand sanitizer from the other day. She turned towards Qin Juran and asked, “Would you get one too? I think your hands are also very nice.”

Qin Juran laughed: “Me getting one wouldn’t do you any good.” As she spoke, she took the opportunity to pull the canvas away from Ruan Nan’s loosened grip and tilt it up to look –

On the canvas, asides from the starry night sky from before, there were no human figures. Instead, there was a fox wearing a lavender dress.

The fox was perched against the starry sky, posing in the same elegant and enchanting manner that Qin Juran was before. The fox’s long eyelashes made her seem especially pretty, and her mischievous eyes seemed to be teetering between a smile and a wink, as if sending the message:

“I’m coming to eat you up.”

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