Chu Li tossed and turned in bed that night, and as expected, he went out the next day with dark circles under his eyes, holding the stamped contract for "The Vanishing Amusement Park" in his arms. The final decision for the first print run of "The Vanishing Amusement Park" was to set it at 85,000 copies, which was Yuanyue Publishing House's response to the 350,000 copies of "The Divine Book of Luo River" sold.
…Although at this moment, there are overwhelming advertisements on Weibo boasting that the first print run of “The Divine Book of Luo River” is on hot pre-sale with over one million copies, and that the most influential work of 2013 will be released at the end of the year…blah blah blah.
In December, I heard that the first snow of the year had already arrived in the northeast, and winter had finally arrived in City G, and the weather had become very cold.
Chu Li took the morning subway with the contract in her arms and a thick scarf wrapped around her. She found Jiang Yucheng's home according to the address they had agreed on. It was a high-rise apartment not far from Yuanyue Society, and the community looked very luxurious - all visitors had to register, and the security guard had to swipe their card to take the elevator upstairs.
Why are authors so rich?
Even Ah Gui, who writes BL novels and sells illegal publications (*magazines) every day, is very rich. He buys all kinds of luxury goods every few days and travels abroad at the slightest disagreement.
——Why didn't you learn the skill of writing? Forget it. Even if you write, you will probably be one of the thousands who rely solely on publishing royalties and then starve to death.
Holding the contract, Chu Li punctually rang the doorbell of Jiang Yucheng's home at 9:30 in the morning - this was her second time to visit the author in person, the first time was when she met Zhuo Chuan. She could still vividly remember the man's words "Er Gou, please see me off" and "Who are you trying to insult with this small first print run"... Thinking of this, Chu Li lowered her head and stared at her toes with a foolish smile, her smile hidden behind her scarf, leaving only a pair of smiling black eyes outside the scarf.
With a "click", the door in front opened.
Chu Li paused slightly and raised her head - it was not as noisy as she remembered last time. The man who opened the door was wearing jeans and a black turtleneck sweater, with a half-burned cigarette between his slender fingertips. The heat wave from the heater that came over her face was mixed with the scent of tobacco and orange fragrance... This was probably the scent that a mature man should have.
The room was shockingly quiet. A white Persian cat rubbed against the man's legs and popped its head out. It narrowed its eyes at Chu Li and meowed.
"Teacher..." Chu Li stood outside the door holding the contract, restrained his smile, and stammered, "You got up so early, I was worried that you were still sleeping. They said that you can only be found after one or two o'clock in the afternoon..."
"I haven't slept yet."
"Huh?"
"Kaven, so I stayed up all night."
Jiang Yucheng smiled and stepped aside to let Chuli in. Chuli walked in and quickly looked around the house - it was a rather refined and elegant Nordic style, different from the "expensive at first glance" decoration style of Zhuchuan's house. The thick cream-white carpet and light-colored sofa, the gray chandelier and the cold marble background wall made it easier for people to associate such a house with the image of the owner: a handsome and mature man wearing gold-rimmed glasses.
Just like Jiang Yucheng himself.
Not knowing that Chu Li had a lot of thoughts in her mind, Jiang Yucheng took the folder from her hand and looked down at her as she reached out and took off the scarf in circles. Half of her palm was hidden behind the loose sweater, with only half of her fair and delicate fingertips exposed. She grabbed the scarf and lowered her head to take it off. Because she was wrapped up like a bear, she looked a little clumsy, but also very cute...
Maybe it was a bit dry outside, after taking off the scarf, Chu Li pursed her lips and moistened her lower lip with the tip of her tongue.
Then she grabbed her scarf and looked at Jiang Yucheng: "Teacher, don't stay up late. It's not good for your health."
Jiang Yucheng was unexpectedly silent for a few seconds, seeming to be distracted.
"My jet lag has long been inverted into the American system..." When Chu Li turned around and slightly tiptoed to hang her scarf on the coat rack in the entrance, she heard Jiang Yucheng standing behind her slowly adding, "The last time I got up early to bring you breakfast was the only time in the ten years since I graduated from college that I got up early."
The first ritual of hanging a scarf is a pause.
Turning around, he looked at Jiang Yucheng and was silent for a moment: "Teacher, let me ask you one last serious question. Are you really not Mr. L?"
"Is this important?"
"It's very important," Chu Li nodded, "If you are Mr. L, then Mr. L is my boyfriend... I have already said it and it's over. I have to be responsible... No. Not responsible. At least I have to find a solution."
"You're trying to trick me into admitting that I am Mr. L."
“…”
"But unfortunately, I'm not - I'm really surprised that I used the word 'unfortunately'. At least until the second before you stepped into this door, I never thought there was anything regrettable about this matter. Now I think it would be nice if I were Mr. L..." The man raised his hand and patted her head, "But I can't lie to you. Sooner or later, you will know who Mr. L is."
How could I know if he didn't tell me?
Chu Li shrank his neck and said, "Uh uh, teacher, what you said about me that day, was it true?"
Chu Li vaguely asked the question he wanted to ask the most.
After she finished speaking, she saw Jiang Yucheng looking at her earnestly. Her timid image was reflected in his black and white eyes. He nodded: "At first, I admired your spirit. As I said, dark creatures tend to be attracted to light... Later, I found that this kind of liking was more and more inclined to the relationship between men and women, such as-"
"for example?"
"For example, just now, when you walked into my house from the corridor and took off your scarf at the entrance, I found that I liked you a little more than yesterday..."
"?"
"Want more details?"
"ah?"
"When you took the scarf off, you licked your lips a little bit, and at that moment, I wanted to bend down and kiss you."
“…”
It took Chu Li's brain ten seconds to react to what the man in front of her was saying... and by the time she reacted, the man had already lowered his head and torn open the file bag to carefully check the contract documents of "The Disappearing Amusement Park" as if nothing had happened. Chu Li was left sitting beside him with a flushed face and a daze.
………………………………I might as well suggest at the morning meeting next Monday that in order to avoid unnecessary conflicts, we should try to send editors of the same sex to visit authors in the future.
After all, it’s early in the morning, and the author’s mind is in a turmoil after staying up all night, so it seems too easy for him to make unnecessary associations - although their relationship is purely that of an author and an editor - but think about it from another perspective. First of all, they are a man and a woman, single (emphasis added).
The sound of flipping through folders.
"First Ceremony."
"Um?"
"How are you spending Christmas?"
"… until the New Year's Day holiday is over, the book fair will last for seven days. New Year's Day is the holy war day for the exclusive first release of the Luohe Divine Book at the National Book Fair."
“That means it’s full of work.”
"right."
“What a pity.”
"ah?"
"I wanted to spend Christmas with you. If Christmas is not possible, then New Year's Day will be fine... Now it's fine, you don't even need to ask." Jiang Yucheng smiled helplessly, "I even doubt whether you did it on purpose."
“…”
Chu Li shook her head sincerely, but she breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. She had never been so grateful that Yuanyue Society loved working overtime as she was now - otherwise, under the current circumstances, she would not be able to find a tenable reason to reject Jiang Yucheng.
Christmas, New Year's Eve?
…Work alone was enough to keep her busy enough to drink a bottle of wine. If Jiang Yucheng hadn’t said it, she wouldn’t have thought about these things at all.
In a warm room, with a warm white Persian cat in her arms, a man on the sofa beside her was half-bending his legs and looking down at documents seriously... Chu Li was stroking the cat, her head was in a daze, and her nostrils were full of the smell of orange aromatherapy essential oil, until the aromatherapy machine made a "didi" sound and stopped spraying and humidifying, Jiang Yucheng raised his head and told her that the contract was ready and there was no problem.
Chu Li said “Oh” and stood up, returned the cat to Jiang Yucheng, then walked to the entrance to say goodbye to him.
The journey was peaceful.
Jiang Yucheng did not bring up any embarrassing topics again, and it seemed as if his entire presence existed just to make people feel "comfortable".
Chu Li closed the door and took the elevator downstairs. She was still immersed in a dreamy atmosphere. When she got downstairs, a cold wind blew and she sobered up a little. She took a deep breath and put on her scarf. Holding her mobile phone, she typed before her fingertips, which had quickly cooled down in the heated room, became stiff.
[The navy hired by the monkey: Teacher, how are you celebrating Christmas? ]
There was a quick response from the phone.
【Zhaochuan: You are not working overtime at the book fair, why are you celebrating Christmas? We are old fashioned people and never celebrate such foreign festivals.】
[The monkey’s hired navy: What about New Year’s Eve? New Year’s Day? 】
【Zhechuan: How do unemployed people celebrate New Year's Day? What's the difference between welcoming the new year by coding?】
【Zhuchuan: Why did you suddenly think of this? 】
[Zhuchuan: Jiang Yucheng made a date with you? 】
【Zhuchuan: Are you still at his house? 】
【Zhu Chuan: What time is it? Why are you taking so long to look at a contract? I’ll tell Yu Yao that you’re deliberately delaying work.】
[The Monkey's hired soldier: I'm just asking, why do you have so much to say? Do you have to be so annoying to breathe smoothly? ]
【Zhu Chuan: I am annoying, Jiang Yucheng is likable. 】
【Zhuchuan: You like him to go. 】
Chu Li's phone almost fell to the ground.
You shameless bastard, are you going to let me tell you in person "I want to spend the holidays with you"? You wish for that! Chu Li pouted at the screen of his cell phone, put the phone in his pocket, and quickened his pace to leave Jiang Yucheng's house.
…
In the next few days, Chu Li was busy preparing for the next book fair. Yuanyue Publishing House attached great importance to this book fair and specially scheduled the national first release of "Luohe Divine Book" on January 1st. It was obvious that "first print run of one million" was not enough and they wanted to make a big news.
Chu Li had never attended a book fair before, nor had he watched a large-scale comic exhibition. He only knew that this time, not only Yuanyue Publishing House, but also Xindun Publishing House and several other large publishing companies were participating. Yuanyue Publishing House's booth was right across from Xindun Publishing House. If they walked out of the booth and took three steps, they would successfully meet in the aisle and have a big fight...
I heard that the New Shield Press has invited a big shot to do a book signing. According to inside information, this big shot is the internationally renowned author Hermann, who squeezed out Chu Chuan's stacked slots at the Old Chinese Bookstore. I heard that in addition to "The Magpie on the Other Branch", Hermann will have two more movies in the same series this year and next year that will be published in 16 different languages around the world, one of which has already been acquired by the New Shield Press...
Xindun Publishing House will bring Hermann to the large-scale New Year's Eve book fair on January 1, the day when Chuan Chuan's new book is first released nationwide. At that time, Hermann himself will appear. In addition to signing "The Strange Magpie on a Different Branch" for a limited time of half an hour, he will also sign the new work that has been agreed with Xindun Publishing House on stage...
At the meeting, Chu Li told Zhuchuan the terrible news on the spot.
After giving her a ".", Zhuchuan said in a pained tone:
[Zhuo Chuan: I am still Herman's number one fan. There are two movies in this world whose lines I can recite by heart. The first is "The Lion King" and the second is Herman's "High Society". ]
[The water army hired by Monkey: ...What a coincidence, I am also his fan. 】
[The water army hired by the monkey: It seems that he is really famous. ]
【Zhuchuan: You are talking nonsense. 】
When Chu Li and Chu Chuan reported the unfortunate news, the leaders were still blowing the war alarm in her ears.
"Think about it, when the booth of Xindun Publishing House is packed with people, and we don't even have two or three kittens here, you will be embarrassed," said Liang Chonglang, the head of the marketing department. "No matter what, we have to come up with something fancy, even if it means hiring some navy soldiers to pretend to buy books!"
Chu Li: "..."
[The Monkey’s hired army: The head of the marketing department suggested that we could hire a few hundred army soldiers to enthusiastically buy your books and liven up the atmosphere…but the money for the army soldiers may need to be paid by the teacher himself.]
【Zhuchuan: Can you please shut up? 】
Chu Li teased Zhechuan while listening to Liang Chonglang's crazy talk. He thought to himself, I really want to see what gimmicks you guys can come up with...
Then Christmas came in a flash.
On the day of the book fair, Chu Li went along to see the excitement and helped to arrange books and post posters before guests entered the venue... When it was time to book rooms at the venue, Lao Miao hurried over with his "gimmick" -
A few months ago, Lao Miao was no longer interested in writing for Moonlight magazine. As mentioned before, he worked with the marketing department to create a cosplayer section, inviting a bunch of cosplayers to cosplay the protagonists of the most popular articles in Moonlight in previous years... The section was well received when it was launched, and in some rounds, it was almost on par with Jiang Yucheng's The Lost Amusement Park.
However, Hatsurei didn't take it seriously and focused on the few Togashi Yoshihiro in his hands.
Unexpectedly, Lao Miao actually brought two very popular cosplayers today. The two cosplayers didn't have to do anything but wait in the lounge backstage. Then every hour, they would randomly draw a lucky reader from the Yuanyuesha publications sold earlier, take photos with them, and give them autographs.
This move was very effective. On the first day of the event, the Yuanyueshe booth was extremely busy. The queues were almost always filled with primary and secondary school students. Watching the primary and secondary school students pick up the Red Eagle with enthusiastic smiles,
, "Sunset on the Battlefield", "Douglas's Goodnight Diary"...
The Yuanyue Society booth was packed with people and was extremely lively. People like Chu Li who came here to help and had nothing to do at the moment had no place to put their feet.
"Has anyone contacted the reporter from G City Morning Post?" Chu Li stood outside the booth and sighed, "This scene is so touching. On the first day of the book fair, the Yuanyue Society booth, which focuses on traditional literature, was filled with elementary and middle school students who were literature enthusiasts. In line with their research on history and humanities, they gave up their weekends to sleep in and rushed to buy positive energy books early in the morning."
"………………Don't laugh at Lao Miao," Ah Xiang stood next to Chu Li, "Yuan Yue Society's book fair hasn't been this lively in the past few years. I think Lao Liang must be so happy that his mouth is crooked."
At this time, a little girl who looked no more than thirteen years old passed by Chu Li holding a thick stack of the complete set of "Cooking Snow and Boiling Wine". Chu Li thought about it and thought that the last time he read this book was because of its beautiful cover. He opened it and found that it was full of dietary therapy methods recorded in ancient texts. He was bored after reading two pages and was forced to put it down...
Chu Li was speechless for a while: "...This kid wants to buy books to cook a New Year's Eve dinner for grandpa to treat his diabetes that has not been cured for many years? Ah Xiang, you say, this is selling books?"
"Oh," Ah Xiang patted Chu Li's shoulder, "Don't worry about it. It's just making money, who doesn't love that?"
The two were muttering and complaining when, at this moment, a young girl wearing a forest girl style long skirt, a neat bun, black framed glasses, and with "I am an editor" written all over her face came out from Xindun Society. She stretched her neck to take a look at the crowded Yuanyue Society, smiled, and turned away.
Chu Li could see the mockery in her eyes even through the crowded aisle—it wasn’t that Chu Li’s eyesight was very good,...it was mainly because of that precise expression that she thought she saw herself.
Chulu dragged Ah Xiang: "Who is that girl?"
Ah Xiang stood on tiptoe and glanced in the direction where Chu Li was pointing: "... Xindun Press's gold medal editor, the future editor-in-chief, Gu Baizhi."
Oh, it's the enemy.
I actually want to stand on the enemy's side in my lifetime.
Chu Li gritted his teeth and said, "Can I go to Xindun and submit my resume now?"
Ah Xiang: "At least I got the year-end bonus from Yuanyue Society before I left."
"..." Chu Li thought for a moment, "That's right."
…
Although in the afternoon, he showed no hesitation in bowing to the five-struggle rice and surrendering to the RMB——
However, that night, Chu Li still called Editor-in-Chief Xia under Zhu Chuan's nose and asked him to stop the "book selling" behavior of the marketing boss and his lackey Lao Miao. At least on January 1st, this "buy books and take photos with cosplayers" activity must be ended.
"The sky is full of elementary school students! There is no place to step. It's not that I look down on elementary school students, they can't even recite "The Memorial to the Emperor on Leaving the Capital", how can they read "Cooking Snow and Drinking Wine"! How can they know what Zhuge Liang is doing with "Red Cliff"!" Chu Li yelled into the phone, "This event must be cancelled on January 1st. "The Book of Luo River" will be released nationwide for the first time on January 1st. Even Herman couldn't ruin the Holy War Day, so how can it be ruined by a few cosplayers who didn't recognize them when they came out, and it was only after Ah Xiang took the lead in shouting out their stage names that the whole audience was shocked?!"
Zhuo Chuan held a spoon in his mouth, one hand supporting his head, the spoon twitching as he watched his editor jumping up and down on the sofa, arguing with the leader of Yuanyue Society like the Monkey King.
"Teacher Xia!"
"The marketing department wants to sell books, but selling the Luo River Divine Book is not selling it?"
"It's not the annual clearance sale! Why invite cosplayers to a book fair? It's not a comic exhibition. Selling books like this is a joke. I saw Gu Baizhi from Xindun Society today. You didn't see the look in his eyes. I didn't know where to put my face!!!"
"I don't care!!!"
"Teacher Xia, I don't care - even if the sky falls, my teacher Zhuochuan wants to sell books!!!"
The six words "My teacher Chuchuan" successfully made the man who was sitting at the dining table scooping ice cream and watching the excitement put down his spoon.
As Chu Li stood barefoot on the sofa, waving his fist angrily at the sky while talking, the man stood up, strode to the sofa, and picked up the person standing on the sofa.
Chu Li was caught off guard and let out a small scream, "Ah!" She lowered her head and lightly brushed the tip of her nose against the tip of the man's nose... She was not sure whether her lips touched him.
The next second, the phone in her hand was snatched away by the man, who held the phone between his shoulders, put Chu Li on her slippers, pushed her towards the ice cream, and then said "Hello" into the phone...
"Teacher Xia? I, Zhao Chuan - Yeah, I didn't go to the book fair. I don't know what happened. In the afternoon, Xiang... Chu Li couldn't wait to come to me after seeing the book fair. I'm afraid that if the situation today is on New Year's Day, it will affect the normal sales of "Luohe Divine Book"..."
Chu Li jumped up and tried to grab the phone, but the man grabbed her head.
Chu Li struggled and waved her hands to push him away, but the man grabbed her chin and pressed her lips with his thumb, stroking and pressing them meaningfully... At the same time, he was talking on the phone seriously, looking at her with a heavy gaze.
The effect is immediate——
Chu Li seemed to be struck by lightning and immediately dared not move.
"Yes, Lao Liang did this. I have been unable to sleep all night because of Herman. Please tell the marketing department that it was me who said: I don't care how you play on weekdays, but don't mess with me on New Year's Day, otherwise we won't cooperate in the future."
After Zhuochuan finished speaking, he exchanged a few more pleasantries and hung up the phone.
Put the cell phone under Chu Li's nose.
"It's done. You won't see any cosplayers on New Year's Day."
Chu Li took the phone.
"What if..."
"Just in case, tell Liang Chonglang tomorrow that I will be at the book fair that day."
"Aren't you going to come?"
"Change your mind, let's set off firecrackers. Don't you want to spend New Year's Day with me?" The man walked back to the table, picked up the ice cream spoon again, and said nonchalantly, "Just sell your books. I'm here, and there won't be any trouble."