Chapter 49: Ulterior Motives

Monday evening, Youth Association’s publicity department’s office.

After dinner, Su Huaizhou followed Qi Lianyue back to the office and continued working on tasks for the start of the school year.

With the recruitment of new students into the department, the workload for second-years like them eased up a bit since they could leave most of the routine tasks to the first-years.

To put it nicely, it was developing their skills.

Of course, there was definitely some merit to it. The first-years willing to take on more tasks often found themselves taking on leadership roles like secretary or deputy secretary in their second year.

Su Huaizhou had originally joined the department because Qi Lianyue needed to make up the numbers. Even though she had now become a deputy secretary, Qi Lianyue still took on most of the responsibilities.

After returning to the office, Su Huaizhou sat back on her chair, picked up her drawing tablet, and continued with her artwork.

However, what she was working on now wasn’t the character design of the male lead of Jiang Miao’s novel but another illustration for a commercial project—an anime-style character design.

The style was a bit… on the risqué side, with a rather suggestive pose. It was a commission for an unknown mobile game in development.

The payment for each piece was 1,500 yuan.

It might seem like a decent amount, but Su Huaizhou wasn’t a full-time artist, and each piece took her about half a month to complete.

After accounting for the time she spent drawing for free for Peach Jam, her average monthly incoming was only about 2,000 yuan.

Moreover, she didn’t receive commissions like this every month.

Su Huaizhou was an artist with only a modest reputation, and her drawing style was mainly anime style. Most of her work came from private commissions.

The price of these private commissions was much lower, typically about 500 to 600 yuan per piece.

However, the requirements for private commissions were fairly low, so she could usually complete one within a week. In total, her monthly income from these commissions came out to around 2,000 yuan.

After all, she was an artist driven by passion. She had only started learning how to draw halfway through high school, so reaching this level was already very impressive.

“What are you drawing now?” Qi Lianyue, who had just returned from photocopying documents, glanced over at Su Huaizhou when she passed by.

The vigilant Su Huaizhou immediately hugged her laptop close, blocking Qi Lianyue from seeing the screen. “Nothing. Yueyue, go away~”

“It’s not like I haven’t seen it before.” Qi Lianyue sat back in her chair and suddenly asked curiously, “Does Jiang Miao know you draw these things?”

“Ah!” Su Huaizhou’s eyes immediately widened as she looked at Qi Lianyue. She hurriedly warned and threatened, “You’re not allowed to say anything about this! If you dare to let him know, we’ll cut ties!”

“What’s the big deal? Those anime drawings are pretty common.” Qi Lianyue looked puzzled. “Perhaps Jiang Miao will even be thrilled if he knows you draw them.”

I’m sure he’ll be thrilled…

But I’ll be in big trouble.

“Anyway, you’re not allowed to say a word! Absolutely, absolutely not!” Su Huaizhou said solemnly. “Yueyue, you’re the only one who knows this secret. I trust you the most. Don’t let me down.”

“Don’t tell me you’re shy?” Qi Lianyue suddenly became curious. “Are you afraid your glorious image as a senior sister will collapse if he finds out?”

“None of your business!”

“Don’t worry. I can’t be bothered to talk about this kind of thing.”

“Yueyue, you’re the best~”

“However, when you’re in a relationship, it’s better to be upfront about some things. If you end up living together, he’ll find out eventually,” Qi Lianyue advised.

“???” Su Huaizhou’s face was full of question marks as she slammed her hand on the desk anxiously. “I’m not dating him!”

“Then why are you so nervous? Are you that scared of him finding out you draw porn?”

“It’s erotica, not porn! Erotica and porn are not the same thing!”

“… Whatever makes you happy.”

“Didn’t I tell you before? I don’t plan on getting married,” Su Huaizhou said seriously.

“Not getting married doesn’t mean you can’t date. Who knows? Maybe you’ll want to get married after dating.”

“That’s impossible.”

“But your attitude towards Jiang Miao is completely different from how you treat other guys,” Qi Lianyue pointed out directly. “Are you sure you don’t have feelings for him? Not even a little?”

“…”

“Are you hesitating now?” Qi Lianyue gave her a pointed look.

“You don’t understand…” Su Huaizhou lay on her desk helplessly, looked at the revealing character art on the laptop screen, and sighed. “I treat him special for another reason.”

“What reason?”

“Hmm…”

“Forget it.” Qi Lianyue shook her head when she saw Su Huaizhou’s troubled expression. “Since you don’t want to say it, don’t. I’d rather not go through another round of you making me swear to keep it secret and threatening to end our friendship.”

“Hehe…” Su Huaizhou felt embarrassed. She deliberated over her words before saying hesitantly, “Actually, I’ve known him since high school.”

“?” Qi Lianyue was immediately curious. “When? How come I never noticed?”

“Actually, it’s not like we really knew each other… We were just online friends.” Su Huaizhou frowned and pouted but eventually continued, “The reason I stuck to art in high school was because he kept supporting and encouraging me.”

Qi Lianyue immediately understood. “No wonder you’re taking such good care of him.”

Su Huaizhou smiled sheepishly.

If Jiang Miao heard this, who knew how resentful he’d feel?

To be honest, she couldn’t really call it taking care of him—more like teasing him a bit.

Well, maybe more than a bit… Kinda sorta a lot…?

In addition, there was also the special relationship between an author and a reader.

However, to keep Peach Jam’s identity a secret, Su Huaizhou didn’t mention this.

“So, you just wanted to express your gratitude at first, but after meeting him and seeing how handsome he was, you developed ulterior motives?” Qi Lianyue summarized solemnly.

Su Huaizhou: “???”

“What’s that supposed to mean?! I’m not that perverted!”

Qi Lianyue curled her lips. “Just answer whether you like him or not.”

“Oh…” Su Huaizhou lowered her head, her fingers fidgeting with her phone screen. Almost instinctively, she opened QQ.

[Peach Jam] was at the top.

“I don’t want to be in a relationship,” Su Huaizhou murmured. “Moreover, Junior Brother also said he’s not looking to date now.”

“I didn’t ask if you wanted to date him.” Qi Lianyue shot her a sidelong glance. “I just asked if you liked him.”

“Ugh.” Su Huaizhou slumped onto her desk in annoyance again. “Of course I do. Otherwise, why would I keep hanging out with a junior brother I just met?

“B-but…Isn’t it fine the way things are now? There’s nothing between us.

“You’re such a busybody, Yueyue.”

Qi Lianyue rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you say that when you meddle in my business?”

“It’s not like you’re with Zhao Lu either.”

“… We are together.”

“What?” Su Huaizhou was stunned.

“I said we’re together.”

“What?!” Su Huaizhou was startled. She abruptly sat up straight and turned to look at Qi Lianyue.

She saw Qi Lianyue turn her head away in embarrassment, her earlobes slightly red.

“What the heck?!” Su Huaizhou stood up and complained, “So I’m the only single dog left in the dorm room?”