CHAPTER 63: CHAPTER 59: OH NO, IT’S TOO BEAUTIFUL TO RESIST

It took a while, but Xu Qingqiu finally realized Chu Tian had led her astray.

She glared at him irritably. "Don’t you like singing?"

"Singing? With *this* voice?" Chu Tian retorted. "Would *you* listen?"

"..." Xu Qingqiu fell silent.

Realizing she might have said something inappropriate, Xu Qingqiu looked at Chu Tian apologetically. Her hand unconsciously traced patterns on the table, and with downcast, regretful eyes, she said, "I’m sorry, Chu Tian. I didn’t mean that. It’s just, I don’t think you can go on like this. Look, you have such a great image and you’re so talented. It’s a shame not to be a star. And..."

She paused, as if recalling something, then clenched her teeth. "Besides, how long can you keep this up? You don’t... I... What if one day my studio closes? I might also slowly lose popularity until no one seeks me out. Then how will you live?"

Whenever she thought about the passive-aggressive attitudes and deliberate difficulties some people created during a show recording a few days ago, and how the production team handled matters coldly and impersonally, she felt like rootless duckweed.

Lately, Sister Hua hadn’t had much success acquiring songs either. The few they did get were from unknown artists, and their quality was difficult to describe, to put it mildly.

She herself was conflicted about whether to accept help from someone called Youmeng, and had even gone as far as to install surveillance.

If Youmeng never showed up again and she couldn’t secure any songs, it was very likely that she, like many predecessors, would gradually be marginalized and forgotten, eventually discarded as valueless.

At that point, forget maintaining the studio; even ensuring her own livelihood wouldn’t be guaranteed. How could she not worry about Chu Tian?

While she still had some ability, even if it meant pushing Chu Tian out to become a low-tier celebrity, at least he would have a way to make a living, wouldn’t he?

It wasn’t as if there were no other options. However, aside from showbiz, she had no capabilities in other fields. Chu Tian himself had studied composition, but he had never displayed this talent. Xu Qingqiu didn’t know why he never composed; she just wanted to help him as much as she could.

How am I supposed to live? Chu Tian thought, looking at Xu Qingqiu in surprise. Seeing her slumped over the table, her face full of distress and on the verge of tears, his heartbeat seemed to slow a beat.

It had to be said, Xu Qingqiu was breathtakingly beautiful, truly a peerless beauty in the human world. Her eyes gleamed like stars, her brows were like willow leaves, her nose was elegantly prominent, and her skin was as smooth as cream, whiter than frost and snow.

At that moment, looking so vulnerable and casually sprawled on the table—who could resist that?

Chu Tian had seen many celebrities, but he mused that the most beautiful women weren’t necessarily in the entertainment industry. Many celebrities owed their beauty to filters and makeup artists. True beauties existed, but he had never been this close to one before—close enough to see the fine down on her face, to observe every tiny quiver of her eyelashes.

After a long silence, Xu Qingqiu couldn’t help but lift her head and ask, "What’s wrong? Why aren’t you speaking?"

"Ah? I... I’m fine," Chu Tian stammered, no longer slumping but slowly sitting up, feigning a casual tone. "Who says I can’t fend for myself? Earning money is easy; I can make it back in minutes." Of course, if one didn’t notice his slightly trembling hands hidden under the table, he still appeared to be the same carefree, unconcerned Chu Tian.

"Such a braggart," Xu Qingqiu scoffed, slowly standing up as he did. She wrinkled her little nose and rolled her eyes at him.

"Do you really not want to be a celebrity?"

"I don’t!" Chu Tian rejected the idea without a second thought, seeing her persistence. Be a celebrity? How exhausting!

"Fine, if you don’t want to, then so be it. But you can’t keep going on like this every day. From now on, just stick with me. Instead of sleeping your days away at the company, it’s better to follow me around. Even just meeting a few more people would be good."

"I..."

"Promise me, will you?"

"Alright..." Chu Tian conceded.

For some reason, Chu Tian felt a bit intimidated by her gaze; her eyes seemed as terrifyingly compelling as magnets. In his haste to end the awkward conversation, he felt he had no choice but to agree.

A triumphant little laugh escaped Xu Qingqiu as she beamed. "Then that’s settled. I’m good here; you can go."

Wait, what is this... Chu Tian thought, looking at Xu Qingqiu’s triumphant expression. He felt as if he’d been swindled. He desperately wanted to accuse her of being opportunistic—like someone who discards the donkey after it’s done its job at the mill—but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Dejectedly, he walked out of the office, reflecting on what had just happened. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been duped.

That shouldn’t be right. I don’t have any feelings for her, do I? How did I even agree? Could I have been bewitched? No, that’s ridiculous. Does that woman possess some kind of magic? Or maybe she’s capable of hypnotism?

Even after returning to his desk, he still couldn’t figure out how he had fallen for her ploy.

The mere thought of having to follow his boss around in the coming days gave him a headache.

Running around outside every day was nowhere near as comfortable as staying in the office.

Enjoying the air conditioning, singing songs, browsing dramas, and checking out gossip when bored—wasn’t that far better than being exposed to the sun and wind outside every day?

The decision was set in stone. A man’s word is his bond; he had agreed, so what could he do now?

"Sister Qiu?" Yiyi asked. "What were you two discussing? Why did Chu Tian look so down when he left? You didn’t scold him, did you?"

"How could I?!" Xu Qingqiu exclaimed. "Why would I scold him? You said he looked dejected?"

"Yes," Yiyi confirmed. "He seemed a bit lost, almost as if he felt deeply wronged."

"Hmm, it’s nothing. He’ll be fine in a couple of days," Xu Qingqiu said cheerfully, seemingly amused by some private thought.

What does ’he’ll be fine in a couple of days’ mean? Yiyi wondered, looking at Sister Qiu with a puzzled expression. Seeing that Xu Qingqiu didn’t want to elaborate, Yiyi felt it was inappropriate to press further and could only suppress her doubts.

「...」

"Editor-in-Chief! Nanmeng sent over the entire book."

"Where is it? Let me see!"

"It’s on my computer. I haven’t had time to organize it yet."

"No need to organize it now. Just send me a copy first."

The Editor-in-Chief’s eyes lit up as if he’d spotted a gourmet meal when he heard the entire book had arrived.

He had only skimmed through the book a few days prior, but it had left a profound impression on him.

For the past few nights, images of the Blank Paper Man and the Rat Man had flashed through his mind as he tried to sleep, making him restless. Eventually, he couldn’t resist and had checked the latest Chapter on his phone.

Once he started reading, he couldn’t stop. The further he delved into it, the more captivating it became. Unlike his previous cursory glance, this time he immersed himself completely, reading word by word, which made it even more thrilling.

It was so engaging that he couldn’t get enough, wishing he could devour it all in one go.

Unfortunately, the new book wasn’t very long, and he quickly ran out of material, which had even kept him up the previous night.

Now, hearing that the complete manuscript had been sent over today, he couldn’t restrain himself any longer; he had to read it immediately.

"Right, after you send it to me, update today’s Chapter for him," the Editor-in-Chief added.

"Okay, Editor-in-Chief." Although Qiu Ye didn’t understand why the Editor-in-Chief was so eager, she obediently sent him the file and then returned to her desk to start organizing it.

Why are these Chapters of different lengths? The word count is really awkward, isn’t it? Some are less than two thousand words; how will that work? Huh? Is each Chapter a self-contained short story? This is going to be troublesome...

As Qiu Ye returned to her seat and began to organize the manuscript, she realized the entire book completely deviated from the typical web novel format. She had to patiently read through it while considering how to best structure it. As she did so, she found herself becoming engrossed.