Professional

"Miss Li, stop shaking me! I'm about to fall apart—seriously!"

Tang Yao couldn't calm Li Xue down. She was still being shaken back and forth. She hadn't done this kind of vigorous movement at all since coming to this world. It was exhausting, after all, and her center of gravity was completely different.

Besides, she hadn't been joking that morning when she said she needed to change to a larger size.

So she quickly grabbed Li Xue's arms and reminded her again, practically pleading.

"...Draw comics for me."

Li Xue finally calmed down. Looking at the tall girl standing in front of her, their eyes level, she said seriously, "Really, stop thinking about starting a business."

"Just hear me out."

Tang Yao shifted uncomfortably, then felt a little better. Holding Li Xue's arms, she replied just as seriously, "Miss Li, I can draw once in a while, but I really can't keep doing it long-term. I've already drawn enough... Most importantly, you're a manga editor too. You should know that entering a manga award is one thing, but getting an official serialization is another.

"There's the manga award, preparing for serialization, the serialization itself, and then the brutal elimination process after five chapters. I'm really not sure I could make it all the way through.

"More importantly, it's too slow."

That last reason was actually the main one. It was too slow—the money would come in too slowly.

If she really had to, Tang Yao could swallow her pride and keep drawing works from her previous life.

After all, she'd read quite a few comics.

But even if she could win an award right away and get on the path to becoming a serialized manga artist, it would still take time to earn enough money. By then, the opportunity would probably be gone.

Xun might even have graduated by then.

So she couldn't rely on this to earn her first pot of gold.

Because if things went the same way as in her previous life,

the rise of the mobile internet would happen at an incredible pace.

On the other hand, she really did want to try a path she'd never taken in her previous life.

"Can you guarantee your business will succeed? Isn't that an even less familiar field for you?"

Hearing that, Li Xue calmed down completely.

She knew just how difficult it was to make a living from comics. There were countless manga artists who won awards only to quickly fade away.

But because she liked Tang Yao so much, she'd unconsciously overlooked all that.

Until Tang Yao reminded her just now.

Knowing that didn't change the fact that she still felt comics suited Tang Yao better than starting a business.

After all, she was a manga editor.

"Of course I can't guarantee it'll succeed, but I think the odds are pretty good. I'd rather give entrepreneurship a try, too. The money comes in at a different speed, and opportunities don't stick around..."

Tang Yao thought it over, then replied slowly, "Just think of it as some kind of obsession of mine with living a better life. If it doesn't work out and I fail, I'll come back and draw comics. They're all pretty girls, after all. There's not much difference."

An obsession.

Hearing that, Li Xue realized something and looked at Tang Yao.

Tang Yao smiled at her.

Li Xue sighed. Thinking of how Tang Yao had said she'd return to drawing comics if she failed, she felt somewhat persuaded.

Still, she wasn't satisfied. "Pretty girls, pretty girls. Is this Pretty Girl Collection Game you keep talking about really that good? It's weird how you keep bringing up drawing pretty girls when you're one yourself..."

"It's different, Miss Li."

Tang Yao gave her an expression that said, "You're so naive." She took Li Xue's hand and guided it off her shoulder, then pushed out her ample chest and declared, "We're real people, and real people come with all kinds of problems... Like, we have to use the bathroom, but the pretty girls I draw don't necessarily have to!"

"..."

Li Xue's beautiful eyes widened slightly. Shocked—or, more accurately, speechless—she gave Tang Yao a complicated look. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about? How would they digest their food, then? Would it evaporate through their skin? And... does this even matter?"

"Don't worry about the technical details. As for whether it matters, I'm just explaining the difference."

Tang Yao kept her back straight, her lovely curves swaying. Once again, she declared with righteous conviction, "Compared to troublesome people in real life, pretty girls drawn on paper are a different matter. Anyone who understands that is a true professional!"

"..."

Li Xue rolled her eyes at Tang Yao again, then reached out with her delicate white finger and gently poked her on the forehead.

Then—

Tang Yao couldn't keep a straight face either. She broke into a radiant smile, seemingly amused by her own argument.

Looking at the lovely smile on Tang Yao's fair little face, Li Xue shook her head and asked, "Are you sure you want to try?"

Tang Yao nodded seriously. "Yeah. I'll start tonight... I'll sketch some pretty girls, figure out how to put together a proposal, then show it to you."

"Okay..." Li Xue let out a soft breath and glanced at the stunning short comic on the table. "But you have to promise me that if it doesn't work out in the end, you won't give up on yourself. You'll come back to drawing comics... Whatever help you need, I'll give it to you."

Tang Yao readily agreed. "Of course. You can have me draw whatever you want then, and I'll draw it for you—even shoujo manga!"

Li Xue was satisfied. "Then get ready. If it seems feasible, I'll put you in touch with the manager of that venture capital fund."

"Okay. Thank you so much, Miss Li."

Tang Yao looked at the beautiful, mature woman before her and thanked her sincerely.

This friend she'd met by pure chance—

was truly wonderful.

"Don't thank me just yet. To be honest, I still have more faith in your talent for comics."

Li Xue shook her head and turned her gaze back to the original pages on the table. "As for your business venture and this Pretty Girl Mobile Game you mentioned, I'm not very optimistic. I still don't have a clear idea of what it is."

Tang Yao smiled brightly. "Then just wait until I bring out the pie... No, the PPT and proposal. I won't disappoint you."

"Mm."

"But..."

Tang Yao suddenly changed the subject. She looked the beautiful, tall woman up and down, then said with a mischievous expression, "Could I ask you for a favor so I can draw pretty girls better?"

Li Xue looked puzzled. "Hmm?"

Tang Yao blinked. "Could you wear black stockings tomorrow? I want to use them as a reference."

If possible,

she still wanted to work a few of her own preferences into the characters...

For a girl, she could just use Xun as a reference.

For a mature woman, Li Xue was a pretty good choice.

It wasn't like she just wanted to look.

"Black stockings... If you need a reference, why don't you wear them yourself?"

Li Xue looked down at her own long, straight, snow-white legs pressed together, then raised her head and asked in return.

Because she couldn't be bothered, and didn't want to wear high heels, she had on ankle socks today.

"I don't have any!"

"Then I'll give you some."

"I won't wear them!"

"..."

Li Xue reached out and gently pinched Tang Yao's cheek, speaking in a playful, slightly reproachful tone. "You don't want to wear them, but you want me to?"

Tang Yao unleashed her ultimate weapon: sincerity. "Miss Li, they'd look better on you."

"..."

Li Xue froze for a moment, then gave Tang Yao a light roll of her eyes and couldn't help laughing.

To be honest,

she'd started wearing black stockings because everyone else did, to make herself look more mature and so on.

After all, she'd gone through all the messy things Tang Yao was dealing with now, though the comics she was responsible for were female-oriented and the intensity wasn't as high.

Of course, it wouldn't be true to say she'd never wanted those men to notice how long and beautiful her legs were.

At first, she had.

But as time went by, she stopped.

She'd become completely disappointed in the men around her. Her attitude had changed from "Look over here and see how long my legs are" to "What are you staring at? Is there something wrong with you, staring at other people's legs?"

By now, she had no other thoughts about it at all. If she occasionally wore them, it was just out of habit, to look a little better. Most of the time, they were too much trouble, so she didn't bother... As for compliments, if a man said that, she'd probably just roll her eyes inwardly. She certainly wouldn't want him telling her what to wear.

But Tang Yao was different.

To be honest,

being praised by her made Li Xue pretty happy... Happier than she'd ever been when praised by several men.

So... she'd indulge her.

"Fine. I'll wear them tomorrow."

"Great, great."

"..."

Li Xue looked at the delighted Tang Yao and shook her head helplessly.

So easy to please.

She sighed to herself, then brought the conversation back on track. They'd been sitting in the lounge for quite a while. It wasn't a big deal, but it really wasn't appropriate to still be lounging around when it was almost two. "So, you're submitting this short comic for the manga award?"

Tang Yao: "Mm."

"Has your Editor Ding seen it?"

"I already told you that you're the first reader. How could he have seen it? And do you think he'd care about the substitute I found? Something drawn by a third-rate manga artist, as he put it?"

"Third-rate manga artist... Where does he get the nerve?"

"How should I know?"

"..."

Li Xue frowned. Suddenly, she felt an intense dislike for the Big Comic editor-in-chief, a man she'd only met in passing. "Don't worry about him."

"I don't have time to care about him."

Tang Yao replied casually, then looked at Li Xue, whose brows were furrowed, giving her the air of an icy beauty. Suddenly, she thought of something and teased, "Miss Li, didn't you just say something about marrying me?"

"..."

Li Xue froze slightly, then her pretty face slowly turned red. "You heard wrong."

"Just as I thought."

From her expression, Tang Yao knew she hadn't misheard. She teased, "Miss Li's in a hurry, huh? Already thinking about getting married, huh? Looks like I'll have to hurry up and make some money..."

"Shut up."

Li Xue's dignified, beautiful face was flushed. She reached out and pinched Tang Yao's soft cheek to stop her from going on. "It's not certain who'll marry whom! If anyone's moving in with the other, it'll be you moving in with me..."

"Do you think that's likely?"

"I'll wear black stockings for you every day."

"Uh... I might consider that."

"..."

Li Xue was a little flustered and annoyed. She kneaded Tang Yao's soft cheeks over and over. "You're way too fickle!"

Tang Yao put on her "you're so naive" expression again. "What are you talking about? It's called having flexible standards!"

"That's far too flexible!"

Li Xue immediately retorted. Then the two looked at each other and both burst into laughter.

Neither of them had anyone else they could joke around with like this.

Since it was a first for both of them, they found it pretty fun.

"Okay, enough about that. This is starting to feel weird."

Li Xue let go of Tang Yao's cheek. "...So are you going to submit the comic under your real name?"

"I'm still thinking about it. I'll tell you later."

"Okay... Then what's the comic called? I'll make a note of it."

"Let's call it... Uzumaki."