"But..." Bai Xue's eyes dulled.
"It's okay, you didn't interrupt my work. Besides, the deadline for the artwork isn't until the end of the month, so keep your mind at rest." Xiaodan patted her shoulders.
"Are you sure? Why do I feel like you're… lying to me." Bai Xue glared at him for a while to make sure he wasn't lying to make her feel relaxed.
"I'm very serious. I swear!" raising his three fingers in the air. He then patted her shoulders again while nodding.
"By the way, do you have any idea how the file disappeared from the drive?" Xiaodan asked with his arms folded.
"Mm..hmm, I've been dealing with it for years now. The culprit lives under the same roof with me." Bai Xue sighed.
"Don't tell me…." Xiaodan stared at her as his eyes widened.
"You're right. It's my bitter hearted cousin. Don't worry, I'll take care of it. I'm leaving now." Bai Xue hit his arm slightly as she takes some steps away from him before he caught her right hand.
"I'll take you home. Hop on." Xiaodan said while handing the helmet to her.
"What? Are you that jobless?" Bai Xue asked him while folding her arms with her head tilted to the side.
"No, I just want to…."
"Hey, I'm leaving. I will take the taxi back, so you don't have to worry." She cut off his words leaving him standing as she made her way down the road leading to the school's main gate.
With that it would take Bai Xue few minutes to get to the school gate.
Xiaodan stared at her back for a moment before turning quickly as he put on his helmet after climbing into the motorbike. He started it at once and rode towards the other direction of the road in moderate speed. Since he was inside the university premises, it wouldn't make sense for him to ride in high speed because many students often walk the road before going to their various class location.
Immediately he got out to the road, he heads straight to his atelier in full speed. His phone has been ringing since the time he started a conversation with Bai Xue. He kept it on silent because he knew if Bai Xue heard he has an appointment with someone; she wouldn't stop blaming herself just like how she acted earlier.
He also lied the other time he told her he didn't have any important thing to do. Now he has to pay for it.
His phone continued to ring in his pocket. Since he wouldn't be able to pick it up because of his helmet and the heavy wind due to the speed of the motorbike, he decided to speed up so he can get there faster.
Few minutes later, he got to the front of his atelier. It's a small building in between other apartments and houses along the road. The entrance is similar to that of a restaurant since it's a rented space.
Immediately he parked at the front of his studio, he met four people standing. One of them stood in front of the glass door peering through to see if anyone was in.
"Hello everyone, I'm so sorry to delay the meeting. I had an emergency that needs to be settled quickly."
"I'm so sorry." Xiaodan addressed them as he bowed to apologize multiple times. He moved towards them closer and bowed one more time.
His clients were already glaring at him from afar the moment he stopped the bike in front of his studio.
"Mr. Chen, is this how you nonchalantly treat your business?" A woman among them spoke up immediately. He apologized with her face scrunched up in anger.
"I'm so sorry to delay. Please pardon my lateness." He bowed again to show sincerity. As he did that the woman rolled her eyes at him.
"Can we please go ahead to checking the works now? I and my wife have been here for a while now." A man beside the woman quickly said as he glared. The other two people also scrunched their faces.
"Yes! Yes! please come in." Immediately he opened the door he quickly gestured for them to come in.
The space is filled with varied sizes of sculpted figures and objects, cozy and warm. It also includes different image paintings and his working tools of various categories and materials.
The space didn't reek much of paint fumes because he always kept the room well ventilated and clean.
"Wow! This is incredible. I knew you were talented since the time I saw your works on social media platforms. Surely, this is one of the best I've seen."
One of the men noted as his eyes lit up.
Immediately the man finished talking. The couples chuckled as they stared at one of the paintings on the wall. "Oh my gosh, I love the way the colors play off in the image. I've been following your works online, and I have to say, I'm blown away by your talents." The couples chuckled softly.
The clients exclaimed while nodding as their faces glistened with surprise. They no longer have the angry expressions on their faces.
"Please feel free to look around and choose what best fits your style, I'll attend to you after a short while." Xiaodan said while smiling as he bowed and left the room.
Xiaodan is into sculpture and paintings. To have more exposure on his works, he often posted pictures and videos on social media.
Even though he has small space for his art studio, he's known as one of the popular artists on social media. He also creates artwork according to clients' interests and description.
Xiaodan hurriedly entered the small space he created as his office. As if expecting something, he quickly put in the password to his computer.
Before clicking on any icon on the system, he stood up again shaking his legs and hands as if he were warming up. And then he sits back down as he widened his eyes and bit on his thump nail.
He then went on to select the Email icon. At this point when the application opened, he tapped his legs on the ground continuously.
He clicked on the first unread mails and while reading through his legs stopped shaking and a big smile appeared on his face.
"Bai Xue, I did it. I've been selected." With the big smile on his face, he quickly stood up and jumped continuously.
"Yes! I can't wait to share this news with you." He muttered to himself. The big smile remained on his face as he went back to attend to his clients.
While he was attending to them, he smiled at every word they uttered. And with that the clients were influenced and smiled along with him while chatting over the sculptures.
"Mr. Chen, I'd love to know more about your inspirations and ideas. It's so aesthetic. I must say, you have great insights of what art truly means." One of his clients said.
"Thank you, miss." Xiaodan smiled.
"It's so sad how some talented artists are so underrated, I hope we come here often, my love." The woman whined to her husband as she smiled slightly.