At night, Wang Ming couldn't sleep because of Jiang Xia's words. In the quiet environment, he could almost hear his own heart pounding.

Does Shen Ying like him?

No, no, at most it might be somewhat interesting, but not to the point of liking.

Or perhaps it's a bit of attraction? (Reading...)

However, now that the two are so far apart, that little bit of goodwill will probably wear off quickly.

The thought of this made him feel terrible.

It's so hard to find a glimmer of hope, but it feels even worse than despair.

He subconsciously wanted to take out his phone to send Shen Ying a text message or two, but he was afraid that it would be too abrupt and scare her. He hesitated between sending it and not sending it, and before he knew it, it was past midnight.

Jiang Xia lay motionless in the next bed, breathing evenly, seemingly fast asleep.

Wang Ming stared at the ceiling and muttered to himself, "Old Jiang, if you were me, what would you do?"

Suddenly, Jiang Xia's voice rang out in the darkness.

"Go for it. As long as you swing the hoe well, there's no corner you can't dig down." He silently turned over.

Wang Ming was immediately shocked: "Holy crap, weren't you asleep?"

“You turn over every ten seconds or so, and then sigh again every ten seconds or so. I’ve counted the sheep to almost 6,000, and I’m still not sleepy at all,” Jiang Xia said, speechless.

"Uh, sorry."

Jiang Xia sat up, turned to look at his good brother who was troubled by love, and couldn't help but comfort him: "Old Wang, everyone's love is selfish, so don't believe that there is a kind of love called letting go. Watching the person you like lying in someone else's arms is called being cuckolded. Since Shen Ying has feelings for you now, you must go for it."

"But she rejected me not long ago."

Wang Ming was quite melancholy as he sighed. Shen Ying kept changing her mind, sometimes rejecting him and sometimes showing interest, leaving him unsure of what to do.

"So this requires some sophisticated dating skills."

"How so?"

"Many factors influence a person's liking, such as old acquaintances, classmates, personality, and hobbies. But the most direct factors are appearance and money. Let's leave aside these two most important factors for now and talk about the others."

Wang Ming's face twitched violently. What did he mean by "let's not talk about it for now"? He thought he was quite good-looking. Although he wasn't as handsome as Jiang Xia, he was still the kind of person who grew on you.

As for his financial situation, compared to many of his classmates, his family is quite well-off, which is thanks to his excellent mother.

Jiang Xia continued to analyze for him: "Given your current situation, if you want to upgrade your goodwill to liking, being persistent and clingy is the least effective way. On the contrary, it may trigger Shen Ying's dislike for you."

"What do you mean?" He frowned slightly.

“Literally, for example…” Jiang Xia pursed her lips, “Many boys who pursue girls want to stick to her every day, and they talk to her, send messages, and give her small gifts whenever they have the chance, regardless of whether she likes it or not. At first, she might reply with a few words, but after a while, she will get annoyed and the most common thing is to be perfunctory. Eventually, she will simply ignore them.”

The most common scenario is that she replies with an emoji every morning and evening, takes a whole day to shower, and after saying goodnight, you find out that she's still playing ranked games with someone at one or two in the morning.

Wang Ming nodded: "Understood, you can continue."

"So, in situations like this, you often need to take a roundabout approach. You can't show too much concern. Since you can't be boyfriend and girlfriend, you can be friends first. Now the question is, are you and Shen Ying friends?" Jiang Xia asked.

"I guess... I guess so?" Wang Ming stammered, feeling inexplicably lacking confidence.

"So you could say that? Let me ask you another way. After she rejected you last time, did you take the initiative to talk to her? Or did she take the initiative to talk to you? If so, how often?"

"Well……"

This question really stumped Wang Ming. To ease the awkwardness, the two of them almost subconsciously stopped talking to each other. If they weren't colleagues, they probably wouldn't have seen each other again.

Jiang Xia immediately saw through the fact that the relationship between the two was in a very delicate state.

This is why many boys and girls who usually get along well can't even remain friends after a failed confession.

"Master Jiang, please teach me the ultimate techniques for picking up girls!"

Wang Ming got out of bed and knelt down directly in front of Jiang Xia.

"It's actually quite simple. Forget all your previous opinions about Shen Ying, and try to be friends with her first. Don't talk about anything romantic or sentimental. Talk about common topics and common interests. If you don't have any, that's okay too. Just don't do anything she likes in order to please her, or it will be very awkward."

“You can share your daily life, but too much interaction isn’t good either. A proper distance makes people feel more comfortable. Anyway, don’t worry about anything until she takes the initiative to show interest. Just study, work, and treat her like an ordinary online friend of the opposite sex,” Jiang Xia said seriously.

Wang Ming secretly kept these words in mind. They were quite easy to understand, but he didn't know how they would be in practice.

"But why can you and your sister-in-law be all lovey-dovey all day long?"

Thinking of his wife, Jiang Xia couldn't help but smile: "This... is called love."

Given their way of getting along, I reckon even when they're old, he'll still peel a piece of candy and feed it to her, asking her if it's sweet.

"……Grass!"

Wang Ming was inexplicably shown up again, so he gave her the middle finger in response.

"Old Wang, I'll be moving the company to Beijing in a while." Jiang Xia pursed her lips and looked at him slowly, saying, "So, I'd like Aunt Li to develop her career here. What do you think?"

“My mom has told me about this. To be honest, as her son, I have no right to interfere with her decisions. As long as she agrees, I have no objection,” Wang Ming replied.

"But she's your mother, she'll consider your thoughts, and they carry a lot of weight."

So you want me to put in a good word for you?

Jiang Xia nodded: "As you can see, Qitian Animation is just a makeshift operation right now, lacking everything. When we were creating Tom and Jerry, we could rely on our passion, but if we want to grow and become stronger, that alone is not enough. I need someone to help me manage the company and lead the projects, and that person has to be Aunt Li."

Wang Ming remained silent for a long time, then sighed softly: "Old Jiang, as a member of Qitian Animation, I naturally hope to see the company get better and better, but I can't help you with this request. She is my mother, and I will support whatever she does, provided that she is willing, but I can't force her."

“I understand,” Jiang Xia nodded.

In other words, whether he can persuade Li Weiya to come to the capital depends on his abilities, but it shouldn't be too difficult.