Chapter 49 The First Painting

  On this day, Cen Yanqiu had just walked into the classroom when he bumped into a girl head-on. Unfortunately, it was a full-body collision. This was Cen Yanqiu's first close encounter with a girl, and also his first time realizing how soft a girl's body could be - completely different from the feeling of colliding with boys during basketball games. He stood frozen at the classroom door for a long time before regaining his senses, while the girl had already run far away.

  He didn't know how long he stood there, stunned, before he suddenly woke up. Wasn't that girl just Ouyang Yunqing? Why did she look so wronged, with tears still hanging on her face? The more Jiang Yan thought about it, the more he felt it didn't add up. Ouyang Yunqing was a complete optimist, always cheerful and carefree every day, and he had always admired her optimism. But why had she just cried?

  "What's wrong with Ou Yang?" Xun Yanqiu walked into the classroom and saw Fan Qianxu opposite him, and couldn't help but ask.

  Fan Qianxu shrugged and glanced at Leng Yiyang, who was drawing with his head down beside him. He could only helplessly purse his lips and then walk away.

  Cen Yanqiu was somewhat puzzled, could it be related to Leng Yiyang? He suddenly remembered that at the beginning of the school year, during the class cadres election, Ouyang Yunqing had gone on stage to recommend Leng Yiyang as class president, but Leng Yiyang had refused, and instead took on the role of vice-class president. At that time, there was a rumor going around in the class that Ouyang Yunqing had a secret crush on Leng Yiyang, and had been secretly in love with him throughout middle school. And as for why they were in the same class in high school, it was because Ouyang Yunqing had followed Leng Yiyang there.

  Cen Yanqiu wasn't a gossipmonger, and he wouldn't pay much attention to such talk. But just now, Ouyang Yunqing had run out with a sorrowful face - could it be that she really was related to Leng Yiyang?

  It's strange to say, since the beginning of school when he first met Leng Yiyang, Cen Yanqiu has been calling him "Leng Zha" all along. Later, this nickname never changed, and because of this, the classmates in the animation club uniformly affectionately called Leng Yiyang "Leng Zha".

  Of course, Leng Yiyang didn't mind these things and instead felt that he was just a piece of trash, a cold and lonely piece of trash. As for what kind of trash he was, he still hadn't figured it out until now.

  Cen Yanqiu lowered his head and took a look at the watercolor painting on Leng Yiyang's drawing board, only to discover that Leng Yiyang was actually painting a poster for the animation club. Seeing this poster, Cen Yanqiu naturally felt a warmth in his heart. In the animation club, there was only one person who could paint, and that was Leng Yiyang. Although Zheng Kexin's sketching skills were also good, they weren't suitable for painting posters for the animation club.

  Leng Yiyang didn't even raise his head, and the sound of Cen Yanqiu's voice had already reached his ears. He knew that Cen Yanqiu was standing beside him, but he remained focused on the painting in his hand. After about three minutes, Leng Yiyang slowly raised his head, gazing at Cen Yanqiu with a hint of eeriness, his tone still as cold as usual: "Ball, I only knew you were interested in Ji Ningning, but I really didn't expect that you also had feelings for me!"

  "Cough, cough..." Upon hearing this, Xun Yanqiu couldn't help but let out a cough. In his heart, Leng Yiyang was that kind of person - if he didn't speak, it was fine, but when he did, it would be earth-shattering! From time to time, he would suddenly say something cold and sarcastic, scaring everyone half to death, before continuing with what he was doing. On the surface, it seemed like he didn't care about his classmates or friends at all, but in reality, he actually cared a lot. Of course, this was only something Xun Yanqiu found out later on.

  "How do you think this painting is?" Leng Yiyang asked, his cold but clear eyes staring at Cen Yanqiu. He was not used to asking people questions, especially about his own paintings. Because he didn't like discussing art with others, he usually just focused on painting, seemingly isolated from the world, and oblivious to the noise of his classmates. So he had painted many works, if they were really counted, they could even fill an exhibition hall.

  Cen Yanqiu was asked this, and he lowered his head to carefully look at the watercolor painting in Leng Yiyang's hand. Only then did he discover that this painting had a special atmosphere, all in blue tones. A large piece of sky, with white clouds floating far away, under the blue sky there was only a shallow patch of grassland, and on the grassland, there was a group of children sitting, their backs faintly appearing before his eyes, each one lifting their head to gaze up at the sky.

  "I always feel that it's very far away, the dream is very far away..." Xun Yan said quietly as he gazed at this painting. Yes, this painting was of a group of young people looking up at the sky, originally it should be a picture that brings happiness to people, but somehow it looks somewhat sad, with a feeling that the future is very far away, and dreams are unreachable.

  When Cen Yanqiu said this, Leng Yiyang couldn't help but smile slightly. He rarely smiled, and this smile had a hint of warmth to it.

  "This is just my personal feeling, I don't know what emotion you want to express."

  "I just wanted to express it this way..." Leng Yiyang lowered his head, gazing deeply at the painting in his hand. He wasn't someone who would show sadness, or rather, he wasn't someone who would bring out his sorrow for others to see. So sometimes, his emotions were all in his paintings.

  Cen Yan Qiu couldn't help but roll her eyes, "What's wrong with you? Why do you suddenly think I'm being weird today?"

  "I'll give the Anime Club a poster that I've been working on for three years!" Leng Yiyang raised his head, smiling faintly at Cen Yanqiu.

  "I know you're good at painting, but do you have to be so exaggerated?" Cen Yanqiu thought that Leng Yiyang's sudden smile towards him must be hiding a huge conspiracy. Finishing a three-year poster in one go was just too ridiculous!

  Leng Yiyang turned his head again to look at the painting in his hand, smiled with satisfaction, "This is a painting from the first year of high school, and there are two more, two paintings."

  "What's wrong, you want to wash your hands in a golden basin and then stop painting, so finish it all at once?" Zan Yanqiu just joked about this sentence, but what he didn't expect was that the answer he got was even more cruel.

  "After I finish painting these three paintings, I'll go to the US for chemotherapy." Leng Yiyang said expressionlessly, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

  "Really, go ahead... " Xun Yanqiu couldn't help but chuckle lightly. Of course, he didn't believe the words that came out of Leng Yiyang's calm tone. Leng Yiyang looked fine, how could he possibly go to America for chemotherapy?

  "Hmm..." Leng Yiyang didn't raise his head, saw that the watercolor painting in his hand had dried up, he put away the painting and placed the drawing board beside his desk.

  Cen Yanqiu watched his series of actions, only to feel that he was too calm. However, the calmer Leng Yiyang was, the more astonished Cen Yanqiu became, because a calm Leng Yiyang would never say something like that. Cen Yanqiu paused for a moment, suddenly feeling his head expanding and growing bigger, "Is this real?"

  "Now I'm only telling you, once the three paintings are done, I'll tell the others. Before that, I hope you can keep it a secret for me." Leng Yiyang said, then rolled up the painting in his hand and tied it with a red string from under his desk.

  Cen Yanqiu couldn't calm down, opened his eyes wide, and looked disbelieving, saying: "Are you telling the truth?"

  "Take the first painting!" Leng Yiyang said, handing over the rolled-up painting to Cen Yanqiu, his expression and tone still the same as usual, without any unusualness.