【Ah…】
【So agonizing.】
【So irritable.】
【It’s been 49 hours, 51 minutes, and 37 seconds since I last talked to Boss.】
【I want to die.】
……
In a dilapidated rental room filled with mountains of trash, only the faint glow of a touch screen illuminated the space.
The blue light, harmful to the eyes, radiated around without restraint. Yet, in its unbridled glow, it revealed a face so stunning it could rival a Victoria's Secret model.
“Ah…”
“It’s been three days since I last ate…”
Like a puddle of mud, she lay sprawled on the bed, letting out a long sigh.
Exhaling the foul air from her chest.
With sharp nails digging into the flesh of her palm,
Tang Hua’s eyes were tightly closed, her consciousness hazy.
“Boss hasn’t updated social media…”
She muttered to herself,
“Nor has he updated his author’s status.”
He hasn’t posted any complaints about life on his Weibo account.
Even his QQ avatar has remained in the "Away" state for eight hours, three minutes, and sixteen seconds.
Boss…
What could he possibly be doing?
“…I really want to know.”
Tang Hua flipped onto her back, her limbs spread out toward the low ceiling.
Her long, jet-black hair trailing down to her hips was tangled beneath her, causing discomfort that she ignored.
The scene in the room was rather peculiar.
Her enchanting body stood in stark contrast to the towering piles of trash, with hygiene and appearance completely mismatched.
In truth, she wasn’t unwilling to go outside.
It was just that she had no money left.
She couldn’t afford food.
The trash boxes were filled with leftovers from previous meals, and even if she only went downstairs to throw them out every two weeks, it would be fine.
As for her daily routine…
She just needed to take baths on time, do yoga, drink milk, and paint on schedule.
Cleaning? Not necessary.
Just take care of herself.
“I’m so hungry…”
“So tired.”
“So suffocating.”
“But I still don’t want to go downstairs.”
Tang Hua sighed softly.
【Ding】
She grabbed her cracked phone and checked the message—
【Dear Ms. Tang Hua, your credit card payment for this month is 「3326」RMB. Please settle it within 30 days.】
“……”
With a loud slap, she threw the phone across the room, hitting the wall several meters away.
Crack.
As the phone fell to the ground, she noticed a hole had appeared in a printed photo on the wall.
Though small, it made Tang Hua frown, and she suddenly sat up.
Oh no.
“Boss, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
She got up like a possessed person, kicked the blacked-out phone aside, and waded through the piles of takeout boxes to reach the photo. She pressed her beautiful face against it.
—It was clear this wasn’t the first time she’d done this.
The tempered glass on the phone was shattered like a spiderweb,
and the protective case was a soft rubber sleeve, not a hard plastic one.
“Boss, Boss…”
“Forgive me, Boss…”
“Boss, are you listening…”
“Boss, I can’t hold on anymore…”
She rubbed against the wall, murmuring to herself.
At this moment, she was facing the biggest crisis in her life.
—She was about to starve to death.
The reason? This month’s payment from Twitter hadn’t arrived yet,
and even if it did, it might be a fraction of what she usually earned.
Why?
Because every time she chatted with Boss, Tang Hua would despise herself even more for having to rely on posting cosplay photos on Twitter to make a living.
—So dirty.
“I’m so dirty.”
“Would Boss hate someone like me…”
“No one would like a cosplayer, right?”
Even if she didn’t meet anyone offline, relying on heavily edited photos to attract attention would surely disgust Boss…
“Ah.”
Although her cosplay photos weren’t heavily edited, Tang Hua’s mind was filled with only one thought.
Regret.
Regret to the point of wanting to gouge out her own eyes.
Regret to the point of wanting to punish herself.
“Hmm.”
At this thought,
she rushed back to the bed, grabbed a craft knife from beside her pillow, and gripped the handle tightly, pushing her thumb upward—
With a numb yet decisive, ruthless force, she slashed across the dried scars on her left wrist, which had already accumulated more than a dozen marks.
Sss—!!!
“……Ugh!”
A muffled groan caught in her throat as she bit her teeth and focused on the pain.
Squinting her eyes, she took deep breaths,
deep breaths,
deep breaths.
Mmm.
—A little more awake now.
She lowered her thumb, ignoring the blood still dripping, retracting the thin blade of the craft knife,
then skillfully pulled out a packet of band-aids from under her pillow, tore open the packaging with her teeth, dropped the knife, and pulled out one, wrapping it around the wound on her left wrist with one hand.
Finally, she grabbed some gauze and wrapped it tightly around her wrist, one loop after another.
“Hiss.”
The pain cleared her mind.
Even in her hunger, she felt invigorated, as if injected with adrenaline.
“Forget it, I shouldn’t even think about inviting Boss out.”
Tang Hua smiled faintly,
smiling at the wall.
“Ah.”
Feeling herself ridiculous.
The idea of inviting Boss out was ridiculous.
After all, that was a thought that only came during the day.
—Tang Hua’s day was different from others.
Her day was the night for most people.
Her reversed biological clock meant she rarely slept before 8 AM,
but to avoid disturbing Boss at night, she always delayed her sleep until her eyelids could no longer stay open.
For her, staying up all night had become routine.
After all, illustrators rarely work before 8 AM.
Cosplayers also prefer posing and recording selfies under the fill lights in the dead of night.
But now.
The cosplay that once supported her life, she no longer wanted to do.
Without Boss’s commissions, she had no motivation to paint.
Her disciplined life had come to a halt due to lack of money.
She owed money on her credit card and couldn’t pay it back.
Even though her Alipay Jiebei still had a limit, she no longer wanted to borrow money from everywhere.
“Boss…”
Tang Hua’s gaze shifted to the phone, wanting to reach out and pick it up.
However, her movement stopped at merely raising her arm.
“Sigh.”
Her third sigh of the day.
Every time she thought of seeing Boss, she sighed.
Even just chatting,
it would bring immense pressure.
After all…
Every “harassment” and every seemingly ordinary casual chat was something she had spent over 12 hours preparing for—gathering topics, collecting information, carefully editing every word, trembling with anxiety, weaving them together bit by bit.
Afraid that any link might go wrong.
Now…
She no longer had the energy to actively engage with Boss.
No food.
No money.
I want to die.
Boss, what is he doing right now?
I really want to know, I really want to see…
“Ah, so annoying.”
I could have found the answer myself.
Every time I went downstairs to throw out the trash, it was always toward the direction of Tianhe Platinum Apartments.
I could have seen him whenever I wanted, could have pretended to be a student and brushed past him in front of the university building’s restroom.
When leaving the school, the security guards would even stare at me as I walked away.
But…
But…
“What’s going on.”
“How infuriating.”
Tang Hua grabbed the corners of the bedsheet with both hands, gritting her teeth and breathing heavily.
If only last time, I could have installed a listening device into Boss’s home.
But why, why did a group of auxiliary police suddenly rush up the stairs?
And they were coming for me, saying they suspected I was a fanatic stalker, ordering me to leave immediately.
Otherwise, they’d have to take me to the police station for a chat?
Ha?
Me?
A stalker?
Am I not prettier than a star?
Is K-pop even worth my time?
Hmph.
“What a bunch of lunatics.”
Tang Hua sneered.
Though she managed to bluff her way through, it was a close call.
As long as Boss didn’t notice, it was fine.
As long as he didn’t form a bad impression of me, it was fine.
Whatever.
She felt a bit relieved.
“So…”
At such a sensitive time, absolutely, absolutely can’t act recklessly anymore.
Even if I’m about to starve to death.
I can’t crawl out of this room and try to see Boss one last time before I die.
Otherwise, if I’m caught, if Boss finds out that I’m such a strange person…
He…
Would definitely look at me with contempt, wouldn’t he…
“…Ugh.”
Living is truly meaningless.
Tang Hua let go of the bedsheet and curled up on it again.
Since the phone was too far away in the trash, and she was already lying down, she decided to pick it up another day.
But…
"I still want to see Boss's avatar..."
She muttered, reaching out and grabbing the tablet computer on the other side of her pillow.
“Let’s see if his avatar status has changed…”
Thinking this, she unlocked the screen and opened QQ.
At the same time, she opened a FeiXin window.
Observing both sides simultaneously.
On the QQ side, there were still a few TaoBao shop owners and customer service representatives left, used to receive order information or send finished products back to customers.
But on FeiXin, apart from the file transfer assistant, there was only one friend left, named "Bu Zhi Kong."
All her former university classmates and high school classmates had been deleted.
Her father, mother, grandparents, all had been blocked after she ran away from home due to their pressure to get married.
Even her brother, who hadn't done anything wrong, had recently been cut off from her.
After all, she had heard on the social media platform "Little Red Book" that—"Girls with brothers are called 'brother-raisers,' which is a minus in romantic relationships."
This had scared her so much that she immediately deleted her brother.
To avoid causing misunderstandings for her boss, Tang Hua chose to abandon her brother and planned to never add him back.
"As long as I cut off all connections with everyone, I am spotless, and I won't make the boss dissatisfied."
Just lie.
The past that cannot be changed can be covered up with pretense.
After all.
She was already very trashy, wasn't she?
"Hehe..." She giggled foolishly.
Although,
She had worked hard to get into the Central Academy of Fine Arts, into the oil painting major, but what she liked wasn't that at all.
Oil painting was something her father liked, and even though she was forced to learn it, she couldn't get into it at all.
At least, apart from completing assignments, she couldn't possibly study any more.
She was from Taiwan.
Her family situation... objectively speaking, was still quite good.
But that was only before she ran away from home.
If it weren't for her parents convincing the elders to force her to go on blind dates right after graduating from university and marry the person she met... heh...
"Ah."
Staring at Bu Zhi Kong's avatar, at the white clock icon in the lower right corner, Tang Hua pouted.
Murmuring,
"Boss..."
"Why wasn't it you who I went on a blind date with..."
"Woo."
Sobbing,
she moved the screen closer.
Her nose pressed against Bu Zhi Kong's avatar.
Through the internet,
she sniffed his scent.
"..."
Like a smoker getting lost in the moment.
In fact.
Recalling her previous experiences,
she knew in her heart,
that the man her parents had chosen for her blind date didn't have any fatal flaws on the surface.
35 years old, a German returnee with a PhD, running his own company, with three houses and a car, and he looked pretty average. During the meal, he spoke politely and had a gentlemanly demeanor.
Yet in Tang Hua's eyes...
"Just a dressed-up beast."
"Always staring at my chest, tch."
"Pervert,"
"Not a match for the boss."
Dislike was dislike.
Just like in university, when everyone else was pursuing an artist path, she was deeply engrossed in anime and the otaku culture.
Drawing illustrations, digital painting, even mastering thick paint techniques to perfection.
She was just mediocre when compared to those from art families.
Otherwise, who could easily get into the Central Academy of Fine Arts?
Could the other 49 losers in her TaoBao shop?
Heh.
Weaklings who don't understand the beauty of "greatness."
Tch.
Only the boss understands me, knows my aesthetic.
"Boss..."
"Hehehe..."
"Boss...~"
Before she knew it, she started laughing again.
"Ah, come to think of it, the internet bill is about to expire..."
"My phone, my phone is about to get cut off too."
"No way, this can't happen."
"I can't let myself not see the boss online..."
For Tang Hua, this was more distressing than starving to death.
Her mind raced, deciding to think of a way.
All relatives deleted.
Useless classmates deleted.
No best friends in university.
Because they were always jealous of her.
Stealing her brushes, mocking her artwork.
Annoying.
"Hmm... what should I do?"
Thinking and thinking,
she realized, having no money really means you can't do anything.
There was truly no way.
If she didn't borrow money, she'd starve.
If she didn't do cosplay, she'd have no extra income.
No extra income, no food.
"Oh no, the rent is about to expire too..."
She suddenly remembered, it was already autumn.
Four months had passed since the last time she paid...
Most landlords in Tianhai City usually remind you a month in advance, and rent is paid every six months, basically six months in advance with one month's deposit.
If you want to pay every three months, you have to pay two months' deposit in advance, which is hard to get back when you move out.
It's over.
Three thousand one hundred yuan for six months, that's over eighteen thousand yuan.
Twitter doesn't give me that much income.
Tang Hua's eyes were blank, looking at Bu Zhi Kong's avatar with a vacant expression.
Whether it was hunger to the extreme or the additional impact of despair,
anyway, if she slept like this, she might never wake up again.
She thought so.
Little by little, she narrowed her eyes.
......
......
【Ding ding ding ding】
It seemed like she dreamed of the boss's avatar jumping.
【Ding ding ding ding】
【Ding ding ding ding ding】
"?"
"?!!"
For ordinary people, being woken up just as you're about to fall asleep is very annoying.
But Tang Hua didn't.
Because she knew very well that this sound could only come from one person,
and that was the boss.
"Boss! Boss!!!!"
With all her strength, she sat up, like a wild beast that hadn't eaten for days, panting and holding the screen, staring intently at every word he sent.
【Bu Zhi Kong: Lubia, are you asleep? Oh, it's only one o'clock, never mind. I have a job here, not a novel cover, but a Live2D model for a skin, do you want to take it? If you do, I'll transfer you an advance payment first, the requirements will be sent to you later in text form, it's quite complex and demanding, so give me a quote, I can accept something reasonable.】
"???!!"
This time, Tang Hua's breathing was so rapid that it felt like she was about to suffocate.
"A job, a new job."
It was a new job from the boss!!
She pressed the tablet against her chest, propped her elbows on both sides, and her fingers typed out a long reply in a blur:
【Okay boss! I'll take any job you have! Any price is fine, you decide, even half the market price is fine, boss, just give me a bite, please, I'm starving!】
But just after typing it.
Her pretty face showed a slight hesitation.
Feeling that her tone was too excited?
After hesitating, she deleted everything.
Replaced it with a shorter message:
【I'll do whatever task the boss assigns, no matter what it is.】
After sending it, she looked it over repeatedly.
Feeling satisfied with this sentence.
It conveyed a cooperative attitude and wouldn't make the boss see her desperation, so it should be fine.
She thought so proudly, waiting for Lu Qing's reply.
Soon.
Lu Qing sent a picture and said:
"Alright, Lubia, this is a big V-tuber named Hoshizuki Rina. I want you to make a completely original skin, the hard requirement is that the quality must be higher than this, but don't make it too sexy. Do you have the confidence?"
Seeing this, Tang Hua's heart tightened.
She immediately clicked on it, examining it closely.
Previously, the boss had never issued such a formal task.
Even for novel commercial drafts, he would just leave a message after sending the requirements saying "you can freely express yourself."
Why this time...
She frowned, stretched out two fingers, and zoomed in on the picture.
Starting from the face, she went down bit by bit.
Chest, waist, legs, accessories, background.
She broke down the layers with her eyes, quickly going through the techniques.
"Probably no problem."
She muttered, replying: 【Boss, rest assured, I can handle all your tasks well.】
"That's good."
Lu Qing said satisfied, "Then prioritize quality, I still need to think about the character design, you just get the modeling done first, I'll add the soul later, aiming to surpass Hoshizuki Rina, understand?"
After saying that, he directly transferred 20,000 yuan, and in Tang Hua's stunned expression, her small mouth open wide enough to swallow a whole baguette, he said arrogantly:
"This is the advance payment, draw at this price first."
"For the subsequent half-body, full-body, clothes, actions, hair, scenes, etc., I will also pay you market price, adding money with each live broadcast requirement."
"......"
Gulp.
Plop.
Mmm.
"......"
Swallowing her saliva, she picked up the dropped tablet again.
Tang Hua loosened the neckline of her pajamas and silently sent her boss a sticker of a person kneeling and licking shoes.
"Twenty thousand yuan..."
She tilted her head back, her limbs feeling weak and limp after intense exertion.
For her,
the boss's money,
was nothing short of a lifesaver.
The rent issue was easily resolved, and she could even patch up some of the holes in her debts.
But...
Why,
did she feel a little less than thrilled?
"..."
Tang Hua pursed her lips and re-examined the image her boss had sent.
In fact, as a long-time artist in the otaku community,
how could she not know the market price for Vtuber skins?
A full set for 1,500 yuan was already decent, and a simpler skin for a thousand or so wasn't unwatchable.
For guild-affiliated big streamers, splurging a few thousand occasionally was understandable.
When she was at Taobao, she had received such Vtuber orders, with the cheapest buyer offering only 300 yuan for a Q-version half-body head, stiff as a board, with only three expressions, barely moving during live streams.
But this one from the boss...
Wait.
Suddenly.
Tang Hua realized the issue.
"—The boss is an author, what would an author need a skin for?"
She furrowed her brows, deep in thought.
Feeling uncomfortable in her posture, she put down the tablet, crossed her legs, and swept her hair behind her ears.
Thinking.
Thinking.
"Do authors nowadays do side gigs as Vtubers?"
Normally, no.
But some might.
Limited to female authors, though.
After all, a male author wearing a male skin wouldn't attract viewers, and wearing a female skin would be outright absurd.
And what would an author stream?
Voice changer + cuteness + live coding?
Would that even have a market?
Tang Hua shook her head and muttered, "Doesn't make sense... Has writing become so unprofitable that authors are now resorting to this, trying to steal the Vtuber's bread?"
No.
Impossible.
While 99% of authors flop, earning less than 500 yuan a month, even more pitiful than herself.
The boss is different.
The boss has Big Shot Certification, and his books are excellent. I've read them, and they're definitely doing well on that platform.
Hmm...
So, the boss isn't strapped for cash to this extent.
The boss buying a skin must be for someone else.
"..."
Tang Hua took a deep breath.
Though not the sharpest, she could guess that the boss probably wanted to buy a female skin for a girl, then collaborate with her through creative means.
As for why, that was unclear.
But...
—The relationship between him and her had already transcended the "20,000 yuan" mark.
Tang Hua could overlook other things, but every order from the boss, every penny she earned from him, was etched into her DNA, never to be forgotten.
"The boss spent 40,000 yuan on me."
"Now he's spending 20,000 on someone else."
"I'm twice as important as her."
The heavy air,
suddenly felt a bit lighter.
Hmph.
"Not a threat."
"She doesn't even know what color underwear the boss wears."
【I know.】
Tang Hua thought confidently.
A new smile crept onto her lips,
as she extended her finger and clicked to accept the boss's transfer.
"Oh my~"
With the money in hand, her mood brightened instantly.
"Money really is great."
It buys water, so she doesn't have to drink tap water.
It buys fresh food, so she doesn't have to eat leftovers or discounted bentos.
It buys fresh milk, not expired, and definitely not banana-flavored.
How wonderful.
She admired herself, gazing at the reflection on the screen.
"I'm so beautiful."
Hmph.
She chuckled.
Glancing at Hoshizuki Rina's illustration.
Examining it critically.
"Got it."
Her eyes narrowed.
A plan formed in her mind.
"If the boss just meant to prioritize me, have me design the model first, then wrap it with copywriting.
That means he's placing me upstream in the demand chain, with everything else downstream."
She pondered deeply, summoning every ounce of energy she had left before starvation.
"In other words..."
"If I, use this opportunity,"
"to make the skin 1:1..."
Me.
"!"
Abruptly.
Her pupils seemed to flare with a dark glow, her breathing quickening—
"Wouldn't that mean the person tied to the boss, from then on, would be wearing my skin, my image, making money for the boss?"
"Wouldn't that also mean the boss's 20,000 yuan was spent on me, and every day and night he'd be creating copywriting for me, packaging me into the most perfect form, letting a tool operate and perform, until I'm known far and wide?"
(Laughs).
She paused, her eyes rolling up in a sickly manner,
"By then, even if, I, put on, my own skin, replacing, that, woman, to stream—"
Fufu.
...
Tang Hua laughed.
She laughed very happily.
...
...