Chen Xi locked up her motorcycle and walked into the clinic, greeting Old Yang, “Grandpa.”

Old Yang smiled and asked her, “How’s your grandmother’s health?”

Chen Xi nodded, “She’s doing well. Thanks to the medicine you prescribed, it’s been very effective – she hasn’t coughed all spring.”

Yang Shan was leaning on the counter, waving at Chen Xi, her narrow single eyelids almost perfectly round.

“Come here, come here, guess who I saw?”

Chen Xi walked over, leaning her elbow on the counter and asking curiously, “Who?”

Yang Shan said, “My first love.”

Chen Xi looked confused. “Isn’t your first love just your daughter’s father?”

Yang Shan said, “My secret crush, someone I liked in sixth grade.”

Chen Xi said, “Oh, I think I remember.”

“You had a period in sixth grade when you’d drag me to the Third Middle School gate every day after school to buy fried cakes.”

“After buying them, you’d stand at the Third Middle School gate eating and waiting. Was that person one of your brother’s classmates?”

She held her forehead, trying to remember, “What did you call that person?”

Yang Shan giggled, “Uncle Wolf.”

She had been obsessed with Wolverine from X-Men at the time and thought her brother’s classmate had a bit of Wolverine’s brooding temperament.

Chen Xi laughed at her, “How silly.”

Yang Shan smiled and said, “Time flies. In the blink of an eye, I’m already buying fried cakes for my daughter.”

She pushed the prepared medicinal paste to Chen Xi’s side.

Chen Xi cupped the glass jar – it was still warm.

Yang Shan asked her, “Do you regret quitting your job?”

Chen Xi said, “What’s there to regret?”

Yang Shan asked, “How are things with the repair shop?”

Chen Xi’s mood was a bit low as she said flatly, “The venue was almost settled, but the landlord suddenly wants to raise the price.”

Yang Shan said, “How much are you short? Let me help you put together some money.”

Chen Xi smiled at her, “No need for now.”

That was just her personality.

She wouldn’t accept help from Bai Yuning, nor childhood friends.

The two were chatting casually when Yang Shan suddenly saw the curtain behind her move, and Chen Xi noticed that Yang Shan’s eyes went round again.

“Brother Qin, not staying for a bit?”

A voice behind them replied, “No.”

Chen Xi stiffened slightly.

She turned around and caught Qin Lie’s gaze, capturing a hint of the same surprise in his eyes.

Qin Lie withdrew his gaze, didn’t speak to her, said goodbye to Doctor Yang, and strode out of the clinic.

He sat back in his car in a daze, thinking about Yang Guan’s words.

The blinding sunset covered half the street.

Qin Lie picked up the sunglasses from under the windshield and put them on.

After a while, someone knocked twice on his car window.

Qin Lie slowly rolled down the window.

“Something wrong?”

He looked at her through his sunglasses.

The wind was a bit strong outside. A few strands of her hair were blown across her cheeks, the ends catching threads of sunlight.

Chen Xi bent down to look into the car and asked him, “What did you say yesterday about game character design – what’s that about?”

Qin Lie didn’t speak, his expression cold.

Chen Xi felt his appraising gaze from behind the sunglasses. Her fingers curled awkwardly and slipped into her jacket pockets.

She cleared her throat and forced herself to continue, “I didn’t hear yesterday.”

After she finished speaking, he still showed no reaction.

She had to wait. Just a few seconds, but time seemed to stop.

Chen Xi’s patience was exhausted, and she was about to leave when she finally heard the man’s rough, deep voice.

“I’ll send the materials to Qin Zhan. If you’re interested, you can ask him for them.”

Chen Xi crossed her arms and asked directly about what concerned her most, “How’s the payment calculated?”

Qin Lie was also direct, “Ten characters, twenty thousand each.”

Hearing Qin Lie say this himself, Chen Xi finally believed what Qin Zhan had said was true.

But even hearing him admit it personally, Chen Xi still found it hard to believe.

“Two hundred thousand?”

She looked incredulous.

Qin Lie’s face behind the sunglasses, with its hard lines, showed no expression. “Think it’s too little?”

Chen Xi thought the man in the car might be a complete idiot.

She leaned down to look at him again and asked earnestly, “Did your money blow in on the wind?”

Qin Lie’s face, hidden behind sunglasses, seemed to flash with mockery, “Are you so sure you can earn this money?”

When it came to painting, Chen Xi’s confidence was just one step away from arrogance.

She snorted at him, “Isn’t it just drawing ten people?”

Qin Lie’s lips curved into a cold, hard smile that wasn’t particularly kind. “There are conditions.”

Chen Xi asked, “What conditions?”

Qin Lie said, “Only one month, and every character must satisfy me.”

He left her with “Think it over carefully” and drove off.

Chen Xi took the medicine Doctor Yang had prepared back home.

Fan Mingsu and Sensen were eating dinner in the courtyard.

“Where’s my aunt?”

Chen Xi walked to the faucet to wash her hands.

“She went back to Yang Guan Town.”

Fan Mingsu put down her chopsticks and went to the kitchen to cook noodles for Chen Xi.

On the cutting board sat pieces of rested dough, covered with a cloth after being brushed with oil.

Fan Mingsu quickly stretched several pieces of dough and threw them in the pot.

After boiling twice in the bubbling water, the finger-width noodles were lifted out and rinsed in cold water.

Finally, she drizzled two spoonfuls of soy sauce and one spoonful of vinegar, sprinkled garlic and scallion pieces and chili powder, then poured on smoking hot oil.

With a sizzling sound, the aroma rose – a bowl of oil-splashed noodles was ready.

She brought the noodles to the table and saw the lung-moistening paste Chen Xi had brought back. “You’ve eaten three big jars of theirs, did you pay?”

Chen Xi stirred the noodles and shook her head, “They won’t take it.”

Fan Mingsu glared at her, “If they won’t take it, don’t give it?”

Chen Xi picked up a chopstick full of noodles and took a big bite, saying while eating, “Don’t worry about it, what’s my relationship with Yang Shan?”

Fan Mingsu said, “No matter how good the relationship, you can’t just take it for granted that others treat you well.”

“Yang Shan’s daughter is learning painting from you, right? You should teach her well, and you can’t charge money for that either.”

Chen Xi nodded, “Of course.”

After dinner, Sensen tried to sneak out along the wall to play but was caught by Fan Mingsu’s quick reflexes.

In her view, studying was the most important thing – not studying hard was almost like committing a grave sin.

Sensen was driven back to his room to do homework.

San Huang, the old dog, had become quite shrewd, dutifully squatting by the coffee table to keep watch.

Whenever Sensen put down his pen, it would bark.

This amused Chen Xi – she had also been forced to study by Fan Mingsu and San Huang before.

Fan Mingsu asked Chen Xi to stay home and watch Sensen.

Come rain or shine, she would ride her tricycle to set up a stall at the night market.

Chen Xi washed a bowl of strawberries for Sensen, gave San Huang a piece of roasted sweet potato, and lay back on the sofa to ponder Qin Lie’s words.

She really couldn’t understand how that person could be so generous.

Just drawing ten characters – how could that be worth two hundred thousand?

Though she still didn’t quite believe it, her mind was already full of thoughts about the two hundred thousand.

With this two hundred thousand, the choice of locations for the repair shop would be much broader.

While she was pondering, suddenly a friend request from Qin Lie popped up on WeChat.

Chen Xi accepted it.

He directly sent two PDF files.

Finally adding a message: “Look at the materials first. If interested, send me a draft.”

Chen Xi was very interested.

But she couldn’t appear too eager – what if he wanted to lower the price?

She only replied with an OK gesture.

The first PDF file Qin Lie sent was an introduction to the game Tunnel.

Chen Xi wasn’t unfamiliar with this game.

She, Qin Zhan, and Liu Boyang occasionally played together online.

It’s just that she spent all her leisure time on painting and car repair, so she wasn’t addicted to any games.

The second PDF file was an introduction to Tunnel version 3.0.

Probably because it involved trade secrets, the materials were quite sketchy, but it was enough for Chen Xi to make a draft.

After reading the 3.0 version introduction, Chen Xi finally understood why Qin Lie had approached her.

Because the 3.0 version map was the ancient Silk Road, and wasn’t Dunhuang a ready-made blueprint for the ancient Silk Road?

The ten characters needed to match the style of the Western Regions desert and ancient Silk Road countries – wasn’t this job tailor-made for her?

Chen Xi’s confusion was finally partially resolved.

She went to her room to get a pen and sketch pad, brought over a small stool, and sat across from Sensen.

Sensen’s eyes lit up. “Sister, are you doing homework too?”

Chen Xi nodded and opened her sketch pad.

Sensen gloated, laughing to show his two missing teeth.

In the evening, after Chen Xi picked up Fan Mingsu from the night market, she returned to her room to continue drawing.

Without realizing it, she stayed up all night.

Outside the window, the sky showed a hint of white.

Chen Xi rubbed her sore neck and finally put down her pen.

She didn’t know the background information for each character in version 3.0, so she could only draw one based on feeling.

She understood this was Qin Lie’s test for her – only if he was satisfied would there be cooperation.

So she used all her skills, determined to amaze him no matter what.

Chen Xi caught up on some sleep, then went to Liu Boyang’s shop after getting up.

Qin Zhan happened to be there too.

There were still two bean sprout buns left from what Liu Boyang had bought in the morning.

Chen Xi took one and sat on an old tire to eat.

Qin Zhan was changing a tire on a car, and Chen Xi’s gaze unconsciously fell on him.

Qin Zhan seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, turning to smile shyly at Chen Xi, “Sister Xi, why are you looking at me?”

Chen Xi took a bite of the bun and asked him, “Last time I heard you say the Tunnel was made by your brother?”

Qin Zhan was a bit disappointed but still nodded, “When he was in graduate school, he started a game studio with classmates.”

“After making Tunnel, they made lots of money, and the company even went public.”

Chen Xi had googled Qin Lie last night and already knew all this.

What she was curious about was why Qin Lie would suddenly resign as CEO of Dawn when his career was flourishing and come to hide in this small city of Dunhuang.

Moreover, she needed to figure out whether the two hundred thousand Qin Lie promised was his own money or company money.

Was it reliable?

She asked Qin Zhan, “Why did your brother come back to our small place?”

Qin Zhan said, “Seems like he had a falling out with his business partners, but I don’t know the specifics.”

His expression suddenly became a bit subtle. “He also broke up with his girlfriend.”

Chen Xi felt some gossip curiosity arise, but still asked about the important matter: “Does your brother still manage the company now?”

Qin Zhan stopped his work and said uncertainly, “Not anymore, I think. I’ve seen him do nothing these two years since coming home.”

“Every day he just runs, works out, and sits in front of several big computers at home all day – he’s even more idle than I.”

Chen Xi silently finished the rest of her bun and asked again, “Then why is he looking for someone to do design work?”

Qin Zhan shrugged, “I don’t know either. People from his company came to find him recently.”

“They stayed in Dunhuang for several days. I even took them on a desert off-road trip and heard them trying to persuade my brother to return to Beijing.”

Chen Xi asked, “To go back and do what?”

Qin Zhan said, “Big sister, of course, to continue managing the company.”

“Since my brother left, the company hasn’t been doing well these two years – the stock has dropped terribly.”

Chen Xi asked, “Is he going back?”

Qin Zhan said, “My brother doesn’t seem to have that intention.”

“But I think he’s been idle long enough and should go back soon. Otherwise, why would he start dealing with company matters again?”

Chen Xi nodded slowly, getting a general idea.

Two hundred thousand was real money for people in small places with fixed salaries, but for a listed company like Dawn, it wasn’t much.

Qin Lie wasn’t afraid to spend money – what he wanted was for Tunnel 3.0 to make a stunning debut.

Qin Zhan suddenly understood, “Sister Xi, are you going to take this job?”

Chen Xi nodded.

Qin Zhan said, “I told you this job is suitable for you.”

Chen Xi didn’t act modest with Qin Zhan, “I think so too.”

Qin Zhan asked, “Then will you still have time to handle the repair shop?”

Chen Xi said, “Your brother said he’s only giving one month for the design work.”

“I think it shouldn’t take that long. After earning this two hundred thousand, I’ll get busy with the repair shop.”

Qin Zhan grinned, “Are you that confident you can earn this money? What if my brother finds someone else, too?”

“Their company also has character designers – they’re very professional.”

Chen Xi was full of confidence, “The Tunnel 3.0 background is Dunhuang. If your brother was satisfied with the company’s design, why would he look for me?”

“We Dunhuang people, live off our local resources. My dad depends on Mogao Caves, and so does my mom.”

“The murals in Mogao Caves are the foundation of our Dunhuang people’s confidence. Let me tell you, once this job is in my hands, no one else will have a chance.”

Seeing the two getting more and more excited, Liu Boyang poked his head out from under the car.

“Sister, if you get this two hundred thousand, you could even rent that VR experience center. Looking around, that’s the best location. Why don’t you ask about it again?”

Chen Xi said, “I think so too.”

“Such a good location – why open an experience center? What is a VR experience center anyway? Have you guys ever been to one?”

Qin Zhan said, “Why would we go there for no reason?”

Chen Xi said, “Exactly, who goes to experience that stuff for no reason?”

Chen Xi wasn’t in a hurry to give Qin Lie the draft.

She thought she’d wait two days before giving it to him, so he wouldn’t think it was too easy for her to draw.

She was thinking about that VR experience center again.

After staying at Liu Boyang’s for a while, she rode her motorcycle to the experience center area.