Chapter 52 A Poor Little Kid in a Big City

Xu Weisheng was very proactive in helping Jian Zhen with her troubles. When Jian Zhen mentioned that Youjia's workload was too heavy, he took it seriously and took action. On Friday morning, when Jian Zhen went to work, she received a text message from the airline reminding her that she had a ticket for a direct flight from Shenzhen to Tokyo that night, and she was the passenger.

Jian Zhen roughly knew what was going on—Xu Weisheng had mentioned to him that he had a “good friend” he met when he worked at Qili back then. This friend had superb drawing skills and was just as talented as Youjia. Moreover, the friend had undergone systematic training... It was almost as if he was the best working person ever.

This friend's career has been quite bumpy. He and Hsu Wei-sheng left Chi-Li Entertainment around the same time. Hsu Wei-sheng left because he couldn't stand Chi-Li's PUA culture, while he felt that Chi-Li wasn't shrewd enough and hindered his development. In terms of mentality, he's quite an unusual person. In short, this unusual person has high aspirations. After resigning, he resolutely went to Japan and joined a leading Japanese animation company.

When Jian Zhen heard from Xu Weisheng that he now worked at Studio Ghibli, she immediately lost confidence: "Do you think a normal person would give up Studio Ghibli to come to our Touxue?"

Xu Weisheng retorted shamelessly, "What's wrong with Touxue?"

Jian Zhen was speechless. This person really would say anything to please her.

Xu Weisheng continued, "Besides, do you think there are many normal people in that place?"

Jian Zhen was stunned, but after two seconds she was convinced: "That's true."

Xu Weisheng took a picture of her passport and said that they would go to Japan together in a couple of days to talk to that person. Jian Zhen put away her passport and didn't take it to heart. She thought that in a couple of days... it would take at least ten days or half a month. But in less than 48 hours, Xu Weisheng finalized the entire itinerary for the two of them to go to Tokyo to poach her. It was really fast.

When the plane landed at Haneda, Friday wasn't even over yet. Jian Zhen glanced at the time on her watch and suddenly had the illusion that she had just left her workstation and opened a portal to another world.

"Let's go." Xu Weisheng waved his hand in front of her eyes. He had booked a car in advance to pick her up from the airport, so they could go straight to the hotel in the city center. Jian Zhen suddenly thought of a very important question in the car: How many rooms did he book? This was very important.

But she kept it to herself the whole way, too embarrassed to ask. It was amazing how relationships between people could go through such strange phases: feeling awkward when sleeping together, and feeling awkward when not sleeping together.

Xu Weisheng chatted with the driver in broken Japanese the whole way. Jian Zhen could occasionally catch a few keywords and roughly understand that they were talking about the Japanese animation industry. The driver, who was originally reserved and polite, was also infected by Xu Weisheng in the latter half of the conversation and opened up, even starting to mix Japanese and English. The fact that the two of them could understand each other so smoothly in this situation made Jian Zhen feel a little shocked.

When they got off the bus, the driver offered to help them with their luggage, but Jian Zhen was worried that the white-haired man might hurt his back, so she insisted on doing it herself. In the end, Xu Weisheng seized the opportunity and took the handle of the suitcase first. The two entered the hotel, and when checking in, Jian Zhen noticed that they were in two adjacent rooms. She breathed a sigh of relief and then had the mind to ask, "What were you two laughing about just now?"

Xu Weisheng said with a wicked smile, "Our master asked us if we were making adult comics, saying that only those working in the adult comics industry can make money now, while everyone else is struggling to make ends meet."

"That's outrageous." Jian Zhen raised an eyebrow. Logically speaking, Japan's anime and manga industry is highly developed and has such a strong ability to export culture, so they shouldn't be unable to make money. How come those working in the industry are struggling to make ends meet?

“So we only have one main task tomorrow.” Xu Weisheng put his arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"What?" Jian Zhen's earlobe felt slightly itchy, and she turned to look at him.

Hsu Wei-sheng: "Showing off wealth."

The next morning, Jian Zhen was woken up by Xu Weisheng. She opened the door, and Xu Weisheng was holding a neatly wrapped cardboard box and trying to hand it to her. Jian Zhen, who was still sleepy, was immediately startled awake and couldn't help but take a step back, saying, "What is this?"

“gtx titan,” Xu Weisheng said smugly.

Jian Zhen paused for two seconds, then reacted, took the graphics card and examined it from all angles, saying, "Hey, I thought it was something else. If you're going to give him a graphics card to show off your wealth, at least give him a limited edition. How can this kind of generic, snow-white model show off Young Master Xu's wealth?"

"A limited edition for him?" Xu Weisheng chuckled reflexively, then quickly stopped, shrugging and saying, "Anyway, don't say it was from me, just say it was a gift you gave him, and you'd better mention Touxue's perks as well..."

Jian Zhen didn't understand the reason for the anonymous gift-giving until she met Chen Siying in person—the other party was down on her luck and even spoke in an energy-saving mode, keeping her voice calm and even in the same tone, except when she spoke to Xu Weisheng, she was like an angry pufferfish.

“Ms. Jian, I’ve seen some of your company’s works posted online. They’re quite interesting, and it’s clear that the creators put a lot of effort into them.” Chen Siying’s gaze would occasionally drift to the corner of the desk to check on the presence of the graphics card.

Jian Zhen smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, saying softly, "Really? Thank you for your kind words. However, Touxue has only been established for a short time, and we are currently in need of manpower. I don't want to waste time playing games. You should also know why I'm here."

Chen Siying was clearly going through a fierce internal struggle, and hesitated before saying, "But given the scale of your project, the existing staff might be enough. I mean, if you just want to make a simple, heartwarming, and cute TV series..."

Jian Zhen smiled as she looked at him. He had a head of messy curly hair. She didn't know if it was a Japanese-style hairstyle or just naturally curly hair that he hadn't had time to style. Judging from the shape, Jian Zhen was more inclined to believe it was the latter.

Chen Siying stopped and looked back at her, puzzled.

Jian Zhen said quietly, "Of course we won't just do this. In fact, we have a film project in development. Would you like to know what it is?"

Chen Siying glanced reluctantly at Xu Weisheng, who was idly twirling his teacup next to Jian Zhen, and said with disgust, "Is he some kind of billiards prodigy?"

Jian Zhen chuckled and said, "It seems your intuition is quite accurate."

Chen Siying almost opened her mouth, but then closed it. Finally, she turned her head to look at the window and gave Xu Weisheng a subtle glare.

When the two worked together at Qili, he was always overshadowed by Xu Weisheng, who was a star. He finally escaped Xu's shadow and crossed the ocean to Japan to get his own gilded spotlight—but in the end, he still had to go back to work for Xu's productions.

Damn it, what an absurd life!

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Xu Weisheng broke the silence by saying, "Siying, Jian Zhen is the leader of this project. You don't need to let our personal disputes interfere with your decision."

"What a joke!" Chen Siying turned her head and glared at him angrily, saying, "Do you think I'm still the same as before? Still so concerned about Teacher Lin Sheng on the Avenue of Stars?"

He glanced back at Jian Zhen, paused, and asked, "I'd like to know about your salary structure, benefits, and working hours. Also, if I join the billiards youth project, I'd like to know my specific role."

Jian Zhen smiled and nodded, "Of course."

The two had another discussion on these key issues. Xu Weisheng was not present; it was not appropriate for him to appear in such negotiations—the three of them were of one mind about this.

It was already afternoon when the conversation ended. Jian Zhen smiled and got up to see the guests off: "Well, I'll say this in advance—welcome back to China."

Chen Siying reached out and shook hands with her, saying politely, "It's been a pleasure working with you. By the way, I'd like to confirm something with you again."

"What?" Jian Zhen asked.

"Are all the graphics cards Touxue is using now the same one as this one? Do I need to bring it with me?" Chen Siying pointed to the graphics card box tucked under her arm.

Jian Zhen chuckled and said, "Of course not. We provide office equipment. If you ask about the configuration, it will be better than you imagine."

Chen Siying's facial expressions changed dramatically. Finally, he let out a long breath, said goodbye, and left. Jian Zhen watched his retreating figure and saw the sorrow of someone who had to bow down for a meager living.

"Where have you been?" She came out of the restaurant and was strolling around when she ran into Xu Weisheng, who had come back to find her.

Xu Weisheng was carrying a dessert box with simple packaging. When Jian Zhen opened it, she found a plain soufflé, which was visibly fluffy and soft.

“Looks good, right?” Xu Weisheng looked down at her with her.

"Haven't you tried it?" Jian Zhen asked, closing the lid.

Xu Weisheng shook his head: "I didn't have time. I just booked a hot spring. Let's go soak in the hot spring tonight to celebrate your success in winning over Chen Siying."

Jian Zhen stared at him intently. Was it her imagination? She felt that Xu Weisheng was becoming more and more "skilled" at dating, and even though she knew this guy was a seductress, she still couldn't help but step into the trap—perhaps love really is a poison that is sweet at first but bitter later, but she was enjoying it at the moment.

"How do you know it's all settled? What if he says no? After all, he's at Studio Ghibli now." Jian Zhen tacitly agreed to the hot spring's suggestion.

The two walked side by side, and Xu Weisheng laughed heartlessly, "He earns 200,000 yen a month. Let alone Studio Ghibli, he couldn't even make it at NASA. He'd have no money and no food, so what's the point of talking about pursuing his dreams? Look how annoyed he is with me, but when he thought about the commercial value of the billiards prodigy, didn't he still agree?"

Jian Zhen glanced at him sideways and commented, "You're starting to smell of money now."

"I'm just working for the board of directors!" Xu Weisheng was startled and quickly changed his tune, snuggling up to her and pleading in sticky Japanese, "Please forgive me, President."

I've been working overtime, so I'm taking a day off. Thank you!