The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 140 - 138: Invitation from the Company to Submit a Manuscript

Chapter 140: Chapter 138: Invitation from the Company to Submit a Manuscript

After the agreement was made, Lu Jingqiu took the two of them to the cafeteria.

Today she was treating, ordering a dish of stir-fried pork, a dish of potato chicken chunks, and two vegetarian dishes.

Seeing such a feast, Zhang Miao and Ban Dalin felt somewhat embarrassed.

They had not expected the university cafeteria’s food to be this good and affordable.

After seeing off the two of them, it was almost one o’clock.

Luo Xinyue took out an Eight Taels of Silver grain coupon from her pocket and gave it to Lu Jingqiu, saying, "I can’t let you pay for today’s meal by yourself, here’s mine."

Lu Jingqiu quickly refused, "No need, it didn’t cost that many tickets."

"Take it, I have tickets," she insisted, with a look that said she’d be angry if Jingqiu didn’t accept.

Jingqiu didn’t stand on ceremony, saying, "Got to use my brain again for a week’s worth of expenses."

Luo Xinyue nodded, "When shall we go sketching together? I think sketching really brings a lot of inspiration."

"No time."

"That’s true. But your camera is nice; whenever you come across a good landscape or an interesting scene, you take pictures. One of these days, I want to buy a camera."

"You want a camera? Do you have the tickets?"

Luo Xinyue shook her head, "I’ll have to look hard for them."

"My cousin can get one, no tickets needed."

"Really?"

"The one I have was obtained by my cousin."

"Jingqiu, can you ask for me? I’ve got money."

"I’ll ask for you when I go back this week."

The two didn’t have time to return to the dormitory since they had a class at one-thirty in the afternoon.

The afternoon was over early, at five o’clock, and there was also evening self-study, from seven to nine.

For dinner, they ate with Xu Yu and Mi Qiaomai.

Everyone was pretty similar, generally having one mixed grain bun, one type of dish, and a bowl of porridge.

Back in the dormitory, Chen Qingru said, "We thought you wouldn’t be able to make it today."

Lu Jingqiu explained the situation and ended up being teased by He Yu, "It’s good to have someone, huh."

This caused Jingqiu’s face to turn a shade of red.

They had a longer rest in the afternoon, Jingqiu didn’t dive straight into work and leisurely took out some wool to start knitting a sweater.

Luo Xinyue saw this and quickly said, "Had I known, I would have brought my wool as well."

After resting for a while, Chen Qingru and He Yu laid down on the desk to practice calligraphy.

Compared to Jingqiu and Xinyue, their major was still quite lacking, requiring more study and practice.

When Luo Xinyue first started working, her brush control was poor, but after seeking instruction from a teacher, she improved dramatically. Her drawing style was chaotic yet cartoonish, with a bit of a simplistic sketch feel to it.

Chen Qingru could draw various flowers and figures, while He Yu was very good at drawing scenes; her sense of space was impressive.

In the dormitory, there was a desk next to the window, each taking one side.

He Yu didn’t forget to chat with them while drawing, saying, "We also went to the department store to look at clothes on Sunday and saw some wool too, but unfortunately, I don’t know how to knit. Qingru also bought some wool."

Chen Qingru said, "I thought I might as well make use of the time on Sunday since I didn’t have much to do, and my mom had left me a few kilograms of wool tickets. It’s such a coincidence that you guys are starting to knit sweaters too. He Yu, you should buy some next week and learn with us."

He Yu said, "Okay."

That week, the two of them had spent an afternoon at People’s Park, bought quite a few things at the department store, and even ate braised pork at a state-owned restaurant.

All four of them came from families that were doing well, so their levels of spending were similar.

Lu Jingqiu, however, rarely indulged in desserts or snacks and didn’t often go to restaurants.

In these times, because there was generally less to eat, everyone was quite thin, but Jingqiu was different; her family ate well, with steamed buns that sometimes included a bit of cornmeal mixed in.

She often ate white flour steamed buns, which for her was already quite nutritious, so she didn’t need to go out of her way to treat herself.

Luo Xinyue was thinking that, whether for homework or drawing, they would need a table.

There was only one table in their room, which wasn’t enough for four people. She looked at the space by the door where the broom and shoes were kept, which was maybe more than 80 cm wide, and suggested, "Can we tidy up the space by the door and put another table there?"

Lu Jingqiu shook her head and said, "Our walkway in the middle is quite wide, but if we put four tables, the passage would be quite narrow. Two tables would be possible, though. However, the ones from our school are too narrow and short. If you agree, I can have someone custom-make one that is 90 cm wide and 1.8 meters long. That way all four of us can use it."

Luo Xinyue thought Lu Jingqiu’s idea was good and turned to the other two and said, "He Yu, Qingru, what do you think?"

He Yu thought it was fine and had no objection: "That sounds good to me."

Chen Qingru felt that studying together with all four of them would create a better learning atmosphere and nodded, "I have no objection either."

Lu Jingqiu said, "I know a carpenter, and I’ll pay him a visit on Sunday."

He Yu said, "Jingqiu, having a table made must cost a couple of bucks, right? When the time comes, we should all chip in for it."

Lu Jingqiu replied straightforwardly, "Okay."

Chen Qingru asked with concern, "Will the dormitory supervisor agree to this?"

Luo Xinyue said, "It’s our own table, and when we graduate, we can leave it in the dorm for the juniors to use. It’s such a good deed, how could she disagree?"

He Yu said, "Leave it to me."

He Yu had her own way of dealing with the dormitory supervisor.

The group stayed in the dorm until after seven and then went to the library together.

Lu Jingqiu, with the paragraphs she had, began planning her approach.

Only then did He Yu and Chen Qingru find out that the other two had a task to do. Besides feeling envious, they felt lucky to be living with such outstanding classmates.

Chen Qingru didn’t know much about design and innovation and could only copy and describe, so Jingqiu could teach her some experience. Xinyue was not good with spatial awareness, but He Yu was strong in this area. Even though He Yu didn’t have much practical experience, they could teach each other.

During that week, especially during the self-study sessions in the library, their conversations revolved around academic matters.

Chen Qingru even tried drawing their dormitory; when unable to innovate, one must copy extensively. Drawing the scenery and objects around them, with practice, it would naturally become second nature.

He Yu also drew one, and Luo Xinyue had some inspiration and was starting to compose her drawing.

Lu Jingqiu had a rough idea and was making quick progress with her composition.

By Friday, instead of going straight home, Lu Jingqiu went to the carpenter’s house where she had previously commissioned the wardrobe for Xue Jianian.

She explained what kind of table she wanted and asked if he could deliver it to the school after making it.

The carpenter agreed, saying as long as the school permitted entry, he would make one table for five yuan and include four stools.

He could finish it in a week. Lu Jingqiu paid one yuan as a deposit and told the Carpenter Uncle that they would wait for him at the school entrance at five o’clock the following Friday.