novelraw Chapter 0117 The Caged Bird's Paintbrush
Chapter 0117 The Caged Bird's Paintbrush
half a month.
This period of "house arrest" has lasted for a full half month.
Everything in the apartment is top-notch.
Imported fruits, air-freighted seafood, and a room full of priceless art supplies.
Jiang Ci never shortchanged her materially.
You could even say that he was piling the best things in the world in front of her in an almost pathological way.
Besides freedom.
Wen Ning stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
My forehead was pressed against the cold glass.
Looking out the window at the azure sky and the occasional flock of pigeons flying by.
She felt like she was suffocating.
This suffocation is not physical, but psychological.
Every day, all I face are four walls and a man who is unpredictable and could go crazy at any moment.
She felt herself withering away little by little.
"Why aren't you drawing?"
Footsteps sounded behind me.
Jiang Ci walked over.
He held a glass of warm lemonade and handed it to her.
His gaze swept over the brand-new, untouched easel beside him, and his brows furrowed slightly.
"Don't you like this brand of paint?"
He asked, his tone carrying a hint of cautious flattery.
"I'll have someone go and change it. Or would you like to change the easel? A mahogany one?"
"It's not a problem with the paint."
Wen Ning did not collect water.
She turned around, leaned against the glass, and looked at Jiang Ci.
"Jiang Ci."
She spoke, her voice soft, yet tinged with a hint of pleading.
"I want to go to the balcony."
Jiang Ci paused for a moment.
His eyes instantly turned wary.
balcony.
That was the only open-air area of the apartment building that connected to the outside world.
Although it's on the 28th floor, and although it has an invisible safety net installed.
But he was still worried.
He was afraid she would scream for help outside, afraid she would try to climb over, even afraid she would... jump.
"Draw it inside the house."
He coldly refused and placed the water glass on the table.
"The floor-to-ceiling windows provide excellent natural light, just as good as outside."
"no the same."
Wen Ning shook his head.
"Light is refracted through glass, so the colors are inaccurate."
I want to get some fresh air.
"It's so stuffy in here... it's giving me a headache."
She clutched her chest, her brows furrowed slightly.
That pale and weak appearance wasn't an act.
She was really about to burst.
Jiang Ci looked at her.
Looking at her pale face, which still looked bloodless even after half a month of rest.
Looking at the glimmer of longing in her eyes.
The line of defense in my heart wavered for a moment.
Please.
Wen Ning reached out and gently tugged at his sleeve.
This was the first time in the past two weeks that she had taken the initiative to show weakness.
"I just want to draw."
"I've finished drawing it... and I'm giving it to you."
Give it to him.
These three words pleased Jiang Ci.
It's also like a kind of promise.
He lowered his eyes and looked at the finger she was using to tug at his sleeve.
Delicate white, fragile.
"For me?"
He countered with a question, his voice slightly hoarse.
"Um."
Wen Ning nodded.
"I'll draw whatever you want."
Jiang Ci remained silent for a few seconds.
He is assessing the risks.
Finally, he sighed.
"Can."
He relented.
"but--"
He took a step closer, trapping her in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
"I must be there."
"Never leaving your side."
……
balcony.
On a late autumn afternoon, the sunlight carried a hint of warmth, but was also mixed with a cool breeze.
Wen Ning set up his easel.
I took a deep breath of the air, which was unfiltered by an air purifier and carried the scent of dust and freedom.
I feel like my lungs have finally opened up.
Jiang Ci moved a rattan chair and sat two meters behind her.
He was holding a book, but he wasn't reading it at all.
His gaze remained fixed on Wen Ning's back.
She was wearing a thick white sweater, and her long hair was a little messy from the wind.
On his ankle, the metal ring gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
That was his mark.
"What should I draw?"
Jiang Ci asked.
Wen Ning mixed the paint.
Looking at that lone bird circling in the distant sky.
Draw a bird.
she says.
The brushstrokes fall.
Vast expanses of orange-red spread across the canvas—a magnificent and splendid sunset.
And in that light and shadow that was about to sink.
A white bird is spreading its wings and flying towards the sun.
Wen Ning was very focused on his painting.
The way she was immersed in the world of art made her glow.
No longer the timid assistant, nor the desperate prisoner.
She is free.
At least in the realm of painting, she is free.
Jiang Ci looked at the painting.
He looked at her again.
That bird was drawn so well.
With fluffy feathers and a graceful posture, every line is full of vitality.
It seemed as if it would break through the canvas and fly into the vast sky at any moment.
Fly away from this narrow balcony.
It flew away...from his side.
Jiang Ci's fingers unconsciously tightened their grip on the book pages.
The paper was crumpled.
He was jealous of the bird.
I was also afraid of that bird.
Because it represents what Wen Ning desires most deep in his heart—to leave.
"It's finished."
An hour later.
Wen Ning put down her pen and turned around.
A long-lost, genuine smile graced his face.
"This is for you."
She pointed to the painting.
Jiang Ci stood up.
I walked up to the easel.
He stared at the bird for a long time.
The emotions swirling in his eyes were obscure and unreadable.
"It's beautiful."
He commented.
His voice was somewhat low.
"but……"
He reached out, but his fingertips didn't touch the bird's wing; instead, they hovered in mid-air, as if he dared not touch it.
"It seems it can't fly far."
Jiang Ci's voice carried a hint of vulnerability that was barely perceptible.
"Because the sun is about to set."
"When it gets dark, it will get lost, it will get cold, and it will get hurt."
He turned his head and looked at Wen Ning.
He did not utter the cruel phrase "broken wings".
Instead, he reached out and gently grasped her slightly cold fingers.
"Wen Ning".
His eyes were deep, like a pool of water that could suck you in.
"Don't be that bird."
"Be my...canary, okay?"
I will build you the best nest.
"I won't let you get wet in the rain, and I won't let you go hungry."
"As long as you... don't fly away."
Wen Ning's smile froze.
She understood his implication.
I also understood the humble plea beneath his proud exterior.
He wasn't threatening her.
He was begging her.
"The wind is picking up."
Jiang Ci did not wait for her reply.
He took off his coat and draped it over her, wrapping her up tightly.
"Let's go back inside."
"Don't catch a cold."
He did not hug her.
Instead, he took her hand and led her step by step back to that warm, exquisite cage.
The painting, which symbolized freedom, was left on the balcony.
He will frame it.
It hangs on the wall.
It wasn't to show off the spoils.
Rather, it's to constantly remind myself—
We need to be even nicer to her, much nicer.
So good that... she couldn't bear to leave.