CHAPTER 386: CHAPTER 284: LITTLE HANABI’S WORK_2

Should I buy her some jewelry?

If she wore a pair of sparkling earrings, her every move would seem to shimmer with radiant colors and captivate everyone.

The so-called beautiful girl is just like this.

Or rather... right in front of me...

"Sakura, is this okay for today?" Hanamaru Hanabi asked him.

Uesugi Sakura rubbed his chin and looked the girl over several times with a direct stare that made her a little uneasy, her hands clasped at her skirt, she quietly asked:

"Does it not look good...?"

He saw her slightly shy little hands, couldn’t help but grab one, leaned down, and gently kissed her fair and delicate skin.

"It’s too beautiful, my lovely lady." Then he lifted his head, smiled at the young girl’s face, and spoke.

Hanamaru Hanabi was amused by his actions, "It feels like... Sakura is in a movie."

"A prince? Unfortunately, I’m just an ordinary person."

"It’s okay, Hanabi isn’t a princess either." Hanamaru Hanabi didn’t mind him rubbing her hand with his thumb, instead, she felt a warm glow in her heart.

Uesugi Sakura held her slightly cool and soft little hand, thinking a princess is just like that.

As long as she wants, she can always be responsible only for looking pretty.

"It’s time to go, be careful not to be late."

"Hmm..."

Close to ten o’clock, the two got into a taxi.

Little Hanabi originally wanted to take the train.

Taxis are too expensive, 2 kilometers would cost about 1200 yen, which converts to over 70 RMB.

It was the price of a meal.

Uesugi Sakura didn’t want to squeeze on the train, besides, although he was currently out of work, his savings could afford it.

"Hey, has your illustrator account shown your face yet?"

"Nope." Hanamaru Hanabi said.

"Why do I see some comments saying they’ve seen you?"

"Sakura... Do you usually read the comments under Hanabi’s account?"

"It’s normal, as my fiancée’s account, I don’t like reading any news, so I just look at how everyone evaluates your illustrations. Also, every guy who said your drawing is bad, I reported them."

"Sakura... you’re like a little kid..."

"What kid, childish," Uesugi Sakura lightly tapped her head, "it’s called caring, I just can’t stand those people speaking badly about you, saying things like ’if it’s drawn this well, the person behind the computer must be an old man!’ I think they’re just jealous."

"Don’t hit here." Hanamaru Hanabi covered her head in pain.

"I have a sense of measure, it won’t leave you silly." Uesugi Sakura said with a smile, "Even if you’re silly, I just like seeing you giggle, silly and obedient."

"Am I really like that..."

"Aren’t you just a little ditzy?"

"No I’m not..."

The taxi passed through the intersection, and the breeze swept through the open car window, gently blowing in.

Uesugi Sakura: "By the way, how many drawings do you need to do this time? You’re not going to have no time for me again, right?"

"Hanabi only wanted to draw one... but they said they want a long-term collaboration... saying they couldn’t find any other artist with this style..."

"What does the other party do, another game company? Don’t get taken advantage of again. I’m telling you, if you just want to draw one, simply refuse it."

"No, I won’t," Hanamaru Hanabi blushed a bit, "it’s not for a game this time... Hanabi said she would work hard with Sakura to save up for a big house... so she wants to earn a little more money..."

The taxi arrived at its destination, a building located in the Chiyoda District.

Uesugi Sakura followed Hanamaru Hanabi, took the elevator to the 11th floor, and as the door opened, they turned and saw the company’s receptionist.

A young female employee was seated at the front desk, a sign with the red letters ’SG Library’ hung against the glass wall outside.

As soon as the words "Library" appeared... he roughly understood what Hanabi’s job was.

—It turns out to be a job as a novel illustrator.

And here was the website company of the library.

...

Receptionist: "Hello."

Hanamaru Hanabi: "Hello, I’m here to see Editor Kawaichi, he mentioned he was free today."

The receptionist checked the records, confirmed with the document and her face, then slightly apologetically nodded to her: "Ms. Hanamaru... right? Sorry, I thought you were a gentleman, Editor Kawaichi mentioned this, please follow me."

She stood up, right hand extended upwards, making a ’please’ gesture.

Hanamaru Hanabi took two steps before realizing Uesugi Sakura hadn’t followed and was still outside the open glass door, observing the company’s atmosphere, so she went back to ask:

"Sakura? Aren’t you coming?"

Uesugi Sakura explained: "It’s your work, under what identity should I go in? As a boyfriend? It might give you a bad image, personal and professional should be separate."

Hanamaru Hanabi smiled and said: "Sakura is my assistant, it’s fine."

Hearing this, right, an assistant, an illustrator’s assistant, there’s no harm in listening to the work requirements.

Encounter any problems, he could at least keep an eye on it.

To prevent her from being easily deceived.

Uesugi Sakura also smiled back: "Alright, today I will be your assistant."

Following the receptionist through the work area, they continued onward to a meeting room.

The receptionist knocked on the door, and after hearing "please come in," she opened the door.

"Editor Kawaichi, Ms. Hanamaru and her assistant have arrived."

"Ms.?"

Inside sat a man in a suit wearing square-framed glasses, around his forties or fifties, with a broad frame and slightly graying hair, he looked at Hanamaru Hanabi standing by the door with some confusion.

In the meeting room, there was also a young man, in his twenties, but didn’t seem to care much for grooming, his complexion was sallow, hair a bit greasy, wearing the typical light blue checked shirt.

He followed Editor Kawaichi’s gaze towards the door.

Upon seeing a pretty young girl standing outside, his heart seemed to beat a little faster, feeling a bit self-conscious.

Seeing the checkered shirt, Uesugi Sakura couldn’t help but comment, his dad used to like wearing checkered shirts.

For programmers, are checkered shirts really that good?

The one currently was a writer in his twenties, it should be different?

Or do checkered shirts for them just serve as a convenient garment?

But to think Editor Kawaichi is a middle-aged man in his fifties, Uesugi Sakura had thought editors for light novels were all in their twenties or thirties.

Currently, in the room, he and Hanabi were the youngest, one eighteen, the other not even eighteen yet.

Hanamaru Hanabi took a step forward, slightly bowed, and politely greeted the two.

"Editor Kawaichi."

"Mr. Hanamaru?" Kawaichi Saburo’s glasses reflected the color of the sky outside the window, this meeting room was very bright, with good natural lighting, allowing a clear view of the building across.

He was still confirming whether Hanamaru Hanabi was the person he discussed business with.

"Yes, that’s right." Hanamaru Hanabi smiled in response.

"I apologize, I thought you were a gentleman." Kawaichi Saburo got up to greet her, shaking hands with etiquette.

Uesugi Sakura specifically noted the handshake technique, it wasn’t the regular full cross grip used for formal greetings, but the polite partial grip used when addressing a lady.

What does this imply, it shows the editor is a decent person.

"Hello, I’m Ms. Hanamaru’s assistant, my surname is Uesugi."

Uesugi Sakura extended his hand as well, performing a courteous greeting.

As for why they referred to her as "Mr. Hanamaru", it’s because Hanamaru Hanabi’s Twitter ID is Mr. Hanamaru, with an avatar showing a chibi version of her.

He always felt this ID didn’t match her cute image and wanted her to change it.

But Hanamaru Hanabi said ’this isn’t a private account for Sakura but a work account for outsiders to see’, so Uesugi didn’t say much more.

No wonder Editor Kawaichi would assume "Mr. Hanamaru" was male.

"Hello."

Kawaichi Saburo responded to him, then invited them to sit, introducing the other person in the room, "This is Shinomoto Yasuhiko, the author we’ve commissioned this time."

Shinomoto Yasuhiko had been standing since the door opened, and with Editor Kawaichi’s introduction, he then nodded to the two:

"Mr. Hanamaru, Mr. Uesugi."