The Visitors

On the walk home from school, Chu Yu's rattled nerves finally settled.

After all, if his goal was to become a truly popular manga artist, then sooner or later he wouldn't be able to keep his real identity a secret.

For now, all that had happened was that one of his classmates had found out what he was doing. It wasn't a big deal, as long as she didn't come bothering him.

He picked up some takeout along the way and went home.

After eating and taking a short rest, Chu Yu went over to his drawing desk!

Stacks of manga drafts had piled up, the fruits of his work over the past week or so.

Compared to when he'd first gotten the system and found drawing manga boring and tedious, he'd now grown used to the work—and even come to enjoy it a little.

Though he hadn't come up with the story himself, he was the one bringing these excellent stories to life, one stroke at a time, then sharing them with the world. And that very afternoon, one of his fans had even asked Qin Qianyv to get his autograph.

Honestly, Chu Yu felt quite a sense of accomplishment.

In this state of mind, Chu Yu gradually got into the flow, his brush swiftly and accurately recreating the images in his head on paper.

For two hours, Chu Yu didn't stop to rest. Then... a rough pounding on the door interrupted him.

Just from the sound of the pounding, Chu Yu knew who it was!

He opened the door with an annoyed look and spoke in an unfriendly tone.

"Su Laoda, didn't I tell you? I'm going to be busy for the next week or so..."

But then, the next second, Chu Yu's voice cut off.

Two women stood outside Chu Yu's door.

The woman on the left wore a white dress today, her hair pinned up and her large eyes full of amusement.

"Hey, kid. Surprised?"

But Chu Yu wasn't in the mood to pay attention to her. He stared in surprise at the girl on the right.

The girl looked about sixteen or seventeen. Unlike Su Ruo, she wore a black knee-length skirt, and her long, waist-length hair was as black as a waterfall. Beneath her fine brows was a pair of clear eyes.

When Chu Yu opened the door, a hint of confusion crossed her serene, beautiful face. Then she seemed to ponder for a moment, before finally looking just as surprised as Chu Yu.

"Chu Yu!"

"Zhao Qinyin!"

They spoke at the same time.

Su Ruo was left standing to the side, utterly bewildered!

"You two... know each other?"

In Chu Yu's living room, Chu Yu and Zhao Qinyin sat facing each other, while Su Ruo sat off to one side.

Su Ruo had gotten the gist of it.

"So you two go to the same school and already knew each other?"

Chu Yu looked at Su Ruo, then at Zhao Qinyin, and nodded.

It wasn't surprising that he knew Zhao Qinyin. She was the school's top student, after all, and hardly anyone in the senior class didn't know her.

What Chu Yu hadn't expected was that Zhao Qinyin would recognize him, too.

According to Zhao Qinyin, she remembered him because he'd carried her to the infirmary after she collapsed from low blood sugar. That had made her remember Chu Yu for good.

Did all girls have such good memories? Qin Qianyv was like that, and so was Zhao Qinyin.

Whether it was when someone saw his manga drafts or when he'd helped Zhao Qinyin, Chu Yu had more or less forgotten about it.

"I really didn't expect the new manga artist on Ink Shadow, the author of The Garden of Words, to be you..."

"I always thought..."

"Thought what?" Chu Yu asked, puzzled.

That Teacher Shui Xin was a beautiful young woman.

Seeing how curious Chu Yu looked, Zhao Qinyin still didn't say it out loud.

With the delicate art style of The Garden of Words and its portrayal of the protagonist's inner changes, it was easy to assume the author was a woman.

Zhao Qinyin glanced at Su Ruo, who was sitting off to the side, completely at ease. No wonder she'd reacted so strongly a few days ago when Zhao Qinyin had said Teacher Shui Xin was either a beautiful young woman or an auntie.

At any rate, she'd finally met the real Teacher Shui Xin she'd been curious about all this time.

Though the truth had surprised her, Zhao Qinyin hadn't forgotten why she'd come.

"So, Sister Su... the person you said yesterday you'd find to help me as a manga assistant... is her?" Chu Yu looked at Zhao Qinyin, feeling a little dizzy.

"That's right. Didn't I tell you yesterday I'd find you a beautiful young woman to be your assistant? See? I didn't lie!" Su Ruo gave Chu Yu a warning look, making him swallow the nickname he'd been about to use for her.

"A beautiful... young woman?"

Zhao Qinyin looked at Su Ruo somewhat awkwardly, the tips of her ears turning red.

What on earth does she go around saying all day?

Chu Yu was utterly confused.

This didn't make sense!

Zhao Qinyin was the top student at his school. How could someone like her have anything to do with being a manga assistant?

Shouldn't someone like Zhao Qinyin be studying at home and getting ready for the Gaokao?

"Um, this is really unexpected." Chu Yu thought about it, then voiced his concern.

"But, Zhao... Zhao Qinyin, wouldn't working as someone's manga assistant at a time like this affect your studies?"

"Affect my studies? How would it?" Zhao Qinyin replied calmly.

"I've already learned everything I need to at school. From the start of my third year of middle school through my senior year, I've spent my evenings drawing my own manga and working as a manga assistant."

"As for my studies, as long as I can get into the school I want, that's good enough... A life spent studying all day would be so boring."

Chu Yu was even more bewildered.

"Um, so you mean that not studying or going to tutoring classes in the evening won't affect your grades?"

"Studying in the evening? Tutoring classes?" Zhao Qinyin looked puzzled.

"I've... never even thought of doing that."

"As a matter of fact, last year, when the school wanted to make us attend summer classes and cut into my manga-drawing time, I reported them to the Education Bureau by name for burdening the students..."

All right!

Please stop talking!

Chu Yu felt a little crushed.

He knew he was a terrible student with limited ability. Since he couldn't understand the lessons in class, reading the textbook afterward didn't help much either, and before long, he'd just given up.

He hadn't expected the girl across from him to be nothing like the top student he'd imagined.

She was a total study cheat!

A top student was someone who worked hard and got the grades they wanted.

But she barely put in any effort. She just listened in class and drew manga afterward, yet she'd held on to first place for all three years at one of Ming City's—and even Luo Province's—top high schools.

Chu Yu finally understood the saying: "Sometimes the gap between people is greater than the gap between people and pigs!"

What was even more absurd was that someone destined to attend a world-famous university spent all her time wanting to draw manga and work part-time as a manga assistant!

"All right, what are you two even talking about?" Su Ruo asked, baffled.

"I brought her here to introduce you to a potential manga assistant. Why are you asking about her studies..."

Su Ruo took a stack of manga drafts from the bag in her hand and passed them to Chu Yu.

"Here. I was worried you wouldn't be convinced, so I brought some of Zhao Qinyin's old work, too."

"Take a look for yourself! With drawing skills like these, she's more than qualified to be your manga assistant!"

"If she didn't love The Garden of Words and want to meet its author, she might not even have agreed to take this job..."