At 3 a.m., the landmines in front of the station

He turned the key into the jack, pressed the door handle, and peered inside.

It was pitch black, with no lights on, but the house was filled with a pleasant fragrance.

The smell isn't from the flowers I grow.

Su Che's expression shifted slightly, and the corners of his usually expressionless mouth involuntarily curled upwards.

She must have taken a shower.

The scent of shower gel in the bathroom mingled with her delicate fragrance, filling the air.

The whole house is filled with a pleasant, girlish fragrance.

"."

Su Che closed the door.

Hold your breath with the quietest, most stealthy movements, take off your coat, and change your shoes.

Try not to wake up a domesticated girl whose breathing is steady.

【Um? 】

Look to the left.

Dinner was wrapped in plastic wrap on the table, and there was a small note on the corner of the table with neat handwriting—

"I left some midnight snacks for Cheche. Remember to eat if you get hungry. If you come back late, wake me up and I'll heat it up for you. Hehe."

(^?????^)?

The letter ended with a cyberpunk cat wagging its tail emoji, which made someone chuckle.

"...That's so thoughtful of you."

He looked at the untouched stir-fried vegetables sealed in a container and the still-warm mushroom soup, and knew that his child must not have eaten dinner at all, and had just waited and waited until he was sleepy and fell asleep hungry.

Why are you being so cute? Do you think I'll miss you in three days?

You underestimate me.

Su Che tiptoed into the refrigerator to chill the food, still believing that he could not be easily defeated.

What a joke! After all these years, who can win me over in a second?

Apart from a certain songstress who lives in another parallel world and whom we often admire, the others have not yet been born.

Su Che shook his head, went to the bathroom, closed the door, took a quick shower, and then planned to go straight back to his sofa bed and wrap himself up in the blanket.

Before lying down, he peeked at An Qing on the bed.

An Qing seemed to be fast asleep.

The posture was exactly the same as yesterday, curled up, hugging his thick blanket.

【…】

She seemed to be rejecting the new blankets he had prepared for her.

And tonight she changed into a nightgown that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, along with a brand new white cat-shaped pillow that didn't even exist in her own home...

Because the dress was so thin and revealing, her skin shimmered and glowed under the moonlight, radiating a holy light.

[You can't look. Your eyes will be sealed.]

Su Che immediately turned back to his own area, pulled up a blanket, and covered himself up like a corpse.

After all, your heart rate will increase.

Okay, let's think about something else to distract ourselves.

His regular bedtime routine involves checking his phone, clearing messages, and stalking the people he follows every night before going to sleep.

It's time for routine cleanup again.

Su Che was like a ghost from the mountains.

I opened various software programs under the blue light.

Music software, video software, live streaming software, social networking software, gaming platform software, and...

Article commissioning software.

【ah…】

[The goddess seems to have released a new work.]

My slightly sleepy gaze lingered on the artist's updates.

Maid outfit, black and white, adult female, white stockings...

【hiss.】

"Strike zone".

He silently gave it a thumbs up.

Red heart +1.

The artist's name is "Ari".

She is respectfully called "Goddess" by everyone.

Because Su Che is a novelist and has extremely high standards for his character designs, he occasionally goes to commissioning platforms to find illustrators to create character designs or illustrations.

Generally speaking, junior artists charge very low prices, but they don't meet the quality requirements, and some are even worse than AI artists.

And the prices of the big red (popular gods) are extremely high.

The moment I open the order window to accept submissions, the order book overflows, stretching all the way into next year...

So even if you squat, you might not be able to squat down properly.

Su Che is a member of the squatting party.

Even when faced with a CD that lasts for more than a year, they are still willing to date an extremely rare "goddess" for the sake of the quality of their work.

[The goddess's pictures are so appealing... I got to work with her once and was hooked ever since. Unfortunately, it seems like this is the only time I'll be able to get a piece like this this year. Unless I'm copying her work.]

Su Che thought about it and realized that his current financial situation wasn't good enough to afford to pay the goddess of money more than three times the manuscript fee.

Moreover, that would be very cost-effective; the more expensive it is, the more you lose out, so it's really unnecessary.

Therefore, in this situation, if you want to avoid affecting the progress of your needs, you need to temporarily select some other artists to "substitute".

His choice was to divide the limited budget into more than ten equal parts, so that the funds could be distributed equally among the young artists.

The little artists are adorable.

Some are newbies.

Some are hidden gems with low traffic and poor social skills.

Su Che was looking for a young painter with whom he could collaborate long-term and nurture him gradually.

Until they watch their skill level grow infinitely and they become a red (in the game).

With this mindset,

He carefully selected from many newbies, spending a lot of money and receiving quite a few terrible pictures...

I suffered quite a few losses.

But we finally found a new artist with whom we've collaborated more than 20 times without any mishaps, and who always produces exceptionally high-quality artwork.

Its name is "Hare Doesn't Want to Sleep".

The last message was left several months ago.

They are clearly junior artists with whom collaborations go very smoothly.

But when the other party suddenly became enthusiastic after receiving the manuscript for the 28th time, it made me feel a little overwhelmed.

Because I have a habit of praising and encouraging the other party during the order placement and manuscript receipt process,

To provide emotional value to the other party and to meet one's own expectations of exceeding expectations in the final draft, one often says things like this—

"miracle."

"This is not the teacher's painting; it is a divine oracle sent down from heaven."

"Kami's picture"

Beautiful

Tears flowed down

Make into a rope

I jumped up

520 times

Such serious and abstract words are what Su Che can type out without any expression.

After all, she's a light novel author; if she can't praise well, then she really has a weak foundation.

Therefore, under this kind of sugar-coated bullet,

The little painter took all the sweet words seriously...

From the initial "Okay teacher, I will try my best to complete the drawing according to your requirements,"

It gradually evolved into: "Teacher, really? I really don't need any revisions? Completely satisfied??? Oh, you... have you already confirmed the submission deadline...!"

"Ah, the teacher chose me again! I'm so happy! I'll work really hard this time too! Definitely!"

"Teacher, teacher!! This is the third time!! I guess I'm actually improving! Wait, teacher, mua!"

Su Che's project team ID is "Waiting for a Miracle".

He was respectfully called "Teacher Dengdeng" by the young artists.

In fact, such names can put a lot of pressure on illustrators.

After all, if you don't draw well, the client will be disappointed and you'll likely get a bad review.

One negative review can wipe out all previous efforts, because the platform's rules require 100% completion and on-time delivery in order to receive more recommendations and star ratings.