Trap in a Book

Chapter 21

The next day, Xiaomei once again saw an annoying familiar face. "Mister Wei, don't you have things to do?" she said, enduring her anger from showing.

"I had some spare time, so I came to visit," he answered back. Xiaomei was sitting in the small garden. She was planning to paint today since there wasn't anything to do. Bao and LiMei were busy entertaining themselves with chores or with each other. As for the chipmunk, he was minding his own business. So, Xiaomei decided to paint some flowers.

"What are you painting?" ZhangWei asked, leaning on his hand.

"Mister Wei, haven't I told you multiple times that I won't bother Miss Baozhai or cause any harm to her, so there's no need to worry? You can stop coming here like you are monitoring me," Xiaomei said with a tight smile as she lifted her brush off her painting. ZhangWei raised an eyebrow and thought she really thinks he came here to monitor her. He just smiled. She clenched the brush tighter in irritation as she couldn't stand his smile before saying, "Mister Wei, there's something on your face." She reached out her hand that held the brush before using the brush to wipe his face. She made it look like she was going to use her hand but instead, she used the brush that was dipped in ink. She did it so fast that he couldn't stop her in time. "Oh, my apologies, Mister Wei," she said, drawing back her hand away from his face.

ZhangWei continued to smile like it didn't bother him while he was wiping off the ink on his face.

"Miss Daiyu, I think you need practice in how to paint. Let me show you," he said, snatching the brush out of her hands in a quick swoop. She knew immediately what he was planning. Before she could escape, he had already grabbed her arm, stopping her from moving.

"Mister Wei. A man and woman shouldn't touch-" she tried to say, but he had already started painting her face.

"It looks like you are painting flowers?" he said, glancing at her previous painting on the table. He started painting petals on her cheek. She tried to use her other hand to stop him. "Wait, I'm not finished," he said, grabbing both of her hands in one hand. She continued to struggle, but it was no use as he started painting on the other cheek. "Do you feel these strokes? Try to remember them so they can help you paint better," he teased, still painting on her face.

"Y-you," Xiaomei tried to say.

"Alright, all done," he said, getting up and leaving so quickly that it felt like a gust of wind passed her. "Well, then I'll see you again, Huang Daiyu," he said, waving goodbye to her.

Xiaomei clenched her hands and threw the brush he used aside. She was about to wipe her cheeks, but then, LiMei called her and entered the garden. "Miss, lunch is ready-," LiMei said but stopped mid-way. "Miss, what happened to your face?" she asked, shocked.

Xiaomei didn't answer for a minute before saying," Nothing. I will be in there once I finish cleaning my face." She stood up and went inside. "T-then, Miss, I will clean this up," LiMei said, concerned before cleaning up the painting.

Once Xiaomei entered her bathroom, she pulled her handkerchief out from her sleeve and was about to soak it. She saw her reflection in the water. She stopped and stared at it. She leaned closer to the water to see the painting clearly. She was amazed to see how stunning his painting was, but then she remembered it was his painting. She then dipped her handkerchief in the water without hesitation, causing the reflection to disappear. She wiped the ink off her face, leaving no trace of his painting on her face.