Shuyu held her phone, looking at the message Si Yiheng had sent.
Her earlobes felt slightly hot.
The wind blew through the window into the room, making the curtains sway. The breeze carried away some of the heat from Shuyu's ears.
Iron Egg: [Ahhhhh!!! Baby Yu, Si Yiheng said he likes you!]
Shuyu lowered her eyes. The light fell on her cheeks, casting a small shadow from her long, slender eyelashes.
Shuyu's tone was serious. "He just doesn't dislike me. Not disliking me doesn't mean he likes me."
Iron Egg: [The opposite of dislike is like. If he doesn't dislike you, it means he likes you.]
Shuyu explained her perspective: "The opposite of dislike is either like or having no feelings at all."
Iron Egg really wanted to say, "He called you Baby Yu! He must like you a little bit."
But Iron Egg also knew Shuyu's personality.
Its host wasn't an idiot; she was just a sensitive kitten lacking love. A tiny bit of affection could make Shuyu feel very favorably toward someone.
However, it would take a whole lot of love to fill her up and make her truly decide to get close.
Only words like 'like' and 'love' would hold any real meaning for Shuyu.
Iron Egg: [Fine, then Si Yiheng just doesn't hate you.]
Shuyu: "Actually, it's already great that Si Yiheng doesn't hate me."
After all, she had milked a lot of money out of him.
"Though it might also just be that Si Yiheng has good manners."
Iron Egg: [That's not true, you're super lovable!]
Iron Egg: [I have another piece of good news to tell you. Do you want to hear it? Do you?]
Iron Egg's tone was excited. Shuyu: "I'm listening!"
Iron Egg: [Ahem, the system will now broadcast the task progress to the host. The host has already obtained 31,424,448 yuan. The task of getting one hundred million from the male lead is 31.42 percent complete!]
Iron Egg: [Baby Yu, you are really amazing.]
Hearing this task progress, Shuyu's eyes immediately lit up.
Thanks to Si Yiheng's generous gifts.
Because the task progress had surpassed thirty percent, Shuyu slept exceptionally well.
The next day, Shuyu woke up bright and early to start preparing for the comic adaptation. In reality, she had been working on this even while she was in the hospital.
While in the hospital, Shuyu had already finished setting the comic's style and designing the character concepts.
Her main task now was to adapt the storyboards.
Shuyu had been working the whole morning by the time Ye Ning woke up.
Ye Ning walked out of her room and saw Shuyu in her loungewear—strawberry pink pajamas.
For convenience while working, Shuyu had tied her hair into a bun. The bun was fluffy, with a few loose strands clinging to her fair, slender neck.
Shuyu seemed to have run into a small problem. She rested her face in her hands, lost in thought.
She looked cute and pretty.
Ye Ning thoroughly enjoyed the sight. Who else could understand the sheer value of waking up to such eye candy?
Ye Ning really wanted to show off to someone.
Golden Corn: Bro, do you understand the feeling of seeing my friend the moment I wake up?
Si Yiheng: ?
Golden Corn: She's so cute, resting her face in her hands, thinking adorably. I wonder what she's thinking about.
Si Yiheng: Hmm.
Shuyu was indeed very cute.
Si Yiheng: Stop looking at her.
Golden Corn: Just tell me, is she cute or not?
Si Yiheng: Yes.
Golden Corn: If she's cute, why won't you let me look?
Si Yiheng: Ye Ning.
Golden Corn: I'm already hugging my friend. I can hug and snuggle with her as soon as I wake up. While she works, she even reaches out to pet my head and snuggle back. Aww, wiggling around, rubbing against my friend.
Si Yiheng: ...If you're itchy, go take a shower.
Golden Corn: ...
Si Yiheng didn't know how Ye Ning was harassing Shuyu this time. He couldn't help but feel that letting Ye Ning live with Shuyu wasn't very fair to Shuyu.
Shuyu: "Ningning, come help me take a look at this chapter. Which storyboard should I choose?"
Ye Ning sat down and looked carefully. "The first one. The first one feels more impactful."
Shuyu: "Okay."
After choosing the storyboard, Ye Ning and Shuyu ordered takeout, ate together, and went back to work together.
For the most part, the two of them were quiet. The only sounds were the clacking of Ye Ning's keyboard and the scratching of Shuyu's stylus on her tablet.
*
Meanwhile, at the comic company Shuyu had signed a contract with.
"She's way too young, isn't she? She's only nineteen."
"And she's an artist who hasn't been in the industry for very long. Even if her drawing skills are up to par, can her story adaptation skills pass the test?"
"There's a lot invested in this project. Whoever gets it will have to work with her. I have no idea what the editor-in-chief is thinking."
"Honestly, it would be much more reliable to use the team we've worked with before."
The comic editors sat together, discussing Shuyu in low voices, their words laced with distrust toward her.
A male editor wearing black-rimmed glasses was listening to their discussion. The nameplate on his desk bore his name.
Lin Yang.
Hearing all this made Lin Yang very unhappy. He knew that this project would most likely fall into his lap, and he would become the managing editor for this inexperienced little artist.
He had absolutely no desire to work with such a rookie artist.
More importantly, he had a team he was used to working with, and he had originally been trying to win this opportunity for them.
That team was still asking him if they could still fight for it.
Thinking of Shuyu, Lin Yang still felt somewhat disdainful, so he replied: I'll try.
Soon, acting as an industry insider, he posted on the "Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!" Super Topic forum.
— I don't know what Golden Corn is thinking, actually letting a small-time artist draw her work. You should know this artist is only nineteen. The artist is a college student, and we all know the value of a student from some unknown, bottom-tier university, right? Who knows what backdoor connections she used. Just sitting here waiting for the comic to flop.
After posting this, Lin Yang pushed up his glasses. He refused to believe that the editor-in-chief would still choose an obscure little artist under this kind of pressure.
The public opinion quickly fermented, and book fans swarmed Ye Ning and Shuyu's Weibo accounts.
They cursed Shuyu for using backdoor connections, telling her that if she didn't have the skills, she shouldn't have taken on the job.
The extreme ones even threw all sorts of curses at her.
After a busy day, Shuyu and Ye Ning opened Weibo to do some promotion, only to both find that the sky had fallen.
Shuyu rested her face in her hands. "They're calling me a stupid college student and telling me to get lost."
Ye Ning: "Holy crap, they're actually trying to dox you to see which university you go to."
Ye Ning: "Which idiot leaked your age?"
Shuyu was also a bit angry. No one wanted to be doxxed, and Shuyu didn't want her personal information flying everywhere. To her, this would be social death.
Ye Ning: "It must have been leaked by someone at the comic company. How shameless. Didn't they agree to protect your privacy? The comic hasn't even started serializing yet, and your information is already everywhere. How could they do this?"
Because she was angry, Shuyu's cheeks were a little red. "I... I'll contact the comic company. Ningning, I..."
Shuyu wanted to say that if they couldn't negotiate this matter, she probably wouldn't work with them anymore.
But because she had already agreed with Ye Ning to draw her work, Shuyu didn't know how to bring it up.
Ye Ning instantly understood what Shu Yu meant. "It's fine. If you're really that angry, just terminate your contract with them. The second you leave, I'll tear up my contract too. I won't sign with them."
"It's not like we can't afford the penalty fee. Don't force yourself to swallow this grievance."
"We can just do it ourselves. Worst comes to worst, I'll have my mom open a company for me directly, and I'll sign tons of books for you to illustrate."
"How dare they gossip about you using the back door? I'll show them what it really means to have powerful backing."
Shu Yu stared at Ye Ning with bright eyes. "Why are you so good to me?"
Ye Ning smiled. "Hehe, you're really good to me too."
Shu Yu felt a warm glow in her heart.
Ye Ning picked up her phone and waved it at Shu Yu. "I even asked my brother for help. He won't let anyone dig up your personal information."
Shu Yu, whose heart had just been filled with warmth, suddenly felt it turn ice-cold.
Did she tell Si Yiheng that she was getting scolded and despised for her poor skills at drawing smut? She was so doomed.
