The Female Bodhisattva

At the same time, in the student dormitory of Tianhai City Arts University.

This was a four-person room equipped with a balcony and air conditioning. Each bed space had a computer desk, wardrobe, shoe cabinet, and bookshelf - the conditions were fairly decent.

Having just finished lunch, Lu Qing sat in his chair, looking at the messages that had just arrived on his phone.

At this moment, his other two roommates hadn't returned yet, and besides him and Wen Le, there was no one else in the room.

Since QQ could be logged in simultaneously on both mobile and PC, he didn't know his sister was watching his chat history with Lubia in real-time. He replied to Lubia as usual:

"Nice, the quality of the images you're sharing keeps getting better. I definitely made the right choice having you illustrate the last book."

Lubia: "Haha! I told you so! Boss, you have to trust my eye! This way we'll have better chemistry working together in the future! In my opinion, it won't be long before you create a hit!"

"Thanks for the kind words. But you should know, I've never doubted your aesthetic sense. After all, you're a professional when it comes to NSFW content."

Lu Qing praised the adult content artist.

Their mutual professional flattery continued for several rounds until he began to seriously examine these reference images.

Speaking of which, his acquaintance with Lubia had an interesting beginning. They met through TaoBao Network when Lu Qing was working on his first book.

At that time, Lu Qing needed character designs for his new book's female protagonist, which would also serve as the cover image. However, since he didn't know any reliable artists personally, he had to settle for hiring someone randomly on TaoBao Network, paying for commissioned artwork.

He chose the shop with the highest sales volume, but he knew that such shops usually had dozens or even hundreds of artists listed. If he didn't specify an artist, his order could be picked up by anyone, and he wouldn't be able to communicate directly with the artist until the end, having to relay all his ideas through the shop owner.

He didn't like that feeling.

Based on this, he wanted to find a way to get the artists' contact information directly. This way, he could avoid the middleman's markup and communicate his needs more clearly, while the artist would be more comfortable and earn twice as much.

Later, by reading other buyers' reviews, he set his sights on Lubia.

The reason was simple - Lubia's finished artwork was incredibly risqué, and perfectly matched his aesthetic preferences.

To sum it up simply, all the female characters in his works had pure faces but shockingly large busts - he wouldn't even deign to draw anything below H-cup!

This directly led to his reputation being mixed, and you could always see reviews like these in the TaoBao shop:

"What's wrong with this artist? I asked for an energetic loli, but he drew me a cow girl? What loli has that size??? WTF, refund!"

"LOL, I write fantasy, and I said I wanted a holy maiden as the female lead, but he designed her as a lewd nun, the kind that could smother someone! Damn, sure enough, the image was too sexy and didn't pass the cover review! Complete waste of time!"

"Haha, really? I ordered a human princess, and guess what? He drew her as a human succubus."

"Same here! Let me ask you, Lubia, do you even know how to draw? Since when do catgirls have such huge jugs? I'm seriously done!"...

Such abuse filled half a page, nearly drowning out the reviews for other artists.

But to be fair, after reading through it all, Lu Qing still thought this artist had quite a unique style.

Apart from his preference for drawing large busts, Lubia had almost no other flaws. His color work and perspective details were all excellently done, and he even included quite a bit of background scenery as well.

The reason for saying "included" was because artists generally don't throw in backgrounds with character illustrations - after all, backgrounds are difficult to draw and require a lot of time and energy. Few people are willing to do it for free, usually charging extra.

However, whenever a customer commissioned Lubia, he would include a background scene as a complement - for example, a candy house behind the busty loli, a dark church behind the nun, a castle beneath the princess's feet, or a primitive forest surrounding the catgirl.

Lu Qing noticed this point and determined that this artist was definitely one of the skilled ones, so he specifically requested him through the shop owner.

At that time, Lubia, whose ratings had plummeted, rarely received orders. When he saw a customer specifically requesting him, he was overjoyed and wanted to give his all to show the boss his capabilities.

Knowing his preferences, Lu Qing deliberately added a note to the shop owner after stating his requirements: "Tell him to draw the chest as small as he possibly can."

Lubia agonized over this instruction for a long time, but for the sake of earning money, he made a compromise and finally chose E-cup as the lower limit for completing the character design.

After all, he really couldn't draw anything smaller than that.

Thus, their first collaboration proceeded smoothly.

After Lubia returned the artwork via email, Lu Qing replied with an email:

[I'm very satisfied with your technique, and I believe no one understands how to portray sexual tension better than you. If you're willing to collaborate in the future, feel free to add my QQ number: XXXXXXXX. Looking forward to hearing from you.]

This was the only method Lu Qing had figured out to contact artists directly, bypassing the shop owner - leaving a message via email.

He knew that artists treated orders like tasks, completing one and sending the finished product to the customer via email attachment before moving on to the next one, and so on in a cycle.

In other words, artists actually had their customers' email addresses, but due to shop regulations, they didn't dare add customers' contact information privately. If reported, they could face penalties ranging from monetary deductions to contract termination.

However, these restrictions meant nothing to the disgraced Lubia.

With barely any orders coming in and facing starvation, what was wrong with secretly connecting with a customer who appreciated his work?

Was that too much?

Sure enough, not long after Lu Qing sent his email, Lubia frantically sent a friend request.

"Boss! You're the only person who's praised my artwork in the past year! The last time I was praised was the last time!"

This was his opening line, and while it was redundant, it also made Lu Qing understand his predicament.

Without saying much, Lu Qing immediately gave him 5 commissions, including the female protagonist's illustration for his previous book, supporting character designs, ending CG, key scenes, and other requirements. This not only shocked Lubia but also earned him a substantial sum, making him decide to loyally follow the boss, prioritizing his orders whenever they came in.

Their relationship was established from there.

"Hehe~ By the way, boss, when are you starting your next book? My... brush is getting restless, just waiting for you to give me some orders! Teehee."

Lubia sent a sticker of a little bear with starry eyes kneeling and begging, looking exactly like someone who had been through the ups and downs of society for many years.

"You're a forty-something-year-old man, stop trying to act cute with me, that's enough."

Lu Qing made a disgusted face, feeling uncomfortable with this guy's occasionally annoying way of speaking.

Strangely enough, while Lubia claimed to be 38, as an older otaku, he was thoroughly familiar with all the latest trends among young people!

Not only was his art style cutting-edge and trendy, but he was also constantly learning and upgrading. Just from the casual sketches he regularly sent, it was clear that this guy understood anime culture even better than college students.

"Hehehe... don't look down on me, boss. Maybe I'm not as creepy as you imagine? What if I'm actually handsome - a charming older guy? Then there's nothing wrong with liking pink bears, right? Haven't you heard the saying, 'The more a man likes pink, the more reliable he is in work'? Wahahaha..."

"Stop joking around. Tell me, what's really going on? Previously, when you were in seclusion improving your art skills, you were so busy you didn't share any NSFW art with me for a month. Why are you so chatty today? Something up?"

Lu Qing asked sharply.

"Ah, as expected of my boss! Nothing escapes your notice! Actually... I've been having some issues with my part-time work lately, and I probably won't be getting any commissions for a while... So, I haven't eaten meat in over ten days, and if you don't start writing your book soon, I'm going to starve!"

Lubia didn't hold back and directly expressed the difficulties he was facing.

"What? How did this happen? Last time I checked, didn't you have several orders lined up? Has it really gotten this bad?"

"Yes... you don't know, but those previous clients of mine went crazy. Someone created a group called the 'Anti-Big Breast Alliance' specifically targeting and reporting me. They're even posting about me on forums... saying my mind is full of perverted garbage and that I can only draw large chests, completely disparaging my work..."

"..."

"Boss, you know me well. In the past, when they criticized me like this, I couldn't be bothered to argue because I knew I couldn't win against those keyboard warriors. Besides, I really couldn't satisfy them and wasted their time."

Lubia said dejectedly, "Although I shouldn't expect everyone to understand the beauty of 'largeness' like you do, boss, the problem is that drawing conventional girl illustrations isn't my style, and honestly, I just don't know how to do it. So I'm at a loss now. I feel like maybe I'm not cut out for being an original artist."

"...Don't say that. Calm down first."

Lu Qing took a deep breath and closed his laptop.

He had planned to work on his outline during lunch, but since his friend was facing such a big problem, he had to prioritize helping him, or at least offer some comfort. Otherwise, it would be difficult to find another artist who clicked with him in the future.

"Lubia, listen to me."

"Yes, boss."

"Do you know why I chose you back then?"

"I... think so. You mentioned in your email that you were satisfied with my technique and such... I thought it was just pleasantries," Lubia said.

"Pleasantries? If they were just pleasantries, why would I only message you instead of finding someone else?"

Lu Qing continued typing: "Actually, what I wanted to tell you then was that each of your illustrations amazed me. Specifically, they gave me a sense of comfort and stability that others couldn't replicate. You have your own style, completely original, with plenty of innovation, and you stand out from the crowd."

"!!!"

"Lubia, I don't care if you're thirty-eight or fifty-eight, or whether you want to hear advice from a college student pretending to be experienced. You just need to know that in my eyes, you're an excellent artist. You have, and will eventually create, the highest quality work that other artists can't imitate.

That was my first impression of you, and it doesn't matter what others say or how they criticize. Because I acknowledge you, I'll continue to commission you and work with you, without any interference. So rest assured, you'll never lose this business with me, as long as I'm still writing books."

After this long message was sent, Lubia took several breaths before responding.

After holding back for a while, he finally replied shyly: "Boss, when you praise me like this, I'm really going to fall in love with you. Would you mind accepting the wholehearted love of a middle-aged man..."

"Get lost."

Seeing his renewed energetic and annoying behavior, Lu Qing finally felt somewhat relieved.

He knew that all Lubia needed was a word of affirmation.

As long as someone still supported him, he would continue moving forward with that motivation, unafraid of the darkness.

However, the survival problem remained urgent and unresolved.

Although Lu Qing wanted to start writing his book quickly to help ease Lubia's financial pressure with a few commissions, his sister had recently arrived, and his time was very limited. He would inevitably need to spend more energy taking care of his sister, which would definitely delay the outline's progress.

Thinking of this, he had to continue saying:

"Look, Lubia, you'll have to wait a bit longer. I haven't decided on the theme for my new book yet, and I haven't found a suitable character model for the female lead. I was planning to write an urban romance novel, but I'm really stuck on the character design. So..."

His message had barely been sent for a few seconds when Lubia's side showed "typing" again.

Lu Qing stared at his phone screen, watching him type and delete, delete and retype, wondering what he was up to.

After five or six minutes, Lubia suddenly sent an image—

"Boss, well, what do you think about this girl as a character model for the novel's female lead?"

"Huh?"

Lu Qing curiously opened the photo and enlarged it.

Unexpectedly, what Lubia sent this time wasn't a 2D virtual character, but a real 3D photograph.

In the photo, a girl with long black straight hair wore a gray crop top sweater, revealing waist shorts, and over-knee black stockings, making a "V" sign at the camera, though her face wasn't shown.

"Wow, what kind of figure is this?!"

Even though Lu Qing was well-experienced, he was shocked speechless by the balloon-like impressive chest size.

He had seen well-endowed women before, but someone with a slim waist, delicate arms, and legs perfectly accentuated by black stockings with such manga-like proportions... he had truly never seen before.

"This... must be G-cup...?"

"Hehe, right? You think they're big too, don't you? Aha... Let me tell you, this photo isn't edited."

Lubia seemed very satisfied with his reaction, "Looks like boss finally gets my aesthetic taste, I'm so pleased."

"No, who is this? Why does she look so familiar? Where did you steal this photo from?"

Lu Qing rarely felt such curiosity, because he thought if he wrote this woman from the photo into his novel, it would definitely create impact.

Lubia hesitantly sent an explanation: "Well, just someone I follow on Twitter... I've been quite fond of her lately. If you want to see more, I can send you her link, and you can follow her."

"Sure, send it over right away."

Lu Qing had never followed female influencers before, as he believed that something you could only look at but not touch was meaningless and impractical.

But Lubia's recommendation somehow gave him a sense of déjà vu, and he wanted to investigate a bit.

Soon, the other party sent a link directing to Twitter.

After clicking it, it was a female influencer's homepage, with the nickname Sugar Flower.

It was full of her top-tier selfies, covering cosplays of various anime and game characters, with accuracy approaching 100%, some recreations even surpassing the original works, achieving a breakthrough in dimensional barriers.

The comments below were filled with otaku fans' howling praise and worship, but unfortunately, the influencer never replied to any of them.

Of course, she never showed her face in any of her photos either.

"This is great, really great!"

Lu Qing unconsciously moved his hand and clicked "Following."

However, he didn't know yet that this 183,999th follow he casually clicked would become one of the most regrettable moments in his future memories.

...