Life had gone off-track and now back to normal.
Xiang Wan realized that there weren't much changes at all.
She used a night to recall and reflect what she had learnt from the case. The next morning, she looked in the mirror.
Heh! Young lady, you're good again, she told herself.
"From today onward, I won't sleep so much. I'm going to write more to accumulate my chapter stockpile! Yes!"
Xiang Wan clenched her fists in front of the mirror to motivate herself. Thereafter, she swiftly switched on her laptop and logon to her author account to leave an author's note that her finger was badly hurt and needed to take a break for a few days. She also chatted with her QQ readers group for a while before she gave a yawn, got changed, and came out of her bedroom.
When she locked her door, she unconsciously took a glance at the glass piece located at the top of her door.
Eh?
She had taken a glance because she was worried.
Now, she was shocked as the broken glass piece had been replaced with a new one.
She had not come back for the past few days and certainly did not engage someone to fix the piece of glass.
She went downstairs to the security post at the main entrance to ask Uncle Wang about it.
Uncle Wang told her that someone had lodged a complaint, and the building management got the door fixed.
"I see! Thank you!"
Xiang Wan did not know who filed the complaint.
It was just like the MacBook Pro laptop that made her lose sleep last night. The name of the sender was unknown...
Xiang Wan had thought of Bai Muchuan, but because of their "feud", she refused to believe it was him.
Just leave it like this! Who cares!
The wise says to let things flow naturally forward , she convinced herself.
...
The summer warm breeze at dawn was pleasant.
Xiang Wan had not woken up so early for a long time, and hence, she had not enjoyed such a beautiful moment.
She strolled toward the breakfast eatery outside the neighborhood with her eyes half-opened.
However, when she stood at the entrance, she saw Cheng Zheng eating noodles at one of the tables.
What a coincidence!
She did not greet him, though. After buying a cup of soya bean milk and one deep-fried dough stick, she wanted to leave after paying.
When she turned away to leave, Cheng Zheng called out to her.
"Teacher Xiang!"
There were many customers at the eatery, so a handsome guy like him naturally attracted a lot of attention.
Thus, when he called out to her, a group of people looked at her as well.
D*rn! Xiang Wan turned to look at him stiffly. She had no choice but to greet him with a smile. "Hi, you're here too, Captain Cheng?"
Cheng Zheng nodded his head as he walked to her, his gaze landing on the food she had bought. "That's actually enough for you?"
Xiang Wan was embarrassed. "I think so. I don't have the habit of eating breakfast. Just trying it out today."
"Oh," replied Cheng Zheng. He suddenly spoke softly, "Well... I forgot to bring money with me. Will you help me by lending me..."
... You don't have money but you still have your phone right?
... Isn't it so convenient to pay for things now?
While Xiang Wan was having all these thoughts in her head, Cheng Zheng pulled his sports shirt. He was wearing a simple sports attire that showed off his stature. As if he could read her mind, he explained, "After I finished my jog, I wanted to grab a bite. But I have nothing on me..."
Alright!
It was just a bowl of noodles, Xiang Wan could afford that.
So she helped to pay for Cheng Zheng. "No need to pay me back, Captain Cheng. Take it as my treat. Bye!"
"No, I shouldn't take advantage of you!" Cheng Zheng frowned.
With that, under the puzzled gaze of Xiang Wan, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket idly, then gave her a serious look. "Add my WeChat so I can pay you back."
"..."
A wild demon was howling inside Xiang Wan's heart.
He has a phone with him and he can't pay for himself?
What is he doing? Isn't such a pick-up method stupid?
However, Cheng Zheng looked so serious that it did not look like he was trying to pick her up...
If she were to reject this, would she appear to be too pretentious?
"Captain Cheng," Xiang Wan smiled helplessly as she swiped his WeChat QR code, "it's very convenient to use WeChat Pay and Alipay to pay for your purchases. Nowadays, you can go anywhere without cash on you."
"Ah, is that so?" Cheng Zheng kept his mobile phone and continued to look at her fair, porcelain-like dainty face seriously. "I seldom use all these. I did not know that it also applies to breakfast."
Xiang Wan chuckled reluctantly, "I'll get going now."
"Bye," said Cheng Zheng as he watched her leave in a hurry.
...
For a small episode like this, Xiang Wan did not put it to heart.
While on the way back, she was thinking about her novel plot for the story.
Since her finger was hurt, it was not convenient for her to type, but this could not deter her from thinking of new story plots for her novel.
The moment she got home, she was defeated by the mobile phone.
In this era, there were too many things shouting for people's attention.
As soon as one looked at their mobile phone, their eyes and brain would not stay idle.
As she browsed through the news at Weibo, she tapped on news related to the 720 case unconsciously.
The case was no longer hot news. The amount of posts had reduced significantly. Even though there were still people who felt that the case still had a few doubtful points, while some were actively discussing about the case on love, social ethics, and values, they were just considered small ripples that were immediately brushed away by other breaking news.
It was the era of the impetuous.
The mass public wanted the most recent news.
People no longer paid attention to the 720 case.
It was the same for Xiang Wan's novel.
However, because of the 720 case, she also gained a lot of new readers that stayed on. Her book was no longer down in the dumps like what it used to be.
Amongst her new readers, she also gained some—male readers.
Well, this was unexpected for Xiang Wan.
To be able to attract male readers proved that maybe she possessed qualities of a true man—tolerance, magnanimity, and bravery inside her.
The male readers analyzed her logic reasoning and deduction about the case according to her plot in a very solemn and intellectual way. They were also not interested with the romance plot. The presence of a group of male readers was a different sight compared to the female readers who were busy shipping the characters of her novel.
Xiang Wan also looked at their feedback and criticisms at the reviews and comment section seriously.
Upon finishing reading, she would jot them down in her notebook.
She would give a conclusion of her own shortcomings and plan the subsequent plots of her story.
She wrote a detailed outline of her story of an approximate 2,000 words, taking about half a day with her injured hand while surfing the internet for references and more.
However, this time, she did not send this to her moderator chat group anymore.
The previous "who's lying" incident over the cat abuse plot left a negative impact on her. This resulted in an awkward relationship between her and the moderators of her reader chat group.
Regardless if it was Xiang Wan or the five of them, be it in the main reader chat group or the private moderator chat group, they would mull over each and every word before they press the "send" button. The days of chatting freely had gone with the wind.
It was the third day she had hurt her finger.
For the past few days, Xiang Wan lived in a daze.
On the fourth day in the evening, someone knocked on her door.
Xiang Wan thought that her takeout delivery had arrived, so she shuffled over to the door with her slippers.
When she opened the door, she saw Fang Yuanyuan's gloomy face instead.
"What's up?" Xiang Wan thought it could be the after-effect of the lunch at their youngest aunt the other day.
After her initial pause, she pulled Fang Yuanyuan into her rented apartment with a cheeky grin. "May I know why Lord Editor has come to visit me in my humble abode?"
Fang Yuanyuan snorted unhappily as she kicked off her high heels, stepped inside, and headed straight for Xiang Wan's refrigerator. She took out a bottle of beverage and sat on the sofa. "Of course, I'm here to chase you for updates. My dear author, how many days have you stopped updating?"
D*rn!
So you're chasing for updates.
It might not be a good thing to have a cousin as an editor after all!
Xiang Wan lifted her wounded hand. "I'm already like this, yet you still have the heart to chase me for updates?"
"Why can't I have the heart to do so?" Fang Yuanyuan rolled her eyes. "Is your hand more important or my performance bonus more important?"
Xiang Wan made a troubled moan as she touched her head. "Of course it's..."
"My performance bonus is more important!"
"So... what do you want me to do? I have no chapters for update, only my life!"
Xiang Wan knew that coercion would not work her cousin, so she adopted a softer stance to deal with her by shrugging, showing her palms as well as an innocent face.
"It's easy!" said Fang Yuanyuan, "I'll move in with you instead. I'll closely supervise you to make sure you write your story..."
"What?" Xiang Wan's eyes were still wide-opened when Fang Yuanyuan immediately announced another piece of blasting news. "I'm in love. If I'm at home, it won't be convenient, and I don't want to listen to my mom nagging as well. In addition, I need to chase you for updates. If I stay here, I can kill two hawks with one arrow."
"... Use another idiom or term!"
"Kill two birds with one stone?"
"This should be called a double win, okay?"
"Yes! This is why you're an author while I'm an editor." Fang Yuanyuan sat on the sofa in a relaxed manner. "That settles everything then."
The next moment, she pointed to the door. "I've brought my luggage with me. Help me take it in, Little Wanwan..."
"Holy sh*t!" Xiang Wan cussed and pulled her hair. In the end, her finger felt pain from this action.
The pain made her come to her senses. Xiang Wan put her hands on her waist just like the character Sun Erniang from Water Margin. She stood in front of Fang Yuanyuan, wearing a creepy smile on her face.
"I'm fine with you staying here. Here are my conditions: First, you need to share the rent with me. Second..."
"Share my boyfriend with you?"
"Just scram!" Xiang Wan glared at her. "Tell me, who's your boyfriend?"
Fang Yuanyuan blinked her eyes and looked at the door mysteriously. She whispered to her ear, "Make a guess?"
At this moment, there were sounds of footsteps closing in to Xiang Wan's apartment. She could hear a man's voice faintly as he was mumbling to himself something about why the luggage was still outside. Shortly, the half-opened door was pushed open.
Xiang Wan saw a familiar face just outside the door. Her mouth was agape from the shock!
...
Life had gone off-track and now back to normal.
Xiang Wan realized that there weren't much changes at all.
She used a night to recall and reflect what she had learnt from the case. The next morning, she looked in the mirror.
Heh! Young lady, you're good again, she told herself.
"From today onward, I won't sleep so much. I'm going to write more to accumulate my chapter stockpile! Yes!"
Xiang Wan clenched her fists in front of the mirror to motivate herself. Thereafter, she swiftly switched on her laptop and logon to her author account to leave an author's note that her finger was badly hurt and needed to take a break for a few days. She also chatted with her QQ readers group for a while before she gave a yawn, got changed, and came out of her bedroom.
When she locked her door, she unconsciously took a glance at the glass piece located at the top of her door.
Eh?
She had taken a glance because she was worried.
Now, she was shocked as the broken glass piece had been replaced with a new one.
She had not come back for the past few days and certainly did not engage someone to fix the piece of glass.
She went downstairs to the security post at the main entrance to ask Uncle Wang about it.
Uncle Wang told her that someone had lodged a complaint, and the building management got the door fixed.
"I see! Thank you!"
Xiang Wan did not know who filed the complaint.
It was just like the MacBook Pro laptop that made her lose sleep last night. The name of the sender was unknown...
Xiang Wan had thought of Bai Muchuan, but because of their "feud", she refused to believe it was him.
Just leave it like this! Who cares!
The wise says to let things flow naturally forward , she convinced herself.
...
The summer warm breeze at dawn was pleasant.
Xiang Wan had not woken up so early for a long time, and hence, she had not enjoyed such a beautiful moment.
She strolled toward the breakfast eatery outside the neighborhood with her eyes half-opened.
However, when she stood at the entrance, she saw Cheng Zheng eating noodles at one of the tables.
What a coincidence!
She did not greet him, though. After buying a cup of soya bean milk and one deep-fried dough stick, she wanted to leave after paying.
When she turned away to leave, Cheng Zheng called out to her.
"Teacher Xiang!"
There were many customers at the eatery, so a handsome guy like him naturally attracted a lot of attention.
Thus, when he called out to her, a group of people looked at her as well.
D*rn! Xiang Wan turned to look at him stiffly. She had no choice but to greet him with a smile. "Hi, you're here too, Captain Cheng?"
Cheng Zheng nodded his head as he walked to her, his gaze landing on the food she had bought. "That's actually enough for you?"
Xiang Wan was embarrassed. "I think so. I don't have the habit of eating breakfast. Just trying it out today."
"Oh," replied Cheng Zheng. He suddenly spoke softly, "Well... I forgot to bring money with me. Will you help me by lending me..."
... You don't have money but you still have your phone right?
... Isn't it so convenient to pay for things now?
While Xiang Wan was having all these thoughts in her head, Cheng Zheng pulled his sports shirt. He was wearing a simple sports attire that showed off his stature. As if he could read her mind, he explained, "After I finished my jog, I wanted to grab a bite. But I have nothing on me..."
Alright!
It was just a bowl of noodles, Xiang Wan could afford that.
So she helped to pay for Cheng Zheng. "No need to pay me back, Captain Cheng. Take it as my treat. Bye!"
"No, I shouldn't take advantage of you!" Cheng Zheng frowned.
With that, under the puzzled gaze of Xiang Wan, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket idly, then gave her a serious look. "Add my WeChat so I can pay you back."
"..."
A wild demon was howling inside Xiang Wan's heart.
He has a phone with him and he can't pay for himself?
What is he doing? Isn't such a pick-up method stupid?
However, Cheng Zheng looked so serious that it did not look like he was trying to pick her up...
If she were to reject this, would she appear to be too pretentious?
"Captain Cheng," Xiang Wan smiled helplessly as she swiped his WeChat QR code, "it's very convenient to use WeChat Pay and Alipay to pay for your purchases. Nowadays, you can go anywhere without cash on you."
"Ah, is that so?" Cheng Zheng kept his mobile phone and continued to look at her fair, porcelain-like dainty face seriously. "I seldom use all these. I did not know that it also applies to breakfast."
Xiang Wan chuckled reluctantly, "I'll get going now."
"Bye," said Cheng Zheng as he watched her leave in a hurry.
...
For a small episode like this, Xiang Wan did not put it to heart.
While on the way back, she was thinking about her novel plot for the story.
Since her finger was hurt, it was not convenient for her to type, but this could not deter her from thinking of new story plots for her novel.
The moment she got home, she was defeated by the mobile phone.
In this era, there were too many things shouting for people's attention.
As soon as one looked at their mobile phone, their eyes and brain would not stay idle.
As she browsed through the news at Weibo, she tapped on news related to the 720 case unconsciously.
The case was no longer hot news. The amount of posts had reduced significantly. Even though there were still people who felt that the case still had a few doubtful points, while some were actively discussing about the case on love, social ethics, and values, they were just considered small ripples that were immediately brushed away by other breaking news.
It was the era of the impetuous.
The mass public wanted the most recent news.
People no longer paid attention to the 720 case.
It was the same for Xiang Wan's novel.
However, because of the 720 case, she also gained a lot of new readers that stayed on. Her book was no longer down in the dumps like what it used to be.
Amongst her new readers, she also gained some—male readers.
Well, this was unexpected for Xiang Wan.
To be able to attract male readers proved that maybe she possessed qualities of a true man—tolerance, magnanimity, and bravery inside her.
The male readers analyzed her logic reasoning and deduction about the case according to her plot in a very solemn and intellectual way. They were also not interested with the romance plot. The presence of a group of male readers was a different sight compared to the female readers who were busy shipping the characters of her novel.
Xiang Wan also looked at their feedback and criticisms at the reviews and comment section seriously.
Upon finishing reading, she would jot them down in her notebook.
She would give a conclusion of her own shortcomings and plan the subsequent plots of her story.
She wrote a detailed outline of her story of an approximate 2,000 words, taking about half a day with her injured hand while surfing the internet for references and more.
However, this time, she did not send this to her moderator chat group anymore.
The previous "who's lying" incident over the cat abuse plot left a negative impact on her. This resulted in an awkward relationship between her and the moderators of her reader chat group.
Regardless if it was Xiang Wan or the five of them, be it in the main reader chat group or the private moderator chat group, they would mull over each and every word before they press the "send" button. The days of chatting freely had gone with the wind.
It was the third day she had hurt her finger.
For the past few days, Xiang Wan lived in a daze.
On the fourth day in the evening, someone knocked on her door.
Xiang Wan thought that her takeout delivery had arrived, so she shuffled over to the door with her slippers.
When she opened the door, she saw Fang Yuanyuan's gloomy face instead.
"What's up?" Xiang Wan thought it could be the after-effect of the lunch at their youngest aunt the other day.
After her initial pause, she pulled Fang Yuanyuan into her rented apartment with a cheeky grin. "May I know why Lord Editor has come to visit me in my humble abode?"
Fang Yuanyuan snorted unhappily as she kicked off her high heels, stepped inside, and headed straight for Xiang Wan's refrigerator. She took out a bottle of beverage and sat on the sofa. "Of course, I'm here to chase you for updates. My dear author, how many days have you stopped updating?"
D*rn!
So you're chasing for updates.
It might not be a good thing to have a cousin as an editor after all!
Xiang Wan lifted her wounded hand. "I'm already like this, yet you still have the heart to chase me for updates?"
"Why can't I have the heart to do so?" Fang Yuanyuan rolled her eyes. "Is your hand more important or my performance bonus more important?"
Xiang Wan made a troubled moan as she touched her head. "Of course it's..."
"My performance bonus is more important!"
"So... what do you want me to do? I have no chapters for update, only my life!"
Xiang Wan knew that coercion would not work her cousin, so she adopted a softer stance to deal with her by shrugging, showing her palms as well as an innocent face.
"It's easy!" said Fang Yuanyuan, "I'll move in with you instead. I'll closely supervise you to make sure you write your story..."
"What?" Xiang Wan's eyes were still wide-opened when Fang Yuanyuan immediately announced another piece of blasting news. "I'm in love. If I'm at home, it won't be convenient, and I don't want to listen to my mom nagging as well. In addition, I need to chase you for updates. If I stay here, I can kill two hawks with one arrow."
"... Use another idiom or term!"
"Kill two birds with one stone?"
"This should be called a double win, okay?"
"Yes! This is why you're an author while I'm an editor." Fang Yuanyuan sat on the sofa in a relaxed manner. "That settles everything then."
The next moment, she pointed to the door. "I've brought my luggage with me. Help me take it in, Little Wanwan..."
"Holy sh*t!" Xiang Wan cussed and pulled her hair. In the end, her finger felt pain from this action.
The pain made her come to her senses. Xiang Wan put her hands on her waist just like the character Sun Erniang from Water Margin. She stood in front of Fang Yuanyuan, wearing a creepy smile on her face.
"I'm fine with you staying here. Here are my conditions: First, you need to share the rent with me. Second..."
"Share my boyfriend with you?"
"Just scram!" Xiang Wan glared at her. "Tell me, who's your boyfriend?"
Fang Yuanyuan blinked her eyes and looked at the door mysteriously. She whispered to her ear, "Make a guess?"
At this moment, there were sounds of footsteps closing in to Xiang Wan's apartment. She could hear a man's voice faintly as he was mumbling to himself something about why the luggage was still outside. Shortly, the half-opened door was pushed open.
Xiang Wan saw a familiar face just outside the door. Her mouth was agape from the shock!
...
