Weekend

After figuring out the rewards from the System, Chu Yu also exited the System Space.

Although he had obtained a chance to draw for a B-Class Work, Chu Yu didn't plan to use it immediately.

Currently, even Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal was only halfway through its serialization. If he were to draw another work, he feared he'd already be too busy!

Taking a deep breath, Chu Yu looked at the dark sky outside the window. His sleepiness was gone, replaced by hunger.

At six-thirty in the morning, Zhao Qinyin woke up on time.

Years of ingrained biological clock habits made her wake up automatically at this hour.

Beside Zhao Qinyin, Su Ruo snuggled into the warmth, holding her like an octopus all night.

Perhaps the movement of Zhao Qinyin getting up woke Su Ruo. She also sat up groggily.

Su Ruo looked at the still dark sky outside. Although she wanted to continue sleeping, she thought that since Zhao Qinyin was already up, she couldn't bring herself to sleep in.

Opening the room door, they were both surprised to find Chu Yu up even earlier than them. Not only was there a pot of steaming porridge already cooked on the table, but Chu Yu, after cooking and eating, had already started working on finishing Chapter Nine of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal at his desk.

"You two are up too?" Chu Yu glanced at them.

Zhao Qinyin's expression was as usual, cool and composed. Su Ruo was clearly still sleepy.

"I was hungry earlier, so I just cooked something. There's plenty left. If you're hungry, you can have it for breakfast!"

Half an hour later, after finishing their meal and cleaning their bowls and chopsticks, the two also noticed that Chu Yu's work was completed.

With Chu Yu and Zhao Qinyin's increasingly synchronized cooperation, their Manga Creation speed had been getting faster and faster. If Su Ruo hadn't dragged him out for drinks to celebrate yesterday, Chapter Nine of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal should have been finished last night.

But it wasn't too late now. After all, Su Ruo wouldn't submit this chapter to Moyu until Monday, and today was only Saturday.

After finishing his work, Chu Yu tidied it up and handed it over to Su Ruo.

However, this time Su Ruo didn't just glance at it and accept it as usual. Instead, she carefully flipped through Chapter Nine page by page.

Although the collaboration between Chu Yu and Zhao Qinyin was the most worry-free pairing she had handled in her many years of work.

There had never been a phenomenon of delayed submissions due to lack of creative inspiration, and she didn't need to negotiate plot direction with Chu Yu. Chu Yu was a genius who seemed to have learned everything without a teacher, knowing how to draw the work more excitingly and how to arrange the paneling to make the visuals more dynamic.

But this chapter was different. For the previous eight chapters, Su Ruo already knew the plot from the Serialization Meeting. After all, she had carefully reviewed the name for all nine chapters at the time (the actual serialized length on Man Ying was eight issues).

But starting from this chapter, even she didn't know the subsequent plot of this work.

Therefore, Su Ruo read it with extra care...

After a long while, she let out a long sigh.

To be honest, Chu Yu's cliffhanger at the end of Chapter Nine had stumped her for a full two months.

That chapter's plot had stopped right as Yukishiro Tomoe recalled that her fiancé had died in Kyoto. Su Ruo, with her vivid imagination, had immediately thought of a possibility... died in Kyoto, not killed by Kenshin!

Just as she suspected!

In Chapter Nine, Yukishiro Tomoe's brother found her. Through the conversation between her brother and Tomoe, and the foreshadowing laid out in the earlier plot, coupled with Tomoe telling Kenshin at night that the reason she came to Kyoto was precisely because of how her fiancé died in Kyoto.

Connecting this to Chapter One, where the samurai Kenshin killed with a throat stab upon his appearance, who before dying shouted "Tomoe"...

The conclusion was clear: Kenshin was the executioner who killed Yukishiro Tomoe's fiancé.

But now, after pretending to be husband and wife for so long, the two had developed feelings for each other. What would happen to the plot next?

One cliffhanger ended, and another began.

This work truly ended each chapter at a crucial point.

Su Ruo looked at Chu Yu. Was this his talent?

Not only was his manga drawing good, but his cliffhangers were also well-executed.

However, after reading this chapter, Su Ruo finally felt relieved.

At first, Su Ruo had worried if the plot quality would decline, but it was the opposite.

Su Ruo could feel that the plot of this work was about to enter a climax.

Currently, in the first week of January, Chapter Seven of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal had entered the third section of this work, Yoshioka.

And the entire month of January would be dedicated to the four chapters of the Yoshioka section.

Just yesterday, with the performance of Chapter Seven, Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal had already topped Man Ying.

But if Chu Yu wanted to compete for eligibility for the Dragon Star Award, he would need to secure first place in the voting three times over the four weeks of serialization this month.

Otherwise, if he only got first place once, as was the case last night, and with Tian Shu not posing a threat, either Secret Girl or Magic Realm would inevitably achieve first place twice within three weeks. At that point, the eligibility for the Dragon Star Award would be far from Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal.

And if Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal only got first place twice, and if Magic Realm or Secret Girl also took first place in the remaining two weeks.

In a two-on-two situation, according to convention, the work by the author with more seniority would be chosen to compete. At that time, in terms of seniority, compared to Chu Yu, Dong Yun, and Shen Xin, who could he possibly compare to?

Therefore, after securing first place in the first week, for Chu Yu to steadily obtain eligibility for the Dragon Star Award, Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal must achieve first place in the popularity vote twice in the next three weeks to secure eligibility.

To achieve this, the quality of Chu Yu's subsequent works was crucial.

The plot of Chapter Eight, to be published next week, and Chapters Nine and Ten, to be published in two and three weeks, must be exciting. He absolutely could not draw transitional plot points during this period.

But it seemed Su Ruo had worried for nothing.

"So next, for the tenth chapter's name, Chu Yu, do you have any ideas?" Zhao Qinyin asked.

After all, the weekend was coming up. As usual, the two of them would spend the entire weekend drawing manga when they weren't at school.

It could be said that half of their weekly manga workload was completed on the weekends.

"Forget it, let's not work this weekend!" Chu Yu shook his head.

"It's been almost two months since Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal started serialization. We haven't rested a single day. Every day is school and manga, and on weekends, it's all manga. I think we should both take a break this weekend and talk about it next week." Chu Yu looked at Zhao Qinyin.

"You must be tired too!"

"I..." Zhao Qinyin thought about it and finally nodded.

Although she didn't feel it was hard work, she hadn't spent much time with her Grandmother in a long time.

"Alright then..." Zhao Qinyin said.