Chapter 6 Dreams and Reality

Chasing your dreams has a price.

No one can keep working hard and live a lifetime by earning a few hundred or a thousand dollars a month for perfect attendance.

Zhang Qiren has been working at the bottom of online literature for nearly two years, publishing one book a year, with each book receiving double-digit subscriptions. This is already his third book on the shelves.

Nothing ever happens more than three times.

Whether it is the pressure of life or the eyes of family, no one can hold on forever.

In the past two years, Zhang Qiren made a living by delivering food while pursuing his dream of writing books. A few months ago, he had a big fight with his family and finally stopped delivering food. He moved out of his home and followed the information of writers sharing a house with him to come to Chu Ge, and he devoted himself to thinking about a new book.

He no longer has any source of income.

After a few months, the savings he had made from delivering food were almost used up. This time, no matter how reluctant he was, Zhang Qiren had to give up his dream and follow his family's arrangements to find a job in a factory.

This is not a question of what kind of writing to do, it has nothing to do with this, Zhang Qiren is not good at emotional drama, he is better at imagination and complaining, and is more suitable for no female lead. Whether a book can be successful depends on ability and opportunity.

Chu Ge has been in this industry longer and has witnessed many young people who entered the industry with full confidence disappearing sadly, or turning into trolls with resentment and finding faults under all works on all platforms.

Behind all that are the voices of people unwilling to have their dreams shattered.

How many people know about the cruel elimination behind the “unemployed vagrants” in the eyes of outsiders?

Chu Ge's situation is similar to Zhang Qiren's. He used to be a nine-to-five office worker, but he felt that life was boring, so he began to pursue his dream of literature. He was lucky, and the income from his first book was barely enough to make a living. But he had a conflict with his boss, so he simply quit his job and started writing. Until now, he has only failed two or three books, and his savings have been used up. Therefore, the performance of this book is very important to him.

Chu Ge was slightly better than Zhang Qiren in that his family supported him. Or to put it another way, his family didn't care about him.

Chu Ge's parents were said to be in a confidential unit. He himself didn't know what his parents were doing. Anyway, they hadn't been seen for many years, and they only talked on the phone occasionally. He contacted his mother more often, and he hadn't heard from his father for a year. It wasn't so bad before, but I don't know what happened in the past few years...

The only thing the two elders are worried about is his marriage, and they seldom comment on anything else. My mother is quite proud that her son can write books, and she spreads the word that my son is a writer everywhere, which makes Chu Ge so embarrassed that he wants to cover his face.

That’s right, when Gu Ruoyan was dating, she said “Aunt Wu said you are a writer”. That Aunt Wu is Chu Ge’s biological mother. I don’t know how she and Gu Ruoyan knew each other…

The reason why I moved out and rented a house when there was no one at home was because I was fed up with the looks from people around me. Whenever I went out, I would meet some neighbors or elders who would say with a smile, "Xiao Chu, I know the manager of XX Leather Factory. Do you want me to introduce him to you..."

Chu Ge also smiled and replied: "No, leave it to his sister-in-law."

As soon as I turned around, I could almost feel people muttering behind my back: "The son of the Chu family is useless. He is twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old and still sitting around at home doing nothing."

Just move out, out of sight, out of mind.

This is the embarrassment of this business. Chu Ge is too used to Gu Ruoyan's performance during blind dates.

In short, regardless of whether his family supports him or not, Chu Ge, a grown man of twenty-seven or twenty-eight, is of course too embarrassed to ask his family for money. He even tries to save face by telling them that he has a good income... If he fails now, he really doesn't know how he will live in the future.

The two men who shared the same suffering ate barbecued skewers and drank wine. Zhang Qiren actually gave some suggestions for the subsequent revisions: "Your article has some harem tendencies in the beginning, but the relationship between any of them has not been confirmed. It is all laid out step by step. It may also have something to do with your personality... This just leaves a way out. Later on, you can definitely turn it into a stock speculation flow, and give it an open ending in the end. No one knows who the protagonist chooses or whether he chooses none..."

Chu Ge was silent for a moment: "You will be beaten in our group if you behave like this."

Zhang Qiren laughed: "I don't believe you haven't thought about this yourself, otherwise why would you ask for leave just to organize your outline?"

Chu Ge had never thought about it this way before, mainly because his usual thinking was not like this, and it was difficult for him to consider it in this regard for the time being. Now that he was reminded of this, it really was an eye-opener.

Zhang Qiren's proposal can not only avoid the problem of missing girls in the harem, but in the end, everyone will be missing, so who cares about Qiu Wuji? In the process, he can also please the harem party and the single-girl party at the same time, and the results may be better. He will just be scolded after the book is finished. By then, he will have made all the money, so why should he be afraid of scolding?

Another advantage is that the role of Qiu Wuji, which had been a headache before, does not need to be cut much, and the original plot can still be followed. The only difference is that her relationship with the protagonist is changed to a normal relationship between a clan leader and a disciple, and the ambiguous parts are not written. What does it matter whether the readers guess or not?

It's really a best of both worlds solution.

Chu Ge toasted with a glass of wine and said sincerely: "Wonderful man, it would be unreasonable for you not to be famous. Your research and understanding of these things are deeper than many people."

Zhang Qiren's eyes were bright: "I also think it's unfair that I'm not popular."

He paused, and his eyes seemed to begin to wander, with a slightly complicated look.

Chu Ge followed his gaze and saw a black-clothed girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, walking down the street, silently passing by the barbecue stall and entering their neighborhood.

When passing by, I could smell the alcohol.

Chugo recognized the girl.

Because she lived on the same floor, in the house opposite them.

Neighborhood relationships are cold these days. We have lived on the same floor for so long, but we have never spoken to each other. When we occasionally meet in the elevator, we just look down at our phones, without even saying hello, and naturally we don’t know each other’s names.

The writer's life is reversed day and night, and the same is true for this girl. We often meet in the middle of the night, and every time we see her, she is drunk.

Sometimes there are small scars on the forehead...

Most people's first impression of this is that she is a hostess or a gangster girl, pretty much the same thing.

"She used to be a game anchor. I've seen her before." Zhang Qiren whispered, "But she doesn't talk much and just plays quietly, so her popularity is very low. I'm afraid she can't even support herself."

Chu Ge said: "The people in the industry who failed like us?"

Zhang Qiren took a sip of wine and said nothing.

Live streaming and online writing are actually very similar, and it is easy to resonate with them.

We are all failures, who is looking down on whom?

Chu Ge suddenly asked: "Do you like her?"

Zhang Qiren tightened his grip on the cup and said nonchalantly, "Since she's pretty, of course I'd be a little greedy. It's normal. Have you ever been greedy?"

To be honest, Chu Ge was also tempted by her. He even imagined that he would go to some place and ask her to accompany him for drinking. As for men, it is normal to just fantasize about things rather than their feelings. When he was in high school, he even fantasized about the Chinese teacher in the next class.

To be honest, we don’t have the money to go out and have fun!

Zhang Qiren quickly continued, "It's not like she likes me. How can it be possible for a job like this... We can't even support ourselves. Even if we know where she works, we can't afford to support her. So what's the point of talking about whether we like her or not?"

Chu Ge raised his glass and drank it all: "Come on, you will be famous."

Thanks to Wuliliusu for the 3000 reward and 2 monthly tickets, Heyisikezhuiluluzhu for the 500 reward, and Yulingqiu for the 200 reward and 2 monthly tickets.

I am flattered to see you as a new author and book.

(End of this chapter)