Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 228 - 224: This is My Boyfriend

Chapter 228: Chapter 224: This is My Boyfriend

Chen Rui’s promise of being busy for two months was credible. On one hand, they had hired two new people, and on the other, Qin Guanglin’s skills were becoming increasingly adept, which greatly improved work efficiency.

However, Qin Guanglin’s initiative to take on more work meant that the number of comics he was responsible for had increased from three to four. This continued until just before New Year’s Day, and he was still so busy that he never left work before eight in the evening.

p.m.

Inside the cozy bedroom.

He Fang, dressed in her fluffy pajamas, sat on Qin Guanglin’s lap, nibbling on an apple with one hand and reading a booklet from the driving school with the other.

Qin Guanglin often got off work too late to go running or fulfill his dream of becoming a muscle man at the gym and was only able to do sit-ups on the bed.

"It’s Christmas Eve today, and in a few days, it’ll be New Year’s Day."

"Yeah... huh... tomorrow is Christmas, I’ll get off work early... huh... and we can go out to eat."

"Is that what I’m talking about?" He Fang took another bite of her apple and glanced at him sidelong.

"Then what... huh... are we cooking at home?"

"From New Year’s Day on, you can’t come home this late anymore. Either we eat dinner together or you resign. Have you forgotten what you initially said?"

"..."

Qin Guanglin stopped doing sit-ups for a moment, took a breath, and lay on the bed looking at the ceiling, thinking for a while before he spoke, "I think..."

"I don’t care what you think. Are you thinking of going back on your word?"

"I haven’t thought about going back on my word."

"Then what are you trying to say?"

"This work thing, it’s not something I can..." Qin Guanglin slowly chose his words, "How about I take a break after I’ve finished with the busy period and spend some quality time with you?"

Now the new people in the company were able to take on their own tasks. It would have been easy for him to offload part of his workload, but he had taken on most of the work himself.

Though it was exhausting, the feeling of making a lot of money was too addictive, and he didn’t want to slack off.

"You said you weren’t thinking of going back on your word?!" He Fang frowned, "I’ve been alone at home for three months, and you’ve rarely come home early in all that time, either at nine or at ten... and there were several times you stayed up until past midnight. I don’t care, we had an agreement, and if you go back on it, I’ll... I’ll..."

"You’ll what?" Qin Guanglin probed.

He Fang didn’t speak again, just sitting at the end of the bed, silently staring at him.

"..."

Feeling uncomfortable under her gaze, Qin Guanglin closed his eyes for a while, then opened them to sneak a peek at her. He Fang was still silently watching him in the same manner.

"Earning money... Sure it’s hard and tiring... Hey, where are you going?"

Thump.

He Fang pulled out a bank card from her bag and tossed it, but lacking force, it hit the edge of the bed and fell down.

"This is what I saved from working part-time in college, the unspent living allowance from my family, scholarship money, the fee from publishing my first book, and the past few months’ salary."

"... What do you mean?"

"All for you."

"What are you doing!" Qin Guanglin jumped out of bed and, without putting on shoes, ran down and hugged He Fang tightly, "What’s mine and yours... weren’t we just talking? Why did you suddenly get angry? Let’s talk this out calmly, it’s just work... "

Seeing that He Fang made no move, he bent down, scooped up He Fang by the legs, carried her to the bed and set her down gently, then bent forward to pick up the bank card and helped stuff it back into her purse, "Okay, okay, I promise, I’ll hand over some work these next few days, and I won’t let you wait alone at home until late... I swear, okay?"

"..."

"Come on, don’t be mad, look at you... I was planning to free up these next few days anyway..." Qin Guanglin crawled over and nuzzled her ear, then changed the subject, "Where do you want to eat tomorrow? I’ll make a reservation... It’s so cold, how about we go for lamb spine hot pot?"

"Carry me to the bathroom, I need to pee."

"... Okay."

...

The night was hazy.

Equally past ten in the evening, the winter stars were far fewer than in summer, leaving the sky looking cold and empty.

Sun Wen stood by the window, finishing a cigarette, before turning back to look at the various devices in the living room. He exhaled deeply, then sat back at the computer to review the studio’s data from the past three months.

Despite having seen it dozens of times, every time he opened that page, he couldn’t help but show excitement on his face.

Success!

It wasn’t skyrocketing success, but it had finally stabilized.

Next, they just needed to mass-produce those comics following an assembly line process, riding the waves of trending topics, continually harvesting crops of readers.

Jiang Lingling had mastered the skill of clickbait titles to perfection. With a change of skin and a new name, it was another new work.

Traffic is always aimed at newbies, the biggest proportion on the internet belongs to those who don’t understand anything. As long as you pique their interest and curiosity, you’ve got yourself a massive market.

Compared with pleasing those picky comic enthusiasts, who painstakingly polish quality works, duping newbies is much simpler—the more foolish the leeks, the easier they are to harvest. Why bother doing something difficult and ungrateful?

Stupid!

Ordinary!

Sun Wen sneered dismissively. Free is the ultimate mainstream, traffic is king. The approach of people like Chen Rui is bound to fail.

Buying a car...

He leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh, the goal he had been obsessing over for nearly two years was now almost within reach.

Thinking this, he fished out his phone to check it, and pressed a few times to dial Yueyue’s number.

No connection.

Sun Wen pondered for a moment, then redialed.

She shouldn’t be working overtime at this hour.

"Hello?"

"Why didn’t you pick up just now?" Sun Wen, hearing Yueyue’s voice, couldn’t help but smile, "I’ve been really busy today. I’ll get off work early tomorrow on Christmas to see you. Where do you want to eat?"

"I’m not sure if I’ll have to work overtime tomorrow; I’ll call you."

"Overtime on Christmas?" Sun Wen frowned, pondered for a moment, glanced at the computer in front of him, and tapped his forehead with his finger, saying, "This job of yours... how about finding time to quit, and look for another? I am now..."

"Let’s talk about it later." Xu Yue cut him off, "I’m out shopping with my friends; I have to go."

"Oh."

Sun Wen felt a bit dejected hearing the beep from the phone, stretched lazily as he got up, sending her a message while heading to the bedroom.

Work on Christmas Day, if you can’t get leave, then quit the job.

Crappy job, it’s better to work together in the studio as a couple...

At this thought, he suddenly felt amused and stood grinning stupidly in the corridor by himself.

The next day, Christmas had arrived.

By four o’clock in the afternoon, Sun Wen handed the spare keys over to Yu Le, patted him on the shoulder, "Lock up after work, I’ve got something to do."

"Okay, Brother Wen."

With a greeting, Sun Wen took his bag and went downstairs, took a car to Shengtian Square.

He had been busy until that previous night and hadn’t had time to shop for gifts. He planned to go to the square now to pick out winter shoes or clothing, and bring them to Xu Yue in the evening, whether or not she had to work overtime, the gift had to be delivered.

If he could convince her to quit and join the studio, with Xu Yue’s operational experience, she would definitely be a big help... and most importantly, she was one of us, trustworthy in any endeavor.

"Wrap this one up."

On Christmas Day itself, with every store promoting and displaying their goods, the square was bustling. Sun Wen hadn’t browsed long before he had picked out a gift and started reaching for his wallet.

Not shoes or clothing, but a scarf, a warm-colored plaid scarf made of goat cashmere he had immediately taken a fancy to.

The long scarf could also be used as a shawl; Xu Yue liked this kind the most, and it suited her as well.

"By the way, could you wrap it up nicely? It’s a gift."

"Sure."

The salesperson nodded, their hands moving without pause, boxing up the scarf and tying a beautiful bow on it.

In truth, it made no difference whether he said it or not. Men don’t usually buy scarves for themselves—ninety percent would simply pull their necks in to get through the winter, as wrapping up is too much of a hassle... unless the scarf was a gift from someone else, then they would wrap it around their necks and relish the warmth.

Sun Wen had no one to gift him, so there he was, his neck pulled in, holding the gift box in one hand, the other stuffed in his pocket, leisurely walking to the bus station at Shengtian Square.

However, coincidentally, at the entrance of the shopping mall, he ran into Xu Yue, who said she had to work overtime.

And she was arm-in-arm with a young man with a luxuriant head of hair.

"..."

"..."

As the crowd bustled past them, Sun Wen stood still, his gaze passing blankly over their faces, licking his lips, he asked, "Yueyue, who is this...?"

Seeing Xu Yue stop, the young man slightly furrowed his brow, turned his head, and asked, "And he is?"

After a brief silence.

"This is... my boyfriend."

Xu Yue said, her head bowed, leaning towards the man.