Chu Li and Jiang Yucheng agreed to meet on Saturday to buy some clothes for the book signing and discuss whether to have some small activities or games to liven up the atmosphere... Chu Li got up early on Saturday for this. After taking a shower and putting on makeup, she went downstairs, but found that someone was already sitting on the sofa in the living room more diligently than her.
When Chu Li passed by him, his phone was playing a song:
["The Magpie on the Other Branch" was very popular after its release in mainland China. The total box office statistics in one month reached 850 million, making it Houston Herman's most popular movie to date...]
"Teacher Chuchuan, why are you getting up so early?"
"You take care of me."
【Mr. Houston Herman mentioned many times at the press conference after returning to China that he was grateful to Chinese fans, and said frankly that the next cooperation might be to try to shoot a movie with Chinese characteristics. Mr. Herman said that China has always had a long history and a long-standing cultural heritage. Chinese-style movies have always been one of the plans in his series of movies that he has decided on and will treat seriously... In the eyes of qualified filmmakers, the production of a movie should ignore racial color, ignore nationality boundaries, and weaken religious beliefs on the premise of seeking common ground while reserving differences.】
Chu Li walked to the balcony and took down a white cotton dress. After taking a look at it, the man lying on the sofa said lazily, "It's too transparent. From here I can see the fingers of your right hand behind the dress..."
Chu Li: "..."
Zhuo Chuan: "Now it's turned into a vertical middle finger gesture, so rude, who are you scolding?"
"...It looks a bit see-through," Chu Li put away the clothes and reached for another black suspender skirt and a matching dark blue thin turtleneck sweater. "Will it be hot to wear this?"
"It's okay," Zhuchuan also got up from the sofa and walked back to the room, "I'm going to change my clothes, I'll go with you guys later."
[Mr. Herman made it clear that he might pursue something different in the future Chinese-style series of films. Therefore, he plans to come to China in the middle of next year to select an outstanding young writer as his script co-writer...]
Chu Li didn't react immediately. Why did she say "Let's go together?" She said "Oh" and turned to look at Chu Chuan. He had already slammed the door shut... He came out ten minutes later. He was wearing black jeans, a white T-shirt and a sweater from the same brand. The low-key sweater had no logo, but there was a small three-color slit at the bottom of the clothes as the brand logo...
Chu Li thought the sweater was nice and secretly searched for it online. The moment she saw the five-digit number, she immediately felt that she couldn't afford to support this man.
At this moment, Chu Li stared at the tall man in front of him whose shoulders looked broad and his waist narrow because of the sweater he was wearing.
That waist.
I really want to hug him, hug him tightly, as if I were burying my whole body in his arms.
Then rub your face on that broad shoulder...
Chu Li: “…Ahem.”
Chu Li twisted her face away, and was stunned again when she saw the two figures reflected in the mirror in the living room. She turned her head to look at Zhu Chuan, who raised his eyebrows: "What's wrong?"
Chu Li pointed at the mirror, wanting to ask, "Look in the mirror, do our outfits look like a forced fusion of aristocratic and Taobao styles?" But after thinking about it, she decided not to humiliate herself, so she shut up and said, "Why are you following?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
The man walked to the shoe cabinet, bent down to take out Chu Li's short boots and put them on the ground. Hearing this, he raised his head and glanced at her.
"How can I let you go out to eat and go shopping with Jiang Yucheng for the whole day? Do you think I'm a fool?"
“…”
Three minutes later.
When the two of them went out arguing, Jiang Yucheng's car was already waiting outside the door.
Jiang Yucheng leaned back in the driver's seat in a relaxed posture, watching the courtyard door of the small villa in front of him open. The person he liked and the person he hated walked out one after another in uniform, which looked like school uniforms. The scene was as depressing as it could be.
Originally, Chu Li was walking in front.
But when he arrived in front of the car, Zhuochuan suddenly took a step forward, and using his long legs and arms, he stretched out his hand first to open the passenger door, and then sat in the passenger seat steadily.
Jiang Yucheng: "..."
Seeing the guy next to him lower his head and adjust the seat back with ease, he kept muttering, "Why is it so crowded? There's no place to put your legs. Have you ever picked up a girl before?" Jiang Yucheng was not used to him: "If you don't want to sit, just get out. Why are you complaining so much?"
Zhuo Chuan: "You are angry because of shame. Only people with guilty consciences get angry because of shame."
At this time, Chu Li also sat down in the back seat, slightly bent over and greeted him with a smile: "Teacher, good morning!"
Jiang Yucheng turned his head and looked at the smiling little face in the back seat. He felt better, so he ignored Zhuchuan's nonsense, raised the corners of his lips, and greeted Chuli with a smile in his eyes...
Zhuchuan suddenly stopped mumbling and stopped talking.
——The atmosphere inside the car is good.
...At least when you ignore the presence of the sullen man in the passenger seat, the atmosphere is really good.
Along the way, Zhuchuan and Jiang Yucheng chatted about the crappy game they played yesterday, and more often they were laughing at each other, saying things like "I saw you explode when you were forging level thirteen in the world, it's retribution", "You didn't die suddenly on the spot, but your weapon did", "I heard that you were crazy about raising an elemental child, but you just couldn't do it, can you do it" ... and other incomprehensible words.
Chu Li sat in the back seat, listening to their casual conversation and reading the news on her phone. When she heard the topic of "children", she said without even looking up, "This game is so high-tech, can a male character be hermaphroditic and give birth to a baby like a seahorse?"
After Chu Li finished speaking, the two men sitting in the front row fell silent. Chu Li did not take it to heart because she happened to see Herman's morning news report about looking for young Chinese writers to collaborate with. What she thought was that it would be great if they found her own Zhuo Chuan, AIR's legendary film and television, all in one go.
When he looked up, he found that they were no longer talking about games. Chu Li felt at ease as the editor-in-chief, so he took the initiative to bring up the topic: "Mr. Herman said that he will start producing Chinese-style movies next year, and will also find outstanding young writers to collaborate on screenplays and novels. What do you two think?"
Jiang Yucheng: "It sounds good."
Without thinking, Zhechuan said, "Then it's probably just a matter of writing the words 'I want Zhechuan' on your face. Young, outstanding, writer, these six words, Jiang Yucheng can only get the last two even if he stands on tiptoe. You are a middle-aged, outdated writer, but every word has you in it."
Chu Li reached out and pushed the man's head, signaling him to shut his vicious mouth quickly... Jiang Yucheng didn't care, he smiled and said: "I am only four years older than you, wake up, if I really count as a middle-aged man in my forties, you can't escape even if I round it up."
Zhao Chuan sneered and tried to refute.
Unfortunately, the car had already arrived at the destination shopping mall, and Jiang Yucheng stopped the car and got out.
Unexpectedly, when they went into the mall to choose clothes, it was Chuan who made the decisions - even though he was usually a straight guy who was too lazy to even comb his hair, but just looking at the piles of skin care products in his bathroom, you could tell that he was actually a guy with a gay soul. He had a very good taste in choosing clothes, and every single item he picked out looked good on Jiang Yucheng.
Chu Li was surprised that he was not messing around, but was really serious about "helping Jiang Yucheng to buy clothes": Although on the surface he was crazy about Jiang Yucheng's passing, anyone with a discerning eye could see that Chu Chuan didn't really want Jiang Yucheng to go further and further on the road of silence -
He even proposed to have Jiang Yucheng sign books a few months ago...
Chu Li once asked him why he had such a suggestion. The man just paused and said with a half-sincerity smile: [I have occasionally considered what to do if I become outdated in the future. It is a terrible thing that readers will habitually ignore the author after being disappointed with a certain book... I spent a long time thinking about it, and "the author who has never had a book signing to hold a book signing" is probably the only last resort - as for whether it can be reborn from the dead, it all depends on whether the book signing itself is worth a desperate gamble, and draw all the attention back to myself.]
At that time, Chu Li realized that Zhu Chuan's suggestion was not made casually -
He had read Jiang Yucheng’s “The Vanishing Amusement Park”;
He thought this book was worth Jiang Yucheng's desperate bet;
Just as his bookshelf also displays Jiang Yucheng's masterpieces, the two of them are not always talking about the opposition that is almost innate...
Whether they are on the road of business for the sake of business, or on the road of going in the opposite direction for the sake of sticking to their own choices, perhaps on the road of writing, they have always regarded each other as their direct competitors, and have put all their efforts into it, unknowingly moving forward together in order to surpass each other.
This is Tsukawa and Jiang Yucheng.
One of them is a high-scoring model student who is always praised by the old-fashioned Chinese teacher;
One is a rebellious student who was rejected and suppressed by the old-fashioned Chinese teacher, but he still gritted his teeth and walked out of his own way;
But in the end they all succeeded——
There is nothing wrong with it. There is no right or wrong. We just choose different paths.
"Why are you looking at me with such a disgusting smile?" When Jiang Yucheng entered the locker room, Zhuchuan and Chuli were sitting outside shoulder to shoulder waiting for a chat.
"Teacher Zhuchuan, don't you actually want to see Teacher Jiang Yucheng fall into complete silence?" Chu Li reached out and pulled his sleeve.
The man raised his hand, dodged her pull, and said expressionlessly: "If you say such disgusting words again, I will fight you on the spot."
Chu Li: "..."
Zhuochuan thought about it and suddenly said, "Don't put all your heart on his autograph session."
First Li: “?”
Otherwise where to hang it?
Zhuo Chuan: "I haven't submitted the serial outline yet, and the subject matter hasn't been decided yet, so you should pay more attention to it."
"What... you have the nerve to say that? How can I care about it when you squat at the door of your room and howl every day? You've been procrastinating for four months and haven't delivered what we promised you before the Chinese New Year. You have the nerve to bring it up yourself. Did you say you were just kidding when you promised me to start a series?!"
Chu Li's attention was really attracted by his trash talk. Zhu Chuan was scolded to death but was very satisfied. He reached out and touched her head with a gentle smile on his face. Seeing those eyes glowing with anger at him, he nodded with satisfaction in his heart.
That's it.
Whether angry or happy...
Just look at me.
Zhuchuan rubbed the hairy head of the little girl beside him until Jiang Yucheng came out of the fitting room. Zhuchuan then let her go, turned around, glanced at Jiang Yucheng, and seriously commented with Chuli...
Zhuo Chuan: "Not as good as me, but still okay... I remember this model also has a smoke gray color, why don't you try it? I think it suits your old-fashioned temperament better than the dark blue."
Chu Li: "If I wear this, I will sell at least 10,000 more copies that day..."
Chu Li held her chin and looked at the man standing in front of her. Jiang Yucheng was different from Zhu Chuan. If Zhu Chuan made his debut in a TV series, it would at least be a hit youth idol drama, then Jiang Yucheng must be a mature actor with real strength and good looks...
Wearing a white shirt, cardigan and jeans, he doesn't look young but mature and stable.
After hearing Chu Li's comments, Jiang Yucheng glanced at the tag on the clothes and then said half-jokingly, "Only 10,000 copies? Then we can't even get back the cost of this set of clothes."
Chu Li was happy and laughed along.
Zhuochuan sat nearby, looked at Jiang Yucheng and then at Chu Li, shut his mouth, and suddenly fell silent.
When Jiang Yucheng took the various items he had selected to pay the bill, Chu Li also stood up, preparing to wait for Jiang Yucheng to finish paying the bill before going to have lunch together. However, the moment she stood up, she was grabbed by the sleeve by Zhuchuan.
She paused and lowered her head, looking into the man's calm eyes. He frowned slightly and said, "Why are you always smiling so happily when you are with Jiang Yucheng, but you only shed tears in front of me?"
“…”
ah?
Chu Li couldn't answer this question.
At this time, Zhuchuan let her go, sighed, and tidied his hair in front of his forehead with a bit of annoyance: "Forget it, it's okay."
…
After Jiang Yucheng finished everything and returned to the place, he found that the atmosphere seemed to have changed.
...Overall it seems a bit heavy.
After shopping, the three of them randomly picked a restaurant and sat down to eat. Chu Li held his chin and absentmindedly browsed Weibo or something. Zhuochuan and Jiang Yucheng were free and played games on their mobile phones... Generally, mobile games are just about forming a team to complete a few fixed daily tasks. Zhuochuan kept poking at his phone, looking uninterested and worried.
It can be seen that although Teacher Jiang Yucheng did not know what had happened, he was also trying hard to ease the heavy atmosphere.
Chu Li played with his phone for a while, and suddenly felt that if he continued like this, what would happen when he got home would be unbearable. The innocent Er Gou would be scared so much that he would not eat half a bowl of rice... So he simply put down his phone, stretched his head to watch Zhu Chuan playing games, and chatted with him as if nothing had happened.
Everything was originally moving in a normal and improving direction.
Until the end of a battle, the game characters appeared on the mobile interface. Chu Li saw that the name of the game character played by Zhuchuan had a title "XXXX's Husband" which was obviously his couple's name.
Her heart skipped a beat and her eyeballs rolled around in her sockets, trembling slightly in surprise.
Suddenly I remembered that just now in the car, she laughed at this game that could give birth to children like a hermaphrodite like a seahorse;
I suddenly thought of the cute girl's voice when he was commanding the National War a few days ago and she was talking to him with a smile on her microphone...
Ahhhh, although it seems a bit boring to be jealous of someone you don't even know who is on the other side of the Internet cable -
Chu Li sat up straight and suddenly felt a little regretful about going out today.
At this moment, Zhuochuan also felt that the familiar breath that had been approaching him was suddenly withdrawn. He was stunned for a moment and raised his head, glanced at Chu Li who was sitting silently next to him, and then glanced at Jiang Yucheng who was sitting opposite the dining table. Jiang Yucheng pointed at the screen of his mobile phone, and Zhuochuan looked down.
I saw the couple title on my account at a glance.
When I looked up again, I saw Jiang Yucheng with a bright smile on his face, as if something had happened.
Zhuchuan: “…”
Zhuochuan reached out to pull Chuli, but Chuli shook his hand off with a stern face.
The atmosphere changed for the third time.
From the beginning, I felt a little bit guilty and confused, but now I feel calm.
Zhuo Chuan innocently said, "That's my trumpet. I opened it to get married and have a baby to use as a pet."
As he spoke, he pulled the girl who was far away from him towards him without letting her go, and at the same time put his phone under her nose: "Really, it's my second account. I'm tired of serving you who keeps urging me to submit my manuscripts every day. How can I have the energy to serve another one——"
Chu Li raised his eyelids and took a quick look, and saw the so-called "small account" suddenly typing: [Boss, I'm going to have dinner after I finish this dungeon. ]
Chu Li: "..."
Can the trumpet still speak?
Do you think I'm a fool?
Chu Li raised his head and glared at Chu Chuan.
The eye sockets quickly turn red, visibly to the naked eye.
...and you still have the nerve to ask me why I keep crying in front of you.
...You are so capable, but please stop bullying others.
Jiang Yucheng, who was sitting across the table and was also in the gaming team and witnessed everything that happened, laughed out loud, while Zhu Chuan wanted to throw his phone into the bubbling hot pot in front of him!
At this time, he explained to her that it was just his daily lunch break and he was not at home with only one device, so he asked someone else to help him open a small account, and the other side was still a rough old man...
She probably wouldn't believe it either.
Zhuchuan raised his hand and wanted to touch her face, but Chuli quickly dodged it.
"Forget it. You are not related to me anyway," she said slowly, lowering her head. "It's none of my business."
Zhuochuan paused and asked, "Who am I to you?"
"Ah, editor and author, landlord and tenant," Chu Li raised his hand and rubbed his eyes, "maybe they are just playmates when they are bored in their spare time."
Zhuchuan: “…”
Jiang Yucheng: "Should I go to the bathroom or something?"
Zhuochuan: "Just sit there, you don't have to go anywhere."
Zhao Chuan didn't even raise his head, and didn't even look at Jiang Yucheng. His tone suddenly became serious and low, and his eyes were looking at the guy beside him who was rubbing his eyes with his head down...
He paused and said slowly, "Playmates? Have you ever seen a game where you have to sacrifice yourself to play it when you are bored? Isn't that a little ridiculous?"
His voice had changed from its usual lazy and frivolous tone, and now contained a hint of anger.
It is also rare.