Starting as a Manga Editor-Chapter 57: Roommates?

“Thanks.”
The two of them stepped out of the café.
Tang Yao took a deep breath, then turned to look at the big sister beside her and thanked her again.
To be honest—
Tang Yao still felt a little dazed.
She hadn’t expected that, after all the twists and turns, it would be Li Xue who reached out, becoming her angel investor.
“One ‘thank you’ is enough.”
Li Xue rolled her eyes lightly, then said softly, “Don’t make it sound like you owe me. I already explained my reasons. If you really see me as a friend, then stop with the formalities. Just go spend the money. I’ll give you the PIN later. If there’s a big transaction and I need to show up, just contact me directly.”
“Of course, the best option is to transfer it under your name. If you don’t mind the hassle, we can swing by the bank together later.”
“That doesn’t feel right… How about you keep it? I’ll make a weekly spreadsheet of expenses and send it to you.”
Tang Yao shook her head, then after thinking for a second, added, “You can just transfer the amount I need each week.”
“No way. Maybe once or twice is fine, but doing that long-term would annoy me. Just take the whole thing.”
Li Xue rejected her flatly. “I trust you. Just promise me one thing—don’t spiral if you lose it all.”
“……”
Tang Yao fell silent, unsure what to say.
“And don’t start acting distant.”
As if sensing her thoughts, Li Xue bumped her shoulder lightly and smiled. “Or I’ll feel like I lent that money for nothing.”
“……”
Tang Yao knew that continuing to overthink it wasn’t helpful. Besides, she wasn’t the type to dwell on things endlessly.
So she didn’t push back anymore. She simply held Li Xue’s soft, warm hand and said seriously, “Then I’ll keep this gratitude in my heart for now—”
But before she could finish her sentence—
Li Xue suddenly looked ahead, tightened her grip on Tang Yao’s hand, and pulled her forward. “Tang Yao, there’s a milk tea shop right there.”
Tang Yao followed her gaze—
Sure enough, there was a milk tea place right down the street…
She blinked, a little surprised, and because she was being pulled forward, the rest of her words got swallowed back down.
She turned to look at Li Xue’s side profile, at the obviously faked excitement on her face… then fell silent for a moment, before breaking into a smile. That beautiful expression bloomed like a cornflower in full blossom, radiating an enchanting charm.
Forget it. No need for more words. It seemed like there was no need for those formalities between them anymore.
Thirty minutes later.
“Wait… you were serious about actually drinking it?”
Tang Yao and Li Xue each held a cup of milk tea as they walked out of the shop.
It was already past 10 a.m., and the temperature was rising. They were still at the tail end of summer, and it was quite hot. And drinking milk tea first thing in the morning…
Tang Yao had thought she was joking.
“What did you think?”
Li Xue took a sip from her drink… the icy milk tea instantly cooled her down, and her face lit up with real happiness—this time, completely genuine.
When Tang Yao saw her expression, she lowered the milk tea from her lips and said, trying to persuade her, “Miss Li, you’re really not fat. You don’t need to do all this… I actually think your figure is perfect, just the right balance.”
“Still, even if I’m not fat, that doesn’t mean I should indulge.”
Li Xue turned her head. “Besides, you can’t tell with clothes on. Next time, take a bath with me and you’ll see…”
Tang Yao looked a little exasperated. “Your clothes aren’t even that thick.”
“That has nothing to do with it.”
Li Xue set down her milk tea and looked at the girl beside her with curves that defied logic. “You just don’t get it.”
Tang Yao instinctively shot back, “What do you mean I don’t get it? I am a girl, okay? It’s not like I bathe with my clothes on—I take them off too…”
But as soon as she said that, she regretted it, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Even though it was true, and she had already accepted her current situation, still… she couldn’t help feeling a little self-conscious.
But—
She’d already said it.
So Tang Yao didn’t take it back. She just looked down and sipped her milk tea.
Whatever. It was Miss Li—it didn’t matter.
She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but after saying that, it felt like some kind of internal restraint had been broken.
And as she thought about it, she realized… she really wasn’t the type who looked skinnier in clothes. As for Kaoru, she wasn’t sure, but she didn’t seem like that kind either.
Meanwhile—
Li Xue didn’t find anything strange about it. She just replied, “I’m different.”
“What’s different?”
In some ways, Tang Yao was pretty straightforward—like, steel-trap logical kind of straightforward. So she raised her head, looked at Li Xue’s hourglass figure, and replied bluntly, “I don’t buy it.”
“……”
Li Xue slowly lowered her milk tea, then hooked her arm through Tang Yao’s and started walking forward. “Don’t believe me? Fine—I’ll prove it to you.”
Tang Yao blinked, then caught on: “W-wait… Prove it? Now? Where are you going to prove it? Wait, wait, I believe you!”
She looked totally panicked.
“Pfft… what are you thinking? Who showers in the morning? At least wait till night.”
Hearing her flustered voice, Li Xue burst out laughing. She looked back at Tang Yao’s slightly flushed face and teased, “Weren’t we going to find an office to rent?”
“……”
Tang Yao gave her a small glare.
She’d actually thought they were about to duck into a bathroom or something…
False alarm—wait, no, false panic.
But jokes aside, they had real business to handle.
Tang Yao didn’t want to waste time. She really wanted to lock down a workspace today.
So the two of them quickly started looking for a rental agency.
“How about this one?”
Outside a rental office—
Li Xue, arm still linked with Tang Yao’s, pointed at a listing on the window with her milk tea hand.
Tang Yao wasn’t really used to walking arm-in-arm with someone. At first, it felt super awkward—especially with someone like Li Xue, who wasn’t just pretty but also clearly not as “flawed” as she claimed. And she was totally unguarded, sometimes brushing up against her…
But as time went on, she got used to it. She looked over the listing carefully, then shook her head. “Too big. I don’t need that much space, and it’s way too expensive.”
Truthfully, she was thinking about just renting a small apartment.
It was still early-stage. She just needed a place to work—no need to live there.
But Li Xue had suggested renting an actual office.
“This area’s not bad though.”
Li Xue took a sip of her milk tea. “2.5 yuan per square meter…”
“That’s pricey, and way too big.”
Tang Yao shook her head. “Honestly, I just want a regular apartment—not too big, preferably in a quieter area. As long as the price is reasonable, that’s enough. We shouldn’t waste money. This is the most expensive area downtown—prices here are crazy… The money needs to go where it counts.”
Offices here really were expensive. Every inch was gold.
And more importantly… they were all huge. Even the smallest ones were over 100–200 square meters.
She didn’t need that kind of space.
“True.”
Li Xue didn’t argue. She lowered her milk tea. “The reason I suggested somewhere nearby was just selfish… I was hoping I could help you out after work or something. But if nothing fits, we’ll go with your plan.”
“Got it…”
Tang Yao thought for a moment. “Then let’s see if there’s anything smaller.”
With that—
She pulled Li Xue along to keep looking. They even went inside to consult a few agents, but for Tang Yao, finding a suitable workspace… was proving tricky.
They checked a bunch of places—no luck.
“Seems like there really isn’t anything nearby.”
Tang Yao stepped out of another rental agency, frowning slightly. “Looks like I’ll have to go with an apartment after all…”
“Yeah, go with whatever works for you.”
Li Xue looked at her serious expression and stayed calm—she wasn’t too disappointed. She had hoped Tang Yao would rent nearby, but if nothing worked out, there wasn’t much they could do.
“There’s one more agency up ahead. Let’s check it out.”
Tang Yao hesitated for a second, glanced around, then pulled Li Xue forward again.
This time, she went in with a “might as well try” mindset… and to her surprise, she actually found a suitable option.
“Shared space?”
Inside the agency—
Tang Yao blinked in surprise, looking at the staff member.
“Yes.”
The agent nodded and subtly gave both Tang Yao and Li Xue a quick once-over—visibly impressed. “The other party seems to be a startup founder. Rented out an entire floor for an office, but now they’re about to go under. The lease still has a long time left, and they can’t sublease it fully because it’s too expensive… So they’re hoping to rent out part of the space instead. The landlord’s fine with it, so it would be more like a co-working setup. Of course, you’ll need to talk to the tenant directly to work out the details—how much space, what terms, etc.”
Tang Yao considered it. “Could you take us to talk with them? It’s at the Tech Trade Center two blocks away, right?”
“Correct.”
The staffer stood up. “Please wait a moment. I’ll go get the agent in charge.”
“One second.”
At that moment—
Li Xue spoke up and stopped the staffer. “Can I ask—what does the other party do? I mean the one we’d be sharing the space with.”
She felt it was an important question—after all, sharing a space meant Tang Yao would be around them.
The agent frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and replied, “I think… it’s a game studio?”