Chapter 217: Are You a Professional?
Zhou Silan wandered around Guangnan City for a few laps, but she didn’t spend much money because there was nothing she particularly wanted. Besides, she was looking for inspiration, so she focused her attention on the passing crowds, hoping to find some new ideas from the people.
This made Yu Linna feel rather bored.
After a few laps, feeling there was nothing much to see nearby and that it was still early, Yu Linna invited her over to her place. Chewing her gum, Zhou Silan didn’t refuse. A fan’s home was a first for her. By this time, a few song lyrics had already surfaced in her mind. She could start working on them when she got back. She hoped to hold a concert before September and sing the songs.
Zhou Silan hadn’t held a concert in almost half a year. Her fans were getting anxious, and she herself felt helpless. She was stuck in a creative bottleneck and simply couldn’t write. The song for Nangong Ying had already been a difficult feat. Consistently creating excellent lyrics was a very difficult task.
“You live here?”
Zhou Silan glanced at the surrounding area. It was far from the city center, with few cars passing by, and there were flowers and plants. The key was that there were few houses. This was truly an excellent place to live.
For her to be able to live here, either the land had been bought up, or it was her parents’ territory.
In fact, she was wrong on both counts.
“Please come in. My home is small, please don’t mind. I’ll prepare some tea for you. You can stay here until it gets dark.”
After Yu Linna went to prepare tea and snacks, Zhou Silan chewed her gum boredly. The house wasn’t large, with one living room, one bedroom, and a small kitchen. For someone like her who lived in a large villa, it would certainly feel small. But before she was sixteen, she had also squeezed into a small room with her family, which made her nostalgic for her youth. Unconsciously, she had been in the entertainment industry for nine years. Time truly spares no one. The girl who had just wanted to be someone’s follower was now a representative of the new era of Mandopop.
Suddenly, Zhou Silan noticed that the computer screen in Yu Linna’s living room was still on, with an unfinished manuscript on it. She had just finished her novel for August and was starting on the third volume of Ballad of the Enchantress. Since she had just started, there wasn’t much content, but it was all solid stuff. Zhou Silan glanced at it, and with a curious heart, she scrolled the mouse. She found that just as she was getting into it, it ended. It was truly frustrating.
This girl was writing a novel? And looking at her writing style, it seemed to be at a professional level.
Could it be that this girl was actually a professional?
But she looked like she was still in school…
Thinking about it, the implications were terrifying. Zhou Silan felt a little flustered.
“Great God Zhou, what are you doing? Why are you looking at my computer?”
Yu Linna returned with the tea and saw her looking at her computer. She couldn’t help but speak up. Although she didn’t think it was a big deal, the thought of her unfinished manuscript being seen by someone else made her, as a writer, feel a little uncomfortable.
“Sorry, I just took a look by chance. Are you a professional writer?”
“Oh, I forgot to mention. I’m currently a contracted author with Wenqing, although I’m still a newcomer.”
Yu Linna smiled and served her the tea. She had also thoughtfully brought some snacks. Zhou Silan was originally from the south, her hometown being Shenzhen, so this way of preparing tea was right up her alley.
“You look so young… how old are you?”
“…Do I look that old?”
“No, I don’t mean it like that…”
“I’m only eighteen this year. I’ll be a university student starting in September.”
Although she was still surprised by her age, at least it was much easier to accept than a thirty-year-old loli. She had been afraid the girl was older than her. Luckily, she was younger.
“I really couldn’t tell. You’re quite outstanding. How’s your income?”
“It’s so-so. Not as high as a god-tier author’s.”
“How much is so-so?”
“A few million.”
“…”
Making that much money at this age is already incredible, okay?
Zhou Silan couldn’t help but sigh. She had thought she was just an ordinary little girl, but she turned out to be such a big shot. She was puzzled. This girl was clearly so rich, why did she still have to be so stingy with her? Did she lack that little bit of money? It was truly hard to understand.
But on second thought, it seemed understandable. Before she was sixteen, she had also lived a life of poverty. After becoming famous and rich, she still liked to wear cheap clothes and eat cheap food, even hesitating to buy necklaces and clothes. This was a habit formed from long-term poverty, something that couldn’t be changed overnight. Yu Linna was probably in the same situation.
“Girl, it must have been tough for you.”
Looking into the blonde girl’s eyes, Zhou Silan felt a new sense of understanding. After all, she understood poverty well, and she understood the hardships of struggling.
“It’s actually okay. Before, I was satisfied just to have a full meal. Now that life is different, my expectations are always getting higher. Great God Zhou, didn’t you go through the same thing?”
“I was forced into it. You all know, because no one would sing my songs, I had to bite the bullet and do it myself. In the end, I inexplicably became famous. If I hadn’t gone on stage, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”
“I can understand that very well.”
Yu Linna nodded, recalling her own experience. If she hadn’t worked hard before the deadline, she really might not have achieved what she had today.
After all, it was something no one would have dared to imagine before, yet she had actually done it.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Yu Linna glanced at the time. The hour hand was pointing exactly at four-thirty. She smiled, guessing it was about time.
“Great God Zhou, I’m going to get something. I’ll be right back.”
With that, Yu Linna went to open the door. Because the room wasn’t large, when she opened the door, Zhou Silan could also see the people at the entrance. They were two young men, dressed very formally, holding plastic bags, with fawning smiles on their faces.
“Shion-Sensei, here are your groceries for today.”
“Thank you. I’ve transferred the payment. You can just collect the money as usual.”
“By the way, Shion-Sensei, you went out today, didn’t you? That’s not allowed. Sister Chen is very angry.”
“Er… I can’t be cooped up in the house every day, can I?”
“Anyway, there can’t be a next time. Next time, it’ll be the chief editor who comes to see you.”
“Alright, alright, I know.”
Listening to their conversation, it seemed this Yu girl’s status wasn’t so simple. She was actually being called “Sensei”?
Among professional writers, those who were addressed as “Sensei” were no simple characters. At the very least, they were commercially successful authors. This Yu girl was actually being respectfully called “Sensei” by two grown men, and they even bought her groceries? How much clout did she have?
And what did they call her? Shion-Sensei… that name sounded so familiar.
Oh my god!
Wasn’t that the name of the professional writer who had repeatedly snatched the top trending spots from popular celebrities on Weibo? At that time, this author’s name was too popular, and her works were also a huge hit. So much so that the first and second spots on the Weibo hot search were always her, Shion-Sensei. As for those popular celebrities, they couldn’t even squeeze into the top three. In the end, the companies behind them had to resort to manual manipulation, buying a large number of bots and zombie fans, plus the operation of their Weibo accounts, to barely push Shion-Sensei out of the top three.
But during that time, Zhou Silan had been paying attention to Weibo. Her manager had even told her how terrifying this author’s popularity was and told her to discuss with the company about buying some accounts to increase her own popularity.
This girl was Shion-Sensei?
She still felt a sense of unreality.
“Great God Zhou? What’s wrong with you again?”
“Girl, I’m discovering that you’re full of hidden depths. I thought you were just a passerby, but you’re such a big shot. Even if you told me now that you’re the daughter of the richest man in the country, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.”
“You can forget about that. Before becoming a professional writer, I didn’t even know what stability was.”
Zhou Silan specifically searched for “Shion” on Baidu. Although she hadn’t read novels before, she was now a little interested. Through Baidu, she learned that Shion-Sensei had a total of two representative works, but both were huge hits, hailed as works of conscience. The key was that she was a newcomer, yet her sales completely crushed the veteran writers at Wenqing. What a terrifying newcomer.
But there was very little information about Shion herself, not even a photo. Zhou Silan couldn’t help but wonder if the people at Wenqing had lost their minds. Such a beautiful girl, and they didn’t bring her out for promotion? Unlike Air-Sensei, whom they promoted so vigorously, finding product endorsements for her. They just hid her away like this? That was too stupid. Did these people even know how to make money?
In fact, Wenqing felt very wronged. You think we don’t want to? The key is that Shion-Sensei isn’t willing! She said she wants to rely on her talent, not her looks. We’re also in despair.
After chatting for a bit more, Yu Linna even said she wanted to take a photo with her to show off to her classmates. Thinking of indulging the child’s whim, Zhou Silan didn’t refuse and took a selfie with her on her phone. When she exited the camera mode, the phone automatically switched to the photo gallery. Her sharp eyes noticed a very familiar girl’s face in the phone’s photo album.
The photos of the blonde girl and another girl were categorized into one album, but the cover photo was a group picture. Zhou Silan saw it clearly.
“Nangong Ying? Why do you have her picture?”
She had originally thought that Yu Linna had gone to take a photo with the big star Nangong Ying and get an autograph. But on closer inspection, something was clearly wrong. The album was timestamped, and it was clearly from two years ago. Two years ago, Nangong Ying wasn’t famous at all. It was impossible for someone to be waiting to take a photo with her and get an autograph.
Unless they had known each other two years ago.
“This… actually, Nangong and I were schoolmates. We went to the same high school, just in different classes.”
A hint of panic appeared on Yu Linna’s face as she tried to cover it up, but the more she tried to hide it, the more suspicious it became.
“In these photos, your poses with Nangong are too intimate. There’s no sense of strangeness at all. If you say you were just schoolmates, I absolutely don’t believe it.”
“Can’t you just not look…?”
“The way you take pictures with her is too intimate. What’s your relationship?”
“…”
Yu Linna sighed. She really should have been ruthless and deleted these photos back then.
“We used to be friends. Before… now, not anymore.”
In a daze, Zhou Silan thought of the song she had written, the song that Nangong Ying had sung, “The Times You’ve Forgotten”…
