E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World-Chapter 65 - Episode 65 Yao Shanshans Love Blossoms Again
Chapter 65: Episode 65 Yao Shanshan’s Love Blossoms Again
Chapter 65: Episode 65 Yao Shanshan’s Love Blossoms Again
One evening after Christmas, Yao Shanshan returned home as weary as ever.
“Shanbao is back? You must be tired! I cooked today, made the traditional Zhou family Zhajiang noodles! Hurry up, wash your hands and have dinner!” Zhou Xueyin warmly greeted her.
“Okay…” Yao Shanshan responded weakly.
“Eh? Shanbao? What’s that on the back of your down jacket?” Li Meng took the jacket Yao Shanshan handed over and exclaimed in surprise.
“What thing?” Yao Shanshan saw that her newly bought long down jacket had flamboyant, multicolored stripes on its back, “Could I have rubbed against something?”
“You did start your watercolor course recently, but…” Li Meng leaned in and sniffed the stripes, “This is acrylic paint! Not watercolor!”
“Oh my… This is brand new! Who did this? Are they sick?” Yao Shanshan clutched her down jacket, her eyes reddening.
“Shanshan, could you have offended someone at school?” Kang Siyin looked at her suspiciously.
Based on her own experiences of being bullied at school, Yao Shanshan must have been targeted by someone.
“KK, why would you say that? Who could I possibly offend? I’m just there to learn skills. Who would target me for no reason?” When Yao Shanshan heard Kang Siyin’s words, her heart felt even more upset, and, in her agitation, tears began to flow.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry, oh dear, I didn’t mean it that way… sorry, sorry…” Seeing Yao Shanshan cry, Kang Siyin also felt helpless and handed her a tissue.
“Jixiang, what can we use to wash this off?” Zhou Xueyin asked Li Meng quietly.
“Alcohol, gasoline… organic solvents should generally do the trick,” Li Meng whispered back to Zhou Xueyin, “but we don’t have any of those at home…”
“Shanbao, let’s eat first! After dinner, we’ll deal with your clothes. If worse comes to worst, you can wear mine tomorrow!” Zhou Xueyin generously offered.
“Like I would wear your children’s clothes…” Yao Shanshan sniffled, “If I’m going to wear anyone’s, it’ll be Jixiang’s…”
“How are mine children’s clothes? Just because I’m a bit shorter than you guys? Really?” Zhou Xueyin joked, pretending to be angry.
“I meant it as a compliment, you’re cute…” Yao Shanshan’s mood improved considerably with Zhou Xueyin’s teasing, “I wonder if it has something to do with our teaching assistant…”
The painting class Yao Shanshan attended was primarily composed of high school students who were underperforming academically and preparing for art college entrance exams.
They simply wanted to get into art schools, unlike Yao Shanshan who aimed to enhance her own skills, making their goals entirely different.
The teacher was an old professor from the art academy, but the assistant was a handsome man with an artistic flair.
Many of the girls encircled this handsome man during breaks, seeking guidance.
Yao Shanshan, however, seized every moment to hone her painting skills.
Her hard work was noticed not only by the teacher but also by this handsome assistant, who took a special interest in her.
Her assignments were the ones he critiqued most meticulously, and he would often personally guide her in her painting.
It was probably this “special care” that sparked jealousy among those girls, leading them to take out their frustration on her clothes.
“But I’ve been very low-key, always sitting in the back row… Even so, I wasn’t spared. Sigh…” Yao Shanshan sighed.
“How handsome is this guy?” Li Meng curiously asked, focusing on the wrong thing.
“How should I describe it… I’ll show you the sketch I did of him when he was modeling,” Yao Shanshan said as she pulled out her sketchbook, flipping through it briskly.
“Holy moly! This guy looks like a celebrity!” Although it was just a sketch, one could tell that the person was indeed very handsome, with a high nose bridge, clearly defined facial features, and deep eyes. He just wore glasses…
“Shanbao, don’t tell me you have a thing for him too?” Li Ji continued gossiping.
After all, the sketch clearly had a personal touch, or else it wouldn’t have been drawn so earnestly.
“No way! Stop talking nonsense!” Yao Shanshan snatched back her sketchbook and hugged it to her chest, her face blushing and the corners of her mouth turned up.
“There’s something going on… Oh right! You came back an hour late on the 25th!” Zhou Xueyin also joined in the gossip.
“Fine, fine… I won’t hide it from you guys anymore! His name is Li Meng, he’s four years older than me,” Yao Shanshan said, seeing the gossip-hungry eyes around her and knowing that she couldn’t pretend any longer, so she confessed, “After I joined that painting class, he started taking special care of me, saying that he really appreciated people who genuinely enjoy painting…”
“No wonder you were the target of those girls’ anger… They must be jealous!” Kang Siyin didn’t forget the incident from earlier.
“He might be the type that doesn’t know how to keep a distance with people. Anyway, whenever he guided me in painting, he would do this…” Yao Shanshan had Zhou Xueyin sit on a chair, and she placed one hand on her, leaning half her weight onto her.
“Wow… Isn’t this a bit too much?” Zhou Xueyin suddenly felt uncomfortable.
If a strange man were to lean like this on her, she would definitely reflexively move away or push him off.
“But he only does this with me, keeps his distance with everyone else…” Yao Shanshan still seemed secretly pleased.
“Shanshan, it’s not about who he does this to. It’s harassment towards you…” Li Ji frowned as she looked at Yao Shanshan.
Not only did Li Ji feel this way, but the other three also thought that Li Meng was crossing boundaries.
“But I don’t feel offended…” Yao Shanshan looked innocently at everyone.
“If it feels right to you, then okay…” Kang Siyin shrugged helplessly, turned, and walked away, thinking Yao Shanshan was hopelessly in love.
“Actually, on Christmas Day, he asked me out for dinner,” Yao Shanshan said with a happy smile on her face.
“He treated you?” Zhou Xueyin asked without thinking.
“We went Dutch…”
Yao Shanshan’s response almost made Zhou Xueyin spit out her noodles through her nose.
Originally wanting to advise her to reconsider this Li Meng, she glanced at Li Ji, who also wore a helpless expression, so nobody said anything more.
Once Yao Shanshan sets her mind on a relationship, no one can dissuade her.
Even though everyone knew there was a huge pit ahead, even if they tried their best to stop her, she would still jump into it without hesitation.
“Shanshan, all we can say is: just be careful yourself! And keep practicing your painting! Don’t waste your money!” Li Ji said earnestly, patting Yao Shanshan’s shoulder seriously.
“Don’t worry about me, I know my limits. After all, I earned the tuition money myself from lots of hard work! I won’t let it go to waste because of someone!” With Yao Shanshan’s words, everyone else felt relieved.
“If you’re still not reassured about Li Meng, how about this.” Though Yao Shanshan could sometimes be stubborn, she could see that Zhou Xueyin and the other two were also worried about her, “How about I invite him over for dinner on New Year’s Day?”
