Chapter 1: The Black Tulip in His Brush

  "Hmm... Alright then, I'll leave it to you to take care of the portrait later." Miao Ni said as she sat down on the ground, waving her hand casually and saying "Let's start".

  At the age of twelve, every time she mentioned death, she had an fearless look on her face, as if life was just a trivial matter to her, something that could be discarded at will when she got bored with it.

  Because her life began with abandonment, Su Xiang, who should be her mother, left a warm name on the note, which only a woman would use.

  So she thought that if even the people closest to her in the world viewed her life as worthless, then who could ask her to take life seriously.

  Wei Chi told her he was sixteen and a wandering artist just starting out. He liked to carry his easel and roam every nook of the city.

  Unfortunately, today on the mountain he was writing a life when he encountered heavy rain. He hid in a wooden house and after the sky cleared up, he saw her and thought she wanted to commit suicide, so he jumped over the wall to stop her.

  "It turns out that I seemed to have made a mistake." He smiled and stretched his arm, with sunlight shining on the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.

  What an absurd first meeting, she pursed her lips and smiled silently.

  "Alright." Yuichi finished applying the last stroke of paint, bit down on his brush and took the picture off the drawing board.

  "Meow, I couldn't help but run over and take a look: 'Wei Chi, it seems like you didn't draw me.'"

  He put down the brush in his mouth, narrowed his eyes and said: "The moment I saw you, this is the picture that came to my mind."

  The painting is a vast expanse of white, like snow-covered ground bathed in sunlight. Yet, within this bright and clear white, there is a patch of somber darkness, resembling a cluster of black dahlias huddled together, blooming wildly and freely on the snowy ground, a secret solitude.

  "You're hiding in there." Wu Chi said, pointing to the cluster of dark and beautiful flowers. Mao Ni stared blankly at the shadow, looking at the black petals, her heart suddenly skipped a beat, followed by a surge of warmth. She quickly blinked her eyes, silently lowered her head and rolled up the painting.

  It seems like something is stuck in my throat, I want to say something, but can't get it out.

  As the sunset turned red, he smiled and stretched out his hand, touching her short hair that reached her ears.

  "I'm leaving now, actually I just want to make you understand one thing, every life is important and the meaning of existence is also very great, it's just that you're still too young, so you haven't realized it yet. Just like this painting, even things that fear sunlight can bloom beautiful flowers in secret. You'll definitely understand, right? So goodbye, Cat Niu."

  He finished speaking, stood up from the lawn, stretched his waist, and patted the withered grass that stuck to his body.

  The cat tilted its head and looked at him. He was surrounded by sunlight, as if he would glow. She couldn't help but narrow her eyes slightly.

  It's really dazzling... A life as vast and profound as yours must be an existence that people can't help but yearn for...

  Then, the cat saw him turn around and leave, walking faster and faster, finally even sprinting towards the high wall, his two feet treading on the wall, lightly jumping up, stretching out a hand to hook onto the top of the wall, at the same time, the huge white canvas also fell to one side.

  He sat on the wall, raised the corner of his mouth and waved his left hand at her, then disappeared.

  The cat was standing still, staring at a white shadow that flickered and then disappeared.