The lunch was uneventful and the rowdiness from before only continued at the dining table. Nana was the only controlling factor who could rein in these pranksters or they would have caused a world war three over food.
Alix, who somehow coincidentally got seated beside Jin again, glanced at him. He held Ailun in his lap, trying to feed him the boring carrots slices.
"Oh my God I am so sorry!!!"
A pair of hasty steps came from the entrance and Shui entered the Liu villa with her chest heaving breathlessly.
"Oh my God...I am so sorry...Was busy...in an art exhibition..." she rubbed the sweat off her forehead.
"Oh Shui, what a pleasant surprise!" Ai beamed.
Jin stiffened.
"Shuiiiii!" The twins got excited as if they were seeing her after a long time just like all the kids who were furiously waving their hands at her.
"Yes, yes, please join us for lunch," Nana chirped. "But why did you arrive in such a hurry?"
"Ah? Well Alix called me here and I came as quickly as I could. But I was stuck in an exhibition..."
"Oh so Alix invited Shui too? That's perfect!" Xing Bi grinned.
Alix said, "More like I wanted to get my appointment done here because I was here anyway."
"Appointment?" Everybody tilted their heads questioningly.
Shui quickly replied. "It's nothing really. It's more of an art class really. Alix is interested in learning art so I teach her sometimes along with Xiao."
She frowned at Alix. "What was the problem at your house?"
"My little sister is too noisy."
"Hey!!!" Jian and Nian somehow felt personally attacked. "Being noisy is not that bad..."
Jun sneered. "Yes, please go ahead. Defend yourself more."
Liu Hai was too busy to defend himself because he was stuffing his mouth with food.
"We could have done it in my house too."
"I am already here," Alix shrugged. "Too bothersome to head to the Han villa after this."
Shui scratched her chin and apologized to Nana. "I am sorry if this is too sudden, Aunt but can we have our art class here?"
She returned to Alix's side, who was busy flipping pages through Shui's sketch book with an unreadable gaze.
"No, no! Don't look at them. They are still incomplete!" Shui tried to snatch the book away but Alix didn't let her.
"What is the problem? Every future art is an incomplete piece of sketch in the beginning. It's interesting to see the process forming from its hatching. Stories are like that too, you know." Discover stories with m,v l'e-novelhall.net
Shui thought about something and burst into a soft laughter.
"I didn't say anything funny," Alix frowned.
"No. I laughed because I thought about Ai. I have seen her on sleepless nights with her hair messed up and her face looking like a zombie because she had been working on her story draft."
Alix stared at her. "Hm. Authors look all sparkly on the outside but the inside is a very different story."
"Haha, I am starting to feel that I am stepping in her footsteps."
"I know that."
"Hm?"
"I have seen your paintings from five years ago."
"...O-oh! Ah those! T-They are really not that great actually...I was just starting out as a professional artist," Shui nervously pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.
"They are actually the best so far," Alix raised her brow. "Though I wonder why the themes all depicted loneliness. Was it the only thing you could relate to back then?"
Shui laughed. "Haha, w-what are you talking about, Alix? My paintings have nothing to do with myself."
"Of course they are. Art is an expression of yourself. At times you don't realize it, but you tend to give shape to those feelings in your heart."
Shui faintly smiled. "Why do I feel that you are taking my class instead of the other way around?"
"Not really. I am just speaking up my mind," Alix said with a bored expression. "Can I get tickets to your future art exhibition?"
"Of course! You don't need to ask," she chuckled. "I will be happy to have you there. And Xiao too."
"Don't invite Mui. I want peace."
Shui slightly widened her eyes with surprise. "Well, I have been wanting to ask you something for a while."
Alix arched her brow questioningly.
"You always liked your sister but for some time, I feel that you have grown distant from her. Before the accident, you relied on her quite a bit but not since you woke up from your coma. Is it... something to do with your accident?"