Give Me a Hug

Chapter 28: I Like You

"Jiaran, have you finished your competition piece?" Lin Shan asked while mixing colors in the studio.

Xie Jiaran shook his head. "I only have a few sketches, but I'm not satisfied with any of them."

"Is it that difficult?" Lin Shan was surprised. "Tsk tsk tsk, if even you find it tricky, what will the other contestants do?"

"My level can't be the standard for everyone; there are plenty of people better than me," Xie Jiaran said. "Maybe a theme that's difficult for me is easy for someone else."

"Sigh, isn't it just 'Youth'?"

Lin Shan offered a suggestion, "Think about memorable things from your teenage years, or if there's a representative figure from that period, and combine those elements into your painting."

"This is the basic method of abstracting concepts into entities, you should be better at this than me."

Xie Jiaran was a bit confused. "Does 'teenage years' refer to high school?"

"Well... mostly, but not necessarily," Lin Shan thought for a moment and asked, "So, tell me about your high school days, I'll help you brainstorm."

Xie Jiaran replied, "Classes, exams, painting."

Lin Shan asked, "Besides those?"

Xie Jiaran answered, "Eating, sleeping?"

"....."

Lin Shan clicked his tongue. "Not those, I mean special, memorable things."

Xie Jiaran said, "The college entrance exam?"

Lin Shan: "?"

Xie Jiaran continued, "There was also the joint exam, and one time a student forgot their admission ticket and cried outside the exam hall for twenty minutes."

Lin Shan: "....."

Xie Jiaran sincerely asked, "So you think I should paint an exam hall?"

"........."

After a long silence, Lin Shan decided to keep smiling.

What fault does the child have? He just lacks a proper teenage experience.

"Sweetie, that's not what I meant."

Lin Shan calmed himself and patiently guided him. "Teenage years, as the name implies, is that restless period in your teens and twenties when you passionately want to do something or meet someone, and life feels especially beautiful, the air particularly sweet, and even the sunlight extraordinarily bright."

"Heartbeat, do you understand?"

Lin Shan made a gesture of a heartbeat. "Would the joint exam make your heart race? Obviously not."

"Heartbeat..."

"Yes! Think carefully, do any of your sketches reflect a feeling of excitement?"

Xie Jiaran fell silent, his eyelashes fluttering rapidly.

Lin Shan saw a glimmer of hope. "You do, right?"

Xie Jiaran hesitated but nodded. "Maybe, but I still feel something is missing."

Moreover, he didn't tell Lin Shan that the sketch wasn't for the competition; it was just a casual drawing of a basketball court.

As for excitement...

He wasn't sure himself.

"Ah," Lin Shan sighed with mixed feelings.

After thinking for a moment, he unwillingly took out his phone. "Come on, I'll let you experience that excitement right now, maybe you'll find inspiration."