Bai Zisheng led the Spirit Farmers on their daily patrols with great enthusiasm, while Mo Hua quietly sat on the ridge, diligently painting the Cultivating Soil Formation.
Bai Zixi was also helping Mo Hua with the Formation Painting.
She crouched next to Mo Hua, her fair hand holding the brush, her posture elegant and her demeanor serene, the Formation Patterns she drew were graceful and beautiful.
Mo Hua stole several glances, greatly astonished, and couldn’t help but exclaim,
"Junior Sister, the Formation you paint is really beautiful!"
"Beautiful?"
A hint of doubt flashed in Bai Zixi’s beautiful eyes.
"Yes," Mo Hua nodded.
Bai Zixi glanced at the Formation she had painted, then at the one Mo Hua had done, and curiously said,
"Isn’t it almost the same?"
The Formations were the same, and the Patterns in them looked quite similar at first glance.
But Mo Hua shook his head, "It’s different."
His own Formation Painting, due to excessive familiarity, was orderly and done with a composed brushstroke.
However, his Junior Sister’s painting was delicate and elegant, and the ink was perfectly balanced between thick and thin.
Mo Hua took another covert glance at Bai Zixi and thought to himself, the saying goes, "the style is the man," could it also be that a Formation reflects the person?
If a person is beautiful, does that mean the Formation they paint is also beautiful?
Seeing Mo Hua’s eyes blinking and unaware of his thoughts, Bai Zixi asked,
"What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing..."
Bai Zixi felt that Mo Hua was keeping something from her; her gaze flickered, and she said nothing.
Then she stared at Mo Hua for a few moments before suddenly pointing at her own pale cheek.
Mo Hua was puzzled, not understanding her meaning.
Bai Zixi said, "There’s something dirty on your face."
"Dirty?" Mo Hua was slightly stunned, "Is it ink?"
He wiped his face a few times, looked at his palm, and said in confusion,
"It’s not dirty..."
"It’s dirty," Bai Zixi asserted.
"It’s okay, I’ll wash it later," Mo Hua said.
Bai Zixi shook her head, "I am your Senior Sister, let me help you clean it."
After saying this, she reached out her small hand and wiped Mo Hua’s cheek.
Her movements were a blend of pinching, wiping, and massaging...
Her fingers were icily cool and tenderly soft.
After rubbing Mo Hua’s right cheek, Bai Zixi started on the left cheek.
Mo Hua was bewildered, "Is the left cheek dirty too?"
"It’s dirty!" Bai Zixi nodded.
Mo Hua, helpless, let her continue rubbing his face.
After a while, Bai Zixi finished and nodded, "All clean now!"
Mo Hua was skeptical, "Really?"
Bai Zixi pursed her lips, her gaze calm, and said,
"I am your Senior Sister, I wouldn’t lie to you."
Mo Hua nodded, without any suspicion, and resumed painting the Formation seriously.
However, while he painted, he felt that his Junior Sister was occasionally glancing at him; although her expression was as usual, a hint of a smile sometimes peeked through her gaze.
Mo Hua thought he must have been mistaken.
His Junior Sister was usually calm, rarely showing her emotions.
Mo Hua was puzzled for a moment, but since he had to focus on painting the Formation, he quickly pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind.
It wasn’t until he returned home in the evening that Mo Hua sensed something was amiss.
Mr. Zhuang saw him and couldn’t help but laugh.
Bai Zisheng was even more exaggerated, holding his stomach and laughing non-stop, nearly tears of laughter streaming from his eyes.
"What’s wrong?" Mo Hua still didn’t understand.
Still laughing, Bai Zisheng managed to say in between chuckles,