Submerged in water, overwhelmed and bewildered.
Even though Fang Qiu had held her breath in advance, she still choked violently on a couple of mouthfuls of bathwater.
With Hu Tao pressing down on her, her body was wedged between the other girl's legs.
This made it impossible for her to change her posture underwater.
Just as Fang Qiu was about to suffocate, Hu Tao grabbed her slender waist and pulled her above the surface.
"Cough, cough, cough."
Fang Qiu coughed violently, expelling the remaining water from her mouth.
"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"
Hu Tao asked.
"N-No... I'm fine."
Fang Qiu had caught her breath by now, a blush spreading across her pale face.
The movement just now had been too violent; their bath towels had slipped off at some point unknown to them.
Although they were both underwater, she could clearly see their positions.
Hu Tao was kneeling between her legs, arms wrapped around her waist, their lower abdomens pressed tightly together.
Meanwhile, her own legs, in a natural reaction to the drowning sensation, were tightly clamping around Hu Tao's waist.
With nothing between them, they were pressed intimately against each other.
Especially her...
"What about you? You aren't hurt, are you?"
Fang Qiu asked with concern, enduring the rising heat in her body as she felt the constant, snowy-soft sensation of their skin against each other.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Thanks for earlier."
Hu Tao smiled, stood up, and pulled Fang Qiu out of the pool.
"Let's go, it's time to eat. I'm starving."
"Mhm."
They made their way out of the bathhouse.
"When the sun's out, bathe in sunlight. But when the moon's out, bathe in moonlight~"
Hu Tao hummed her self-composed doggerel verse as she walked down the road.
Fang Qiu followed quietly behind her.
...
Bai Qing stared blankly at the manuscript before her. A teardrop fell onto the paper, smudging the ink.
With tear-blurred eyes, she cast her gaze toward the sentence left at the end of the volume.
[Spring is coming...
The spring where I met you, is coming...
The spring without you... is coming...]
When she saw this sentence, Bai Qing's tear ducts completely collapsed, and tears gushed out uncontrollably.
"Fang Qiu! You have no heart!"
She set the manuscript aside and slumped onto the table, sobbing.
At that moment, several female editors who had been out on business pushed the door open and walked in.
As soon as they entered, they saw Bai Qing crying on the table.
"Has Ah Qing finally cracked under the pressure?"
"Sigh, that's how it is in the editing business. The pressure is immense. She's still young; it's normal that she can't handle it."
"Yeah, especially since she's responsible for those two. Xingqiu is fine, but that Fang Qiu's writing... I looked at it last time. Two out of every three sentences are grammatically incorrect, and there are tons of typos. My eyes were screaming just looking at it. Heaven knows how exhausting it is to edit for an author like that."
The female editors whispered among themselves, looking at Bai Qing with eyes full of sympathy.
"Forget it, leave it to me."
A slightly older female editor, about twenty-five or twenty-six, sighed and said, "Let's take her out for a drink tonight."
"Mhm. Sometimes, it's good to release stress with a drink."
The others nodded in agreement.
There is nothing that a glass of wine cannot solve.
If there is, then two glasses.
Get her dead drunk, and all her troubles will vanish into thin air.
So, the older editor exhaled, put on a friendly smile, and gently patted Bai Qing on the shoulder.
"Ah Qing, are you okay? If you have any grievances, tell Big Sister. I'll help you figure something out."
The female editor spoke softly.
Barely had her voice faded when Bai Qing threw herself into her arms.
"Senior Li Ling."
The young girl cried, her face stained with tears like a pear blossom bathed in rain.
"Why... Why did Kaori have to leave like that? She was so good... Why didn't a miracle happen?"
The girl said between sobs.
The female editors present all shuddered.
Kaori?
Left?
What's the situation?
Could it be that someone in Bai Qing's family passed away?
Judging by how Bai Qing addressed her, 'Kaori' must be her younger sister, right?
For a moment, they looked at each other in dismay, unsure how to comfort Bai Qing.
"Little Ah Qing, the dead cannot come back to life. You must restrain your grief."
The older female editor, whom Bai Qing called Senior Li Ling, sighed and said.
"But... she clearly didn't have to die! Why! Why write her to death?"
"I know you're sad. It's okay, just let it all ou— Huh? Wait, what do you mean 'write her to death'?"
Li Ling froze and asked.
Bai Qing had come to her senses by now. She pulled away from her senior's embrace, wiped the tears from her face with a handkerchief, and said, her pretty face flushing red, "I'm sorry, I caused trouble for you, Seniors. I even soiled your clothes, Senior Li Ling. I just read a novel, and a character in it died, so I couldn't hold it back..."
"It's fine."
Li Ling simply smiled. "As long as you're okay. By the way, after work, let's go for a drink."
"Mhm."
Bai Qing nodded, her nose red.
She also desperately needed a drink to soothe the emotions in her heart.
Hearing that Bai Qing was only crying because a character in a book died, the editors present breathed a sigh of relief.
However, at the same time, they were extremely curious: whose book was written so movingly?
Logically speaking, although Bai Qing is a newcomer, she is a professional after all.
Since the establishment of the Liyue Publishing House, novels that can make an editor cry have been as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Seeing their inquiries, Bai Qing handed them copies of the revised first volume.
When they saw the title, they were all stunned.
Your Lie in April?
This title is quite strange...
Just as they were wondering who wrote it, they saw the author's name and fell into silence.
Author: Fang Qiu.
"Um... Ah Qing, you're not joking with us, are you?"
Li Ling hesitated for a moment but couldn't help asking.
"You'll know once you read it."
Bai Qing shook her head, still immersed in the sorrow of Miyazono Kaori's passing.
"Alright then, let's take a look."
Li Ling sighed, took the manuscript, sat down to the side, and began to read.
However, they didn't care too much.
After all, they understood Fang Qiu's books; those could hardly be called books...
So, in their view, the reason Bai Qing cried was still because the pressure was too great, and the death of that so-called Kaori was just a trigger.
But since they were done with their work anyway, they might as well force themselves to take a look.
After all, their junior was so upset; refusing at this point would be too unkind.
Thus, one by one, they opened to the first page.
Gradually, they became entranced.
________________________________________
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