"Teacher, have you ever thought about publishing this novella that you are serializing on Weibo?"
"Write something fun, a short story to follow up on "The Divine Book of Luo River" so that I won't become obsolete - there won't be enough space for publication."
"If Luohe Divine Book sells well, even if your next book is only 50,000 words, Chief Editor Xia will probably put a knife to our necks and order us to sign it back..." Chu Li took away the breakfast plates, a big pile, and the juice cup landed steadily on top. She paused, bent down slightly, and leaned in front of the man, "Sign it for me, ok?"
The man raised his eyelids, and the two looked at each other for a few seconds with their noses almost touching... The man raised his big hand and pushed away the face in front of him, which was full of stars not only in the eyes, but also in the eyes: "What does the "Tenant Rules Thirty" say? It is forbidden to..."
"'Eight, you are prohibited from taking advantage of the fact that you live under the same roof to do anything that goes beyond the "landlord-tenant" relationship with the landlord. For example, urging the landlord to submit manuscripts, asking for any items with signatures (*including but not limited to signed photos) to give as gifts to relatives and friends, brainwashing the landlord day and night to ask him to use an artist or cover design he doesn't like, or forcing the landlord to sign a publishing contract with a first print run so low that it's like giving alms to a beggar.' I know, I know." Chu Li smiled with eight teeth showing, "You have proved with your own strength that you can sell, who dares to give you a contract that's like giving alms to a beggar this time..."
“…”
A dangerous line of sight swept over.
Chu Li cleared his throat and said, "Of course, it's not like we were sending away beggars last time. This is just a commercial test."
The dangerous sight disappeared.
Zhao Chuan turned his face away, unwilling to look at the guy in front of him who was holding a breakfast plate and smiling at him, as if he was very convincing. He said coldly: "No matter how much you brag, your behavior is a disregard for the "30 Tenant Rules". It seriously violates the pure, beautiful and healthy relationship between tenants and landlords. It is bad behavior-"
"Do you know what behavior truly exceeds the limit of bad relations between tenants and landlords?" Chu Li suddenly restrained his smile and said lightly.
Zhuochuan paused and pulled his head back: "What?"
Chu Li: "..."
Look at each other.
silence.
Chu Li quietly tightened her hand on the edge of the plate, with such force that it seemed as if she wanted to crush the plate in her hand. She took a deep breath... her eyes swept across the man's pale lips, and then her eyes became deep, and her heartbeat accelerated.
A few seconds later.
She raised her hands, holding the dishes in one hand, and the soft fingertips of the other hand brushed the corner of the man's lips. When the man was stunned for a moment, she calmly resumed holding the dishes with both hands and said calmly: "There are crumbs at the corner of the lips."
Zhuchuan still looked at her blankly.
At this moment, Chu Li turned around, took the dishes and went into the kitchen to wash them without looking back.
Zhuochuan stood there for a long time, then as if subconsciously raised his hand and touched his lips: the feather-soft touch just now was still on his lips, and the scent of the shower gel on her wrist seemed to still linger on her nose, a citrus scent.
Just now, at a certain moment, I almost thought that something serious was going to happen that would lead to a qualitative change.
“…Shit.”
The man frowned fiercely as he heard the sound of washing dishes in the kitchen - puberty is such a troublesome thing.
…
6pm.
There are only two hours left until the official release of "The Divine Book of Luo River".
Chu Li ordered takeout and Zhuo Chuan got up.
She watched the man flitting like a butterfly between her room and the large shared bathroom filled with skincare products. The bathroom door opened and closed, and the man who floated out shaved for the first time, applied facial cleanser the second time and was buzzing with his facial cleanser, and applied a SKII mask the third time.
Don’t ask Chu Li how she knew it was SKII. The man used two fingers to throw the mask bag into the trash can in front of her.
Chu Li, who was squatting on the sofa holding a magazine, raised his head and said, "It's just selling a book, not an Oscar award. We don't think we have prepared a public release link for you after the book sells well..."
Zhuochuan ignored her and turned around to turn on the aromatherapy.
——Now bathing and burning incense are all complete. Including the meatless breakfast in the morning, it is just bathing, burning incense and fasting.
Chu Li didn't know what impact this incident would have on the book and whether it could help it sell more copies, but at this point, she was completely infected by Chu Chuan's nervous mood and hoped that the answer was yes. She even wanted to take a bath herself.
Seven o'clock in the evening.
There is only one hour left before the official sale of "The Divine Book of Luo River" begins.
The takeaway arrived. Except for Ergouzi, who only knew how to eat and sleep all day and ate his meal optimistically, the author and his editor who were sitting on the sofa both symbolically took two bites and put down their chopsticks. They didn't even need to say "I'm full". They could see the same emotion in each other's eyes.
"Now that I think about it, this kind of pre-sale where you can see the sales figures at any time seems a bit too stimulating," said Zhuo Chuan, trying to remain calm. "For an old man like me, I may need to prepare my quick-acting heart-saving pills."
Chu Li: "..."
Chu Li didn't say anything, but just raised her hand holding the chopsticks in front of the man: he could easily see that her hand was shaking.
Zhuchuan: “…”
Chu Li put down her chopsticks and prepared to check Weibo to distract herself. As she was checking, she accidentally clicked on Zhuo Chuan's Weibo. Even though she saw his updated Weibo every day, she couldn't help but read it with relish... After seeing the Weibo post posted by the man during the battle with Niangniang two days ago, she couldn't help but read it twice more.
Then she kicked the man who was picking at a lunch box of cumin beef and eggplant with a lack of interest, and said, "What did you mean when you said that to the Queen? 'So far, I don't think I have ever been treated as someone's personal property.'" Chu Li said, paused, and said softly, "'If there is, I look forward to it.'"
Zhuchuan was shaken by her kick and put down his chopsticks: "Literally."
"What does that mean literally?"
"Be happy for me and smile for me."
Chu Li paused from stepping on the man's big feet, and then heard the man say calmly: "But the reality is, without such a person, it would be so lonely to rule the world. Not to mention selling millions of books, even if the copyright was sold to Hollywood, there would be no one to share such joy... It's strange, I'm such an outstanding man, but I only have you editors full of the smell of copper around me - ah! Why are you stepping on me!"
"I'm afraid you'll have to face the editors who stink of copper tonight and witness your pre-sale together!"
"Yeah, I'm so upset that I can't even eat." Zhu Chuan put down his chopsticks and glanced at Chu Li, "Get your pig's trotters off my feet."
Chu Li: "..."
7:30 pm.
There is only half an hour left before the official sale of "Luohe Divine Book".
Chu Li, who was sitting on one end of the sofa, put down her phone, stretched her legs, and kicked Zhe Chuan, who was sitting on the other end of the sofa, playing games. "Stop playing games and wasting time. Go to Weibo and check out the pre-sale post... forward it and get the readers excited."
Without even raising his head, Zhao Chuan said, "What are you talking about? I will buy what I need to buy."
Chu Li: "Go!"
Chu Chuan: “I don’t.”
Three minutes later, Chu Li swiped her finger and refreshed Weibo, and found a new update from Zhu Chuan:
[Zhu Chuan: There is less than half an hour left, are you all ready? I am also very nervous. I hope that every reader who wants an autograph can get one, although my autograph is not worth much (laugh) (laugh)]
There were hundreds of replies below, all of which were "waiting eagerly", "It's not worth the money, why don't you sign more so we can take them and cry", "Super nervous, I just went to test whether WiFi or 4G is faster"...
I don’t know how the next twenty minutes felt to Chu Chuan, but it felt like a year to Chu Li. She stared blankly, watching the time go by, unable to concentrate on doing anything, and she was in a daze when others spoke to her.
Finally it was seven fifty-eight.
Chu Li and the man on the other side of the sofa both sat up—
The two looked at each other and picked up their phones.
Chu Li's fingers were shaking, and she entered the wrong password several times when trying to unlock the screen: "I, I, I, I'm going to check the sales volume of store A."
"...I'm going to shop at B." Zhuo Chuan slid his finger and unlocked the store with a click. "Report the number in thirty seconds. If it's not more than five hundred, just wait in silence."
Chu Li nodded solemnly.
My palms are sweaty.
When the time came to 19:59, Chu Li's eyes widened, as if he could hear his heartbeat almost stopping, tinnitus, dizziness, and all kinds of reactions caused by nervousness were all present -
The time jumped to 20:00, her eyes blurred, she swallowed her saliva, poked into the Taobao link of store A, and took a look at the sales volume. In the first second: monthly sales of 1,798 items.
My heart suddenly rose to my throat!
At first, my hands began to tremble violently. I opened the Taobao link and clicked on it again to refresh. It took only about three seconds from the time the page was opened: monthly sales of 4,566.
Chu Li put down her phone, took a deep breath, and glanced at the man sitting opposite her who was quietly browsing Taobao... The light from the phone was reflected on his face. She blinked and rubbed her face. From the first day she stood in front of the man and rang his doorbell, all the fragments of memory flooded into her mind.
In the 30th second, my finger clicked on the link for the third time without realizing it, and I watched the sales figures change to: Monthly sales: 11,201.
At the same time, the phone was ringing with new messages.
【Congratulations!】
【Oh my god, A’s page is so crowded that it crashed 23333333333333】
【Congratulations on the first ceremony! Online pre-sale is a great success! 】
[The marketing department is going crazy. The A store page collapsed within 30 seconds of the pre-sale. We are currently repairing it... Chu Li, from now on, you are the woman who has crushed Jack Ma! ]
Chu Li raised his hand and bit the back of his hand.
She put down her phone and raised her head. At the same time, the man sitting opposite her on the sofa also raised his head: "Half-minute sales, 13,547."
"Half-minute sales," Chu Li said hoarsely, "11,201."
The words had just fallen.
She finally couldn't hold back a sob, her eye sockets quickly turned red, and bean-sized transparent liquid rolled out of her eye sockets, hot and joyful.
She grabbed the sofa cushion and buried her face deep in it.
The next second, the cushion was taken away, she raised her head in tears, and then fell into a strong and powerful embrace... The man easily lifted her up from the sofa, she stood on the sofa and he stood on the ground.
She was stunned for a moment, then buried her head in the man's warm neck and burst into tears.
Ask the world.
What joy can be compared to finally getting rewarded after going through untold hardships, being questioned, being challenged, and overcoming numerous difficulties and obstacles?
no.
The joy and tears at this moment are priceless.
She raised her hand, and her trembling fingertips carefully touched the man's earlobe. After hesitating for a while, she spoke in a hoarse voice that was almost inaudible: "Zhechuan, I..."