Chapter 1, First Ray of Light: "How could he not see?"...
At the end of July, the entire city was scorched by the sun, like a giant steamer.
The air conditioning in Yingmeng Comics Studio was set very low, cool enough to make you feel refreshed.
Song Xingyun was indeed heartbroken at this moment.
"Bang!" Accompanying Zhong Shichao's slamming of the table was his question, "What did you say?"
Song Xingyun stood up straight, not at all intimidated, and said, "I said, Director Zhong, your award-winning work 'Spark' is my work. What you did is plagiarism!"
There were several ears pressed against the office door. When they heard this, their expressions changed drastically. They dared not listen any longer and left with regret, saying, "You can't fight city hall. Our company is going to lose another promising talent."
You should know that Song Xingyun was a genius they recruited from the Academy of Fine Arts. Only a few people in Yingmeng Comics Studio knew that she was "Little Xingyun," who won the International Youth Art Award ten years ago. At that time, everyone called her a "genius little artist," but then she disappeared from the public eye.
When she chose to come to their company, everyone was quite surprised.
But now it seems that talent is no match for capital.
The two men faced off silently in the office. The man, addressed as the director, looked at the young woman before him—a vibrant, youthful woman with a slender figure and beautiful face, like a proud white swan—and a wicked desire to conquer arose within him.
"Little Song, this society isn't something you can just do whatever you want. However, if you're willing..."
As he spoke, he leaned forward toward her, raising his hand to touch her face.
Song Xingyun felt nauseous the moment he started scrutinizing her. She gripped the pen tightly in her hand and silently pressed the button on it. "What if I want to?"
The man was blinded by lust and thought she was naive. "If you're willing to be with me, I guarantee you'll win awards left and right. I can compensate you privately for what happened this time."
Song Xingyun laughed. She hadn't expected this person to be so open about it; being willing to admit it was a good thing. "Director Zhong, are you admitting to plagiarism?"
The man's already low level of vigilance vanished completely because of her smile. "Don't say such harsh things. If you change your name to mine, you'll have done your part for me and the company."
Looking at the man who appeared to be a gentleman and talented to outsiders, but was actually a hypocrite with a rotten core, Song Xingyun could only regret that she had been deceived and overconfident before.
Just as the man's hand was about to touch Song Xingyun by a mere tenth of a centimeter, she slapped the unsuspecting man hard across the face, stunning him.
"Ugly as he is, he has lofty ambitions. I will fight for my rights to this plagiarism to the end." He's shameless, so there's no need for her to call him "you" against her will.
After saying that, she threw the resignation letter from the folder in his face. "It was me who fired you. I'll use the bonus to buy you more mirrors to look at yourself."
She knows that the road to protecting her rights will not be easy, but she will do her best.
It wasn't until she stepped out of the office that the man's furious voice came from inside. To this, Song Xingyun, who was gripping the recording pen tightly, just scoffed, "Stupid and slow to react."
I doubt he would dare to chase after her and assault her.
When Song Xingyun returned to her workstation, her expression softened. Her colleagues, with whom she usually got along well, gathered around her. "Xingyun, are you really leaving?"
Song Xingyun nodded and tidied up her personal belongings at her workstation.
She didn't care that resignation required 30 days' written notice. Now, she dared to keep the person but not to hire them. What was she afraid of? She wasn't afraid.
It's just a waste of all the time she spent pulling all-nighters here to finish her manuscript over the past year.
She didn't have much stuff, so she put it all in her bag and opened her corporate email. She sent the pre-written letter of complaint and the audio recording she had just uploaded to the competition's official email address and the association, and copied the entire company. Everyone received an email notification immediately.
When Zhong Shichao received the call from her superiors, she had already walked confidently out of the company gate.
Summer weather is so changeable. One second it's trying to roast you alive, and the next second thick clouds block out all the sunlight, making it incredibly hot and humid.
Song Xingyun wandered aimlessly down the street, her mind filled with summarizing the past year. She had entered her dream company full of hope and anticipation, but unexpectedly found herself in a den of wolves, exploited, plagiarized, and almost subjected to unspoken rules. This experience had been a great lesson in society for her.
Fortunately, the company paid her salary on time, and her painting skills improved dramatically despite the exploitation. Song Xingyun kept emphasizing these two points to comfort herself.
She became an orphan seven years ago and was able to complete her studies with the help of kind-hearted people. She struggled in the big city of Beijing without any background or status.
Looking back, she forced herself to stop, took a deep breath, and thought, "I won't let life defeat me!"
Once she snapped out of her thoughts, Song Xingyun realized that the sky had darkened at some point, with thick clouds covering the ground. Pedestrians hurried past her as she passed by. Suddenly, a muffled clap of thunder sounded in the sky, followed by a torrential downpour that chased after her.
In just one minute, she was soaked to the bone and couldn't even cry anymore. She looked up at the sky and suddenly laughed, "Oh my god, you have to use this rain to wash away my bad luck. Promise me that after the rain stops, I'll have a burst of good luck!"
She muttered to herself as she held her bag over her head to shield herself from the rain and ran towards the bus stop ahead.
Song Xingyun was only focused on the road beneath her feet when she bumped into a strong embrace after taking only a few steps. A faint scent of sandalwood filled her nostrils, and the sound of rain hitting an umbrella filled the air above her. She looked up in a panic and blurted out, "Sorry."
But what came into view was a pair of eyes shrouded in a gray mist.
The tall, handsome man was aloof and distant, exuding an aura that kept people at a distance. Yet, he had precisely sheltered her, in her most disheveled state, under his umbrella. Because of the "collision," she had unconsciously placed her hands on his slightly raised forearm for balance, and at her feet lay the white cane she had knocked over.
Song Xingyun's heart skipped a beat. She withdrew her hand, apologized again, and quickly squatted down to pick up the cane. She wiped it on her clothes to make sure it was dry before handing it to him. "Yours..."
Yu Mushang was still confused as to why this first-generation smart white cane, which had not yet made any mistakes, had led him in this direction, causing him to be bumped and stop. He simply nodded to accept the girl's apology, but when he took the white cane and touched her soft fingertips, his expression became somewhat uneasy.
There are still more good people than bad in the world!
After sighing inwardly, Song Xingyun finally breathed a sigh of relief. Looking down at herself, who was almost completely soaked, she couldn't wait for the bus any longer. She spotted a taxi approaching in the distance, dashed into the rain, flagged it down, and gave it an address.
The air conditioning in the taxi wasn't very warm. She sneezed as soon as she got in, pulled her dark coat tighter around herself, and looked out the window to see the man still standing there. "I hope he's not disoriented from hitting me."
The taxi started moving the next second.
Song Xingyun then remembered to check if her laptop and phone in her waterproof bag had been damaged by her. She reached into the bag and touched something extra—a maple leaf bell.
She didn't belong to her, but she looked very familiar.
She had one before, and at this point she just thought she had encountered the same one.
Until she saw the five-pointed star carved on the small tag with the word "Good Luck" on the Vajra Five-Colored Rope, her hand tightened suddenly, and even swallowing became difficult.
This really is the one she used to have!
She wouldn't mistake it, because one of the points of that five-pointed star was missing, a habit she had developed when drawing five-pointed stars since she was a child.
But she clearly gave this maple leaf bell away many years ago—to him!
"Driver! Stop the car!"
When Song Xingyun got out of the car, the heavy rain had stopped, and the road was wet. She stepped into a puddle as soon as she got out of the car, but that didn't stop her from running back. Fortunately, because of the rain, the traffic was a bit congested, and the taxi didn't go too far.
Five minutes later, she stopped panting at the spot where she had bumped into the man, but saw no one there.
Just as the disappointment welled up in her heart, she saw a familiar figure walk past the corner of the street ahead, and she started running again.
Song Xingyun stopped five meters away from Yu Mushang, because she suddenly didn't know what to do next. "I can't just rush up to him and say, 'Hello, I'm the girl you've been sponsoring for seven years,' can I?"
Yes, that blessed maple leaf bell was something she asked for for that person; it wasn't valuable, but it was full of blessings.
Now, the "stranger" who had silently supported her paintbrush over the past seven years was right in front of her. Watching him carefully advance with his white cane, she, who hadn't cried when she was wronged at work, suddenly had tears in her eyes.
How could he not see?
They exchanged letters over the seven years, but she sent more and he replied less, and it was always the same few sentences, telling her to study hard and persevere in her dreams.
Song Xingyun sniffed, thinking of this, "I haven't even asked you what your dreams are..."
She didn't dare to chase after him, yet she was reluctant to turn away, so she slowly followed behind him.
She didn't know how long she walked or where she was; she just kept going, her clothes half-dry.
She was closer to him, only half a step away. Every time she wanted to reach out to help him, he would always be one step ahead of her and avoid the obstacle without any danger. Song Xingyun's heart jumped again and again.
While waiting at the traffic light, she mustered her courage and took two big steps to shield him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the older woman beside her turn around and glance at him several times. Finally, she whispered to her companion, "He's so handsome, it's a pity he's blind."
Song Xingyun wished she could cover her mouth; if even she could hear it, how could he not?
But when she saw the man's expressionless face again, her heart clenched.
Is he unresponsive because he's heard too many of these kinds of comments?
As Song Xingyun thought of this, she looked at the old woman and then at Yu Mushang, as if she was about to say something. She couldn't help but take out her phone and pretend to make a call. "Some old women's mouths are even more chopped than the chili peppers that old man at the entrance of my village can chop."
The older woman caught Song Xingyun's gaze and understood her implied meaning, but she had no evidence. Her face instantly turned bright red.
Just then, the green light turned on.
Seeing that she had successfully shut the old woman up, Song Xingyun continued to clear the way for him with satisfaction.
But she didn't see the man's eyebrows slightly raised the moment she spoke.
A note from the author:
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Thank you to everyone who clicked and read this far! [rainbow emoji] There are bound to be many shortcomings in this first book, so please bear with me (bows). I enjoy interaction, and I welcome everyone to point out any mistakes, mwah! [shy emoji]
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