Chapter 458 - 252: The Winter Vacation Shuraba Is Here?

Chapter 458: Chapter 252: The Winter Vacation Shuraba Is Here?

When Jiang Yixia returned to the flower shop, it was almost eleven p.m.

Sister Li was still sitting behind the counter. In front of her was a plate of mango pits, already gnawed clean. She held a cup of tea in her hand and was leisurely scrolling through her phone.

Seeing Jiang Yixia push the door open, Sister Li immediately put down her phone. Her eyes lit up like lightbulbs. She looked her up and down, then asked with a wide grin, "You’re back? Did you have fun? Did President Lu bring you home?"

Jiang Yixia put her bag on the counter, glanced at Sister Li, and sighed. "Sister Li, why haven’t you gone home yet? Isn’t Uncle Zhang worried about you?"

"What’s he got to worry about? He probably wishes I wasn’t home so he can play cards with that gang of old men." Sister Li waved her hand dismissively, looking unconcerned. Then she leaned in closer and lowered her voice. "Don’t change the subject. C’mon, tell me, where did President Lu take you? How are you two doing?"

Jiang Yixia sighed, leaned against the counter, and rubbed her temples. "Sister Li, can you please stop worrying about this? There’s nothing going on between Lu Fan and me. We just went to a stand-up comedy show, and I came back right after."

"Stand-up comedy?" Sister Li’s eyes grew even wider. "A date to a comedy show? Whoa, this President Lu is pretty good. He knows how to pick a place. Not like my husband. When we were young, he asked me to the movies, and it would be some war film. Just fighting from beginning to end. I think I fell asleep three different times."

Jiang Yixia couldn’t help but laugh.

’It helped that she had a good impression of Lu Fan. Going to a stand-up show for a date was what young people did.’

’She and Lu Fan were almost forty, yet here they were, joining in on the fun.’

Sister Li had a sharp eye and immediately pointed at her. "See, you’re laughing! I told you you still have feelings for him, and you wouldn’t admit it."

"Sister Li, I’m tired. You should head home soon." Jiang Yixia picked up her bag, walked around the counter, and started packing up, putting her water bottle, keys, and phone into her bag one by one.

Sister Li stood up, brushed the mango fibers off her pants, and walked to the door. She turned back and said seriously, "Sister Xia, let me tell you something from the heart. Some people, once you miss them, they’re gone for a lifetime. To meet them again is fate. Don’t be so hard on yourself."

With that, she pulled the door open and left, leaving Jiang Yixia standing alone behind the counter, clutching her phone, stunned for a good while.

She glanced down at her phone screen. No new messages.

Lu Fan’s last message was still the one he sent that afternoon: "Want to have dinner tonight?"

’She hadn’t replied, and then he just showed up at the shop.’

’He was always like that, just showing up without waiting for her to say yes.’

...

On Saturday morning, Jiang Silu woke up bright and early.

She had worked on the trifold brochure until one in the morning, and when she woke up at seven, the layout was still on her mind.

She dragged herself out of bed, washed up, and went straight to her computer to continue making adjustments.

She had almost finished setting up the classroom in her studio.

A few of her own illustrations were taped to the wall. On the desk were a computer, a drawing tablet, and a pile of reference books. On the windowsill sat a pot of devil’s ivy, a gift from Sister Li.

She opened the Taobao seller dashboard and saw that the status for the trifold brochure order was still "In Progress."

The client hadn’t rushed her, but she wanted to finish it as soon as possible to make a good impression.

She pulled up last night’s draft and looked it over from top to bottom.

The font for the title wasn’t impactful enough, so she tried out three other fonts for comparison.

In the end, she chose a bold, rounded font. For the body text, she used a light blue background with white text for a clean, refreshing look.

She added a line of small text in the footer: "Designed with heart, beyond just beauty."

’It was a slogan she’d come up with herself.’

She double-checked the dimensions and resolution, confirmed there were no issues, then exported it in both JPG and PSD formats, zipped them up, and sent the file to the client through the Taobao chat window.

She attached a message: "Hello, the first draft is complete. Please take a look. If you have any suggestions for revisions, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Thank you for your trust!"

After sending it, she leaned back in her chair and let out a long breath.

Then she stared at the screen, waiting for a reply.

A minute passed. No reply.

Five minutes. No reply.

She was getting antsy. She stood up, paced around the classroom a couple of times, then sat back down and refreshed the page.

Still no reply.

"Maybe they’re busy," she muttered to herself, then stood up, planning to go wash her face.

When she came back from washing her face, her phone vibrated.

She quickly picked it up. It was a Taobao message: "Got it. I’ll take a look and get back to you later."

Jiang Silu clutched her phone, her eyes curving into crescents as she smiled.

She replied, "Okay, no rush."

Then she put her phone on the desk and started eating breakfast.

An apple and a glass of milk, bought from the cafeteria.

She took a bite of the apple. It was crisp, and the juice was sweet.

Chewing on the apple and looking at the sunlight outside the window, she felt like life was slowly starting to get better.

Even though her first job had only earned her five yuan, and she hadn’t yet received the two hundred yuan for her second, she was doing something she loved, and someone was paying for her design.

’It was a nice feeling.’

...

「Meanwhile, in an office building in Jinling—the headquarters of the Lu Fan Group.」

Even though it was Saturday, Jiali had come to the office to get some extra work done.

She sat at her workstation, opened her phone, and saw a message from Xiaoya.

Xiaoya: "Sister Jiali, Silu’s first draft came in. Take a look."

Attached was a screenshot of the design draft for the trifold brochure.

Jiali zoomed in to take a look, nodded, and sent a reply: "Not bad. President Lu will definitely be happy when he sees it. Reply to her and say we’re satisfied with it overall. Just give her two or three minor revision requests. Don’t make it too easy, but don’t make it too hard either."