He carried all the bags home, put what should be put in the refrigerator and what should be put in the rice jar, put the oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and condiments in their respective places, and Zhuochuan stood in front of the refrigerator which was filled to the brim for the first time... He once again felt that "life" is a verb.
The man holding the refrigerator door sighed, "Great."
Meanwhile, Chuli, who was preparing to make borscht, found a chopping board. Ergouzi is a dog, and dogs can't eat onions, so he didn't put onions in it. He washed the chopping board and started chopping beef. The little girl standing in front of the chopping board with a kitchen knife chopped the meat "dong dong dong" and said to the man in front of the refrigerator without looking up, "Teacher, we are grown-ups now, can't we stop playing with the refrigerator like three-year-olds? If we keep the refrigerator door open like this, it will break down."
Zhaochuan slammed the refrigerator door shut.
He took out his cell phone, leaned against the kitchen door frame and started playing with it. Suddenly he said, "This is the fourth time Queen Mother has asked me if I am here, if I am free, and if I can have dinner with her..."
The "dong dong dong" sound from the chopping board paused for a moment. Chu Li turned around to look at Zhuo Chuan, then came over with a kitchen knife, muttering as he walked: "We agreed in advance. It's not that I don't want you to go. It's your business who you want to meet. I really don't care. But if you give Queen Yu the wrong idea because of the meeting and let her think she can communicate with you directly without me, delaying my work, then I will put rat poison in your food..."
As soon as he walked up to Zhuchuan, the man with long arms and legs reached out and held his forehead. Chu Li held the man's big hand and raised his eyes: "How did you answer?"
Chu Chuan: "'Okay.'"
Chu Li raised his voice: "'Okay'?!"
"Cleaner, cleaver, hold it farther away, swords have no eyes..." Zhuo Chuan lowered his head and continued typing with one hand, "'I am free, but because my aesthetics are weird, I hope you can bring the editor and the artist to discuss it together. If you have anything, you can discuss it with them. What do you think——'"
She read and typed each word, and then clicked send after finishing. Three seconds later, the Queen of the Coop let out an "ah" and said without disguising, "I hate dealing with editors the most. Hehe, forget it. I'll come out and play again when I have the chance?"
Zhuochuan read out her reply word by word, and then looked up at Chuli. As expected, she had the same expression as if she had been screwed by both a dog and an alpaca... The man laughed: "Aren't you a fan of the goddess, huh? You asked me to use her, saying that she draws beautifully, commercially, and is very popular, and that a combination with me would be a strong combination--"
"This is what Yuanyueshe said, and it cannot be denied that it is the truth," Chu Li said expressionlessly, "But to be honest, I just turned from a casual fan to a hater - take a look at the chat records in the group, I'll tell you a secret! In fact, I am the moderator of the fan forum she mentioned. First of all, it is just a CP forum and my surname is not Xun; secondly, it was me who added the highlights to the newcomers and it had nothing to do with her; finally, the person she complained about imitating you is a very good friend of mine..."
Zhaochuan raised his eyebrows.
Chu Li sighed: "His writing is a bit like yours. It's true that some people called him Xiao Zhuchuan in the forum, but I have to say...his writing is very good and not bad at all. It's at least 70% and 30% similar to yours -"
"Seventy-three?"
What about the agreed 60-40 split?
At this moment, Chu Li looked at the man's eyebrows that were raised so high that they almost flew into his hairline. He thought that he was particularly concerned about this matter. The man in front of him was arrogant and petty, so it was natural for him to feel unhappy... Chu Li swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, rolled them around in his stomach, and spat them out again: "...It's not 70% to 30%, but it's still 80% to 20%."
Zhuchuan: “…”
This lackey.
A fence-sitter, saying one thing to one person and another to another. Half an hour ago, he was still saying in front of Mr. L that "you and Zhuchuan are 50-50"... Now it's 80-20——
Although there is no difference at all, I am getting even more angry at this moment: Mr. L has forgotten all the kindness he showed me! He is greedy and takes advantage of others!
Zhuchuan muttered to himself as he pushed Chuli's head not so gently. He also patted her forehead with his big hand. He said seriously, "Let's cook. Do you want to starve me to death so that your friend known as 'Little Zhuchuan' can take my place?"
Chu Li said "Oh" and returned to the chopping board. After thinking for a while, he put down the kitchen knife and took out his mobile phone from his trouser pocket. As expected, he saw the private knock of the queen who came after being rejected by Zhuchuan.
[Breaking the Cocoon: I can start working on the character design after Mr. Hirokawa sends me the feedback. Now, could you please tell me the size? Horizontal or vertical? How many characters? Is the background complex? How much will it cost?]
【Breaking the cobweb: Let me make it clear first, the first two pictures will be taken in mid-August. Time is tight. Due to the complicated process of the pictures, you must pay an expedited fee. If you don’t want to do it, forget it.】
[Breaking the Cocoon: You can consider this and give me your answer before tomorrow. ]
First Li: “…………”
Chu Li picked up the kitchen knife again, but he didn't know who to chop.
The contrast of "cute in front of Hikawa, but horrible behind Hikawa" is too big and not cute. I can feel the cold tone and inexplicable anger of the other person through the screen...
Big sister, it’s Zhuchuan who doesn’t like you, not Zhuchuan who is angry because I don’t like you. Why are you angry?
At this moment, holding the phone, looking at the firm words "add money", "must add money", "no talk without adding money", Chu Li had a hunch: no matter how the final product looks like, this time the appointment process might not be particularly smooth...
——She must be prepared to gain three pounds again due to overwork.
That evening.
During the break between moving and installing furniture, Chu Li took the opportunity to check out the Weibo of Xun, and found some ancient style pictures that she thought were suitable and sent them to Xun.
[The navy hired by the monkey: 300dpi (*image resolution) or above, size A4, horizontal page, the background is not complicated and it fits the scene, two pictures, each picture has two full bodies, the expedited fee is 6,000 yuan, do you think it is suitable? 】
[The water army hired by Monkey: Publishing a novel cover manuscript is no different from other types of manuscripts. Basically, this is the highest price that can be offered. Other publishers may only offer three or four thousand at most. I believe you can understand this.]
After Chu Li finished speaking, Xu was silent for about half an hour, then replied to Chu Li with a "OK", and then there was no more response.
…
The following weekend, Chu Li was busy moving and had no time to chase after her husband to ask about the progress of the manuscript - she was exhausted like a dog the whole weekend. As the landlord, Chu Chuan installed some new furniture hardware for her, and the remaining mattresses, footrests, hangers and other miscellaneous items were all bought by Chu Li herself from the home furnishings store and carried back...
By Sunday night, the 70-square-meter attic that belonged to her finally looked like someone was living there - she could see the setting sun pouring into the attic through the white gauze curtains when she opened the window, and the wooden floor made a slight creaking sound under her feet... Compared to the small apartment she lived in before, where she had to hit her head in front and her butt in the back when going to the toilet, her quality of life could be said to have made a qualitative leap.
All this is thanks to the great benefactor.
In the evening, out of gratitude, Chu Li did her best to prepare a sumptuous dinner for Zhuchuan and Ergou... But what Chu Lu didn't expect was that Zhuchuan announced something at the dinner table: the next day, which was Monday night, he would fly to the neighboring province to attend the Writers Association Conference.
"..." Chu Li, who was sitting at the table eating, was stunned by the sudden decision. "Aren't you going to die?"
Zhuo Chuan raised his lips and showed his white teeth: "You were just joking when you gave me rotten chicken soup in the car that night?"
Chu Li looked confused: "...No."
Zhuochuan nodded, picked up the bowl and drank the soup politely: "Congratulations, I'm not just listening."
Chu Li: "..."
…
The next day, working day.
Chu Li climbed out of bed reluctantly - the last time she slept on such a good bed was before she moved to the dormitory in her senior year of high school. She almost forgot that there was a bed in the world that was so soft that it could make people feel like the Princess and the Pea...
She expressed her gratitude to the teacher again, yawning as she took a bath and put on makeup. After opening the door and walking down from the attic, Chu Li saw the big dog squatting at the entrance of the stairs with an empty food bowl in its mouth and wagging its tail. The moment it saw Chu Li, its ears that were originally raised high instantly fell down to its forehead, and its almond-shaped dog eyes looked eagerly at the little girl standing at the top of the stairs.
Chu Li went downstairs, took the empty food bowl from the big dog, scooped out the leftovers from the rice cooker, opened a can and mixed them together, and put them on the mat where Er Gouzi was eating. Without any instructions, the big dog, who followed her closely and never left the food bowl, buried his head in the bowl as if it were his life...
While Ergou was eating, Chuli washed his hands and hurriedly made breakfast for everyone. He brought the food to the table and wanted to call Zhuchuan, but he saw a note left on the table. There were three sentences on it:
[I went to bed at 4:30 last night. Don’t call me for breakfast. I won’t eat.]
[Don't leave any for me either. The rule at home is that the food on the table is Ergou's by default. If you don't believe me, try it.]
[Although I will throw you out if you dare to try. ]
The handwriting was unruly and unruly, and the tone was arrogant and overbearing. Overall, one could guess who wrote the note with his toes... Chu Li put the note down and had to eat his breakfast by himself. Before leaving, he made a face at the tightly closed door of Zhu Chuan's room. As a result, he turned his head and saw the packed suitcase in the entrance. Chu Li suddenly paused and was a little dazed.
Is Zhuo Chuan really going to attend the Writers Association Conference of the neighboring province? Isn't he very opposed to it?
Did I really convince him?
I?
...Is this true or false?
What convinced him? The one at the top of the food chain?
Oh my God, he won’t go and fight with the old men and women in the Writers Association, will he?
On the way to the editorial office, I kept thinking about this matter. I was vaguely worried that if Xichuan got into a fight with the old man and old woman from the Writers Association, they would blame me. While Xiajier was worrying, Chuli was always distracted...
When they arrived at the editorial department, Yu Yao fed back to Chu Li the selected article of Ah Gui's that could be published. It was an article called "Hearing", which talked about the paparazzi in the modern entertainment industry... Chu Li received the order and finally woke up from the fantasy of "Zhechuan fighting with old men and old women and might not be able to win", and immediately went to proofread the photocopy of "Hearing" and entered the first proofreading.
The morning passed quickly while she was proofreading Ah Gui's article. During lunch, Yu Yao asked Chu Li indirectly about the progress of the cover of "Luohe Divine Book". Chu Li then remembered that there were such troublesome things in the world, and immediately opened Q to ask about the progress of the goddess... At this time, Ah Xiang turned his head and glanced at her: "It's hard to rush the manuscript, you'd better not be so relieved."
This was of course a kind reminder, so Chu Li smiled at Ah Xiang. At this time, she still didn't take it seriously.
It’s just urging for submissions, how hard can it be?
Until she found that her inquiry had once again fallen on deaf ears, and the reply from the Queen was just a "OK" on Saturday night last week, and then she seemed to have evaporated from the world...
Q is clearly online in real life. Could it be that she is not in front of the computer and has not gotten up yet?
Chu Li had no choice but to wait patiently. However, ten minutes later, while she was eating and browsing Weibo, she accidentally saw a new Weibo post from Xun Niangniang ten minutes ago. Xun Niangniang posted a screenshot of a witty conversation between herself and another editor on QQ. They were talking about a funny thing that happened when they were playing games yesterday. The editor asked her, "Where is your manuscript?"
She was just laughing there.
There are a lot of fans below saying “Hahahahahahaha”, “You’re so cute”, “You’re a salty fish hahahaha”——
First Li: “????”
So you have time to play games.
Is it just that your schedule for painting is very tight?
So you are in.
Just choose "ignore me online" mode?
……………………………………Salted fish? Stop insulting salted fish. Even after it dies, it still exists as a delicacy, creating the great value of being able to finish a bowl of rice with three chopsticks. What about you? !
It just stinks, my friend! ! ! !
Chu Li's three views were shaken again. He thought that he liked her before because he only needed to look at her drawings when she was willing to draw, instead of holding her head down to make her draw and asking to see her drawings when she didn't want to draw like now...
Chu Li opened QQ while mumbling to himself, and specifically chose the chat group of four people to start @繭 crazily, sending three or four messages in a row——
[The water army hired by Monkey: Is @破繭老師 here? Can I ask about the progress of the manuscript? ]
[The water army hired by Monkey: Is @破繭老師 here? The line draft of the manuscript is almost done, and the composition should be ready. 】
[The water army hired by Monkey: @破繭老師are you there? I saw your Weibo. ]
[The water army hired by Monkey: Is @破繭老師 here? Q is so happy chatting with friends and family, I am really envious. If he is so happy, he must have already finished the line drawing or at least the composition, right? ]
Chu Li was typing away, while Ah Xiang came over and leaned on the back of her chair to watch. After watching for a while, he exclaimed, "Wow!" and said in amazement, "The tone of your voice is also very annoying."
Chu Li didn't even turn his head. He thought for a moment and said, "I'm really afraid that I will displease her."
In the middle of the conversation, when Chu Li was typing out the fifth line of words, Empress Yu finally appeared... It must be said that she has been through a lot over the years and has an automatic filter for any sarcastic words. Facing Chu Li's ridicule, her tone was very natural and she was even cute -
[Breaking the Cocoon: Here it comes! One of the cross-page sketches has been drawn! I'll show it to you later! ]
【Po筭: Wait for me to open the file. 】
Three minutes later.
[Po繭: Wait a minute, ahhh, there seems to be something wrong with my software, oh my god! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ]
[Broken Cocoon: The file is corrupted QAQ Oh my god, I spent the whole day yesterday to finish the line drawing... I have to redraw it again. 】
[Po繭: @猴來軭軭, wait for me, I will redo it right now and give it to you before you get off work this afternoon, but time is tight, maybe the draft really only shows the composition? 】
At this time, Chu Li had only two options for answering:
One: OK.
Two: Fuck you.
【The navy hired by the monkey: ……Okay.】
Ah Xiang leaned on the back of Chu Li's chair and said quietly, "In all these years as an art editor, the number of times my various drawing software crashed beyond repair is no more than five times. But for an artist, the probability is probably about twenty times higher. In addition to software crashes, there are also my illness, my cat's illness, the death of a distant relative, dysmenorrhea, power outages, network outages, typhoons, earthquakes, floods, freezes and other sudden natural disasters..."
Ah Xiang: "If you believe it, you are a fool."
Chu Li: "What can I do? I can't just say, 'I'm a three-year-old kid, get lost' - this kind of dialogue belongs to Mr. Chu Chuan."
Ah Xiang: "It's a pity that the teacher is not here."
Chu Li curled her lips and said, "He's still sleeping soundly, what the hell!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt Ah Xiang behind her fall into silence. Chu Li raised her hand, slapped her mouth, and turned her head. Sure enough, she saw Ah Xiang's head had been lifted from the back of her chair, and was now looking at her silently and intently.
"Aren't all these authors like this?" Chu Li said with a forced calmness, "You won't see them until the afternoon."
"Oh," Ah Xiang looked at Chu Li deeply, "Really?"
Chu Li: "..."
…
12:30 noon.
In a high-end residential building in the center of G City.
The man who was sunk in the middle of the big bed woke up in a daze for some unknown reason. His sword-like brows were wrinkled, and his handsome face looked a little cold due to lack of sleep... He struggled to reach out from under the quilt and grabbed the bedside phone to check the time. He found that it was still early and sighed: "What the hell..."
His fingers unconsciously entered Q, and the man discovered that there were actually two messages from different people on this Q of Sima Shijian, whose author could never be found alive.
【The water army hired by Monkey: Damn, this lady is so straightforward. If the company didn’t insist on using her, I would really like to let her go. She was playing games on the weekend and told me that her schedule was very tight and she needed to pay more to excuse me! Today she lied to me again, saying that she had already drawn the draft but the software crashed and the file was damaged and she had to redraw it! It was so bad - no one would believe it! ! ! ! Damn! So angry!】
[Po繭: QAQ The editors of Yuanyueshe are so weird. We agreed to submit the manuscript on Saturday, but they came to ask for the draft early on Monday morning... Even if it's urgent, they can't rush you like this, are you also rushed by them like this? 】
The message sending time is basically calculated in sequence.
Zhuchuan: “…………………………”
What are you doing? Are you the neighborhood committee member?
Mediate for you every day, every day?
Especially you silly Banana Man, I told you not to use this foot-washing machine but you didn't listen!
You deserve it!
The man lay on the pillow in silence for ten seconds. After ten seconds, he directly opened the memo app and typed "Really? Too much, ignore her" and selected all the words, copied them, opened QQ, and quickly pasted them twice into two dialogue boxes.
Sent and sent.
After finishing everything, the man breathed a sigh of relief, locked the screen of his phone with a click, then threw the phone away, lifted the quilt, and continued to sleep.
conscience?
He has no conscience.
patience?
I forgot to bring it with me when I was born.
Responsibility?
The contract has been signed and the manuscript has been submitted. The rest has nothing to do with him. What is he making a fuss about?
The author has something to say:
Zhaochuan: This is your own fault, so keep doing it even with tears in your eyes!
Chu Chuan: If there is a little princess in this world, it can only be me!