63

 After saying goodnight to her boyfriend, the campus belle, Liu Shuyao, lay in bed, her mind racing, unable to sleep.

Finally, she got up and continued drawing her comic.

Sitting quietly on her bed, the dim light in the room illuminated her focused face.

The pen danced in her hand as she sketched delicate lines on the paper. Soon, the framework of the secret room scene took shape.

In this quiet night, the movements of the two characters in the secret room vividly appeared in Liu Shuyao's mind—holding hands, hugging, snuggling close.

But as it was a comic, there were certainly exaggerations. Still, the ripples in her heart were more than that.

Thinking of the unfinished business between them in the secret room, her boyfriend’s figure flickered in her mind. When Liu Shuyao finally put pen to paper, her strokes became less realistic.

The uneven walls of the secret room, the dim lighting, the closely pressed bodies, the instinctive arm around the male lead’s neck.

She even detailed the scene to the point where the female lead's legs felt weak from kissing.

What was originally tied to her hands was now transformed into a scene on the bed, and the plot of "Starry Night" became increasingly absurd.

Liu Shuyao’s thoughts began to wander through the images, and looking at the characters, she couldn't help but feel shy, her cheeks blushing slightly. Yet, her hand grew more skilled as she drew, as if touching a special rhythm.

Time flew by. As Liu Shuyao reviewed her subsequent plot, she felt a warmth rising within her, fully immersing her little thoughts into her artwork.

Perhaps due to the suggestive nature of the images, her thoughts grew more intense. Liu Shuyiao unconsciously bit her lip, her eyes sparkling with satisfaction and a hint of shyness.

Why did it seem like it was turning into a scene from a romance novel?

But it looked exciting!

Was it bad to fantasize about her boyfriend like this?

Frowning slightly, Liu Shuyao wondered if she was being too obvious.

No worries!

After all, her boyfriend didn’t know.

---

On Monday, in the School of Computer Science.

Just after class, Xiang Ran received a call from Teacher Wu.

“Hello, Teacher Wu.”

“Xiang Ran, do you have time to come to the art college? I demonstrated the big screen to the leaders this morning, and they said there are some things that need to be revised. I want to go over it with you.”

“Oh, okay. I’m on my way.”

As Xiang Ran spoke, he tugged at his friend's backpack strap, pulling him in a different direction.

“What’s going on?”

Once the call ended, his friend asked.

“The department leaders had some suggestions. Teacher Wu said the big screen needs revisions.”

“Oh~”

“I told you, the clients are never that easy to satisfy,” his friend complained.

The two quickly arrived at Art College Room C301. Upon entering, they saw Teacher Wu already waiting.

Without wasting time, Teacher Wu stated the requirements.

Pointing to the big screen in the testing environment, he said, “The functionality is fine, but it needs to be bigger! Make it more prominent!”

“The leaders think it should be more grand and imposing!”

“But it has to be coordinated; there should be a central theme. Do you understand?”

“For example, the school emblem needs to be enlarged...”

“The introduction from the department leaders needs to be enlarged too!”

“And this color isn’t vibrant enough; it needs to be bolder! It should be eye-catching, youthful!”

“Most importantly, it has to have an artistic feel!”

“...”

Teacher Wu spoke for a long time, his throat dry, taking several sips of water.

“Xiang Ran, do you understand what I mean?”

Xiang Ran numbly nodded, only hearing one word: “big!”

“So how do we coordinate the specific visuals?”

“That depends on how you handle it. We won’t interfere too much. It needs to be artistic! Especially the kind the leaders require!”

“Oh, okay.” He knew that Teacher Wu couldn’t give specifics, so they would have to figure it out themselves.

“Alright, you guys start revising. Once you’re done, we’ll have another meeting. If you have any questions, just ask Liu Shuyao. She’s still in class, but I’ll explain the leaders’ intentions to her later.”

“Got it.”

So Xiang Ran and his friend left in a bit of confusion.

“What does he mean by ‘big’? How big? If it’s too big, won’t it look bad?”

“What even is art?”

“Let’s wait for the product manager to arrive before we discuss it.”

“Product manager?”

“We have a product manager?”

Xiang Ran set down his backpack, ignoring his friend’s comments, and picked up the rabbit-shaped kettle on the table, planning to get some water.

“Oh!”

“Are you talking about the campus belle?”

After filling the kettle, Xiang Ran returned, plugged it in, and replied to his friend.

“If you don’t know what art is, then let someone who understands it handle it.”

“That makes sense…”

Meanwhile, the product manager was stuck in a full schedule, bored, and secretly texting her boyfriend.

Campus Belle [Poke.jpg]

Xiang Ran [？]

Campus Belle [Miss you~]

Xiang Ran [Pat.jpg]

Campus Belle [Class is so boring~ I’m about to doze off~]

Campus Belle [What should we eat tonight?]

Xiang Ran [Didn’t Teacher Wu contact you?]

Liu Shuyao was puzzled by her boyfriend's message when she suddenly received a text from Teacher Wu.

He asked her to come to his office after class.

Campus Belle [？？？]

Campus Belle [He really is looking for me! What does he want?]

Xiang Ran [The big screen needs revisions; he probably wants to go over the requirements with you.]

Campus Belle [How should it be revised?]

Xiang Ran [Make it bigger!]

Campus Belle [What does that mean? How much bigger? Where should it be enlarged? Is the change reasonable? How much time do we have?]

Xiang Ran looked at the string of questions Liu Shuyao sent.

She was indeed a qualified product manager!

Not long after they exchanged messages, the class bell rang.

His friend immediately shouted about going to eat.

Xiang Ran stood up with him but didn’t grab his backpack, clearly planning to come back.

The evening sky gradually lost its brightness, tinged with the orange hues of sunset. As the sun dipped, the clouds were painted in warm shades of orange, reflecting off the buildings.

His friend pondered what to eat that evening.

“How about the second cafeteria tonight? I’m craving some grilled meat rice.”

“You go ahead; I’ll wait for Liu Shuyao to see what the art department says.”

“Even if you’re working on the requirements, you should at least eat first!”

His friend first lamented how dedicated Xiang Ran was, then issued another invitation.

“I’ll head over to the art college to wait for her, so you can eat by yourself.”

“You guys are really something! Not wasting a single moment!”

His friend clicked his tongue.

With everyone else so focused, going to the cafeteria alone felt off.

So he contemplated whether to indulge in the tempting grilled meat rice or keep working with Xiang Ran for a while.

However, it was clear that Xiang Ran wasn’t giving him that choice. As they reached the intersection, he headed toward the art college without looking back.

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