Chapter 212: The Lazy Salted Fish, Zhao Yuyan
Yu Linna woke up with a start, frightened by a nightmare.
She didn’t know what was wrong. She’d been having nightmares for days now. She rarely used to have them, probably because she was too busy worrying about survival, about food and clothing, to pay much attention to her mental state.
But recently, she had clearly felt something was off, especially psychologically.
Since returning from Shanghai, the people from Wenqing hadn’t let her leave the house, insisting she stay home for her own safety. Everyone knew that Shion-Sensei was all alone in the world, and Wenqing was her second home. If anything happened to her, the entire company would suffer.
While there was no precedent at Wenqing for keeping such a close watch on a professional author, the thought that Shion-Sensei was, in reality, a legal loli made it impossible for anyone to refuse.
“But honestly, Shion-Sensei is really pretty, even prettier than Air-Sensei. Why doesn’t she become an idol author? With her looks, I think she could beat anyone.”
“I was wondering the same thing. I thought Shion-Sensei must be ugly, some otaku shut-in, which is why she never showed her face. Who knew she was so beautiful in real life?”
“I will protect Shion-Sensei!”
“Draw your sword, brother. You are no longer my brother.”
Yu Linna was quite happy to be idle at home. She didn’t have to go out to buy groceries anymore; all she had to do was write a list and have someone else buy it for her, then reimburse them later.
Life was indeed quite good.
Except for the absence of Ye Zhiyun.
The kidnapping had affected them both, to a greater or lesser extent. Coupled with the unpleasant copyright negotiations with Li Jing, they hadn’t been in contact since. The matter of the copyrights was still up in the air.
Yu Linna pulled open the curtains. Sunlight streamed in, illuminating her slightly pale face. Having not been out for days, she was on the verge of becoming a complete shut-in.
The illustrations were done, the book was written, and she was just waiting for it to be published. In the coming month of August, she would be waiting for school to start. The acceptance letter had already arrived. As expected, she and Fang Jiangning had been accepted into the same major. They would probably be roommates for the next four years. As for Ye Zhiyun, she hadn’t asked.
For some reason, she hadn’t contacted her these past few days either, as if someone were deliberately keeping them apart.
After grabbing something to eat from the fridge, Yu Linna thought about how she hadn’t seen Zhao Yuyan in a while and decided to pay her a visit. They were neighbors, after all, seeing each other all the time. It was normal to drop by.
When she entered Zhao Yuyan’s apartment, the die-hard shut-in was engrossed in a game of PUBG, playing with such concentration that it seemed she wouldn’t be emerging anytime soon.
Resigned, Yu Linna sat down on the living room sofa and played on her phone. Even though she was rich now, with a different status, she was still used to the old Xiaomi phone she had used for years. Since her work was done and she had no other plans, she opened QQ to browse.
After becoming a professional author, she had been pulled into the professional author group chat by Zhao Yuyan, though she had never spoken in it. Thinking she had nothing else to do today, she decided to check it out.
◇ Shion: I’d like to know if any of you have sold the rights to your work. I want to learn more about it.
◇ Coffee Cat: Rubbing my eyes. I must be getting old, the words are getting blurry.
◇ Bai Chen: You’re not mistaken! It’s the living, breathing Shion-Sensei! It’s really her!
◇ Monkey Returns: My god! It’s really her?????
◇ Night Snow: I bow to the great god.
◇ Meow Meow: I bow to the great god.
◇ Young Master: I bow to the great god.
◇ My Surname is Sitong, Not Yun: I bow to the great god.
The moment the never-before-seen Shion-Sensei appeared, the group exploded. Everyone came out to @ her, trying to ride on her coattails, shamelessly taking screenshots to post on Weibo and leech off her popularity.
But Shion-Sensei was indeed a renowned god-tier author. Though she was a newcomer, her status and worth were already far beyond that of an ordinary professional writer. She was on par with Air-Sensei, no, perhaps even stronger.
Who wouldn’t want to latch onto such a great god and ask for advice? After all, Shion-Sensei had been silent ever since she joined the group.
◇ Shion: I want to know if anyone has sold their copyrights. If not, I’ll ask again later.
◇ Dango: Great god, don’t go!
◇ Coffee Cat: A minute has passed. Shion-Sensei isn’t talking anymore. She must have gone offline. What are you all doing! We finally saw a great god, and you scared her away!
◇ Shion: I didn’t leave…
◇ Coffee Cat: Great god, you didn’t leave! Great god, please take me as your disciple! I don’t eat much, you just have to give me one piece of advice a day!
◇ Shion: I’m not a great god. I’m just a writer.
◇ Coffee Cat: sobs The words of a great god are truly different. I’ve decided, from now on, you are my idol!
Looking at her QQ, Yu Linna suddenly felt she shouldn’t have logged on. Why were all the writers in this group so shameless, and why did they all love to procrastinate? Couldn’t they be like her and submit their manuscripts on time? Besides, she wanted to ask if anyone had sold their copyrights because she wanted to learn more about it, but none of them had answered her question. Probably no one had sold theirs.
That made sense. Among so many writers, the vast majority who could get their works adapted for film or television were top-tier authors. If they had time to waste in a group chat, they would rather be writing.
Except for Zhao Yuyan, of course.
“Little Nana, I got a chicken dinner! Sorry, you came to see me just now. Here, have a seat. I’ll get you a drink.”
Zhao Yuyan was in a particularly good mood after her win. Having just finished the fourth volume of The Rich Man’s Game not long ago, she had applied for a two-month vacation, meaning she didn’t have to submit a manuscript for two months. In exchange, she would have to write the fifth and sixth volumes consecutively next time.
Zhao Yuyan didn’t care about that. With so much time off, she was going to enjoy it to the fullest. As for submitting her manuscript? She’d think about it later.
“Sister Yuyan, you seem to be getting lazier. Is university going okay?”
“I barely scraped by this semester. Luckily, I didn’t fail any classes. As long as I don’t fail, I can slack off until I die and it’ll be fine.”
“You really don’t act like a senior at all.”
“You’re getting better and better at roasting me. You weren’t like this before.”
“Don’t fake-cry, you’re not even good at it…”
Come to think of it, she hadn’t hung out with Zhao Yuyan much since the gaokao. Part of it was because Zhao Yuyan had been busy with her final exams, but she had indeed been seeing less of her recently. Plus, her own status had suddenly surpassed Zhao Yuyan’s. She was no longer Zhao Yuyan’s junior. The shift in their status had made their relationship a bit delicate. But Zhao Yuyan didn’t seem to mind at all, which made Yu Linna breathe a sigh of relief.
“By the way, I came up with a really inspiring plot recently. Do you want to hear about it?”
“Go on.”
“I thought of a great story where the rich young miss protagonist gets kidnapped and the male lead risks his life to save her.”
“Ahaha…”
This couldn’t help but remind Yu Linna of what had happened not long ago.
“And I plan to arrange some…”
Yu Linna didn’t have the heart to listen to the rest. She might as well go back to playing on her phone. This slacker, what did it matter if she had an idea? She still had to write it. But judging by her current progress, it wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. She had also read the draft of the fourth volume that Zhao Yuyan had given her. Overall, it was a solid performance, with no particularly upsetting plot twists.
But it just felt like it lacked a climax, lacking the passion of the first volume. Perhaps this was a common flaw for most authors.
“Little Nana, you’re not even listening to me!”
“…You can continue.”
“Forget it, I won’t talk about it. By the way, did you know? Li Yuexin is holding a concert in Shanghai. I’m not going, but I’ll watch the live stream. Want to watch with me tonight?”
“Sure, I don’t mind.”
A Nangong Ying concert. Yu Linna’s feelings were a bit complicated. But she truly didn’t have any feelings for her anymore. Watching a live stream was just watching a live stream; it wouldn’t change anything.
Besides, it was just a concert. Nothing would happen.
But sometimes Yu Linna would find herself in a daze. The nightmares she’d been having these past few days were constantly troubling her. She hoped that watching a concert might improve her state of mind. Plus, she needed to make a decision soon about who to sell her copyrights to. She needed a change of scenery.
“Little Nana, I heard your copyrights are up for sale. I wonder who you’re planning to sell them to. You should think it over carefully.”
“Sister Yuyan, have you heard of Caibi Company? They want to buy my copyrights.”
“Never heard of them. They’re probably a new company. You should be careful.”
The terms this company had offered were indeed generous. Not only a large copyright fee, but also a cut of the merchandise sales. Most importantly, they promised not to change a single word of the plot, a completely faithful adaptation. This was indeed a tempting offer for her.
But she still hadn’t decided whether to sell.
That evening, Yu Linna and Zhao Yuyan opened the live streaming platform on the desktop computer in the room and clicked on the “Four-Leaf Clover Concert Live” channel to watch the concert.
In the live stream, lead singer Nangong Ying and lead guitarist Li Yuexin stood in the center. Under the stage lights, the audience’s enthusiasm was ignited to its peak. Because this was a song written specifically for this new band by the future queen of pop, people would still come and pay for a ticket just for the name Zhou Silan.
“It’s quite lively.”
Yu Linna remarked.
She knew Nangong Ying was popular and had a lot of fans, but she hadn’t expected the concert to be this lively. Although Zhou Silan’s popularity was also a factor, the exaggerated number of audience members, with not a single empty seat, made it look nothing like a newcomer’s concert.
“The song we’ll be performing for you today is a song Miss Zhou Silan wrote for our band, ‘The Times You’ve Forgotten.’ With this song, I commemorate my past, and I commemorate my time.”
On stage, Nangong Ying held the microphone, her expression placid, but deep in her eyes was a thick sense of nostalgia.
Seeing her, Yu Linna was taken aback for a moment, then let out a cold laugh. Doing something like this at a time like this, wasn’t it ridiculous? To be able to treat something she had decided to discard as a precious past—Yu Linna didn’t know what to say anymore.
“You don’t seem to like watching this. Should we stop?”
“No need, let’s keep watching. I’d quite like to hear this song too.”
In the video, Nangong Ying stood on stage, holding the microphone. As the music slowly began to play, she prepared to sing…
