The two of them joked around and quickly finished their meal.

Su Qingran touched her slightly bloated stomach and regretted, “I think I have to be on camera this afternoon…”

She had promised her classmates to appear in their film project, which they would work on together later—these were common tasks in their film editing program.

“That’s what you get for being so greedy.” Jiang Chenlin cleaned up, wiped the table, and stood up. “Let’s head to school.”

Su Qingran nodded and stretched lazily.

She went to her studio to pack up. Although Jiang Chenlin had spoiled her into being a bit lazy, she was always meticulous when it came to work.

After sorting all her tools into their respective categories, Su Qingran grabbed a client order book to take with her, planning to work on some carving designs during a break in the afternoon.

When she saw Pei Jingyan’s name at the top of the list, she paused for a moment.

A sudden thought popped into her head—what was Pei Jingyan’s obsession?

At that moment, Jiang Chenlin returned from taking out the trash and casually slung Su Qingran’s backpack over his shoulder.

Su Qingran shook off her thoughts and followed Jiang Chenlin to the car.

She was now a senior, and most of her major-specific classes were over, with only practical courses remaining. That’s why she had opened her studio, “Dye & Carve,” during the summer break after her junior year.

After more than ten years of carving, she had already mastered the techniques and skills. What remained was practice.

Becoming a master carver was not something one could achieve in isolation. It required witnessing the richness of life in the bustling world and turning that experience into each stroke of the blade.

After running “Dye & Carve” for several months, Su Qingran gradually understood why her master had urged her to open the shop in such a busy area. She had come to appreciate the lively, everyday atmosphere.

Besides carving, she occasionally took on appraisal jobs for people, finding herself busy yet enjoying it.

When they arrived at the university, Jiang Chenlin headed to the Finance Department. He was half a year older than Su Qingran and also in his senior year, studying finance.

Su Qingran entered the classroom two minutes before class started, her roommate waving at her from the seat she had saved.

Su Qingran quickly sat down and pulled out her textbook.

The teacher arrived right on time and began lecturing on film analysis.

As Su Qingran listened, her mind wandered. She flipped through her client orders and started sketching a design.

The teacher finished discussing one film and moved on to the next. When Su Qingran glanced at the screen, she was suddenly drawn to a tree in the film.

The teacher began speaking, “This film is called Fir Tree. It’s about a forest ranger living in a fir forest…”

The film had a cool color tone, and it began with a dense, tall, and desolate fir forest, evoking a sense of cold and isolation.

For some reason, Su Qingran immediately thought of Pei Jingyan.

A flash of insight struck her mind—

Why must one seek enlightenment only under a bodhi tree? Who decided that?

In the eyes of an enlightened person, even a dead tree or a blooming flower can inspire realization.

She finally understood what her master had meant when he said carving is alive, depending on the soul, not the form.

So this is what he meant.

Su Qingran immediately grabbed a pen and began sketching—a man standing in a fir forest, gazing at the sky, as though yearning for a beam of light, yet still trapped in the oppressive forest.

Struggle doesn’t need to be conveyed through form; it’s in his every movement, in the flow of every line.

This was obsession.

Su Qingran completed the sketch in one go and felt that the drawing truly captured the essence of Pei Jingyan. This was the impression he had left on her.

She took out her phone, snapped a photo of the drawing, and also took a picture of her earlier enlightenment sketch, then sent them both to Pei Jingyan—

“Mr. Pei, I’ve made some revisions to the carving. This will be a 3D sculpture, but I can only show it as a 2D sketch for now. Do you think this new design is better?”

Several kilometers away, Pei Jingyan was in his office.

When he heard the notification sound on his phone, he was momentarily surprised.

It was the sound of a WeChat message. He had recently registered a new personal WeChat account, and he had forgotten to switch back to his work account. He didn’t expect to receive a message.

The sender could only be Su Qingran.

Pei Jingyan opened the message, and for a brief moment, the cold, emotionless look in his eyes flickered as he gazed at Su Qingran’s new drawing.

He stared at the sketch for quite a while, his pale fingers gently stroking the edge of his phone.

After a long press, he saved the drawing and replied with just three simple words: “Use the new one.”

Su Qingran had been waiting anxiously after sending her message.

For Pei Jingyan, it was just a drawing, but for her, it marked a breakthrough.

This new approach would open up her creative thinking, and her carvings would no longer rigidly follow traditional patterns.

She had already shattered that constraint.

Her palms were sweaty from nervousness, worried that this milestone piece might be rejected by the client.

When her phone finally buzzed, she opened it eagerly.

Pei Jingyan had only responded with three words. He didn’t praise her or ask why she chose this design, but he picked the new one!

Su Qingran couldn’t describe the joy she felt. She hugged her new sketch, feeling an overwhelming urge to kiss it.

In that moment, she wasn’t even as scared of Pei Jingyan anymore and replied with a cheerful “mm-hmm” emoji.

Pei Jingyan was still holding his phone, the screen lit up, showing a cute little bunny nodding while hugging a carrot.

He stared at it for a few seconds.

Just then, his secretary knocked on the door. “President Pei, President Gu from Gu Corp is here.”

Upon hearing this, Pei Jingyan paused for a few seconds before locking his phone and standing up. “Prepare for the meeting.”

Meanwhile, back in the classroom, Su Qingran was still basking in her earlier joy. Even though Pei Jingyan’s response had been brief and devoid of compliments, she felt great about herself.

Amid her excitement, her classmate Mi Xiaoyue nudged her. “Ranran, the teacher’s calling you!”

“Huh?” Su Qingran looked up, meeting the teacher’s gaze.

The teacher said, “Su Qingran, please share your thoughts on the editing of this scene.”

Su Qingran replied, “Um… it’s kind of like… obsession…”

Uh-oh, was this what they call a case of joy turning to embarrassment?