He was relieved to find that no one else had seen Qin Shuang when he realized... their posture was a bit off.
He had one hand on Qin Shuang's shoulder, and the two were very close. From an outsider's perspective, it would look as if he was leaning into Qin Shuang's arms.
The two of them were clearly aware of the problem and took a half step back. Xiao Shulang took off his hat and mask, his eyes crinkling with a smile: "What a coincidence, you're here too."
"Yes, I'll come over when I have time."
Xiao Shulang: "I'm going to Teacher Wen's studio for a class later, so I'll stop by on the way."
The two walked to the table, and Xiao Shulang noticed that Qin Shuang had drawn several swimming fish on the plate with a pencil. The fish were drawn very simply, with oval lines and triangles, without any posture or shape, but it was still clear that they were fish.
However, in the center of the plate, he drew a star.
Fish swimming around the stars, how interesting.
Xiao Shulang glanced at it: "It looks pretty good. Are you ready to color it after you finish painting it?"
Qin Shuang nodded: "Okay. Just a quick sketch won't do, you can. Could you... draw two more shapes for me?"
Xiao Shulang: "The composition is already quite good. If you need help, let me think... Are you planning to color the plate?"
"blue."
"Okay, you can start coloring first. After you're done, I'll add a couple of strokes for you."
So the two sat down, poured paint into a plate, and began to color their respective works.
The sparse and elegant rabbit was easy to paint because the paste itself was white clay, so the snow-white rabbit body didn't need any coloring; it would turn a natural white after baking. He just outlined the ears, drew the eyes, and painted a carrot in front of the rabbit's mouth...
Xiao Shulang doesn't need a draft to paint these simple things; he can just dip his brush in paint and start painting. By the time he finished painting quickly, Qin Shuang had only painted half of the plate.
Qin Shuang held a paintbrush in one hand and a plate in the other, her expression very serious.
Xiao Shulang had nothing to do and plenty of time, so he wasn't in a hurry to leave. He looked at the plate and then at Qin Shuang.
Qin Shuang must have noticed Xiao Shulang's gaze; he slightly raised the corner of his mouth, but continued to focus on applying the ointment.
As Xiao Shulang looked around, his gaze fell back on his rabbit. On a whim, he took some yellow paint and painted a few small stars on the back of the rabbit's ears as decoration.
By the time he finished drawing, Qin Shuang had finally finished painting as well.
Qin Shuang remembered that Xiao Shulang had said he would help him add a few strokes. He handed Xiao Shulang an uncolored pen without asking any questions, clearly trusting Xiao Shulang to create.
Xiao Shulang took the brush, mixed the blue glaze a little darker, then dipped it in the color and used a few strokes to depict the swaying water behind the swimming fish.
In this way, the originally rigid fish instantly became lively and agile, truly swimming in the water.
Qin Shuang's eyes lit up as well. These few strokes were truly wonderful. He didn't understand painting, but he could appreciate it.
"nice."
Xiao Shulang put down his pen: "It's mainly because your idea is interesting."
Neither of them mentioned the necklace. Xiao Shulang checked the time; it was almost time to leave. He took out his phone and took a picture of the rabbit.
"It's almost time, I should go see Teacher Wen."
Qin Shuang hummed in agreement: "Teacher Wen is very easygoing. I've also asked him for guidance, so you don't need to be nervous."
Xiao Shulang put on his hat and mask: "Okay."
He reached out to take the rabbit downstairs to hand it to the shop owner, but Qin Shuang said, "I want to sit here for a while longer. I'll help you take it downstairs later."
"That's fine." Xiao Shulang withdrew his hand. "Thank you for your trouble."
He walked to the door, waved, closed the door, and left. After he left, Qin Shuang also picked up her phone, first taking a picture of her porcelain plate, and then…
I placed the rabbit on the edge of the porcelain plate and took several photos of it from different angles.
After taking the photos, he put on sunglasses and a hat, and then went downstairs with his two pieces of artwork.
This time, the shop owner no longer thought that the two of them didn't care about what they were making. He put the two items away and kindly reminded them that they could pick up the finished products from the kiln in a week.
Although the store would definitely remind her again later, Qin Shuang still sent a message to Xiao Shulang, telling him when she could pick it up.
Five minutes later, I received a reply from Xiao Shulang. It seems that Xiao Shulang has arrived at Teacher Wen's studio and can now check his phone after parking.
Qin Shuang was already sitting in his car. He had come alone today. He stroked his phone for a moment, then selected a photo of only the porcelain plate from his album and posted it on Weibo.
There was no text, only pictures.
Fans quickly posted comments below.
"These plates are so cute! Could they be new tableware that your brother bought? Haha, my Qin, I never knew you could use such cute things! What a contrast!"
"What material is it made of? It looks a bit rough."
"I know, I know! Everyone, this is a ceramic product that has been colored, but hasn't been coated with a transparent glaze or even fired yet!"
"I never thought so! Did Brother Qin draw it himself? It's beautiful!"
Qin Shuang's own fans first praised her, but soon, comments with a different style appeared.
Because of the show "Heartbeat Encounter", some people who follow Qin Shuang also started following Xiao Shulang. Then these people discovered that Qin Shuang and Xiao Shulang updated their Weibo accounts within seconds of each other.
Xiao Shulang posted a picture of a half-finished ceramic rabbit on his Weibo.
"Holy crap! You guys need to check Xiao Shulang's Weibo! I remember now, isn't this what they made at the pottery shop in the dating reality show? A plate and a rabbit, it matches up!"
Chapter 47 He clicked on the picture and changed his profile picture to a chibi-style character.
After parking his car in the parking lot near Teacher Wen's studio, Xiao Shulang took out his phone and saw a message from Qin Shuang.
After replying, he realized he hadn't posted anything on Weibo in a long time, so he posted a picture of the rabbit without any caption.
After posting, he silenced his phone and prepared to go to his studio for class, completely unaware that his Weibo post and Qin Shuang's combined attack had caused a huge uproar online.
Not only Qin Shuang's side discovered his Weibo, but his fans also noticed something was wrong after praising the rabbit.
So the two sides looked at each other's Weibo posts, and after they did, no one needed to have a keen eye to tell where the two pottery pieces came from.
"Girls, I'm back from watching it, holy crap, are they really not together?"
"Their Weibo posts were only a few seconds apart! A few seconds apart! They really didn't post them at the same time?"
"Qin Shuang's plate has stars in the middle, and Xiao Shulang's rabbit ears have stars on them. I don't care, I'm shipping them!"
"Why aren't you two using text? Tell me if you're announcing your relationship! Ugh, I'm so anxious!"
"This is the official announcement, I don't care!"
Qin Shuang only realized that Xiao Shulang's update had followed after she posted her own Weibo post. If he weren't involved, he would have thought it was all pre-arranged.
He had barely glanced at it when his agent, Li Ren, called.
Li Ren hurriedly asked, "What's going on? Are you two really together? Why didn't you give us a heads-up before announcing it?"
Qin Shuang: "We're not dating yet, it's not an announcement."
Li Ren was completely dumbfounded: "No? Then what are you two doing? Both of your Weibo posts look like a couple!"
Li Ren knew that Qin Shuang disdained using scandals to generate buzz, and no one could force this guy to form any kind of on-screen couple. He posted these Weibo posts voluntarily.
After thinking it over carefully, Li Ren cautiously asked, "Could it be that he's trying to ride your coattails?"
When Li Ren said this, he himself felt that the possibility was very low, because the two posted on Weibo at very close intervals, only a few seconds apart, just a matter of moving their fingers a couple of times. Although Xiao Shulang was a few seconds later, it was possible that he had chosen the photo first.
But Li Ren really couldn't think of anything else. If they weren't dating or hadn't announced their relationship, what else could it be?
Qin Shuang said again, "No."
Li Ren surrendered: "Then I really don't understand what you two are doing. Forgive me for speaking frankly, but as soon as your Weibo posts came out, it became a real relationship even if you weren't dating. The company's private messages are going to be flooded with fans asking about it."
In the past, whenever someone tried to create a scandal and ride on Qin Shuang's popularity, Qin Shuang or her studio would respond directly and refuse to spread rumors. This caused some people to feel unhappy because they thought Qin Shuang was unpredictable.
But Qin Shuang was not afraid even if he was resented. He had no feelings for people, so why should he let them fabricate his feelings?
After Qin Shuang and Xiao Shulang posted on Weibo today, some media outlets have already caught wind of it and forwarded or written articles with headlines such as "Qin Shuang and Xiao Shulang suspected of publicly announcing their relationship?"
Since it wasn't true, Li Ren was prepared to have to clarify things again.
But Qin Shuang's next words were: "Don't worry about it."
Li Ren: ?
Li Ren: !
After being shocked, Li Ren quickly sorted out the cause and effect and finally realized a fact: they may not have been in a relationship, but the confession from afar was real.
His turbulent emotions gradually calmed down, and he asked with a detached and worldly-wise air, "So when are you two going to announce your relationship?"
Qin Shuang's lips moved, but before she could say anything, Li Ren said again, "Oh well, just remember to let me know in advance so I can be mentally prepared. Alright, alright, I'm going to get busy now. You rarely get a day off, go have some fun."
After Li Ren finished speaking, he hung up the phone. To be honest, Qin Shuang couldn't give him a definite answer to his last question, but... Qin Shuang looked at Xiao Shulang's profile picture and thought: The official announcement shouldn't be too far away.
Xiao Shulang probably went to class right after posting on Weibo and didn't check his phone. It was such a coincidence that their Weibo posts coincided. Qin Shuang didn't plan to delete the photo either.
He stared at Xiao Shulang's WeChat profile picture for a moment, then at his own, and after a while, he moved his finger and changed his WeChat profile picture.
He replaced it with the "Q version of Qin Shuang" that Xiao Shulang had drawn for him. After the replacement, he drove home and prepared to continue studying his character in "No Clothes".
Xiao Shulang arrived at Teacher Wen's studio.
Teacher Wen divided the studio into several areas. The area for teaching theoretical knowledge was decorated very elegantly, with green plants and flower arrangements that created a relaxing atmosphere. There was also the aroma of tea and coffee in the room. It felt more like a relaxing environment for chatting than a place for teaching and lecturing.
Another room is a practice room where an entire wall has been transformed into a mirror. Here you can practice your expressions and demeanor in front of the mirror and see how well you perform.
Teacher Wen spoke slowly and calmly, with a faint smile on his face. He was indeed very kind. He then led Xiao Shulang to the practice room and handed him two thin sheets of paper.
“You said you have no acting background. Try acting out the character on paper first, and I’ll see how well you can grasp it.”
The first sheet of paper contains a general introduction to the character, the second sheet sets up a scene and describes in detail the character's psychological state at that moment, and below that is the dialogue.
Perhaps to accommodate newcomers, there's a lot of description and not much dialogue, but no matter how detailed the theoretical explanations are, how well the actors can perform depends on their own abilities.
Xiao Shulang begins to sketch out the character: the young man is betrayed by someone he trusts. He is heartbroken and angry, but the protagonist's personality dictates that he will not fly into a rage. The character's way of expressing himself should be repressed, with an explosive point breaking out from the repression.
There were only a few lines of dialogue, but he memorized them all immediately, relying on his memory.
Xiao Shulang put down the paper: "Teacher, I can begin now."
Teacher Wen: "Okay."
Xiao Shulang stepped back, stood five steps away, closed his eyes, and then slowly opened them.