Chapter 112: Through the Mask

Writing 10,000 words daily for the past few days had left Jiang Miao’s brain feeling numb, and he was struggling to keep up.

From chapter 86, when his novel went premium, all the way to the morning of the 7th, he had already written up to chapter 103.

In the past, this speed would have been unbelievable for him.

But now, the story was approaching the first major climax, and his detailed outline only went up to this point.

So from here on, he didn’t dare to continue writing too quickly. He needed to slow down the pace and take some time to make a detailed outline of the plot after the male lead’s birthday.

Otherwise, once he finished writing the birthday arc, with no detailed outline to follow, he’d be like a headless chicken running around aimlessly. It would be easy for him to fall into the trap of writing filler content that veered off from the main storyline.

Yes, in many novels, the slice-of-life content was just filler.

But in slice-of-life novels, filler mainly referred to content that neither shaped nor highlighted character traits or advanced the plot.

In other words, if the daily interactions in slice-of-life stories couldn’t highlight the personalities of the male and female leads and merely described what they did, turning the story into a simple chronological account, that was when it became filler.

As for the main storyline…

Many people believed that slice-of-life novels didn’t have a main storyline, but in fact, the emotional development between the male and female leads was the main storyline of a slice-of-life novel.

Every step forward in their relationship was equivalent to a level up in fantasy novels.

Every gift they gave each other, every special day they experienced together, was akin to the main character in a fantasy novel gaining a new weapon or skill.

So, what gifts were meaningful in slice-of-life stories?

And what holidays and special occasions influenced the couple’s relationship?

If you compared it to a fantasy novel, it was like asking: How does this weapon or skill help the protagonist in the subsequent plots?

Although the content was vastly different, the logic and structures of many novels followed a similar framework.

That was why Jiang Miao’s writing of the male lead’s birthday arc was crucial—something special had to happen on his birthday, whether it was to highlight character traits or push the romance forward.

At the very least, it should lay the groundwork for the next phase of the romance’s development.

In short, every plot point had to serve a purpose.

Making a detailed outline was essentially a way for authors to evaluate in advance whether their ideas fulfilled these necessary functions.

If not, then it was a useless plot point.

Either revise it or cut it completely—there was no room for reluctance.

…

At 11 a.m. on the 7th, Jiang Miao sat in front of the computer, seriously discussing the importance of a detailed outline with Senior Sister, hoping she would understand why he wouldn’t be cranking out 10,000 words daily anymore.

“In other words, you just want to slack off.” Su Huaizhou didn’t write novels herself, so she only half-understood his reasoning and gave him a skeptical look with her arms crossed. “Don’t forget you still owe the Silver Alliance Leader thirty chapters.”

“It’s twenty-seven chapters!” he protested. “I released three bonus chapters yesterday!”

“Twenty-seven chapters,” she repeated, emphasizing the number. Then she kindly reminded, “Even if you somehow manage to keep writing ten thousand words a day, it’ll still take you at least a week to make it up.”

“Ahem…” He said shamelessly, “I can guarantee three thousand words a day and then maybe write a bonus chapter or two on weekends. This way, I should be able to make up the chapters in about three to four months.”

“How many words can a slice-of-life novel even have?” She was speechless. “At this rate, will you even pay off your debt by the time you finish the book?”

“How is that possible?!” Jiang Miao firmly objected. “I’m planning to write this book for at least a year.”

“Really?” Su Huaizhou looked doubtful. “Even if you only write three thousand words a day, it should be about a million words a year, right?”

“We’ll see.” He didn’t dare to guarantee it himself. “I actually want to keep writing until they get married and have children.”

Hearing this, she immediately grew suspicious and warned, “Don’t even think about using me for material.”

Jiang Miao was speechless. “… Am I that kind of person?!”

Today was the last day of the National Day holidays, and Jiang Miao and Su Huaizhou would be returning to campus in the afternoon.

Lunch would be their final meal of the holidays.

Seeing that the argument with Senior Sister was fruitless, Jiang Miao simply grabbed her hand and went out to buy groceries together.

Now, they no longer needed to use the excuse of gathering material to hold hands. After all, Jiang Miao had gotten one-third of a girlfriend in exchange for his social death with one of his roommates. If they didn’t hold hands often, wouldn’t it be a loss?

Senior Sister’s hand was soft, cool to the touch, and incredibly comfortable to hold.

In winter, there were hand warmers, and her hand was like a cool hand warmer. It was silky and smooth, with a wonderful texture.

In just a few days, they had already developed a habit of going out together to buy groceries. Especially since they had stir-fried pork for almost every meal, the grocery shopping routine had become second nature to them.

Jiang Miao didn’t know why Senior Sister loved stir-fried pork so much that she never got tired of it.

To keep things interesting, he had come up with different ways to cook it—stir-fried with spicy peppers, lighter versions, using pork belly with a good balance of fat and meat, lean meat with a firmer texture…

Su Huaizhou didn’t care about the variations. It seemed that as long as it was stir-fried pork, she accepted everything and loved to eat it all.

“I feel like I can’t live without you now.” She held her bowl and ate the stir-fried pork. After finishing one bowl of rice, she added another half bowl, then touched her belly and sighed.

“I feel like I can’t live without you now.” She had finished her first bowl of rice and had added another half a bowl to go with more stir-fried pork. She touched her belly and sighed.

“Senior Sister, if others found out that the way to capture you is through stir-fried pork, they would immediately train their culinary skills.”

“What do you mean capture? That sounds awful.” Su Huaizhou kicked Jiang Miao’s leg under the table.

Her feet were cold, and the kick actually felt kind of nice.

Thinking of this, he really wanted to reach out to touch the table and touch her foot.

But they were eating, so he figured he’d save it for later.

“Oh, right.” Jiang Miao suddenly thought of something. He took out his phone and found the male lead character design Congee Boss had sent him a few days ago. He asked curiously, “Senior Sister, you said you use yourself as a reference when drawing female characters, but how about when drawing male characters?”

“… I didn’t use to draw men.” Su Huaizhou gave him a sideways glance. All the commissions she had taken were for female characters. “Except for this one in your book.”

“So?” Jiang Miao suddenly had a guess.

“I used you as my reference.” She turned her head away, avoiding Junior Brother’s gaze, not wanting to see the smug expression that was surely spreading across his face.

“No wonder the character is so handsome.” He stroked his chin, immediately very appreciative of this drawing.

“…” She rolled her eyes at him. She had never seen anyone so narcissistic.

“Ahem… Senior Sister.” He thought of something and asked sheepishly, “Then, do you have, you know, an uncensored version of the male lead’s design?”

Su Huaizhou: “???”

“Junior Brother, are you into that kind of stuff?!”

“No, no!” Jiang Miao hurriedly explained thick-skinnedly, “Senior Sister, if you ever need to make an uncensored version, I could, uh, help you with reference material.”

Recalling the time she had seen Junior Brother’s naked upper body, Su Huaizhou immediately blushed and bit her lip. “Get lost!”

She kicked him again under the table.

Jiang Miao was starting to get addicted to the kicks.

As long as he teased Senior Sister, he would be kicked by her tender feet. Was there any better deal in the world?

“How long will you be working on your outline?” Su Huaizhou, clearly not wanting to continue this conversation about drawing, quickly changed the topic.

“The outline of the male lead’s birthday isn’t fully developed yet. I have to start from this part.” Jiang Miao picked up a piece of pork rib. “But Senior Sister, if you’re willing to help me get material, I will finish much faster.”

“Haven’t I been helping you get material?” Su Huaizhou murmured softly with a red face. “Didn’t you sleep in my bed last night?”

“Ahem…” Jiang Miao felt a little embarrassed, but he still continued brazenly, “That was material for the part where the male and female leads share a bed. But what the birthday arc lacks is kissing material.”

“No way!” she refused firmly, puffing up her checks. “You-you’ve only unlocked one-third. We can’t kiss until you’ve unlocked everything!”

“What I’m unlocking is boyfriend privileges. This doesn’t conflict with gathering material.” Jiang Miao blinked innocently. “Gathering material is serious business and totally proper. It’s not the same as kissing between a couple.”

“In your dreams!”

Another kick landed on his leg.

It felt good.

Jiang Miao was satisfied.

The flustered Senior Sister was very adorable.

Perhaps because they had spent so much time together these past few days, he was slowly getting used to the cute side of Senior Sister that emerged after her social death.

Unlike the gentle and humorous Senior Sister at school, the Su Huaizhou here was more like a little girl who knew how to be coquettish, scold others, say one thing but act another, and throw tantrums.

In contrast, Jiang Miao would take care of her everywhere, such as cooking.

This was a situation he had never imagined before, but the unexpected revelation of her other side was pretty enjoyable.

After dinner, he cleared the table, walked into the kitchen, and washed the dishes.

He had expected Senior Sister would come over and help, thinking he might take the opportunity to hug her. But she returned to her room and didn’t come out, leaving him feeling disappointed.

After washing the dishes, Jiang Miao took off the pink apron and hung it on the wall. He looked around the small kitchen and sighed.

What once felt like an unfamiliar environment had gradually become familiar over the past few days.

Even though it had only been a few days, many incredible things had happened.

From the ambiguity of their feelings to confessing and then meeting her father, so many things had happened in such a short time that Jiang Miao felt like a long time had passed.

He even found himself a bit nostalgic about this place.

If I can come here every weekend in the future to meet Senior Sister… Ah~ He hadn’t left yet, but he was already looking forward to the next visit.

While Jiang Miao was lost in thought, he heard Senior Sister’s slightly muffled voice coming from behind. “Junior Brother, can I ask you a question?”

He turned around in puzzlement, only to see her wearing the mask again. He immediately found it strange. “What’s wrong, Senior Sister?”

“You mentioned that in the male lead’s birthday arc, the female and male lead kiss. How exactly are you planning it?”

“Hmm…” Jiang Miao thought for a moment. “The female lead will sit facing the male lead, straddling him, and then they’ll kiss like that?”

“Is… is that all?” Su Huaizhou asked seriously, wanting to confirm something.

He sensed Senior Sister might be up to something and felt a bit confused. “That’s about it. Is there a problem, Senior Sister?”

“No.” She quickly shook her head and then waved him over. “Come here.”

Puzzled, he followed her out. He found that the living room was surprisingly dim, even though it was the middle of the afternoon.

Looking at the balcony, he noticed that the curtains of the floor-to-ceiling windows had been drawn shut, completely blocking out the sunlight.

Both sides of the windows were tightly closed, with only some faint light filtering in through the not-so-thick curtains.

The atmosphere in the living room suddenly became hazy and ambiguous, making Jiang Miao’s heart flutter.

Senior Sister brought him to the couch and sat him down.

He raised his head and looked at her in front of him.

Before he could ask her what she was planning to do, Su Huaizhou, still wearing the mask, already had one kneeling on the couch and supported herself with both hands on the backrest. Then she brought the other knee up as well.

Jiang Miao: “?!”

Seeing her suddenly kneeling on him, he was shocked. “Senior Sister?”

“Didn’t you say you’ve used up your outline?” Su Huaizhou turned her head away, her nervous eyes not daring to look at Jiang Miao. She whispered, “Just this once, just for material.”

He reached out his hands and held Senior Sister’s slender waist. The loose T-shirt was pulled tight under his touch until it shrank into an astonishing arc.

She shifted from her hovering position and fully settled onto his lap.

A firm sensation followed, and her presence from her sudden approach surrounded him, making him feel a little breathless.

“You—don’t touch randomly…” Su Huaizhou cautioned in advance, looking at Jiang Miao with a red face. “You can only do it… through the mask…”

After saying this, she seemed to have used up all her courage. She closed her eyes tightly and silently waited for Junior Brother to take the initiative.

“Senior Sister, don’t move.” Jiang Miao grinned, feeling a bit unbearable. He pressed his hands on Senior Sister’s slender waist to stop her from twisting around. “This is a normal reaction. I can’t control it.”

“Then hurry up.” She bit her lip, her cheeks blushing behind the mask.

She felt her body burning. Even though Junior Brother had yet to kiss her, she was already feeling soft and a bit sweaty.

Jiang Miao raised his head, gazing at Senior Sister sitting on his lap, but he was in no hurry to kiss her.

Although it was only through the mask, it was still their first kiss, right?

He had to savor it slowly.

He looked at her tightly shut eyes. Even with the mask on, it couldn’t hide her exquisite features.

Her trembling eyelashes fluttered, and the white mask over her face puffed and shrank as her breathing quickened, revealing her nervousness.

In the dimly lit living room, Jiang Miao held Senior Sister’s slender waist, and even through the T-shirt, he could feel her smooth and delicate skin underneath.

He looked at her flushed earlobes. Before going for the kiss, he couldn’t resist teasing her a little. “Senior Sister.”

“Hmm?”

“Actually, in my outline, it’s the female lead who initiates the kiss.”

“???”

“Um… So since we’re getting material for the scene, Senior Sister, shouldn’t you—”

“W-why didn’t you say that earlier?” Su Huaizhou was so embarrassed that she wanted to die. Her hands on Jiang Miao’s shoulders immediately pinched him hard. “You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Absolutely not! It’s true!” he hurriedly explained, tightening his hold on her waist, afraid that she would refuse to help with getting material if she became angry.

“Look at the setting for my book. The male lead is a straight man. There’s no way he’d take the initiative to kiss the female lead.

“This birthday celebration is planned by the female lead, and the first kiss is part of her plan.

“So it’s perfectly reasonable for her to take the initiative to kiss him. It’s all based on staying true to the character.”

Su Huaizhou: “…”

Is it too late for me to regret this now?

Letting Junior Brother kiss her was already bold enough.

Her defenses were completely down. She had practically opened the gates, just waiting for him to waltz in.

But what was happening now?

She had already opened the gates, but now he wanted her to go out and personally invite him in?

How was that possible?!