A sharp-tongued god~

Chi Ye scoffed. Being called a devil did little to stir him, and he replied bluntly,

"You? You don't have what it takes."

Liu Muyan felt indignant and wanted to talk back, but she did not dare. Instead, she pursed her lips and raised her chin.

"Then why did you come with the teacher I hired? Do you know each other?"

Shen Zhiyi stepped forward to greet her without answering the question of whether they knew each other.

"Hello, I'm Shen Zhiyi. We spoke on the phone."

Shen Zhiyi opened their chat, and Liu Muyan's mouth fell slightly open in surprise.

"You're Shen Zhiyi? The senior our teacher is always talking about?"

Chi Ye interrupted her. "What do you mean, your senior? What are you making today?"

"Just ignore him. Tell me what you need first." Shen Zhiyi signaled for Chi Ye to put down the tools and leave, but he refused.

He stood beside them and watched. Liu Muyan hesitated to speak. She was making this as a gift for Yan Qing.

Yan Qing and Chi Ye were friends. What if Chi Ye told Yan Qing about it later? That put her in a difficult position, but she did not dare ask Chi Ye to leave.

Few people who knew Chi Ye dared to provoke him. His temper was not particularly good, and his tongue was sharp. The temper and wildness in his eyes and brows made Liu Muyan afraid to look him in the eye for long.

In the past, many people had marveled at how handsome Chi Ye was and recklessly handed him love letters one after another. Then he received one riddled with typos, and he began attacking everyone indiscriminately.

He treated that love letter like homework to be graded, and later reduced several girls to tears with his remarks. Back then, Liu Muyan often went to the high school section hoping to see Chu Yanqing, and she happened to witness it several times.

Liu Muyan was bad at math and wanted Chu Yanqing to tutor her. Chi Ye had been fortunate enough to witness one of those tutoring sessions. Since Liu Muyan was still young, he had not been too harsh with his words.

He had merely been a little more tactful than usual, but Liu Muyan had embarrassed herself in front of her crush. After a few such encounters, she grew scared whenever she saw Chi Ye.

She feared that sharp tongue of his would produce more cutting remarks. Although she knew everything he said was true, she could not take it at an age when her pride mattered most.

Seeing her discomfort, Shen Zhiyi turned to Chi Ye.

"You've delivered everything. You can go back now. Thank you." She took the initiative to thank him. Chi Ye wanted to find a chair, but Shen Zhiyi kept staring at him.

"I'm only watching. I'll leave once you get started, all right?"

No, Shen Zhiyi said inwardly.

Chi Ye heard her and wanted to stay a little longer before leaving, but Shen Zhiyi kept looking at him like that. His thoughts returned to the scene in his dream last night. If the corners of her eyes were flushed red right now...

Lost in thought, he did not look away, as though she had drawn him in and bewitched him. Shen Zhiyi frowned.

What's wrong with him? The abrupt thought interrupted his fantasy. He immediately pulled himself out of that state, lowered his head to look at the keys in his hand, and said in a muffled voice,

"Then call me when you're done. I have something to do, so I'll go first."

He left in a hurry, his retreating figure looking rather as though he were fleeing. Liu Muyan did not know whether to first be shocked that Shen Zhiyi was the talented senior her teacher talked about, or admire her for getting a man like Chi Ye to leave with a single sentence.

Shen Zhiyi turned back. "All right, let's begin."

Liu Muyan came back to her senses. Shen Zhiyi was just as she looked: cool and aloof, a woman of few words with little expression on her face.

She really was aloof, and she really was beautiful. Liu Muyan just did not know what her relationship with Chi Ye was. Judging by how hurriedly he had left, there was clearly something going on.

"I'm planning to make it myself, but I'd like you to teach me. I'll still pay you the same amount. Is that okay?"

Shen Zhiyi nodded without hesitation, because she was not the only customer who thought this way. Shen Zhiyi had met plenty of customers who wanted to do the work themselves and have her teach them her craft. Some had been satisfied, and some had not.

She had received inexplicable bad reviews as well as good reviews for no reason. In any case, she did not interfere too much. She simply did the work she was paid for.

Liu Muyan had already prepared the design. It depicted radiant Ely Chief blooms, a variety of herbaceous peony.

They were so resplendent that they seemed already at the height of their bloom, their blackish-red coloring naturally velvety. The golden stamens within were delicate, making the flowers both stately and vibrant.

Liu Muyan had not filled the entire picture with flowers. Just three were radiant enough.

Seeing Shen Zhiyi studying the picture, Liu Muyan said somewhat bashfully,

"It's still not very good. Could you help me revise it?"

Shen Zhiyi looked away. "There's no need. It's very well drawn." The picture held a bright mood as well as unspoken affection.

The Ely Chief variety of herbaceous peony was not one everyone liked. Its flowers had a single layer of petals and a short blooming period. By contrast, double-petaled peonies lasted a long time and were easy to combine with other flowers. Ely Chiefs usually formed a bouquet on their own.

Liu Muyan breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, she had felt as though she were facing her own specialist teacher for an on-the-spot critique, terrified that the next words would be, "Revise it."

Fortunately, Shen Zhiyi had not said that. She had stayed up late for several nights revising this picture.

She had chosen these flowers because they were her favorites. She hoped the recipient would receive them and understand her feelings.

After listening to Shen Zhiyi introduce the tools, Liu Muyan followed her guidance and first applied color to the wooden board. Then she drew the outlines, picked up the tools, and got to work.

Making a woodcut required patience. Without concentration, she would either injure her hand or ruin the entire picture.

There was no way to finish the picture in a day, especially since Liu Muyan's woodcut was far from small. The board was eighty centimeters tall and fifty wide. At their pace, it would take a little over a week.

Liu Muyan looked at the picture. Although she had only completed a tiny portion, she felt an enormous sense of accomplishment.

"Thank you for being willing to teach me. I definitely couldn't have managed any of this otherwise."

She rubbed her hand, her entire palm red. In the past, she would certainly have made a fuss, but right now she was quite happy. If it were not meant for Yan Qing, she would have kept the picture for herself no matter what.

"Let me treat you to dinner. Thank you so much."

They packed up their things as they made their way out of the classroom. Shen Zhiyi declined her dinner invitation. After all, Liu Muyan had paid more than enough to order her around as she pleased.

Liu Muyan felt a little disappointed, but then smiled again.

"That's fine. We can have dinner together once we finish. There's still plenty of time."

They left the teaching building and followed the main path toward the school gates. The streetlights were already on, the sky was darkening, and the moon had climbed halfway up.

They had stayed in the classroom for a long time. If Liu Muyan's phone had not rung, neither of them might have realized that it was nearly evening.

But beneath a streetlight not far ahead stood two people. Though the outlines of the young man and woman were indistinct, they still looked like a perfectly matched pair.