Rebirth of the Great Painter 36

(Shen Mo from author’s weibo. Idk why the quality is ass but it will be high quality in the series page)

Hua Jie looked up and fixed her gaze on the distinctly jointed, beautiful large hand.

?

No matter how beautiful, it couldn’t stop her from studying.

No matter how beautiful, it couldn’t stop her from studying.

Then, the hand withdrew, revealing a box of 2B erasers underneath.

A box for 10 yuan.

“?” Hua Jie turned her head, wide-eyed and speechless.

“Take it and use it,” Shen Mo said gruffly, then pulled out his copy of “The Fundamental Principles of Marxism” from his desk and resumed reading.

“…” Hua Jie’s face heated up.

Having such a desk mate was too good to be true!

Full-scale campus crush benefits!

Was she being pampered by the campus crush desk mate? Weren’t they supposed to be super fierce and bad? Wasn’t he rumored to be a talented but morally bankrupt bad student? Something’s off! He seemed entirely like a warm gentleman!

Could these erasers be a perk she got for drawing portraits?

Wuu, she felt so blessed; now she had so many erasers.

How could a box of erasers make her feel so blissfully soft, as if she were soaking in a hot spring, bubbles forming all around her?

It was over; she suspected she might be a closet romantic hiding among the masses.

Was her persona of an independent, strong woman about to crumble? Wuu…

After giving away the eraser, Shen Mo didn’t bother with his desk mate anymore. He was immersed in the sea of philosophy, unable to extricate himself, occasionally making annotations in the margins with a pencil.

Hua Jie pulled out an eraser and clutched it in her left hand, drawing strength from it while she continued her homework.

Hmm, her writing speed was faster, and her thoughts flowed more smoothly!

No wonder—it’s a high-quality, handsome school hunk brand eraser; it really is different~~~

…

After the first study period ended, Hua Jie successfully completed all her homework.

She stretched lazily and then hurried out to use the restroom. The revolution was not yet successful; Comrade Hua still needed to strive.

Shen Mo tossed aside his book, not feeling like doing his homework today either.

He turned to glance at Hua Jie’s desk; it seemed she had finished everything. He thought about enslaving her to do his homework, but she seemed busy with something…

Outside, the wind howled. He scratched his head, thinking about resting his head on the desk for a while when suddenly he overheard a conversation among four girls not far away:

“Bian Ying, you haven’t been talking to Hua Jie recently? Did you guys have a falling out?”

“She’s the one ignoring me. She’s into painting now, probably thinks she’s too good for me,” Bian Ying shrugged helplessly, her acting quite on point.

“Ah? But weren’t you two okay during junior high?”

“People change.” Bian Ying slightly pursed her lips.

Shen Mo glanced over, tapping his fingers on the desk.

“Being good at painting has its advantages, but that’s no reason to look down on old classmates. We didn’t look down on her when her entrance exam scores were low.”

“Yeah, and besides, Bian Ying, you might become the drill leader for our first year, right?”

“I don’t know. The homeroom teacher said he submitted my name to the head of discipline, just waiting for the result.” Bian Ying shrugged, seemingly indifferent.

“Even if you can’t be the grade drill leader, it’s okay. Our homeroom teacher already leads the drills at the front of our class, which is quite prestigious. I see students from the next class watching you with great interest.”

“Yeah, do you know about the hunk from the next class…”

Shen Mo’s gaze was fixed on the blackboard, lost in thought.

When Hua Jie returned, she found her desk mate in a ‘Thinker’ pose.

“Shen Mo, how much is the eraser?” she asked after sitting down.

“It’s on me,” Shen Mo replied nonchalantly.

“But that’s not right—” Hua Jie disagreed, but he cut her off:

“What have you been busy with during these classes?”

Hua Jie pulled out a stack of her design drafts, showing them to him while explaining the situation.

“400 yuan to buy your designs and to stand in the icy snow painting? How long would that take?” Shen Mo asked incredulously.

“It’s pretty good, I think. If I wanted to make money, there wouldn’t be many opportunities,” Hua Jie replied, unconcerned. Money is earned bit by bit; without taking small steps, there can be no great strides.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to earn money by drawing portraits at our Go club on weekends?” Shen Mo strongly disagreed.

“The money from drawing portraits at the Go club I will earn, and I will earn from this too, there’s no conflict.”

“…”

Shen Mo choked up for a moment, then suddenly sat up straight and leaned towards her:

“Is this a task assigned by the head teacher to the art group?”

“Yes, what’s up?” she raised an eyebrow, puzzled by his sudden alarm.

“Are you sure your design will be accepted?” Shen Mo asked.

“Of course, it’s top-notch design!” Hua Jie immediately puffed out her chest.

“Listen to me,” he tapped the table, drawing her full attention.

“?”

“After Teacher Wang approves your design, you say, painting the wall is fine, but not just for 400 yuan, you also want to lead the exercises for the senior group,” Shen Mo’s eyes were deep and penetrating, filled with a pressing intensity.

“What? Lead the exercises?” Hua Jie was baffled, this was totally unrelated.

“Right.”

“No, no, no! Why would I lead exercises? I’m not the ‘class beauty’, nor can I dance,” she hastily refused, jokingly dismissing the idea, knowing she wasn’t cut out for it.

“What do you mean you can’t? Stand up,” Shen Mo prodded her head.

Hua Jie stood up, spread his hands, and couldn’t help but laugh looking at him.

“Spin around.” He extended his finger, indicating for her to turn.

“Are you teasing me like a dog?” she blushed slightly, glanced around at her classmates, and approached him shyly to scold.

“Hurry up!” He leaned forward and stretched his arm to push her shoulder.

While rolling her eyes at him, Hua Jie shyly spun around.

The girl spun awkwardly, and even though the classroom was noisy and hardly anyone was watching, she was too embarrassed to fully extend her arms and legs as she turned.

But her eyes sparkled with vivacity when she looked at people, her eyelashes shimmering under the light as if brimming with radiance. To Shen Mo, who suffered from face blindness, her expressive face was far more beautiful than any school beauty.

It was a beauty that stillness could not compare to.

“Alright, sit down.” He nodded in satisfaction.

“…” After sitting down, Hua Jie suddenly punched him, “What are you, choosing beauty contestants?”

“It’s good, your arms and legs are all there, leading exercises would suit you. Plus, I’ve seen you take exercises seriously before; your movements are pretty standard,” he nodded earnestly.

“…” Shouldn’t he have complimented her on being pretty, or thin, or having a good figure instead?

“That still doesn’t qualify me to lead exercises,” she waved off the suggestion.

“Don’t all girls dream of leading exercises during the break to show off their beauty in front of the whole school?” he asked.

“But isn’t the prerequisite that you need to be beautiful? Otherwise, wouldn’t it just be showing off ugliness?” Hua Jie had never been considered a beauty, nor did she know how to endure the envious gazes of others as one.

In her previous life, she had just blossomed when she started wearing ugly glasses due to nearsightedness. When she began to care about her looks in college, her eyes had already deformed from wearing glasses, and people mocked her for having “goldfish eyes.”

She… she couldn’t handle it; if people stared at her too long, she’d even walk awkwardly.

“…” Shen Mo stared at her for a while, noting her slightly embarrassed and evasive expression, and suddenly felt a strange emotion.

It was like seeing a cute little dog on the street, timidly wagging its tail at him… wanting to tuck it in his arms, take it home, dress it up, fatten it up, then show it off on walks, letting everyone see how pretty and majestic the dog was.

That didn’t sound quite right…

It was probably more about wanting to take it home, feed it until it was plump, freeing it to bark joyously and live unrestrained.

And wanting to feed it into the most beautiful and impressive dog, making all other dogs feel inferior…

It was indeed a strange emotion.

He rubbed his fingers on the desk, then suddenly squinted his eyes and asked her with a cold laugh:

“Do you lack confidence that your design will be approved by Teacher Wang and the head teacher?”

“I am confident about that,” Hua Jie’s tone instantly lifted, but then she added softly, “But leading exercises, I can’t.”

“Don’t you envy the exercise leaders?” he asked.

“I do envy them, a lot,” she shrugged. Could longing for something mean obtaining it, or owning something just by envying it?

“If you envy them, why not give it a try?” Shen Mo seemed unable to understand Hua Jie’s behavior of admiring the role of an exercise leader yet never daring to aspire to it.

His voice grew stern, causing Hua Jie to pause slightly.

As they locked gazes, she began to feel uncomfortable first; his gaze was too sharp, even somewhat intense.

Being looked at like this, she started to worry self-consciously about whether there were any unattractive features on her face he might notice, or even whether her face was clean or her hair was messy…

She pursed her lips and sat upright, deep in thought.

Shen Mo stared at her profile for a while and then said:

“Whether you become an exercise leader or not doesn’t really matter. I just heard some girls speaking ill of you, talking about becoming exercise leaders, and it annoyed me, so I wanted to encourage you to compete.”

After saying that, he picked up his Marx book and whispered softly:

“Do what you love.”

He was the type to strive for what he wanted, but he couldn’t expect Little Potato to be the same.

“…” Hua Jie turned to look at him, and the young man shrugged and smiled.

“So… should I give it a try?” she leaned on the desk, only her eyes peeking at him.

“…” The boy’s gaze shifted from the book to her face, seeing her like a little mouse ready to steal cheese, he couldn’t help but chuckle, “You can do it.”

“… Yeah, I can do it.” She stuck out her tongue, her eyebrows raised high, displaying a mischievous expression that was both scared and excited.

“Hua Jie,” he suddenly asked her seriously.

“Huh?” Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him with a goofy smile, as if he was about to say something very serious.

“The class teacher is watching you,” he said.

“…” Hua Jie suddenly sat up straight, dared not look anywhere else, and quickly pulled out a book to pretend to read.

After a while, she stealthily turned her head to see that the class teacher was now sitting at the podium, head down, reading a book, no longer watching her.

Turning back to Shen Mo, he continued with his philosophy reading.

Breathing out, she quietly took out a piece of draft paper and started revising it into the final version.

Her heart was still beating fast, thinking about how she was actually going to compete with the teacher for the role of leading the exercises, she felt her face and ears burning uncontrollably.

A few moments later, she glanced at her watch; time was pressing, and she couldn’t afford any more distractions.

She then focused her mind, her hands moving quickly and efficiently as she worked on the drawing.

As the school bell rang, she was the first to leave the classroom, clutching her draft.

Shen Mo put down his book, stretched lazily, and his gaze followed the girl’s departing figure until she left the classroom, then he sighed deeply.

He felt an emotion akin to an old father watching his son set sail for a distant voyage—

Little Potato, you must succeed, don’t let this ‘father’ be disappointed.

Or—

Puppy, you must win out there, don’t let your master down.

With a smile tugging at his lips, he casually gathered his homework and a couple of books into his backpack, tightened the straps, slung it over his shoulder, and walked out of the classroom.

As soon as he reached the corridor, the other students instinctively made way for him.

Zhao Jinhui, who had once been ordered by him to throw desks into the utility room but quickly became one of his admirers, asked him:

“Mo, why are you smiling?”

“Who’s smiling?” Shen Mo’s face fell, and he turned around with an unfriendly tone.

“…” Zhao Jinhui.

Shen Mo patted Zhao Jinhui on the shoulder and walked away without further interaction.

“…” Zhao Jinhui watched Shen Mo’s retreating figure, admiring his effortless coolness.

Unable to resist, he began to clumsily imitate Shen Mo’s expressions and walking posture.

…

…

When Hua Jie entered the office of the senior first-year group carrying a stack of presentation drafts and knocked on the door, Wang Ting, with a furrowed brow, raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Did she actually finish it?

But is it usable?

Taking a deep breath, she knew she couldn’t afford to speak carelessly out of frustration. Even if she were to reject Hua Jie’s design drafts, she had to be mindful of her words to protect the self-esteem of the young students.

With this thought in mind, her gaze fell on the sketches Hua Jie handed over.

When she saw the design on the top sheet of paper, Wang Ting was stunned.

“???!!!”

These lines, auxiliary lines, and drawing techniques…

It was clearly a professional design draft!