“Hi, guys, you are here!” a blonde, blue-eyed girl suddenly interjected, familiarly hooking her arm through Liang He’s. Qiu Yun recognized her as Lucy from their table.
Liang He’s expression shifted instantly; even the tips of his ears turned a faint shade of red. He quietly withdrew his arm and gave a very formal, “Hello.”
Watching the change in his expression, Qiu Yun stifled a laugh. *A twenty-year-old man with the soul of an eighty-year-old fossil.*
“What are you talking about? Something interesting?” Lucy asked.
As Liang He was mentally organizing his response, he heard Qiu Yun reply in fluent English, “Just chatting.”
Lucy shrugged, looking surprised by Qiu Yun’s English proficiency. Her face lit up with appreciation. “Can I join?”
“Sure.”
Lucy spoke relatively slowly, likely out of consideration for the Chinese students. However, between the noisy background music and her own limited vocabulary, Qiu Yun could only grasp the general gist—especially when Lucy mentioned the names of certain artists. Qiu Yun guessed they were artists, anyway; in truth, she was completely lost. Nevertheless, her expressions were spot-on. She used words like “Nice,” “Really?” and “Of course” with perfect timing, punctuating them with shrugs, open-handed gestures, and arched brows. She looked every bit the international diplomat.
Initially, Liang He tried his best to catch Lucy’s words, but gradually, her native English became a blur. His ears began to tune into only Qiu Yun’s voice. It was soft, laced with a hint of a smile, and though her accent wasn't perfectly authentic—marked by a habitual friction between her tongue and teeth and occasional stiff pronunciations—it was always there to be caught. Her voice filtered through the cacophony; even when he didn't understand the meaning of her words, he could always hear her.
“Naked model?” Qiu Yun suddenly burst into laughter, shooting a meaningful look at Liang He. “Not yet. I’m just a freshman. You can ask Liang.”
“Naked?” Liang He found the word familiar.
“That’s right,” Qiu Yun turned to him. “Lucy asked if we have life drawing classes with nude models. I told her I’m just a freshman and don’t know yet, so she should ask Teacher Liang, who has already finished university.” After speaking, she gave him an exaggerated wink.
“Erm...” Liang He felt there was a touch of mischief in Qiu Yun’s expression. She surely knew that the Academy of Fine Arts didn't actually have live nude modeling sessions in its curriculum yet. Although China had opened up significantly by this time and nude sketching was gradually being accepted as an art form, the A-City Academy of Fine Arts had not yet introduced such courses. Students' understanding of human musculature was still limited to copying from books. Qiu Yun’s refusal to answer and her decision to toss the topic to him was clearly intentional.
Liang He thought for a moment and said slowly, “No. But we are trying to...”
Qiu Yun watched him with sparkling eyes. He suddenly couldn't recall the English word for “break through,” but since she was still staring at him, he simply changed his approach and used her as a translator. “Tell her that we don’t have them for now, but we will very soon.”
Qiu Yun nodded with a grin and rattled off a few quick sentences to Lucy.
Lucy looked both surprised and delighted. She stepped forward and gave Liang He a warm, enthusiastic hug. “Really? That’s so great!”
Qiu Yun stood to the side, laughing. As expected, Liang He’s body went rigid and his expression froze, looking for all the world like a virtuous woman being accosted by a boorish landlord.
“Hi, Lucy!” Another American student, a handsome guy with curly blonde hair, walked over.
“Hi, Mike. We are talking about some naked models,” Lucy said by way of introduction. When Mike learned that the Academy did not yet offer such a course, his eyes widened in sheer disbelief, as if he were looking at people from a primitive society.
“What a pity! Why? Oh my god, is this really happening in China?”
The reaction was a bit over the top. But since it was the truth, Qiu Yun just took it as the foreigners being dramatic and gave a small, regretful grimace.
“Oh my god!” Mike shrugged again with exaggerated flair. “Are you still in a feudal society? Unbelievable!”
Everyone understood that last sentence. The previously harmonious atmosphere turned subtle and strained.
Mike, oblivious, allowed a sense of capitalist superiority to color his arrogant expression. “So I’m wondering if you know about painting or drawing. Do you know canvas or watercolor? It has a centuries-old history...”
“Hey, hey,” Qiu Yun interrupted him. If the exaggerated expressions earlier were just cultural differences, this was blatant condescension. *Please, kid, remember whose turf you’re standing on.*
Qiu Yun fired back directly, “Boy, the first canvas found in China was from two thousand years ago, but... five hundred years ago in Western countries. Watercolor, which we call traditional Chinese painting, has a history... two hundred years before BC... but how many years in your country?”
Despite her slightly flawed grammar, the blonde guy clearly understood. He looked Qiu Yun up and down, his eyes darting quickly as he sneered with disdain, “I heard Chinese people like to walk with their heads bowed. Is that a tradition, too?”
It was a naked provocation.
Qiu Yun didn't get angry. She smiled slightly and replied with cool composure, “Because we are always going upwards.”
Failing to gain the upper hand, Mike slunk away. Lucy apologized for him and made an excuse to leave as well.
Watching their retreating backs, which looked like soldiers fleeing in defeat, Qiu Yun shook her head and sighed. “These kids really don’t know how vast the world is.” She turned to smile at Liang He, only to find him staring at her. His expression was unreadable, yet seemed deeply meaningful.
“What? Seeing me in a new light?” she asked, unable to hide her pride.
“A little.”
“It’s rare to get a compliment from Teacher Liang.”
“My compliments are easy to get, as long as you’re always this excellent.”
“Haha,” Qiu Yun couldn't help but laugh. “Teacher Liang, are you made of water?”
“What?”
“You’re so 'radiant' the moment I give you a little 'sunshine.'”
Liang He smiled, unoffended, then cautioned her, “There’s no need to tell others about what just happened. After all, they are our guests.”
“Do you think I’m a three-year-old?” Qiu Yun said dismissively. “What’s so great about America? They’re just temporarily developed. You have to know that the tides of fortune shift every thirty years. In thirty years, China will be much more advanced than America in many ways.”
“I couldn't tell before, but you have quite a strong patriotic streak.”
“I’m telling the truth. In thirty years, we’ll have so much high technology: driverless cars on the ground, aircraft carriers in the water, and space stations in the sky. The Shenzhou spacecraft will even be manned!” Qiu Yun rattled these off like a child showing off treasures. “Can you imagine? There won't be any more food stamps. People won't even carry wallets when they go out. They’ll just... scan something with a device to pay.”
“You make it sound so real. I might have to recommend you as a candidate for the Party next semester,” Liang He said, amused by her. Suddenly, something stirred in his heart, and he said, “Wait here a moment.”
“Where are you going?”
But Liang He only left her with the sight of his back.
He pushed through the crowd and disappeared out the door. About two minutes later, he returned and handed something to Qiu Yun. “This is for you. For the 'Best of the Night.'”
It was a glass bottle of ice-cold Coca-Cola.
Qiu Yun was momentarily stunned.
She had drunk many kinds of Coke in her life—cans, plastic bottles, large ones, small ones, those endorsed by Wang Leehom, those endorsed by Lu Han... In the supermarket, a can cost two yuan and a large bottle cost five, and they were often bundled with Fanta or Sprite. It was the most common beverage in the 21st century. But now, she stared at that bottle of Coke as if she had never seen one before.
“For... for me?” Qiu Yun pointed at her own nose.
Liang He just looked at her and smiled.
She suddenly felt a bit shy. Lowering her head, she took it and whispered, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Liang He said. He leaned back, sitting on the table behind them, and gazed aimlessly at the dance floor, his legs swinging unconsciously.
Qiu Yun felt her mind was a mess. The surrounding music suddenly felt very loud. She didn't know what to say next, letting the drumbeats in the music strike against her heart one by one. Feeling a bit restless, she spoke just to break the silence. “Um... Teacher Liang, there’s something I want to tell you.”
“What is it?” Liang He turned his gaze back to her.
“Do you know why Lucy hugged you just now?”
“Why?”
“Besides saying our school would soon have nude modeling classes, I said something else.”
“Something else?”
“I said... that you were willing to be her nude model.”
***
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If I Wait Thirty Years | Chapter 22 | A Taste of the Future | Novela.app | Novela.app
