Because of My Stupidity, I Became a Timid Vampire

Chapter 29 : Hah, Hooked

In the taxi heading to school, Bei Yaoyue stared out the window at the constantly changing scenery.

The same school route as always, but it was no longer ordinary because there was one more person beside her.

Suddenly, a vibration from her phone brought back her consciousness, and she came to her senses and took out her phone.

It was a QQ message, and the sender was the person who had just applied to join the group, Pure Love War God.

"Hello, I'd like to commission an artwork from you."

She sighed inwardly. Another boring commission.

Although through commissions she could obtain a considerable income, this often forced her to draw things she didn't particularly like.

Compared to taking commissions for fees, she preferred drawing doujinshi to sell, where she could draw whatever she wanted, free and easy.

"This month is already fully booked. If you commission now, the finished work won't be ready until next month."

She'd had quite a few commission requests recently, and these past two days she'd used almost all her free time to draw a scene she very much wanted to depict—namely the one Xifeng saw, which caused her to have a backlog of commissions.

"Is that so? But it's fine, being a bit slow isn't a big problem."

"As long as you don't mind. Portraits start at 500, no-background character art starts at 1000, character art starts at 2000, illustrations start at 3000, commercial use pricing negotiable. Also, I don't draw men."

Her pricing wasn't low, but she wasn't price gouging—she had the credentials and skill level for it.

Although Bei Yaoyue was somewhat slow in emotional matters, she perfectly inherited Bei Yaochen's excellent business acumen. She clearly understood how to manage her business, which was why she achieved great success at only fifteen years old.

"Uh... so expensive?"

Bei Yaoyue looked expressionlessly at the message sent by the other party, snorted with slight disdain, then was too lazy to continue the conversation.

She'd always used these prices. Take it or leave it—she didn't lack this one customer anyway.

Just as her finger was about to click close, the other party sent another message.

"Sigh, I originally wanted to draw a beautiful illustration as a birthday gift for my sister......"

Stunned for a moment, Bei Yaoyue's finger about to press the close button stopped dead in place.

She discovered that at some point she had lost all resistance to the word "sister."

Hearing Pure Love War God's purpose, she momentarily felt reluctant to simply abandon this transaction.

"For your sister?"

"Yes, next month is her birthday. She's a fan of yours, so I wanted to commission an artwork from you as a birthday gift, but this price is a bit too high for me......"

Bei Yaoyue recalled Pure Love War God's profile. She seemed to be a college student who had just graduated this year, probably just started interning not long ago.

For a graduate still in the internship period, a starting price of 3000 really wasn't a small amount. If she hadn't found a good job, even her entire monthly salary might not be enough.

"How old is your sister?"

"Fifteen, starting high school this year."

"Is she your biological sister?"

"No, she's my sworn sister."

Sworn sister?

Bei Yaoyue turned to glance at Xifeng beside her, who was playing with her phone with relish, her delicate little face showing a smile at seeing something interesting.

Similar age to them, and also a sworn sister—this inexplicably created a sense of resonance in Bei Yaoyue's heart.

"Considering you're giving this as a birthday gift for your sister, I'll give you a 30% discount."

For no other reason than Pure Love War God's feelings for her sister, Bei Yaoyue felt she could give her some discount.

"Umm......"

But the other party still seemed hesitant, which made Bei Yaoyue frown with some displeasure: "I'm not running a charity. If you won't even accept 30% off, then there's no need to continue talking."

This was already the lowest discount she could offer.

It wasn't that she truly wouldn't draw an image at low cost. If Pure Love War God were her friend, she'd even be willing to do it for free.

But this was a commission, which made the nature completely different.

During the Great Depression in America, capitalists would rather dump all their milk into rivers than sell it at low prices. One very important reason was to maintain market prices and prevent collapse.

If she set the precedent of free work today, there was no guarantee others wouldn't use this method to deceive her emotions in the future.

Even just 30% off was already taking a considerable risk.

"Alright then, 30% off it is."

"When is your sister's birthday?"

"June 11th."

Bei Yaoyue looked at the date—still over twenty days away. But if she drew according to commission order, she might not make it in time.

After all, she was still a high school student with studies to complete, not a full-time artist who could work at full capacity to handle commissions.

She thought for a moment and decided to move this artwork's deadline forward, jumping the queue, to avoid missing the birthday and making it almost worthless.

"What are your requirements?"

She opened her notepad, created a new entry, and wrote "May 19th Commission" in the title field.

"Draw an illustration, resolution needs to be 1920*1080. Illustration content as follows: Two girls, one in her early twenties, the other around fifteen, black hair and black eyes. Those are my requirements, handle other details however looks best.

"For the scene, autumn rainy day, two people under the same umbrella taking shelter from rain, sharing the same scarf, hands interlocked with fingers intertwined, then......"

Bei Yaoyue silently recorded Pure Love War God's requirements one by one in her notepad, but the more she wrote, the stranger she felt.

Following Pure Love War God's requirements, the resulting image would appear overly intimate and yuri-ish, completely unlike a pair of sisters.

"Okay, that's all the requirements."

"Wait a moment."

Bei Yaoyue read through the requirements several times and roughly composed the image in her mind.

"About 4000 or so, with 30% off that's 2800 for you. Initial draft in one week, finished work around early next month. Can you accept that?"

"Mm, no problem."

"Then please pay the deposit first, one-fourth of the full amount."

Bei Yaoyue sent over her payment QR code and quickly received the 700 yuan payment from the other party.

The conversation should have ended here, but the more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt, so she finally decided to remind the other party.

"The two girls in the picture are you and your sister, right?"

"Hm? Yes, what about it?"

"I need to remind you that an illustration drawn according to your requirements would appear overly intimate, and might not be suitable as a birthday gift for your sister."

"It's fine."

The other party sent an emoji—Kagura Nana showing a very lewd smile.

"I'll secretly tell you, my sister and I are lovers."

Thud—

The phone slipped from Bei Yaoyue's hands and fell to the ground with a dull thud.

"What's wrong?" Xifeng beside her cast a puzzled look.

"......Nothing."

Bei Yaoyue said somewhat absent-mindedly, then hurriedly bent down to pick up her phone, her movements appearing somewhat panicked.

And from an angle she couldn't see, Xifeng's gaze toward her gradually became serious.

"Can your sister accept it?"

Bei Yaoyue replied with complex feelings, inexplicable irritation disturbing her soul, a strange slightly sour sensation spreading in her heart.

"At first my sister was naturally unwilling, but through my persistent efforts, she was finally conquered by me, hehe, now we two are especially loving."

Looking at this message, Bei Yaoyue momentarily didn't know what to say.

Even commissioning artwork could result in eating dog food—what was wrong with this world?

She felt like a lemon had quietly dissolved in her heart, making her somewhat uncomfortable.

"By the way, is teacher also a girl?"

"Yes."

"Then if teacher ever likes some girl but can't win her over, you can come consult me. I'm super experienced in this area."

Bei Yaoyue couldn't help but fall silent. Her reason told her she should clarify her sexual orientation.

But even after typing it all out, that finger hovering over send just couldn't press down.

She revised the reply content over and over, until finally only one word remained.

"Mm."