Chapter 433 - 420: New Semester (Part 2)

Chapter 433: Chapter 420: New Semester (Part 2)

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In September, after the new students’ military training ended, Tsinghua University officially began its academic year.

The four sisters of Room 520A took the opportunity of the new semester to have a simple get-together. Lin Yanwan rarely returned to the school dorms anymore. After all, everyone was busy with their own lives. They usually kept in touch by chatting on QQ or by having Qiuting act as a go-between, relaying updates on Si Si and Cui Jiaying’s recent activities.

"Brother Su, my dormmates and I are having a dinner get-together tonight. I... I’d like to invite you. Would that be okay?"

During work hours, Qiuting took the opportunity of delivering some documents to the adjacent Slam Dunk project team to sneak over to Su Qing’s desk and ask him in a low voice.

After two years of hard work, she had been promoted from her initial role as a production assistant to an associate producer. Her main responsibilities included coordinating project plans, helping the producer create work schedules, managing project progress, and handling emergencies.

To put it more plainly, she was now something like Li Weiya’s assistant, though their roles were distinct.

It was worth noting that after two years of experience, Qiuting’s social anxiety had improved significantly. She was no longer like she’d been at the beginning, when she would get so nervous talking to strangers that she’d shyly lower her head.

Meanwhile, Su Qing’s artistic skills had also advanced by leaps and bounds. Just this summer, he had officially been promoted from a key animator to an episode director. The most recent episodes of Slam Dunk were all his work.

"Of course. I’ll definitely be there on time," Su Qing said with a smile, looking up at her.

Qiuting’s face lit up. "Then I’ll wait for you after work!"

"Okay."

After work, Qiuting waited at the entrance of the Slam Dunk project team’s office, her bag slung over her shoulder. Colleagues passing by would occasionally tease her, "Qiuting, waiting for your Brother Su to get off work again?"

She would blush instantly, but after a moment’s thought, she wouldn’t deny it. After all, the two of them had gotten used to heading back to the university together every day after work. Even when Su Qing had to work overtime, she would wait for him quietly.

Habit is a powerful thing.

A few minutes later, Su Qing shut down his computer, tidied up his workstation until it was spotless, and walked out to see Qiuting waiting for him by the door, just as she always did.

His calm mood immediately brightened.

"Let’s go," Su Qing said with a smile.

"Mhm!"

"So where is it?"

"The usual place. All-you-can-eat barbecue."

Qiuting thought for a moment. It seemed Brother Su had never joined them for barbecue before. She continued, "It’s not far from the office, just on the nearby West King Village Commercial Street."

She stuck her tongue out sheepishly. "I can only ever get my fill when we go for a buffet."

Su Qing couldn’t help but give a gentle smile.

◇

At the barbecue restaurant.

Jiang Xia parked the car near the restaurant, and he and Lin Yanwan walked inside hand in hand, spotting the newly-minted 500,000-subscriber UP creators—Si Si and Cui Jiaying—already waiting for them.

"Boss! Boss’s wife! Over here, over here!" Cui Jiaying called out, standing up in a corner booth by the wall and waving enthusiastically at the two of them.

Jiang Xia and Lin Yanwan walked over with smiles and sat down. Cui Jiaying glanced behind them and asked blankly, "Where’s Qiuting? How come she’s not here? Is she still working overtime?"

"Oh, her? She’s not coming alone today, so I didn’t want to disturb them. They should be here in a bit," Jiang Xia said with a laugh.

When he and his wife were leaving the company, he had intended to ask Qiuting to come with them, but then he saw her waiting at the entrance for Su Qing, so they just quietly left them to it.

Realization dawned on Cui Jiaying. "Handsome Su is coming?"

The couple nodded with a smile.

"Boss, let me tell you, you guys have no idea. Every day after work, it’s Handsome Su who walks Qiuting back to her dorm. I’ve seen it so many times! I think the two of them are definitely... are..."

Cui Jiaying stopped mid-sentence, her eyes landing on Qiuting and Su Qing as they walked over. She pressed her lips together, forcing herself to swallow the rest of her words.

"Sorry, sorry, I’m late."

Qiuting, face flushed, fanned herself lightly with her hand as she sat down across from Su Qing.

"I know, I know. You were waiting for Handsome Su, weren’t you? Hehe, all is forgiven~" Cui Jiaying winked exaggeratedly at everyone, a knowing look on her face.

Su Qing just smiled faintly, unbothered, while Qiuting, on the other hand, turned bright red from the teasing.

Plates of meat, sealed with plastic wrap, were placed on the grill. Everyone opened drinks of different flavors and, as was their custom, toasted to another year of friendship.

"Si Si, Jiaying, you two didn’t go home for the summer vacation, did you?" Lin Yanwan asked as she placed a piece of grilled steak into Jiang Xia’s bowl.

"That’s right," Si Si said with a nod. "There’s not much to do at home anyway. Better to just put out a couple more videos."

As one of the few top-tier UP creators on D Station at the moment, the two of them were already reaping the benefits of the mobile internet era. With the growing proliferation of smartphones, the stats for each of their new videos were leaps and bounds ahead of their previous ones.

Furthermore, brands would periodically contact them for advertisements, and their monthly income now far exceeded their old salaries combined.

Most importantly, they were living more freely. They no longer had to worry about daily life, school, or work. They had hundreds of thousands of fans, and every video or status update they posted was met with a flood of adoration and comments. If one had to use a single term to describe their current situation, it would be—internet celebrities.

"Let me interview you two. As D Station UP creators with 540,000 subscribers, how does it feel? I didn’t lie to you back then, did I?" Jiang Xia asked with a grin after taking a bite of steak.

Cui Jiaying nodded enthusiastically. "It feels amazing! Thank you, Boss, for giving us this opportunity."

Si Si also joked, "It’s just a shame we can’t record this dinner with the Boss and turn it into a video. I feel like we’re missing out on a chance for ten million views."

Jiang Xia chuckled. "Yeah, definitely not."

He was placing more and more importance on his personal privacy these days. Sometimes, offhand private remarks could be maliciously edited and posted online, which could cause a lot of problems.

"By the way, Boss, I’m a little confused. Why does D Station only have a plaque for 100,000 subscribers, but not one for 500,000?"

Jiang Xia answered seriously, "There’s a plaque for one million subscribers. Work hard, and you’ll get it one day."

"A million... That feels so far away..."

Cui Jiaying’s lip twitched slightly. It had taken her and Si Si over a year of hard work to build their subscriber base to 500,000. They were only halfway there. Who knew how long it would take to reach a million.

"With your current number of subscribers, it won’t be that far off."

Jiang Xia chuckled lightly. "Society is developing, times are changing. More and more people will be using smartphones in the future. As D Station’s user base grows, it’ll become relatively easier for your subscriber count to grow as well."

Si Si nodded. She understood the logic.

They leisurely ate their barbecue for over an hour as the sky gradually grew dark.

Jiang Xia paid the bill at the front counter and offered to drive them back to the university, but the group refused.

"No need to drive us, Boss! We didn’t drink today, so a walk back will be perfect for digesting the food," Cui Jiaying said.

The others all nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, I won’t insist. Be safe on your way back."

Watching his friends walk toward the university’s closest southeast gate, Jiang Xia got in the car and headed home with his wife.

"Honey, Cui Jiaying and Si Si... are they, you know, in *that* kind of relationship?" Jiang Xia suddenly asked as he drove.

He asked because he occasionally watched Cui Jiaying and Si Si’s video updates. They almost always appeared together, with one person narrating and the other providing comedic commentary. Their dynamic was extremely close, and many of their fans even suspected they were lesbians.

Lin Yanwan hesitated for a few seconds before giving a slight nod.

She had sensed something was different about the two of them for a long time. At first, she just thought they were exceptionally close, but that feeling grew stronger and stronger over time. Eventually, even without asking, her woman’s intuition had all but confirmed it.

"Probably..." she said, pressing her lips together.

...