Can we exchange WeChat?

Yue Qianling originally thought she would receive unanimous approval from her three friends. However, when she returned after washing the cup, the group chat messages were still stuck on Lin Xun’s ambiguous reply.

【Glutinous Rice Twist】: What? Are you all speechless?

After a while.

【Luo Tuo】: Indeed, how could such a speechless thing happen?

After sending this message, Luo Tuo immediately opened Gu Xun’s chat box.

【Luo Tuo】: Is this your way of attracting someone’s attention?

【Luo Tuo】: Even if you’ve never eaten pork, you should have seen a pig run, right???

Gu Xun didn’t respond to Luo Tuo at all.

At this moment, he was sitting in a chair, staring at the screen full of code, paying no attention to his phone.

In fact, it had only been a day since he rejected Yue Qianling, but he didn’t know why he felt like he had experienced a century.

Everything was chaotic, chickens were flying and dogs were jumping.

Even the small coincidences that happened this afternoon had become dramatic.

And Yue Qianling’s words were like a bucket of cold water poured over him, making him realize that the words he said were like water spilled out and could never be taken back.

After a long silence, he took a deep breath, stood up, and walked toward the pantry.

As he passed by the art department, a group of people were gathered around the corridor, chattering about something.

Someone suddenly called him.

“Gu Xun, are you busy? If not, come over and help us take a look.”

Gu Xun stopped, turned his head, and asked, “What?”

The lead artist had dark circles under his eyes, obviously having stayed up all night. Pointing at the computer screen, he said, “Take a look here, is there anything you think is in line with Sigrid’s style?”

Sigrid was an important female boss in the 3A game being developed by the Ninth Division. Her original character design had been in works from last year to this year, and it had been constantly overturned.

Based on the game’s worldview, her character design was the most complex, representing absolute power and evil, while also possessing a beautiful body and face with feminine qualities.

In the past few months, there had been at least a hundred drafts, but either the character emphasized female curves too much, lacking a sense of power, or the evil vibe was too obvious, making her look like a villainous big boss at a glance.

But the ones who always drew were the people in the art department, and they had been thinking day and night, making them know Sigrid’s character design inside and out.

But because of this, they were being overly restricted in their thinking, and they couldn’t find a direction to break through.

The art team couldn’t hand in their work, and the 3D modeling team was pressing them. The lead artist had no choice but to have someone go to the internet to collect nearly two hundred pictures of matching styles for reference.

But there were so many pictures, and most of the team didn’t have the patience to look through all of them. They were currently making a lot of noise, each expressing their opinions, causing the lead artist a headache. So, he could only find an outsider to provide a clear perspective, and it was just perfect to see the lead developer pass by.

Fortunately, Gu Xun was free now.

He walked over to the lead artist, and the other members of the art team made way for him.

The computer screen was on the album preview interface, and Gu Xun sat down and opened the first picture.

Initially, everyone gathered around him to view the pictures together.

However, Gu Xun didn’t just glance through them, he examined each picture very seriously.

After more than half an hour, he hadn’t seen even half of them.

And when he was looking at the pictures, he didn’t say a word, concentrating solely on the screen, and didn’t even interact with others. As a result, as time passed, members of the art team gradually went back to their tasks, leaving only the lead artist sitting next to Gu Xun.

In the blink of an eye, a whole lunchtime had passed, and there were still around ten pictures left in the album.

Gu Xun had yet to express his opinions, and the lead artist was also getting a little impatient. He asked quietly, “Do you think there’s a suitable one?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he saw Gu Xun release his hand from the mouse, prop his chin up, and stare intently at the particular picture in front of him.

After a moment, he stood up.

“This one is the best.”

“The best?” The lead artist quickly flipped through the remaining pictures using the mouse, “You’re not going to look at the others?”

Gu Xun had already left his seat and threw down a sentence.

“I won’t look at the others. You decide for yourselves.”

The lead artist tilted his head and stared at the indescribable picture. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

***

Three days later, in the afternoon, while Yue Qianling was burying her head coloring, she received a message from an unfamiliar contact on DingTalk.

“Good afternoon, Qianling. I am Wei Han, the lead artist of our company’s Ninth Business Division. Do you have time to chat?”

Yue Qianling was taken aback for a moment, leaning over to Huang Jie and whispering, “The lead artist of the Ninth Division actually asked me to chat with him. What’s going on?”

“Let me see.” Huang Jie turned around and looked at Yue Qianling’s computer, furrowing her brows. “I don’t know. What does he want you for…”

Huang Jie thought of something and suddenly lowered her voice, “Maybe he wants to flirt with you?”

“Your thoughts are a bit too wild,” Yue Qianling frowned and pushed Huang Jie away, “Who would flirt on DingTalk? Seeking a sense of taboo?”

She simply replied with a few words.

“May I ask what’s the matter?”

After a while, the other party replied, “It’s hard to explain briefly. Why don’t you come to my office?”

Yue Qianling thought about it and decided to go to the Ninth Division.

It had been more than half a year since she last came here, and Yue Qianling was still relatively unfamiliar with this floor.

She didn’t remember exactly where the art department was located, so she wanted to ask someone, but she noticed that all the workstations she could see were empty.

This department is a bit too lax, isn’t it?

After walking a little further, she heard the sound of people talking, and when she looked up, she saw someone playing a game with five or six people around him, holding tablets and recording something.

Yue Qianling wanted to ask them about the lead artist’s office, so she walked over quietly.

These people were completely absorbed and didn’t even notice Yue Qianling’s approach.

When she walked up to them, she discovered that the person sitting there was Gu Xun.

He was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, leaning against his chair, one hand on the keyboard, and the other hand operating the mouse, calmly staring at the screen.

In her line of sight, Yue Qianling saw his hands operating rapidly, the game character throwing out a grappling hook to aim at a high place and leaping while simultaneously quick-scoping with a sniper rifle.

When he got a headshot, he didn’t even blink his eyes or change his expression.

The entire operation was smooth and precise, all done in one go, to the extent that the people standing beside him forgot to record.

Meanwhile, Gu Xun lifted one leg onto a footrest, let go of the mouse, and lowered his eyes to focus on the character on the screen.

“Just the mechanical impact of this, it feels like plastic, similar to an arcade machine. It’s not even in the same league as COD Modern Warfare, and it’s not comparable.”

After speaking, he was about to get up, but when he looked up, he saw Yue Qianling standing on the side.

The moment their eyes met, Gu Xun’s movement to stand up halted.

His gaze flickered slightly, and he asked, “Why are you here?”

Yue Qianling was also stunned for a moment.

She had unknowingly become fascinated watching him play, and she didn’t expect him to suddenly look up.

But at this moment, she didn’t know which nerve was moving her facial muscles, and she just pulled the corners of her mouth into a smile in response to his question, then she turned her head and asked Yi Hong, who was standing next to him, “Where is the lead artist’s office?”

Yi Hong thought for a moment, and then suddenly understood. He pointed in a direction, “Turn left in front of the second office.”

“Okay, thanks.”

After saying that, Yue Qianling turned around.

To make herself not look like she was running away, she deliberately controlled her steps and walked slowly forward.

Gu Xun watched her back for a while before finally asking Yi Hong, “Why is she looking for the lead artist?”

Yi Hong exclaimed, “You don’t know? I thought you knew that it was Yue Qianling who drew it.”

***

When Yue Qianling entered Wei Han’s office, he was busy typing.

Seeing Yue Qianling coming in, he put down what he was working on and pointed to the chair in front of his desk, “Have a seat.”

Yue Qianling pulled out the chair and asked before sitting down, “What’s the matter?”

“It’s like this, we have a boss named Sigrid in our project. Her character design is quite complicated, and we haven’t been able to make a draft that fits her character. A few days ago, I had someone find a few hundred pictures on the internet for reference. Then, I came across a three-view drawing of a snake woman in the Cthulhu style.”

Upon hearing this, Yue Qianling raised her eyebrows in even greater confusion.

“Hey, the first time I saw it, I didn’t think it was the Sigrid I imagined, so I just swiped past it.”

As Wei Han spoke, he suddenly stood up excitedly and leaned over towards Yue Qianling, “But a few days ago, a colleague of ours helped us look at the pictures, and he said that this one was the best. Then we studied it carefully for a few days and found that it really is the case. The Cthulhu snake woman looks a bit scary at first glance, but when you look closely at the character’s form and expression, it’s exactly the absolute power and evil we want, but it’s not expressed so directly.”

“So…” Yue Qianling asked, “You’re talking about my picture?”

A few months before graduation, Yue Qianling had less work on her hands, so she sporadically drew that picture in her spare time. After perfecting the details, she uploaded it to her Weibo, which had not been updated for a long time.

At the time, there were a lot of positive comments, but she didn’t pay much attention to them.

“Exactly!” Wei Han excitedly patted the desk. “At that time, I had someone contact the artist and found the Weibo, then someone told me that it was you.”

“So we discussed it for a while and felt that this kind of thing is difficult to imitate, so we would like you to help us complete the original drawing of Sigrid.”

Nearly two hours later, Yue Qianling finally came out of Wei Han’s office.

He talked to her a lot about Sigrid’s character background and the overall worldview of the game. The amount of information was so great that Yue Qianling was still dizzy.

And she was unsure whether to agree to Wei Han’s request.

She understood what the project of the Ninth Division meant to the entire company, and it was also the efforts this group of people had put in over the years.

She had never worked on a 3A masterpiece before, and she didn’t have much experience, so she didn’t dare to easily agree to take on the important role of the original drawing for an important boss.

However, all rational thinking could not resist the eagerness to try in her heart.

Yue Qianling was lost in thought, leaving the art department step by step. She was heading towards the elevator, completely unaware of her surroundings.

Gu Xun was standing at the end of the corridor. When he saw Yue Qianling come out, he patiently waited until she walked up to him. Just as he was about to speak, he saw that she didn’t even raise her head and went straight to the elevator.

Gu Xun: “……”

He paused for a moment, then called out to her.

“Yue Qianling.”

Yue Qianling suddenly paused.

In her impression, this was the first time Gu Xun had called her name.

She didn’t expect that her name would sound so gentle when spoken in his clear voice.

After a while, she turned around and said in a flat voice, “What’s up?”

Gu Xun walked a few steps closer to Yue Qianling, standing right under the window.

The sunlight was cut into geometric shapes, falling on his face, blurring his expression.

He looked at Yue Qianling deeply before speaking, “Are you going to help us?”

“I don’t know.”

The answer was too concise, not willing to add even a single extra word.

Gu Xun looked away and took a deep breath. When he looked at her again, there was a hint of helplessness in his gaze.

In comparison, Yue Qianling was much more approachable when playing games.

Gu Xun lowered his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly raised his eyes. In a deep voice, he said, “Then… can we exchange WeChat?”

After speaking, he looked at Yue Qianling intently.

The tips of Yue Qianling’s fingers, hanging at the edge of her pants, trembled slightly.

The next second, she said with a cold face, “I usually only add people I know well on WeChat.”

Gu Xun: “……”

The elevator arrived, and Yue Qianling walked in.

Not until her figure was blocked by the elevator door did Gu Xun withdraw his gaze.

He took out his phone, opened Yue Qianling’s chat box, and smiled self-deprecatingly, saying in a low voice, “Not familiar enough, huh?”

His finger paused on the screen for a moment, then he clicked into Yue Qianling’s Moments, and the first thing he saw was the picture Yue Qianling had posted half a year ago.

If there weren’t so many people that day, he would have definitely found something when he had approached the observation platform and seen her in person.

And it wouldn’t have led to the current situation.

Gu Xun looked down at the photo for a long time, without saying a word.

Suddenly, his gaze moved slightly, and then he used two fingers to enlarge the photo.

At the time, he had only been paying attention to the fireworks and the direction in the photo to determine that she was at the scene, but he had ignored the crowd below.

But at this moment, as he concentrated on examining the photo, he discovered that in the dense crowd, there was a figure who seemed to be himself.

A blurry side profile couldn’t be completely confirmed, but next to it was also a slightly plump man, who also happened to be carrying a dark red backpack.

Isn’t that Luo Tuo…

Gu Xun almost immediately confirmed that the person in this photo was him.

He just wasn’t sure if Yue Qianling intentionally posted such a photo or if it was just a coincidence.

Subconsciously, he already had an answer, just waiting to confirm it.

At this moment, Yi Hong suddenly waved at him with a tablet, “What are you standing there for? The meeting is starting!”

Gu Xun frowned and walked towards the meeting room.

It was just a brief impromptu meeting.

After over thirty minutes, everyone got up and left, leaving only Gu Xun still sitting in the meeting room.

Various speculations about that photo came to his mind again. He took out his phone and clicked into Yue Qianling’s Moments again.

But he couldn’t see that photo anymore.

Gu Xun sat up straight abruptly, pulling down to refresh.

Still couldn’t see it.

Did she actually delete it?

Gu Xun’s mood suddenly felt so broken that he couldn’t describe it in words.

Her action not only confirmed that the person in the photo was him.

Even the “Happy New Year” was specifically addressed to him by Yue Qianling.

But she actually decisively deleted it?!