Eat Less Fish in the Future - Chapter 15
Someone outside said something, but Zhao Yuan inside didn’t hear it clearly.
“Coming–” Zhao Yuan responded once, preparing to go out and open the door. As he walked, he repeated the question, “Who is it?”
Before he reached the door, Liang Yu came out of the bathroom and said coldly, “Stop.”
Zhao Yuan turned around and looked at him carefully for a while. “Were you just… fixing your hair in front of the mirror? Do you have plans later?”
Liang Yu said nothing, striding with his long legs, reaching the door in a few steps.
The door opened.
He softened his tone and looked down at the visitor. “You’re here?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Zhao Yuan deduced from Liang Yu’s tone who was knocking – apart from Zheng Yimian, he had never heard Liang Yu speak to anyone like that.
Zheng Yimian outside the door nodded, pointing inside. “Bring out your sketches, I’ll take a look for you.”
She still remembered that Liang Yu had missed the afternoon drawing lecture.
“Okay.” Liang Yu gestured backwards, signaling Zhao Yuan to bring him the sketchbook.
Zhao Yuan found his notebook on the table, attached a pen to it, and handed it to him.
Liang Yu took the notebook, closed the door, and asked, “Where shall we discuss it?”
“Let’s use the living room.”
The two of them entered the living room.
Zheng Yimian found a small table and sat down on the inside, Liang Yu naturally sat down beside her.
She took Liang Yu’s sketchbook and opened it to look.
Years of accumulated skills allowed her to see the strengths and weaknesses of this drawing at a glance. Zheng Yimian pointed her pen tip at his eaves. “This part is drawn quite well, with a good balance of looseness and tightness. The clouds in the back are more casual, which looks very comfortable.”
The overall picture was good.
After all, someone who could get into W University’s art department must have some skills.
However… with her more experienced eye, she could still see that Liang Yu’s fundamental skills weren’t particularly solid in this drawing upon closer inspection.
Recalling various rumors about him from high school, Zheng Yimian asked, “When did you start learning to draw?”
“From the second semester of junior year, during intensive training.”
He said absent-mindedly, not knowing where he was looking.
“So you’ve only been learning for over half a year…” Zheng Yimian mused, “I see.”
To be able to draw like this after only half a year of learning was actually quite impressive, he must have put in a lot of effort.
Zheng Yimian was a bit curious. “Did you learn at an art studio?”
“No, I had a teacher tutor me privately.” He clasped his hands on his thighs, raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Why?”
“Nothing.” She shook her head, “I’m just curious.”
This person seemed to be full of contradictions and mysteries everywhere.
She couldn’t help but be curious, like everyone else, about the reasons behind the “prodigal son’s return” and the “demon king’s reformation”.
He nodded, showing understanding, and unexpectedly cooperated by saying, “What else do you want to know?”
The night was deepening.
Zheng Yimian propped up her head, looking at his somewhat dashing strokes on the paper. “Why did you suddenly decide to learn drawing?”
Taking up art late in life was a big risk, like placing a bet – if you won, you’d be on top of the world, but if you lost, you’d be left with nothing. If you couldn’t grasp art, you’d lose your academic foundation too.
Liang Yu watched her lips move as she spoke. His fingers unconsciously tapped on the table, drawing out the last syllable with a certain indescribable rhythm. “Because… I like it, I suppose.”
Zheng Yimian paused, her pen twirling between her fingers before dropping onto the table.
She turned her head to look at him. His downturned eyes were bright and shining, as if they held millions of stars.
Following his words, she unconsciously echoed. “…You like it?”
Liang Yu’s fingers stopped. He looked into her eyes and opened his lips. His voice was slightly tired, even the nasal tone becoming tender.
Those emotions that had been hidden in the depths of his eyes finally surfaced a little, carrying a hint of deep affection.
He nodded. “…I like it.”
The smile at the corners of his lips didn’t diminish at all, his peach blossom eyes rippling with emotion.
His tone was firm, as if making some solemn declaration.
It’s not that I like drawing, it’s that I like you.
It’s because I like you.
I like you.
“What are you sneakily peeking at here, acting like a thief?”
The class monitor stood behind Zhao Yuan, following his gaze inside.
“Shh–” Zhao Yuan put his index finger to his lips, gesturing for him to look inside, “Keep it down, or we’re dead if we’re caught.”
Time seemed to slow down in the living room. Their every movement, every glance became very slow.
The night was deep, the crescent moon seemed about to fall. Moonlight poured into the room like a silk ribbon, spreading all over the floor.
Liang Yu smiled at her, all traces of fierceness gone, soft as silk wrapped around a finger.
Zheng Yimian nodded as if suddenly enlightened, also breaking into a smile. “I see… I like it very much too.”
Liang Yu seemed to enjoy this wordplay. After a while, he turned his head away, not letting Zheng Yimian see his triumphant smile.
Zhao Yuan, peering through the window, got anxious. “What’s all this ‘like’ or ‘don’t like’? Don’t be a coward, just go for it!”
After watching for a while, some movement came from inside.
The class monitor patted Zhao Yuan on the back.
“Don’t fucking pat me.” Zhao Yuan continued watching, “I’m not done watching yet… Strange, where did they go, how did they disappear…”
It wasn’t until footsteps on the stairs were heard that Zhao Yuan belatedly realized something. He swallowed and turned to run.
Liang Yu stepped onto the floorboard, blocking his way, and asked flatly, “Enjoyed the show?”
“…It, it was good…”
“No, no, no, it wasn’t good…”
Finally escaping danger and returning to the dorm room, Zhao Yuan thanked the heavens as he played some games on his bed. When he looked up, he found Liang Yu staring outside again.
After playing a few rounds of the game, feeling a bit tired, Zhao Yuan wanted to go out for some fresh air.
Liang Yu half-leaned against the bed, his expression dangerous. “You’re not allowed to go out.”
Zhao Yuan: “Why? Just because I sneaked a peek at your daily life with sister-in-law, you’re going to imprison me in this shabby room? Have I lost my right to freedom from now on?”
“Huh? Brother Yu, say something?”
Liang Yu looked down at his wristwatch, then glanced outside the window. He opened the door and went out himself, leaving only one sentence for Zhao Yuan.
“Ten minutes.”
Zhao Yuan tried to open the door, but couldn’t. “Why can I only go out after ten minutes?”
Seeing that he couldn’t get an answer, Zhao Yuan also stood by the window, looking outside.
Liang Yu was standing next to a pillar, watching people come and go in the vicinity.
When male students were walking outside, he would approach them and say something, and soon after, they would return to their dorms.
The outside was quiet for about three to four minutes, with no one around. Liang Yu stood there, like a guard.
Zhao Yuan was puzzled, when suddenly he saw the door of the bathroom at the end of the corridor open, and Zheng Yimian walked out.
Liang Yu was standing in her blind spot, watching her walk back to her dorm room alone safely, before rubbing his neck as if relieved of a heavy burden.
“So that’s why he wouldn’t let me watch. It turns out sister-in-law was coming out after a shower and he didn’t want others to see…”
Zhao Yuan smiled, muttering softly.
After smiling, he looked up and saw Liang Yu standing in front of him, arms crossed, staring at him.
Zhao Yuan’s eyes darted around, he scratched his chin and gave a dry laugh. “Heh, hehe…”
After resting for a few days at the branch, early in the morning, everyone once again got up early to head to the headquarters of the sketching base.
Everyone boarded the bus and received a notice saying they would first take a three-hour ride, tour a nearby scenic spot, then get back on the bus to head to the headquarters.
The mountain road along the way was winding and tortuous. After being tossed about enough, everyone finally arrived at a cultural heritage site called “XX City”.
Every brick and tile there carried unique ethnic features, and the city walls exuded an antique, old-fashioned feel.
Various temples were established inside, along with cable cars and beacon towers.
Everyone took their tickets and swarmed in, going to the first temple.
Inside the temple were several statues of deities, with cushions in front of them.
“Mianmian, the God of Wealth!” Li Min pointed at the statue, shaking Zheng Yimian’s arm.
Zheng Yimian laughed, looking at her: “Do you want to go pay respects?”
As they spoke, others had already started going up to “do as the Romans do”.
Li Min said: “Everyone’s going, let’s go too. Shall we?”
Warmed by the good sunshine, Zheng Yimian squinted and smiled. “I’m fine either way.”
The flow of people moved forward, and soon it was Zheng Yimian’s turn.
Li Min went forward first, found a cushion and started to bow. The class monitor walked to Zheng Yimian’s side and pointed to one side. “Mianmian, you go here.”
Zheng Yimian didn’t suspect anything and stood in place. Suddenly, someone was pushed from behind to stand beside her.
Before she could react, some force pushed down on Zheng Yimian, and she bent over together with the person beside her, considered to have paid respects.
Just as she felt something wasn’t quite right, the crowd behind them suddenly began to cheer in unison.
“Wow–”
“You two have paid your respects now! No taking it back!”
“Hahahahaha, oh my god!”
Zheng Yimian looked up and compared the deity statue in front of her with the one in front of Li Min.
…
Why did they seem… different?
“This… what?”
Zheng Yimian muttered, not expecting the person beside her to hear and actually answer.
Liang Yu’s voice was melodious, filled with amusement, yet he still enunciated each word slowly as he told her.
“…The Matchmaker God.”
Zheng Yimian: ???
“It’s the Matchmaker God, Mianmian.” Li Min bumped her shoulder, “You two just paid respects to the Matchmaker God.”
After thinking for a moment, Zheng Yimian turned back to look at the class monitor.
Class Monitor: “What’s wrong?”
Zheng Yimian very sincerely said, “I don’t think you should study art. You should study media and journalism, then after graduation, become an entertainment reporter. You’d definitely be amazing at it.”
After all, to be able to gossip like this, really, there was no one else quite like him.
The class monitor waved his hand down. “You flatter me, you flatter me.”
They continued joking as they headed to the next scenic spot.
Zhao Yuan, who was behind them, was still craning his neck to look at Zheng Yimian. After a while, he turned to Liang Yu and said, “Brother Yu, I think we’ve taken the first step on our long march. She doesn’t seem to mind at all being linked to you in…” He struggled with a word for a moment, finally choosing one that seemed slightly more appropriate, “rumors.”
Liang Yu smiled but didn’t answer.
Zhao Yuan continued. “It looks like if we make a bit more effort, get a little closer, we can move on to the next phase of our plan.”
After touring the whole place, Zheng Yimian bought an ice cream. She ate it while heading back, finishing just as it was time to gather.
As soon as they got on the bus to head to the headquarters, Li Min seemed to see some news on her phone. She leaned close to Zheng Yimian’s ear to share this news with her.
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