Chapter 13

A sudden, relentless downpour swept through the capital, pouring for days without end.

Gu Nianxi watched the rain hammer against the skylight, feeling gloomy.

"Want to go out?"

Bai Jin brought over hot coffee and casually ruffled her hair.

Gu Nianxi had a sketchbook on her lap and sighed at the question. "Mm. The rain's too heavy to go to the gallery... I had a model booked..."

The rain was so heavy that the models refused to come, and she wasn't about to brave the storm herself. Her plans for figure practice were shelved for the day.

Bai Jin glanced at the reference book on her knees.

It was an anatomical diagram of human bones and muscles, a color-printed, detailed rendering of how various muscles shifted and changed under different poses and movements.

She remembered Gu Nianxi saying the other day that she wanted to shift her work's theme to the human figure.

"A model? ...Are you going to paint nudes, sister?"

"Yeah," Gu Nianxi answered innocently, taking a sip of coffee.

Bai Jin lowered her gaze.

Live nude models...

Right, Gu Nianxi had mentioned she was going to paint the human body.

Had it not been for the rain, Gu Nianxi would have been at Bright Moon right now, scanning scantily clad men and women with the eye of a hawk, measuring the shadows and curves of their bodies under the light with her gaze.

Bai Jin knew it was a necessary path for any artist.

But she couldn't control her emotions. A fierce jealousy rose in her chest toward those people who would soon be looked at and depicted by Gu Nianxi.

Whatever the look, whatever the feeling behind it, Bai Jin wanted Gu Nianxi to look only at her.

Knowing she shouldn't, she heard herself speak: "If it's a hassle, sister, why not practice in the attic? I'll be your model."

Gu Nianxi choked on her coffee. She burst into a fit of coughing.

Bai Jin quickly patted her back.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough—"

Bai Jin as her model??

How could she even dream of that?

A flash of Cui Xiaoyue's words from a few days ago crossed her mind.

—"You might as well just ask Bai Jin to be your model; she'd definitely agree!"

—"The moment I saw the way she looks at you, I knew she's not innocent!"

She calmed herself, a flicker of fear rising within, and looked up at Bai Jin.

"You okay, sister?"

Those light-colored eyes held only genuine concern.

Gu Nianxi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled up at her. "I'm fine. But are you really willing to be my model? I'm painting the human body, you know—no clothes allowed?"

A faint smile appeared on Bai Jin's face too. "I won't wear anything, but can I at least wrap myself in a towel?"

"Ha, are you shy, Bai Jin?" Gu Nianxi found it novel and felt a mischievous urge. "Being shy won't do as a model! Don't you know a model can't wear anything? Whatever pose I tell you to strike, you have to strike it, no hiding!"

"At your service."

"Why are you so obedient! Would you even do it if I asked you to strike some indecent poses?"

"I trust you won't put me in an awkward spot," she said. "Should I go take a shower first?"

Gu Nianxi burst out laughing, thinking Cui Xiaoyue was definitely talking nonsense. Bai Jin was so proper and so open—how could she possibly have those feelings for her?

"No need," she said, suddenly enthusiastic, jumping up to tidy the still-life table and set up lights. "If you're shy, you can keep the towel on. Don't worry, being a model isn't tiring. Just relax. If you get bored, I'll set up a stand and put on a cartoon for you."

Bai Jin smiled and shook her head in refusal.

A cartoon? She didn't need a cartoon; Gu Nianxi's gaze was the best entertainment.

After bustling around, a cleaned-up Bai Jin sat on the still-life platform.

Even though Gu Nianxi had said it wasn't necessary, Bai Jin had gone ahead and showered. Her bare upper body still had droplets of water clinging to it, sliding down her smooth skin, while her lower half was wrapped in a towel just short enough to reveal her long, toned thighs and calves.

Following Gu Nianxi's instructions, she bent one leg and hugged it against the platform edge, letting the other relax, her hair cascading like a waterfall over her shoulders, her head slightly tilted back like a swan stretching its neck—languid and elegant.

Seeing Gu Nianxi staring blankly, she chuckled. "Sister. What are you spacing out for?"

"Come paint me."

"Oh, right." Gu Nianxi fumbled for fresh paper and quietly inhaled.

Bai Jin was truly beautiful. Not the kind of delicate, coquettish beauty, but a healthy, powerful one, as if every muscle held strength. When she sat lazily like that, she looked like an elegant leopard.

Gu Nianxi secretly squeezed her own forearm.

Ugh, soft.

She wanted a body like Bai Jin's—slim in clothes, toned underneath.

She had just noticed that when Bai Jin stood up, she even had a visible line of abs. Despite her studies and work, she still found time to exercise. Such discipline was terrifying, truly terrifying!

She cleared her mind and began to paint.

Bai Jin looked up at the skylight.

The attic's skylight was set into the slanted roof, large and wide, and raindrops were now pelting against it in a fine, steady rhythm that blended with the soft scratching of Gu Nianxi's pencil into a cozy melody.

Because of the rain, the sky was dim, and the room was lit. The skylight's glass reflected Gu Nianxi's focused figure as she worked. She was looking at Bai Jin, and Bai Jin was looking at her reflection.

Once she entered her painting state, Gu Nianxi became utterly serious. The gaze she cast at Bai Jin was fervent yet rational, brimming with power, like a deity—one that would bring the world it beheld down onto Bai Jin's ordinary body.

Bai Jin trembled slightly under that gaze. Gu Nianxi's eyes were like a knife, peeling her apart layer by layer into muscles and bones, then reshaping her, turning her on paper into a living, breathing Bai Jin.

A familiar sensation stirred, a flame of desire raging from the places being watched, burning through her body, condensing into thick black smoke that stung her eyes red.

And yet, these reactions absolutely could not be noticed by the observer.

So that explosive burn had to stay internal. Gu Nianxi's gaze traced over her entire body...

Bai Jin, like a lush fruit with dew, slowly dripped droplets in the dark.

She couldn't tell whether this was more a reward or a torture. Her soul was washed nearly out of her body by desire...

She looked at Gu Nianxi's reflection in the window. The girl was absorbed in her drawing, utterly unaware that her subject was already burning with lust, an utter mess.

She recalled again the conversation with her psychologist.

—"How do I distinguish... whether I'm in love with her?"

—"Miss Bai, your resistance to this relationship stems from a fear of your own desires. Why not try this: next time, strip away all the sensory aspects, look only with your heart, and see if there's something about her that draws you in?"

Strip away the sensory aspects of Gu Nianxi?

That meant stripping away her bright eyes and white teeth, her elegant figure, her melodious voice, the vivid colors in her eyes...

Then, besides all that, what kind of person was Gu Nianxi really?

She was someone walking alone through this world, always on the verge of tears, pitiful, loving and hating fiercely, with an artist's wild temperament, brave, kind, radiant, and passionate.

In seventeen years, amidst a sea of people, Bai Jin had met countless individuals, and only Gu Nianxi could make her heart surge and lose control so constantly.

Bai Jin suddenly understood why she had felt so furious that day she saw Gu Nianxi crying in the darkroom.

She had thought it was pity. Yes, everyone in this world was pitiable, each with their own struggles and unattainable desires, but she wasn't pitying Gu Nianxi.

That day, Gu Nianxi's tears fell into her heart, scorching holes into it. Only Gu Nianxi's tears could always stir her emotions...

That wasn't pity; it was heartache.

Was this love? Could this really be love?

Why had she fallen for Gu Nianxi, why?

Bai Jin's mind was a tangled mess.

She turned to look at Gu Nianxi, catching the gaze directed at her.

If that gaze held even a hint of desire, then she could throw caution to the wind, indulging this feeling that she couldn't tell was love or lust.

If only there were a little...

But there was none.

Gu Nianxi's eyes were pure and innocent, looking at Bai Jin as she might look at the dissected bones and flesh in her sketchbook—only admiration for the natural beauty of the human body, without a shred of profane desire.

"Tired, Bai Jin?"

Bai Jin's heart slowly cooled.

She sat stiffly in place, never having felt such an urgent need to escape as she did at this moment.

Yet those beautiful eyes, like cold autumn pools, clearly reflected her disarray, and a touch of worry welled up in them.

Gu Nianxi set down her pencil. "Bai Jin, what's wrong? You look..."

Like you're a little sad?

Bai Jin lowered her gaze.

Artists were always extremely perceptive.

How much longer could she hide her feelings from Gu Nianxi?

What she had... was not the fleeting heat of youthful infatuation, but an incurable fall of the soul.

In the moment she realized she liked Gu Nianxi, she also clearly understood that Gu Nianxi didn't like her back.

Only she was on fire, tormented by desire. The already cold reaction turned cold and sticky, making Bai Jin even more restless.

"Sister, I'm fine."

She heard a rustling sound—Gu Nianxi was coming over.

She felt weary, and when Gu Nianxi reached out, she grabbed her hand.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about the Cheng family. I've been wondering why Gu Family is so polite to Cheng Qihang. Lately, I've been looking into the companies under the Cheng family. I found..."

"The Cheng family's entanglement with Gu Family runs much deeper than it appears on the surface, doesn't it?" Gu Nianxi let out a cold laugh.

Bai Jin heard a hint of hatred in her voice.

"The Cheng family holds leverage over Gu Family," Gu Nianxi said.

This was something she had learned from Xu Yushan in her previous life.

Behind the rise of the Cheng family was the complex interplay of multiple forces. Cheng Qihang's mother was from the Lin Family in the capital, and before the Cheng family had gained power, the Lin Family had secretly helped quite a bit. Because of that leverage, the Gu family had also been backing the Cheng family from behind...

As for what exactly that leverage was, Xu Yushan hadn't said, and Gu Nianxi didn't know. But if Xu Yushan knew, then Bai Jin in the previous life certainly would have known too.

Bai Jin would inevitably uncover the connection between the Gu and Cheng families.

Gu Nianxi didn't care about the power struggles among the capital's elite, but Bai Jin...

She thought of how, in her previous life, Bai Jin had been injured several times, and once even faced a life-or-death crisis.

And the time her own hand bones were broken... She had never learned who did it, even to her death.

Behind the turbulent times, there seemed to be several hands pushing in the dark, several eyes watching from the shadows. And she, blinded by hatred, had seen nothing clearly, with only Bai Jin in her heart, only wanting Bai Jin to taste the same pain she felt, so she could be happy.

But did Bai Jin truly not know her pain? Now she knew that Bai Jin wasn't really cold and heartless.

Perhaps pushing her away in the previous life had been... some kind of protection...

A chill crept up Gu Nianxi's spine.

If that were the case, had they already been swept into some vortex without realizing it? Was her desire to flee abroad to avoid the conflict simply too naive?

Damn it, if only she had paid more attention to these things in her previous life, she wouldn't be so clueless now!

"Bai Jin!" After a series of changing expressions, she suddenly leaned in, grabbing Bai Jin's shoulders. "You have to be careful when investigating them! Feuds between families aren't just about business; there are countless underhanded tactics. They'll do anything for money and power..."

Bai Jin's body gave a slight shiver.

Gu Nianxi was too close...

She crossed her legs, let out a breath, and took Gu Nianxi's hands off her shoulders, her voice carrying a hint of restraint: "Sister... I'll be careful."

Gu Nianxi was a bit dissatisfied with her attitude. She reached up to touch her face, trying to make her look at her. "Don't take my words lightly, okay? Whatever happens, you must tell me... And if you're going to investigate anyone, give me a heads-up too. Maybe I know something—"

Bai Jin suddenly stood up.

"Sorry, sister, I need to use the bathroom."

Her movement was abrupt, a bit rough, pulling away from Gu Nianxi's hand and avoiding her gaze.

Gu Nianxi was momentarily stunned.

She watched Bai Jin step into her slippers, turn her back to her, and swiftly throw on her clothes.

She looked down and, with delayed awareness, realized her hands were covered in pencil ash, all smeared on Bai Jin's shoulder and face.

So Bai Jin had to go to the bathroom to wash it off.

But, but...

Gu Nianxi watched Bai Jin's retreating figure.

She couldn't shake the feeling that Bai Jin was avoiding her.

And just now, Bai Jin had been sad, hadn't she? That sadness had reached Gu Nianxi through her gaze.

What had she been thinking about? Why was she sad? Was it really because of investigating the Cheng family? What had she uncovered?

Gu Nianxi stood rooted to the spot, watching Bai Jin leave.

She felt as if she were missing something... something very important.

What could it be?