Chapter 172: You Did Well, Hubby!

Since it was Sunday and Shui Xian had nothing planned for the day, he decided to take out the invitation that Grandma Zhai gave him last night. Although he had no interest in the art exhibition, he definitely had an interest in hearing his wife's unique point of view.

And just because of that, he took Raelle to the art exhibition and he was definitely not disappointed. As always, his wife really told him what it meant to see the world in a new light.

The painting that seemed to have caught Raelle's eyes was a painting of a tree. That's right, it was the painting of a tree standing tall under the rain. Now, what was the specialty of this painting that seemed to make Raelle Xiang stand for fifteen minutes staring at it?

That had to do with how the tree was portrayed in that painting. The tree's leaves were in rainbow colors. That's right! Each leaf of the tree was painted with a different, vibrant, and vivid color. However, due to the rain, those colors seemed to be washing off of those leaves. One could see how each leaf left a streak of color smirch that fell to the ground creating a puddle that had all those different colors mixed it making it seem murky.

Seeing how engrossed she was, Shui Xian really didn't feel like disturbing her but he had the urge to know what was on her mind. This was the longest she had looked at any painting around them. And he was curious to know what she was seeing. You heard it right! He wanted to know what she was seeing even though he could see the painting himself. But he knew there'd be a huge difference in the way they both looked at the same painting.

It was just like their different ideas of love. Her ideas were never on the same wavelength as his.

"I thought my wife's favorite subject was science," he whispered right beside her ear as he stood right behind her. His body wasn't touching hers at all. But the distance between their bodies seemed to be almost non-existent.

"But I never said I don't like art," she replied candidly without moving her eyes away from the painting.

Shui Xian nodded to himself before continuing, "However, you said you can't understand emotions. Art is often the representation of feelings that one buries deep inside them. When they can't voice out those feelings, they paint it with colors."

Raelle turned her face slightly and her lips brushed softly against the side of Shui Xian's jaw as he had his face so close to her. But it didn't affect her as she held his gaze, "Do you know the inspiration behind science and art is the same?" Shui Xian's brows knitted up slightly. "Both are the representation of one's dreams." Shui Xian's eyes widened a little at her reply. "There isn't much difference between science and art. Both are forms of imagination."

He was intrigued by her words as his lips uplifted slightly, "Then what does my wife see in this painting?"

"Reality," she answered.

"Huh?"

"Each leaf of the tree represents humans and different colors represent different masks that people have put on. They say when you fall in love with the tree and not its root, then you would find yourself lost once the season changes and the tree withers away. Here the rain represents the reality that can tear off those vibrant masks of people. Because with rain, the season will change and then, all that'd be left would be a barren tree with its dry branches." She turned her eyes towards the painting as she added, "This is the reality of the society we live in. We all are wearing a different color that doesn't belong to us. Take you and me as an example, I don't know how to smile and yet, I have to put on a smile. You clearly love to smile and yet, you have forced yourself to hide behind a cold wall. We are hypocrites in our own ways."

Shui Xian was silent for a long while as he let her words sink in. He didn't mind that she called him a hypocrite right on his face. She didn't lie just how could he refute her words when he knew what she said was the truth? He hardly ever had any words to argue with her and today was no different.

"Do you want me to buy the painting for you?" he finally broke the silence.

"No," she refused immediately.

"Why not? You clearly like it," he said with a firm tone. He was certain that she liked the painting. If she didn't, she wouldn't waste her 'precious' time here.

"Just because I like it, doesn't mean I want to buy it," she replied to him and held his arm. "Let's go now. There is nothing else to look at."

Shui Xian didn't understand why she refused to buy something she clearly liked but he didn't question it either. Instead, he moved her hand from his arm to his hand and laced their fingers together. He seemed to like the feeling of having her hand perfectly fit with his own.

"I heard there is a famous cafe around here," said Shui Xian.

"Who did you hear it from?" she questioned.

Shui Xian avoided her gaze as he said in a small, "I might have looked it up."

"Why are the tips of your ears turning red again?" Raelle noticed how his ears were turning red visibly. "I didn't even do anything this time."

Shui Xian rubbed his forehead saying, "It's because I'm feeling embarrassed."

"Why?"

"Because since we were coming here, I wanted us to spend more time together. So, I looked up the best spots for couples around here. And that's how the cafe caught my attention. It has great reviews."

"You made an effort for our relationship, what is there to be embarrassed about?" While Shui Xian was lost in her eyes, she put her hand on his head and patted it gently saying, "You did well, Hubby!" And then she flashed him one of those smiles of hers.

However, even though he knew that smile was fake to the core, it took his breath away.