CH 14.1

After a brief moment of contemplation, Ji Fanyin decided to allow Bai Zhou to do as he pleased. The latter took her phone and flipped it over.

Obviously, the caller could only be Song Shiyu.

Since Bai Zhou was right beside her, he was the only one left who could access her phone while it was still in ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode.

Bai Zhou didn’t hang up the phone. He stared at Ji Fanyin’s phone screen for two seconds, and surprisingly, he actually picked it up. “Song Shiyu, you’re really getting addicted to this, huh?”

Ji Fanyin couldn’t hear what Song Shiyu said on the other end, but Bai Zhou’s complexion swiftly darkened. A few seconds later, he quietly hung up the phone.

Ji Fanyin raised her eyebrows a little.

There were many comebacks one could make to Bai Zhou’s remark. Just a simple ‘Aren’t you the same too?’ was more than enough to silence him.

She was just curious as to how Song Shiyu phrased it.

However, what she was the most concerned with was whether Song Shiyu was intending to make another reservation with that call. So, she gently asked Bai Zhou, “What did he say?”

Bai Zhou tossed her phone into her bag with moderate force and replied, “Nothing much. It’s all nonsense… You aren’t allowed to look at me anymore. Read your book instead!”

He stomped back to his seat and sat down. There was a brief pause before he suddenly sneered, “You actually fell in love with a scum like him?”

To maintain the character she was playing, Ji Fanyin chose not to respond to Bai Zhou’s remark. Deep down, however, she was amazed by the latter’s inability to see the irony of his own words.

You’re scorning him despite being in the same position as him? What a remarkable lack of self-awareness.

After this small incident, she turned her attention back to the book in her hand. Despite knowing next to nothing about sketching, she still managed to finish it despite the professional jargons filling its pages.

When she finally closed the book shut, she noticed that the only sound to be heard in the art room was the light whirring of the air conditioning. There weren't any pencil scratching sounds to be heard.

She raised her head and looked in Bai Zhou’s direction, only to see him dozing off on a large comfortable chair. The pencil in his hand was already on the verge of falling to the ground.

He might be young, but there’s still a limit to his vitality.

Ji Fanyin quietly rose to her feet and walked over to Bai Zhou’s side. She tried tugging the pencil in his hand softly first, and it was only when he failed to respond did she finally pull it out entirely.

Bai Zhou groggily opened her eyes. “Mmmm… Big sis?”

“You stayed up all night again?” Ji Fanyin patted his hair which was as unruly as his personality. “Go on and take a nap. I’ll wake you up when it’s time to eat.”

She spoke with a suppressed voice, such that Bai Zhou didn’t suspect a thing at all.

“… Don’t go, big sis,” he murmured a few indistinct words.

“I won’t go anywhere. I’ll be right by your side,” said Ji Fanyin gently.

Bai Zhou returned to sleep with an ease of mind.

Ji Fanyin suddenly thought that it wasn’t that bad for her client to have stayed up the previous night either. It sure was a load of burden off her back.

Standing beside Bai Zhou, she turned her attention toward the half-done sketch that he had been working on so far. It was a portrait of her—or from the artist’s point of view, Ji Xinxin—reading a book with a lowered head. It had a tranquil vibe that brought serenity to those looking at it.

It’s hard to believe that this was drawn by someone of Bai Zhou’s personality.

Bai Zhou subconsciously reached for Ji Fanyin’s hand while the latter was still looking at his sketch, but the moment their fingers barely came into contact, she quickly pulled her hand away.

In the end, he only managed to grab onto her coat, though he clutched onto it with surprising tenacity, refusing to let go at all.

Ji Fanyin lowered her head to look at him and her eyebrows shot up a little.

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