Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  She walked into Su Li’s office and saw the master’s paintings hanging all over the wall. Her paintings were not realistic or artistic. However, every line that she had drawn was full of her own uniqueness. They showed her life filled with trials and turmoilo; her success and triumph. Behind each bittersweet memory, there was a small rising blissfulness. Such was life, filled with every taste.

  “Do you like my paintings?” Su Li noticed the gentleness shimmering in Xia Ruoxin’s eyes. Every wave rippled back and forth between her eyes. She knew that her disciple was fond of them. Humans had always managed to find each other through the things that they liked. Su Li could feel it Xia Ruoxin’s emotions.

  “Mmm, I like it.” Xia Ruoxin nodded. She wasn’t trying to curry favor. She was merely conveying her honest thoughts.

  “Teacher, your paintings contained your feelings. You must have been through a lot in order to see the silver lining.”


  The corners of Su Li’s lips curled up even more.

  “I see that you understand.”


  Actually, Xia Ruoxin didn’t. She just felt that might be the emotions that Su Li was trying to put across. She had never publicized her hardships, but she allowed others to feel her success and happiness. Her paintings might have felt suppressed and overwhelmed at first. However, when one spent more time admiring, they would make one feel comforting.

  It was not negative. On the contrary, it was full of positivity.

  “Sit.” Su Li pointed to a chair in front of her.

  Xia Ruoxin sat properly with her hands overlapping each other on her lap. She was puzzled and unsure of the reason why Su Li had asked for her. At the moment, she was at a loss. She couldn’t help her thoughts from running array. Was the master trying to kick her out of the class? Was her painting not up to standard?

  “It’s good news.” Su Li was very fond of Xia Ruoxin’s expressions. It was pure and simple that had not changed since the first day she came. Thanks to her pureness and simplicity, she could produce paintings that shook people’s souls.

  “Good news?” Xia Ruoxin’s tension finally eased up. What good news could there possibly be for her? She had been dogged by bad luck ever since she was born. She wondered if she could spend the rest of her life in peace.

  “It’s good news.” Su Li stressed again. Then, she took a stack of papers containing information and started flipping. “These are the recent pieces that you’ve drawn. The website manager is very satisfied with them. Also, I have received word from another website that they like your paintings, and they want you to be their illustrator. Their management staff will contact you directly regarding remuneration and benefits. This is their preferred way of communication.”


  She took a piece of paper and handed it over to Xia Ruoxin as she spoke. It seemed to trouble Su Li at times. Take this paper for example, a standing penguin was drawn on it with a strand of numbers at the back.

  In this modern time where technology was constantly developing, if she didn’t know anything about this penguin, she would be living in a few decades earlier.

  There was no address or telephone number. Just a Penguin account.

  Su Li said this was a renowned comic studio with a lot of influence within its industry. Many of their artworks had been used as illustrations in numerous magazines. The studio was also involved in making the special effects in some magazines, too. Xia Ruoxin had not joined the industry for long, and it was jaw-dropping that she had been selected by this company. She was more stressed than surprised to know this, and she wondered if she would perform up to their expectations. Otherwise, she would be embarrassing her teacher.

  Su Li said Xia Ruoxin could turn it down. However, this was a good opportunity. Many had tried ways and means to get into the company to no avail. Now that the opportunity had been presented before her, it would be a pity if she were to let it go without putting a fight and try.

  In the end, Xia Ruoxin decided to give it a try.

  No matter what, she wouldn’t be Xia Ruoxin if she didn’t even try to see its viability.

  At night, she told a bedtime story to her daughter. She finally sat before her computer after the child had fallen asleep. Then, she took out the piece of paper crumbled from her touch. It contained the details to the Penguin account.

  She logged into her Penguin account. It was still new. Other account holders already had many suns, but hers didn’t even have a star. This was specially set up for her work. Gao Yi was impressed that she knew about this, and he even teased her. However, Xia Ruoxin was embarrassed as this new technology was new to her. In the past, she could only do manual labor to support herself and her daughter.

  She added the contact person’s details thinking some fancy named positions would pop up on the screen. Yet, the name to the other Penguin account was ‘A Sunny Day will Come’. This account should belong to a woman. Why would a man give himself such an aesthetically beautiful nickname?

  Xia Ruoxin added the contact person as her friend. Soon, the portrait of the other person began to flicker. She clicked on ‘Turn on Notification’ for alerts to any new messages. Finally, she was done adding ‘A Sunny Day will Come’.

  The other party had taken the initiative to message her.

  A Sunny Day will Come: “Is this Miss Xia?”


  Once Xia Ruoxin had overcome her initial shock, she began to type clumsily.

  “Yes, I am. Hi. Are you from Shi Lan Studio?”


  A Sunny Day will Come: “Yes. I am.”


  Xia Ruoxin tucked one hand under her chin. What else should she say? The light from the other party flickered again showing that the person was sending a message.

  “I believe Master Su Li has told you that we are interested to engage you as our illustrator.”


  Xia Ruoxin hesitated for a second before she typed seriously—Yes.

  A Sunny Day will Come: “Then this matter is settled. We pay two hundred dollars for every each piece that has been checked and accepted.”


  Two hundred dollars? Xia Ruoxin was stunned. They paid according to the number of pieces? How could the rate be so high? If she could churn out ten pieces of artwork every month, she would earn two thousand dollars. It was enough for hers and Rainy’s daily expenses. Say, she could submit double of that; it would be four thousand dollars. Her previous jobs had not paid much. Would she really be able to earn so much with this job? She was in a state of disbelief, and she didn’t know what else to say. The other party’s attitude had been friendly since the start of their conversation and answered all her questions patiently. The staff even asked for her bank details and her mobile phone number.

  In a matter of minutes, the alert from her mobile phone indicated she had received a message. She opened it and saw that the staff had remitted her money—a whole ten thousand dollars.

  She was in disbelief as she stared at the ceiling. This was too good to be true. Something had fallen from the sky and straight into her lap. Someone must have remitted the money into the wrong account.

  Then, an alert sounded on her computer. There was a message from her Penguin account.

  A Sunny Day will Come: “Have you received it?”