Chapter 49: Dream Walk
“…So… that’s how it is…”
In the empty club classroom, Ruan Xi lowered her head, her face slightly red. In front of her was the black box of markers Tong Yao had given her.
“Look… how much do you think it costs…”
During the lunch break today, she had come to Class 9 to find Yan Zhi and was told that Yan Zhi was in the club classroom. This was the Film Club, one of the easiest clubs to get credits in, which suited Yan Zhi’s personality.
Right now, Yan Zhi was looking at the box seriously, sighing as she looked. Finally, she held up two fingers to Ruan Xi.
“Two hundred?” The young girl flinched.
“Two thousand,” Yan Zhi rolled her eyes. “That’s my rough guess. I suggest you sell yourself to your Teacher Tong to pay off the debt.”
“So expensive!”
Ruan Xi stood up in fright. “I… I…”
“You came here to show off in front of me,” Yan Zhi concluded.
“No!”
“But I’ve been shown off to,” Yan Zhi said with a “hehe.” “And you still want me to teach you how to color?”
The young girl trembled, secretly raising her eyes. Seeing that Yan Zhi didn’t seem to be really angry, she explained in a small voice, “I’m participating in the Newcomer Manga Artist Competition. The story will be in black and white, but I want to color the cover to make it more eye-catching and show more effort.”
“Newcomer Manga Artist Competition?”
Yan Zhi sat up straight, suddenly interested. She took out her phone—obviously, a green tea didn’t need to hand in her phone—and searched for the keywords, but a lot of results came up. “Let me see, which one is it?”
Ruan Xi leaned over and pointed it out to her.
“This one.”
Yan Zhi looked at it lazily and read it out loud:
“Gold prize is thirty thousand, not bad. What the hell is this organizer? Ican Manga Net? ‘I Can See Manga Net’? Never heard of it. A fake website?”
“It’s a newly established website. They’re going to do online manga now,” Ruan Xi blinked. “I think it has a lot of potential… okay, actually, it’s because with my art style, Mankè and the others definitely wouldn’t accept it, and they don’t want black and white.”
She piled the manuscripts on the table and pushed them in front of Yan Zhi. “Can you help me take a look?”
Yan Zhi stared at her for a while, then leaned forward forcefully, looked up, and smiled.
“Sure.”
**
The story of the manga was set in the contemporary era, the 21st century.
The male protagonist was an ordinary and weak high school student who was bullied by the school bully.
Until one day, he dreamed that his soul had left his body. He was standing in the dormitory and inexplicably walked to the next room, as if guided by a demon—the school bully was sound asleep, and in the open cabinet lay a fruit knife that was usually used to scare people.
He seemed to know that this was a dream. He picked up the knife and, with a lifetime of resentment, stabbed it into the school bully’s heart.
The next day, the school bully was dead, in his bed, with a fruit knife stuck in his chest.
There were no fingerprints on the knife.
**
“And then? And then?” Yan Zhi held the manuscript in her hand. There was no more. “Hurry up and draw!”
“Uh, I draw very slowly… and I still have to learn how to color,” Ruan Xi said tentatively, looking at Yan Zhi’s expression.
Yan Zhi was silent for a moment, then said, “Do you want to learn the cel-shading style?”
And so, the young girl smiled.
“Sure.”
“To be honest, I’m really looking forward to the follow-up… Can the male protagonist kill people in his dreams? What will he do next? Will he become a murderer or a savior? The kind of…” Yan Zhi made a throat-slitting gesture. “Assassin.”
“I’m still thinking about it, but I want to draw a story with a larger scope,” Ruan Xi said, touching her braid. “Actually, I’m not very confident. It’ll be good if I can just pass the preliminary review.”
“You’ll definitely pass,” Yan Zhi said. “Online manga has lower requirements for art style and focuses more on the plot. I think your plot has a lot of potential. I didn’t expect you to draw this type of manga…”
“What?” Ruan Xi raised an eyebrow. “What type did you think I would draw?”
“…Romance?”
After Yan Zhi said it, she corrected herself. “I was wrong. Do you want to learn coloring today?”
“No, I have to go to rehearsal,” Ruan Xi looked at the time. “Um, I have another question…”
“Go on.”
“The week after next, I’m participating in the Arts Festival performance. What method do you think…” she said, her face gradually turning red, “can I use to make a certain person’s attention focus on me?”
“Teacher Tong?”
Ruan Xi was shocked. Why did this person immediately think of a girl?!
“No… I…”
“You don’t have to hide it. There’s no one else here,” Yan Zhi drank some water. “Why are you asking me this kind of question?”
Ruan Xi didn’t dare to say.
Isn’t it because… everyone calls you a green tea?
A green tea should have many ways to hook people.
She meant no harm; she had sincerely come to ask for advice. Ruan Xi wouldn’t simply judge a person based on outside opinions, but would make her own judgment after getting to know them.
In her eyes, Yan Zhi was a good friend worth making.
The young girl had always thought she had a big heart. When she realized she liked Teacher Tong, she wasn’t too surprised, as if it were a matter of course. Even though she knew in her heart that there were too many obstacles between people of the same gender, between a teacher and a student, she accepted this feeling very calmly. After excluding dependence and respect, her liking was a sincere liking, the kind of liking that wanted to be with Teacher Tong until their hair turned white.
“It’s fine if you don’t say it. I get it,” Yan Zhi said nonchalantly. “Let me teach you a trick. Before you dance, ask your Teacher Tong to record a video for you, understand? I guarantee she won’t look at anyone but you.”
The young girl’s mouth fell open, and a light gradually lit up in her eyes.
**
“Congratulations! Your work Dream Walk has passed the preliminary review. If you are interested in participating in the main competition, please send the subsequent content to the official email before 24:00 on October 31st. For details, please log in to the official website.”
Ruan Xi received the review text message three days before the Arts Festival.
Fortunately, she had already finished the planned content yesterday and could submit it at any time.
Office.
Tong Yao looked at the young girl holding a USB drive in front of her and vacated her seat.
“Alright, alright, you can use the computer.”
Ruan Xi sat down in Tong Yao’s seat embarrassedly, plugged in the USB drive, and uploaded the manga.
“You haven’t fallen behind in your studies, have you?”
“No…” the young girl said uncertainly. “I think?”
“You’re not even sure?” Tong Yao poked her on the forehead. “If you don’t do well on the mid-terms, you just wait.”
Ruan Xi enjoyed this kind of intimacy.
Teacher Tong was standing beside her. If she leaned her head, she could rest it on Teacher Tong’s stomach. She leaned back, and Tong Yao looked down from her phone and smiled.
“What? Are you acting spoiled with me? Hurry up and upload your manga.”
“Hehe.”
After uploading the manga, Ruan Xi moved aside. Tong Yao sat down, opened her notebook, looked up, and saw that Ruan Ruan was still here.
“What’s wrong? Is there something else?”
But unexpectedly, the young girl was unusually solemn, standing up straight, giving Tong Yao the illusion that the little milk dog she had raised had turned into a majestic German Shepherd.
“Teacher Tong, on the day of the Arts Festival, can you record a video for me?”
She was taken aback for a moment. The request didn’t sound unreasonable at all, so she readily agreed.
“No problem.”
