Chapter 12

In winter, dusk came early in Jiayang. By the time Yu Nianyi got home, the sky was already completely dark.

She took off her coat and looked out the window at the snow-blanketed world beyond. The flakes fell slowly, drifting down in graceful curves, and the whole world seemed to grow quiet. Even the laughter and chatter from the student stalls outside had softened.

Yu Nianyi walked to the coffee table, bent down, cleaned Baby’s litter box, added some fresh food, and put it back.

She changed into loungewear, tied on an apron, and sat down in front of her easel.

Her gaze moved from the top of the canvas frame to the bottom. She stared for a full five minutes, growing less and less satisfied the longer she looked.

The atmosphere of that snowy night was there to some extent, but the feeling Xi Yu had given her that night—no matter how she painted it, she couldn’t reproduce it.

It was a kind of extreme calm, with a storm of wind and snow surging beneath it. It was only waiting for the right moment to pour out in full, until everything settled again.

Yu Nianyi let out a soft breath and, almost unconsciously, crossed her legs and picked up her phone to scroll aimlessly.

Her finger went straight into Xi Yu’s chat window. She looked at the greeting she’d sent yesterday for a long time; Xi Yu hadn’t bothered with any polite reply after that, and the sparse chat history looked even lonelier now.

Yu Nianyi simply set her phone down, then took a palette knife from the bucket and idly waved it through the air at the canvas.

After playing around for a bit, she frowned and put it down again. The expression that usually held a smile had turned a little restless. She slowly walked out into the living room and, on impulse, glanced into the cage.

Baby had somehow hidden itself away. It was already small to begin with, so at a glance it was almost impossible to spot.

Yu Nianyi knelt half on the floor and peered into the cage for a long time before finally finding Baby. It still wasn’t resting; at the moment, it was putting on an immersive performance of eating its own poop. When it saw Yu Nianyi, it even generously tossed some over.

Yu Nianyi waved a hand, and a smile finally surfaced on her face. “No need, thanks. You eat it.”

The two of them stared at each other for quite a while. In the end, Baby turned around and ignored Yu Nianyi.

Yu Nianyi kept her eyes on the thing in Baby’s hands. She didn’t speak or move, and only when Baby had completely finished eating did she reach in and take it out.

Holding Baby in one hand, Yu Nianyi gently stroked its belly with the other, again and again in light, soothing motions.

The feeling in her palm was soft and fluffy; even her fingers sank into fur. Yu Nianyi slouched on the sofa, her gaze drifting to the quiet phone on the table.

Baby in her palm struggled a little. Yu Nianyi came back to herself and naturally put Baby back into the cage.

Then she picked up her phone again, stood up, and took a photo of the canvas on the easel.

She adjusted the angle so the camera faced the painting directly, waiting until the screen was filled with the canvas before pressing the shutter.

Click; send.

[Yu Nianyi: Xi Yu-jie, good evening. Have you noticed anything different about this painting today?]

She held the phone and stared at the two unmoving words on the screen: “Xi Yu.” Half a minute passed before she finally saw the status change to “the other party is typing.”

Yu Nianyi’s lips curved unconsciously. This time Xi Yu replied much faster.

But after a short while, it switched back to Xi Yu’s name, and the screen fell silent again. Yu Nianyi stared at the empty chat box, frowning before she realized it.

“What is there to think about for so long?”

Yu Nianyi muttered to herself, glancing up at the painting in front of her. In truth, she wasn’t that concerned with what Xi Yu would say back.

After all, this painting was no different from the one Xi Yu had seen yesterday. Yu Nianyi hadn’t changed a single brushstroke; she just wanted an excuse to strike up a conversation.

Whether Xi Yu saw what she meant or not didn’t matter. As long as she achieved her goal, that was enough.

Ding—

Her phone vibrated lightly. Yu Nianyi lowered her eyes.

[Xi Yu: No difference from yesterday.]

Looking at the blunt words on the screen, Yu Nianyi couldn’t help covering her mouth with one hand as her eyes curved with a smile.

The blockage she’d felt a moment ago in her mind seemed to ease a little. She stood and walked toward the living room, catching sight of the corner of the sofa out of the corner of her eye before flopping down onto it.

Normally, when friends saw a question like that, they would carefully examine the painting, realize there was no visible change at all, and then respond tactfully with something vague.

That way, no matter what the other person said, there would still be room to maneuver.

Yu Nianyi pressed the voice-message button and, with her lips close to the phone, smiled as she said, “How did Xi Yu-jie figure it out?”

A three-second voice message; Xi Yu’s name didn’t appear, only the longer, more pleasant-looking line of text.

Yu Nianyi sighed helplessly, then spoke to the phone again. “Actually, I just suddenly didn’t really know how to paint anymore. I was thinking that if I sent it to Xi Yu-jie, maybe from your perspective there’d be something I could learn.”

Ding—

[Xi Yu: Rest early. Take another look later, and it’ll feel different.]

“She doesn’t want to keep talking?” Yu Nianyi muttered to herself, suspiciously poking at Xi Yu’s avatar. In the end, she could only send a grateful gesture back.

She glanced at the time; it was ten at night.

Yu Nianyi turned off her phone. She no longer felt like painting today, and getting an early night for once wasn’t a bad idea.

-

Third year was still academically intense. Zhang Min was the oil painting teacher for Yu Nianyi’s class. Over the past few weeks, the class had been organizing figure sketching, and recently they had started taking turns sketching each student one by one.

Yu Nianyi wasn’t particularly good at painting people, and Zhang Min was an extremely strict teacher. She never let anyone off when evaluating work; she pointed out weaknesses directly, and it all factored into the final grade. Even for Yu Nianyi, slacking off in class was not an option.

During the midweek mornings and afternoons, she no longer distracted herself with anything else; all her attention went into painting.

Xi Yu was still as Xi Yao had said, seemingly always busy. That night of half-conversation a few days ago was, in fact, the last time the two of them had spoken.

It wasn’t until Wednesday night that Yu Nianyi finally found time to meet Xi Yao.

Xi Yao had been positively radiant lately, like a peacock with its feathers spread; she was smiling with her eyes at everyone she saw. Wherever she went, it seemed as if pink bubbles drifted behind her, and she was impossible to miss.

“This weekend I’m going on a date with Luo Yiran. You have experience, so tell me where’s more suitable?” Xi Yao asked while fiddling with her phone.

Yu Nianyi sat beside her. The heater in the car had worked up a layer of sweat on her body, so she took off her coat and glanced at the driver in the front seat before saying casually, “Go play at Sister Ruoyan’s shop. Since she likes art, she should be interested in ceramics too. It takes a while, and it’ll be convenient for you two to get closer.”

The car turned a corner and slowed down, and the heat eased a little with it.

Xi Yao clicked her tongue, turned off her phone screen, and waved a hand. “We already talked about that. I told her a long time ago I was going to give her a beautiful cup—handmade, with no outside help at all.”

The corner of Yu Nianyi’s temple twitched. Looking out at the increasingly familiar streets, the sign for Wangjie Noodle House flashed past her window. “So I’m just here to keep you company?”

Xi Yao answered with a completely unconcerned mm-hm and lowered her head to keep typing on her phone.

The car drove on for another five minutes before finally stopping in front of a shop called Pottery Art.

The storefront was antique and elegant, with floor-to-ceiling windows all around. Old redwood and glass met at the edges; at a glance, the decor was minimalist, with all kinds of jars and pots of different sizes placed in the grooves of wooden shelves. Under the warm lights, their colors were lovely, and the air smelled pleasant.

A few years ago, Jiayang had completely rebuilt this district, preserving the original architectural style while repairing the somewhat uneven streets so they were more orderly. At the same time, it promoted the area externally as a cultural old street, attracting many local and out-of-town business owners to open shops here.

Xu Ruoyan was a local from Jiayang, a second-year graduate student majoring in ceramics at Jiangbei Academy. She was a low-key rich kid, and while balancing her studies, she would also come here after class to create.

The two of them got out of the car and immediately spotted Xu Ruoyan chatting with a customer.

Xu Ruoyan was wearing neat white loose trousers, and the hem of her black shirt was casually tucked into the waistband, exposing a sliver of her waist. Her low ponytail, loosely curled, swayed slightly with her movements. The customer stood on either side of her, looking like they were having a great time talking.

The two of them walked into the shop, crossed the main hall, and went straight through an open-air stone path before turning into a studio.

The room was fifty square meters. The snow-white walls had been specially treated with a unique textured finish; when light fell on them, they looked like the surface of a clear, quiet lake, with only faint ripples.

A long wooden table stood in the center, filled with all kinds of materials and tools. Not far away sat a ceramic vase made by someone—who knew who.

Xi Yao strode over to it, bent slightly, and stared at the light-colored, narrow-necked vase in front of her, then pulled out her phone and took a photo of it.

Yu Nianyi, meanwhile, walked over to the hollow wooden shelf on her own and let her gaze sweep across the displayed vases and bowls. The pieces were set at varying heights and came in all different shapes, yet they were genuinely pleasing to look at.

“Long time no see,” Xu Ruoyan suddenly said from the doorway. Seeing the two of them absorbed in their own worlds, she smiled and asked softly, “Do you like it?”

Yu Nianyi came back to herself and looked up at Xu Ruoyan leaning against the doorframe.

“Love it! Sister Ruoyan, did you make all of these?” Xi Yao asked, her eyes shining as she came up from behind and linked her arm intimately with Xu Ruoyan’s, tugging her inward.

Xu Ruoyan smiled and nodded toward Yu Nianyi. “Yes. I’ve made quite a few since you two were last here. Why do you have time to come by today?”

Xi Yao grinned and pulled Xu Ruoyan to sit down on a chair, then leaned against the edge of the table herself. “I want to give the person I like a gift.”

Xu Ruoyan nodded, her gaze landing on Yu Nianyi as she smiled and asked, “Are you too?”

Yu Nianyi froze for a couple of seconds, and before she could say anything, Xi Yao beat her to it. “She isn’t. I just dragged her here to keep me company.”

“You two really are close; whatever you do, you always bring Nianyi along.”

“That’s for sure! The first time we met, we both had that feeling of wishing we’d met sooner..."

Yu Nianyi stood to the side while Xi Yao and Xu Ruoyan chatted happily. Her eyes swept over the various pottery pieces on the shelves, and suddenly she thought of something Xi Yu had once said: Xi Yu had a habit of drinking tea.

If she made a tea set, it would count as thanks for all the care Xi Yu had given her so far; it would also help the two of them grow closer.

The more Yu Nianyi thought about it, the more satisfied she felt. The bored expression from just now vanished completely, and she said to the two of them, who were still talking, “How about I make a set too.”