Lin Kongqing winced, forcing himself not to bend over. "That was... a really hard kick."
Bang!
Eriri kicked him again.
"Right, I also brought you... Ow! A gift... Ow! This is the hottest... Ow!" Lin Kongqing endured the impact of Eriri's round-toed shoes. She was really smart, aiming only for Lin Kongqing's relatively soft calf, rather than clashing with his shin bone. "The complete set of... Ow! DVDs for the anime, and also a special bonus draft artbook."
Eriri paused, looking at the paper bag Lin Kongqing held out. "That Application postcard was only included in the first limited edition that sold out instantly, and it's rumored to be a rare piece of merchandise that made fans cry and scramble for it?"
"The price on online auctions easily exceeds ten thousand, and it contains all the character drafts from the animation director. For doujinshi speculators, it's the perfect gift."
"How do you have it?"
"Why do you think this thing costs over ten thousand?"
Bang!
As if time had resumed, Eriri kicked Lin Kongqing's calf again. "Scum!"
Click!
"Good, that's three," Lin Kongqing said, satisfied.
"Delete them."
"Instead of making me delete them," Lin Kongqing suggested with a smile, "wouldn't it be better to snatch this gift, making me instantly lose tens of thousands to vent your anger? Wouldn't that be better?"
...Eriri's pigtails trembled with anger. She snatched the paper bag from Lin Kongqing's hand fiercely and turned to leave.
"That's great," Lin Kongqing stood in place, speaking calmly. "Tonight, these three will be my side dish."
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Eriri, who had already walked away, returned again, her face so red it looked like steam might rise from it. "Delete them! Now! Immediately!"
Lin Kongqing held up his phone. "Looks like I can take one more."
Eriri's body stiffened. She wanted to suppress the anger on her face but couldn't control the rage in her heart. She didn't want Lin Kongqing to succeed, yet she couldn't stop him. The thought of her photos being used by him in various ways brought an endless wave of shame and annoyance. Her disgust for Lin Kongqing and her helplessness at the situation mixed a series of complex emotions.
Her pearly teeth gently bit her lower lip, her cute little tiger teeth leaving a subtle indentation on her glistening lip. Her flushed cheeks shimmered with a hazy glow from a thin layer of sweat, and her azure eyes were veiled with a mist, yet still burning with anger.
Click.
The fourth one.
"Scum!!!" Eriri kicked Lin Kongqing's calf with all her might.
Lin Kongqing swayed but was fine.
Instead, Eriri lost her balance and began to fall backward.
"Oh no..." Eriri had just realized her dangerous situation, and the first thing she thought of was to protect the paper bag in her hands.
Clutching the paper bag to her chest with both hands, Eriri gave up struggling as if resigned to her fate.
Thump.
There was a soft sound. What touched her body was not the hard ground, but a warm arm.
Lin Kongqing's left hand was clenched, easily cradling Eriri's slender waist in his arm to prevent her fall.
At zero distance, Eriri could feel Lin Kongqing's body temperature, see the helpless smile on his face, and touch his... phone in his hand!
The beautiful girl was quick-witted, snatching Lin Kongqing's phone in an instant and simultaneously creating distance.
However, this series of actions was performed before she had regained her footing.
The moment she left Lin Kongqing's arm, Eriri's body lost its balance again.
Lin Kongqing had no choice but to open his palm and press against the girl's flat, soft abdomen, scooping up the slender Eriri to prevent her from face-planting.
Lin Kongqing sighed, "I originally intended to be a gentleman."
"Pervert!" Eriri reacted as if she had been burned, breaking free from Lin Kongqing's grasp the moment she regained her footing. "Whose fault do you think it is that things turned out this way?"
"Because someone robbed another's property?!"
"Because you took candid photos!"
"I didn't take candid photos," Lin Kongqing said, spreading his hands. "Weren't you watching?"
Can something done openly be considered stealing?
"Hmph!" Eriri couldn't be bothered to argue with him. She lit up the screen, preparing to delete the photos.
"It has a lock screen password," Lin Kongqing reminded her.
Eriri puffed out her cheeks. "A password of this level? I'll crack it for you in minutes!"
"Oh?" Lin Kongqing was a little surprised. "You have that skill?"
Eriri pressed for a long time, then looked up. "Tell me the password."
High-level hackers often use the most basic techniques.
"It's not impossible," Lin Kongqing said, clasping his hands behind his back, indicating he had no intention of snatching the phone. "However, you'll have to exchange it for your LINE ID."
"Alright." Eriri rattled off a string of numbers.
After all, Lin Kongqing's phone was in her hand. Even if it was fake, he wouldn't know.
Could he possibly pull out another phone?
Lin Kongqing pulled out another phone.
Eriri: "..."
"One for work, one for personal use." Lin Kongqing shook his phone, entered the LINE ID, and searched. It came up empty. "Sawamura-san, you deceived me."
Eriri's face flushed. "...What exactly do you want to do?!"
"You."
"What?!"
Lin Kongqing further explained, "Your talent, your drawing genius, your time, your energy."
"You're delusional!"
"My favorite thing, Lin Kongqing, is to turn delusional fantasies into reality." Lin Kongqing leaned forward slightly. "Kashiwagi Eri-sensei, your drawing skills are impeccable, but your plot design is hard to describe. It's only because you draw doujinshi that readers don't care. But you're not satisfied with just drawing doujinshi, are you?"
...Eriri bit her silver teeth tightly, wanting to retort, but couldn't open her mouth.
Because Lin Kongqing was telling the truth.
"And I can make you draw the most perfect plot."
"Hmph~" Eriri snorted. "Who do you think you are? No Illustrator can claim to draw the most perfect plot. Only someone like you, who can't even draw basic human anatomy, would dare to make such a boast!"
"Kashiwagi Eri-sensei, what do you consider the standard for the most perfect plot?"
"It's a plot that satisfies everyone. Can you do that?"
Lin Kongqing honestly admitted, "Of course I can't."
"So why are you talking nonsense..."
"But you can."
"What?!"
"0320, the password is your birthday. Happy birthday, Sawamura-san."
What's happy about it?!
Eriri immediately reacted and unlocked the screen.
Just as she was about to delete the photos, the phone screen was covered by Lin Kongqing's hand.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't rush to delete them, admire them carefully." Lin Kongqing suddenly asked, "Imagine, is this the expression you'd have if you were showing me your pantsu?"
"I wouldn't!" Eriri exploded. "Pervert!"
"That's why I said imagine."
Eriri was exasperated. "Who wants to imagine something like that!"
"Readers," Lin Kongqing replied. "Kashiwagi Eri's readers."
Eriri was stunned, feeling as if she had grasped something in an instant, but it slipped through her fingers.
"'A Disgusted Look While Showing You My pantsu,' this is one of my countless ideas." Lin Kongqing's eyes gleamed. "A doujinshi with only one picture. Readers who see this picture will imagine the before and after plot themselves, which is the plot they want."
That's it!
The inspiration that had just slipped through Eriri's fingers—that was it!
No plot is the most perfect plot.
And to achieve this, the Illustrator needs extremely high drawing skills.
This is exactly what Eriri excels at!
"Useless," Eriri said, stubbornly. "This can't be animated at all."
"Crowdfunding." Lin Kongqing threw out a new idea.
"Even if we raise money, no plot is still no plot!"
"The crowdfunding I'm talking about isn't for money," Lin Kongqing smiled. "As long as you complete one drawing, with Kashiwagi Eri-sensei's popularity, many people will surely comment. Among them will be readers sharing their imagined content, and the one with the most likes will receive the reward of being drawn into a doujinshi by Kashiwagi Eri-sensei."
"Crowdfunding a doujinshi?!" Eriri's hands trembled; even she couldn't tell if it was from excitement or anger. "Lin Kongqing, you... you..."
"Your drawing skills are utilized, readers' feedback is rewarded, and the plot you need will be designed and chosen by everyone." Lin Kongqing moved his hand away. "See, it's very simple. A world where no one gets hurt is complete."
Eriri looked at herself on the screen, that complex expression that sparked so many imaginations.
An Illustrator who wanted to draw doujinshi through her own hard work, but due to a weak plot, had to seek help from a scum. His demands were so unreasonable, she didn't want to agree, but the beautiful girl Illustrator, whose weakness had been seized, had no choice but to lift her skirt unwillingly in the lingering glow of the setting sun. His burning gaze was like a pair of invisible hands... Why was she starting to imagine things herself?!
Eriri finally snapped back to reality, furiously pressing the delete button, wiping all four photos clean. "Was all of this part of your plan?"
"So far," Lin Kongqing said, catching the phone Eriri threw at him, "it's going quite smoothly."
"Scum!"
"Thanks for the compliment."
"So," Lin Kongqing shook his phone, "as we discussed earlier, give me your LINE ID."
"Dream on!" Eriri turned and walked away. "I'm going home!"
Fear.
Eriri genuinely felt fear.
It was like a housewife encountering her husband's drunk boss returning him home, a girl with bad grades seeing her strangely smiling tutor, a struggling athlete being kept after school by the sports teacher, a newly debuted idol meeting her manager... "Ah, speaking of which, current phones all have a recycle bin function." Lin Kongqing's voice sounded behind Eriri, like the hiss of a venomous snake. "The photos I just deleted have been recovered."
Eriri stopped, turned her head, and saw her own thought-provoking expression on Lin Kongqing's raised phone screen.
Next to the phone was Lin Kongqing's face, his narrow eyes squinted, like a smiling fox, and the thin smile formed by his lips made him look even more like a snake ready to devour its prey.
"You..." Eriri trembled with anger. "What exactly do you want?"
"LINE ID."
Eriri exhaled slowly, then recited a string of numbers with a blank expression.
Lin Kongqing entered the number and sent a friend request. A notification sound rang from Eriri's person.
"Accept it."
Eriri took out her phone and pressed hard on the screen, as if Lin Kongqing was lying on it and she wanted to crush him with her finger. "Can I delete them now?"