Chapter 713

She sat upright at the table, expressionlessly imitating Jiahe Lianxiao's movements, waving her hand with a very small amplitude.

Immediately, her eyes, which were like glazed glass, turned to Natsume Chikage, and her left eye blinked extremely slightly, carrying a hint of playfulness that was difficult to capture.

Several invisible black lines seemed to hang down from Natsume Chikage's temples.

This guy... why is she here again?

He muttered secretly in his heart.

He raised his hand, rubbed his younger sister's fluffy hair top, then bent down to change his shoes, walked to the small table, and sat down.

His gaze landed on the "static" girl opposite him who had a proper posture and a beautiful face.

"Don't call me Natsume-brother, aren't you my senior?"

He couldn't help but complain.

Jinwei Tong's eyes narrowed slightly, the arc was so subtle it was almost imperceptible.

"Does Natsume-kun mean... my grade is higher than yours? So I can't call you that?"

"Maybe... I'm actually younger than you, Natsume-kun... so hearing you say that, I'm actually very sad."

Natsume Chikage's expression froze for a moment.

His eyes became a bit subtle, and he re-examined this girl in front of him who had an exquisite face but no waves.

Her height was similar to Xuecun Lingyin and others.

But the strange atmosphere lingering around her was completely different from ordinary girls like Xuecun Lingyin.

If Yudang Zhiji was compared to the spider lily symbolizing death and strangeness.

Xuecun Lingyin was the proud snow lotus on the high ridge.

Xiyuanji Qilai was like a gorgeous purple rose.

Fujiwara Aoi was like a sunflower always facing the sun.

Then Jinwei Tong was undoubtedly a black iris.

The black iris possessed a mysterious and profound dark night beauty.

The texture of the petals was like the most delicate velvet, the color was so rich it was almost ink-black, but the lines were sharp and elegant.

It abandoned the brightness and joy of ordinary flowers, emitting a quiet, mysterious, and even slightly dangerous aura alone.

Therefore, hearing her say this, Natsume Chikage's face became extremely strange, and he finally couldn't help it.

"Are you... really younger than me?"

Jinwei Tong shook her head slowly.

"What are you thinking, of course not."

She answered crisply and neatly.

Natsume Chikage felt speechless for a while.

"Then why are you saying these things?"

"I actually really thought you were younger than me, and I pondered my wording for a long time in my heart."

Jinwei Tong seemed to particularly appreciate Natsume Chikage's reaction after being teased by her.

She still had no expression on her face, but her voice seemed to be soaked with a hint of extremely faint laughter.

"It's really a pity that I can only be your senior, and not a cute junior or something."

Natsume Chikage complained unhappily:

"There's no pity at all."

Natsume Ruri on the side covered her mouth, her eyes curved into crescents, only feeling that the way Jinwei-sister spoke was indeed very interesting.

Jiahe Lianxiao's originally weak and shy small face, at this moment, puffed up slightly, and there were some murmurs in her heart.

In her view, the two sitting opposite each other at this moment, the atmosphere was simply like flirting... this shouldn't be her illusion, right?

Natsume Chikage changed the subject.

"Seriously, why are you here again?"

He asked.

Jinwei Tong picked up the teacup in front of her gracefully and took a sip.

"Does there necessarily need to be a reason?"

She put down the teacup, and the porcelain and the tabletop made a slight clinking sound.

"If there's no reason, can't I come over?"

Natsume Chikage shook his head.

"That's not it, I'm just purely curious."

Jinwei Tong's gaze swept gently over the two girls beside her.

"Let's talk about my business later."

"Now, your younger sister and Lianxiao-chan seem to have something to report to you."

Natsume Chikage was stunned upon hearing this.

"Report?"

He blinked, then suddenly realized.

"Could it be about the manga submission?"

Natsume Ruri and Jiahe Lianxiao looked at each other.

Expressions of helplessness and faint loss appeared on their faces at the same time, and they nodded gently.

"Yes..."

"Hmm..."

Their voices both lowered.

Natsume Chikage leaned forward slightly and asked with concern:

"How was the result? Did it pass?"

Natsume Ruri raised her hand to scratch her cheek, squeezed out a smile, and shook her head.

"No..."

Natsume Chikage was somewhat stunned.

"Why?"

"That work was clearly very outstanding."

Jiahe Lianxiao lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting the corner of her clothes, and explained stammeringly:

"The editor over there said... there's no problem with the work itself, and the quality is also very good."

"If it were a few years ago, it would definitely have passed."

"But the readers now, after the impact of short videos and various homogeneous shoujo manga, have had their tastes raised to be much more picky."

"So looking at our manga again... it seems a bit outdated, lacks enough attractive gimmicks, and the competitiveness is not as good as other works..."

"And then... they politely declined us."

Her voice became smaller and smaller.

Natsume Chikage listened quietly and was silent for a moment.

Subsequently, his expression became firm and serious, and his gaze looked at the two gently.

"It's alright."

His voice was steady, carrying the power of encouragement.

"At least it wasn't rejected because the work itself wasn't good."

"It's just temporarily not in line with the trend of the times."

"Brother has seen your work, seen the drawings you drew, and I believe in your strength very much."

"I believe that you will definitely, in time, be able to carve out your own world in the manga industry!"

The two heard these words, and their eyes lit up again.

Natsume Ruri clenched her small fist and said excitedly:

"Yeah! Brother, we will definitely continue to work hard and create a more interesting next work!"

"Rather, we are the type that gets braver the more we are frustrated!"

Jiahe Lianxiao raised her head, and a moved expression appeared on her shy face.

"Thank you, Natsume-brother..."

"I will definitely work harder." ===== CHAPTER 714 =====