Chapter 31.1 – Away from the Haze
——He is very dependent on you.
The barber’s words echoed in Wei Chen’s ears again, and Wei Chen’s cold eyes slowly turned into gentleness, like water, soaked with a faint smile. However, he did not reply to the barber, but only dropped his gaze on Chen Li, who was sitting quietly on the side.
Chen Li fell into his own world again at this moment, with no reaction in his eyes and a blank expression. He didn’t know what his world was like or whether it was very beautiful, which made him so addicted to it. Wei Chen wanted to enter Chen Li’s world more than once to see what attracted Chen Li to this world and made him unwilling to come out.
Chen Li seemed to feel Wei Chen’s gaze, so he turned his head and stared at Wei Chen. There was no fluctuation in his eyes, but Wei Chen knew that Chen Li was urging him to leave.
Taking the card handed over by the barber, Wei Chen stretched out his hand to Chen Li and said, “Li Li, let’s go, go to the painting and calligraphy shop and see what you need.” As the words fell, Wei Chen could clearly feel Chen Li’s light mood. Chen Li immediately stood up from the chair. Only when it came to painting, Chen Li was willing to pull himself away from that world for a short time.
Wei Chen walked over and took Chen Li’s hand, Chen Li stared at Wei Chen, urging silently.
Wei Chen didn’t hold back and stretched out his hand to rub Chen Li’s hair, which was just the right length, soft and not tangled.
*
It was Saturday. Even though the sun was unusually fierce, there were still people coming and going in the city square. Wei Chen also wanted to exercise Chen Li and wanted Chen Li to get in touch with the crowd a lot, so he took Chen Li to this lively city square.
Sure enough, just after leaving the door of the barber shop, Chen Li shrank into Wei Chen’s arms again, looking down at his toes, and was completely led by Wei Chen before he could take a few steps.
Wei Chen was also patient. He took Chen Li’s hand and looked for a painting and calligraphy shop in the huge city square. Although he had the heart to exercise Chen Li, he couldn’t bear to force Chen Li to face the crowd right away. He carefully hugged Chen Li in his arms, building a safe space for Chen Li.
This was a painting and calligraphy shop in this city square. This painting and calligraphy shop was not far from the barber shop just now. It was just around the corner, just a few steps away. Of course, Wei Chen was not very familiar with this shop. When he saw the painting and calligraphy shop, he walked in with Chen Li.
As soon as they entered the painting and calligraphy shop, they were greeted by a burst of cold air. The heat was blocked by the closed glass door, making their whole body feel refreshed. This glass door not only blocked the heat, but also blocked the hustle and bustle of the outside world.
The shelves made of mahogany, the dazzling variety of calligraphy and painting materials, and the beautiful classical music was flowing slowly in the cold air. Such a quiet and peaceful painting and calligraphy shop could be said to be a different kind of existence from the city square.
There were not many guests in the store. They were in twos and threes. Some were carefully admiring the various paintings and calligraphy hanging on the wall, and some were choosing materials, but they were all whispering softly, consciously trying not to destroy the tranquility here, as if it was a sin to say a word loudly.
Wei Chen led Chen Li into the store. When he touched the products in the store, Chen Li’s eyes glued to them, and they seemed to be a little hot.
“You can pick them yourself.” Wei Chen whispered in Chen Li’s ear, and slowly let go of Chen Li’s hand. In this world that Chen Li liked, he should let Chen Li roam freely by himself.
Chen Li noticed that Wei Chen was gradually letting go of his hand, and the gaze that had just been hotly glued on various materials immediately fell on Wei Chen. His eyes were full of uncertainty, and he even eagerly grabbed Wei Chen’s hand. For the first time, he took the initiative to hold Wei Chen’s hand tightly in his hand.
Obviously, there was plenty of cold air in the store, but Wei Chen felt that Chen Li’s hand was hot. There was an emotion that travelled from his fingertips and filled his whole body, making his eyes slightly hot. Something was about to break out, he wanted to say something, but the words turned around in his mouth, and Wei Chen swallowed it in the end. He stretched out his other hand and gently rubbed Chen Li’s hair, saying, “It’s okay, I’ll stay with you, you go see for yourself, I’ll be here watching you, you can see me when you turn around.”
Chen Li looked at Wei Chen and didn’t respond, but Wei Chen felt the hesitation in Chen Li’s eyes. In the end, he couldn’t resist feeling soft, Wei Chen held Chen Li’s hand back and said softly: “Okay, I’ll accompany you to look around.”
After receiving Wei Chen’s promise, Chen Li slowly relaxed his hand and walked around the store with Wei Chen.
Wei Chen looked at Chen Li’s back, feeling helpless, but also full of distress. He was too impatient just now, obviously, the lack of security was keeping Chen Li from moving forward.
*
Chen Li did not walk to the painting materials area. In fact, what attracted him was the paintings on the wall. After being led by Chen Li, Wei Chen discovered that the paintings hanging on the wall in this shop were not copies of classical masterpieces. On the contrary, they were all original works. The lower corner of each painting had the painter’s signature, and each one was different. Wei Chen was not familiar with people in the painting and calligraphy world, otherwise, he would find that the artists of these paintings were all celebrities in the contemporary painting and calligraphy world. Any of their painting on the market would cause collectors to compete.
Naturally, Chen Li didn’t know who these people were, but this did not affect his appreciation of these paintings. These paintings were of great attraction to Chen Li. Chen Li’s eyes were glued to the paintings on the wall, as if he had forgotten everything around him.
Chen Li admired the paintings on the wall, but didn’t know that Wei Chen was admiring his expression as he looked at the paintings.
This was the first time Wei Chen saw such a vivid expression on Chen Li’s face. The expression was no longer dull, every muscle on his face was alive, the light in his eyes flowed, and all the emotions that had never appeared in Chen Li’s eyes burst out in his eyes at this moment, as if he felt the emotions that the owner of the painting wanted to express.
Wei Chen didn’t know what this meant, but at this moment, he felt that he loved the changing emotions on Chen Li’s face. This was Chen Li, the one who knew emotions, and the one who understood joy, anger, sorrow, and despair.