NOVEL NEXT Chapter 53
Page Three: An Exposé on the Private Life of the Disciplinary Committee Member! (Pseudo)
Yán Liúzhuǎn’s residence was located in a high-rise apartment next to Píngchéng New Street.
Standing beneath the towering building, I couldn’t even see the top, and the sun made me feel dizzy.
“How tall!” I couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Kǎi-Chan, you’re exaggerating. This is only an eighteen-story building. There are much taller ones everywhere!”
I’m sorry! I live in a village…
Unexpectedly, Yán Liúzhuǎn lived on the eighteenth floor. As we slowly ascended in the scenic elevator, watching the ground grow distant, I felt my legs weaken.
When the elevator doors opened, I was surprised to find Yán Liúzhuǎn already waiting at the door.
This guy with his elite hairstyle and narrow-framed glasses stood there like a guardian, unmoving. I wasn’t sure if he knew we were coming or had been standing there all along.
“Liúliú~ I’ve brought the person over!”
“Liúliú?” I was surprised by this odd nickname.
“Oh, he doesn’t allow me to call him that at school, but in private, it’s fine. Isn’t it cute?”
Cute? No way!
“Ah~ Perfect Afrodite…”
Liúliú, ahem, Yán Liúzhuǎn spoke with pauses that were somewhat unsettling. He reached out to touch my cheek, so I took a step back in fright.
Something about this person was off.
“…Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.”
Why do you speak with spaces?
“Liúliú, don’t scare her away. I won’t ask again!”
Tán Lǐn Huā stepped in front of me, holding Yán Liúzhuǎn’s arm. He shook his head, returning to normal.
“I apologize, I couldn’t help myself. Please come in. You can visit any room except the study on the far right.”
Indeed, when he first saw me, he froze. Compared to that, his behavior now seemed almost normal.
“By the way, why are you still wearing your school uniform at home?”
It was then that I noticed Yán Liúzhuǎn was still wearing his boys’ school shirt.
“Oh, I don’t want to spend too much effort on casual wear. The uniform is perfect and convenient.”
After entering the entrance hall and taking off our shoes, Yán Liúzhuǎn neatly arranged them on the shoe rack. Even store-bought shoes weren’t placed as orderly as his.
He then brought us slippers.
Tán Lǐn Huā mentioned that this house used to belong to Yán Liúzhuǎn’s grandfather, hence the mature and staid decor. Redwood sofas, redwood coffee tables, redwood cabinets… nearly all the furniture was made of redwood.
My missing mother, how much must this cost?
We went through some formal introductions, naturally using Cháng Língmèng’s identity.
“Please sit. I’ll go upstairs and tidy up. You can freely explore the rooms except the study on the far right. Ask Lǐn Huā if you have any questions. He knows everything.”
With that, he climbed the stairs, leaving me and Tán Lǐn Huā alone in the living room…
There are stairs? Is this a duplex apartment?
As soon as Yán Liúzhuǎn went upstairs, Tán Lǐn Huā started explaining, “The nineteenth floor is the attic, accessible only to those on the eighteenth floor. That’s his private art studio.”
“The study you can’t enter is where his grandfather’s collection is kept. The antiques inside are worth at least six figures. So not letting you in is for your own good.”
I wouldn’t dare go in anyway.
Nervously sitting on the redwood sofa, I didn’t know where to put my hands, worried I might damage the furniture.
“Kǎi-Chan, relax. Want to read a novel?”
Tán Lǐn Huā waved the book *Dreamy Fragrance* in front of me. Thinking it might distract me, I took it and flipped through it. It was about a plain-looking girl who becomes popular when she gets excited. Her body secretes a special fragrance that attracts men.
She has various entangled love stories with many handsome guys in the academy…
I said… isn’t she just a bitch?
Even though she’s plain, the illustrations make her look like a standard beauty.
There are several potential male leads: the basketball captain, the abstinent student council president, a cross-dresser pretending to be a friend, a domineering idol, and even a kung fu master who can kill bears with his bare hands… it feels familiar.
Insane! I completely don’t get why this book is popular.
Feeling uneasy, I threw the book back onto the coffee table.
“Kǎi-Chan really doesn’t understand girls.”
“I would if I did, that’s strange.”
Footsteps echoed from above.
“I’m ready. Miss Língmèng, please come up.”
“Liúliú~ Do I need to come up?”
“Lǐn Huā, stay downstairs. I don’t want to be disturbed.”
“Ah, that sounds boring.”
Despite saying that, Tán Lǐn Huā picked up *Dreamy Fragrance* and began reading.
Should I be alone with this unpredictable Yán Liúzhuǎn? It makes me feel insecure…
Carefully climbing the stairs to the attic, I heightened my alertness, prepared to flee at the slightest sign of trouble.
While sitting downstairs, I could sense his obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Cups in the cabinet had to be aligned perfectly; clothes on the balcony were sorted by color; paintings on the TV wall were perfectly symmetrical…
On the attic, these obsessions intensified. From large to small, the canvases were arranged; from thick to thin, the brushes; paints were organized by color gradient; tools, plaster casts, human models, palettes, etc., were categorized meticulously.
I don’t quite understand traditional art… but Yán Liúzhuǎn seems different from what I imagined an artist to be.
Observing this orderly studio, Yán Liúzhuǎn watched me silently, his gaze oddly scrutinizing, as if analyzing my facial structure—like he was looking at a plaster cast.
Uncomfortable under his stare, I tried to break the silence.
“Do you usually draw sketches and oil paintings in your free time? Anything else?”
Interrupted, he frowned, then regained his composure.
“Yes.”
This answer surprised me. I thought he only cared about studies or drawing.
“I also enjoy digital painting and traditional Chinese painting,” he said calmly.
Noticing the computer and digital screen near the wall, and brushes and inkstones in the cabinet, I realized he truly is a beacon of hope for the art world.
“What does one do as a model?”
He brought a chair to the sunlit window, but didn’t wait for me to sit, moving it away.
Then he took out a soft white cloth and spread it across the window.
“Go up.”
He pointed to the glaring white cloth in the sunlight.
I took off my slippers, stepping onto the cloth, feeling the heat of the sun. Despite the air conditioning, it wasn’t comfortable.
But for the sake of access to Tán Lǐn Huā’s secret base, this heat was nothing.
“What next?” I asked.
“Take off.”
“What?”
I wondered if I misheard.