Chapter 22: Clay-Covered Hands

Seeing Xia Chan staring at the photo for a long time with an uncertain expression, He Huaisheng reached out to take it.

Xia Chan reacted quickly, dodging to the side. "This is mine."

She stuffed the photo into her bag and didn't look at it again.

A moment later, Ban Hao brought over two cups of coffee. "One hundred per cup, pay first, then drink."

Neither He Huaisheng nor Xia Chan touched it.

Xia Chan blinked. "You're telling me?"

"What else? He can't hear me."

"Too expensive, I can't afford it. Let Mr. He drink it alone."

Ban Hao couldn't help but chuckle, placing his coffee cup on the table, getting one for himself, dragging over a wooden stool, and sitting down.

Ban Hao sipped his coffee, glancing at Xia Chan. "Miss Xia is beautiful. Could you model for me for two hours?"

"How much per hour?"

Ban Hao looked at He Huaisheng. "Old He, what's Miss Xia's hourly rate?"

He Huaisheng glanced at him but didn't answer.

Ban Hao grinned. "Three hundred an hour, how about that?"

"Don't you think it's a bit cheap?"

"Five hundred, that's the most I can do."

Xia Chan put down her coffee cup, sat up straight, and said without hesitation, "Let's begin."

As soon as she finished speaking, He Huaisheng stared at Xia Chan and ordered, "...Sit down and drink your coffee."

Xia Chan was very embarrassed. "That's a thousand yuan!"

"..."

Ban Hao stared at He Huaisheng as if he'd seen a ghost. "You can talk?"

Xia Chan retorted, "Doesn't he know how to talk?"

"I've known him for five years, and I've never heard him speak. Two grown men, sitting there, facing each other, fiddling with their phones..."

Xia Chan laughed until tears almost came to her eyes. "He can read lips."

"I didn't know that at first!"

Xia Chan laughed loudly, looking at He Huaisheng. "Mr. He, aren't you being a little unfair to your friend?"

He Huaisheng glanced at her.

After finishing their coffee, Ban Hao took Xia Chan on a tour of his studio.

The green train carriage, being of limited size, mainly served as Ban Hao's living space. His work area was the enormous factory building, divided into three sections: oil painting, sculpture, and ceramics.

In the sculpture section, there stood a half-finished sculpture of a man, completely naked, his lower body incredibly lifelike and detailed...

Xia Chan tried to maintain a blank expression, as if to say, "This is art, nothing to be surprised about," and calmly and slowly shifted her gaze away.

...She felt that her friend He Huaisheng's sexual orientation was somewhat intriguing.

After strolling around, Ban Hao suggested that Xia Chan make a ceramic cup to take home. Xia Chan had no experience in ceramics, so after learning how to throw a potter's wheel from Ban Hao for a while, she started practicing on her own. Her first few attempts were unsuccessful—the clay was either too dry or too runny. After several failures, she finally began to get the hang of it.

Ban Hao was instructing her when his phone rang. Seeing it was an important call, he said, "I'll take this call and have He Huaisheng teach you."

Without her teacher, the nearly formed clay figure suddenly began to wobble. Xia Chan panicked. "He doesn't know how!"

"He does," Ban Hao said, answering the phone and hurrying away.

Xia Chan was at a loss. Seeing the clay figure becoming increasingly skewed, He Huaisheng said, "Don't stop."

He walked behind her, rolled up his sleeves, took off his watch and put it in his pocket, then reached around from behind her to the front, taking her fingers and guiding the clay figure.

Xia Chan stiffened.

She felt as if he were gently holding her, his breath on the back of her neck, brushing her hair.

He Huaisheng held her hands like that, guiding, lifting, shaping the clay...

Their fingers intertwined, both her and his hands covered in clay.

Xia Chan remembered a movie she'd seen before, called Ghost, which had a similar scene.

Finally, He Huaisheng held her fingers, made slight adjustments, and a simple teacup took shape.

He Huaisheng turned off the potter's wheel. "It's done."

Xia Chan turned around and glanced at him.

He Huaisheng also looked at her, and suddenly reached out and lightly smeared a finger on her fair face.

Xia Chan immediately raised her hand to wipe it off, but then realized that her hands were also covered in clay, so she simply smeared her entire palm on his shirt.

Xia Chan laughed, raised her eyebrows and smiled, and reached out to smear He Huaisheng's face with her other hand, but he grabbed her hand. She struggled, but he held her tightly and she couldn't break free.

He Huaisheng used his hand, still covered in clay, to grab Xia Chan's chin, lowered his head, and bit her lip without saying a word.

Xia Chan turned her head to dodge, but he held her even tighter.

She was furious, grabbed his shirt, and wiped all the clay from her hands onto it.

He Huaisheng wasn't going to back down either, and simply ran his fingers through her hair.

Xia Chan was practically going crazy. She bit his lip.

He Huaisheng winced and released her. Xia Chan yelled, "I just washed my hair this morning!"

He Huaisheng stared at her and chuckled.

Xia Chan was furious. She smeared his face and clothes all over.

Finally, He Huaisheng's white shirt was a mess, and his face was equally disheveled. Only then did Xia Chan stop.

Ban Hao came in after finishing his phone call. Seeing this scene, he quickly turned around and covered his eyes. "...You guys continue, continue..."

He Huaisheng grabbed Xia Chan's arm and pulled her towards the door.

After a moment, he stopped and gestured to Ban Hao in sign language, instructing him to help with the shaping and firing of the clay.

Ban Hao said, "I don't understand. If you're so capable, just speak!"

He Huaisheng ignored him and pulled Xia Chan straight out of the factory gate.

There was a tap in the corner. He Huaisheng led Xia Chan over, turned it on, let it run for a while until the murky, rusty water had run out and the water was clear. He then took Xia Chan's hand.

Xia Chan struggled a bit. "I'll wash myself."

She washed the mud off her hands with the water and then wiped her face.

He Huaisheng also bent down to get water and wash his face.

Xia Chan glanced at him—there was still mud on his brow bone. "Not clean enough."

He Huaisheng wiped it with water again.

Xia Chan wet her hands and reached towards He Huaisheng's brow.

He Huaisheng paused, glancing at her.

Xia Chan touched his brow bone with her finger and wiped it.

She saw him blink, and then he took her hand.

Their hands, wet, clasped together.

Xia Chan felt a subtle itch in her palms and couldn't help but curl her fingers.

After a moment, He Huaisheng released her.

Xia Chan looked away, took a handful of tissues from her bag, tore off two, and handed them to He Huaisheng.

He Huaisheng wiped the water from his face. "Let's go."

Xia Chan stood still. "He Huaisheng."

He Huaisheng looked at her.

"...I'm serious. Don't do this again."

He Huaisheng's expression was calm.

Xia Chan looked away, slowly wiping the water from her hands with the tissues.

He Huaisheng opened his mouth, asking with some difficulty, "Why...don't you talk about yourself?"

Xia Chan was startled. What did that mean?

However, He Huaisheng didn't look at her again, turning and walking towards the parking lot.

"He Huaisheng!"

He Huaisheng stopped by the car, patted his pocket, took out a cigarette, lit it, lowered his gaze, and slowly smoked.

Xia Chan stood there, watching him from afar, momentarily at a loss for words.

After Xia Chan got into the car, the driver glanced at the rearview mirror, asked nothing, and started the car.

Xia Chan asked He Huaisheng, "Where to?"

"My house."

Xia Chan was wary. "Why would I go to your house?"

"...To take a shower."

The more she said it, the more uneasy she felt.

Xia Chan shouted at the driver, "Please take me back to the hotel."

The driver pretended not to hear.

Xia Chan had no choice but to order He Huaisheng, "Have him take me back to the hotel."

He Huaisheng glanced at her and said to the driver, "Back to the hotel."

Xia Chan breathed a sigh of relief.

He Huaisheng took out his phone, typed a few lines, turned the screen towards her, and asked: Haven't had lunch yet, really going back? You can come to my place to change your clothes.

Xia Chan asked, "You actually have women's clothes there?"

After saying that, she realized something was wrong—she'd actually used the word "actually."

He Huaisheng said, "...It's my sister's."

Xia Chan thought for a moment—it would be a waste to go back so early after finally coming out.

So she said, "Okay then."

He Huaisheng's home in Yangcheng was the same as his Jinpuyuan apartment in Chongcheng—an entire floor with an elevator to each unit.

The interior design was identical, with a minimalist, "cold" aesthetic.

He Huaisheng went into a bedroom and came out a moment later with a set of clothes.

Xia Chan checked the size—she should be able to wear it.

She took a shower and saw He Huaisheng sitting on the sofa. "I'm done showering."

He Huaisheng nodded, stood up, and went to the bathroom.

Xia Chan plugged in the hairdryer and sat on the sofa to dry her hair.

Her hair was very long, making it especially troublesome to manage. Just as it was almost dry, she saw the bathroom door open, and He Huaisheng came out.

He was only wearing a towel, passed by her, and went into the bedroom without looking at her.

Eight-pack abs, a muscular physique, still dripping wet.

Xia Chan sighed, pretending not to notice, and continued drying her hair.

A little while later, He Huaisheng came out, dressed in white shirt and black trousers, looking refreshed after a shower.

He stood there and asked her, "What do you want to eat?"

"Anything," Xia Chan replied, turning off the hairdryer.

He Huaisheng didn't speak, seemingly considering.

Xia Chan asked, "Does He Qin live with you?"

He Huaisheng shook his head. "She...is in the capital."

"Works?"

"Studies."

Xia Chan calculated—He Huaisheng was thirty this year, so He Qin would be twenty-two.

So young. It's so good to have a rich older brother.

When she was twenty-two, she was still wandering around like a headless fly, with nothing but Xie Xingzhou.

Xia Chan suddenly realized that lately, she'd rarely thought about Xie Xingzhou. When she was busy, she didn't have time to think about him, and when she was free, she had even less energy.

Xia Chan ran her fingers through her hair and said to He Huaisheng, "Let's go out to eat."

He Huaisheng nodded and asked her, "What do you want to eat?"

"Anything is fine."

After getting in the car, He Huaisheng told the driver a place.

When they arrived, it was a private restaurant.

Xia Chan went inside with He Huaisheng and looked around. It was a quiet two-story building.

She suddenly remembered that she and Chen Rong had eaten in a similar place last time, and Chen Rong had commented on He Huaisheng, saying he was "pretending to be crazy." What was he thinking then?

After ordering, while waiting for the food, Xia Chan couldn't help but ask him this question.

He Huaisheng was silent for a long time. "You're right."

If it weren't for those words, he wouldn't have noticed her.