CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 46: THE MAPLE LEAVES HAVE NOT YET TURNED RED, BUT THE PERSON HAS ALREADY RETURNED

In the time that followed, Qin Guanglin was constantly mulling over what kind of gift to give—originally, he hadn’t cared too much about it, but with Sun Wen as a reference point, he had to seriously consider his options.

While others were gifting their girlfriends bags worth several thousand yuan, if he dismissed someone with just an old hair tie, that wouldn’t do—He Fang deserved better.

But he didn’t understand bags... and it wasn’t certain whether He Fang would like one, so he needed to carefully ponder his choices.

After dinner, as he ambled back to the company and laid down with no sleepiness coming on, Qin Guanglin simply picked up some of the company’s past works to look through.

Among the long-form works, there was only one hot-blooded comic and one romance story, both still ongoing and updated twice a week.

The boss did the outlining, Sun Wen did the coloring, and Qin Guanglin currently was unable to work on these two main projects. During the interview, Chen Rui implied that they would consider whether to assign them to him after the probation period.

Romance story...This could be interesting. Qin Guanglin studied the serialized comic carefully and decided to focus on this one, hoping to join the project as soon as his probation ended.

"Boss, this drawing style looks pretty fun," Jiang Lingling said, holding the cute comic Qin Guanglin had just drawn.

"If you like it, just keep drawing in this style yourself," Qin Guanglin wasn’t planning on drawing ugly stuff anymore, focusing instead on creating beautiful pieces, working hard for that romance story.

"Oh alright, I’ll give it a try later." Jiang Lingling found it more and more intriguing as she looked at it, then she set it neatly on her desk and snapped a few pictures with her phone.

When Qin Guanglin heard the shutter sound, he turned his head and asked in confusion, "Unpublished work is forbidden to be photographed and saved, isn’t that a company rule?"

This morning when he signed the contract, he had read through all the notices and still remembered them clearly; the first item in the confidentiality agreement was this very point.

"Ah, I forgot!" Jiang Lingling shrank her neck and stuck out her tongue, "I’ll delete it right away."

Qin Guanglin had just asked casually and had no intention of filing a report. After a while, feeling rather bored, he picked up his phone again to continue his quest for meeting his future father-in-law.

Time flew, and soon it was time to start work again, with Qin Guanglin being on a winning streak and raking in a lot of beans, his bean count surged to over ten thousand. A tenth of his grand undertaking was complete, and he put away his phone with satisfaction.

As a newbie in the workplace, Qin Guanglin hadn’t yet learned how to slack off. He spent the afternoon diligently working on his drafts, which, while not of the highest quality, were passable. He nearly finished the content that would normally take two days before the day ended.

Jiang Lingling, with only a basic grasp of drawing, watched somewhat dazedly. Was this the power of a ’big shot’?

Sss~ Terrifying to this extent!

These loose drafts didn’t require high quality and were randomly posted on platforms after completion, hardly making any profit. They mainly served to increase the company’s visibility. Qin Guanglin didn’t expect to make money off this performance and purely saw it as practice.

Putting down his pen and stretching in preparation to leave work, Qin Guanglin took a few steps then turned back to look again—when suddenly, an idea struck him like a bolt of lightning.

I’ve got it!

"How was your day?" Sun Wen came over to greet Qin Guanglin as he finished packing his things.

They were actually in the same room, and Sun Wen occasionally stood up to stretch his legs, always strolling over to check on Qin Guanglin, concerned that he might not be used to the environment.

"It was quite decent," Qin Guanglin smiled, "much more relaxed than drawing landscapes and such."

"There’s no comparison," Sun Wen slung an arm over his shoulder as they walked out, "when you become permanent and start drawing like I do, you’ll have to be more serious."

"Then I’d better get used to it quickly."

They took the elevator down together, and Yu Le called out to them, "Brother Wen, Brother Lin, I’m heading off first."

"See you tomorrow."

"Take care."

"That kid is Yu Fei’s cousin. He’s never studied drawing; he just loves comics so much that he asked Yu Fei if I could mentor him," Sun Wen explained to Qin Guanglin.

"Really?" Qin Guanglin was surprised, "I couldn’t tell at all without you mentioning it."

"Hey, those two don’t look a bit alike. Here comes your bus," Sun Wen pointed out.

"I’ll take the same ride as you," Qin Guanglin stood still.

The bus was mysterious like that; when you wanted to catch it, it wouldn’t show up for ages, but when you didn’t need it, one would arrive after another.

"Something on your mind?" Sun Wen asked.

"Just going to Shengtian Mall to look around."

"Oh~ What for?"

"Obviously for a gift," Qin Guanglin stated the obvious, not planning to reveal what he was buying.

"Don’t come back with some cheap trinket that costs just ten yuan."

"Certainly not, don’t worry."

Qin Guanglin was brimming with confidence; this gift would absolutely surprise He Fang, it was a sure thing.

Chit-chatting idly, they waited for the bus. Once on board, Sun Wen was messaging his girlfriend on his phone while Qin Guanglin resisted the urge to check his own, ready to surprise He Fang later.

Should he buy a bouquet of flowers to make it up to her?

He thought about it and felt it might be too conspicuous; better drop the idea and give her a double present on the next holiday instead.

"Time to go."

Arriving at Shengtian Square, Qin Guanglin bade Sun Wen farewell as he disembarked; Sun Wen still had about ten more stops before reaching home.

Qin Guanglin walked straight into the mall to the fountain pen department, perusing the various styles of pens with a discerning eye.

Whether as a novelist or as a teacher, He Fang couldn’t be without a pen—this was truly the perfect gift.

"Do you have a preferred brand, sir?" A sales associate came forward to assist.

"Any brand is fine, mainly looking for one suitable for women, something nice," Qin Guanglin thought for a moment, but then decided it was best to let the salesperson recommend something.

"If it’s for a gift, we have a few nice options here. May I ask whom you are gifting it to? This model is great for a lover, but if it’s for a senior..."

"Girlfriend."

"Oh, then this Pelikan White Turtle is very suitable. Both its appearance and writing experience are top-notch, and it’s a popular choice among many..."

"The color is a bit busy..." Qin Guanglin hesitated, his eyes then settling on another pen, "What about that one?"

"Pilot Sakura, this model is also very appropriate," the salesperson pulled out a sample for Qin Guanglin to see, "the nib is a 14k gold point..."

Ignoring the slew of technical terms coming from the salesperson’s mouth, Qin Guanglin held the pen, admiring the simplistic elegance graced with cherry blossoms on the body and the smooth white grip that felt delicate to the touch—the more he looked at it, the more he liked it.

"This pen also has a variant, the Pilot Maple Leaf. Apart from the pattern being changed to maple leaves, everything else is exactly the same. You can take a look," the salesperson, seeing that he wasn’t listening to the detailed specs, switched to describing the appearance instead.

"Oh? Let me see."

"This one here..." the salesperson opened a box.

"How much?" Qin Guanglin didn’t even touch it, deciding it was the one after just one glance.

"One thousand six hundred, comes with a gift box and a small present..."

He patted his pockets; the sudden inspiration had left him with little cash on hand, "You take card, right?"

"We do."

"Wrap it up."

Qin Guanglin pulled out his wallet without a second thought; he might have hesitated over other purchases, but there was not an ounce of regret when buying this pen.

He Fang would definitely love this gift.