Chapter 84: Pt.1

Murong Shi had saved some souvenirs Linda brought back from Malaysia for Ange, and she told Xu Chuanchuan to send them to the other party.

So, Xu Chuanchuan contacted Ange and asked her for her address.

Ange: "Since when is she so kind as to send me something? Don't tell me she's sending me □□?! [Horrified]"

After the Gourd Baby video incident, Murong Shi and Ange had once more become mortal enemies. With Murong Shi's temper, Xu Chuanchuan was quite worried that her lover would act on her threat and flood Ange with point reductions. However, facts had later proven that it didn't happen.

Ange had also realized that she had gone a little too far with her prank. So, when she heard that Murong Shi was sending her gifts, she couldn't help but be wary.

Based on what she knew of Murong Shi's and Ange's personalities, Xu Chuanchuan guessed that the two might never reconcile in this lifetime. However, there was nothing she could do about this situation, either. When she saw Ange's message, she also didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

If it really were a □□, then the courier wouldn't even dare to pick up the package.

To appease Ange's worries, Xu Chuanchuan opened the parcel, took pictures of its contents, and forwarded them to Ange. "All of it is foodstuff. I'll personally pass the parcel to the courier if that makes you happy."

Ange: "That's more like it."

After receiving Ange's address, Xu Chuanchuan promptly placed an order through her phone, setting the collection time at 9 AM tomorrow.

Murong Shi was currently showering. Xu Chuanchuan had also just finished writing a chapter. With nothing better to do, she started chatting with Ange.

Ange: "This new book of yours is quite successful. Both the review and bookmark counts are rapidly rising. It might even become a big hit."

Xu Chuanchuan wasn't hoping for her new book to become a huge success. She only wanted to write it to the best of her abilities.

Unlike in the past, the story this time wasn't something Xu Chuanchuan made out of thin air. Instead, the story was based on the actual emotional experience between herself and Murong Shi. Hence, the story held extraordinary significance to her.

During the first few days of publication, Xu Chuanchuan worried that her writing was poor and that nobody would want to read it. However, she was also concerned that too many people would read the book. After all, once the number of readers increased to a certain point, there were bound to be haters and trolls appearing among them. She did not wish to see others badmouthing her and Murong Shi's story.

However, after putting more thought into the matter, Xu Chuanchuan realized that a commercial publication was like a dish served at a restaurant, and the readers were the customers. The customers would be the king so long as they spent money in the restaurant, and they had more than enough qualifications to leave a good or bad comment on the dish's taste.

Meanwhile, on jjwxc's platform, only authors who chose not to monetize their novels had the qualifications to reject negative comments and reviews.

Suddenly, Xu Chuanchuan felt that she had been a little too reckless when starting this book.

…

At night, Xu Chuanchuan tossed and turned on the bed, unable to fall asleep. Her actions even woke up Murong Shi. Unable to quell the anxiety in her heart, Xu Chuanchuan ended up venting to Murong Shi regarding the matter that had been troubling her for the past few days. "Do you think it's a bad idea for us to sell our story for money?"

"How is it a bad idea?" Murong Shi asked in a sleepy tone.

Xu Chuanchuan smothered her face against Murong Shi's breasts. After seemingly regaining her sense of safety, she mumbled, "The relationship between couples should be pure and beautiful, yet I'm using our story to pander to my readers and make money. Isn't this a type of blasphemy?"

Murong Shi's body heated up from Xu Chuanchuan's actions. After regaining most of her consciousness, she lifted her chin and looked into Xu Chuanchuan's eyes, saying, "Even the purest of relationships will need to be established on a material basis. Writing is your job, and you work hard every day to write this story. Shouldn't you be rewarded for your efforts?"

Xu Chuanchuan blinked her eyes in a daze.

"Only a fool would refuse money when offered. So long as you're not tricking or stealing from people, what problem is there?"

Xu Chuanchuan found Murong Shi's words to be reasonable. After being successfully brainwashed, Xu Chuanchuan mechanically nodded and said, "There's no problem."

"You're relying on your skills to make money. Who would dare criticize you for doing so?" Murong Shi said before kissing Xu Chuanchuan on the forehead. Then, while gently massaging the crease in her lover's forehead, Murong Shi continued, "Don't overthink things."

"Mhm."

Xu Chuanchuan couldn't help but find herself to be hypocritical. Even though she was a pauper, she was still pretending to be high-minded.

Xu Chuanchuan could only write around 100,000 words a month, and she planned to write around 400,000 words for this story. Working four months for nothing was simply an unrealistic situation. She would even lose money from the endeavor because of the electricity fees for powering her computer.

After their brief therapy session, Xu Chuanchuan felt her tensions disappearing. Then, rubbing her droopy eyes, she said, "Then, I'll stick to collecting money. Otherwise, I'll be stressed out if I have to face my creditor every day—Uu—"

Murong Shi pinched Xu Chuanchuan's lips shut. Then, pretending to be upset, she said, "What 'creditor?' It's 'wife.'"

In response, Xu Chuanchuan pulled Murong Shi's hand away and grinned, saying, "Alright, my wife! Let's sleep!"

…

Swiftly typing away at her keyboard, Xu Chuanchuan sent a message to Ange, saying: "My bookmark count increased by 500 after your Weibo advertisement. Your readers are too wonderful. I love you~"

Xu Chuanchuan had only remembered to advertise her new book on Weibo three days after its publication. Meanwhile, as her good friend, Ange had immediately shared the post on her own Weibo, which increased the book's reach significantly.

Ange: "What are you thanking me for? The readers aren't fools. They only decided to bookmark your book because it's good. If it's a terrible book, no amount of promotion will be useful. Not to mention, many of my Weibo followers are also your followers."

Xu Chuanchuan: "ヽ(￣▽￣)"

The new book was already on its fifth chapter, and Xu Chuanchuan would receive over a hundred comments every day. While she was indeed joyful over this wonderful reception, she also couldn't help but feel embarrassed whenever she read some of the comments.

Although Xu Chuanchuan did not mention even once in her book that the story was about her real-life experience, many people still saw the message "Passerby Shi" left in the group chat. And since Murong Shi had requested the group members not to mention this matter in the group chat, the group members had switched to discussing in the book's comment section.

However, no matter what her readers asked, Xu Chuanchuan chose not to reply to any of them. Instead, she tried to silence them by offering red packets through the system.

While chatting with Ange, Xu Chuanchuan had sent out over 200 red packets in batches. After their conversation came to an end, she exited jjwxc's website, turned off her computer, and laid down on the bed.

As soon as Xu Chuanchuan's body hit the bed, her phone suddenly vibrated. It turned out that Ange had sent her another message, asking: "Do you still plan on doing a physical publication for the previous book?"

Whenever Xu Chuanchuan completed a book, she would seek out the local printing service to make a physical publication of the book and host a giveaway to thank her readers. It had already been half a month since she concluded her previous book. She had also published the side stories and marked the book as "Completed" a few days ago. However, as she had been too hasty in starting her latest book, she had completely forgotten about the last book's physical publication.

Xu Chuanchuan: "I am. I'll get it done this weekend."

Ange: "Do you need some art? I know a girl who can do it for free."

Xu Chuanchuan: "For free? Really?!"

Ange: "She's one of my readers. She's currently learning art and looking for character settings to practice her skills."

Xu Chuanchuan: "How is her art?"

Ange: "[Image][Image][Image]She drew these for me. I think they're not bad."

The three images were finished products, and Xu Chuanchuan found them to be more than satisfactory. So, she replied without hesitation: "Okay."

Ange: "Her QQ number is ********. Add her and talk to her about the details."

Xu Chuanchuan: "Okay!"

When Murong Shi returned from the bathroom, she saw Xu Chuanchuan lazily leaning on the whale bolster while fiddling with her phone. So, she reminded, "Your turn to shower."

"Give me a minute," Xu Chuanchuan answered without lifting her head.

Seeing the mesmerized look on her lover's face, Murong Shi walked over and skeptically looked at Xu Chuanchuan's phone, only to find that Xu Chuanchuan was chatting with someone.

"Is it Tang Xin again?" Murong Shi asked, pretending not to care.

"Nope, it's a freshman little sister."

"Little sister?" Murong Shi's eyebrows twitched. "Since when did you hook up with a little sister?"

Xu Chuanchuan stopped tapping away at her phone and looked up. While staring into Murong Shi's dark eyes, she smiled and said, "What do you mean 'hook up?' She's an artist, and I'm asking her for some cover art."

Murong Shi's expression lightened up. Then, she urged Xu Chuanchuan to go to shower once more.

Xu Chuanchuan got out of bed barefooted and went to look for a change of clothes. While fumbling through the closet, she said, "This girl's art style is rather old-fashioned. My work is in a modern setting, so I feel that she isn't particularly interested. I used to have a reader who is very good at drawing as well. The characters she draws are adorable, and they give off a warm and sweet feeling. It's a pity that she stopped reading my books. Even her Weibo has gone silent."

"Is she the one who helped you draw the cover of the six previous books?" Murong Shi asked.

"That's her," Xu Chuanchuan said while picking up a pair of underwear. Then, she tilted her head and continued, "If I'm not mistaken, I think she's studying in England... Oh!"

Xu Chuanchuan's sudden exclamation gave Murong Shi a scare, and she even nearly dropped the towel she held. Then, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"I suddenly remembered something. Some time ago, someone messaged me on Weibo saying that the girl who did my cover art is her ex. That person wanted to collect her ex's art, so she offered to buy a copy of those six books back then. That person's story moved me, so I just gave her those six books for free," Xu Chuanchuan said. "Give me a second. I'll check my message log; it should still be there."

"Don't bother," Murong Shi said as she pulled Xu Chuanchuan toward her.

"It'll be quick," Xu Chuanchuan stated.

However, Murong Shi did not release Xu Chuanchuan as she said, "You don't need to check. I know who you're talking about."

Surprised, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "How can you know?"

"The person who did your cover art is Fang Qin's ex, while Fang Qin was the person who asked for your books."

"For real?!" Xu Chuanchuan exclaimed with widened eyes.

"Fang Qin has previously been living in England," Murong Shi said. After a slight pause, she continued, "Her ex wanted to study abroad, so Fang Qin abandoned her work and family to accompany the girl. Three years later, that girl dumped her."

"..." Xu Chuanchuan remembered Murong Shi telling her this story before. Only, she never thought that there would be so many coincidences in this world.

"Fang Qin is a foolish woman..." Murong Shi said with a bitter smile. "At the time, she had just returned to the country and dared not meet with her parents. So, she hid in my family's house for some time. The address of the parcel you sent her is my family's house. The phone number she gave you is also mine."

A lot of time had passed since that incident, so Xu Chuanchuan couldn't remember the details of that time clearly. However, she could still remember that the woman asking her for the books at the time lived in the same city and same district as she did. Back then, she had even made sure to take a few extra glances at the other party's information.

Nevertheless, Xu Chuanchuan had been careless. Had she known that the provided phone number belonged to Murong Shi, she could've simply called it and exposed Murong Shi. Then, she wouldn't be kept in the dark.

After hearing Xu Chuanchuan voice her reflections, Murong Shi raised an eyebrow and said, "I wouldn't have answered even if you called me."

Xu Chuanchuan snorted in response. Then, she suddenly remembered something as she asked, "The first time I sent books to you, I called the number you gave me to test your identity. Why was there a cat's cry back then?"

Murong Shi: "..."

Leaning closer to Murong Shi, Xu Chuanchuan looked up and said, "It was you pretending to be a cat, wasn't it?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Murong Shi said with a straight face.

"Wah—You still have the cheek to pretend? Do you think I don't have evidence?"

"What evidence?" Murong Shi asked with a raised brow.

Murong Shi's question stumped Xu Chuanchuan. She had been so nervous back then that she had forgotten to make a voice recording!

Then, Xu Chuanchuan straightened her neck and said, "I might not have evidence, but I know you're pretending! You even lied to me, saying that it was your cat!"

Murong Shi smiled but did not speak.

"You were the cat, weren't you? Let me strip you down and see if you're a human or a cat!"

In response, Murong Shi spread out her arms and generously said, "Come. You're welcome to do so."

Xu Chuanchuan immediately approached Murong Shi. However, before her hands touched Murong Shi's skin, she stopped. She had been using her keyboard and phone just now, so she couldn't bear to place her dirty hands on Murong Shi's pristine skin. After letting out a snort, she said, "Hmph. I'll take care of you once I've showered."

Smiling, Murong Shi said, "I'll wait for you."