CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 49: PRODUCE ALBUMS FOR OTHERS? DREAM ON!

There are several taboo words one should never say to a woman, including "fat" and "cakey makeup," among others.

Notably, a double chin and a potbelly are, unsurprisingly, synonymous with being overweight.

No matter how beautiful someone is, they are never happy to hear someone else call them fat.

Particularly with Chu Tian’s blunt way of putting it.

As soon as he had said it, Chu Tian regretted it; he hadn’t thought it through at all. After all, when he looked up, he’d seen a double chin and blurted it out instinctively, completely stirring up a hornet’s nest.

Xu Qingqiu clenched her teeth, moved to stand to one side, and glared at him fiercely.

"Um... I misspoke. Actually, there’s no double chin..."

At this, even Yiyi couldn’t bear to watch anymore. She slapped a hand to her face, looking utterly despondent yet desperately trying to suppress her laughter.

"Chu Tian! You’re not getting paid this month!"

"What? Why not?"

Xu Qingqiu was so angry she trembled. Unwilling to speak, she clenched her teeth, turned coldly, and with a quick TAP-TAP-TAP of her heels, walked away.

Yiyi secretly gave Chu Tian a thumbs-up behind Xu Qingqiu’s back and then quickly jogged to catch up.

"Hey, don’t go! What about my salary?"

Watching her figure recede into the distance, Chu Tian was stupefied.

Is my salary actually being docked? If not, great. But if it is, I certainly won’t agree. That’s illegal!

Who cares if it’s illegal or not? Xu Qingqiu is furious. Can’t this guy watch his mouth?

She stormed into the recording studio, flopped onto the sofa, and clenched the USB drive tightly, but Chu Tian’s words still echoed in her mind.

"Yiyi, do I really have a double chin?"

"Ah? No, no, Sister Qiu, you’ve gotten so thin! How could you possibly have a double chin? He was just talking nonsense!"

"Really?"

"Yes! It couldn’t be truer!"

Zhou Yiyi nodded vigorously, like a chicken pecking at grain.

She wasn’t stupid. Besides, she wasn’t as foolhardy as Chu Tian. She still wanted this month’s salary.

Perhaps Yiyi’s reassurance worked. Xu Qingqiu finally calmed down a bit. She glanced at the USB drive and then realized she had forgotten to print something earlier.

"Yiyi, could you go print a copy of the lyrics sheet for me?"

「...」

Chu Tian waited for a long while, but seeing that no one even looked back, he dejectedly sat back down.

Who did I even offend? Wasn’t I just browsing a novel website? At most, that’s just slacking off, right? Why is my salary being docked? Are they nuts?

Speaking of novels, he suddenly remembered something. The system task had been completed once the novel was published. He’d been aimlessly browsing the website and hadn’t had time to check yet.

[DING, task complete. Reputation Points limit increased to 10,000,000.]

[DING, new task unlocked. Please create an album. Task completion will unlock a further increase to the Reputation Points limit.]

Another task? Is this ever going to end?

So that means I have to complete a task to increase the Reputation Points storage limit, right?

The problem is, the task is to create an album. I definitely can’t sing, so what the heck am I supposed to do with an album?

It can’t fall on Xu Qingqiu again, surely? She’s the one going to dock my pay; that would be aiding the enemy!

A few days ago, he was thinking about getting her to do one last song to scrape up some Reputation Points to tide him over. Once the novel was released, he figured he could earn Reputation Points himself, so there would be no need to keep giving songs to Xu Qingqiu.

But then the system hit him with this task.

I’d always thought this system was just here to make my life difficult, and now it seems confirmed, right?

I’ve never seen such a rotten system. She just docked my salary for a month, and now the system wants me to produce an album for her. Isn’t that insane?

No way! I’m not doing it! Why should I?

It wasn’t like I needed the Reputation Points anyway. I don’t want to sing anymore, and I’d only written the novel to complete a task. Now that it’s done, it doesn’t matter whether I write or not.

No, wait, I have to keep writing. Otherwise, I’ll have no leverage. It’s better to rely on myself than on others. Earning my own money is always more reassuring than waiting for someone else’s paycheck.

Looks like I have to keep writing the novel. I absolutely must!

Help someone else produce an album? Dream on! I’m absolutely not doing it! They can do whatever they want!

As for Xu Qingqiu? I only gave her those songs before as compensation and as thanks for her previous care. Those few songs have already repaid the favor. There’s no way I’m doing any more in the future!

If my novel starts to do well and I can earn Reputation Points that way, I’ll just continue to exchange them for the medicine I need. That way, my throat can heal. There’s absolutely no need to go through the thankless effort of helping someone else produce an album.

Yeah, that’s what I’ll do!

Once Chu Tian had made up his mind, he felt much more relaxed.

The novel is already published, and all the information is filled out. All that’s left is to wait for a notification, right?

I’m not sure if I can get it signed. I’ve heard it’s difficult, and I’m not clear about the process. I’ll just have to wait.

「...」

Before he knew it, another two days had passed. During those two days, Chu Tian went to and from work as usual. On one hand, the thought of losing a month’s salary yet still having to come to work every day made it all seem meaningless. On the other hand, he figured his boss might have just spoken in anger; if he actually skipped work, his salary could truly be gone.

So, he had no choice but to trudge to work each day, lifelessly and punctually clocking in like a zombie.

Of course, he hadn’t forgotten to follow instructions and update his novel with three thousand words daily. But by the third day, he still hadn’t received any news. No calls, and no one had added his contact number.

Could it be that this novel just isn’t a good fit for this world?

That can’t be, right? After all, it’s a classic. It would be too tragic if my grand ambitions were crushed just as they were taking off.

Chu Tian felt that I might just be the most unfortunate transmigrator of all. Not only did I get a rotten system, but I also started out mute.

My voice was finally healed, only for me to become a mere story porter. And even then, the novel I published didn’t make a single ripple.

I’ll wait a bit more. If it still doesn’t work out, I’ll try another website.

「...」

While he was anxiously waiting, on the 12th floor of the Cloud Summit Culture headquarters in the Capital, in the male-frequency editorial department, Editor-in-charge Hai Qiuye began her usual routine: browsing the new book database for anything worth signing.

Before that, following her work habits, she first checked the books she had previously noted as suitable for signing and found that all of them were already in the contract process.

She was also following up on some others that were still uncertain.

As she was looking, a record specially highlighted in yellow caught her eye.

That’s right! Why hasn’t the author of ’Candle in the Tomb’ contacted me yet?

She had noticed this book two days prior. Six thousand words had been published on the first day. When she first saw the title, she’d paused, not understanding what it meant.

But when she read the synopsis, her interest was greatly piqued. However, at the time, the novel was categorized under "Modern." Based on just the synopsis and a mere six thousand words, she couldn’t yet determine what kind of novel it actually was.