“Sure, then should we get a cat? I’ve wanted to try raising one for a long time. A dog would be fine too, but raising a dog might take more effort than a cat.” Chloe Sullivan was very interested in having a small pet and said, “If Little Ethan you still feel it’s too difficult, you could start with a potted plant to practice.”

Ethan Foster nodded repeatedly.

If you can’t even keep a potted plant alive, then there’s no need to consider raising a child.

What if you accidentally let the child die?

“Looking at how confident you are, Little Ethan, I feel like it won’t be long before we can raise our own little cutie.” Chloe Sullivan picked up a slice of green pepper and meat with her chopsticks and fed it to Ethan Foster: “How about we do a little preview later tonight?”

The piece of meat in Ethan Foster’s mouth almost shot out of his nose.

Where did you see ‘confidence’ in me? I’m clearly the opposite of confident—discouraged.

Hmm, the main point is tonight...

Is this the typical married couple’s nightly routine?

“Gulp~” Swallowing the meat in his mouth, Ethan Foster took a deep breath—enough warming up, if this topic keeps going, Chloe Sullivan will just keep leading it astray.

So, now’s the time.

He put down his chopsticks and looked at Chloe Sullivan.

Across from him, Chloe Sullivan looked back, their eyes meeting. She asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Huamei, I have something very important to tell you.” Ethan Foster prepared his lines in his mind and said seriously, “You need to be mentally prepared, don’t be surprised in a moment.”

“Heehee, I thought you’d wait a while longer before telling me this important thing, I didn’t expect you’d tell me now.” Chloe Sullivan also put down her chopsticks, smiling brightly.

Her reaction really surprised Ethan Foster.

—Does Huamei know about my ‘three-year blackout’? Ethan Foster wondered.

Did I accidentally give myself away somewhere?

“But now isn’t the time for important things. You said I should be prepared... so, let’s do it tonight! Tonight we can whisper secrets to each other, and you can tell me the important thing then.” Chloe Sullivan’s voice was gentle: “Tonight, I’ll cooperate with you~”

Ethan Foster nodded blankly.

Tonight?

Alright, at night is indeed a better time for such private topics than during dinner.

……

……

Before night fell, Ethan Foster and Chloe Sullivan still had things to do.

The draft sketches finished during last night’s all-nighter still needed backgrounds, inking, coloring, and so on, to turn them into final pieces.

Chloe Sullivan brought her computer to the study, took her assistant device from the storage cabinet, and asked, “How much did you draw yesterday?”

“I checked, all the drafts are done.” Ethan Foster opened his computer and replied.

“Then send them all to me, I’ll help finish them.” Chloe Sullivan gave a reliable answer—just as reliable as the ‘assistant’ Ethan Foster had imagined.

Sometimes, if you imagine things beautifully, the outcome really is beautiful!

At least this issue’s ‘artwork’ wouldn’t be delayed, and he could report to ‘麦穗’ without guilt—Ethan Foster’s sense of guilt eased a bit as he sent all the draft sketches to Chloe Sullivan.

“This serialized comic is almost finished, right?” Chloe Sullivan rolled up her sleeves, put on her glasses, and entered assistant mode.

[Almost finished?] Ethan Foster hadn’t finished reading the whole comic this morning.

But since Chloe Sullivan said so... it must be almost done.

For him, that was a good thing!

“Little Ethan, you have to draw the finale well, don’t let this work end with regrets... By the way, have you thought about the final plot?” Chloe Sullivan’s right hand moved as quickly as when she was showing off her knife skills earlier, flying across the tablet.

Her work efficiency was amazing.

Like a relentless drawing machine.

“Not yet...” Ethan Foster said.

—From Chloe Sullivan’s tone, is he supposed to finish the finale for this ‘comic’?

But he hadn’t even finished reading it.

And if Huamei already knew about his ‘three-year blackout’, why would she have him draw the finale?

Unless... the ‘important thing’ Chloe Sullivan mentioned earlier isn’t the ‘three-year blackout’ he was going to talk about?

Was it just a misunderstanding between them?

“So for the next issue, do you need to take a break to think about the final plot?” Chloe Sullivan asked again.

“A break?” Ethan Foster’s wandering thoughts were pulled back.

That was a great idea.

After submitting this issue, he’d have an excuse to delay the next one. Maybe even the one after that, he could use the same excuse with 麦穗.

After all, it’s the finale. Taking two issues off to prepare isn’t too much, right?

“Did I just give you an excuse to delay your work?” Chloe Sullivan raised her eyebrows and asked, “After it’s finished, do you have any ideas for a new project? What kind of stories are you interested in lately?”

Ethan Foster: “If I had to say, I’m interested in genres like... superpowers, aliens arriving, hot-blooded stories—those are the kinds I like to read.”

“But those genres are everywhere lately.” Chloe Sullivan replied while drawing.

In the past year, all the major comic platforms have launched ‘theme drawing’ competitions and similar events.