"I didn’t expect you to actually come, and to this beach no less."
On hearing Ais’s words, Gu Yao smiled, "It seems we really are fated."
"Yes, fated indeed, but I hope you came here just to enjoy the scenery and not because I mentioned I was feeling down and you needed to unwind."
Gu Yao looked down and gave a bitter smile, remaining silent.
Gu Yao reached out and accepted a painting Ais handed to her.
When she unfolded it and saw, to her surprise, it was a painting of her sitting on the rocks watching the sea.
He could paint too, and very well at that.
"How long have you been here?"
Gu Yao asked, realizing he might know she was in a bad mood, yet he didn’t ask why, which made her feel a certain fondness for his non-gossipy nature.
Of course, it was possible that he asked not out of gossip or malice, but eventually to offer comfort.
But compared to talking about her own sorrows and receiving others’ comfort and sympathy, Gu Yao much preferred someone like Ais, who didn’t ask anything.
"Before you," Ais turned and pointed towards the Sea View Tower not far away.
"As long as you’ve been here, that’s how long I’ve been standing there."
Gu Yao looked at the painting in her hands, then raised her eyes towards Ais, "Do you come to this beach often?"
Gu Yao remembered he was from Holy City and hadn’t been here long, so she rephrased, "Do you go to the beach often?"
Maybe because he had said before that he goes to the beach when he’s feeling unhappy, Ais felt a bit awkward answering Gu Yao’s question.
"It’s getting late, and it’s quite far from your home. You should head back."
Seeing his evasive answer, Gu Yao knew that he really did go to the beach often because he was feeling down.
Gu Yao naturally wouldn’t pry into why he was feeling down either.
"I don’t want to go back yet," Gu Yao shook her head, rolled up the painting, and stored it away.
"If you don’t mind, maybe I could walk with you."
Gu Yao thought for a moment, stood up, and jumped down from the rock.
The rock wasn’t high, but the ground below was sandy. Although she didn’t fall, she didn’t land very steadily either.
Ais almost instinctively reached out and grabbed her arm, steadying her.
"Thank you," Gu Yao withdrew her arm and politely thanked him.
Ais smiled, said nothing else, and began walking along the beach with Gu Yao.
Seeing that he remained silent, Gu Yao took the initiative, "Did you study painting?"
"Learned it for a while."
But just because he knew you could paint and wanted to catch your attention, so he crammed for a few days—
During those days, Ais went through quite a few paintbrushes, tore up a lot of paper, and drove away quite a few teachers.
He even couldn’t help cursing while learning, lamenting why Gu Yao had to like painting as it was so hard to learn—
"Then you are really talented, it is very good," Gu Yao said upon hearing he had only learned for a while, even if it might have been for almost half a year, that was indeed very talented. Dıscover more novels at N0veI.Fiɾe.net
"Are you still painting now?"
"No time, and also... a bit boring," Ais admitted, the last part not only to catch her attention but also how he truly felt.
"How can it be boring, I think painting is great, sometimes I can paint all day without getting bored."
"Hmm? You paint?" Ais looked at her.
"Yes, I was at an art college but had to drop out because I got sick," Gu Yao said, feeling quite saddened and regretful about it.