After class, Hua Jie borrowed some wide tape and sealed the front and back of four long strip paintings, as if laminating a phone screen, effectively framing them.
Zhang Xue looked at her special custom bookmarks, sealed with transparent tape, and jumped for joy.
She was especially delighted when she saw the ‘Zhang Xue’ flowery signature that Hua Jie designed on the back of the bookmark, praising Hua Jie as a fairy.
When Liao Shanshan saw Zhang Xue’s bookmarks, she immediately borrowed the wide tape and applied a ‘film’ to her ‘Little Swallow sketch’ as well.
During the break, the classroom was filled with the sound of tape being torn.
“Hua Jie, can you sign this for me?” While sticking the back of the ‘Little Swallow’ painting, Liao Shanshan left a strip unsealed and brought it to Hua Jie for an autograph.
“I’m not famous, why do you want my signature?” Hua Jie said, waving her hands dismissively as her cheeks began to blush slightly.
“I think you’ll be a great painter in the future, and by then, a painting with your signature will be valuable,” Liao Shanshan winked. “Consider it an investment.”
Hua Jie chuckled, took the painting, and thought for a moment before she started to sketch with a fountain pen on the blank area.
She didn’t write her own name; instead, she used all the fancy and designer fonts she had memorized from her previous life studying design to create a whimsical signature for Liao Shanshan.
Once the final stroke was complete, Hua Jie looked somewhat pleased.
Liao Shanshan eagerly leaned in, “Ah, you didn’t sign it… This is my name!”
She pinched the painting, growing fonder of it by the second, and suddenly grabbed Hua Jie’s hand, exclaiming joyfully:
“Hua Jie, you are so talented, you are the most amazing person I’ve ever met!”
Around them, classmates chatting and resting during the break were instantly drawn by Liao Shanshan’s loud voice, all craning their necks to see.
Being in their adolescence, when everyone seeks to stand out, cultivating a cool signature was something every high school student had considered.
Seeing Liao Shanshan’s beautifully signed name, they all expressed envy.
Holding up the painting with pride, Liao Shanshan felt like she had already won at life.
Surrounded by admiring classmates, Liao Shanshan lavishly showered Hua Jie with praise, and the others joined in, all wanting Hua Jie to design signatures for them too.
Even though Hua Jie had been somewhat famous as a minor Weibo celebrity in her past life, she rarely experienced being so openly flattered.
She felt slightly embarrassed yet also blissfully happy.
No one was forcing her to paint, no one was pressuring her to alter her work repeatedly. To control the brush and imagination at will was truly a joyful thing.
Burdened for too long by the stress of painting for money, she had almost forgotten this purest form of joy.
And the sense of accomplishment when others loved and praised her paintings.
Being able to paint… was originally a beautiful thing.
Hua Jie hadn’t even snapped back to reality when Liao Shanshan, already acting like a strict manager, told the other classmates:
“If you want a designed signature, it costs money. I’ve heard that big stars pay hundreds or even thousands for a signature design. Our Hua Jie charges too.”
Saying so, she unilaterally stretched out two fingers:
“Two yuan!”
Hua Jie had intended to keep her prices low, but Liao Shanshan had inflated them right from the start.
The high school students didn’t have much pocket money.
Yet Liao Shanshan didn’t think it was expensive and continued to market for Hua Jie:
“Two yuan, just four packs of instant noodles, and you can have a signature that’s uniquely your own style! It’s something you can use for a lifetime!”
No sooner had she finished speaking than someone handed over money for Designer Hua to create a signature.
It actually worked. Hua Jie smiled, exchanging a knowing look with Liao Shanshan.
Taking orders! More money to be made.
Liao Shanshan giggled, turning back to her seat, and sealed the blank space where Hua Jie had drawn her signature with wide tape.
Then she clipped the painting to the desk and began practicing the signature Hua Jie had designed for her.
So cool!
…
At the end of the day, Hua Jie sat exhausted on the back seat of the neighbor older brother’s bike, silently watching the stars in the sky.
In a small northern town in the year 2000, late autumn nights were high with the moon, the sky strewn with stars.
The air was crisp, making it seem as though she could see the entire universe just by looking up.
Surrounded only by dim, sparse streetlights and the warm light from residences, with virtually zero light pollution, the sky was an inky blue about to drip.
A sweet breeze caressed her face as she breathed deeply, almost greedily.
Reborn.
The day went smoothly, yet so many things touched her deeply, allowing her a moment of quiet solitude to immerse herself in her thoughts and emotions.
Riding downhill to school, what was once a breezy glide had turned into a slow, deliberate walk.
The young boys and girls walked side by side, with Bian Hong silent, occasionally stealing glances at the girl who had been so lively that morning under the moonlight.
Her quietness, her softly fluttering eyelashes, her fine short hair, and her delicate, slender neck all made her appear vulnerable and pitiable.
Suddenly, Bian Hong’s heart skipped a beat; he quickly averted his gaze, staring straight ahead, not daring to let his thoughts wander.
As the young man dropped her off at her doorstep, Hua Jie crisply thanked and said goodbye.
She glanced once more at the dimly lit alley without streetlights, her eyes sweeping over the flatlands beyond the row of houses before unlocking the door and stepping into her small courtyard.
At home, her mother was sitting in front of the TV, watching “Palace of Desire,” knitting in the dark—
To save on electricity, her mother seldom turned on the lights while watching TV.
This frugality was ingrained in Hua Jie as well; even when she used the computer for drawing, she often did so with the lights off to save on electricity.
When Hua Jie nestled into her mother’s arms, her mother fumbled for a while with the knitting needles, afraid of accidentally poking her.
Her mother scolded her a bit and then, stroking her short hair, chatted about her first day of high school.
“By the way, the art teacher from the youth center called me today. He said you didn’t finish last weekend’s class and left your drawing board and other things there. What happened?” Hua Mother pushed Hua Jie’s head away from her chest.
“Mom, I don’t want to learn painting anymore,” Hua Jie buzzed.
“Your teacher was just praising your talent today, and I was still feeling happy about it…
“You were the one who insisted on learning painting, and we spent so much money on canvases, brushes, paper, and paints. We just paid the tuition for the art class at the youth center, and now you don’t want to continue?”
Her mother poked her in the head, her tone rising with frustration.
“Mom, I want to try for Tsinghua!” Hua Jie sat up straight, rubbing her head and frowning earnestly.
“You—” Her mother was at a loss for words. Her daughter had always been average in her studies; if she gave up art, even getting into a top university would be doubtful, let alone… Tsinghua?
She opened her mouth to lecture her but didn’t want to undermine her own daughter. After hesitating for a long time, she said:
“The tuition for the art class is already paid; you must finish the course this month. Alright, stop clinging to me. Go and do your homework.”
Hua Jie tried to argue but to no avail. She reluctantly picked up her backpack and went to her room to study.
Today, they only had a practice exam, and the teacher had asked everyone to preview the lessons without assigning any homework.
She sat dazedly at her desk for a while, then suddenly noticed a large iron box on the top shelf of her bookcase.
Standing on a chair, she took down the iron box and wiped the dust off it with a piece of paper. With a ‘click’, she lifted the lid and a stack of drawings came into view.
On sheets of varying sizes were her artworks, each carefully preserved by her mother in the iron box, kept safe through several moves.
She casually flipped through them, finding even her drawings from elementary school.
Sitting back down, she began to examine each one.
Sketches of plaster statues from junior high, quick sketches, still lifes, traditional Chinese paintings of roosters, and a line drawing of Emperor Qin Shi Huang…
A basketball player drawn with watercolor pens showing a high degree of completion, a fairy drawn using a combination of watercolor pens and traditional Chinese painting techniques…
Simple doodles from elementary school, cherry characters drawn with ballpoint pens…
Finally, she picked up a yellowed notebook pressed at the bottom of the box.
Opening it, she found a crooked little duck drawn with a ballpoint pen, something her mother taught her to draw when she was in kindergarten.
It was because of this little duck that her mother was convinced she had a talent for drawing.
Hua Jie stared at the crooked lines forming the flat-mouthed creature for a long while, then suddenly laughed.
Flipping through the notebook, there were more crooked drawings: little chickens, a small table, a small TV… all things from her childhood that became her models.
There were also her ghost-like depictions of Bai Niangzi and other strange, indistinguishable patterns.
Her heart pounding chaotically, her face flushed and her eyes warmed.
She looked over the drawings in the iron box many times, and her love for drawing reignited in her heart.
In this moment, she rediscovered her almost forgotten original intention.
Her initial passion for drawing.