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Lin Zhan was still in a daze, only feeling a cool object land on her lips.
In the hot summer night, his lips were like a frozen jelly, cool at first touch, but on the second contact, she felt a distinct softening.
Lin Zhan’s thoughts were a mess, thinking that this person was full of contradictions everywhere, yet everywhere those contradictions were in a way she liked.
The kiss was fleeting, barely more than a butterfly’s touch.
Lin Zhan felt a pang of loss, unconsciously reaching up to grasp his collar.
The next second, a second kiss descended.
Unlike the initial touch, the second one carried a clear sense of probing and lingering.
His kiss, like him, was gentle, just lightly kissing her lower lip, with no further movement.
Each time he tried to deepen it, his eyelids would tremble slightly.
Lin Zhan was even too flustered to close her eyes, simply staring at Shen Xi, watching his long lashes flutter lightly, his eyes tightly shut.
In a moment, his warm palm lifted and covered her eyes.
She obediently closed her eyes.
The kiss carried the sweet scent of cotton candy. Even though it was just a taste, that sweetness spread from her lips and teeth.
Lin Zhan clung to his shoulders, a faint smile spreading across her lips.
________________________________________
As the two of them, with flushed cheeks and messy hair, stumbled out of the narrow alley, Lin Zhan felt many passersby casting glances their way.
“...”
Anyway, they didn’t do anything, Lin Zhan thought to herself. She wasn’t feeling guilty.
As for Shen Xi, this kind of incident was probably a rare deviation from his usual disciplined life. He didn’t say a single word the whole way.
A mischievous thought struck Lin Zhan. She tugged at his sleeve: “Are you shy?”
Shen Xi: “...No.”
Lin Zhan shook her head: “Not shy yet? Look, your ears are all red.”
Shen Xi politely retorted: “You’re not doing so well yourself.”
“...”
Lin Zhan then noticed the cotton candy in her hand. Because she had been pulled into the alley so suddenly, the candy had hit the wall and was now inedible.
“It’s all your fault for being so rough. Look, it’s all dirty.”
Shen Xi’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly: “...”
Lin Zhan took two steps forward, found a trash can, and threw away the cotton candy.
This stretch of road wasn’t particularly long, nor particularly short.
Soon they reached the bottom of Lin Zhan’s building.
Lin Zhan opened the security gate, and after pulling open the main door, she didn’t rush into the elevator.
The main door was a standard anti-theft door for the residential area, with a solid sheet of iron in the middle and square iron bars distributed above and below, with gaps of about five centimeters between the bars.
Shen Xi watched Lin Zhan through the door.
She was bent over, most of her face hidden by the iron sheet, leaving only a pair of smiling eyes visible.
Her fingers were hooked into the gaps of the iron bars, the tips of her fingers peeking out slightly, pink and white, quite beautiful.
Shen Xi guessed that she might have something to say.
“What do you want to say?”
Her lower eyelids formed crescent moon shapes, and her eyes held an indescribable warmth, thick and almost dripping.
She only revealed a pair of lively eyes, her fingers moved, and she whispered.
“Shen Xi, your lips are so soft.”
...
Before he could react, she had already dashed towards the elevator with her bag, entered the elevator, and quickly closed the door.
Like a little fox afraid of being hunted.
Shen Xi lingered for a while, then turned and left.
After walking two steps, Shen Xi thoughtfully extended the tip of his tongue and licked the corner of his lips.
________________________________________
Three days later, when Lin Zhengping finished his busy schedule at school and returned, his first words were to discuss university matters with Lin Zhan.
No, it couldn’t even be called a discussion; it was probably an order, delivered with his usual, unquestionable tone.
“Your score is average, just go to W University...”
Lin Zhan spoke up: “I don’t want to study in W City anymore. I want to go to Weida University in Z City. Besides, I scored very high in the Weida independent exam, so I can get a good major.”
“You only came in second,” Lin Zhengping frowned, “Lin Zhan, I thought after preparing for so long, getting first place wouldn’t be a problem for you.”
“I’m telling you, your score completely fell short of my expectations.”
“You can only manage to be some outstanding graduate at Chonggao. Go out and compete with more formidable people. There are even those who study art and score six hundred in cultural subjects. Why don’t you compare yourself to them?”
Lin Zhan looked at him: “I don’t want to compare myself to others. Comparing myself to myself, I performed really well.”
“You’re different from them. They haven’t participated in many competitions. What about you? The competitions you’ve participated in are many times more than theirs combined. And in the end, you actually lost to someone who barely participated in any competitions. What’s so great about that?”
“Participating in competitions doesn’t mean you draw well,” Lin Zhan said.
Lin Zhengping: “Don’t argue with me. You’re the only one who thinks you did well. I think you didn’t do well at all. Don’t go to Weida University. Stay local. There’s a big competition next month. You’ll represent Chonggao first. I have connections to get you promoted.”
“After promotion, you’ll represent the entire W City, then the province. I’ll find you a good teacher, and I’ll arrange everything so you can enter the public eye as the teacher’s disciple, and then find a few newspapers to interview you and promote you as a prodigy painter...”
Lin Zhan sneered: “And then?”
“Then? Then you’ll live a life free from worries about food and clothing,” Lin Zhengping glared at her, “What’s that expression? Would Dad ever harm you?!”
“As long as your name is made, let alone university, even if you don’t go to university, someone will buy your paintings at sky-high prices! I’ve paved the way for you for so long, just a little more...”
“Yes, you’ve paved the way for me for so long, even if your daughter isn’t as much of a prodigy as she seems, you still want to brand her as a prodigy young artist,” Lin Zhan said, “For what? To satisfy your ego, or to deceive yourself?”
“It’s fine when you usually make me compete, but now you actually want to cheat for me in a competition? Is that fair? What about those who draw better than me?”
Lin Zhengping grew angrier: “Isn’t this just because you’re unpromising! If you got first in every subject, would I have to put so much effort into you?!”
“How can anyone get first in every subject? How can anyone be first in everything?” Lin Zhan took a deep breath. “There will always be people who draw better than me. It’s not like I haven’t seen that.”
“You’re just using these as proof of your incompetence, Lin Zhan.”
Lin Zhan finally couldn’t hold back her outburst: “Fine, I’m incompetent. So now you’re going to promote an incompetent person as a genius—what will happen? They’ll be ridiculed, made a laughing stock.”
“What you’re bringing me isn’t fame; it’s false popularity, like an empty shell that looks good but collapses with a gust of wind.”
“My current ability doesn’t match the title. How can I stand firm?”
Lin Zhengping retorted angrily: “You just don’t want to learn, don’t want to challenge yourself!”
“Think whatever you want,” Lin Zhan said, “I won’t go to the competition, and I will absolutely not let you manipulate it behind the scenes. You’re not helping me; you’re disrupting my pace. You’ll only destroy me.”
Jiang Wan patted Lin Zhan from the side: “Don’t say that; it’s not as serious as you make it sound. Actually, your ability is already among the top in the province, so you can bear any title given to you. Besides, you’ll also be improving while competing; we’ll find you better teachers. Zhanzhan, opportunities are rare. This is paving the way for your future. A few years from now, when you want it, your dad might not have the connections anymore.”
“Since it’s my life, why don’t I follow my own choices?” Lin Zhan stated firmly, “I have my own plans and goals. How is your blind ‘good for me’ any different from pulling up seedlings to help them grow?”
Lin Zhengping laughed: “You have goals? What goals do you have?”
“My goal,” Lin Zhan said word by word, “is to climb as high as my strength allows. What you’re doing is nothing more than wanting me to become famous. Without your manipulations, I can do it myself, relying on my true ability.”
“You can?! You probably haven’t even seen how treacherous society is!”
Lin Zhan looked at him: “What if I do it?”
Lin Zhengping didn’t believe she could do it at all.
“Don’t talk about making a name for yourself. In next month’s competition, if you can get into the top ten without my connections, you can study wherever you want!”
At this point, she had no retreat.
She only paused for a moment, then quickly replied.
“Okay.”
She had passed the age of being bound by family. From now on, she would live entirely according to her own will.
She needed to deliver a decisive counterattack to Lin Zhengping.
She believed she could definitely do it.
________________________________________
That night before bed, Lin Zhan asked Shen Xi: “Are you free tomorrow? I have something I want to tell you.”
Fortunately, she still had him, Lin Zhan thought. When she felt helpless and confused, feeling unsupported, it was fortunate that Shen Xi was still there.
The next day, Lin Zhan was in Shen Xi’s room, hugging a pillow, leaning against the headboard, and asked him uncertainly, “Did I do the right thing?”
Shen Xi didn’t think for long. He patted her head and said, “You did very well.”
She bit her lip, hesitating, “But what if I fail? What if I didn’t do the right thing?”
“Don’t think about those things,” he sat beside her and said, “You always focus too much on the result. Actually, there’s no need. As long as you tried hard during the process and gained happiness, you should be content.”
Lin Zhan leaned on his shoulder, sighing softly: “But I have no confidence.”
Shen Xi reached over, cradled her head, and slowly said: “I’m not comforting you; I genuinely think you did the right thing. If Uncle gave you too high a position from the start, and you couldn’t match it, there would be a lot of outside criticism, you’d feel immense pressure, and you’d have a guilty conscience.”
Lin Zhan hugged the pillow and said, “Yes, I just feel guilty. I don’t have that ability, yet I’d be pushing out someone more capable than me.”
“Becoming famous too early isn’t necessarily a good thing,” Shen Xi said. “I know an Olympiad math prodigy who was very famous in middle school, but because he was young and his mentality was very volatile, he was particularly arrogant for a while and unwilling to progress. Now, I don’t even know where he is.”
He patted her head: “Don’t overthink it. You draw very well; you can definitely do it.”
She nudged forward, her forehead brushing against his soft neck.
This person was truly too good.
She asked him, “What if I don’t make it into the top ten?”
“If the mountain won’t come to me, I’ll go to the mountain,” Shen Xi rubbed her hair, “I’ll advance and retreat with you.”
________________________________________
Lin Zhengping probably didn’t expect Lin Zhan to agree when he made that condition.
Because, according to Lin Zhan’s personality, she wouldn’t agree to something she had no confidence in.
But in that flash of inspiration, Lin Zhan remembered that she had a painting that had never been exhibited.
It was the painting titled “Surviver,” with the theme of “love and self-salvation.”
And the theme of this competition happened to be love.
Lin Zhan took a deep breath and submitted the painting.
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