Chapter 280 - 277: Flowers Bloom

Chapter 280: Chapter 277: Flowers Bloom

"Soft tissue damage to the ankle and a minor scrape on the knee. Overall, it’s nothing serious. Just apply some Diannan White Medicine and rest for a couple of days. But remember, absolutely no strenuous exercise," the doctor said.

"Okay, thank you, Doctor," Cui Jiaying nodded.

She sat on the bench, her pant leg rolled up above her knee and her legs propped up. Now that the ointment was on, it didn’t hurt as much as before.

Si Si paid the bill, then got a cup of hot water and handed it to Cui Jiaying. "Here, drink some water. You should skip PE class and just rest. We’ll head back to the dorm once the swelling goes down a bit. I’ll get your meals for you in the meantime."

"Thank you, Si Si."

Cui Jiaying’s heart warmed. They say you see who your true friends are in times of trouble, and she could genuinely feel Si Si’s kindness toward her.

"You’re welcome." Si Si smiled faintly and looked out at the playground. "Yanwan and the others are here."

Lin Yanwan and Qiuting ran into the nurse’s office together. Seeing the swelling on Cui Jiaying’s ankle, Lin Yanwan couldn’t help but ask, "What did the doctor say?"

"It’s a soft tissue injury, no broken bones. I just need to rest for a few days." Cui Jiaying’s face was flushed. "I’m sorry, Yanwan, Qiuting. I made you worry."

"Don’t say that. These kinds of accidents happen. You just focus on resting," Lin Yanwan said with a smile. "I just spoke with the PE teacher. You can go back to the dorm early."

"Mm-hm."

"Sister Jiaying, does it hurt right now?" Qiuting asked.

"It hurt a lot at first, but not so much now. I can’t put any weight on it for the time being, though. Don’t worry, Qiuting," Cui Jiaying said.

"That’s good. Sister Jiaying, leave getting your meals to me for the next few days!"

Cui Jiaying let out a laugh. "Si Si already claimed that job. How about you two fight for it?"

Qiuting stuck out her tongue. "No way, no way."

"Alright, you guys can stop staring at me like I’m a monkey in a zoo. Hurry up and get back to PE class. I’m fine now."

"You two go. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on her," Si Si said calmly.

Lin Yanwan nodded. "It’s true, someone should stay. Okay then, Qiuting and I will go back to class. Jiaying, call us if you need anything."

"Okay."

After the two left, Si Si went to the small shop next door and bought a bottle of ice-cold mineral water. For sprains and bruises like this, applying a cold compress was the best way to reduce swelling.

She crouched in front of Cui Jiaying, gently pressing the water bottle against her skin.

"Si Si, you don’t have to... I can do it myself."

"It’s fine. It’s not convenient for you right now, so let me."

Si Si supported Cui Jiaying’s calf with one hand, gently rubbing the bottle against her skin as it slowly rolled back and forth. For some reason, Cui Jiaying found it a little ticklish.

She looked down at Si Si’s focused expression and suddenly remembered the kiss in the dark. ’She kissed me under the cover of darkness... what did she mean by it?’

"Si Si..."

"Hm?" Si Si looked up at her.

"N-Nothing..."

Cui Jiaying blushed and lowered her head. She didn’t know how to bring it up. No matter how she looked at it, the topic was hard to broach.

A small smile played on Si Si’s lips, as if she had already guessed what Cui Jiaying wanted to ask.

* * *

On the East University Playground, Lin Yanwan and Qiuting were still running laps. With no one else around, it was the perfect opportunity to ask Qiuting about a part-time job.

"Qiuting, are you still working part-time recently?" she asked casually.

Tang Qiuting nodded lightly. "On weekends."

"Still handing out flyers at the same old place?"

"Not anymore. That was just a job for the National Day holiday, it ended a long time ago. I have to find something new now."

"Hmm... How’s the part-time job search going?"

"It’s still really hard..."

Qiuting sighed softly. Even though she tried her best to overcome her social anxiety, she was still too inefficient at handing out flyers. In the end, even her boss didn’t want to hire her again.

She was starting to worry that with her personality, she would struggle to find a suitable job even after successfully graduating from Tsinghua University.

"Qiuting, what if I told you I have a relatively stable part-time job for you? Would you be interested?" Lin Yanwan asked, pursing her lips.

"Huh? Sister Yanwan, what kind of job?"

"A production... um..."

Lin Yanwan, considering Qiuting might not understand the concept of a production assistant, explained, "You can think of it as a kind of runner-type job. You take the work completed by Person A to Person B, and then take Person B’s completed work to Person C. The monthly salary is 3,000, and it includes insurance."

"Th-Three thousand?! That’s so much!"

Qiuting was shocked. To make that much money, she would have to hand out flyers nonstop for a whole month without any deductions. And the key thing was, it even included insurance. Could you even call that a part-time job?

She had never heard of a part-time job that offered insurance.

"Sister Yanwan, is this runner job... really dangerous?" Qiuting asked timidly. Otherwise, how could the benefits be this good!

Lin Yanwan paused for a moment, then chuckled. "It’s not dangerous. The work is all within our campus. They’ll even give you a bicycle to make your job easier."

"Is it... food delivery?" Qiuting blinked.

"Hahaha, why would you think of food delivery?" Lin Yanwan almost choked.

"Forget it, I’ll just be straight with you. Jiang Xia and I are working for an animation company right now. The company is currently short a production assistant. You can think of it as an editor who chases down manuscripts. Your daily responsibilities would be to check the progress of specific tasks like key animation, in-between animation, and backgrounds, as well as plan, control, supervise, and coordinate the project’s overall schedule, staff allocation, and production process."

Hearing this, Qiuting quickly shook her head. "That sounds so complicated, Sister Yanwan. I can’t do it."

"It sounds complicated, but how will you know if you don’t try?" Lin Yanwan said with a smile.

"But I don’t know the first thing about animation production. If I delay the project’s progress, that would be terrible," Qiuting said weakly.

"Haven’t you always been afraid of dealing with strangers? This is your chance to break through that. If you can adapt to it now, you’ll be able to navigate the workplace with ease in the future."

Lin Yanwan stopped, panting lightly. She turned her head to look at Qiuting and smiled. "What do you say, Qiuting?"

Qiuting bit her lip, still hesitating. A steady job with a salary of 3,000 a month plus insurance was incredibly tempting. With that money, she could send a generous amount back to her grandmother for living expenses every month.

But she was a complete novice, after all. She had absolutely no confidence she could do it.

"Don’t worry. Besides Jiang Xia and me, there are two other employees from our school at the company. You know them, too—Su Qing and Luo Peng. They were hired internally as artists. Your daily task would just be to coordinate with them and hand off the completed art to the next stage."

Hearing this, Qiuting wrestled with the decision for a long time before nodding with very little confidence.

"Sister Yanwan... I’ll give it a try, then..."