Waking up to a ¥50,000 income early in the morning, for a moment, Haruhino Tōru felt like a rich man.
Of course, thinking you're rich with just ¥50,000 is just a delusion.
But starting the day with such a good omen, perhaps there would be a big harvest today.
Unfortunately, Haruhino Tōru's thought, like his previous dream of becoming a rich man, was also a delusion.
Those who were already sour were determined to join forces and steal his business.
A portrait that originally cost ¥1500, now only cost ¥1000, with a buy two get one free offer.
In addition, these people deliberately gathered near Haruhino Tōru, snatching all the business before him. For the entire morning, he was in a state of leisure.
Involution, truly ubiquitous.
Isn't lowering prices not a good thing for them either?
It can only be said that envy kills.
However, he didn't mind. If there was no business, he would simply hone his painting skills. After all, he only took on Eriri's order today, which was worth the income of his best business days before.
Rich dog, so satisfying to slaughter!
The group of business stealers found themselves amusing, and after a while, they left one after another.
Except for those who received orders and were still working hard to paint, everyone else returned to where they were originally.
While involution exists, they also know that if they arbitrarily lower prices for some inexplicable reason, it will only make their future lives more difficult.
Of course, these things were already invisible to Haruhino Tōru.
It's not that he was blind, but that he had already focused all his attention on painting.
The "Alive" he painted yesterday was actually inspired by his deceased parents.
Sadness is a feeling from the depths of one's heart, but when Haruhino Tōru paints, his hand always follows his heart.
Therefore, the painting yesterday was filled with sorrow and despair.
But today's him is not yesterday's him. His current mood is far beyond that of yesterday's pessimism.
If he were to rank all things that bring joy, Haruhino Tōru believes making money would definitely be in the top three.
So, even though he was looking at the same scenery, under his brush, the steel forest became vibrant, and the people coming and going became full of hope.
Everyone was trying to raise their heads, bathed in the sunlight and gilded with a golden edge.
Okay, I can't brag anymore.
It's just a simple watercolor painting. Things like golden edges are just too ridiculous.
"Haruhino-kun?" Just after finishing his painting, Haruhino Tōru was about to take a break when he heard a pleasant female voice.
"Kato-san?" Haruhino Tōru was surprised. He hadn't expected to see Kato Megumi again in the streets of Tokyo after just seeing her yesterday.
Should I say the world is small?
"What a coincidence, I didn't expect to see you again today." Kato Megumi gently tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. Although she was a pure-type beauty, Haruhino Tōru swore that at this moment, he only saw temptation.
Haruhino Tōru nodded, noticing that the girl was still carrying a shopping bag. Judging by the logo on the bag, it was from a famous department store nearby. It seemed that the girl had just finished her shopping.
"Indeed, if you hadn't said so, Kato-san, I would have thought you were following me on purpose." Making a light-hearted joke, Haruhino Tōru put away his brush and began to clean up the mess in front of him.
Although they were just classmates, they would often make harmless jokes with each other. Kato Megumi also enjoyed this atmosphere.
For some special reason, the girl who was always ignored felt quite good about having a friend who could joke around with her.
"Maybe it's really true, after all, I could see Haruhino-kun's unknown side." The girl smiled as she looked at Haruhino Tōru's palette that he was cleaning. She really didn't know that the boy who had been her deskmate for a year actually had this kind of skill.
But there's nothing strange about it. Li Bai didn't hold poetry contests every day, and Lü Bu wasn't always hacking people, he also had to ride Red Hare or Diaochan occasionally.
It's not strange for Haruhino Tōru to keep his things to himself.
"Is this Tokyo?" As if she had just seen Haruhino Tōru's painting, the girl naturally bent down and leaned closer.
"Yes, it's right here." Haruhino Tōru didn't mind the girl's actions.
No woman in my heart, my operation is naturally divine.
As long as I don't fall in love, no one can seduce me.
Of course, Haruhino Tōru wasn't thinking in that direction at all. In the year he had been classmates with Kato Megumi, the girl had leaned in like this quite a few times.
"Not painting anymore?" Seeing that Haruhino Tōru not only cleaned the palette, but also disassembled the easel and prepared to put it away, Kato Megumi asked curiously.
"Yeah, I have something to do this afternoon, so I'll just stop here for this morning."
"What a pity, I wanted to see what Haruhino-kun looked like while painting." Kato Megumi was genuinely a little regretful.
But Haruhino Tōru couldn't hear it from her tone. This was also one of the girl's unique skills, right?
Not showing your joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness on your face is something many people dream of.
Unlike myself, a useless person. Just hearing about ¥50,000 makes me go crazy...
Not bending for five buckets of rice, that must be the realm of a sage. In real life, let alone five buckets of rice, just being able to make a living is the lifelong pursuit of many people.
"There will be a chance next time." Haruhino Tōru stuffed the easel into his backpack and said, "But there's nothing to see. Painting is actually a very boring thing, because it requires a long wait. If you don't have patience, it will be very boring." This wasn't Haruhino Tōru talking nonsense. Countless LSPs shout "Wifey" at beautiful illustrations, licking the screen until it's covered in drool, but only the illustrators themselves know the true creative process.
Sometimes the seemingly useless lines are actually the result of repeated thinking and experimentation. If painting were an easy and fun thing, how could there be only a few hundred people in the Japanese Illustration Association?
However, Kato Megumi obviously didn't care about these issues. If it comes to patience, she's definitely stronger than anyone else, right?
"This is for you. Consider it a gift for our chance encounter today." Noticing that Kato Megumi was truly disappointed, after a moment's thought, Haruhino Tōru handed over the results of his morning work to Kato Megumi.
"Really? You worked so hard on this, right?"
"No problem, it's a perfect gift for a friend, isn't it?"