Every Thursday, during the break between classes, either a class officer or a student representative would be called to the office to help the teachers update the midterm exam scores of all the students in their respective classes on the grade sheet.
Whenever a student was called to the office, many in the class would shout, asking them to remember to jot down the scores.
The most anxious students would sit silently in the classroom during the break, noting down the scores they had gathered for various subjects, waiting for their classmates to return with the latest scores for another subject.
Some gathered together, quietly asking each other about the scores in various subjects and then silently comparing to see who was leading based on the scores that had been released so far.
Everyone was tense, fearful, and competitive, and even during the break, it was hard to take a breath and relax.
At this moment, Hua Jie felt that the school was also a huge arena.
Everyone wanted to win, each question, each mark bringing joy or sorrow.
When dozens of people gathered together, the terrifying atmosphere before the results inflated invisibly, pressing down on Hua Jie until she hastily fled the classroom, wearing a down jacket and carrying her sketchpad, running out of the teaching building.
She didn’t ask about any of her scores. This process of tearing apart each subject one by one was too painful, and she preferred to endure and wait.
Shen Mo was still playing basketball on the court, unfazed by his grades, the top student’s mindset was just that steady.
The others playing basketball with him, however, were completely different; they were simply carefree.
Hua Jie discovered she wasn’t the first to come to the side of the basketball court to draw; a boy was already sitting in the best spot on the sidelines, unbothered by others’ stares, alternately watching the boys on the court and putting pen to paper.
Many girls nearby glared at him unhappily, annoyed that he had taken the best spot to watch the handsome athletes, but he didn’t care.
It was Lu Yunfei.
This week, their assignment was to do 20 dynamic sketches. Hua Jie needed to draw people in motion, and so did Lu Yunfei.
The young man was well-prepared, sitting on a small stool.
Hua Jie looked around and saw a basketball under the hoop, walked over, and asked whose it was. Yao Nan on the court replied, “Mine!”
She unceremoniously took the basketball to where Lu Yunfei was, placed it beside him, and sat down on it.
Lu Yunfei glanced at her and then continued drawing, as if he didn’t know her at all and had no interest in her.
“…” Hua Jie, who had been about to greet him, silently swallowed her words, gripped her sketchpad, observed for a while, and then started to draw.
The two of them sitting by the court seemed out of place, yet somehow, because they were together, it seemed somewhat harmonious.
Many people gathered behind them, watching the handsome guys play basketball while observing their drawing.
“Wow, you draw so fast,” a girl couldn’t help but exclaim.
“…” Finally, Lu Yunfei looked up and glanced at Hua Jie’s sketchpad.
Indeed, the girl was not praising him.
He had sat down 2 minutes before Hua Jie, but he had only just started drafting his second dynamic figure, whereas she had already finished two and was starting on her third.
Even for a sketch, that seemed too fast.
Lu Yunfei decided to stop drawing and watch how Hua Jie went about it.
Soon, he realized why she was able to draw so quickly: the lines that took him about twenty seconds to analyze, she could understand in just a few seconds.
Moreover, while he could only make a few strokes in those twenty seconds, she could make a dozen or more in the same time.
Naturally, this made her much faster than him.
Lu Yunfei pursed his lips and made a few strokes himself, then paused abruptly.
A few moments later, he simply put away his sketchpad and focused on watching Hua Jie draw.
After observing the boys on the basketball court, she started with a straight line to establish the motion, marking the support points.
With a few more observations, she began to add details—
On one side of the motion line, where the dynamic tension was evident, her lines were very simple, clearly marking the dynamics of the figure without any superfluous strokes, making sure not to disrupt the visual focal point.
On the non-dynamic side, the approach was completely different; she detailed every dynamic element such as clothing and hair.
She also used elements like ‘wind’ to enhance the sense of motion, her strokes were very skilled and efficient, with almost every stroke being effective and without any need to rework the lines.
Moreover, her awareness of capturing motion was so strong that she could start drawing after just a few observations, like a printer.
This required constant practice, drawing enough to instantly find the right way to lay down strokes and display methods upon a single glance, and to be so efficient.
Hua Jie was younger than him and had only recently started learning to draw with the teacher, yet how could she be so proficient and skilled?
As Lu Yunfei was trying to analyze and remember her technique, Hua Jie suddenly stopped drawing, turned to him, and said:
“When doing life drawing, not only is observational skill important, but memory is even more crucial.”
“This kind of memory needs to be honed by drawing enough sketches, like how I only need to look once to recall the numerous similar dynamics I have drawn before, making it easy to remember after just one glance.”
“Because I’ve drawn more than you, I can pick up more useful information with just a glance.”
“Parks in the summer and bus terminals in the winter are great places to practice sketching because of the variety of people. We could arrange to go sketch at the bus terminal sometime, or even the train station.”
“…” Lu Yunfei pursed his lips and awkwardly shifted his gaze back to his own sketchpad.
He spent all his free time drawing, so why hadn’t he drawn as much as her?
He was even older than her.
Driven by a competitive spirit, he silently resolved to draw more, anytime and anywhere.
Hua Jie noticed his profile and knew he was sulking on his own.
She had a decade or so of additional life experience from being reborn, like playing an easy level in a newbie village.
Lu Yunfei, however, was a true genius. Among his peers, he was top-tier in drawing, even better than many older than him, and his potential was limitless.
Such a person would naturally have a high pride and finding it normal to not tolerate being outdone by others.
She smiled lightly, not minding his introversion and silence, and continued:
“I was demonstrating a lot of details for you just now.”
“Actually, when I do sketches, I generally only draw the basic lines and key details. More connections and details are added slowly once I’m back home.”
“After all, sketching time is limited, these people won’t play basketball here forever, and our break time really isn’t that long.”
“…” Lu Yunfei looked up at her, his cheeks suddenly turning red.
It seemed like she was focused on her drawing, but she was fully aware that he had been watching her, and she had deliberately demonstrated for him.
‘She doesn’t consider me a competitor’ ‘She even has a kind of mentor-like attitude that looks down on me from above, with a broad and peaceful mindset’—these realizations complicated his feelings.
Why wouldn’t she consider him a competitor?
Was she that arrogant?
Did she think he was inferior to her?
Or did she firmly believe that he posed no threat at all?
Lu Yunfei, frustrated and embarrassed, decided not just to ignore her but to immediately get up and leave with his stool.
Just then, Hua Jie spoke up again:
“Will you be going to our school’s art studio for the evening self-study session?”
“If you’re free, I can go to the studio and mix all the colors I used last time when I was painting glass balls, and show you how I do it again.”
Lu Yunfei had just begun to lift his skin by a millimeter when it firmly settled back down.
“…” He stared at the pencil in his hand, conflicted, and after a few seconds slowly said:
“Then we’ll meet in the studio during the first self-study period today.”
Hua Jie’s lips curved upward, her smile sly, like she had successfully tempted a young boy.
Previously in Teacher Shen Jiaru’s studio, Lu Yunfei had asked the teacher for the 200 glass balls she painted and had been studying her color mixing.
Sure enough, her fishing had been successful, haha.
The bell for the preparatory signal rang, and the two of them stood up. Lu Yunfei picked up his stool, and Hua Jie handed the basketball back to Yao Nan.
Lu Yunfei, who never spoke more than necessary and always avoided greetings, took a step to leave and then, breaking his usual habit, turned back and said, “Goodbye, see you tonight.” His tone was flat, and his expression somewhat stiff, clearly not adept at this.
To learn the color mixing techniques for those glass balls, he had put in a lot of effort.
“Bye, see you tonight~” Hua Jie called out warmly, having become much better at making friends since her rebirth.
Shen Mo walked up to her from the basketball court, tapped his hand that had just played ball on top of her head, and followed her gaze toward Lu Yunfei.
“…” Lu Yunfei’s gaze shifted from Hua Jie’s face to the distinctly jointed hand, and then down the arm to the boy’s face.
It was Shen Mo!
The same Shen Mo who never interacted with them, who always looked arrogant and fierce as if he had to kill someone daily!
With a purse of his lips, he turned around with his sketchpad and walked away, reverting to the rude and reticent oddball.
“Who’s that?” Shen Mo frowned and asked.
“Your dad’s student, named Lu Yunfei.” Hua Jie, holding her sketchpad, smiled.
“What are you drawing? Let me see.” Shen Mo reached out to grab her sketchpad.
“I’m not showing you.” Hua Jie ran off holding it. Although it was normal to draw him, it felt somewhat embarrassing to show him, like a weird older sister who had taken his photos secretly.
“…” Shen Mo watched her short legs sprint towards the teaching building and tugged at the corner of his lips.
No need to say, she had definitely drawn him.
As he walked into the teaching building, he adjusted his short hair in the glass on the door.
His hair was getting a bit long but looked even more unruly.
True to form, he was looking even more handsome.
…
Returning to the classroom, Hua Jie began to feel stifled again.
She entered just behind the class monitor, and as soon as the monitor walked in, several classmates approached to ask about their grades.
Hua Jie walked past the class monitor, her lips pressed into a straight line.
Could she… make it into the top ten of her class?
If she didn’t, would Teacher Shen be disappointed…
Taking a deep breath and sitting down at her desk, her mood seemed to wilt.
Shen Mo turned to look at her and asked:
“I heard from my dad that you dream of getting into Tsinghua University?”
“Yes! I want to get into Tsinghua!” Hua Jie’s spirits suddenly revived, her voice was soft but her fists were raised high.
“Change your goal; why put so much pressure on yourself?” Shen Mo frowned.
“Then… I want to rank higher than Shen Mo in the exams!” She turned to stare at him, as if seeing a formidable opponent.
“Then you might as well aim for Tsinghua.” He scoffed, “I am destined to be the first, no one can climb over my head.”
“…” Hua Jie glared at him angrily, then deflated, fiddling with her fingers as she looked at her textbook.
She wished the exam results would come out soon. The fear of the unknown, the hope of making it into the top ten, yet fearing not making it, was too tormenting.
Suddenly a hand pinched the back of her neck, startling Hua Jie so much that she got goosebumps, and her scalp nearly exploded.
She shrank her neck and glared back at him; the boy leisurely withdrew his hand, smiling faintly:
“Become my disciple, and I guarantee you’ll get into Tsinghua.”
“Tsinghua Pond? The foot massage specialty?”
“What?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Why do you guarantee it?” she pouted.
“There’s never been anything I’ve wanted to do that I’ve failed at.” His expression suddenly became serious, his eyes intensely fixed on her, as if he were stalking prey or about to swear the most solemn vow in the world.
Like a young wolf, the boy was unrestrained and arrogant.
A supremely intelligent person, possessing determination and perseverance, prominent in his adolescence as if ready to declare war on the entire world at any moment.
As she locked eyes with Shen Mo’s dark, deep pool-like gaze, Hua Jie believed his words.
His eyes seemed magical, sharp as a sword’s blade, as chilling as a cold night’s lightning, piercing her soul, promising that he could fulfill her wishes.
Suddenly, she reached out and rubbed his shoulder three times.
“???” The boy’s eyes widened, and he shrugged his shoulders, glaring at her.
How could she be so hands-on at such a solemn moment?
“Isn’t it like rubbing a lamp before making a wish to Aladdin’s genie?” she said with a beaming smile.
“…” The boy stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly understood—she believed his words.
“Call me master,” he said.
“I won’t,” she stubbornly replied.