SG 55

The next day was a day off, and Chu Baiyan lost all restraint. He had only wanted to hold Yan Anqing for a while, but when he saw him lying on the mattress covered in sweat, he couldn’t stop himself from biting his flushed earlobe, the tip of his nose beaded with sweat, and his lips that glistened with moisture.

The two kissed again, and their hot breaths tangled together until even that became a form of temptation.

When it finally ended, even Yan Anqing’s fingertips trembled.

Chu Baiyan carried his limp body from the bed to the bathroom. When they had only washed halfway under the shower, he almost couldn’t stop himself from losing control again, and by the time they went back to bed, it was already midnight.

Even the strongest biological clock could run out of energy. When Yan Anqing woke up, it was already past nine in the morning. He lifted his eyelids and looked at Chu Baiyan still lying in bed, then closed his eyes again.

Before sleeping last night, he had planned to go hiking today. It was autumn, the air was clear and cool, the weather wasn’t hot, and the wind was gentle. But now he felt lazy all over. He nudged closer into Chu Baiyan’s arms and decided to cancel the plan.

They ate the rice cakes they brought back yesterday for breakfast, and Chu Baiyan made oatmeal porridge with milk. The lighting on the twentieth floor was especially good. When he pulled open the curtains, the whole room brightened. Sunlight came through the window, and after breakfast, Yan Anqing lay down on the bed to bask in the light.

They finally ate lunch at the restaurant they hadn’t been able to visit last night.

While waiting for the food, a notification appeared on Chu Baiyan’s phone. He unlocked it and saw a reply on Douyin. A influencer who had visited the shop before had learned what happened and was willing to repost the clarification video. That person also wrote many encouraging words.

Chu Baiyan almost cried with relief. That influencer gave him great confidence. Since there was one person willing to help, there would surely be a second and a third.

When he arrived at the lounge on Tuesday, his coworkers were chatting together. As soon as they saw him, they all took out their phones.

“I saw it! I saw it! Someone really reposted it!”

“I saw it too! The story finally got a new season!”

“We finally waited long enough for the clouds to clear. I saw a clarification video on the subway with eighty thousand likes. I thought I was seeing things and watched it twice. I almost missed my stop.”

“So sending private messages to every influencer actually works. You’ll always run into someone kind and willing to help. I’m keeping at it today.”

Chu Baiyan hadn’t expected his coworkers to see it so soon. That internet-famous influencer had reposted the clarification video the night before and told everyone she had once visited Starfish Pottery and made a review video. She said the shop owner was a nice and reserved guy, and people shouldn’t believe rumors so easily but check the facts first.

He had already checked the video during breakfast. It had tens of thousands of likes and reposts. He couldn’t help but feel amazed at how fast a big influencer’s videos spread.

When his coworkers sent him the videos they saw, he was surprised to find they weren’t the same one he knew. He opened each one. One was from a vlogger he had messaged before, who hadn’t replied but still reposted. The other three were from people he had never contacted and didn’t even know.

The push paths of the algorithm were different, so not everyone saw the same videos. But no matter what, it was good that big influencers were reposting.

It was the off-season, and he only had to perform three times a day. By four in the afternoon, Chu Baiyan finished his show. When he opened the door to his room, Yan Anqing was sitting at the desk with his tablet.

“Isn’t it boring being alone during the day?” Chu Baiyan changed into slippers and thought Yan Anqing was watching SpongeBob SquarePants.

“It’s not boring. I can design new models and patterns.” Yan Anqing leaned back in the chair and turned to face him.

“Design patterns?” Chu Baiyan had never heard that before. He walked over. There was a stylus on the desk that he had probably never noticed before because it was clipped into the pad case.

“The ceramics in the shop were all designed in advance. Every shape and color is drawn first to simulate what it’ll look like in real life. After adjusting the colors and proportions to the best effect, there’s a reference when I shape the clay.” Yan Anqing explained carefully.

“I’ve never seen you use the tablet while working.” Chu Baiyan recalled that every time Yan Anqing made pottery, he always did it directly. He always thought Yan Anqing just naturally knew what something should look like and what color it should be.

“You only need the reference the first time. Once I’ve made one, I get an intuitive grasp of how each thing turns out after firing. The colors and proportions stay in my head, so the next time, the image comes up in my mind, and my hands just make it.”

Yan Anqing’s pottery shop had been open for over a year. He had made everything in it countless times. He could make them with his eyes closed now, so he didn’t need reference drawings anymore.

“When you made the Merman plate before, did you draw the design first?”

“Yeah.” Yan Anqing nodded. “The Mermaid plate was complicated. I redid the design sketch many times.”

He opened the folder. There were many drafts, from line art to color, adding up to dozens of images. There were over ten line drawings alone showing different poses and expressions: standing in the water making a heart, swimming, sitting on a shell.

The final plate Chu Baiyan saw was the best one Yan Anqing chose among all those drawings. He had even made several color versions. Every detail, from the muscles on the arms and abs to the curve of the fish’s belly, was perfectly recreated.

Chu Baiyan remembered how, when he first saw the plate, Yan Anqing had said that part of it was big. It wasn’t a teasing joke but a serious observation he made while drawing.

Chu Baiyan bent down, braced an arm on the desk, and enclosed Yan Anqing in his arms. His chin pressed against the bit of bare shoulder exposed by his wide collar. “Baby, you’re amazing. Even the sketches look beautiful.”

Yan Anqing didn’t act modest. He turned his head and rubbed his face against Chu Baiyan’s cheek. “I ranked first in art skills for my art school entrance exam. When I saw you in the water back then, I wanted to touch your abs. It would’ve helped me draw them with better texture.”

“I actually wanted to touch that bulge on the fish’s belly too, but I thought that wouldn’t be polite, so I gave up the idea.” Of course, he had already touched it many times now.

Chu Baiyan took a deep breath and barely held back from throwing him onto the bed.

“What did you design today?”

“Flowers. I’m using translucent jade-like clay for the petals so they’ll look eighty percent like real flowers.” Yan Anqing opened another folder. Inside were the flower patterns he designed today.

“The current products in the shop are enough, but since I have free time now, I can use it to design new ones.” He never found solitude boring because there were too many things he could do alone.

Designing needed quiet and long stretches of time, while running the shop drained the energy he could use for other work.

“Keep drawing. I’ll go downstairs to buy groceries. I came home early today because I thought you might feel uneasy being alone.” Chu Baiyan kissed the side of his neck.

“I want cola chicken wings.” Yan Anqing ordered immediately.

“What about vegetables?” Chu Baiyan asked while walking to the door.

“Loofah.”

Besides cola chicken wings and loofah, Chu Baiyan also bought chili and pork belly. All the dishes were on the sweet side, not too salty.

He walked out of the fresh food store at the complex gate, and just as he entered through the main gate again, his phone rang. He took it out. It was a call from Lu Ran.