Chapter 38:
Ellen didn’t believe it didn’t matter; just now Kerwin’s expression was clearly off—he was always emotionally stable, unflappable in the face of anything.
If offending Kerwin because of Elara, it would be not worth the loss.
Meng Shuyou spoke again: “Sorry for disturbing you today, I’ll head back first.”
After leaving the club, she took a taxi back to school.
Leaning against the back seat, closing her eyes brought Pei Yuzhou’s icy, piercing gaze.
Her chest felt blocked by something, unable to breathe.
Why did she care so much about what he said.
Actually, he was right; she was selling herself out for her goals, seducing men, willingly degrading herself.
If she had any choice, she wouldn’t do this.
–
Mark was attending a business banquet tonight on behalf of Pei Yuzhou, and would report back after it ended.
He knocked on the study room door.
“Come in.” His voice was low and hoarse.
Pushing open the door, his nose caught a heavy smell of smoke.
Mark was puzzled.
Mister never had a smoking habit, only occasionally having one or two; why so many today?
At the desk, the man leaned back in the leather chair, shirt collar loosely undone, hand resting on the desk with fingertips holding half a cigar.
Smoke exhaled from his lips, his emotion diluted in the nicotine.
Mark approached and saw a streak of blood on his palm, the scratch not shallow. “Mister, how did you hurt your hand?”
Pei Yuzhou stubbed out the cigar in the ashtray, his thin lips parting lightly. “It’s nothing.”
“I’ll get the medicine box to treat your wound.” Mark turned and left.
Pei Yuzhou clenched his palm; the burning pain invaded his nerves, yet his face remained unchanged, as if he felt nothing.
The girl’s clear, soft voice still echoed in his ears.
‘Must it be wanting something? Can’t it just be liking you?’
‘I admire Mister and want Mister to protect me.’
‘Why are you so hard to pursue?’
‘Then we’re a match made in heaven; I’m not a good girl either.’
‘Can you let me hug you?’
‘Can’t I just want to see you?’
Soft, innocent, aggrieved—the voices overlapped and intertwined.
Not a single true word from her mouth; she could turn around and hook up with another man, even one a full generation older than her.
Indeed, people are animals driven by benefit; romance is hypocritical, not worth his effort.
Mark returned to the study room, opened the medicine box, took out iodine cotton swabs, first cleaned the wound for him, then applied medicine.
Pei Yuzhou tilted his head back against the chair, closing his eyes.
Mark reminded him, “I’m not professional at this; if the wound doesn’t improve, you should still see a doctor.”
But he didn’t take it to heart. “This injury isn’t that serious.”
–
These past two days, Meng Shuyou stayed in the art studio from morning till night, successfully finishing a painting.
After sitting continuously for four or five hours, her waist ached; she stood up slowly.
The purple floral dress inevitably got paint on it; the skirt hem had several spots of different colors, not jarring at all, but rather like part of the dress’s design.
The art studio wasn’t just her; there was also a senior female student from the same major, staying on for grad school.
“Let me take a look at what you painted.” The senior female student came over to see.
The whole painting was rich in color, with good interplay of light and dark, excellent grasp of light and shadow.
On a worn windowsill, a little girl holding a puppy lay there watching the drizzling rain outside the window.
It was an utterly ordinary scene, yet it conveyed a touch of pessimism.
The senior female student pondered, “I think if the colors were brighter, it would feel completely different.”
Meng Shuyou asked, “What kind of feeling?”
“Your painting leans melancholic, right?” The senior female student said, “But I think such a rainy day is very cozy. Most puppies like playing in water. I had a West Highland White Terrier when I was little; on rainy days it wouldn’t come back inside, happily wagging its tail.”
