Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 103: Giving Is Not The Same As Taking, And Taking Is Not The Same As Stealing

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: Giving Is Not The Same As Taking, And Taking Is Not The Same As Stealing

Monday, cloudy.

As soon as he stepped out in the morning, Qin Guanglin saw the gloomy sky, looking like rain was on the way, so he went back home to grab an umbrella before rushing to the company.

By the time he arrived downstairs at the company building, raindrops had already started to fall, and he felt a hint of relief inside.

Thank goodness the weekend had been two days of good weather, a real favor from the heavens.

Riding up the elevator, there was Sun Wen, still gnawing on his jianbing with an egg, a sight visible four out of the five workdays. It was a mystery why he was so fond of them.

"Yo, who’s this?" Sun Wen’s eyes lifted to see the transformed Qin Guanglin, and he immediately sported an exaggerated expression.

Qin Guanglin smiled proudly and flicked at his non-existent fringe... which was really just a swipe at his forehead, "Handsome or what?"

"Goodness me, the sun must’ve risen from the west, seeing you like this for the first time." Sun Wen sized him up for a while and then took another big bite of his pancake, "Did you go matchmaking this weekend?"

"Just say if I’m handsome or not, don’t worry about what I was up to." Qin Guanglin sat down, reveling in his own delight as he boasted to Sun Wen, "If I’d had this ability back in my dorm days, would Yu Fei have been the number one handsome guy?"

"Alright, alright, getting a couple of praises and you’re already walking tall."

"Just be jealous, you country bumpkin." Qin Guanglin scoffed and glanced dismissively at Sun Wen’s shirt. Despite its garishness being quite eye-catching, it couldn’t compare to the one Teacher He had picked out for him.

"Brother Lin’s looking a bit different today," Yu Le remarked as soon as he walked in, boosting the mood further.

"Where, where, I just spruced up a bit."

Qin Guanglin wore a modest look, but his pleasure was unmistakable.

Finding Teacher He as a girlfriend was truly a stroke of luck, immediately upgrading his image—He had completely forgotten how reluctant he was when he went clothes shopping the day before yesterday.

Who doesn’t like to be complimented?

"Boss?"

Jiang Lingling walked in from outside, paused when she saw Qin Guanglin, "So, you do have other clothes. I thought your wardrobe was full of checkered shirts."

"Right?" Qin Guanglin chuckled and picked up a pen to start preparing for the day’s work.

Bantering with men, he could brag all he wanted, but with women, he found himself short on words.

Hmm... how did that saying go? If only he could use his flirting skills with the bros on girls, he would have been single eight hundred years sooner.

Jiang Lingling took her seat, turned her head to look at Qin Guanglin, her eyes shining, "Boss, didn’t expect you’d look like this when dressed up."

"Like what?"

"It’s like night and day compared to before."

It’s all about the contrast. Even if Qin Guanglin’s dressed up appearance wouldn’t amaze people, it was the stark difference from his usual image that gave Jiang Lingling such an impression, making her feel that he looked exceptionally different now.

Indeed, it’s more pleasant to work with a handsome colleague, although ability is what really matters, being easy on the eyes is certainly a bonus.

"A bit exaggerated, aren’t we?" Qin Guanglin felt his collection of checkered shirts was somewhat wronged—though indeed a tad traditional, the difference shouldn’t be that vast.

"No exaggeration, not one bit." Jiang Lingling nodded seriously, then suddenly lifted her chin, "Hey, Boss, do you have a girlfriend?"

"I do."

Qin Guanglin tugged at his clothes, proudly stating, "She helped me pick these out."

"Tsk, what a pity." Jiang Lingling sighed with feigned regret.

"Pity what?"

"A pity that the handsome boss is taken."

"..." Qin Guanglin glanced at her, "Don’t joke around."

"Is it a recent thing?" Jiang Lingling’s curious look was just like Aunt Li from down the street.

"It’s been a while."

"Why are you only helping to get dressed up now?"

"Uh..."

"Long-distance relationship?"

"Focus on your work." Qin Guanglin couldn’t be bothered with her, "Is the third issue finished? You’re just nosing around."

"Hehehe." Jiang Lingling started eating her breakfast, "It’s not work time yet."

The big shot didn’t really like to joke around. Despite being only a few years older than her, he always acted so matured, and even changing out of that old-fashioned plaid shirt didn’t make a difference.

Qin Guanglin didn’t pursue the conversation and seriously considered what he should do today—this damn studio was really just starting out and there wasn’t much to be done.

The company didn’t have much business, apart from using four or six-panel comics to build popularity, there were just those two main long-form stories. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be preparing to turn a comic that had a little heat for one issue into a series.

And his current work was quite awkward. If he finished his tasks too quickly, he’d only end up slacking off in the afternoon, and doing nothing did not look good.

If he drew slowly... The lines were so simple that even if he wanted to, he couldn’t slow down.

He casually worked on his tasks and by eleven o’clock, he had already finished half. Qin Guanglin stretched and went over to Sun Wen’s area, hoping to observe his work.

"Have you finished your work?" Sun Wen looked up at him.

"Almost." Qin Guanglin was a bit surprised as he looked at Sun Wen’s drawing board, "Did the boss draw this?"

Both the lines and the shadows showed the artist’s ability; it wasn’t something that could be done with just a few casual strokes.

The more he looked, the more amazed he became. The few frames contained few characters but showcased unusual tension and focus—drawing human actions required a deep understanding of the human body to achieve that natural feel.

This boss had some real skills.

Sun Wen clicked his tongue, "Of course. Who else would it be, me?"

"You couldn’t capture this feeling." Qin Guanglin laughed as he patted him on the shoulder, "I’m not much better myself. I need to study hard."

He could make single drawings much more detailed than these, but drawing several or dozens of consecutive frames was difficult. That required drafting first, sketching out the rough characters and setting, then having an editor make changes before finalizing it, then detailing, inking, shading, and so on—pretty complicated stuff.

The studio might be small, but they produced quality work... Qin Guanglin hadn’t felt so strongly about the company’s comics before, but seeing the original drafts now, he thought quite highly of Chen Rui.

Speaking of which, Sun Wen’s coloring was kind of dragging down the original drafts. The quality difference was significant, and once the final product was released, it didn’t have the same vibrancy as the half-finished lines.

"Just coloring is a lot of pressure for me." Sun Wen was clearly aware of the issue and sighed, "I can’t keep up. It would be better if you did the drawing and I did the coloring."

"How about I give it a try?" Qin Guanglin was a bit itchy to try; those mediocre drawings were annoying him, and coloring seemed more challenging.

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Sun Wen hesitated, "We could ruin the whole thing."

"If it’s ruined, I’ll just draw it again. It’s only one page. I could handle it in an afternoon just by copying it." Qin Guanglin was full of confidence. He might not be able to come up with the drawing himself, but copying was easy.

"Alright, give it a try. Just be careful." Sun Wen moved aside and handed him the brush, using his hands to explain, "The light source is here, coming from this direction..."

"I got it."

"Brother Lin is pretty impressive." Yu Le came over to watch for a while—the boss really was a boss.

"Learn as much as you can." Sun Wen gave him a knowing look, "Ask questions whenever you don’t understand something; let Brother Lin teach you."

"Sure." Yu Le nodded and looked towards another area, "Lingling must be learning fast."

"Of course, she’s almost managing her own projects."

"That’s impressive." Yu Le was a bit envious.

But only a bit. His goal was to learn the craft. That project was just to add some color to a resume and had nothing to do with real ability. If it were up to him, he might have second thoughts.

Taking someone else’s achievements didn’t sit well with him.

It was one thing for others to offer, but him accepting it was a different matter... Better wait until he had the ability himself and then create something on his own.

Yu Le had dreams of his own.