This was already the second time he had felt her voice… (1)

As Christmas approached, it meant that the pressure of the card event was also approaching, and Yue Qianling had no intention of thinking about how to celebrate the holiday.

The online condemnation from players hung like a cloud of worry over the entire project team, leaving everyone with no time to breathe. It felt as though the entire team was on the brink of falling apart.

But it was precisely because of this that no one cared about why Yue Qianling had decided to return to work just two days after leaving, and no one brought up the boss’ opinion that the team leader had conveyed in the group chat, perfectly avoiding the awkward situation she had anticipated.

These two days had also been the best working experience Yue Qianling had ever had.

She only needed to focus on her drawing at her workstation. No one came to chat with her, there were no sudden meeting invitations, and even the team leader didn’t insist on the team having lunch together.

The only exception was the lead artist, who used to come by to check on the progress of the concept artists before leaving work. Now, she would visit Yue Qianling’s desk even when there was no particular reason.

On the evening of the 21st, Yue Qianling successfully submitted the Christmas event card of the two male protagonists to the lead artist.

However, before the lead artist could submit the content to the main server, the project lead rushed over to their area with a laptop in his arm.

Without any opening remarks, he directly opened the images on the lead artist’s computer, carefully checked them several times, and then immediately arranged for the preview card to be released again.

Judging by the project lead’s attitude, it seemed like there shouldn’t be any problems. It’s more like hitting a minor snag, but they should still be able to catch up for the launch tomorrow.

The team members in the group more or less breathed a sigh of relief, but no one was in a hurry to leave the office. Instead, they stayed at their desks, waiting for the official account to announce the newly revised card arts and to see the players’ reactions, hoping for some peace of mind in the end.

Only Yue Qianling, who had gone the entire day without eating anything, had just taken her phone and headed downstairs to the convenience store.

At this moment, only the team leader was sitting at her computer, checking her emails while occasionally glancing at the night outside. There was a hint of anxiety in her eyes.

The people sitting here all hoped that this optimization would receive a positive response from the players, but she couldn’t express such hope.

In fact, she even wished that the players would continue to harshly criticize.

After all, the more satisfied players were with the card arts that Yue Qianling had redrawn, the more it would hit her in the face.

She would rather take the blame for this failure than endure such humiliation.

So, after the official game account re-released the card art preview, she immediately opened her phone and stared at the screen.

In just a few minutes, many question marks appeared in the comment section.

Seeing this, she breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling like the heavy stone that had been weighing on her heart for days had finally been lifted.

It seemed that the players were indeed dissatisfied with today’s card art, and their anger was even greater, so they didn’t even bother to say anything, just leaving question marks.

This turn of events was exactly what she had hoped for.

The team leader’s shoulders finally relaxed. She took screenshots of the comments and shared them in the work group.

【Team Leader】: Sigh, I told you. Calling Qianling back is useless.

【Team Leader】: This isn’t even our art team’s problem. Who knows what’s wrong with these players?

【Team Leader】: And they’ve made it such a hassle for you to rush back here. This time, the boss might be disappointed in you.

Yue Qianling didn’t see the messages in the group immediately, and she had no idea about the current public opinion of the players.

At this moment, the convenience store was crowded, and Yue Qianling was focused on scanning the shelves, looking for something she wanted to eat.

However, the instant meal products on display weren’t appetizing to her. After a long period of indecision, she decided to return to her university and eat at her favorite restaurant there.

She leisurely returned to the office, and when she was about to enter the project team’s office area, she felt her phone vibrating continuously. So, she took it out to check.

It had been over ten minutes since the team leader had posted those messages in the group.

The recent series of vibrations was because her other colleagues had also shared screenshots.

【Huang Jie】: It seems like the situation isn’t as you said, right?

In the screenshot, the direction of the game’s official account comments had become very consistent.

The top-liked comment: Why didn’t you just let this artist draw from the beginning? You guys deserve the criticism! Don’t cooperate with that artist anymore. We’ll boycott the game every time we see their art style.

The image attached to the first comment showed the screenshot of a purchase of over 200,000 RMB.

The second most-liked comment: So, you guys just felt itchy and wanted to get scolded when you released that thing two days ago??

The attached image for this comment showed a transaction of over 100,000 RMB.

Most of the subsequent comments were along the same lines.

Clearly, the players who had posted question marks in the first few minutes were simply expressing the sentiment, ‘If you can produce this level of card art, what were you doing a few days ago?’

Later, some players shared detailed thoughts along with screenshots of their in-game purchases, and those comments were bumped to the top.

So when Yue Qianling scrolled up and saw what the team leader had said, she was utterly bewildered.

Anyone with a bit of common sense would know that if the *whales really wanted to criticize, it wouldn’t be as simple as posting a single question mark. (*big spenders)

As she thought about what was going on in her team leader’s mind, she responded with a simple “?” in the group chat.

The group fell into a deathly silence, and nobody said anything further.

That single “?” remained at the bottom of the screen, like a handprint slapped on the team leader’s face.

A few minutes later, someone noticed that one member had left the group.

Huang Jie quietly approached Yue Qianling, who was packing up her things and preparing to leave, and whispered, “Yin Qin left the group.”

Yin Qin was the team leader.

In terms of position, she, Yue Qianling, and Huang Jie were all actually considered on the same level as concept artists. However, Yin Qin was the most senior in terms of experience, and the company had appointed her as team leader primarily to facilitate management. She was responsible for collecting and organizing information and handling various small tasks.

Previously, everyone referred to her as “team leader” out of respect to her as a senior, but it didn’t necessarily mean they held her in exceptionally high regard.

So, when Yue Qianling learned that she had left the group, she didn’t have strong feelings about it. In fact, she didn’t particularly like being in such groups to begin with.

“Oh, it’s fine that she left,” Yue Qianling said as she gathered her belongings. When she looked up, she met Yin Qin’s gaze. Yin Qin struggled to maintain her expression, glared at her angrily, and picked up her bag before turning to leave.

What’s her problem?

Yue Qianling picked up her phone and told Huang Jie, “Then, I’ll go back to school first.”

“It’s still early,” Huang Jie grabbed her arm and said, “I’ll treat you to dinner to celebrate your return to work. What do you say?”

Yue Qianling thought for a moment and agreed with a smile.

She found that as long as Yin Qin did not force everyone to get together, she was actually happy to have dinner with these girls.

Huang Jie then invited a few more colleagues, and they headed downstairs together.

***

There weren’t many restaurant downstairs, and it was the peak time for employees from nearby internet companies to get off work. So, they had to check several places before finding a restaurant with available seats.

The restaurant they chose was a combination of Western and Chinese cuisines, with a youthful, modern interior and a relaxed atmosphere. In the main dining hall, there were several long tables that could accommodate up to twenty people each, making it a popular spot for gatherings among office workers in the area.

Only one table near the entrance was still unoccupied when they arrived. They had just taken their seats when they heard the welcoming voice from the entrance.

Yue Qianling, with her back to the door, didn’t turn around. She kept her head down, engrossed in her phone.

Huang Jie sat across from her and suddenly waved her hand.

“Yi Hong! Are you guys here for dinner too?”

“Yes, we’ve been searching for a place for half a day, and they’re all fully occupied. Are you having a department gathering?”

“Not exactly a gathering, just a few colleagues having a meal together. How about you?”

“Us too.”

“Hey, why don’t you come and sit with us?” Huang Jie looked around, “There are no other available tables.”

“Uh…” Yi Hong asked his colleagues for their opinion, and they all nodded in agreement. He then said, “That won’t be a bother, will it?”

“We’re all colleagues, no need to be polite.”

Yue Qianling didn’t know who this “Yi Hong” mentioned by Huang Jie was. Based on the conversation, it seemed to be a colleague she didn’t know.

As the footsteps of several people approached, Yue Qianling, although not familiar with these individuals, intended to politely greet them.

When she raised her head, she was surprised to see that Gu Xun was among this group of people.

Under the restaurant’s dim and ambiguous lighting, he lowered his head, moved through several empty chairs, and took a seat directly across from Yue Qianling. He extended his legs, pushing the chair slightly away from the table to create some space.

The moment he sat down, Yue Qianling’s heart skipped a bit.

When he settled into his seat, he raised his eyes, and their gazes met as expected.

Gu Xun raised an eyebrow, displaying a tinge of surprise in his eyes, but not enough to warrant a question from him.

He simply nodded and turned to look at the menu on the table.

Yue Qianling, still basking in her private delight, couldn’t help but smile and lowered her head to look at the menu as well.

“These are the concept artists from our project team.”

Huang Jie, seated next to Gu Xun, introduced them to Yi Hong. She added, “You’ve probably seen them before, right?”

In reality, they had almost never seen each other. Their Ninth Business Division operated almost like an entirely different company. Yi Hong and Huang Jie had only met a few days ago at a convenience store while eating instant noodles.

However, Yi Hong had an impression of Yue Qianling, so he nodded vaguely and said, “Yes, I’ve seen them before.”

Then he gestured to the colleagues who were with him, “These are the developers from our division.”

Everyone looked up and greeted each other. Yue Qianling noticed that several of her female colleagues were looking at Gu Xun, making her feel a little uncomfortable. She immediately felt restless.

However, there was not much she could do except sit there quietly.

Fortunately, Gu Xun hadn’t lifted his head, only occasionally speaking a few words with the person next to him, Yi Hong. It was as if he hadn’t noticed the row of girls sitting on the opposite side.

The narrow space under the table was not enough to accommodate his legs comfortably. After ordering their food, he leaned back in his chair and propped one leg up on the crossbar underneath the table.

Since everyone was already looking at him, she couldn’t be blamed for doing the same, so Yue Qianling openly raised her gaze to observe him as well.

However, Gu Xun didn’t seem to notice the gazes of the several female colleagues around him. He remained completely focused on his phone. With his head slightly tilted, the overhead light perfectly outlined the contours of his side profile.

From this distance and angle, Yue Qianling could clearly see the faint shadow cast by his thick eyelashes on his lower eyelid.

He looked like a character from a comic book set in a noisy background, so good-looking it seemed a little unreal.

She couldn’t tell how long she had been staring.

Suddenly, he raised his head.

Once again, their gazes collided unexpectedly.