Chapter 64 Two Stories: Half an Ounce of Oil and a Piece of Melon

Yao Xiaoyu wrote two articles.

Yao Xiaoyu wrote a story.

These two sentences describe the same thing, but they are not nonsense. Yao Xiaoyu has tried a new way of writing this time. She has written two stories, both of which are independent, complete and excellent articles. However, if readers read both works and connect them, they will find that the two articles together form a truly complete picture.

Yao Xiaoyu wanted to name it a "puzzle-like" or "combination-like" structure, but felt that didn't quite fit. She opted for a more figurative description—

Either of these two articles, taken individually, appears as a complete circle to the reader. However, if the reader has read both stories, they will find that they are actually a combination of two yin-yang symbols. If the reader then goes back to look at one of the works separately, the complete circle becomes a semicircle, but it is still a complete circle.

It's amazing.

Yao Xiaoyu rubbed her aching wrist and read through the words that had flowed from her pen again, once again understanding what it meant for a piece of writing to be a masterpiece, a stroke of genius.

The current issue is whether to submit articles under a new alias or the old one.

Yao Xiaoyu pondered the unique features of her pen name and first ruled out Xiaoyu—this pseudonym was officially recognized by the Yao family. Although Zhou Chunhua no longer collected royalties due to the estrangement, her new articles always caused some trouble.

Next to be eliminated was Ms. Qiu from Daping Daily. This pseudonym was intended for her to write articles on sensitive topics and specifically to insult people. The new story did not fit the characteristics of stirring up trouble, but she could write a few other articles later—Ms. Qiu, how could she not cause an explosion!

The pink fluffy rabbit name does fit in somewhat, but the whole writing style is different... I'll create a new pseudonym. The previous ones were all contrasts, but this time I'll create one that matches the writing style.

For example... a paper wedding dress?

Two weeks later.

Editorial Department of "Strange Tales from the City"

Ran Wuyou looked at the pile of submissions in front of her, and didn't even have the strength to cut the paper cutter. Many people saw that their newspaper had the word "common people" in it and assumed that it was easy to get submissions here. Every day, there were more submissions than snowflakes. Unfortunately, not only did the articles not meet the publication standards, but there were very few that were even worthy of being read.

"Sometimes I really wish they would give me some money."

Ran Wuyou numbly opened the new envelope and complained to Editor Wei next to her. Editor Wei didn't follow her train of thought and cast a curious glance at her.

"These articles have deeply hurt my eyes."

Ran Wuyou looked devastated. She had worked so hard to become an editor so that she could legitimately urge her favorite authors to submit their work and read all the articles she liked in advance. But now she was doing garbage sorting every day—parody is not nonsense, and adaptation is not plagiarism!

After reading five submissions with incomprehensible language, eight riddled with typos, eleven completely fabricated stories, and twenty-seven copied manuscripts without a single word changed, Ran Wuyou suddenly slammed her head on the table and began wildly flailing her arms. No one reacted.

In the early years of the Republic of China, the boss created City Oddities with a passion. In order to save costs, he also worked as an editor and read manuscripts. He was often driven to the brink of madness by these strange and bizarre submissions. Going crazy was a characteristic of their editorial department. Xiao Ran was considered better than others, at least she didn't scream, roar, or crawl on the ground.

It's normal for young people to be impatient. After working for a few more years, they'll naturally become more calm about these worthless manuscripts.

The crowd was filled with forgiving thoughts until they heard Ran Wuyou's calm and peaceful prayer:

"Heavens above! I am willing to trade five years of celibacy for an article of equal quality to Bai Yuzan's!"

hiss!

The editors, who had been listening intently, secretly widened their eyes. Were they getting old? Did they have to dedicate themselves like this now?!

"Xiao Ran, you can't just say things like that!"

Ran Wuyou is already twenty. If God really believed this, where would a twenty-five-year-old girl find a good husband?

Editor Wei hurriedly tried to stop him, but Ran Wuyou simply raised the corners of his lips, revealing a strange smile where only the muscles on the lower half of his face moved.

"I've met six men this month. Do you know what their criteria were?"

Ran Wuyou didn't wait for Editor Wei to chime in and gave the answer directly.

"The first one had a foster brother. He talked to me nicely, but secretly he was planning to leave his mother and son behind."

"Secondly, she was raised by a widowed mother and still had to sleep in the same bed with her mother even in her twenties."

"Thirdly, he threw cats and beat dogs, and kicked three beggars to death on the street."

"The fourth one is a son who is castrated. When he marries her, he will be both a bride and a maiden."

"The fifth one is born mentally challenged and cannot be taught anything. Even now, when it's raining, he doesn't know to run home."

"The sixth one, with hands covered in red spots, is in the late stage of venereal disease."

This isn't good fortune in love, it's a calamity. She's become a notorious lightning rod in the family—anyone who's ever been on a date with Ran Wuyou is immediately blacklisted from the marriage market!

Ran Wuyou wasn't just laughing at life; she was truly at her wit's end!

Within a few words, the surroundings fell silent. The editors fully understood Ran Wuyou's breakdown—with such terrible dating resources, they would have considered becoming nuns. Ran Wuyou's wish to remain single for five years was already quite strong.

"Let's continue reading the submissions; I still have ten to read."

When Ran Wuyou spoke, she seemed indifferent, but everyone felt that she was about to break. Editor Wei even breathed more softly, afraid of upsetting the real-life version of the unlucky bear.

Ran Wuyou was alright after finally venting what she had been keeping to herself. Her life was already at its lowest point, so it couldn't get any worse. Looking at the stilted words in the submission letter, which were even more flamboyant than those of a Western medicine doctor, she even had the mood to speculate about the problems with her seventh potential partner.

One letter after another, three, four, five, six, seven, eight letters, until in the blink of an eye only one envelope remained.

Ran Wuyou had already given up hope of finding a hidden gem. Her movements as she cut the envelope were more swift than those of someone who had been killing fish at RT-Mart for ten years. With a flick of her wrist and a rub of her fingers, the thick stack of manuscript paper scattered like flower petals. She looked at the title of the manuscript.

"Half an ounce of oil?"

What a terrible name!

Ran Wuyou didn't even bother to look at the pen name; she went straight to the article, her hand already prepared to shove the manuscript back in, when she froze.

"Splash!"

"Splash!"

The sound of turning pages was particularly noticeable in the quiet office, unconsciously drawing the editors' attention. The moment their eyes swept towards the source of the sound, the same thought flashed through their minds:

[Can you really find good articles about sacrificial romance?]

Some married editors were itching to get involved, while many others quietly approached Ran Wuyou, eager to know what kind of article could have captivated her so much.

It took Ran Wuyou a long time to read the manuscript from beginning to end. The editors who had gathered around were waiting for her to look up when they saw Ran Wuyou gasp and flip the manuscript to the first page, as if she was going to read it again.

Editors: ...

"Xiaoran..."

They finally couldn't help but speak up. Ran Wuyou was so startled that she looked up like a sunflower. When she saw the familiar face, her scream got stuck in her throat.

"What's wrong?"

Ran Wuyou, whose brain cells had been drained by the suspenseful story, didn't quite catch on, so the editors had to make things even clearer:

“We noticed you’ve been looking at these manuscripts, this article…”

"nice!"

Ran Wuyou said decisively, and as if feeling that her words didn't carry enough weight, she thought for a moment and added:

"It's on the same level as the white jade hairpin, no, it should be even better than the white jade hairpin!"

The white jade hairpin has only one story, but it has two, and they can even be combined!

Everyone gasped, trying hard to recall Ran Wuyou's expression, tone, and location when she made her vow... By the time they came to their senses, Ran Wuyou had already handed the manuscript to the boss's office. They could only wait for the copied manuscript to come out to satisfy their cravings while trying to get more information from Ran Wuyou.

"This is one, no, two, no, it's still a very strange story..."

Ran Wuyou didn't try to hide anything, but the editors couldn't quite understand what she said. In the end, they only confirmed the author's pen name: Paper Wedding Dress.

"It sends chills down your spine."

As the others commented, Ran Wuyou silently nodded in agreement, but while she felt the name matched the article, she also felt it was still missing something.

The editorial office outside was bustling with activity, while the boss inside was completely engrossed in the storyline.

The two stories sent by Paper Wedding Dress had rather indescribable titles, but that didn't detract from the brilliance of the content. Half an ounce of oil and a piece of melon—these seemingly random titles, when read to the last character, surprisingly matched perfectly.

Yao Xiaoyu was inspired by a real event in modern times for these two stories. Oil and watermelon were the actual objects in the story, but the units were half a bucket and half a watermelon. After seeing the story, she quietly saved it in her resource library, intending to use it at a good time. However, there were too many watermelons that exploded, and she forgot about it while writing.

It wasn't until she arrived in this era, on a morning when she and Tao Xiaoxiao went out shopping, that Yao Xiaoyu saw a middle-aged woman hitting and scolding a man next to her, asking him if his third leg was uncomfortable when it was idle. Only then did she dredge up this material from her memory, revise it a bit, and use it in her impromptu article, which turned out to be surprisingly well-received.

Half an ounce of oil and a piece of melon tell the story of two perfect criminals.

The protagonist of Half an ounce of oil is a middle-aged woman. The first person she kills is her husband. There are many reasons, but the trigger is that her daughter wanted to eat a fried egg before she died. The woman went to great lengths to borrow half an ounce of oil. While she was getting the hidden egg, the oil, along with the jar, was taken by her husband to the male prostitute. This is because the women in the white house charge money, while the men will give her anything.

The protagonist of the watermelon story is a young girl. The first person she cuts is her father, for the same reason—she begged for it on her knees. The watermelon her mother wanted to taste before she died was taken by her father as payment for his sexual activity.

After reading both stories, let's return to the simple yet heartwarming beginning. On one side, a gentle mother cooks all sorts of delicious food for her daughter; on the other, a mischievous daughter hides school rewards in her sleeve and surprises her mother by stuffing them into her mouth when she gets home—a biological mother and daughter? Two kindred spirits licking their wounds.

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Author's Note: I've wanted to write the story of oil and melon for a long time, but I haven't found the right time. Now that I've written it, I feel like I haven't fully captured the shock and connection of this suspenseful story...

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Paper Wedding Dress isn't really suitable for suspense, but the author is terrible at coming up with names, so I think "Paper Wedding Dress" sounds better than "Night Lady".

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