Duan Rong sat there, paying no mind at all to Zhu Xiaoqi's attitude. It was rare for him to sit so close to Xiao Baijiao—how could he bear to look anywhere else?
"Second Miss has invited me to paint for her. I am truly flattered beyond measure!" Duan Rong said with a faint smile. "When I return to the dormitory later, I'll bring my painting tools and pigments."
"I happen to have such things prepared here," Xiao Baijiao said with a smile. She suddenly rose to her feet. "Senior Brother Duan, see whether they will do?"
Xiao Baijiao went to the cabinet by the wall and took out brushes, cinnabar, and other items. As she arranged them one by one on the low table, she said, "I originally used these to sketch embroidery patterns. I imagine they should also serve for Senior Brother's painting!"
Seeing that everything was complete, Duan Rong smiled. "They will certainly do!"
Xiao Baijiao settled by the window. At the low table, Duan Rong pressed down one corner of the Xuan paper with a paperweight, then gazed at Xiao Baijiao as he considered the composition and framework of the painting...
Duan Rong painted this portrait very slowly, using nearly half an hour.
It was not entirely because he coveted Xiao Baijiao's beauty and deliberately used the chance to steal glances at her!
Rather, he poured all his skill and concentration into this painting, determined to reach the utmost limit of his current ability!
What he painted might not have been the Xiao Baijiao of reality, yet it was still Xiao Baijiao!
It was the Xiao Baijiao buried deep within his heart!
She seemed like a mass of light and shadow transformed into being!
Yet she was no simple illusory phantom, but a beautiful dreamscape projected from