??Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Invited by the Publisher (Good Luck)
Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Invited by the Publisher (Good Luck)
When Lu Jingqiu saw that her father also agreed, she eagerly said, “Dad’s the best. Let’s give Xiao San Hua a na.”
Lu Xianrun thought for a while, but all he ca up with were nas like Tiezhu, Gou Dan, Aiguo, and Jianjun.
This made her and her mother look on with disdain, and in the end, it was she and her mother who thought about it all night and decided to na the kitten Hua Hua.
Mother was in a great mood that night, holding Xiao San Hua until it owed before finally calming down enough to fall asleep.
In the middle of the night, mother woke up several tis in pain, and Lu Xianrun stayed by her side the whole ti.
Lu Jingqiu told her dad about the commission she had received, and Lu Xianrun was also thrilled, urging his daughter to go ho and rest, and to focus on her drawing.
But instead of leaving, Lu Jingqiu sat by her mother’s side, leaning against a bedside table, watching Hua Hua and starting to work on her drafts.
She didn’t fall asleep until after three in the morning, right there at her desk.
Her father didn’t leave until he had gotten them food from the canteen in the morning, knowing his daughter had stayed up late. He left without waking her.
Both mother and daughter did not wake up until the dical staff ca for their rounds at eight o’clock.
After helping her mother with morning ablutions, Lu Jingqiu enjoyed the al her father had prepared for them, with Zhou Lanping specially feeding Hua Hua porridge using a syringe.
The nutrition might not have been adequate, but they ate with a hearty appetite.
Around nine in the morning, Zhou Lanqin rode over on her bike, specifically to tell Jingqiu not to buy lunch. “I got so shepherd’s purse from the restaurant yesterday, and I’ll make dumplings for you today. I’ll co over at noon, and this afternoon, I’ll stay with your mom. You and your dad should rest well at ho tonight.”
“Auntie, how can I let you do that? You have to work tomorrow. You’ll be tired all day if you don’t get enough rest tonight. I don’t need to go to work when I’m at ho.”
Zhou Lanping joined the conversation, “Let your auntie stay with
for the day. We sisters will have a chat. Aren’t you also supposed to be drawing? It’s a good opportunity for you to focus on your work at ho.”
It was then Zhou Lanqin heard about Sister Jingqiu taking on the draft work and rejoiced for her for a long while.
She didn’t stay long before heading back to get things ready.
Mother could only sleep peacefully in the morning. Lu Jingqiu sat by her side, watching the needle and coloring the sketch she had theorized the night before.
“My Qiuqiu’s paintings are so beautiful. With this skill, I don’t have to worry about you making a living even if I’m gone,” mother said.
Lu Jingqiu didn’t realize her mother had woken up, who was now looking at her with a face full of satisfaction.
“Mom, you’re awake. Do you need to use the bathroom?”
Zhou Lanping shook her head, “How’s Hua Hua?”
“She has been sleeping all the ti.”
Li Jingqiu pointed at the little cat covered with a towel by the bed and then stood up to help her mother sit up straight, adjusting the backrest. “Mom, you just said you wouldn’t worry about my livelihood. That’s so true. I just had a dream before yesterday that I would be well clothed and fed in the future, living a comfortable life through painting.”
“Did you dream of what your future husband looks like?”
Lu Jingqiu paused slightly, her expression a bit unnatural as she said, “Actually, I didn’t dream about that. I guess he must treat
very well; otherwise, I wouldn’t have dread sothing like that. I was so happy in my dream.”
Zhou Lanping chuckled. Recently, she had been quite anxious about her daughter’s marital prospects. In Ten-miles Village, even though she didn’t care much about Xia Lin’s attitude, Xia Lin’s words about her daughter never getting married still bothered her.
A few days ago, she even suggested her daughter secretly check out the new young doctor at the hospital, to which her daughter said he was too frail.
Zhou Lanping was surprised her daughter didn’t like skinny n. But then again… Gao Shu was also on the thin side!
It was past eleven when my aunt ca over with two lunch boxes, the dumplings inside slling incredibly appetizing.
Although they were delicious, Mom only ate seven or eight before the rest ended up in Lu Jingqiu’s stomach.
The little kitty was still drinking the rice soup left over from this morning.
My aunt wasn’t too fond of the kitten and thought when people themselves weren’t guaranteed a full al, there wasn’t much point in feeding such animals that could grow big enough to catch mice at ho.
After the al, Lu Jingqiu carried the lunch boxes back ho, took a bath, glanced at the ti, and without even considering a nap, hurried to finish the remaining work.
Zhang Miao showed up on her bike a little after two in the afternoon.
Upon seeing the illustrations she presented, she was imdiately struck by them—the content was rich, and each character was vivid.
“You managed to paint this in one day, and the composition is striking, the content colorful, and the characters well-crafted. This fits what I had in mind. I’ll take this one to show the editor-in-chief. If they think it’s good, we’ll proceed with this style,” Zhang Miao said.
“Sure,” Jingqiu replied.
Zhang Miao didn’t dally, and hastily grabbed the illustrations and left.
Lu Jingqiu kept working, confident in passing the editorial departnt’s review, so she started planning the next few pages. Normally, they would only need sketches at this stage, but she colored the illustrations overnight, hoping to give herself a competitive edge and make it more visual for them.
She had been engrossed in her painting in the small storage room on the second floor for over two hours when her second cousin ca in, prompting her to finally put down her pen.
“Second cousin, how co you’re back so early today?” she asked.
Yang Mingchao gave a mysterious smile, pulled out a stack of money from his pocket, and placed it in front of Lu Jingqiu, “The money you gave
earlier, I’ve just tied up the loose ends, made a good profit, this is your principal and the earnings.”
Jingqiu counted the money, astonished, and looked at her second cousin. “Eight…eight hundred? All for ?”
Yang Mingchao nodded with a smile.
“Second cousin, that’s too much, I…” Jingqiu began.
Before she could finish, she received a playful flick on the forehead from Mingchao, “Others always want more money, but you’re acting picky. I rember you used to be greedy.”
Jingqiu touched her forehead with a sheepish grin, “I ant it as a loan to second cousin. If you’re giving it back to , just a few bills would have been enough. I didn’t expect so much.”
“What I give you is yours. Don’t worry, I earned more than you. And it cos right on ti, aunt could really use the money for the hospital,” said Mingchao.
Speaking of her mother’s illness, Jingqiu couldn’t argue further. Last week, her father had sold the ginseng they dug up for Five Thousand Yuan.
Before purchasing, they had it evaluated and was told it was at least a hundred years old. So while the price they got for it was high, it wasn’t unreasonable, especially as it’s not every day that such a sum can be conjured up all at once—it took almost half a month to find a buyer.
It was not the full amount, the buyer had only paid a little over three thousand. The rest was settled with a small courtyard house in the city.
Her father had hesitated for several days before agreeing, mainly because finding soone who could provide that much money on short notice was tough.
The little over three thousand they got, added to what they had saved up, ant that there was no need to worry about the cost of dication for mom’s hospital stay.
“Second cousin, there’s still so money left for mom’s dical treatnt, so we don’t need it right now. If you co across another way to make money in the future, rember to include . I need to save up for mom’s dical bills.”
Mingchao readily agreed, adding, “Qiuqiu, since you say so, I actually have a good opportunity coming up. Trust , I’ll take this money for now, and I promise you won’t lose out in the end. It’ll take a while though, probably not until after the New Year. But if… aunt needs money before then, just tell .”
“Second cousin, when we went on our trip, we accidentally stumbled upon a hundred-year-old ginseng. Dad secretly sold it, and we still have so money left over, so don’t worry about mom’s dical expenses,” Jingqiu shared.
“Ginseng? Wow, you guys really lucked out. But yeah, it’s the kind of thing you have to do on the sly,” agreed Mingchao.
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