After sending Gao Qing home, Lu Jingqiu went back to work. She had taken the day off yesterday, and it wouldn’t be good to ask for another leave today.
Because Yang Bo had been frequently absent, there was only her and Luo Xinyue left in the office, and they had a heavy workload.
When Lu Jingqiu arrived at her unit, many colleagues pulled her aside to ask about her exam results.
Lu Jingqiu told each of them one by one. Upon hearing her scores, everyone felt that they might not be able to work together in the future.
Luo Xinyue watched as Lu Jingqiu became much more disheartened. There were only the two of them in their office, and their relationship had grown much closer since that drawing trip.
Mostly, it was Luo Xinyue who would drag Lu Jingqiu into venting about family matters, like how a few sisters in her courtyard would act one way to her face and another behind her back, which she discovered.
One of her sisters even spied on her fiancé. She caught her red-handed and gave the woman a slap, and since then, they had bee strangers.
Her three or four sisters, since graduating, each found their own occupation. Once in society, meeting different people, their mindsets changed, and their thoughts when together were no longer as simple as before. They flattered Luo Xinyue to her face but spoke ill of her behind her back.
Gradually, she found herself without friends, with only Lu Jingqiu left to confide in— and now she was about to leave too.
Luo Xinyue, cupping her face while sitting at her desk, said dejectedly, "If I had known, I should have listened to you and given the exams a shot. One of my sisters went to the countryside after graduation and just left last autumn. She didn’t pass the exam last year due to the rush, but I heard she managed to pass this year."
Lu Jingqiu said, "You’re regretting it now, aren’t you?"
Luo Xinyue nodded, "Do you think I still have a chance next year? I could start reviewing right now."
Lu Jingqiu shook her head, "Next year... it’s hard to say, but you could choose to retake the year, right? You graduated last year, didn’t you? You could apply for a retake this year and sit the exams with the current graduates next year."
Luo Xinyue’s eyes lit up, "Really?"
Lu Jingqiu asked, "How were your high school grades?"
Luo Xinyue pouted, "Not so good. But I’m good at merce, and I can get Shang Ze to tutor me. He got into college this year, at West City University of Political Science and Law. He had previously advised me to take the exams too, but I didn’t want to."
Lu Jingqiu asked, "If you’re thinking about university, which school are you planning to apply for?"
"I want to apply to the same school you’re going to, and I want to continue painting as well."
Lu Jingqiu smiled and said, "Then I’ll wait for you."
Luo Xinyue said uncertainly, "I need to go back and get my mom to look into it, to see if I can retake the year."
Lu Jingqiu knew that her mother worked at the Education Bureau, so retaking the year shouldn’t be a problem.
"Oh, Yang Bo came to work yesterday, and I noticed he was drawing ic books at work. He said he’s taken on a lot of ic book illustration jobs lately, and it’s quite profitable."
Luo Xinyue suddenly brought up Yang Bo.
Lu Jingqiu realized and said, "He’s been taking a lot of time off lately; he couldn’t have been drawing ics at home, could he?"
Luo Xinyue nodded, "I heard he can earn twenty yuan for each ic book, and he can do three in a month."
Lu Jingqiu nodded, "Indeed, that’s better than working a regular job."
Luo Xinyue said, "Too bad I’m too lazy. Of course, I can’t draw those martial arts ics either, but you could."
Lu Jingqiu shook her head, "Most of the ics these days are about martial arts, ancient romance stories, fables, or war. I’m not very good at drawing adult illustrations; I’m already busy enough submitting illustrations for newspapers."
Luo Xinyue certainly couldn’t either, but Yang Bo’s frequent absences weren’t good either.
This year, their publishing house released a lot of books, including a few on scientific plants which Luo Xinyue was responsible for illustrating. There were also some educational supplement illustrations that she didn’t need to do to a very high standard.
Lu Jingqiu was different. She was sought after by two editorial departments for particularly high-standard work. Like the recently released picture book "Do Your Own Thing", which depended entirely on her imagination.
In addition to this, she also had to illustrate a mythological story picture book.
It has to be finished within a month.
Although Luo Xinyue’s task was simple, she now humbly asks for advice, and after pleting her layout designs, she’d also ask for Lu Jingqiu’s opinion.
After Lu Jingqiu helped point out a few minor issues, Luo Xinyue would correct them promptly and then discuss further revisions with the editors; she no longer gave them the cold shoulder when asked to make changes.
Zhang Miao had even asked Lu Jingqiu in secret what was up with Luo Xinyue, as everyone felt she had changed a lot recently.
Lu Jingqiu boasted with a smile, "It’s all thanks to me, do you believe it?"
Zhang Miao was skeptical, but she also noticed the change in the relationship between Luo Xinyue and Lu Jingqiu.
Previously, Lu Jingqiu always had lunch with her, but now, Luo Xinyue had joined them.
And she no longer turned her nose up at her.
Sister Qin was straightforward; she actually asked Luo Xinyue straight to her face what was up with her lately during lunchtime.
Luo Xinyue wasn’t offended, and answered directly, "Sister Qin, I’m new to the working world. I was spoiled at home and a bit willful. Please bear with me; I’m slowly adapting."
Luo Xinyue’s response surprised some of them quite a lot, and they didn’t make an issue of her past behavior, because when they first started working, they were more or less the same.
Lu Jingqiu didn’t expect Xinyue to have such a good attitude now, able to humbly admit her mistakes.
"You are influenced by the pany you keep," she thought to herself. She considered herself excellent, which attracted Luo Xinyue and gradually brought about her change.
After work, Lu Jingqiu went to the Gao’s house, only to find no one there.
She thought Gao Qing would be home and too upset to go to the team, having taken the day off.
But it turned out, she ran an errand for nothing.
When she returned, Lu Jingqiu went into the goose pen and found two goose eggs, saying to the geese with delight, "Oh, geese, you are now the great contributors to my household. Rest assured, I won’t let you down; I’m going to prepare some food for you right away." After saying this, she also got two chicken eggs from the henhouse.
Lu Jingqiu calculated, at this rate, in a month, she’d have 60 goose eggs and 60 chicken eggs.
By then, she could give thirty to her aunt and bring some to her cousin’s in-laws when they go to meet her elder cousin.
In those days, goose eggs were a real rarity. She planned to go to the Black Market again tomorrow to see if she could find that young man and buy another egg-laying goose from him.
As Lu Jingqiu was thinking about the future supply of goose eggs, Jiang Nanzhou came over with a small bag in hand.
"Nanzhou? Have you eaten?"
"I have," he said while lifting the bag slightly, "There was braised eggplant in the dining hall today; I brought you some, and there are two peaches too."
Lu Jingqiu, with a look of surprise, stared at him, "How did you know I love braised eggplant?"
Jiang Nanzhou curved his lips, "I heard it from Uncle Lu by chance. The dish is still hot; you should eat it quickly."
Lu Jingqiu took the bag, saying, "Do you want to eat with me?"
Jiang Nanzhou declined, "No, I should be going back. You eat by yourself." Although he was her romantic interest, he was wary of frequent visits potentially sparking gossip.
Having said this, he turned and walked away briskly, not giving Lu Jingqiu the chance to make him stay. Watching his retreating back, Lu Jingqiu suddenly found it a bit funny and thought to herself: This is quite a peculiar way to date.
Before she could turn and enter her house, a head popped up over the neighboring wall: "Sister Xiao Qiu, are you going to draw me today? We’re planning to practice on the parallel bars at the training ground. Hey, who was that big brother just now? He seems really nice, bringing you food."
"My boyfriend, what do you think?"
Xiao Shun opened his mouth wide, exclaiming dramatically, "Sister Xiao Qiu, that brother’s not bad-looking, and he seems like a nice person, even bringing you food."
Lu Jingqiu smiled lightly, "You kids sure know a lot. Go ahead; I’ll e by and take a look in a bit." With that, she turned and went inside.
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