Chapter 4

The person on the other side of the iron railing took a step back... with her face, which still bore the devastation of a landslide, and her shattered worldview.

The initial greeting was calm as "The gentle and jade-like gentleman Chuan seems to be really different from what was promised." "Besides being an actor, he is also a fox." "Let me tell you a joke, I once had a spring dream featuring myself and Zhou Chuan as the main characters." Amidst the chaos of the wind, it took her over ten seconds to realize what she was actually there for. Thus, she steeled herself and returned to lean against the iron gate, her face filled with sincerity as she said to the person on the other side, who was probably angry due to just waking up: "No, teacher, please listen to me..."

Initial greeting: `` ? ''

Initial Greeting : `` ... ... ''

I wonder if resigning after just the first day of work will make me the first person to break the historical record of Yuan Yue Society

Before I had the chance to put on a look of regret and say, "Is that so?", Lao Miao suddenly clapped his hands as if he had just remembered something: "Since we mentioned Zhuchuan earlier, I happen to have a contract here that needs his signature urgently. You understand that our relationship is quite tense..."

Chuli rang the doorbell while trying to tiptoe and peek through the large iron gate. In the anxious wait, the one who came to open the door was an Alaskan sled dog, standing at about the same height as Chuli. The large dog stood up, leaning against the door, its ears flopped back and its tail wagging, with its entire face squeezed through the gap in the iron gate. When Chuli reached out to scratch its forehead, the dog's tail wagged so vigorously it seemed like it might fall off. Chuli spoke to the dog in a sweet voice, "Little darling, where is your daddy? Where is your daddy? Call your daddy to come and open the door!" The dog's ears flopped back and its tail wagged, with its entire face squeezed through the gap in the iron gate. When Chuli reached out to scratch its forehead, the dog's tail wagged so vigorously it seemed like it might fall off. Chuli spoke to the dog in a sweet voice, "Little darling, where is your daddy? Where is your daddy? Call your daddy to come and open the door!"

Then, Chuli heard a deep, hoarse male voice filled with drowsiness coming from the nearby voice call system: "Its name is Er Gou, not Xiao Guai Guai. I am not its father, but its older brother. Who is outside the door?"

Lao Miao: "Although I am taking care of Zhou Chuan, our relationship has been a bit tense recently"

The Vanished Mr. L: You will encounter more in the future

The Eighteen Styles of Longyang

Initial Greeting : `` ... ... ''

The fox is the daytime river

Initial greeting: "... ... I don't know, four hundred and fifty thousand?"

Owe to be blacklisted

The man's voice is characterized by a strong nasal tone

Standing outside the gate, Chuli was dumbfounded for a few seconds, and it was only then that he realized he hadn't even had the chance to have the contract slapped in his face by Zhouchuan before being turned away at the door

The second day

Chuli realized that she was very wrong

The water army summoned by the monkey: Oh

However, since the magazine has entrusted her with this task, she will carry it out well

Not every prominent figure in this circle is a two-faced lunatic

Zhou Chuan disdainfully curled the corner of his lips: "I won't listen."

... ...

The entire editorial department fell silent once again

Chuli could hardly conceal the excitement in her heart. She patted the head of the large dog named "Ergou" and cleared her throat to feign calmness: "Is this Teacher Zhou Chuan? Hello, I am Chuli, the new editor of the 'Moonlight' magazine from Yuanyue Society. I am here today to deliver the publication contract for 'The Book of the River God'..."

请问！

Old Miao paused for a moment, turned around, and coldly laughed: "What do you think it should be?"

This is not acceptable

Eighty thousand

Inside the door, at this very moment, it is Teacher Zhouchuan who is speaking to her

What if right now, everyone in the office except for the two of us is looking at me with the sympathetic gaze one would reserve for a corpse that has already gone cold

Initial Greeting : `` ... ... ''

The doorbell has been ringing for a long time

What position does the last sentence come from? A man towards a woman? After knowing each other for three years, are you finally going to start an online romance with me?

It is Teacher Zhou Chuan

Initial Greeting : `` ... ... ''

Chuli, unable to withstand the impact of conflicting values, could not suppress the wildness within her heart. While selecting and saving submission information from emails, she engaged in an in-depth discussion with Q and L about the inconsistency between an author's public persona and private behavior. Upholding professional ethics, she refrained from revealing that this particularly uninhibited author was Zhouchuan, merely complaining about a certain deity: adorable on Weibo, but quite different in private.

Zhou Chuan's words remained unspoken

... ... and so on! '' With a firm grip on the iron gate, `` you cannot treat a lady this way. ''

Initial Greeting : `` ... ... ''

Zhou Chuan A: "If you praise me like this, I will feel embarrassed—I'm afraid that if I don't hold a signing event, you might be disappointed to see a nerd, and what if that hurts your youthful hearts?"

The Disappearing Mr. L: Wasn't that a living example you encountered that day, the one who was throwing a tantrum in the editorial department?

The door of the closed small duplex villa finally swung open with a bang

Zhu Chuan's house, purchased in City G, is located in a seemingly expensive upscale community near the city center, where visitors are required to register. According to the address provided by Lao Miao, Chu Li found the corresponding house number. Upon looking up, she saw a detached duplex villa with a yard. Standing outside the door, she fell silent for a moment, thinking of her own 40-square-meter doghouse that required an hour and a half commute to work. She had no idea how many lifetimes of hard work it would take for her to afford a house like this.

Wang

What kind of ghost is Longyang! Have you seen it! I am still pushing the cart, you know!

Harry Potter is not from 1913 either

... ...

Lao Miao set down the bag and assumed a look that suggested he found the initial ceremony quite interesting: "So, can you guess what the monthly print run of 'Moonlight' magazine is?"

Initial Greeting : `` ... ... ''

Oh

Initial greeting: "Ah..."

At this moment, the man approached the iron gate with a murderous aura: "I wrote until four o'clock in the morning last night! I was woken up at ten-thirty this morning! As if waking up wasn't enough, I had to be humiliated with a first print quantity of forty-five thousand! Forty-five thousand! What sin have I committed! Forty-five thousand! Compared to the thirty-two thousand last time, this is indeed a sincere increase of thirteen thousand! Do you really think I am begging for alms at the Yuan Yue Society!" Compared to the thirty-two thousand last time, this is indeed a sincere increase of thirteen thousand! Do you really think I am begging for alms at the Yuan Yue Society!

... ...

Awkward

The Disappeared Mr. L: You also mentioned Weibo, right? Weibo is just a platform for pretending to be a good person

The author of "The Little White Lotus in My Heart" by the monkey's summoned water army is also a very nice person, and I have loved him for ten years

Old Miao: "Initial greeting."

Old Miao: "This number has already become synonymous with 'bestselling magazines', so welcome to the publishing industry. Our goal is to strive for success even in decline, to shine brightly even in the sunset"

... ...

"What a big deal, that is how readers address authors, more professionally, editors should call authors 'Teacher'." Old Miao had already quickly written down a series of addresses and stuffed them into her hand during the few seconds of initial surprise. Upon hearing the question, she immediately smiled, "Yes, isn't it very happy?"

With a determination to face death, Chuli repeatedly pressed the doorbell of the Zhouchuan family, not willing to give up. Er Gou, inside, was anxiously jumping around, wanting Chuli to come in and scratch its ears... Thus, both the person and the dog completely shattered the tranquility of the morning. When Chuli pressed the doorbell for the tenth time, Er Gou was shaking the iron gate, making a clattering sound, and the neighbors might have already picked up the phone to call the police.

... ...

There was a moment of silence by the doorbell

Teacher, are you suffering from a cold

The initial greeting in the midst of copying and pasting: "Ah?"

Old Miao's cold smile at the corner of his lips became clearer: "Child, it is now the year 2013, not 1913. With a print run of 450,000 copies, do you think this is 'Harry Potter' that would make the boss mortgage his underwear to the printing house?"

Turn the contract to the first page

Chuli silently copied and pasted "Hello, you can send your submissions to this email, thank you (≧ ω ≦)!!!" to another lost little cutie. ... ... In fact, Chuli really wanted to tell L-kun that she actually wanted to go to "Star Tracks"; at least the submission email for a magazine like "Star Tracks," which is aimed at older adults, shouldn't have so many utterly ridiculous and mind-numbingly silly submissions.

Lao Miao: "How about you make a trip for external duties tomorrow morning to ensure he signs it? Recently, for the past month, Zhou Chuan has been vacationing in our city, which also gives you, as a newcomer, a chance to familiarize yourself with the author. This will be beneficial for you to share the workload with me in the future..."

Initial Greeting : `` ... ... ''

rather than

I never expected that in my lifetime I would be able to say something to the great master other than "Master, I really like your writing." What should I say? "Teacher, I love you so much, even though you are an actor"?

[The Disappeared L: Look at your fragile appearance, how can you survive in this predatory circle? Come on, just resign, Brother L will take care of you]

Reader Q: "If Zhu Chuan is so good and has such a nice voice, he must be very handsome, right? It's really a pity that he doesn't come out for book signings and is so mysterious! I've heard people say that he is extremely tall!"

The Disappeared Mr. L: Don't you still have that little white lotus? Isn't your greatest love still Zhi Chuan? How can you be so fickle? Who are you?

Chuli glanced at the folder in her hand, on the cover were the large characters "Publication Contract for the Book of the River God"—Chuli was momentarily taken aback, and only then did she seem to regain her ability to speak, asking: "Me? To find Lord Zhouchuan?"

First print volume, read.

The Vanished Mr. L: Do not worry, you still have the gentle deity in your heart: Chuchuan

... Not to mention which deity the mad fox is, based on the current lineup of authors from the "Moonlight" editorial department, no deity can surpass Zhouchuan ... Therefore, Chuli is worried that when she hands the contract to Zhouchuan, he will immediately throw the contract back at her face upon seeing the initial print run.

Er Gou, see off the guests

It is Zhouchuan

... ...

It is a fox

Initial Greeting : `` ... ... ''

Initial greeting: "Old seedling."

I should have been quite happy, after all, I am one step closer to my signed photo

Initial Greeting : `` ... ... ''

Chuli wiped her face, having to accept the fact that this moment seemed to be the beginning of a nightmare—she was not foolish; she could easily understand with just a thought that what Laomiao said about the recent unpleasantness between him and Zhouchuan was all a ruse. If there truly was any unpleasantness, it could only be attributed to the "45,000 initial prints" stated in this broken contract.

The readers' girlish hearts are indeed girlish hearts, but what about me? What about me?

The fox is a diurnal creature

After all, a deity like Zhuochuan

Teacher, please come out and slap the contract on my face!

Chuli watched in silence as Lao Miao pulled a folder from the very bottom of a large pile of documents, at which point she could only extend her hand like a mute and take the folder.

God damn it, my greatest love is Zhouchuan

This uncle fox, dressed in Crayon Shin-chan pajamas, is the gentle and refined Young Master Chuan

forty-five thousand

This is not what was agreed upon regarding the daytime river

In a moment of deep emotion and excitement, Chu Li pressed the doorbell with a sincere heart

Initial Greeting : `` ... ... ''

At the moment the closing bell rang, Chu Li turned off the computer and stood up. She glanced down at the publishing contract in her hand, which was awaiting the favor of the esteemed Chuchuan. After a moment of hesitation, Chu Li picked it up and opened it to take a look, only to find that the initial print run was forty-five thousand—only forty-five thousand?

The sound of my shattered youthful heart

Chuli opened Zhouchuan's Weibo again and carefully read through his posts. On Weibo, Zhouchuan's style is as follows

After getting up, I took a shower and dried my hair. Chuli left the house with a folder.

Great author, wealthy, has time, lives elegantly, a winner in life

The man wrinkled his nose, revealing a familiar air of arrogant provocation, but at that moment, his voice, affected by a cold, carried a heavy nasal tone, which somewhat diminished his authority: "What is it?"

Old Seedling : `` ... ... ''

Waking up to the alarm in the morning, with bleary eyes, I caught a glimpse of the contract from Teacher Zhuchuan placed beside my pillow last night. Suddenly, I recalled the roar I heard from the editorial department that day: "Thirty-two thousand copies for printing, do you think I'm begging for alms?"

Initial Greeting: "Did you hear any sound?"

Initial Greeting : `` ... ... ''

At first, she was taken aback, only then realizing that the call button on the doorbell had been activated at some unknown time. The man's hoarse voice in the early morning made her blush. No wonder some people say that just by listening to his voice, one would think that Zhouchuan is quite a handsome guy

"Over eight hundred thousand?"

Only the esteemed Elder Zhuochuan is mad

At the eleventh ring of the doorbell, I paused, watching as a tall man dressed in a Crayon Shin-chan cartoon pajamas quickly walked out of the house. Despite his messy hair, dark circles under his eyes, and a slightly reddened nose due to a cold, he wore slippers and appeared unkempt and pale, yet his handsome essence remained undeniable

Have you opened it

The mad lion, the arrogant fox, from Kyogoku Natsuhiko to "Longyang Eighteen Styles"

Are you very free

I do not understand

The eyelids inadvertently lifted, and those brown eyes coldly fixed on the person on the other side of the iron railing, whose expression was one of utter devastation.

The monkeys' hired water army: I won't tell you... Forget it, please do not mention any author, it gives me a headache

After the continuation of the Silkworm Goddess, Chuli's worldview was once again subjected to a series of blows in a short period of time, leaving her feeling somewhat dazed: the Zhouchuan in her mind was not like this

Remove the teens

No lady would humiliate me with a print run of forty-five thousand copies

Lao Miao: "What sound is that?"

Chuli hurriedly called out to Lao Miao, who was getting ready to leave work: "Hey, Lao Miao, is there a mistake with the contract here? Why is the initial print quantity only 45,000?"

Zhu Chuan A: Isn't it true that books recommended for middle school students are often uninteresting and unattractive? Your teachers have likely recommended conventional classics like "Snow Country". Besides that, I personally think that "The Elephant's Tears", "The Tales of the Alley", and Natsuhiko Kyogoku's Kyogokudo series are all excellent! I should take some time to compile a reading list for everyone.

The Disappeared Mr. L: ... ... I haven't seen the term "online romance" in at least ten years. Which era are you from? No wonder you are involved with a magazine like "Star Tracks" that caters to the elderly.

What?

The Alaskan dog barked twice

Nian

And her day at work was about to pass by, overwhelmed by the silly and naive ones. Originally, Chuli thought her first day at work would end like this, but just before getting off work, Lao Miao had something to say.

It has been opened

The Disappeared Mr. L: From the Perspective of a Master Regarding Their Pet

Lao Miao: "What are you doing?"

After a long while, Chuli began to doubt whether he had fallen asleep leaning against the door, when he suddenly heard his calm voice emerge

Reader A: What books do you usually read, here in middle school, dog!