This Is My Son
After being busy for so many days, the restaurant’s preparations ended up stuck on the logo design and the interior illustrations.
She was not satisfied with a single sample image provided by the advertising company. They all had a kind of stiff, assembly-line feel and failed to achieve the effect she wanted.
While searching online to see whether there were suitable private studios, she came across a sharp comment from a netizen: although university students’ works are not mature enough, when it comes to inspiration and vitality, they far surpass office workers who have already been battered by society.
That gave her an idea.
Zhuang Fuyao went to ask Beiguo whether she had any suitable people to recommend.
Beiguo recommended someone. He was her senior from university.
After graduating, Jing Song opened a personal studio. The employees he recruited were all outstanding graduates from major fine arts academies. The pay was good, the pressure was not high, and the studio’s works were diverse in style.
It happened to fit Zhuang Fuyao’s requirements perfectly.
They arranged to meet at a bar over the weekend to talk about the related matters.
Song Qing and Cheng Fan also came along.
After hearing the restaurant’s design needs, Song Qing said, “Actually, Beiguo could do it too. Although she mostly draws game concept art at work, she used to secretly draw ancient-style chibi figures. What she draws…” She struggled to describe it. “Anyway, you’ll know once you see her work.”
Zhuang Fuyao was slightly surprised.
Jing Song also said, “Yes, Beiguo is very talented in this area.”
As he spoke, there was a gentle smile on his face, and his eyes were full of appreciation for Shu Run.
“No, no.” Shu Run shook her head awkwardly. “What Sister needs is ancient-style illustrations. I haven’t tried that in a long time.”
Song Qing sighed.
She knew Shu Run was very talented and capable, but she lacked confidence in herself.
Left with no choice, she directly took out the drafts Beiguo had sent her and showed them. “Take a look. Aren’t they full of spirit? At a glance, you can feel the charm.”
These few ancient-style chibi figures were made with just a few rough strokes. The structure was very simple, yet the spirit they conveyed was striking.
Everyone felt their eyes light up.
Zhuang Fuyao asked Beiguo expectantly, “Does your company allow taking private commissions?”
Shu Run hesitated for a moment. “It does.”
But she was worried she might not be able to handle it. “How about I draw it first and let you see if it suits what you want?”
“Sure.”
After the work discussion ended, everyone gathered together to drink, chat, and play games.
The drinking games that were popular now were not very different from those in the past, and Zhuang Fuyao was very familiar with them.
The others were more or less the same, having played them before to some extent.
Only Shu Run did not know how. The number of times she had gone to bars could be counted on one hand, and most of those times were with Song Qing. When the two sisters were together, they usually just chatted and never really played drinking games.
“It’s fine. I’ll teach you.”
Jing Song was right there guiding her. Sometimes, when Shu Run lost, he would even block drinks for Beiguo.
Cheng Fan watched with a face full of someone shipping a couple, along with the kind of yearning for love that comes from someone who has not experienced much romance yet.
Cheng Fan: “Sister Fuyao, those two look so well-matched!”
When she received this message, Zhuang Fuyao almost choked on her drink.
Cheng Fan had only heard that Beiguo had a boyfriend and had never seen him. He was probably mistaking Jing Song for Beiguo’s boyfriend.
Wait…
She herself had never seen Beiguo’s boyfriend either. Could this so-called senior really be Beiguo’s boyfriend?
She sent a message to Song Qing to confirm: “Qingbao, is this Beiguo’s boyfriend?”
Song Qing suddenly started coughing violently, her face turning red. Laughing, she waved her hand. “I choked. Don’t mind me.”
Song Qing: “Of course not!!!”
Song Qing: “To be honest, when I first met Jing Song, I also thought he was interested in Beiguo. Later, I realized that he’s just that considerate and polite by nature. Simply put, he treats everyone like this. Toward Beiguo, it’s probably just care for a junior.”
Zhuang Fuyao: “Ok, ok, got it.”
She knew that some men naturally had that kind of gaze. They looked affectionate no matter what they were looking at, which easily caused misunderstandings.
Still, why did she feel that the name Jing Song sounded somewhat familiar?
Two days later, Beiguo sent over the first draft, and Zhuang Fuyao was very satisfied with it.
Considering that Beiguo still had her full-time job, the temporary arrangement was that the character illustrations serving as the distinctive logo would be handled by Beiguo. The remaining scene illustrations and other character illustrations would still be handled by Jing Song’s studio.
In addition, Cheng Fan also agreed to stay and work at the restaurant.
After some time, Song Qing might have to go on tour. When she would return to Jiang City was uncertain.
So whenever she had time, Song Qing would call them out to hang out. They did not really do anything special, just drank and chatted aimlessly.
During the day, Zhuang Fuyao took some time to sign the contract with Jing Song. In the evening, she brought Beiguo’s and Cheng Fan’s contracts to the bar to find them.
The four of them gathered together with a kind of wild, carefree energy like college students.
For example, right now, they were about to sign contracts.
To avoid disturbing others, they did not turn on the flash. They only used the light from their phone screens and huddled together.
Zhuang Fuyao was worried they would not be able to read the contracts clearly. “How about we sign them another day? Or we can sign them later in the car.”
Beiguo and Cheng Fan said in unison, “No need!”
Then the two of them took advantage of the dim light and began reading the contracts.
Zhuang Fuyao smiled and shook her head, her expression carrying a hint of helplessness.
After they finished signing, she checked them again. Her gaze stopped on Beiguo’s signature: Shu Run.
Her heart skipped a beat. She looked at Beiguo in disbelief. “Beiguo, is your real name Shu Run?”
“Yes.” Song Qing wrapped an arm around Shu Run’s shoulders and answered for her with a smile. “Don’t you think our baby sister’s real name and nickname both sound great?”
Zhuang Fuyao froze and did not speak for a long time.
So her good friend was actually the female lead of the novel, her future daughter-in-law?
No wonder she felt that the name Jing Song sounded familiar.
Jing Song was the deeply devoted second male lead beside the female lead in the novel. He stayed by the female lead’s side as a friend, silently protecting her. He even deliberately acted as though he got along well with several other female friends on the surface, pretending to be the type who was friendly to women, all to dispel the female lead’s concerns. In reality, he had extremely clear boundaries in private.
Zhuang Fuyao quietly took a breath. “I’m going to the restroom.”
Song Qing stood up instinctively. “I’ll go with you.”
Zhuang Fuyao did not bother with her makeup and splashed her face with cold water.
Song Qing handed her a tissue and asked with concern, “What’s wrong? I noticed earlier that you didn’t look too good.”
Zhuang Fuyao had not quite recovered yet. She shook her head. “I suddenly thought of something. I want to go outside for a walk. Later, help me tell them.”
How could Song Qing feel at ease letting her go alone? “Then I’ll go with you. Later, I’ll call Beiguo and say we went out to buy something.”
Zhuang Fuyao nodded.
……
Half an hour later, a man wearing a baseball cap entered the bar.
Liang Chaoluo casually picked a seat and opened his phone to check the location sharing.
That was right. The map showed that Shu Run was indeed here.
After he and Shu Run started dating, their phones were mutually bound with location sharing.
Sometimes, when one of them was busy and could not check their phone, if the other wanted to see them, they would use this to find them.
This had once been proof of their closeness.
Now, it was being used to catch someone in the act.
……
When Shu Run received Song Qing’s call, she did not think much of it. “Alright, then come back early.”
After hanging up, she repeated it to Cheng Fan.
Then the two of them continued chatting about university life.
Cheng Fan had never attended university. He had only seen what university life was like on television. In TV dramas, those student dormitories always looked nice, and the stories between roommates were especially exciting.
“Actually, that’s all been beautified by TV dramas. Real undergraduate dorms almost never have such nicely decorated two-person rooms. Most are four-person or six-person rooms, and not every dorm has its own bathroom. Roommate relationships also depend on the situation. Some really get along well, while others may argue often.”
“And during the college entrance exam, teachers say that once we get into university, life will be easy. In reality, university still has 8 a.m. classes, you still have to worry about failing courses, and by junior and senior year, you have to stress about internships and employment…”
In fact, the world itself is like a set of walls. Cheng Fan envied them, and Shu Run also envied Cheng Fan’s simplicity and happiness.
“I actually really long for rural life. When I first graduated, I wanted to rent a place there and stay for two months. But plans couldn’t keep up with changes. For various reasons, I never managed to go.”
Cheng Fan scratched his head, a bit unable to understand that there would be city people who envied rural life.
Although he also felt his home was nice, with fresh air and a good environment, and cats, dogs, and cows as his friends, staying there made it hard to support himself and his family. Once they encountered a year with poor harvests, it became even more disastrous.
So by comparison, he was still more willing to stay in the city.
Cheng Fan said, “It’s fine. If you have time, you can always come to my place with Sister Fuyao.”
“Sure.”
Shu Run curved her eyes in a smile. Her gaze swept casually toward a certain direction, and the smile on her face froze.
She saw Liang Chaoluo walking over with a dark expression.
Shu Run rubbed her eyes, briefly suspecting that she had seen the wrong person.
When he came closer and she confirmed it was him, she was shocked. “Why are you here?”
Liang Chaoluo looked at her quietly for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the man beside her. His eyes grew sharper than before, and he could not help clenching his fist.
If it were not for knowing that Shu Run dislikes irritable people, he would have already thrown a punch.
Starting a fight at this moment would indeed be lacking in decorum.
He gritted his teeth. “Is this your new boyfriend?”
Shu Run frowned, looking baffled, and was just about to speak when Zhuang Fuyao’s voice came from the side. “Chaoluo?”
After walking outside for half an hour, Zhuang Fuyao had finally accepted the fact that Beiguo was Shu Run. As she and Song Qing were heading back, they ran into this tense scene.
What was going on?
Liang Chaoluo froze and quickly reined in his expression.
He recognized that it was Madam Zhuang’s voice.
He could not let Madam Zhuang know that he had been cheated on. That would be too humiliating.
Shu Run was startled. “Sister… you know each other?”
As soon as she said that, Liang Chaoluo also looked at Madam Zhuang in confusion.
He had thought that Madam Zhuang had just happened to see them while she was out here having fun. Judging from the situation, Madam Zhuang had come together with Shu Run?
Madam Zhuang knew Shu Run?!
Zhuang Fuyao cleared her throat lightly and introduced him with a trace of awkwardness. “This is my son…”