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"What's the matter? Why can't I open it?" He asked while trying to tear the paper from under her scrabbling fingers.

"That... I'll get you something else, I promise. Something better!"

Li Qian's strength won out, and he finally pulled the paper away. He lifted the painting to observe every tiny, minute detail she'd added. "This is you?"

He glanced over at her, and she lowered her chin in shame. "It's not me," she whispered stubbornly. "It's just a girl I added on a whim."

"Aah," he nodded. "So, it's the plum tree in Hunan Village - your own village, I may add - and the slim girl with long, black hair wearing a lavender dress is just some girl?"

Jiao Jiao blinked her eyes rapidly, eyelashes fluttering against her reddening cheeks. "I'm sorry, Li Qian. I didn't mean to paint myself into the picture. I just couldn't help myself. But I know it's inappropriate, so let me paint you another one, okay?"

Li Qian pulled the painting away as she reached for it. "Why would it be inappropriate?"

"I didn't know that you were engaged when I painted it. I don't want you or Ling Xue to mistake me."

A deep silence fell as her words sunk in.

"What the fuck?!? Who told you that?" he roared.

Her eyes welled up with tears, and she burst out crying. Li Qian watched in horror as she dissolved into heaving sobs, and a mixture of helplessness and heartache washed over him. Tears coursed down her cheeks, and her complexion, usually so radiant, bore an uneven flush as she stood before him. Her fluffy little bun wavered back and forth with the force of her emotions, and she grappled helplessly along the hem of her skirt as though searching for something solid to hold on to.

Li Qian placed the painting carefully on the table. Everything had become so clear with her outburst. He moved carefully to stand in front of the sobbing girl and held her wet cheeks in his hands.

She refused to meet his eyes, but her shuddering breaths and trembling limbs settled gradually at his touch. He continued to hold her face even though he could feel her resisting.

"Look at me. Jiao Jiao? Please, look at me for a moment."

Her reddened eyes gazed up at him, and their sadness overwhelmed his senses. "I'm sorry I yelled; that must have been scary for you. But I need you to hear me well. Are you listening?"

She gave the briefest of nods, and Li Qian continued. "I have never been in a relationship with any woman. Not Ling Xue, not anyone. Ever. Do you understand?"

Jiao Jiao's eyelashes flickered rapidly, and her eyes shifted momentarily before she looked back at him.

"I have never been in a relationship with anyone. I don't know who told you I was engaged, but it's absolutely not true. Okay?"

"Okay." Jiao Jiao couldn't even make a sound, so she just mouthed her response to him and pulled her head back, wriggling out of his grip. She self-consciously raised her hand to rub her wet cheeks and sniffled briefly before taking the tissue that Li Qian handed her.

"Will you sit, please?"

He sighed and tried to usher her to the couch, but she shook her head and hiccupped, "Where's the restroom? I need to wash my face."

After she returned, she sat on the couch opposite where Li Qian had settled. He gave her a wry glance and got up to sit beside her. As she started to move, he said, "I can chase you around all day, Jiao Jiao. Just sit."