The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 142 - 140: Don’t Want to Be Too High-Profile

Chapter 142: Chapter 140: Don’t Want to Be Too High-Profile

In the evening, with nothing much to entertain herself, Jingqiu stayed up until after eleven and finished knitting Jiang Nanzhou’s sweater.

The next day, she started a new knitting project for her father and spent the entire morning coloring the sketch from yesterday.

In the afternoon, Shen Mu unexpectedly dropped by, catching Jingqiu off guard. Fortunately, Jianian had given her a few oranges the day before.

She also brewed a cup of Malted Milk for Shen Mu.

Shen Mu handed Jingqiu a package, saying, "This is something my mom asked me to bring for you. Knowing you like the pastries from Capital City, she included two boxes."

Looking at the large package, Jingqiu said, "Shen Mu, your aunt is being too generous. This is too much for me, I can’t accept it."

Shen Mu laughed, "You and my older brother are about to get married and become family. They can’t do much to help from there, so they can only prepare some small items for you. For the rest, you’ll have to take care of it yourselves. If you’re ever short on money and tickets, you must tell us. That’s all we can help with."

"We have money and vouchers, the quilt is also ready, and there’s still a few months left. We can slowly gather the rest. We have plenty of tickets here too, so please tell your uncle and aunt thanks for me. We’re doing quite well here," Jingqiu replied.

Shen Mu felt slightly embarrassed and said, "I don’t really understand these things. I just say whatever my mom tells me to say. I was supposed to come last Sunday, but it was raining, so I postponed it until today. How’s university for you?"

"Pretty good, my classmates are very nice to get along with."

"This year, our school also admitted quite a few new students, and the dorms suddenly became crowded. It seems like they’ll start building new ones next year. I’ve heard your art school has a lot of space."

"Yeah, there are three three-story buildings just for the girls, so the conditions are indeed good. There are two buildings for the boys and a row of tiled houses with large communal bunks. The better facilities are reserved for the girls. I guess with more students expected next year, there will probably be expansions."

They chatted about various funny happenings at their schools until it started getting late, and they both got up to leave.

Jingqiu wanted to invite him to stay for dinner, but Shen Mu declined. If his brother were here, he would have undoubtedly stayed.

When he left, Jingqiu stuffed two oranges and some beef jerky wrapped in greaseproof paper into his hands, which she had made a few days ago.

Shen Mu said he would come to visit his older brother after some time.

After he had left, Jingqiu opened the package. On top were two boxes of pastries, underneath which lay a cotton-padded jacket, a red wool coat, and a large piece of red cloth. Inside a smaller package were various tickets for wedding preparations, along with two hundred yuan.

Jingqiu looked at the money and vouchers with a burning sensation. Shen Mu must have known she would be reluctant to take it; that’s probably why he didn’t mention it on purpose. Well... she would talk to Jiang Nanzhou about it later.

For the remainder of the time, if she wasn’t feeding Hua Hua, she was knitting sweaters.

She also stayed up until after nine o’clock before going to sleep.

The next morning, she got up early, boiled two eggs, and stuffed them in her mouth as she went out.

She caught the first bus at six o’clock and transferred at half past six, only to discover that this bus was a new trolleybus.

It must have been part of the public transportation authority’s fleet renewal.

When she arrived at school, it was just a few minutes past seven.

Jingqiu had already washed her changing clothes at school, so there was no need to bring them home for washing, meaning she didn’t have to go back to the dormitory to drop them off.

But since it was still early, she had to spend half an hour in the dormitory first. She’d be more experienced next time.

There was no one in the dormitory; they must have gone for breakfast.

With nothing else to do, Jingqiu sat down and began knitting the sweater.

Around twenty minutes to eight, He Yu and Chen Qingru came back with boxes of food.

"Jingqiu, why did you come so early today?"

"I took the bus, didn’t catch the right timing. Where’s Xinyue?"

"She didn’t come yesterday, so she’ll probably come in the morning."

After a brief conversation and informing them that she and Luo Xinyue wouldn’t return to the dorm for lunch, they hurriedly went their separate ways to their respective classes.

By the time Jingqiu arrived, Luo Xinyue was already there.

"Jingqiu, have you just arrived?"

"I got here earlier, but I went to the dorm first."

"Let’s head to the club right after school at noon."

"Sure, which bus gets us there?"

"Take the number three from the school gate, I asked Shang Ze, it only takes over thirty minutes to get there."

Luo Xinyue said as she showed Lu Jingqiu the artwork from her bag, vibrant in color, simple in style, and accurate in content: "These are pretty good, Xinyue, your painting is getting better and better."

"I had some guidance from my teacher on Sunday, she taught me how to color, and it’s definitely better than how I used to do it."

Lu Jingqiu took out her own to show her, this time her character drawing was closer to the style of the eighties, with very distinctive features: "Jingqiu, your work is always impressive. Editor Ban has a good eye, they know our styles and strengths, and they assign us work that fits us." After befriending Lu Jingqiu, Luo Xinyue’s personality had softened, less full of thorns and less inclined to speak harshly to others.

Lu Jingqiu nodded in agreement, they were more exposed to and involved in understanding what the public and the kids liked.

Just as they were about to pack up, Mi Qiaomai suddenly came over and said, "This painting is yours, it’s really beautiful."

Without asking, she snatched the painting from Lu Jingqiu’s hands, loudly, drawing the attention of the onlookers around them. Not wanting to make a scene, and worried that pulling too hard might tear the painting, Lu Jingqiu let go.

Xu Yu and a few other male classmates came over to look for a while and praised her, "Classmate Lu, I didn’t expect your skills to be so solid; you paint so well."

Lu Jingqiu smiled and took the painting back, explaining, "I like to draw in my spare time." After getting the drawing back, she quickly put it in her bag.

Seeing how precious it was to her, Mi Qiaomai hurriedly said, "Classmate Lu, I remember Professor Shi asked for you and Xinyue last week. Didn’t he assign you some task?"

Getting the attention of a teacher and doing some work for them, or taking on some assignments, not only came with rewards but was also very helpful for future job placement.

Lu Jingqiu shook her head, "No."

Luo Xinyue, without much tact, blurted out, "It’s the Children’s Publishing House. They asked us to do a couple of paintings. Before we started school, we were staff members at the publishing house."

As soon as she said this, several classmates gathered around, asking what was going on.

Especially Xu Yu and Mi Qiaomai: "You aren’t still employees there, are you?"

When Luo Xinyue was about to say more, Lu Jingqiu quietly tugged at her and spoke up first, "No, we left because we had to start school. The publishing house has art editors who are really busy, so they asked us to help out. They know we are studying and don’t usually disturb us with too much work."

Xu Yu frowned and said, "Ah, just helping out then."

Lu Jingqiu smiled and nodded, saying no more.

Seeing her concern, Mi Qiaomai didn’t ask further.

Later, some male classmates wanted to ask more, but the arrival of the teacher put an end to their questions.

It wasn’t until noon that Lu Jingqiu, while walking out, said to Luo Xinyue, "In the future, let’s try not to talk about this in class."

"Why?" Luo Xinyue still didn’t quite understand the reason.

"Didn’t you see after you spoke, some classmates looked curious and jealous?"

"Ah, I didn’t think that much into it. If I’m outstanding and capable, that’s my own business, what does it have to do with them?"

"It’s not about them, but at this time, everyone is scrimping and saving to go to school. If you suddenly start getting work from the publishing house, even if you don’t say anything, others can guess that they aren’t letting us work for free, whether it’s food or money, and that’s very sought after. Remember, jealousy starts small but can lead to big problems. Originally, we’re all on the same starting line. If you suddenly get ahead without others noticing, they might envy you at first, but if after a while they find you’re still ahead, those with pettier minds may feel you’re too far ahead and want to trip you up. Do you understand what I mean?"

Luo Xinyue finally got it, "Ah, right, we should keep a low profile from now on. Qiaomai was too quick with her hands today."

Lu Jingqiu nodded. She didn’t like such behavior: "I don’t mean to maliciously speculate about others or think the worst of people. We just have to live without comparing ourselves too much, just be true to ourselves. Most people are pretty good; it’s just that minority we have to worry about. We need to nip any potential problems in the bud."

In fact, Xu Yu, watching the two of them hurry off without joining them for lunch, pursed her lips and said, "Those two, always so secretive, they must be hiding something from us."

Mi Qiaomai gave a sarcastic smile and chimed in, "Right, did you see how possessive Jingqiu was this morning? She barely let us have a look before snatching it away. So stingy."