Official Announcement
You didn’t sign?
On the first day of renting, Lu Zhenqiu accompanied Jin Shuilan to watch eight episodes of a TV drama, and all her dreams were about Chen Shimei. The second night, she ate cake with Jin Shuilan, and the two played games until past eleven. Her dreams were filled with gaming. When she woke up to get a glass of water from the kitchen, she saw a sliver of light from the study door and heard the sound of a keyboard.
Jin Shuilan wasn’t using a mechanical keyboard, so the sound wasn’t very loud. But in the quiet of the deep night, it was still clearly audible. Lu Zhenqiu guessed her typing speed must be quite fast. She used to be on voice calls1 with Tang Yingxia late at night, and Tang Yingxia would always be typing. Later, Tang Yingxia said that voice calls affected her train of thought and speed. She wondered if Yu Wen had the same problem when they were on calls?
Lu Zhenqiu pressed her lips together, put down her water cup, and tiptoed back to her room. She figured Jin Shuilan was working and didn’t want to disturb her. As she passed the study, a voice came from inside, “Zhenqiu?”
It was Jin Shuilan calling her.
Lu Zhenqiu walked to the study door and said apologetically, “Sorry, Teacher Jin, I got up for a drink of water. Did I disturb you?”
Jin Shuilan pulled open the study door.
She was wearing oversized, beige cotton pajamas. Jin Shuilan was slender and tall. Her long hair was pinned up at the back with a pen. Perhaps she had scratched her head while typing, as her beautiful hair was a bit messy, and her bangs drooped slightly, obscuring the light in her eyes. She exuded an air of languid casualness. Lu Zhenqiu peeked over her shoulder into the study.
The study was large, almost the size of a bedroom, with two rows of bookshelves nearly full of books. Lu Zhenqiu’s sharp eyes noticed that one entire row was filled with Jin Shuilan’s own books.
She suddenly remembered that when Jin Shuilan published her first book, eighty thousand specially signed copies2 sold out in the first half hour, stunning the magazine publisher’s editors. Later, another hundred thousand-plus copies were added. After that, Jin Shuilan rarely did specially signed editions, probably because she was tired of signing. Now, her specially signed books had become collector’s items, very hard to buy.
Lu Zhenqiu had bought a set before. Later, when Hua Luo visited her, she loved it so much she had to touch it every time she came over. Once, for Hua Luo’s birthday, Lu Zhenqiu gave it to her as a gift.
It was that very first book she had bought.
Jin Shuilan followed her gaze to the bookshelf behind her and asked, “What are you looking at?”
Lu Zhenqiu snapped back to reality, offering a polite smile. “Teacher Jin, you have a lot of books.”
Jin Shuilan nodded. “They’re all just miscellaneous books. If you like, you can pick some out to read.”
Lu Zhenqiu said, “Thank you, Teacher Jin.”
However, she didn’t step inside, remaining where she stood. Jin Shuilan lowered her eyes to Lu Zhenqiu’s feet. She was wearing light-colored open-toed slippers, her toes exposed. Perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed, her toes kept curling and uncurling as she spoke, which was incredibly cute.
Seeing this, Jin Shuilan felt the stifling feeling caused by Lu Zhenqiu’s courteous distance lessen slightly. She asked, “Can’t sleep?”
“I just woke up.” Lu Zhenqiu wasn’t lying. She had taken cold medicine before bed, so she got sleepy easily. It was just that her mouth was dry in the middle of the night; she wondered if it was from eating too much cake.
Jin Shuilan nodded. “Then go back and rest early.”
Lu Zhenqiu felt a sense of relief. “Then Teacher Jin, you should also rest early.”
Jin Shuilan looked at her for two seconds. “Okay.”
Lu Zhenqiu left the study doorway and returned to her room. Maomao followed her in and lay down beside her bed, as if protecting her. Lu Zhenqiu rubbed Maomao’s head and snuggled close.
She didn’t dream for the rest of the night, but she could occasionally hear the sound of keyboard clicks from next door. It seemed Jin Shuilan hadn’t slept all night. The next day, when Lu Zhenqiu woke up, Jin Shuilan was already gone. She didn’t know what Jin Shuilan had gone out to do, perhaps for a morning walk, so she sent Jin Shuilan a message.
【Teacher Jin, did you go for a walk?】
Then she sent another: 【I just wanted to ask, should I make breakfast for you too?】
Jin Shuilan was sitting in a conference room. The meeting hadn’t started yet. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot, and she kept rubbing her head, listening to Zhao Siran3 on the phone. It was a bit noisy around, and coupled with her lack of sleep last night, her face was cold. Her eyes were slightly downcast, her jawline tense, and she exuded an unapproachable4 aura, cold and distant.
Even the editor who had worked with her several times couldn’t help but gulp at her appearance, inching their seat back, afraid of getting frostbitten.
“What did they say?” the editor whispered to a colleague beside them. The colleague was in charge of graphic design and page layout. The graphic artist muttered, “What could they say? Look at Teacher Jin’s attitude, she seems angry.”
The editor said, “Nonsense, how could she not be angry? If it weren’t for the fact that we’ve worked with Teacher Jin a few times, believe it or not, a lawyer’s letter would have already arrived.”
The graphic designer shivered upon hearing this.
That was something Jin Shuilan was capable of doing.
This person’s mood was notoriously unpredictable, with many rules, and she was extremely fussy5. But she was undeniably talented, the kind of person blessed by the heavens6, a true natural. When their magazine first signed Jin Shuilan’s baihe novel, many peers in the industry had scoffed, thinking they were crazy. How much money could baihe publishing make?
When the sales figures came out, their peers were dumbfounded, and even they themselves were astonished. Because of the specially signed editions, that book sold 200,000 copies the first time. After a re-release, the special signing period was changed to ten minutes, and it still sold over a hundred thousand copies. Then, a third re-release, with a five-minute special signing, sold another hundred thousand-plus. It was said that for those two years, Jin Shuilan did nothing but sign books. After that, her other published works no longer had specially signed editions, and even personally signed copies were rare. Despite this, her sales figures still left everyone else in the dust7, ranking alongside top romance and BL (danmei) Great Gods8. Fans often joked about “One Circle, Three Gods”9.
The “circle” naturally referred to the author community. Jin Shuilan’s cliff-like sales figures made her peers die of envy. That first time was just testing the waters, so the royalties offered weren’t high, which led to their magazine making a fortune. Over the next two years, they successively collaborated on publishing several new books. This time, they were negotiating for a book Jin Shuilan hadn’t even written yet, the film rights for which had already been sold. Several publishing houses were eager to make a move, all offering an upfront payment plus royalties. Typically, publishing deals were based on the first print run volume multiplied by the royalty rate, but Jin Shuilan was different; she also received an upfront payment, which was additional money.
This time, the upfront payment offered to Jin Shuilan was six million, plus a first print run of one hundred thousand copies and an eighteen percent royalty rate.
In the industry, such an offer was unprecedented. Their magazine, emboldened by the massive profit from last time, had the confidence. Other competitors had all backed out10, retreating when they saw these terms. So, the boss had gotten arrogant, actually proposing to deduct four percentage points from the royalties before signing, offering only a fourteen percent royalty rate.
When they heard this news, their minds went blank. They could imagine Jin Shuilan’s reaction. Sure enough, when they opened the conference room door this morning, Jin Shuilan was sitting at the table with a frosty expression, not saying a word. The sheer pressure in the room was suffocating.
Jin Shuilan tapped her fingers on the conference table. “Have you reached a conclusion?”
The editor-in-chief was Zhao Siran. She had worked with Jin Shuilan several times and was her initial liaison editor. In the previous two years, she had practically lived across from Jin Shuilan to chase manuscripts, watching her write. So, their relationship was a bit better than with others.
Zhao Siran shook her head. “I haven’t been able to contact the boss.”
The boss probably knew Jin Shuilan wouldn’t be happy, so she’d dropped the contract and casually left11, leaving Zhao Siran to clean up this mess. Zhao Siran grimaced. Her relationship with Jin Shuilan was indeed good, but a four-point reduction? It was obviously impossible! They might as well kill her; it would be quicker!
Other publishing houses were offering twenty percent royalties; it was just that their upfront payments weren’t as high as theirs, which was why Jin Shuilan had chosen them. If it was really going to be a fourteen percent royalty rate, why would she choose their magazine?
Jin Shuilan wasn’t a philanthropist!
Jin Shuilan glanced at her, her tapping fingers pausing. The hearts of the others in the meeting tightened. An editor who had been about to speak swallowed their words, their face flushing red.
“Then we won’t sign,” Jin Shuilan said and stood up. Zhao Siran quickly called out, “Teacher Jin…”
Jin Shuilan turned her head. Zhao Siran forced a smile. “Let’s talk about it some more.”
If Jin Shuilan walked out of the magazine publisher today, and their competitors found out they hadn’t managed to sign her, not only would the magazine become a laughingstock, but their competitors would likely be unable to sit still either. Jin Shuilan looked sideways. “Talk about what? That we haven’t seen each other for a few days, so you think I’ve suddenly become a Buddha12? Reducing it by four points? How? Fourteen percent royalties? You really think I’m some kind of Bodhisattva13, unconcerned with worldly matters14?”
With every sentence she spoke, Zhao Siran’s shoulders shrank a little. The boss was too ruthless. If it were one or two points lower, they could still negotiate. Four points? That was just wishful thinking, a fool’s dream!
Zhao Siran said, “Don’t be anxious. Did you stay up all night rushing your manuscript again?”
Jin Shuilan’s eyes were slightly red, and she had faint dark circles, clearly indicating a lack of sleep. Zhao Siran said, “Go to the break room and rest for a bit. I’ll go to the boss’s house to find her!”
No matter what, she had to get this contract signed today, Zhao Siran thought.
Jin Shuilan hadn’t slept all night. She had come in this morning intending to sign the contract and go home to sleep. Who knew this hiccup would occur? Hearing Zhao Siran’s words, she nodded. Zhao Siran stood up and said, “I’ll take you to the break room.”
The break room had a beanbag chair15, just right for lying down. Zhao Siran followed her into the break room and said to the others, “You can go back to work for now.”
After the others left, Zhao Siran settled Jin Shuilan in. Just as she was about to turn around, Jin Shuilan’s phone beeped twice. She looked down and saw Lu Zhenqiu’s message asking if she wanted an extra portion of breakfast. A visible gentleness spread across Jin Shuilan’s features, the sharpness in her eyes lessened, and her entire aura suddenly changed. Zhao Siran, curious, glanced a couple more times but ultimately didn’t dare to ask, instead quietly closing the break room door and leaving.
Jin Shuilan lay on the beanbag chair and replied to Lu Zhenqiu: 【I’m in a meeting outside. You can have breakfast by yourself.】
Lu Zhenqiu received Jin Shuilan’s message while she was making breakfast. Maomao was on the balcony eating dog food. She sent Jin Shuilan a sticker and then put down her phone. After finishing breakfast, she carried it to the balcony. The window was half-open, the sunlight warm, and the breeze gentle. As she ate, she looked down at the bustling crowds on the road not far away. The sound of Maomao chewing his food beside her gave her a sense of belonging and peace at this moment.
It used to take a long time living in a place to feel this way, but she had only moved in three days ago, and she already loved it here.
After breakfast, Lu Zhenqiu went to work on her script. Her voice was mostly better. She set up all her equipment and started recording. Although Jin Shuilan wasn’t home, she still closed the door tightly. Her voice filled the room. She hadn’t recorded a script in two years, and it took a while to get back into the groove. She recorded for two hours straight before finally finding her rhythm. By the time she managed to record a short audition piece, it was already noon. Lu Zhenqiu sent the recorded file to Ji Zibo. A few seconds later, she received a message. She thought it was from Ji Zibo, but it turned out to be from Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu: 【You didn’t sign?】
The question came out of nowhere16. Lu Zhenqiu typed: 【What?】
Xiao Yu: 【Sanshui Platform! Didn’t you sign with them?】
Lu Zhenqiu frowned: 【I did.】
Xiao Yu sent a link: 【Why isn’t your name in the official announcement?】
Lu Zhenqiu clicked the link. It was a Weibo official announcement, listing four newly signed streamers. There was only one new streamer in the entertainment section, named Lou Yifeng17. Lu Zhenqiu read the Weibo post twice but didn’t see her name or photo.
The author has something to say:
Thanks for waiting, thirty red envelopes, muah~
This book is a Mary Sue18-ish slice-of-life19. Qiuqiu just broke up, so winning her over will take some time and will develop alongside her career plotline. Regarding updates: I’ll be taking weekends off. For other days, updates will be as usual at 8 PM, with occasional bonus chapters.
LP: Leave Qiuqiu alone!
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