We moved to Golden Courtyard

Xu Qi's words struck a chord with Liu Qi.

It's like eating a bite of chilled melon on a sweltering summer day—utterly refreshing.

"That's absolutely right!"

Liu Qi picked up the wine glass from the table.

I salute you!

"You're too kind, Teacher Liu."

After clinking glasses, they downed the wine in one gulp. It was clearly high-end red wine, but the way he drank it was like beer. Although it was strange, Xu Qi didn't find it inappropriate; on the contrary, he felt quite comfortable with it.

But I just kept feeling that Liu Qi's gaze towards me was getting stranger and stranger...

It was as if they wanted to swallow him whole.

"Miss Seele's drawing skills are excellent, not to mention her basic skills in drawing lines. She is just as good as me. She is very adept at drawing things like mecha."

But...her problem lies in her drawing people.

Xu Qi adopted a posture of listening attentively.

"I'm not saying there's a problem with the person's physique, but with the expression... Miss Seele's original drawings have recently become more and more superficial, tending towards a textbook-style method of expression."

To use an example you can understand, imagine drawing a person crying. The corners of the mouth turn down, tears stream down—a completely formulaic drawing, devoid of any artist's thought or thought.

Xu Qi's eyes immediately lit up, and he added.

"I understand! I understand! For example, when two people part ways, the formulaic feeling is that they cry and hug each other, not wanting the other to leave."

But certainly not—"Holding hands, gazing at each other with tearful eyes, speechless and choked with emotion." Such a scene!

"Pretty much the same."

"Or perhaps, when a person is angry, they are all baring their teeth and brandishing their claws, their face contorted in a ferocious expression! This is a formulaic way of thinking. But is anger always the same? Is it something that is hidden beneath a calm exterior, so cold that it makes people afraid to breathe?"

This is also anger!

Liu Qi clapped and cheered.

"Yes, yes, yes! That's exactly the feeling!"

Xu Qi understood.

"What you're saying... I can roughly understand where Seele's problem lies, but isn't it..."

"Are you saying I'm too harsh on her?"

Xu Qi gave an awkward smile.

“If it were any other episode, it might be acceptable, but regardless of the 28 episodes I was in charge of, it’s clear that this is the most important episode of the entire Seed series! Manager Xu… are you willing to let such an episode become a formulaic expression?”

That certainly won't work.

Xu Qi sighed – if that's the case, it's really not a good solution…

"After all, it's a job, not something you learn in school. If Seele really can't draw well, we'll have to find a different animator as soon as possible."

Liu Qi raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you would give her more opportunities because she is Seele."

Xu Qi shook his head.

"Where do so many opportunities come from? If a person can only survive in this world by relying on the charity of others, then he is born to die."

The words may sound harsh, but the reasoning behind them is sound.

Liu Qi stared at Xu Qi in a daze—only after getting to know him did she realize that he was so similar to her in so many ways.

"Speaking of which, I haven't had a chance to ask yet, Manager Xu... how old are you this year?"

"what?"

772. Anna doesn't dislike the young master.

Xu Qi never expected that Liu Qi would ask about his age.

Is there... something wrong with this? Or does she feel she's too young, inexperienced and unreliable? That can't be...

Xu Qi is 26 this year, but after thinking it over, he still reported an age that is one year older than his actual age.

"I'm...27."

"Really?"

To everyone's surprise, Liu Qi's eyes lit up after hearing this, as if she had discovered something incredibly good!

So your standard for age is that 27 years old is enough to become a leader?

"I'm 30."

"Huh? Oh...oh..." Xu Qi was a little confused. I'm 27 and you're 30, what's wrong with that? Are you trying to show off that you're older than me?

Okay... you're the older sister, right?

"I've always heard that, Manager Xu... well, regarding her private life..."

"Ah... I can only say that some of the rumors are indeed true." Xu Qi scratched his head, looking quite embarrassed. If it were a man, he could have talked about it openly.

But... but Teacher Liu is a woman...

"for example?"

"Well, Teacher Liu probably knows that by modern standards, I'm a complete scumbag. I have a girlfriend... wait..."

I've already proposed. Next year, when my girlfriend turns 20, we can officially register our marriage. You should have heard of Teacher Liu; her name is Mei, and she's my fiancée.

Then… even after I got Mei, I still maintained some ambiguous relationships with other girls… like Alicia, and there were quite a few girls around me.”

If another woman heard this, she would probably have run away in fear long ago.

Those with more courage might have already thrown a cup of water at it.

Therefore, Xu Qi has always been reluctant to talk about his private life, because it would seem a bit chaotic to anyone who were to listen.

"Oh... so they both knew..."

"I...I know." Xu Qi lowered his head in shame as he said this.

They were all good girls, while I was truly a scoundrel.

"I know this must be hard to accept..."

"Ah, it's actually not bad."

"Really? That's good, that's good..." Xu Qi breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could catch his breath, he frowned—wait a minute? Actually, it's alright?

Liu Qi took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket; this was the first time Xu Qi had ever seen a woman smoke.

"You don't mind, do you?"

"It's alright, please go ahead."

After Xu Qi finished speaking, Liu Qi started puffing on a cigarette.

"There's no such thing as a perfect relationship. They were both aware of each other's existence. The other people who came later also knew about your situation, but they still chose to be with you, right?"

Xu Qi nodded.

"That Miss Mei has it tough. She was the first one, but she has to share you with other women. Anyone would find that unacceptable."

But Mei accepted it...

It's simply because she doesn't want to leave Xu Qi.

Therefore, Xu Qi's love for Mei will always carry a hint of guilt.

To be honest, I've never been in a relationship.

"Oh..." Xu Qi wasn't too surprised that Liu Qi had never been in a relationship at 30, after all... there were many older women in the courtyard who were almost 30 or already 30.

She'd never been in a relationship, and then he got all the benefits.

Liu Qi was somewhat surprised.

"I thought you would mind this kind of thing, a 30-year-old woman who has never been in a relationship, doesn't understand romance, and wears strange clothes to work every day..."

I was already planning to thank you for not calling me crazy.

"This...this doesn't seem to be a problem..." After all, Xu Qi was used to it.

Look at Yingjie, she's already 30, and you think she's clueless about romance? That's definitely how I felt before we got together, but now that we're together...

Ask my kidneys, and see if they agree with this argument.

"You really don't care?"

Xu Qi shook her head, but then felt something was off... Right now, a man and a woman were dining together in this elegant and stylish place, and all they were talking about was...

No, I invited Liu Qi to dinner to talk about work, I didn't mean to flirt with her!

The two talked for a while, but the more they talked, the more they felt something was off.

The conversation has gradually shifted from discussing Xier's issues to discussing Xu Qi's personal issues.

Fortunately, he had already given a general description of Seele's problem. As for the other questions... he would consider it a way of thanking Teacher Liu for his explanation.

Ultimately, the meal ended in a daze.

After the meal, Xu Qi offered to take Liu Qi home, but Liu Qi, with a flushed face, glanced at Xu Qi with a hint of reproach and said, "Manager Xu, don't be in such a hurry, take your time."

No? Take it slow? What do you mean?

In the end, I still helped Liu Qi call a taxi.

Xu Qi breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the 30-year-old actress in period costume leave.

"Isn't it great? She must have thought of this meal as a blind date."

The voice came from behind. Xu Qi turned around and saw Miss Anna standing gracefully behind him, like an elf from a snow country.

A light blue high-waisted skirt, a white fitted top, and a simple coat over it all made Miss Anna look more youthful while still retaining her beauty.

Anna gently tossed her chestnut-brown hair aside and asked playfully, "Is the young master so engrossed in watching?"

"Did you dress up specially?"

"Yes... I thought I'd have to pretend to be the young master's female companion to help drive away some unimportant people, but who would have thought that the man was interested in the woman..."

Xu Qi waved her hand and laughed, "What kind of thinking is that? Miss Liu Qi and I have a normal working relationship. It's not as complicated as you think."

"Really?"

"That's just how it is."

"Then I will report this to Miss Eden."

"Ahem! Ahem... Sister Anna, as my sister's secretary, you don't necessarily have to report everything to her."

Anna asked, her eyes filled with a hint of mischief.

"Is that so? But after all, it concerns the young master..."

"Just tell me how I can stop talking."

Anna leaned closer and whispered in her ear.

"There's a swimming pool behind this villa. Young Master didn't really teach me how to swim last time. This time... should we help Anna again?"

Xu Qi's expression was unusual, clearly indicating that he was thinking about his somewhat romantic time with Anna.

At the same time, I also thought about my conversations with Anna and Sister Eden.

"Sister Anna, you're really not treating me like this because of my sister?"

Anna blinked, seemingly not quite understanding what Xu Qi was saying.

"If it's because your sister later..." Xu Qi didn't finish his sentence, but Anna pointed a finger at his lips.

"It seems there's something I need to make sure you understand before I can learn to swim from the young master."

There's something else? What is it?