We moved to Golden Courtyard

As the saying goes, "No destruction, no construction." Only by making your boss feel the despair of potentially losing you will you have a chance to win her over. Am I right?

……

That's really a... good plan.

However, Xu Qi didn't seem very excited; in fact, he appeared somewhat disinterested.

"You've thought of this before, but you just weren't willing. But this time, I suggest you really harden your heart, otherwise... how will you and your sister make a breakthrough?"

Perhaps it was because she was resentful of Xu Qi's previous behavior towards her; Anna's words were filled with resentment.

Xu Qi didn't care and simply said, "My sister has been ruthless to others and to herself all along. I can imagine all of that."

Anna, you've learned a lot from her, but deep down you're not like that. You're saying this because you don't want me to treat her like that, right?

Anna remained silent...

“You’re right, but I’m serious about suggesting you do it.”

This time, Xu Qi was surprised.

"why?"

"Because I don't want to see the boss continue to be entangled like this, doing so will only make her more and more miserable... Either you harden your heart and just take a hard line!"

Get on the train first, buy the ticket later. The boss might be upset with you for a few days, but after that, it won't matter. Or you can steel yourself and do it the way I told you before.

She wants you to be her younger brother, and she wants you to be her lover... Is there really such a perfect thing in this world? If you want both, you have to pay a price, and pain... is one of those prices.

These words sound like something someone who has always been by Eden's side, building the Gold Group into a commercial empire, would say.

Pain is also one of the costs...

Xu Qi looked out the window at the light rain that had started to fall.

It's the rainy season, and there's been a lot of rain in the last few days.

This applies not only to Eden, but also to Seele.

······

Since talking with Liu Qi and Anna that night, Xu Qi seemed preoccupied.

Mei, who was closest to Xu Qi, naturally discovered this that very night.

However, she obediently didn't say much, but every night she used the gentlest posture and submissive behavior to satisfy Xu Qi and allow him to relax.

Xu Qi naturally understood Mei's thoughts.

Love is expressed in many different ways, and most of the time, it is not through words.

Back at the company, Xu Qi thought about it for many days and observed the situation for many days as well. Occasionally, he would wander into the illustrator's office to check on everyone's progress...

Also, I wanted to see Seele.

The little girl's workstation was right next to Celine's.

The observations were not entirely fruitless; for example, the pressure on Seele might have far exceeded her expectations.

……

"Xier, are you off work?"

"Ah, I...I'm working overtime today..."

Her soft, weak words, coupled with Seele's delicate appearance, made people feel sorry for her, and Sirin was no exception.

She looked at Xier with some concern and said, "What happened, Xier? You've been working overtime every day these past two days. I heard that Supervisor Liu returned all your cuts? Is she deliberately making things difficult for you?"

"No!...No!"

The seemingly frail little girl suddenly exuded an undeniable aura.

Seele said earnestly, "Teacher Liu is right, my original drawings... are indeed... not good enough."

"...Then do you want my help..."

"No need, thank you."

Hearing Seele's rejection again, Sirin couldn't hide her disappointment and left alone. She really wanted to help Seele, after all... she liked this little girl very much and considered her one of her few friends.

Before leaving, I inexplicably saw Xu Qi.

The little girl's eyes lit up, and she leaned closer, saying, "Hey! You've been coming to our illustrator's place quite often lately, what's up? Have you taken a fancy to someone?"

Although Xu Qi valued Xilin's talent and even specially borrowed her from MH, he only valued Xilin's abilities.

He had absolutely no interest in the girl herself.

If you really want to experience the beauty of a loli, Delta? Rin? Or even Xu Qi could try to find Theresa? Aren't they all better than her?

775. What? Going to bed doesn't count as relaxing anymore...?

"Don't worry, Miss Sirin, I have no ill intentions."

Xilin glanced at Xu Qi suspiciously, then seemed to think of something, looked back at Xier's workstation, thought for a moment, and lowered her voice.

"Sigh, do you know what's wrong with Seele lately?"

"First of all, I'm not called 'Hey,' and secondly, I'm not called 'Hey.' You can either call me Manager Xu or just call me by my real name. I don't mind."

"Tsk!" Celine immediately became unhappy, turned her head away, and left arrogantly—"Who cares to call you!"

Having finally seen off this powerful figure, Xu Qi's gaze now openly turned to Xi'er.

Seeing the little girl's pained expression, Xu Qi couldn't help but feel uneasy.

After all, he was all too familiar with that expression; when he was Calvin... he had that same expression.

After thinking for a moment, for some reason, Xu Qi suddenly took out her phone and recorded Xi'er with a slight smile. Xi'er herself was naturally unaware that she was completely absorbed in painting.

After recording for a while, almost everyone in the concept artist's office left.

But judging from Seele's appearance... it will probably take a long time to draw her.

After all, she had been painting with a gloomy face since the beginning, and even crumpled up the paper in her hand and threw it away halfway through!

It's clear that he's starting to feel increasingly anxious.

Right now, I guess he's not satisfied with anything he draws.

"It seems we've hit a bottleneck."

Xu Qi was not surprised by the voice that suddenly appeared beside him. He turned his head and saw Miss Rita standing naturally beside him with her arms crossed.

I don't know when it started, but Rita started growing her hair out.

The short, grey-gold hair that used to cover her left eye can now be styled into a bun at the back of her head. A woman with her hair styled in a bun is considered... to be married.

Xu Qi was quite tempted by her appearance as a wife.

Today, in particular, she wore a pure black cheongsam. From a distance, the pattern was not visible, but upon closer inspection, one could notice the black thread carvings on the cheongsam, outlining a series of stunning designs.

Actually, given the maid's figure, the cheongsam doesn't need to be too exquisite. Her alluring and charming figure, even when just standing normally, allows you to see a captivating curve along her back.

She's such a vixen.

"Our Rita, the general affairs manager, seems to know a lot about Seele's current situation?"

Rita glanced at Xu Qi, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"Manager Xu has seemed quite restless these past few days. Is it because of this?"

That's half right, but the other half... well, it's not so easy to say.

“Seele’s current state is clearly not suitable to continue. I’m considering whether we should change the concept artist right now.”

Rita sighed. If that really had to be the case... it would be too much of a blow to Miss Seele.

······

Can't draw it...

In fact, Seele understood Liu Qi's request. The most crucial part of the cut she was responsible for was capturing the mutual hatred between Kira and Athrun.

But... their feelings for each other were never simply based on hatred.

Perhaps at this moment, they both want to kill each other as soon as possible, but if they really do that, watching their best friend die at their own hands, can they really feel any pleasure?

Therefore, the expressions of these two people are the kind of expressions that cannot be interpreted using textbook methods.

Seele understood this from the very beginning.

Her decision to take on these roles might have been motivated by a desire to step outside her comfort zone.

But this isn't school... If you fail, you won't get repeated chances to try.

She didn't want to stay stagnant any longer; she wanted to... she wanted to create even better original artwork! And then, naturally, she would receive that person's praise!

But reality is not a novel; if you can't draw it, you just can't draw it. No matter how hard you try, you always feel that what you draw is far from the finished product you want.

Why... why is she able to handle such expressions so effortlessly, while I...?

Thinking this, a slight restlessness crossed her mind, and Seele crumpled the drawing paper in her hand into a ball and threw it away again!

……

Xu Qi and Rita, who were watching the scene quietly, both sighed.

"She was in a bit too much of a hurry."

"Why bother? There will be many more opportunities in the future. I can't even understand where this pressure comes from."

Rita glanced thoughtfully at the workstation next to Seele.

If I remember correctly... that workstation now belongs to Xilin.

"Sir, have you ever thought about something?"

"what?"

"If someone younger and far more capable than you were to be parachuted into Seed Studios as your deputy, what would you do?"

"Forehead?"

Xu Qi was about to say, "How is that possible?" But then he paused, realizing what Rita meant.

He answered thoughtfully, his face grave.

"That must be very stressful, and there might even be conflicts over positions. Such a young man could very well replace me."

But Seele…

Rita let out a soft sigh.

"Similarly, for Miss Seele, Sirin is both a friend and a competitor. Don't let Seele's gentle and weak appearance fool you; she actually has a very strong competitive spirit."

And ultimately, perhaps you yourself are to blame for this.

"Huh?" Xu Qi pointed to herself. "Me?"

"You always tell everyone that we ETs have three treasures, all of whom are in Seed Studios: one is the director Bronya, one is the concept artist Seele, and the other is the production manager Delta."

Have you considered how much pressure it is to put Seele alongside the other two?

"But I'm just stating the facts..."

Seeing Xu Qi's stubborn expression, Rita chuckled inwardly—he's still just a kid.

"Yes, so now everyone in the company knows how much you value Miss Seele. For Seele herself, meeting your expectations has become her top priority."

Xu Qi remained silent...

Actually, there were some things Rita didn't say.

To meet someone's expectations, you naturally need to highly approve of that person. I really don't know how you did it. They are, after all, pilots from the ground network, right?

It seems like things are a bit ambiguous between us...

Oh, I remember now, you've even taken down the PhD from the Earth Network.

"So what should we do now? We can't just... "

"There is a way."