Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 260 - 256: Discuss According to the Individual

Chapter 260: Chapter 256: Discuss According to the Individual

Qin Guanglin didn’t exaggerate at all, every day as soon as he arrived at the office, various matters would pile up on his desk.

With more than forty people in the company, the business had grown countless times compared to before. Apart from those less important minor series, all major projects needed his oversight, big and small.

The office door stayed open from morning till night without ever being closed, anyone needing him could just symbolically knock twice and enter.

It was nothing like when there were only a dozen or so employees. That relaxed and pleasant atmosphere was gone. Although the welfare benefits hadn’t been reduced much, Chen Rui’s profit-sharing model made everyone work harder. You reap what you sow, and nobody wanted to slack off.

The ease of those early days with just a dozen people was mainly because there wasn’t as much work to do, but now the work never ended.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in."

Qin Guanglin didn’t even lift his head, finishing off the last bit of his painting before putting down his brush and looking up at Yu Le sitting across from him.

"Brother Lin, this series is wrapping up; this is the final issue." Yu Le slid the documents he was holding across to Qin Guanglin for review.

"Oh, just leave it here."

"Um..."

Yu Le neatly stacked and pushed the pile across, then shifted in his seat and scratched his head but didn’t leave.

"Is there something else?" Qin Guanglin asked.

"Yes, there’s something."

"Spit it out. What’s there to hesitate about?"

Yu Le glanced at him, then looked down and fidgeted with his pants seam, murmuring, "Well... I was thinking... I want to do the next painting myself, like Brother Zhao."

Currently, he was still half an assistant, helping two of the company’s painters with their work, but he felt his skills were nearly there and wanted to try his hand at creating a piece on his own.

Depending on storyboarding artists wasn’t a long-term plan. His dream wasn’t just to be able to draw characters well; he had to get hands-on experience to learn faster.

"Really?" Qin Guanglin tilted his head, pondering, "You do have a bit of skill in painting now, but it’s not enough. The storyboard, character designs, all that messy stuff isn’t as easy as you think... Keep learning from them for a while longer."

Upon hearing this, Yu Le got anxious and said, "I can start with something simple, like Grey Mist!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I can handle it." Yu Le nodded.

"Although you’re just helping them now, those are the company’s flagship products. If you were to do it on your own..." Qin Guanglin tapped on the desk but did not finish his sentence.

"Grey Mist" was one of the company’s lower-end products, used to pad the catalogue and appeal to casual fans, mostly distributed for free to draw in popularity without much profit, which meant the painters wouldn’t earn much from it either.

Although Yu Le was only an assistant at present, he helped with the company’s primary projects. Although not core, the small share of the monthly profits was significant for Yu Le.

"It’s not about the money, I’m still learning." Yu Le clearly recognized his place.

If it wasn’t for Chen Rui intentionally cultivating him, he wouldn’t have been involved in the project he just reported to Qin Guanglin. Now, he was actively seeking to be in charge of those third-rate works used to boost popularity, aiming to compensate for his shortcomings and try to become an independent painter.

Hearing this, Qin Guanglin said no more. If Yu Le wanted to practice, let him. It just so happened that there were too few low-end works at the company.

He pondered for a moment, pulled out a thick stack of documents from the side, flipped through them, and extracted a well-bound booklet, "Take this one then. Work hard on it, and if there’s anything you don’t understand, ask Brother Zhao and the others more questions."

"Thanks, Brother Lin!"

Watching Yu Le leave the office with joy, Qin Guanglin sat in his chair and rubbed his face.

It seemed... he was once like Yu Le, where earning more or less money wasn’t the crux; the most important thing was to improve himself.

When had he started to change?

He tilted his head, unable to figure it out, and glanced at the drawing board next to him, picked up his pen, and continued with the unfinished work.

...

On the weekend.

He Fang had made plans to go shopping with a female reader she met at an autograph session, while Qin Guanglin accompanied Qin’s Mom strolling around the old street.

"You say you’re just browsing without buying, what’s the point?"

"This isn’t like buying cabbages, hauling home everything you see... With that impatient look of yours, you’d get ripped off for sure."

"I’m not into that sort of thing." Qin Guanglin crouched down to examine a cracked bowl at a nearby stall and said to Qin’s Mom, "No matter what dynasty it’s from or who’s used it, it’s still a bowl, and a bowl is for eating. If you bring it home, it’s useless."

The stall owner sat on a small stool, squinting and chiming in, "You can’t say that, some people love this stuff."

"How much for this bowl?" Qin Guanglin casually asked.

"Twenty thousand, and it’s yours."

"...Forget it, I think even two hundred is a stretch."

"If you like it, pay up; if not, don’t waste time here. I’m not selling to you." The stall owner waved his hand impatiently, shooing away a potential buyer.

"How about two hundred then, will you sell it?"

"Are you joking?... If you really want it, take it for eight hundred."

"Psh, eight hundred..." Qin Guanglin eyed the crack in the bowl and pressed down on it. "I think..."

Crack.

The worn edge of the large bowl broke off as he pressed down on it.

Qin Guanglin froze, the stall owner squinted and chuckled, "No need to say anything else, just pay up."

"..."

After some haggling, Qin Guanglin grudgingly parted with five hundred bucks, tossed the bowl to Qin’s Mom, and resolved not to mess with this junk ever again.

"Everyone else is super careful, handling it gently, and you just had to press and press until—what if it was really worth twenty thousand? You’re an adult already..."

"I didn’t even push hard, just touched it, it’s definitely a trick—they better not drag me here again, it just annoys me." Qin Guanglin pouted in distaste.

If it were truly twenty thousand, he wouldn’t have dared to pick it up. Hearing it was reduced to eight hundred, he casually lifted it to take a closer look.

Damn good at scamming people.

Still, spending five hundred quid killed Qin’s Mom’s inclination to forcibly drag him to the old street in the future, not a total loss with this move.

"See if this was used by Cixi and her cohort; if it was, might be able to patch it up and sell it off."

"Bullshit, it’s just a broken bowl."

Having lost interest in browsing around, the two headed back to where they had parked. Qin Guanglin drove Qin’s Mom home, followed her into the living room, and sat on the sofa with a guilty look at Qin’s Mom.

"You got something up your sleeve?" Qin’s Mom could tell from his demeanor that it probably wasn’t anything stellar.

"A little something."

"Spill it then, let’s hear what you’re up to."

"That is... Mom, come sit over here." Qin Guanglin coaxed Qin’s Mom onto the sofa, bustled over to pour her a cup of tea, then rubbed his hands together and said, "It’s just... I was thinking of borrowing some money from you at the end of the year. How much do you have right now? Just give me a ballpark figure so I have some idea."

He had told Qin’s Mom that by this year He Fang should be calling her "Mom," but there wasn’t even a hint of it yet; he figured he couldn’t delay any longer.

By next year, he absolutely had to nail down the whole marriage thing.

"What do you need the money for?"

"To buy a house, to see how much I can cobble together for a down payment by the end of the year, and then I’ll consider which place to get."

Qin’s Mom took a sip of water to moisten her throat, looking at him and asking, "First, tell me, how much have you saved?"

...

"If you dolled yourself up a bit you’d look pretty, surely many folks would chase you, so why dress like this?"

"I just don’t want to be chased, okay?"

"Why?" He Fang asked curiously. "If you don’t want to be chased, just turn them down—why doll up as if you’re a tomboy? Look, you’ve even got a tan."

Gu Xiaoqing casually strolled down the street with her hands clasped behind her back, swinging side to side, laughing, "Cba with refusing them all, this way is just fine. I don’t want to date, seems like such a hassle... Sister He, do you have a boyfriend yet?"

"Yeah, I do."

"That’s wonderful, he must love you a lot, huh?" Gu Xiaoqing commented and then shook her head, answering her own question: "I don’t even need to guess; someone who can write such sweet books must be so happy—else where would she get the material? I’m right, aren’t I?"

Sister He just smiled in silent agreement.

"If you think it’s nice, why not try dating?"

"I’m good just admiring others. I mean, at my young and beautiful flower-like age, I shouldn’t waste time on some stinky man."

Gu Xiaoqing held her head high, "Freedom— love is precious, but freedom is even more valuable. I don’t want someone tying me down, to go through heartbreak if things don’t work out, and if they do, then there’s marriage and kids. Just thinking about it scares me."

"So you enjoy reading my books?"

"Sure, I can indulge in single bliss while experience sweet love through the stories—as if I’ve had a romance myself. Perfect."

"Single and happy—you just haven’t met the right one yet." He Fang shook her head. "When you meet the one who belongs to you, you’ll understand that having someone by your side to share all the joy and happiness with is truly wonderful."

"To share all the worries and pain as well?" Gu Xiaoqing smiled back.

"No, pain is digested alone—only the happiness is shared."

"Is that what love is like? I think you’re conning me into dating."

"Depends on the person."

"So what kind of person am I?" asked Gu Xiaoqing.

"You seem like the sort that would reciprocate when treated well by someone. That’s why I say, if you meet the right person, you’ll definitely be happy." Sister He tilted her head slightly as she looked at her, "I’m not wrong, am I?"

"Uh... seems like it." Gu Xiaoqing nodded, then laughed, "But I’m an advocate for non-marriage, sigh... What a shame for my unmatched beauty that would make the moon hide and fishes sink—hahaha."

She struck a pose with a finger on her cheek, then went back to her playful hopping and skipping, "So Sister He, what other kinds are there?"

"There are plenty. Like when a boyfriend is nice to you, you just feel super cool about it and never think to treat him the same way—it’s just the reverse..."

Amid their laughs and chatter, they roamed the streets of Luo City, where the September sun wasn’t as scorching, clouds fluttered across the sky, floating wherever the breeze carried them.

Early autumn, slightly cool.