Power Up, Artist Yang!

Then, the unexpected happened.

Something flashed before her eyes, the color of someone's hand. And in the next moment, Xie Yufeng uncurled the fingers of her right hand. The seal stamp that Yujia just saw slip through the railings was resting, safely, on Yufeng's palm. Yujia looked up at Yufeng, wide eyes, then down at the stamp in Yufeng's palm.

"How—" she mouthed, jaw practically dropped at this point.

Yufeng nudged the hand a little closer, gesturing for Yujia to take the stamp. Yujia did, gripping the jade tightly in her hand. She expected to lose that stamp to the currents of the river and never see it again. Yet here it was, in her hand, the bottom still reading her name and the color still that familiar light green. It was the stamp that slipped through the railings, sure enough.

"Your reflexes are on point!" Yujia had to clasp her hands and bow to Yufeng. That was far too impressive, for Yufeng to notice what was happening, set down the knife and pear she had, and stop the doomed fate of the seal stamp before it occurred.

Yufeng went back to peeling her pear, spinning the small knife in her hand. Only now did Yujia realize exactly how precise Yufeng's peeling was. She peeled the fruit with a perfect loop, but not only was the skin curling in one, intact line, her cutting was so precise that not a single bit of the pear flesh was taken off with the skin. She worked fast too, not even sparing a glance to look at what she was doing. That was the impressive part to Yujia.

Yujia thought back to everything she had seen Yufeng do before. From combat, to tying people, to picking locks, up to all sorts of odd talents that you wouldn't find on the average person, Xie Yufeng was definitely not a simple person, a fact that Yujia had realized a long time ago. The more she learned about what other odd skills Yufeng had, the more intrigued she was with Yufeng's past.

If this was a romance story and Yujia was the male lead, she might as well utter the cliche line, "What an interesting girl." 

Yujia snickered a little on the inside at her thoughts. She quickly brushed them aside, thanking Yufeng profusely. "If it wasn't for you, I really would've lost something precious to me."

Yufeng set the knife down, biting into her first bite of pear. She arched a brow. "Would you have jumped into the water for it?"

Thinking for a moment, Yujia then pursed her lips. "I would say yes, but then again, I don't know how to swim."

"Well then, I'm glad that I catched it. It's easier to save a fallen stamp than a drowning person," Yufeng remarked.

"You know how to swim too?" 

After a brief thought, Yujia added on, "Remember how I bugged you back then to help me get a workout routine? Can we add swimming to that list when we get back from the trip?" 

"I don't see a problem with that."

"Thank you so much," she thanked Yufeng again.

Yufeng grinned. "I get free food and free lodging. Teaching you a trick or two is the least I can do."

…

Other than the boat-lurch incident, nothing bad happened for the rest of the boat trip. Yujia moved to a safer location and secured her supplies so that nothing like what had happened would occur again. She finished her painting too, pleased with the result. Because of all the observations and sketches that Yujia had practiced before starting the painting, she could craft a very detailed landscape of the river's scenery. When she painted the figures of a few humans by the riverbanks, some boating, some fishing, some scrubbing at clothes, a bit of life was brought to the painting as well, improving the overall vibe of the work. Overall, it was definitely one of her favorite pieces that she had done for landscape.

The boat traveled on for a few days before they arrived at their next destination, a fairly large city. It was evening when that time had arrived, so the group all got off the boat and headed to find a hotel to stay for the night. On their way there, Yujia asked around if there was a pigeon-mail system here, which she found to exist. 

Thus, before going to sleep that night, she sat by candlelight and laid out a thin scroll of paper. 

On it, she dipped her brush into black ink and began to write slowly, in an attempt to make her handwriting decent.

'Dearest Little Xuxu,' she wrote, laughing before she continued, 'I mean, Zixu. We've finally arrived at a place where I have the time and opportunity to write you a letter. Wishing that the letter reaches you well. The trip has been good so far, though a bit tiring, I must admit. However… I almost lost one of the seal stamps you gave me. Long story short— long story when I get back and we have all the time in the world to talk— there was a slight boating accident, but I didn't actually lose it. It's safe and sound. So no worries about that.' 

Yujia realized that she was running out of space on that paper. Quickly adding on, 'Miss you lots,' she then signed her name, using the strokes and style that Zixu taught her how to write her name in. After that, she stamped below her name with the two seal stamps. 

Once she finished the letter, she waved her hand over the ink, hoping that it would dry soon. Except then, Yufeng, who was sharing the same room as her, called out, "Are you going to sleep soon?"

Yujia stood up, putting the paper down. She picked the candle holder up, smiling with a "yes", and decided that she should just retire for the night.

As she approached her own bed, blew out the candle, and slipped under the blankets to stare at the darkness above her, Yujia imagined telling Zixu about the dread and relief she felt with this entire stamp deal. She smiled a little at the thought of that. 

It had only been a little more than a week, but she truly did miss Zixu. There were so many words on her mind, and she couldn't wait to go back to tell him all of them, even if they were more mundane than the crazy stories he had after his trip.

Little did she know that her stories would be anything but mundane after what was to happen…