After distributing the gifts, Ling Cheng opened Alipay and transferred Chu Xiaoxiao’s wages to Su Qingwan.
He had tried to send the money via WeChat to Chu Xiaoxiao earlier, but she completely refused to accept it—she wouldn’t even reply to a single message.
Ling Cheng had no choice but to find the maid who had initially commissioned him, Su Qingwan, and ask her to pass it along.
Even though Chu Xiaoxiao had later sabotaged his game progress, she had also helped him a great deal before. Ling Cheng felt he should keep things separate.
After making the transfer, Ling Cheng suggested holding a small celebration banquet. Everyone was discussing where to go when…
An Xin suddenly turned pale, the hand clutching her phone trembling uncontrollably.
“An Xin, what’s wrong?” Ling Cheng walked up and asked with concern.
“The… the manga deadline is coming up, and I haven’t even started on the latest chapter.” An Xin squeezed out a bitter smile. Just now, she had received a frantic reminder from her editor.
Her personal editor, Miss Huang, noticed on the backend that due to the previous incident, An Xin’s manga and account had seen a massive boost in attention.
Miss Huang naturally wouldn’t miss such a great opportunity. She planned to assign several promotion slots on the originally agreed-upon update day, including homepage recommendations, popular manga slots, and category recommendations.
“A Chen, I won’t be going to the celebration banquet.” An Xin sighed helplessly, packing up her computer and digital tablet, ready to go home and work on her manga.
“Without Senior An Xin, the celebration banquet should be postponed. Besides, I still have an after-class group task to finish today.” Seeing Senior An Xin’s dejected expression, how could Hua Manyue remain indifferent?
“Right, An Xin. As your assistant, I can’t just stand by.”
From the very beginning, Ling Cheng had not only taken care of An Xin’s daily needs but also occasionally served as her assistant, helping with coloring or painting backgrounds.
“Thank you.” An Xin couldn’t help but thank the two of them. After all, she truly valued her manga work.
Especially after seeing Ling Cheng’s support, An Xin’s heart calmed down.
The main reason she couldn’t give up on her manga was that she hoped to have enough material resources to support her claim on Ling Cheng.
“Then… A Chen, let’s do the rush work at your place this time.”
“Of course, no problem.” With that, Ling Cheng began packing up his own computer.
“Um… Senior, has your relationship with Senior An Xin really gotten that close?”
Hua Manyue’s little head seemed to think of something, and she immediately covered her blushing face with both hands.
“You said earlier you weren’t dating. Well, what about now? Huh? What about now?”
Seeing Hua Manyue’s gossipy, ship-shipping expression, Ling Cheng waved his hands repeatedly in denial.
Meanwhile, An Xin was nodding emphatically behind him, thinking to herself, ‘I really misjudged Manyue. She’s such a good kid.’
—
After finally managing to explain things, Ling Cheng and An Xin headed home together.
“An Xin, your manga is so famous now, why don’t you hire an assistant?” Ling Cheng looked at An Xin, who was still pondering ideas.
“Because I really hate talking to strangers. Even if those assistants only communicate online, I still find it annoying.”
When this topic came up, An Xin immediately frowned, as if recalling something unpleasant. “Even with my editor, Miss Huang, every time she sends me a message and the notification sound pops up, I feel terrified.”
“But if you don’t have an assistant, the work pressure is way too much. You’ve been asking me to draw standing illustrations lately, and that’s been taking up your time too.”
In the past few weeks, An Xin had focused entirely on Ling Cheng, causing her—who had never fallen behind on deadlines—to face such a serious crisis.
“So, the only person I can rely on is you, A Chen. Please take care of me today, my assistant.” When their hands happened to touch, An Xin took the opportunity to hold his hand.
“Don’t try to pull away, okay? I’m gathering material for my manga.” As if anticipating Ling Cheng’s thoughts, An Xin directly cut off the words he was about to say.
“Also, hold it a bit tighter. Tell me what it feels like to hold a girl’s hand.” Though these were just excuses, of course.
“It feels… soft, and so small.” Ling Cheng stammered, the more he spoke, the more embarrassed he became.
“Hahaha, A Chen, your reaction is way too funny!”
“Shut up!” Hearing An Xin’s laughter, Ling Cheng’s embarrassment skyrocketed.
Although the casual chat along the way briefly made them forget the deadline anxiety, as soon as they sat down at the computer desk, the heavy pressure came crashing back.
A manga is a war! And that deadline was like a life-threatening front line.
If it were an ordinary day when An Xin visited Ling Cheng’s place, she would have tried every way to cuddle up to him, or even attempt to drug him…
But now, she was completely focused on the computer desk, her pressure-sensitive pen practically sparking against the digital tablet.
Meanwhile, Ling Cheng was beside her, continuously coloring and inking the finished manuscript pages. Having worked together for months, they were incredibly默契—no words were needed.
Before they knew it, it was late at night. An Xin let out a long sigh of relief, finally reaching the last panel.
Ling Cheng was still focused on coloring, so busy that he hadn’t even taken a sip of the water on the desk.
“Good work, A Chen. To properly reward my assistant, I’ll cook tonight.”
An Xin glanced at Ling Cheng’s focused profile, almost tempted to lean over and give him a kiss.
She had already made up her mind: once Ling Cheng fell asleep tonight, she would kiss him to her heart’s content.
“I’m counting on you, An Xin. I still have several pages left to color.” Ling Cheng looked at the densely packed manuscript and nearly burst into tears.
“Leave it to me. These past days, aside from learning how to make desserts, I’ve also studied cooking properly.”
An Xin found the apron at the back of the kitchen door—after all, whenever she cooked at his place, Ling Cheng always hung the apron there after finishing his meals.
As an excellent “wife,” she needed to remember her husband’s habits clearly.
Since she wasn’t very experienced, An Xin chose all home-style dishes: tomato scrambled eggs, braised eggplant, and the like.
Ling Cheng, still busy at the computer desk, smelled the aroma of food wafting from the kitchen, and his fighting spirit instantly crumbled.
Starving, he directly slipped into slacker mode, waiting for dinner like a high school student in the fourth period waiting for the bell to rush to the cafeteria.
Before long, An Xin emerged from the kitchen carrying steaming hot dishes.
“Please enjoy, A Chen.”
“Delicious! I never expected you to cook this well, An Xin.” Ling Cheng immediately wolfed down the food.
Maybe it was because he was too hungry, but even ordinary home-style dishes made Ling Cheng squint his eyes in bliss.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.