CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44: A 1.9-METER-TALL GUY PLAYING WITH SECOND DIMENSIONS

Qin Guanglin, having learned a new skill, lay in bed ready to fall asleep, thinking about giving He Fang a big scare.

He Fang, teacher?

Humph, next time you’ll call me Teacher Qin!

It seems like I’ve forgotten something... Qin Guanglin felt he might have left something out and, after pondering for a moment, remembered he had forgotten to ask He Fang to run the numbers on that "Qi Jia" thing.

Whether the numbers are run or not, it’s all the same, he’d go report for work tomorrow. The job was essential; when the time came, automotive issues would be a big deal. He couldn’t let He Fang and himself be squeezed into this space; he needed to work hard to earn money.

Imagining using his newly acquired skill to teasingly bully He Fang, Qin Guanglin slowly drifted off to sleep.

Night brought dreams tinged with pink.

Upon waking, he felt a touch of melancholic longing. Lying in bed with his eyes closed, he savored the aftertaste for a while before getting up to wash up.

Qin’s Mom was out early again, no telling where to this time, and there were a few buns on the table. He ate them while messaging He Fang on his phone.

Forest: Last night, I dreamed about you.

Lost and waiting to return: What did you do in your dream?

Forest: Nothing much.

Lost and waiting to return: ?

Forest: Just strolled around the streets.

Lost and waiting to return: I’ll just pretend to believe you.

Eating the buns, Qin Guanglin couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. Dreams, after all, what harm was there in believing or not? And if you didn’t?

Couldn’t I even think about it?

Come and hit me then?

Tsk, this guy’s really getting bold.

After finishing the buns and tidying up a bit, without further delay, Qin Guanglin headed straight for Sun Wen’s company.

He arrived at the studio after nine o’clock, where Sun Wen was sitting at a desk eating an egg pancake. Hearing Qin Guanglin arrive, Sun Wen looked up, happily surprised.

Taking a quick sip of soy milk to swallow down the bite, Sun Wen said indistinctly, "Lin, come here. Decided to join us so soon?"

"No money, can’t go on without working," Qin Guanglin sighed. "Is the boss in yet? I need to go through the onboarding process."

"Not yet, just wait a bit," Sun Wen said, the joy evident on his face. "Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, I’ve eaten. You go ahead."

Sun Wen, a rather burly man with much larger than average hands, made the egg pancake appear minuscule in his grip. It was questionable if such a small thing could satisfy his appetite.

"Mhm, that’s good." Sun Wen replied, stuffing the rest of the pancake into his mouth. He then drank the rest of the soy milk in one go and casually tossed the packaging into the bin next to him.

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he continued happily, "Now I’ll have company."

"Aren’t these all your company?" Qin Guanglin gestured with his chin toward the other employees; it was time to clock in, and someone else had just walked in while they were talking.

"Two-dimensionals, no common topics to talk about. I’m more familiar with you," Sun Wen said in a lower voice.

Qin Guanglin chuckled. True, a big guy like that into the two-dimensional world was a bit odd.

"Brother Wen, good morning."

"Morning," Sun Wen greeted and then introduced to Qin Guanglin, "This is Yu Le, and this is my buddy, Qin Guanglin."

"Hello," Qin Guanglin nodded politely.

"Brother Lin, hello," Yu Le, wearing thick black-framed glasses, looked young and called everyone "Brother," "You were here a couple of days ago, are you joining us now?"

"Yeah, we’ll be colleagues from now on." Qin Guanglin felt a bit awkward being called Brother Lin, "Just call me by my name."

"Okay, Brother Lin."

"..."

"Haha, Yu Le is an assistant; this kid learns fast." Sun Wen patted Yu Le on the shoulder.

Yu Le grinned, "Go easy, Brother Wen, my frail body is about to fall apart with your patting."

"You should strap an anti-wolf needle to your shoulder, then he won’t pat you," a girl in pink clothes came in, placing breakfast on the table beside her, "Who’s this handsome guy?"

"My name is Qin Guanglin, waiting to start my job," Qin Guanglin replied courteously when she asked.

Her fuzzy clothes had a big pocket on them, resembling Doraemon.

"Oh~" the girl nodded, "New colleague, what position did you apply for?"

"Lead artist," Sun Wen interjected.

"Wow, a bigshot!" the girl exclaimed.

"Err... not really, I’m new to this and still need to learn," Qin Guanglin shook his head.

"Either way, you’re a bigshot." The girl said while opening her breakfast, "I saw the boss’s car downstairs just now, he should be up soon."

"Oh, thanks."

Sun Wen gestured toward the door, "Look, here he comes."

The boss, Chen Rui, walked in and glanced around, spotting Qin Guanglin, "Qin... Guanglin, right? You’re early. Come this way."

It was a small studio, without a HR department or anything similar, aside from primary tasks, the boss took care of all the miscellaneous stuff, so no formalities were necessary. Seeing that Qin Guanglin had arrived, Chen Rui directly led him to the office to prepare the contract.

"Did you get to know everything you need last time? Any other questions or requests?" Chen Rui searched his desk for the contract and pen.

Qin Guanglin thought for a moment, "Everything was well discussed last time, no other issues."

"Good, then here’s the contract for you to check, one-month probation period," Chen Rui slid the contract over.

After checking that there were no issues, Qin Guanglin signed his name with the pen.

"Now we’re partners," Chen Rui smiled, stood up, and shook hands with Qin Guanglin, "Let’s work hard together to create better comics!"

"Let’s work hard together," Qin Guanglin shook hands politely.

There are roughly three types of studios in the country. The first is run with friends, with one or two authors doing serialized comics, occasionally hiring assistants on a per-job basis. This type of studio is registered as a company purely for tax benefits, but it’s essentially a sole proprietorship.

The second type is an employment studio, which has a true company nature, hiring only experienced staff who can work immediately upon joining, with clear job roles and established departments, requiring work experience, very formal indeed.

The third type is like this one, similar to a promotion system, which we can tentatively call a promotion studio. It doesn’t focus much on the current abilities of job seekers, but rather on their passion and sincerity. From the boss to the staff, everyone harbors a love for comics. The requirements for new employees aren’t very high, and newcomers can join. After joining, they will learn various tasks and, once proficient, be promoted based on individual strengths and studio needs, rising in tandem with the studio’s developments.

Of course, Qin Guanglin didn’t have much passion; both he and Sun Wen were here to put food on the table. The main reason was that the new studio had recruited enough novices and needed to supplement with higher-skill creatives. Once the green newcomers matured and the studio was on track, it would be easier to attract suitable bigshots and rookies.

Chen Rui pushed his glasses up, "If there’s nothing else, you can start working today, get familiar with the environment."

"Sure, I was planning on that anyway," Qin Guanglin had indeed intended to do so.

"Meet your partners and give a self-introduction," Chen Rui said as he prepared to leave.

He was someone who had a great passion for comics, which is why he opened this studio. He never talked about colleagues, only partners.

That’s kind of chuunibyou... Qin Guanglin secretly snarked.