Yisen’s hand awkwardly extended halfway, and he had to give up, following Munni’s gesture to look at the calligraphy store she was pointing to.
Old Student Lane preserves the pattern of ancient architecture, and as you enter the lane, you can feel the rustic charm coming towards you.
The calligraphy store Munni pointed out, named Hanmo Xuan, is located in front of a small bridge, with a pavilion built beside it, making it a serene and tranquil place.
Munni walked to the entrance of Hanmo Xuan, raised her eyes to glance at the sign engraved with the words "Hanmo Xuan" above her head, and then lifted her leg to step into the store.
Inside the store, a few customers stood before the wall, admiring the calligraphy and ink paintings hanging there.
In the middle of the store, there were several writing desks set up, equipped with brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, clearly prepared for customers who might want to spontaneously practice calligraphy.
Munni wasn’t very knowledgeable about calligraphy and paintings, so after walking around, she couldn’t quite discern which pieces were worthy of collecting.
She noticed two people seriously writing calligraphy in front of one of the writing desks and glanced sideways at Yisen, who looked relaxed and carefree, and said with a smile, "I remember Uncle said your calligraphy is pretty good, do you want to give it a try?"
Upon hearing her suggestion, Yisen didn’t hesitate and nodded. He walked over to one of the writing desks, took a seat, and then looked up at Munni who stood in front of the desk.
His gaze was gentle like jade, devoid of the usual iciness, replaced by a softness that touched the heart.
Under his gentle gaze, Munni’s heartbeat inevitably quickened, and she hurriedly shifted her gaze away to look elsewhere.
"Can you help me grind the ink?"
A deep and pleasant voice reached her ears, and Munni paused for two seconds before she gently nodded, "Okay."
She poured a few drops of clear water into the inkstone and picked up the ink stick, moving it gently in circles on the inkstone.
After Munni had been grinding for a while and her hand grew tired, the ink stick tilted slightly, and she heard Yisen’s steady voice from behind the desk, "Keep the ink even, make vertical circles on the inkstone, don’t tilt or push directly."
Before she could straighten the ink stick, she felt a warm, large hand envelop hers.
That large hand wrapped around her small hand, adjusting the ink stick to vertical, and moved it clockwise along the inkstone’s edge to draw circles.
Surprised, Munni looked up and saw Yisen intently watching the ink stick and inkstone under their hands, "When grinding ink, it’s better to add less water; if the ink is too thick, add a few more drops of water and continue to grind until it’s right."
As he spoke, he reached out with his other hand and picked up the clear water from the table, adding a few more drops to the inkstone.
Munni lowered her eyes to stare at the hand holding hers, unable to remain as calm as he was. She attempted to withdraw her hand from his grip, "Why don’t you grind it yourself?"
However, seeing her intent, Yisen instead calmly tightened his grip on her hand and said impassively, "Don’t move."
Those simple three words somehow felt ambiguous to Munni’s ears, and she awkwardly murmured, "Let go."
In contrast to her discomfort, Yisen seemed very calm as he gently reassured her, "It’s almost done grinding."
Munni wondered if it was just her imagination, but the atmosphere between them seemed to grow subtly ambiguous because of Yisen’s actions and words.
She suppressed the strange thoughts rising in her heart, rolled her eyes in an attempt to lighten the mood, and jokingly said with a teasing tone, "Are you taking advantage of me here?"
Upon hearing her words, Yisen’s hand movements suddenly paused.
Munni only felt his grip on her hand tighten slightly, the warmth from his palm seeping through the back of her hand and quickly rising up to her fair cheeks.