Chapter 241: Real Life

“Morning.” Chu Ge brushed his teeth and walked to the door, peeking in. “Why are you sitting in front of the computer so early?”

Qiu Wuji hastily closed the document, looking a bit flustered. “I had some concerns about the comic and wanted to finish it early.”

“No need to rush. In the early stages, we’re just creating character designs, and there’s no client review. We can draw them however we like, so take it easy,” Chu Ge said as he brushed his teeth. “Today is the start of winter, I think we should consider celebrating it somehow.”

“Winter has started?” Qiu Wuji was taken aback.

The climate in this world was warm, so she hadn’t really felt the arrival of winter.

She hadn’t even sensed the late autumn atmosphere in the past few days and felt like Mid-Autumn Festival had just passed. The season that she was named after had quietly disappeared without her even realizing it.

Qiu Wuji scratched her head.

Chu Ge continued to brush his teeth.

They stared at each other for a while, and Qiu Wuji gritted her teeth. “What are you brushing? It’s all your fault. The last days of autumn were actually spent fighting with someone. All the mood was lost.”

Chu Ge chuckled. “Our last moments in autumn seemed to be reminiscing by the Huangpu River.”

Thinking about it this way, Qiu Wuji felt a bit better. Gazing at the river and watching the wild geese return home could still create a mood, even if they hadn’t said any particularly artistic words for a commemoration. Well, actually, there was no need for that. The autumn in the world of books had already quietly passed, and she hadn’t felt much even after the snow had fallen. Why was she so upset here?

It was all because he was around, scratching at her heart. She always had the idea that it would be nice to have someone to spend festivals and birthdays with…

Qiu Wuji sighed inwardly; I have really fallen…

Chu Ge went back to the bathroom, quickly finished brushing, and then came out, rubbing his face. “The start of winter is a small celebration for us here in Nanjiang. According to tradition, we’ll have some rice balls, but I’ve heard that in the north, they have dumplings. We can have both. Which one do you prefer?”

Qiu Wuji kept a stern face. “This is considered a festival?”

Chu Ge was taken aback. “Uh?”

“Autumn goes, winter comes, it’s clearly ominous, and you say we’re celebrating. Are you trying to switch to a woman with a winter name?”

“What the hell…” Chu Ge laughed helplessly. “+1 fear of marriage today ”

Qiu Wuji just made a casual joke and didn’t think there was anything ominous about it. There were four seasons every year, and they all had to go through winter, right? But she really didn’t want to celebrate this kind of festival. She replied, “If you have traditions, I can make some rice balls today. There’s no need for a special celebration.”

“Alright… How long will your comic class take to finish?”

“If I really want to finish, it’ll take about eight or nine months. But I’m not aiming for a graduation certificate; I’m learning the skills. I often ask the teacher privately, so we’ve already skipped the process of learning how to draw and make illustrations.”

“Then give your teacher a little red envelope.”

“I know, I know. Go on, while you still have some saved drafts, work on the comic script. I’ll go get some breakfast first and then go grocery shopping.”

Chu Ge sighed at her domesticity, then returned to his room almost in tears. He opened his character design document and stared at the Qiu Wuji section. He couldn’t seem to write a single word.

What a genius I am to write such a wonderful woman!

He glanced at the group chat. It was early in the morning, but the group was lively, discussing the photos they had posted on Weibo yesterday. The photos showed him and Qiu Wuji standing by the riverbank, with silly smiles on their faces. Qiu Wuji leaned against his shoulder, holding a cup of milk tea in one hand and taking a selfie with her phone in the other, wearing a sweet smile.

The river and the Oriental Pearl Tower in the background bore witness to the sweet smiles of their last day of autumn.

“Oh no, these two look even more compatible the more I look at them. Qiuqiu is no longer mine…”

“You’re just used to it. From early autumn to the start of winter, you’ve been watching for three months. If a pig stood next to her for that long, it would probably look compatible with Qiuqiu too.”

Chu Ge: “…”

These people were really merciless with their words!

“Three months, do you know how I’ve spent these three months? These two are getting lovey-dovey all day and not doing any real work. Short Ge is simply not a human being!”

“Yeah, we thought he was just writing at home, but he secretly went to Shanghai to take photos. Having all this time, why not update more chapters?”

“Damn it.” Chu Ge couldn’t hold back anymore. “You guys are even more ruthless than capitalists!”

“Hey, who do we have here?”

“Oh, isn’t this Short Ge? Where’s today’s update?”

“Damn it…” Chu Ge had tears in his eyes.

This is how it is to be in this group, and other than being scolded for not updating fast enough, there was basically no other outcome when they spoke up.

Their book group was indeed a unique sight… While it was common for most book groups not to talk about books, there were probably very few where the author and his partner were talked about so often for no reason.

Both of these groups are behaving this way. Moreover, the phrase “awaiting the dawn with weapons at hand” is overused. What should I do? There are already 5,000 members…

Chu Ge contemplated that previously, the addition to the group was almost unrestricted by fan value, and it filled up too quickly. He wondered if he should create an auxiliary group to distribute the members… What should he name the new group this time? How about something like “Hold a Spear Group”? Let’s see if they dare to mention the Short Ge comment again! Even Qiuqiu doesn’t dare to say that, hmph.

As he was pondering, a private message popped up. It was from a stranger with a new profile picture. He clicked it open:

“Brother Chu, I’m Long Qi Jia.”

Chu Ge paused for a moment before realizing that this was the kid who played with the wind in the Black Room. He looked quite shy and had a low presence. They hadn’t exchanged many words before.

“Why did you join my book group?”

“Panda and the others were recommending it all the time, so I started reading the book and became a fan.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Emm, but aren’t you supposed to be traveling with Panda and the others in Shanghai right now?”

Long Qi Jia remained silent for a moment before saying, “They are traveling, but I came out for interviews and job hunting. They asked me to wait for their response, but judging by their tone, it’s not looking good.”

Chu Ge had just remembered that this kid was a recent college graduate. He had tried taking the postgraduate entrance exam before and didn’t pass. So, it seemed like he had been out of work for a while now.

Long Qi Jia could guess what Chu Ge was thinking and said helplessly, “Am I a failure, Brother Chu? I came to Shanghai this time, thinking I could help out with Brother Zhong’s matters, but in the end, I didn’t do anything, just watched. Then I sent out job applications, and from the sound of it, it’s unlikely I’ll get any offers.”

Chu Ge replied, “You shouldn’t have such a negative attitude at such a young age. Take Zhong Yi’s situation, for example. You should look at it the other way around—damn, I’m so lucky! Just by standing there, I win without even making a move.”

Long Qi Jia was sitting in a flower bed outside a building in Shanghai, looking a bit disheartened. But after hearing Chu Ge’s words, he couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re like Ah Q.”

“Having a bit of Ah Q’s spirit is good. Life is full of disappointments, and if you don’t have a bit of Ah Q in you, you won’t get through it.”

“Yeah… I heard that you used to struggle a lot before, Brother Chu. Did you get through those times like this?”

Chu Ge stared at the screen in a daze, then smiled faintly and typed, “Yes. I wanted to create the most perfect woman in my books, something I couldn’t achieve in real life, so I did it through writing.”

And then she came to life.

Although I never expected it while writing.

“Actually…” Long Qi Jia hesitated before saying, “Actually, during these days, I’ve been trying to write a book, but I can’t get a contract. A few days ago, I joined a training course and paid over a thousand, and the teacher said I was guaranteed a contract, and when the time comes, they could help me…”

Chu Ge: “..”

“What’s wrong, Brother Chu?”

“You’re learning to write, so you could have just asked me. We’re both from the Black Room, and I wouldn’t take a single penny to teach you. Why did you go and give money to scammers?”

“Scammers?”

Chu Ge sighed and asked seriously, “Does the teaching instructor have the qualifications? Let’s not talk about that. Did they tell you about any major works they’ve written?”

“No… they just said they were close with someone, and they even posted photos together.”

“What’s the use of photos? I have photos with Director Xie, so does that mean I can start a celebrity training course? Well-known authors have never been known to offer paid classes. Do you know why?”

“I don’t know… the teacher said it’s because sharing skills like this is like teaching someone how to fish, and they need to pay to learn. It makes sense to me.”

“You’re wrong. It’s because advanced writing skills are mostly based on personal experience and can’t be universally applied. Even if you listen to what the experts say about how they write, it won’t necessarily work for you personally. Teaching someone one-on-one is challenging, let alone running a group class. So, the real experts share their experiences openly on websites, and how much you can use from it depends on you personally. No one charges for this; it tarnishes their reputation.”

“But… the teacher said they guarantee a contract and offer a refund… I asked around, and it does offer refunds, so I trusted it…”

“They’re making a lot of money off of you. There will always be a few people who can get contracts on their own among the hundred they take money from. They took money from a hundred people, refunded fifty who didn’t get contracts, and still earned a lot of money, 1,000 each, a total of 50,000, and they’re delighted.”

Long Qi Jia was dumbfounded and took a while before finally managing to type out two words, “Oh, f*ck!”

Chu Ge’s thoughts also returned from the world of supernatural powers and upper-class parties in Shanghai to reality. Real life was the main theme… People like Long Qi Jia, who had supernatural powers, also had to struggle to find work and earn money for themselves.

It’s not that the people who fell for scams were foolish; it’s just that people from different fields were like strangers. Youngsters who were new to the industry naturally wouldn’t know about the ins and outs of it, unlike veterans like them who had seen it all… When people are desperate and see a straw, they’ll grab onto it regardless.

Chu Ge couldn’t help but think of Zhang Qiren once again.

Zhang Qiren was quite clever. But back then, he had almost been tricked by this kind of class, and the real reason he hadn’t been deceived was quite simple—because he couldn’t bear to spend over a thousand.

As if telepathically connected, just as Chu Ge was thinking about Zhang Qiren, Long Qi Jia said, “Brother Chu, you’re close to Zhang Qiren, right?”

“Huh?” Chu Ge snapped back to reality. “Oh… yeah.”

“When Zhang Qiren was cooperating with the Black Room before, we added each other as friends. He also learned that I’ve been unemployed for a long time and asked if I wanted to work with him abroad. Brother Chu, I’m a bit hesitant because I feel like what he’s doing isn’t right, but… I thought that if I could make money by writing, then…”

Chu Ge remained silent for a long time and slowly said, “Writing novels is a tough path. If it’s not because you love it and it’s just for making a living, it’s better not to get into this field.”

“But what about Zhang Qiren…”

“To be honest, I don’t recommend it.”

“Ah… isn’t Zhang Qiren your good friend?”

“It’s precisely because he’s my friend that I don’t want another friend to follow in his footsteps down the wrong path.”

Long Qi Jia fell silent for a moment, then replied, “I understand. Thank you, Brother Chu.”

He put away his phone, took a deep breath, and was about to leave.

But then his phone suddenly rang again. Long Qi Jia looked at it and saw that it was a call from the HR department of the company he had just interviewed with; “Mr. Long, if you’re available, please come for a second interview this afternoon at 3 o’clock.”

Long Qi Jia clenched his phone and almost shouted.

Clearly, he wasn’t the lucky one; it seemed like Brother Chu was the fortunate one.

He turned to look at the logo on the building – this was an international music company!