Chapter 68 - Taking an Unpaid Job (2/2)
“You’re not gonna tell me the truth?”
If she actually believed him, then she would be a ghost. She smiled. “It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me. I’ll tell your sister about you trying to pursue Wu Tong. She will definitely be very happy and will give you nonstop advice and pointers. Oh right, I think I have Wu Tong’s photo as well, I’ll send it over to professor. She’s so pretty, professor will like her for sure.”
“Who says I like Wu Tong!?”
Meng Fan wouldn’t admit even if it killed him. If his sister and his mom found out, he would have to turn off his phone for the next few days and maybe even pretend to lose contact.
“You don’t?” Qin Jiao smiled. “Then I’m going to tell this to them anyway, and they can decide if it’s their business that you’re chasing Wu Tong or not.”
“Professor, if you do this, you will lose a motivated student with good grades!” Meng Fan regretted fearing the smog and not going to The Central Academy of Fine arts instead, but Qin Jiao’s existence was way more dangerous than some smog.
“Okay, what do you want me to do!?”
Meng Fan knew that Qin Jiao must be surprised knowing all this information and not being able to tell his mom and his sister.
At this time, hehe… his stomach gurgled in protest.
“Hungry?”
Qin Jiao, who was just about to speak, almost laughed out loud. She stood up and said, “I’m hungry too. Let’s find somewhere to eat and talk.”
“Let’s agree first. Don’t invite me out and make me pay like last time!”
“Does a hero who donates ten thousand dollars so easily have to be so stingy towards his professor?”
“Yes, he does!”
Meng Fan called Zhang Zhou Wei over to pick up his books. Zhang Zhou Wei was ready to leave the library to take a breath from Wang Ya Nan’s pressure and gladly ran over. Seeing it was Xiao Ti’s new book and autographed, he immediately broke into a smile. If Qin Jiao hadn’t been nearby, he would have jumped Meng Fan and hugged him for a while.
“It’s still about the historical costuming.”
They went to the waterfront restaurant outside of the campus and sat down, ordering their dishes. Qin Jiao began to talk about business. “I have a student from before who’s recently preparing to produce a manga. She needs a large number of ancient costume samples. They don’t need to be very sophisticated or historically accurate, as long as it’s before the Ming dynasty and aligns with the traditional aesthetic of China. Yesterday, she asked me to chat, and when this came up, I thought of you. You’re familiar with this stuff, plus you’re fast.”
He should be thanking Qin Jiao for this, but why did he still feel like she was ‘threatening’ him?
“And?”
Qin Jiao gave Meng Fan a bottle of iced cola and smiled. “And, she will pay you the art supply cost at most.”
Meng Fan froze for a moment. “Free labor?!”
“She’s asking for a lot, and the required drawings are very demanding of the artist of their profession. Plus, she has certain requirements for drawing skills.” Qin Jiao handed a straw to Meng Fan and continued, “In our academy, you’re the only person who is most familiar with this aspect. Plus, I showed her your homework assignment from last time, and she really liked it. She wants to pay you based on these standards. Since you’re already illustrating for Xiao Ti, your price is already set high. She really can’t afford it.”
“Am I this badass already? You can’t think about trapping me to do free labor.” Meng Fan took a sip of the iced cola, feeling pleasant in his heart.
“Why would I trick you!? I just want to direct your graduation thesis towards this aspect and organize it in advance. By then you just need to arrange a graduating exhibition.” Qin Jiao continued, “Just treat it like you’re doing your big sister a favor. Of course, she says she will thank you in the future.”
Meng Fan couldn’t eat this kind of treatment, but he was still curious. “What does this person have to do with you? You even pulled out the ‘big sister’ card.”
“Just between teacher and student, but we have a good relationship, just like me and Wang Ya Nan and the other girls. If Wang Ya Nan asked us to help, I’d have to help her out; don’t you think?”
Qin Jiao had always treated the students she favored with the utmost focus, always willing to give them opportunities. She was also eager to help them create opportunities and help them solve problems or find other people to help solve their problems.
“You speak of it so lightly, but the person who gets trolled ends up being another student.”
Meng Fan knew how much attention Qin Jiao gave to the students she helped. He had been one of them after all. Even if he disregarded their special relationship, he knew that Qin Jiao would help him as well. He only just wanted to diss her a bit. Seeing Qin Jiao half angry and half pleading, he immediately surrendered. “I’ll do it. I’ll draw it.”
Ding!
An alert sounded in his ‘mind’, signaling that he had unlocked a new task.