The soft sigh caused the young woman’s heartstrings to tighten further. She pursed her lips, her head shrinking into her neck as the sound of the laptop scraped against the top of the table, finally interrupting the heavy silence. A light clearing of the throat followed the sound of someone uncapping their water bottle, taking a sip, and placing it down with a light thunk.
“It’s not bad.”
The young woman had known her editor for years. She smiled wryly. “Mr. Gui, you don’t have to lie.”
Guī Yīn looked at the nervous author in front of him and shook his head. “Miss Shen, I’ve never lied to an author before. I believe you know my reputation in the office isn’t that great, don’t you?”
The author, surnamed Shen, glanced up at Gui Yin. She readjusted her glasses. “I wouldn’t say it’s not great…”
“Miss Shen, what you have here has great potential,” Gui Yin said. His slender fingers lightly tapped at the surface of his laptop. “It’s just…”
“…Just what?”
“Just that the plot is a bit one-dimensional,” Gui Yin said as he glanced at the character outline on the laptop. “Especially since you have such a full cast of characters. Or is it you’re not done with the plot yet?”
Miss Shen flushed in embarrassment. “I-I’m done with it.”
Gui Yin nodded curtly. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with a stallion novel. They’re still all the rage, after all. It’s just that I don’t think it fits your previous style of novels—this may lead to you losing some old fans. However, if this is truly the genre you would like to try, I will help you.”
Miss Shen met Gui Yin’s sincere gaze and felt her nose sour. She lowered her head again and squeezed her knees apprehensively.
“Could I talk about something a bit personal, Mr. Gui?”
Gui Yin leaned back in his chair. “Of course.”
“…I started writing on M Website in high school,” Miss Shen said. “My first series showed a bit of promise and I was able to sign a contract—that’s the reason my parents agreed to not make me go to university. But it’s been six years and my second series completely tanked. It didn’t reach the numbers that I thought it would and I was even mocked by the netizens…”
Gui Yin leaned over to grab the box of tissues behind him. He placed it in front of Miss Shen and returned to his previous position.
“I’m not that young anymore—I’m turning twenty-five in the next few months. My parents have been bothering me about getting married and I,” Miss Shen pursed her lips. The tears she had been trying to keep in the past few weeks slowly surfaced. “It’s either college or marriage—they want me to choose one if my career doesn’t get any better by the time I turn twenty-six. I just…I’m sorry, Mr. Gui. I’ve talked too much about my personal life, but this is where I’m at. I really need this next story to take off.”
Gui Yin frowned.
The model of parenting has hardly changed from generation to generation.
From childhood till high school, you were supposed to study hard, earn good grades, and then get into a good university. If you didn’t know what you wanted to be by then, then you were a failure. If you weren’t preparing to get married by the time you graduated college, you were strange. If you didn’t have a stable job lined up, you were criticized. No matter how well everything was done, parents always found a way to belittle their children.
Even Gui Yin’s parents, who were long divorced and had their own families, still had time to badger him on holidays like New Year’s or Christmas to see whether he had gotten a girlfriend yet. Wasn’t it them who wanted him to focus on his studies and career at first? Where in the world would he find time to get a girlfriend?
Besides, he’s already told them time and time again that he was not interested in women. After nearly ten years, they were still stubbornly refusing to accept that fact.
Gui Yin’s brows pinched as he tried to suppress his growing irritation. He turned his attention back to Miss Shen. He patted the back of her tightly clasped hands.
“I understand, Miss Shen. I will try my best to help you,” Gui Yin said. He smiled when the young woman looked up with teary eyes. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’re a talented writer. There’s no need for you to follow the trends just to get your work noticed. Just be true to yourself and true to your fans. As for your parents…I understand that it’s difficult to ignore their criticisms, but sometimes it’s better to distance yourself from the negativity, even if they are your family.”
Miss Shen sat a bit straighter. “How could I do that? They worked so hard to raise me and I know they’re already disappointed in me for choosing to be a web novelist. Not to mention, the things I write are a bit…”
“A bit what?”
Miss Shen bit her lower lip and averted her gaze.
“I think they’re fine,” Gui Yin said. He glanced at the plot outline again. “How about this? Instead of having it take place in a modern setting, we’ll move your fantasy worlds into ancient times. The outline you provided is already set in a world with cultivation. We can just lean into it. We’ll do away with the stallion protagonist. Create a new character with more depth and we can work from there.”
Miss Shen’s eyes widened. “Y-you think we can do that before the deadline?”
“Of course. I’ll send you all the research and reference material we have for this genre tonight,” Gui Yin closed his laptop with a smile. He looked Miss Shen in the eyes. “You’re a good writer, Miss Shen. People will notice you in the future, I promise.”
The tears that the young woman had been holding back finally fell out drop by drop. Gui Yin calmly handed her some tissues. He remained beside her as a silent comfort. It was as if all the stress in the world was lifted from her shoulders. She couldn’t stop crying for a long time.
As the two of them finished up their meeting, Miss Shen let out a soft giggle.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Zs qjgfcar kbeiv vfolclafis ibnf ab tjnf sbe jr atflg rbc-lc-ijk. Tbe’gf delaf atf rwbbat ajixfg.”
Xel Tlc rwlifv. “Ktjcx sbe obg atf mbwqilwfca, Zlrr Vtfc. Lbkfnfg, P’w jogjlv la kbeiv yf lwqbrrlyif yfakffc sbe jcv wf. P’w cba lcafgfrafv lc kbwfc.”
Zlrr Vtfc ibbxfv ja tlw. Ktf regqglrf lc tfg fsfr ribkis aegcfv ab j asqf bo ecvfgrajcvlcu. Lfg veii ujhf yfmjwf j ilaaif yglutafg jcv tfg rwlif yfmjwf j ilaaif wbgf rlcmfgf.
“I agree to that, Mr. Gui,” Miss Shen said cheerfully. “I’m not quite interested in men either.”
Gui Yin chuckled.
He walked Miss Shen to the elevators and the two said their parting words there. Just as he turned around, he was met with a familiar coworker.
He gave the man a once over before heading back to his desk.
“Rejected another one, hm?”
“I didn’t reject her,” Gui Yin sat down and turned on his laptop. “She was only joking.”
“Only joking,” his coworker sat down at his own desk and wheeled his way over. He propped his head up and looked at Gui Yin. “What about the past couple? They weren’t exactly joking, were they?”
“I don’t like mixing my personal life and my work life,” Gui Yin said as he sorted through his reference folders to find the materials Miss Shen needed.
“Oh, but what about that one guy? The…uh…ah, man. His name is slipping my mind,” Gui Yin’s coworker clicked his tongue. He leaned back in his office chair and slapped his forehead. “What was it? He’s topping the charts right now! The guy that writes the tragic gay novels?”
Gui Yin suppressed a sigh. “He’s surnamed Zhen. His pseudonym is Chasing Fireflies.”
“Right! Him!” his coworker leaned in again. “You were interested in him, weren’t you?”
“I wasn’t.”
“You weren’t?” his worker slowly raised a brow. “But there are rumors around the office that you switched him to another editor because you two didn’t end up working out.”
Gui Yin glanced at his coworker.
A cold chill ran down his coworker’s back. The man sat upright and rolled back to his desk.
“Geez, you can never take a joke, huh?”
Gui Yin stood, closed his laptop, and slipped it into his bag. “I will be going home now.”
“Already?”
“Miss Shen was the last meeting I had,” Gui Yin said.
“Well, okay. Safe travels,” his coworker mumbled as Gui Yin rounded the desks. The man clicked his tongue. “I thought gay people were supposed to be really friendly. Why is he always like a frozen popsicle?”
The words reached Gui Yin’s ears, but he didn’t bother arguing with him.
He pressed the elevator button and waited for one of the doors to part. Seconds ticked by horrendously slowly.
In the silence, his mind drifted back to Miss Shen’s story, a sad sigh unconsciously escaping his lips.
Miss Shen was a good writer—there was no arguing that. Her words flowed magically from her fingertips, forever weaving a realistic universe that one could easily get lost in. It was unfortunate that she quickly became a buried gem.
A majority of the time, those who prowled the internet enjoyed content that didn’t expend much brain power since it was their way of winding down after a long day. That was why a no-brain stallion novel could top the charts, while a story that underlined the darkness of humanity or crafted a mind-bending mystery would get ignored. The no-brain stallion novel might even garner more attention simply because people would get curious about why it was doing so well.
As this pattern continued on, these novels that people loved to hate-read ruled the charts while stories with genuine substance or authors with genuine talent would quickly get buried under.
Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done. Good web novel sites might try to promote smaller creators, but even then, regular readers might consider the low-ranked story a “risk” that they didn’t want to waste their time on. Bad web novel sites just wouldn’t care. Who cares if their content is trashy or cliché? They were still making money, weren’t they? That’s all that really matters.
Gui Yin shook his head as the elevator’s ding interrupted his thoughts.
He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.
There was little use mourning and complaining over the state of the internet. All he could do was try his best to help the authors he was in charge of. Thankfully, most of the time, his best was just good enough.
“Gui Yin?”
The man froze at the familiar voice.
A soft chuckle entered his ears. “It’s really you.”
Gui Yin glanced at the man beside him. “Mr. Zhen.”
“So, it’s ‘Mr. Zhen’ now?”
“What else would I call you if not Mr. Zhen?”
The man showed a shocked expression. A short, bitter laugh followed. “Gui Yin, you’re very cruel. I haven’t seen you in a while, so I just wanted to reminisce a little. You’re getting off work now, right? How about we go grab a drink right now?”
Gui Yin turned away from Zhen Wengu, who was more well-known under the pseudonym Chasing Fireflies.
“How is your wife, Mr. Zhen?”
Zhēn Wèngǔ frowned. “Must you bring her up now?”
“I figured it would be alright, since we were talking about old times.”
“…She’s fine.”
“I heard she’s pregnant. Congratulations.”
The longer Gui Yin spoke, the darker Zhen Wengu’s expression became.
The elevator soon arrived on the ground floor.
Gui Yin was the first to step out.
The two men left the quaint office building and emerged into the dark night.
“Then, I will be heading this way,” Gui Yin nodded to Zhen Wengu and turned towards the bus stop.
“Gui Yin.”
A firm hand caught Gui Yin’s wrist.
Gui Yin stopped and looked over his shoulder at the petulant man. “What is it, Mr. Zhen?”
Zhen Wengu froze.
The gentle eyes that used to look at him with greater affection had turned cold. When Zhen Wengu looked into those eyes, he realized that he was no longer looking at the young man who had hesitantly opened up his heart to him. He was looking at someone who thought of him as nothing but a stranger.
“…Nothing.”
Gui Yin took his arm back. He smoothed out the wrinkles of his cardigan with furrowed brows.
“Mr. Zhen, please think before you act. You and I may have had a short relationship together, but now you’re a married man. If you continue acting like this, it’ll affect not only yours, but my reputation in my workplace as well.”
Zhen Wengu reluctantly nodded. “I understand. I apologize, Mr. Gui.”
Gui Yin’s gaze lingered on Zhen Wengu for a moment before he left without another word.
His brows furrowed tighter the further he got away. He wanted to rub at the spot on his wrist, but he resisted the urge. He could still feel the other man’s eyes on the back of his head. He drew in deep breath and slowly exhaled.
How repulsive.
The streetlights around the bus stop had gone out just last week, but they had yet to come by to fix them. Although there were still the lights from the nearby shops, as well as the light from the bus stop itself, the area surrounding the bus stop felt a little eerie.
Gui Yin ignored the uncomfortable feeling crawling up his spine and sat down at the bus stop.
He glanced at his phone.
It was 8:48 pm. This was the first time he would be leaving the company before 11 PM in a month.
Originally, he had been planning on working overtime again, but when he had to listen to his coworker’s rambling, he decided today was the day to break his streak. He just wasn’t in the mood. He didn’t have the patience. He was normally not a good-tempered person to begin with—he was just good at lying. However, no matter how great he was at lying, there were times when he wanted to snap.
Today felt like it would be one of those times.
“Maybe I should call in sick tomorrow,” Gui Yin murmured to himself as he fiddled with his cell phone.
His planning came to a short halt as the bus pulled up beside him. Gui Yin stepped onto the bus and took a seat in the very back.
He pulled out his phone again and checked his messages. He had a few from a handful of his friends, his half-siblings, who were asking for money again, and one from his dad, who asked him what he was planning on doing for his birthday.
Gui Yin stared at the unread message for a while before exiting the app altogether. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the headrest.
Birthday, huh?
He didn’t want to think about it.
If he went to his mom’s house, his dad would be offended. If he went to his dad’s house, his mom would be upset. He was going to be turning twenty-nine, so what was the use of celebrating a birthday of someone who was nearly thirty? It’s not like he celebrated it much when he was a child anyway.
Things like birthdays were better off being ignored. That way, no one would be upset, and he could just spend the day as he normally would. That would be the best birthday gift.
It was nearing 9:30pm when he arrived back at his apartment.
He took a quick shower, fixed himself a small snack, and began sending the materials he found over to Miss Shen.
By the time he finished, it was already past ten o’clock.
His cellphone lit up with a notification with a message from Miss Shen. It thanked Gui Yin profusely and, attached to the most recent message, was a rewritten outline for her newest story.
Gui Yin smiled and happily opened it.
The file popped up across Gui Yin’s old windows. He rested his chin against the palm of his hand as he slowly scanned its contents.
Even with just a bit of fiddling, the story had already ascended to a new level.
Gui Yin picked up his phone and sent a short text: “You’re very talented, Miss Shen. It’s looking better already.”
He set his phone aside and closed his laptop again. He stretched his waist and stood.
Without realizing it, the fatigue that had been building up on Gui Yin’s shoulders the entire day was finally getting to him. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and made his way to his room.
Winter had finally departed, leaving behind the warming spring months. Right now, it was still too cold to discard outerwear, but when you were at home, it was the perfect temperature to roll away from your covers.
Gui Yin lazily shimmied onto his bed and mindlessly threw his covers over his feet, the blanket barely covering his stomach.
Without even bothering to fix his posture, he closed his eyes and sighed.
Whatever coworker or ex or birthday he had to worry about would just be dealt with the following day. Relief washed over Gui Yin as he let himself bask in the warmth of his room, the soft sheets rubbing against his skin, and the drowsiness that had taken a tight hold of him.
Today—this day—was finally over.
And tomorrow would start anew.
Can’t wait to see what starts new…hahaha! Thanks for the chapter 🤣❤️
Gay and lasbian friendship nicee~
Dear coworker, pls stfu.
And.. dude you got married, so pls be faithful. Idk why you did it if you still have lingering affections, don’t just make your wife suffer
Thank you for the chapter!! <3
Gui Yin, i already feel comraderie with you. gods i hope he gets a good sleep alfjxkajdxhdb
Yayyy, finally reading this<3 good first chapter, i’m very excited to read more 🙂 <3 also the mom and dad birthday thing is such a struggle for children of divorced parents😭 Also I loved the sentence about how miss shen’s words flowed magically from her fingertips and so on lol 💕✨
Noooo the smiley face againn😭😭
this will never not be funny, but i understand the struggle 😭 thanks for reading!
Thanks for the chapter!! 😀
thanks for reading!!!
I LOVE the start!! I’m very happy that the MC starts out gay, because in a lot of the novels I’ve read, he just… turns (??) gay for the ML when they meet.
Thank you for the chapter!!
starting this while in class 😅
Thanks for reading! (And good luck with class!!)
I feel like i need to give this guy a hug ah!
🤗 Starting reading, this first chapter seems really promising
Rereading! Big fan of this story!
!! thank you so much : D