Zhuo Chuan stood up and took the pillow away from Chu Li's face with a loving smile: "If one day you are about to be suffocated to death by the pillow, it should be me who did it myself because I was driven crazy by your urging for the manuscript. Don't take away this entertainment activity that I have treasured for a year and have kept until now."

“…”

When the man was about to take the pillow away, a small claw stretched out and grabbed the other side of the pillow and pulled it back. Half of a cautious face appeared from behind the pillow - that face turned a beautiful red due to lack of oxygen, her eyes were wet, and her hair was slightly messy: "Teacher..."

The smile on Zhuchuan's face froze.

He is a healthy adult male with normal physiological needs, and he also has desires -

This means that when a little girl stares at him with moist eyes like a deer and calls him "teacher" in a soft and tender voice, the blood in his body will boil and rush, and then uncontrollably flow to...some unspeakable place below the neck.

The man's throat tightened slightly, his eyes darkened, and when he spoke again, his voice was a little strained: "If you have something to say, just say it. If you want to see what my debut work is about or the outline, forget it. No matter what, I can't-"

"Are we in love now?"

“…”

Chu Li's shocking voice disappeared instantly as if she was cut into another dimension by time and space. As the man fell into a brief silence and stunned stillness, Chu Li's hand holding the pillow tightened slightly... It was as if what she and Zhu Chuan were holding in their hands at this moment was a red embroidered ball for wedding ceremonies instead of a simple pillow.

“I, I, I, I, actually, I was just asking casually. After all, we’ve already kissed like this twice…ah, this must be a kiss, otherwise what else can it be called—” Chu Li lowered his head and spoke in a lower voice, “But I’m not sure if it is…”

“Why are you not sure?”

“…”

Because even though we did kiss twice, unfortunately, I was the one who initiated it.

And I like you——

Kissing you proactively may also seem like an act of "liking you".

But “falling in love” is a two-way thing, right?

Chu Li stared at the pattern on the back of the pillow for a while. Finally, when she felt the pillow in her hand being snatched away by the man, the man threw the pillow away and bent down to say something... But she suddenly jumped up from the sofa and said something like "Forget it, just pretend I didn't ask and continue cooking" -

Then he fled.

Zhuchuan straightened up and looked at her flustered back, his brown eyes turning into a dark brown - from his angle he could just see Chuli carefully pouring a few spoonfuls of salt into the washed rice in a sleepy state, then carefully covering the pot with a lid and adjusting the cooking time...

Zhuchuan: “…”

Zhuochuan: "First ceremony."

The moment Zhao Chuan finished speaking, he raised his eyebrows and looked at the back of the woman who was originally facing away from him and holding a bag of salt. She suddenly tensed up. The salt bag in her hand made a "crunching" sound, and she did not turn back.

Some people are nearly 30 years old and have never been in love. In fact, this is not uncommon in modern society. At least the frequency is so high that there are only two living people in this room, and it turns out that both living people are of this type...

But as one of the living people, Chu Chuan, even if he had never eaten pork, at least he had seen a pig running.

Unlike someone, it was as if she had never seen a "pig" in her life. She stepped into the pigpen without knowing what was going on. The pig's "grunt" scared her to the point of crying for her parents. She jumped around in the pigpen, desperately trying to escape at the speed of light with her short legs...

“…”

The man sighed helplessly...

Forget it.

"I just want to tell you that you don't need to add salt when cooking white rice."

Zhuchuan leaned against the kitchen door and reminded lazily, his voice soft and gentle... After he finished speaking, he looked at the little girl standing by the kitchen counter. She was stunned and screamed as if she had just woken up from a dream. She hurriedly opened the rice cooker, closed it again, unplugged the power supply, opened it again, picked up the rice cooker liner and put it under the faucet, and washed the rice again——

She lowered her eyes, bit her lower lip, and looked annoyed...

The man leaned against her with his arms folded, watching her not far away. He felt that he would never get tired of watching her for another ten or twenty years.

——But he couldn't tell her, lest next time she would pour the whole bag of sugar into the rice.

After watching for a while, Chu Chuan felt that if he continued to stand at the door until the next morning, he would not be able to eat, so he turned around and left mercifully. When he left, he deliberately increased his pace and pretended that he did not feel the gaze cast on his back immediately...

As soon as Chu Chuan left, Chu Li closed the rice cooker again and picked up her phone.

[The monkey's navy: Ah! ]

【The disappeared Mr. L: ...Hair? 】

[The Monkey’s hired sailors: What do you think is the definition of love? ]

【The disappeared Mr. L: What is what? 】

[The sailors hired by the monkey: I'm asking you! You ask me! I want to know what the relationship between me and Chu Chuan is now... I always feel that if we like each other, it's natural for us to be together. We hug, eat, and take walks, which is a kind of date. Speaking of which, we've kissed twice.]

[The disappeared Mr. L: You just want to use the excuse of "I'm in love" to inform me that the grass above my head is three feet tall? Got it, thanks for letting me know. ]

Chu Li ignored Mr. L's teasing. She cut vegetables, bent down, squinted her eyes, and poked her phone with her wet hands.

[The Monkey’s hired naval forces: But it seems like I was the one who took the initiative! Even the confession…]

[The disappeared Mr. L: Is it that if you take the initiative first, you will feel at a loss or something? In this kind of thing, who takes the initiative first? 】

[The disappeared Mr. L: What on earth do you want to ask? ! ]

[The Monkey’s hired sailors: I just want to know if this situation counts as love…]

[The missing Mr. L: Do you eat, hug, or kiss passers-by? ]

[The monkey's hired navy: ...That's not true.]

【The disappeared Mr. L: Why are you still asking? ! 】

[The Monkey's hired navy: ………………What are you yelling about? Am I not sure whether Mr. Tsukawa thinks the same way? 】

[Disappearing Mr. L: Was he reluctant or did he avoid you when you kissed him? ]

L's question made Chu Li subconsciously hold the kitchen knife tightly. She looked at the kitchen ceiling and thought for a while. Her face was about to turn red again... She quickly lowered her head and typed -

[The monkey's hired navy: He, uh, didn't dodge. ]

[The disappeared Mr. L: What else do you want me to analyze? What else do you want me to analyze? ]

[The water army hired by the monkey: He is not proactive enough T_T]

[The disappeared Mr. L: …]

Outside the kitchen.

Staring at the two pitiful noodles with tearful emojis, the man sitting on the sofa asked Cangtian speechlessly: Take the initiative? You gave me a chance. Before I even got close to you, you were so scared that you ran away faster than a monkey. How can I take the initiative? I want to -

Huh.

Why.

Forget it.

…

the next day.

Chu Li still had dark circles under her eyes. When she sat down at the table, the man who was leaning back in his chair and reading the news on his phone raised his eyelids and glanced at her: "Weren't you in a good mood after bullying Lao Miao yesterday? Why do you still have dark circles under your eyes, as if you were a thief?"

“…”

Can I say that I think of you?

In a love affair, Chu Li felt that she was being sneaky and had the style of a thief... She also hated this kind of anxiety and fear of failure. At this time, she dared not to check Zhuo Chuan's Weibo and book reviews as she did in the past, because after seeing the praises and flattery from those young female fans, she felt that her Mr. Zhuo Chuan was really excellent.

she……

How could she be so worthy of such a favor? Maybe it was because she was the first to see the moon, or maybe it was because Chu Chuan thought her cooking was delicious. If one day her cooking became unpalatable, he would -

T_T.

Chu Li sat at the table, her eyes carefully scanning the face of the man not far away - at this moment he was sitting at the table, head down, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, looking expressionlessly at his phone, a strand of hair hanging down from his forehead to cover his eyes...

...He seldom wears glasses.

...I didn't expect that once I put on the glasses, my whole temperament changed, like a gentleman but a bad guy, as if I could make a guest appearance in "The Devil's Glasses" in the next second.

...It is indeed very pretty.

... Mainly because he is good-looking.

...Her Chuchuan.

“…”

By the time Chu Li reacted, she had already stretched out her claws and carefully ruffled the braided hair.

Zhuochuan felt soft fingers touching his forehead, raised his eyes and looked at her quietly, but she was the one who was startled, and suddenly retracted her hand: "I, I, I, look, look, your hair is covering it..."

Zhao Chuan raised his hand and ruffled his hair nonchalantly: "It seems like I haven't had a haircut in a while."

The person next to him turned as red as ketchup.

Zhuo Chuan put down his phone as if nothing had happened: "After you finish your work these few days, find a day to get off work early, I will pick you up, we will go out to eat, and then accompany me to get a haircut."

As the man made the suggestion, Chu Li nodded in silence and solemnly, as if she had been assigned an important task: "Okay, I won't work overtime until the April issue is sent to the printer."

As she said this, she raised her head again and glanced at Zhuchuan, wanting to ask him if this counted as a date for the two of them without Ergou, but she swallowed the words back when they reached her lips... She lowered her head again, ate a few bites of breakfast, grabbed her bag and canvas bag, and hurried out the door.

Zhuchuan was left at the table in silence for a long while, not knowing who to complain to, so he could only pick up his phone and find someone at random -

[Zhuchuan: How can Chu Li be so shy? Is it true that there is no problem in communicating with colleagues at work? 】

[Yu Yao: Shy? Who are you talking about?]

【Yu Yao: Say it again.】

【Tsukawa: …】

the other side.

Chu Li arrived at Yuanyue Society, half an hour before the start of work. As soon as he sat down at his seat, he saw the proofread copy that was delivered last night. There was a small note on the top of the copy. It contained Editor-in-Chief Xia’s comments on Ah Gui’s article, which was to be serialized in the first three chapters of the long serial “Leviathan” in “Moonlight” magazine.

The font resembles flying dragons and dancing phoenixes.

[The story is vivid and interesting, with rich plots and is fascinating.]

The article contains excessive glorification of homosexuality, sodomy, rape, and plot tendencies, and the wording needs to be revised. Formal publications should try to avoid vulgar language, overly explicit or suggestive descriptions of sexual behavior.

The article needs to strengthen its positive and progressive purpose. 】

Chu Li sat alone at the table and laughed for ten minutes at the seven retro words "homosexuality. sodomy. plot". He wiped away the tears from laughing, but the moment he opened the photocopy, he couldn't laugh anymore.

Except for the typos that had been found before, Teacher Xia wrote all over the article until the mountains and rivers of the motherland were all red.

Chu Li read it carefully and found that the 55-year-old straight man, Chief Editor Xia, who was rehired, had a nose like a hound and found out all the things that she had become numb to after reading BL novels and had habitually thought were okay.

For example, the second male lead's first mate said to the second male lead's captain: Do you believe that I can fuck you so hard that you can't get out of bed?

For example, the male protagonist, the second generation captain, said to the male second mate: Take off your pants and compare, I’m afraid you will open your legs automatically.

For example, when both of them have hands and feet, the second male lead helps the male lead take a bath, and pinches his butt after the bath;

For example, the second male lead and the male lead slept in the same room overnight, and the other crew members on the deck excitedly discussed how many times they had sex that night;

For example, when the second male lead hugs the male lead... "it's like hugging a treasure that has been lost and found again" (*original text is quoted here).

Chu Li silently put down the photocopy. This time he was too lazy to even open QQ. He directly picked up the phone and dialed a number. After a few rings, someone picked up the phone. A female voice said "Hello" in a daze: "Monkey? What's wrong so early in the morning?"

"You're still asking me what's wrong. When I asked you to write a long story in Moonlight, did I tell you that we were cracking down on people and that you had to control the content? Did I tell you that our editor-in-chief is a 55-year-old straight man?" Chu Li grabbed the phone and scolded Ah Gui, "Why are you driving a car when you don't agree with me?"

“I’m not driving!”

"I wasn't driving!!! You said you weren't driving!! You, the second male lead, even pinched the male lead's butt!!!"

“…Ah? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

"Fuck you!"

"Mard, you made me laugh so hard early in the morning, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. The second male lead can't even pinch the male lead's butt. He has already restrained himself very much!"

"Go talk to the Ministry of Culture, talk to the police. You have been very restrained. Let's see if they will pay attention to you."

"Oh, why don't you just delete this sentence?"

"After deleting it, the beginning and the end can't be connected. There are still a lot of things that need to be changed. Fortunately, there is basically nothing to change in the first chapter of the April issue, otherwise it will be too late to typeset and send it to the printer in two days - Teacher Xia said that your homosexuality, sodomy, and plot stuff..."

“Haha ...

"Why the hell can I not think of inviting someone like you to write a serial for me!"

"I regret it. It's too late." The person on the other end of the phone laughed so hard that he couldn't catch his breath. "Bring your manuscript here. I'll check and see if there are any problems and red-line them. I'll just make some changes when I wake up. Oh, it's just a pinch on the butt. Why are you so sensitive, Mr. Xia?"

"It's not that Teacher Xia is sensitive. We are cracking down on it now. The crackdown was at its worst when the April issue was published, so it's better to be careful. Didn't your website change the category of 'Danmei' to 'Pure Love'?... If online articles are like this, then publications should be even stricter. Although I am deceiving myself and always think that such behavior is ridiculous, I still have to behave myself. After all, no one wants to go to jail, especially our boss."

"I know, I know."

Ah Gui responded and hung up the phone. After Chu Li hung up the phone, she carefully reviewed the first chapter again, and reviewed it again from Teacher Xia's perspective, revising some explicit words. It took her more than half an hour, and she waited until Ah Xiang came to work before sending the revised draft of the first chapter to her for typeset work.

Everyone is very busy during these days of the month.

Despite this, Lao Miao still arrived at the editorial department on time. He put down his bag, and before he even had time to sit down on the chair, Yu Yao instructed him to personally deliver some contracts to the legal department...

"You can find anyone to deliver this kind of thing, why me?"

"The April issue will be printed in a few days, and everyone is busy," Yu Yao waved his hands without looking up, "What's wrong with you making a trip? Are you wasting your noble feet?"

"Well, I still have the back cover introduction to write. It's my turn to write this crap this time—"

"It will take several minutes to write that. Are you going or not?"

Lao Miao had a helpless look on his face and looked like he was about to explode, but since the opponent was Yu Yao, he just endured it and kept on enduring it. He left with the folder in his arms, muttering to himself and complaining.

After returning, when he sat down to write the cover and back cover promotional slogans, he pounded the keyboard loudly, as if he was afraid that others would not know that he was dissatisfied.

"There has been a harmonious trend recently. When you write the front and back covers, remember -"

"Should I tell you, am I the deputy editor-in-chief or are you?"

“…”

It’s up to you.

Chu Li shrugged, a sneer on his lips.

…

The war between Yu Yao and Lao Miao has never stopped since the incident with Suo Heng ended with Chu Li's apology.

Lao Miao has been having a miserable life these past few days. The worst time was probably at noon when everyone was preparing to eat during the lunch break. Yu Yao suddenly got an inspiration from somewhere and told Lao Miao to wash the fish tank at the door if he had nothing to do.

……………………The fish tank is so big that if you throw the bird in, she will be drowned.

Chu Li looked at the fish tank and the green-faced Lao Miao, and laughed so hard that he almost fell down. He said, "Ah!" and took advantage of the situation and said, "This fish tank is quite big. Xiao Niao, do you want to help Lao Miao?"

Xiaoniao glared at her fiercely.

Chu Li was cheerful.

Lao Miao was so desperate that he said, "Are you sick?" and left with his bag. He never came back in the afternoon and no one knew where he went... It happened to be the day when the April issue was published. After delivering the stuff to the printing factory at noon, there was nothing to do in the afternoon, so Chu Li and the others rolled up their sleeves and washed the fish tank together...

A year ago when Chu Li just started working, the parrot fish in the fish tank, which was known as the "stable ecological environment", killed each other until only one was left. Now it has been replaced by seven or eight koi carps, which are swimming around in all colors in the fish tank, which is a pleasure to watch... The scavenger fish that was bitten badly before has also returned to the fish tank, clinging to the wall of the fish tank, leisurely.

Chu Li and his team finished cleaning the fish tank, packed up and prepared to go home. Before leaving get off work, Chu Li habitually returned to the table and made a final check on the version that was published. By this time, most of the people in the editorial department had left, leaving only Chu Li and Yu Yao, who was still checking the manuscript for Suo Heng.

Chu Li carefully read through the entire April issue, especially the sections that Lao Miao was in charge of.

As she was about to finish reading, and generally speaking there were basically no problems, Chu Li raised her eyebrows and was about to tell herself that she would wait for the next issue to find another opportunity, when her mouse clicked to the back cover and she saw a few large words -

[Black and white, captain and first mate;

Black and white match, boys match boys. 】

Chu Li: "..."

The corners of the lips are raised.

The next second it returned to a straight line.

Make a surprised expression on your face——

"Hey, Boss, look at the back cover. Why did Lao Miao write like that?"