Chapter 11: Start Off Leniently — She didn’t want much, just a ‘satisfactory’ life.
Outside the restaurant, Lin Zhen waited for Jian Yan to buckle her seat belt before slowly driving the car out of the lot.
“Where are we going?” Lin Zhen asked.
Jian Yan unhesitantly said, “Send me home.”
“Returning home so early.” Lin Zhen continued driving. Less than two seconds later, she said, “How about you explore the shopping mall with me?”
Jian Yan replied, “I stay in the shopping mall every day; what else is left to explore?”
Lin Zhen: “&h.e.l.lip;”
She couldn’t refute Jian Yan’s words.
“Then what do you plan on doing since you’re returning home so early?” she asked.
“Drawing. I recently began drawing an ill.u.s.tration for 《 Satisfactory 》. I want to release it by Christmas and give it to everyone as a celebratory picture.”
“Oh, oh, that’s pretty good.”
“Right? In addition, since I have no projects at this time, I need to keep my skills up to scratch.”
A smile appeared on Lin Zhen’s face. “Your skills are still not enough? Just now in the restaurant, I saw someone wearing clothing from your collaboration with Bunny.”
“Ah, those clothes are selling very well. I bought some items myself.”
Lin Zhen: “&h.e.l.lip;”
After she drove Jian Yan home, she went to visit the shopping mall by herself. The moment Jian Yan returned home, she began to draw, finishing the line sketch just before sunset.
She opened up Weibo and posted the line sketch for everyone to see before going to cook. When she returned, she had already gained a good several thousand comments. The most intriguing one to her eye, however, was the cartoon boy profile image next to the like b.u.t.ton.
That was Nan Si’s Weibo profile image.
She deliberately headed to Nan Si’s Weibo to take a look and found that her Weibo was the second message on his home page. He had liked it ten minutes ago.
She clicked open the comments on his post and discovered that the comment section was also very exciting.
「This line sketch is very beautiful! My Yi Nian Nian and Shang Ke Ke are the best!」
「Great G.o.d! Nan Si gave you a like! I only just found out that your Weibos are mutually following each other!」
「Aaahhh! My Mr. Perfect gave my G.o.ddess a like!」
「 @Nan Si Hubby! You haven’t posted an update in quite a while! Since you have the time to give others a like, why don’t you update?!」
「 The capture of Great G.o.d Nan Si『grin』」
[email protected]/* */ Si Hahahaha. Hubby, you’ve been exposed! You’ve even come onto Weibo, yet still not paying us any attention?」
Not only did fans ping Nan Si on Tang Zhi’s Weibo, they didn’t let him off even on Nan Si’s Weibo. A few minutes later, Nan Si finally posted an update on his Weibo.
Nan Si 【V】: 「Posting a Weibo message to prove that I was here. :)」
Jian Yan: “&h.e.l.lip;”
What is the difference between this Weibo message and no message?!
With the spirit of reciprocity, however, she also gave his post a like.
He Xiu saw that she had given his post a like and sent her a message on QQ.
Nan Si: 「:)」
Jian Yan hadn’t opened QQ on her computer, so the notification sound only came from her phone. She saw that it was Nan Si, so she also sent him an emoji as a reply. 「^_^」
Nan Si: 「I need to be more careful when liking in the future」
Tang Zhi: 「Hahahahahaha」
Nan Si: 「Did Teacher eat yet?」
Tang Zhi: 「I’m eating right now」
She took a picture of her food and sent it to Nan Si.
Nan Si: 「You cooked it yourself?」
Tang Zhi: 「Yes, why?」
Nan Si: 「You don’t look like someone who can cook 『smile-cry』」
Tang Zhi: 「Why do you say something like this? You haven’t even met me.」
Nan Si: 「I’ve seen your manhua and concluded that you must also be a very fashionable person in real life. You don’t look like the type to cook.」
Tang Zhi: 「I can’t do anything about it. I’m single and live alone. If I don’t cook myself, I don’t eat. :-(」
He Xiu smiled before typing another message. 「Oh, that’s right. The producer added the CV for the second male lead to the group chat today; did you see?」
&h.e.l.lip;She really hadn’t.
Tang Zhi: 「I’ll go take a look.」
The small group chat really had gained another member. He was also a very famous CV who went by the name Lu Lu. The group chat had already welcomed him long ago. Jian Yan saw that he was currently online and also sent him a greeting.
Tang Zhi: 「h.e.l.lo, Qin Bai ^_^」
Qin Bai was the name of 《 Satisfactory 》’s second male lead. He and the female lead, Shang Ke, were green plums and hobby-horse playmates.1 He already had a favorable impression of Shang Ke, but as they said, One day, Zhu Ma will fall to the enemy.2 That day, Shang Ke unexpectedly met an extremely attractive Yi Nian.
Yi Nian was an internationally known model. Not only did he have a really nice figure, his style of dress was also impeccable. To Shang Ke, he was like the bright, celestial moon, un.o.btainable. She had always been chasing after his shadow. It was different with Qin Bai. He wais like her shadow, continually staying by Shang Ke’s side, but because she had become accustomed to his presence, he was easily overlooked.
He had told Shang Ke, If you want to stand alongside someone, you need to look at the same scenery.
In order to overtake Yi Nian’s pace, Shang Ke began to change herself, striving to understand everything pertaining to fashion and even partic.i.p.ating in a model training course.
Whether or not these efforts attracted Yi Nian’s attention, she didn’t know, but the more she learned, the more she brimmed with curiosity towards this gorgeously brilliant world. Even if it could be said that she had begun her journey for Yi Nian, afterwards, this turned into a journey for herself.
She didn’t want much, just a ‘satisfactory’ life.3
Lu Lu: 「h.e.l.lo, Teacher Tang Zhi!」
Lu Lu: 「Teacher, I have also read the manhua 《 Satisfactory 》. Qin Bai is so tragic. Are you really not thinking about drawing him a side story?『smile-cry』」
Tang Zhi: 「Haha, if I have the opportunity, I’ll definitely draw.」
Lu Lu: 「『touched』」
Jiang Jiang: 「This group is wonderful! The feeling of being surrounded by Prince Charmings is truly invigorating!」
w.a.n.g Si: 「→_→」
Sesame Paste: 「Okay, children, you should get to work. The screenwriter has already finished modifying the scripts for the first two episodes. You should start recording.『smirks』」
Jiang Jiang: 「I want to hear Mr. Perfect’s song first!」
Nan Si: 「Once I finish recording, I’ll send it to Teacher Tang Zhi to listen to first.」
Jiang Jiang: 「&h.e.l.lip;」
Jian Yan smiled, picked up her chopsticks, and continued eating her dinner.
After resting for a day, Jian Yan got up early the next morning to go to work. It was the beginning of December, and the weather was much colder than November. Jian Yan stood in front of her cloak wardrobe, looking through it for a while before picking out a long, white wool coat.
After choosing this white coat, Jian Yan decided to simply wear all white to match. She grabbed a white collared knitted sweater, a long, pleated cotton yarn skirt, and a pair of white fur high heels.
Gathering her hair at the back of her head, Jian Yan stood in front of her floor-length mirror and sized herself up for a moment. She gave herself a 99.
The leftover point was set aside to give her room for improvement. She shouldn’t become too prideful.
Dressed entirely in white, she attracted a lot of attention within the shopping mall. Many clients also came over to inquire about how she matched up an outfit entirely of one color.
“You can use different shades to distinguish different layers in a monochrome outfit. You can also have each item be of a different material, which prevents the outfit from appearing too inflexible.”
She nodded to the female client with whom she was speaking. “I always felt that wearing a monochrome outfit was very bold, but a matching outfit is incredibly eye-catching, just like what you’re wearing.”
Jian Yan smiled and said, “There are plenty of cla.s.sical winter colors. Colors like pink, white, tan, and brown are pretty good choices.”
“Mn, I want to try tan; do you have any recommendations?”
Jian Yan said, “Tan is a very soft color, quite fitting for winter. This year, retro-style is still very popular. An A-line suede skirt has elements that represent the 90s.” After she said this, she brought a tan suede skirt from the rack. “You can pair this with a long coat on top. A knee-length coat outside and a short skirt inside can create a perfectly proportioned look.”
After the female client tried it out, she bought the clothes Jian Yan had recommended. She helped this client settle the bill before two more girls sought her out. They had been watching to the side for a while before one of them suddenly spoke up. “Isn’t that Jian Yan?”
Jian Yan froze for a second before looking over at them.
“Yes, yes, that really is Jian Yan!”
The two girls looked like they discovered the New World. Extremely happy, she didn’t stop talking. “Didn’t you pa.s.s the university entrance exam for Imperial Capital University? You studied fashion design, so why did you come here to sell clothes~?”
The other girl giggled and said in agreement, “Yes, how did you end up in such a miserable situation? It seems that academic achievements are also useless, oh?”
When she finished saying this, the two of them laughed together. At this moment, Jian Yan also recognized them. Sure enough, they were cla.s.smates from high school. She didn’t get angry and merely smiled at them, saying, “Did the two of you come here to buy clothes?”
“Yes.” The girl with dyed, light brown hair said, “Since you’re a sales staff here, give us some recommendations.”
As she finished speaking, the girl beside her laughed again. Jian Yan simply kept smiling and genuinely began giving them clothing recommendations. “Pleated knee-length skirts are all the rage this year, especially this metallic fabric material——very eye-catching. Furthermore, fur clothing is also an absolutely essential element for winter&h.e.l.lip;”
Jian Yan gave them recommendations for an entire outfit smoothly and fluidly. Although the two of them had been focused on making fun of her at first, after changing into the clothes she had matched together, they were truly stunned when they saw themselves in the mirror.
“Oh! This is very beautiful.” That girl with the dyed, light brown hair looked askance at Jian Yan for a moment.
Jian Yan smiled faintly and said, “The main point is that you both look attractive.”
They two girls laughed loudly. “That’s true. Even the most beautiful clothes needs a person to wear it. How much do these cost? I’m buying it.”
Jian Yan stated, “Thank you for your patronage. Altogether, it’s ¥13,580.”
“Ten thousand&h.e.l.lip;?” The girl’s brows knitted together as she spoke these two words. She swallowed back the rest of her words.
Jian Yan thought for a moment and somewhat apologetically said, “Were my recommendations too cheap? Ah, shame on me. I normally wear these brands, but since your incomes must be higher than mine, these clothes definitely don’t enter your eyes. Wait a moment, I’ll go help you find some better brands.”
“No need!” The girl hurriedly called out to her. Jian Yan turned her head back to look at her, not understanding her action.
The girl looked at the clothes on her body. She realised that a few of these were indeed brand names. She pursed her lips before saying to her, “Occasionally, I also want to try common brands; it’s a different experience.”
“Oh&h.e.l.lip;” Jian Yan nodded her head, suddenly understanding. “Then thank you for your patronage. Altogether, it’s ¥13,580.”
&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;
After she finished leading them to pay the bill, a Fantasy Wardrobe colleague of hers pulled Jian Yan to the side and whispered, “Your high school cla.s.smates?”
Jian Yan nodded. The colleague clicked her tongue and said, “Che, their mouths are truly cra.s.s. What’s wrong with being sales staff? Do they know how much us sales staff earn in a month?”
Jian Yan smiled and didn’t reply. Her colleague gave her a thumbs-up. “That was done beautifully.”
Jian Yan commented, “I was already lenient.”
She had matched full outfits for them that, altogether, had only been around ten thousand yuan. She really had been lenient.
“Green plums and hobby-horse” is an idiom that means “childhood sweethearts” ↩ Refers to how one day, even something thought impossible will happen. ↩ Play on words, where “satisfactory” can also mean “Shang Ke,” her name. Basically, she wants a life that focused on herself rather than a life focused on others. She wants to live her own life perfect for herself. ↩