Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Annual Party Invitation

Jessie sat beside Lynn and gave her a hug.

“Hey, I’m not that fragile,” Lynn said with a smile. “I’ve actually come to terms with it. Since the family business isn’t just going to fall into my lap, I’ll have to fight for it. It’s still anyone’s game.”

She was taking it surprisingly well. Aside from that initial period of dejection when she suddenly realized she might not be as loved as she thought, she had now come to accept it.

After all, most people aren’t born with everything. They have to earn it with their own two hands.

Lynn didn’t see why she couldn’t accomplish what others could.

Jessie bobbed her head like a pecking chick. “Yeah, yeah! Once you’ve established yourself at the institute, you can get the people at Scitech Pharma to stage a coup and lead them in a charge back home!”

Jessie hadn’t even finished speaking when Lynn poked her on the forehead.

“What do you think this is, some kind of action manga?” Lynn said, exasperated. “A coup? Are we fighting a war here?”

But then, a thought suddenly struck Jessie. She looked at Lynn. “Lynn, don’t tell me… is the reason you won’t date that… what’s-his-name, Cy—Cyrus Sheridan, because you know you’re going to have a falling out with the institute here?”

Lynn hadn’t expected Jessie’s imagination to be so wild. She rolled her eyes and stuffed a piece of the supposedly apple-flavored beef into Jessie’s mouth. “We were just adults having some fun. Why are you reading so much into it?”

Jessie wanted to say more, but one look from Lynn made her quiet down immediately.

“Speaking of action manga, how’s your comic coming along?” Lynn asked, cutting a small piece of beef. “I checked last night, and you still haven’t updated. Aren’t you afraid your readers are going to hunt you down?”

When Jessie didn’t respond for a long moment, Lynn tilted her head and saw that the young woman who’d been so excited just a second ago was now completely frozen.

“What’s wrong?” Lynn waved a hand in front of Jessie’s face. “Don’t tell me you forgot,” she said casually.

Jessie turned her head mechanically, her expression a mask of despair.

Lynn froze. “You didn’t actually forget, did you?”

Jessie: “…”

’As much as I don’t want to admit it, it seems that’s exactly what happened.’

“You’ve been enjoying yourself so much you’ve forgotten everything else, huh?” Lynn said with a laugh.

Jessie said, “…Not really?”

’Was it more that I was too exhausted to think about anything else?’

“But I did announce a hiatus,” Jessie said. She knew the wedding would be hectic, so she’d taken a ten-day break.

But…

With the honeymoon added on, it had probably been almost half a month since she’d last updated.

Lynn patted Jessie’s shoulder. “It’s fine. I’ve seen a lot of artists on that site only update every ten days or two weeks. Worst case, you can just pull an all-nighter when you get home, right?”

Jessie: “…”

Some things were better left unsaid.

Just as Jessie was finishing lunch, she received a message on her phone.

As luck would have it, it was a message from her editor at Manhui, Zoe Marx.

[Zoe Marx: Sweetie, are you still on break?]

Zoe Marx was working overtime today. Manhui had recently launched a new event, and she was swamped.

If it weren’t for this new event, she probably would have noticed much sooner that one of her artists, Little Squid, hadn’t updated in nearly half a month.

[Jessie: I’m back! I’ll update tonight!]

[Zoe Marx: That’s good. Keep up the good work on the updates. Your stats were great before, and going on hiatus will affect your numbers, you know.]

Feeling guilty, Jessie quickly sent a sticker of a well-behaved teddy bear.

But Zoe Marx hadn’t contacted Jessie during her overtime just to nag her about updating. There was something more important.

[Zoe Marx: Christmas is just around the corner, and it’s the end of the year. Every year, Manhui organizes at least one in-person event, and we always have a regular mixer for our star creators at year’s end. It’s a gathering of both new and veteran artists. Little Squid, are you interested?]

Before Jessie could reply, Zoe Marx sent another message.

[Zoe Marx: This year’s event is also combined with the awards for new artists. Your performance in the rookie category has been excellent, so you have a good chance of winning. The editors submit names of promising newcomers, and it would be best if you could be there in person for the live awards ceremony. Of course, if you can’t make it and you win, we can mail you the trophy.]

[Zoe Marx: So I really recommend you attend the event in person. The site will cover your flight and hotel. What do you think?]

To be honest, Jessie wasn’t particularly interested when she first read about the year-end event.

She liked having fun, but only with people she knew.

She was an extrovert around her friends, but a total introvert around strangers, not wanting to say a single word.

But when she read what her editor wrote about the newcomer award, Jessie hesitated.

Of course, accepting an award in person was a completely different feeling from getting a trophy in the mail.

It was kind of like going to a concert.

Listening to a CD was nothing like the atmosphere and energy of being there live.

“What are you looking at? You’re totally absorbed.” Lynn was still sitting beside Jessie. Seeing her friend staring at her phone in a daze, she couldn’t help but lean in and ask.

Jessie didn’t hide it, simply turning her phone screen toward Lynn. “Do you think I should go?”

Lynn glanced at the screen and immediately understood what Jessie was agonizing over.

“Of course you should go. What’s there to even think about?” Lynn said. “You’ve always loved drawing, and since you plan to stick with it, it’s good to get to know more people in your circle. You can all share information and help each other out later. Even if you weren’t in this field, you’d still have to interact with all sorts of people at any job, right? Just think of it as practice. It’s no big deal. And if you’re really miserable, just call me. I’ll storm the venue and bust you out, how about that?”

Lynn knew Jessie’s personality well. It wasn’t that she disliked interacting with strangers because she was timid or shy; it was more that she simply didn’t want to.

Jessie laughed when she heard Lynn’s last sentence.

“You’re the best, Lynn!”

Lynn: “…”

Jessie picked up her phone and asked Zoe Marx where the website’s year-end event was being held.

[Zoe Marx: You’re coming? Great! Our headquarters is in the capital, Aethelburg. Once you’ve booked your flight, just send me the confirmation. I’ll forward it to accounting, and you should be reimbursed within three business days.]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep