Lu Qing stood before the door.
If there was anything in the world that surpassed love and friendship and struck straight to the heart—
It was undoubtedly "encountering someone who completely understands your aesthetic taste," and moreover, this person must hold a special place in your life.
Now, his sister Su Ling had uttered the words, "I only want to delve deeply into ACG."
As the former lead guitarist, captain, and arranger of the ACG j-rock band "Hualvqing," Lu Qing was utterly shattered.
In his eyes, nothing was more touching than the willingness to change one's aesthetic for someone else.
Because you like it, I will learn about it;
Because you love it, I will delve into it;
Because of your original intention, I will understand it.
—"A true friend is hard to find."
Lu Qing didn't know that his sister had "dismantled" his way of thinking.
From his perspective, she was simply expressing a music taste that perfectly overlapped with his own.
Was this fate?
The muse had bestowed upon me "her," and at this very moment, she extended her strong hand towards me.
If that was the case.
"Then let's go all out."
He thought this.
Thought this.
Invisible,
The impulse to dedicate his life to his sister increased by 50%.
Outside the room, downstairs in the apartment complex.
Another woman, wronged and dejected, sat dejectedly on the grass by the flowerbed.
If Su Ling would directly "anchor her aesthetic" for Lu Qing, to understand everything about her brother and get close to everything about him;
Then Tang Hua was willing to offer him—
【Become his aesthetic】.
Whatever the boss likes, I will imitate.
Whatever the boss wants to see, I will cosplay.
Whatever the boss desires, I will become.
If the boss has fantasies,
Then I will become the object of his fantasies,
Fulfilling his "delusions."
「I will twist myself, I will reconstruct myself.」
"I am willing to give him everything."
【Even my life.】
—"Tang Hua·Enhanced+57Plus Edition Bottom Layer Logic."
At this moment, the telescope had rolled into the grass beside her.
Only because the despairing Tang Hua had discovered that the boss was installing a panoramic camera at his doorstep.
"The boss doesn't want me to get close to him anymore."
The boss's home had become a "forbidden zone."
The plan to hear the boss's voice every day had been shattered.
The chance to secretly photograph the boss's moment of stepping out of the house with his backpack was gone.
A crucial scene CG could no longer be collected.
Full memory achievement -1.
Not only that.
Just now, a girl seemed to appear faintly at his doorstep.
「Who is she?」
The boss's girlfriend?
Already living together?
No.
Don't.
Don't!!!!!!
This kind of thing is absolutely unacceptable...
Tang Hua clutched her head, tearing at her hair.
Her desolate face, with bloodshot eyes now veiled by a layer of tears.
Double the sorrow painted a twisted sense of suffering,
Tang Hua felt an old darkness.
Reaching into her fitness bag,
The pocketknife she always carried.
【Want to punish myself.】
【For not acting before the boss found a live-in girlfriend.】
【Hate my own weakness, hate my lack of courage.】
Pushing the blade up, gritting her teeth and ready.
At this critical moment,
A sudden animal cry echoed beside her.
"Ah——Nya!!"
"?"
Tang Hua's actions halted.
Her brows deeply furrowed, she turned her head to glance.
A large orange cat, followed by a group of stray cats, slightly tilted its head, glaring at her.
"..."
"Meow!"
"Meow-ow!!"
"Meow-woo——!"
"Ah——Nya!!"
"..."
The number of strays, quite a lot.
Did I occupy their territory?
Tang Hua dropped the pocketknife, picked up her bag, and fled in panic.
The neighborhood's dominant fat cat didn't mess around, leading its gang to chase her for over ten meters before finally squatting at the edge of the flowerbed, wagging its fat tail, and giving Tang Hua a warning look—
Human, don't come again.
"..."
Tang Hua felt grief rise within her, defeated.
Leaning against a dark corner of the complex, her back against the wall, she slid down slowly.
Sob.
Bullied.
Chased by the police for reporting.
Installed surveillance by the boss.
Blocked by the security guards.
Invaded by a woman.
Now, even the cats in the complex have issued an ultimatum, telling me not to come again.
"I really want to die."
Tang Hua's gaze dimmed.
Such a life, there's not a shred of meaning.
Weakly sitting in the corner,
Quietly,
Quietly taking out a small yellow box from her bag.
—"Hope Brand" Banana Milk.
Crunch.
Pulling out the straw,
Peeling off the packaging,
Inserting it into the slot.
Tang Hua silently brought the small mouth to it.
Her silver teeth gently bit the straw, healing herself with the banana-flavored liquid.
Even though it was her favorite drink,
At this moment, Tang Hua's expression was even more desolate than ever before.
Sigh.
There's no hope anymore.
Her gaze aimlessly scanned the complex.
Not far away, a figure walked past the entrance, catching her attention.
A girl in a men's black overcoat, though the coat didn't fit well,
Her cuteness was no less than the girl who had just been by the boss's side upstairs.
At the moment, the girl carried a bag of breakfast, calmly swiped her access card.
Under the respectful nod of Security Captain Uncle Wang, she hopped into the complex.
What was in the bag she carried seemed to be paninis.
"♪~"
The girl hummed a tune, her spirit exceptionally high.
It was clear that she was in a very good mood.
Compared to her own dark and defeated state, she was in an entirely different world.
Why, under the same blue sky, on the same piece of earth, would there be such a happy person, spreading joy—
Even hurting herself?
"Ah..."
"How enviable."
Such a happy person.
Sigh.
Tang Hua felt even more pain.
But she couldn't help but watch the girl, watching her walk towards Building C, Unit 1901.
"?"
Tang Hua stood up.
Like someone abandoned by the world, she felt a certain premonition.
A woman's sixth sense is very accurate.
「Especially for a severely gloomy woman」.
Indeed.
Indeed she, got on the elevator,
A minute or two later, appeared in the corridor on the 19th floor.
Tang Hua took out another pair of binoculars from her bag, held it to her nose, and continued to envy the girl's actions.
"Why would such a happy person live on the same floor as the boss?"
Envy.
Pain.
After the pain, an unexpected realization.
"Ah..."
"She even stopped in front of the boss's door."
"What is she doing?"
"She's pressing her ear against the boss's door, is she a pervert?"
Tang Hua frowned.
"She probably doesn't know that the boss's house has surveillance cameras installed."
"Such a thing, just lift your head and you'll see it, right?"
"Ah..."
Tang Hua sighed.
"So she's the bad neighbor living next to the boss."
Watching Bai Xing, with her paninis, happily eavesdropping for 10 minutes before opening the door to 1902.
Tang Hua let out a deep, deep sigh.
Understood.
「Completely understood.」
Who is secretly observing.
Who is plotting in the shadows.
Who is interfering with my love for the boss.
Who is obstructing my final collection.
For Tang Hua, collecting every smile of the boss was something she had planned to complete at the end of her【life】, a final "big assignment" she left for herself.
Clearly intended to paste all the printed papers on the walls,
Then let go of her hands, embrace the sky.
Clearly wanted to end her trash life,
Leap into freedom.
But now, every time she sees the boss,
A new strength seems to whisper silently in her ear,
"Don't give up."
"Don't be sad."
"Keep going."
"Tang Yan, you can do it."
"Don't cry."
"I'm still waiting for you."
「I've thought about ending it all before」.
This was Tang Yan's favorite song.
After meeting the boss—
"What's wrong with living one more day?"
With this thought, step by step, step by step,
Walk on.
Walk until today.
"I am a worm in the shadows, unworthy of stepping into the boss's life."
“But as long as the boss is willing to continue shining upon me, I will persist in living, until I have exhausted my last ounce of strength.”
“However, however…”
“Boss.”
“I simply… cannot pretend that I don’t care, seeing that adorable 'she' by your side.”
“Even if I want to forget this memory, I simply… cannot. I can’t. I can’t help but imagine what she does with you. I can’t stop thinking, can’t stop fantasizing.”
“What should I do, what should I do, boss…”
Perhaps,
tomorrow’s morning light will no longer be cast on the same canvas as yesterday.
The colors will grow colder,
just like the heart, which also has its temperature.
Plop, plop.
Drops of rain fall to the ground.
The sky is overcast,
clouds dense.
Tang Hua lowers her head.
Like a zombie, she walks toward the back gate of the compound.
Her pocket holds no umbrella.
But it doesn’t matter.
Getting soaked by the rain is fine.
It’s always been like this,
fear of going out,
not wanting to go out,
not wanting to go downstairs,
not wanting to touch the air beyond the confines of her tiny room.
—「Because no one has ever held an umbrella for me.」
From childhood to adulthood,
there has never been such a person.
The strictness of family education, the controlling nature of elders, frozen accounts, confiscated comic books, torn, and thrown into the fire.
Even now, she remembers the ferocious smiles of her parents at a barbecue party.
“I…”
“Am not a toy for men.”
“Not something you can just sell to whoever you want.”
— So, people like you, are the most annoying.
The most annoying.
“Ah…”
The rain grows heavier.
She retraces her escape route, passing by the flowerbed where the cats usually gather.
The big orange cat is still there, lifting its neck to glance at Tang Hua.
Perhaps intimidated by her zombie-like demeanor,
This time, it doesn't send its minions to tail and expel her.
It simply watches silently, out of respect.
Ah.
Tang Hua arrives at the southern gate of the community, in front of the black iron railing.
She grips two of the railings with both hands, like a prisoner in a jail, turning her head to gaze blankly at the windowsill of the reception room.
Inside, Old Liu is startled awake.
He turns off the audiobook, kicks the switch, and the gate opens.
The zombie is let out of the community.
Ah.
Tang Hua sighs, tossing the black gym bag into the corner of the garbage pile.
No more stalking.
Even if it still contains the eavesdropping devices she saved up for a long time to buy,
from today onwards, they are completely unnecessary.
By the way,
tonight, the night is also beautiful.
If she lets go now, maybe it’s not too late.
After going home, take a shower.
Clean her body thoroughly.
Dry her hair.
Put on pretty clothes.
Do a meticulous makeup.
Apply the pink lip gloss purchased with the boss's money.
Drink a box of banana milk.
Finally, tidy up the room one last time.
Take down the 865 photos of the boss from the wall.
Wipe them clean and store them in a box.
Before that, look at each one a few more times.
Without considering the electricity bill, turn on the lights.
Ah.
Is there anything else to do?
Oh, send the boss’s leather case.
Although it’s only 80% complete,
I…
“Have also done my best, ah.”
Boss, I’m sorry.
You’ll forgive me, right?
The rain intensifies.
White mist bursts on the streets.
There are no pedestrians in sight.
Tang Hua walks through the sea of rain.
Ignoring the three-stop distance between the community and her rented apartment.
Step by step, step by step, she trudges through.
“Ah…”
Upon careful recollection,
since running away from home,
what else has brought her joy?
Her life, apart from the boss,
seems to have fallen apart, messy and broken.
Just like her, battered and bruised.
【Just like that first rainy night, when she received the boss’s order.】
“Let me read the boss’s words again.”
Tang Hua pulls out her phone from under her skirt,
ignoring the torrential rain,
opens the QQ app, and clicks into the mailbox page.
The rain droplets make the touchscreen sluggish and unresponsive.
Tang Hua doesn’t mind.
She wipes the water droplets with her thumb again and again.
She just wants,
just wants,
to see them one more time.
The boss’s heartfelt praise from that day.
Ah.
“Found it.”
【I’m very satisfied with your technique, and I believe no one else knows how to depict sexual tension as well as you do. If you’re interested in future collaborations, feel free to add me on QQ. I look forward to your message.】
【Every one of your drawings amazes me. Specifically, it’s a kind of comfort and sense of security that no one else can replicate. You have a unique style, purely original, with plenty of creativity, and you stand out.】
【I don’t care if you’re thirty-eight or fifty-eight, or if you’re willing to listen to this college student’s pretentious advice. You just need to know that, in my eyes, you’re an exceptionally talented artist. You possess, and will eventually create, works of the highest quality that no other artist can imitate.】
【No matter what others say, it doesn’t matter, because I recognize your talent. I will continue to place orders with you, continue to commission you, without any interference. This business will never be lost with me, as long as I’m still creating.】
“Boss.”
Life is tough, don't forget your original intention.
“Boss…”
The rain pours down.
Tang Yan uses her arm to rub away the water droplets constantly welling up in her eyes.
Whether it’s the thick gloom of the morning or a problem with her tear ducts, she doesn’t know.
“Satisfied.”
She reads the boss’s praise one last time.
Receives the boss’s encouragement.
Then,
that’s it.
She smiles,
a very casual smile.
【Ding ding ding ding】
【Ding ding ding ding ding ding】
?
Just as she’s about to throw the phone far into the garbage pile,
Tang Hua suddenly notices, on the spiderweb-cracked screen,
a single WeChat message pop up,
the only one that might appear.
“Ah.”
It’s the boss.
It’s the boss…
It’s the boss……
Just one last look.
One last look.
Just one.
She sniffs, wiping the liquid with her soaked sleeve once more.
After several attempts, she finally opens the WeChat message—
【Bu Zhi Kong: Lubia, are you there? It’s been a few days, how’s the progress on the order I placed earlier?】
Ah.
She sighs.
Of course, it’s about the order…
She stretches out her hand, straining to type a few words on the almost broken screen—
【Not done yet.】
【Bu Zhi Kong: I see. That’s just as well, I wanted to discuss some character design issues with you. You’re in Tianhai City, right?】
“?”
Her breath suddenly catches.
Bu Zhi Kong: Let's meet up, how about next weekend? I think discussing L2D in person would be better, after all, I paid a 20,000 RMB deposit, and if you do a good job, I plan to add more balance. You won't disappoint me, right?
“??”
She can’t breathe.
【Where should we meet?】
She types the message tremulously.
However,
the words that follow,
make Tang Hua plop down onto the flooded street—
【Bu Zhi Kong: At your place.
After all, your art workstation is already set up, and we can fine-tune the details on the spot, which is more efficient and direct than a coffee shop.
Lubia, if that’s okay, send me your location?】
……
……