The hotel was booked.
This meant Qiu Wuji didn't need to choose between a standard room and a double room; she only needed to check in.
As a well-known "boyfriend and girlfriend," a "first autumn romance," of course, they'd book a double room for her...
Qiu Wuji stood expressionlessly in the room, carrying her small suitcase, glaring angrily at Chu Ge.
"You've been carrying that suitcase for five minutes already, put it down, sweetie, put it down..." Chu Ge carefully helped her unload the suitcase and tossed it aside.
"Hmph!" Qiu Wuji also had her suitcase taken away and strode inside.
The five-star hotel room was quite beautiful, with a balcony featuring a table and a lounge chair. Gazing out from the balcony offered a sense of exhilaration and freedom, overlooking the city. The afternoon sun streamed in; lying there lazily, with a drink, sunglasses on, she exuded a sophisticated, bourgeois charm.
Qiu Wuji lay down and didn't want to get up, thinking he should make one for himself on his cliffside...
Ugh, going back is one thing, but what about tonight?
He'll be sleeping with him again...
This guy is like a frog slowly boiled in water. From one house with two rooms, to one room with two beds, and then his mother tricked him into sleeping with Chu Ge. That day, he pretended to be too tired and fell asleep in his arms. I felt sorry for him and didn't try to break free. And now they're openly sharing a room and a bed!
Even if nothing's actually happened, to outsiders, you two have done everything...
Waaah...
My reputation...
Qiu Wuji held a glass of freshly squeezed drink, slurping it down expressionlessly, his mind wandering elsewhere.
Chu Ge took out his laptop from the box, turned it on, tested the network, and confirmed it was working. He turned to look at Qiu Wuji's expression and couldn't help but laugh.
He strolled over, but instead of leaning against the other recliner, he lowered his head and kissed Qiu Wuji's forehead.
Qiu Wuji didn't even try to dodge; she only remembered to glare at him after being kissed.
Chu Ge chuckled and pinched her nose, then swayed away.
Qiu Wuji was exasperated.
You mean to say we're an old married couple, huh?!
Chu Ge leaned against the railing, gazing into the distance, and sighed, "No wonder there are so many poems about leaning against railings in ancient times; the feeling of looking out like this is truly expansive, a thousand poetic thoughts well up within me."
Qiu Wuji's tone was cool: "Don't lean against the railing alone, for the boundless rivers and mountains are easy to leave but hard to meet again."
Chu Ge: "?" Qiu Wuji slurped.
"Can't you not spoil the mood? Are we leaning against the railing alone?" Chu Ge glared at her, "Don't you see the Huangpu River in the distance, its waters stretching to the sky..."
"The setting sun shines on the boundless Chu sky, I lean against the railing and watch the wild geese fly by," Qiu Wuji continued.
"Hiss... It has a built-in search function?" Chu Ge exclaimed. "You've memorized all the Tang and Song poems?"
"No," Qiu Wuji slurped. "I just wanted to spoil your fun, so what?"
"These poems are so ominous for us, you're not allowed to spout nonsense again."
"Actually, the ancients who leaned on railings were mostly pretentious, not many were truly open-minded."
"Waiting for the rhinoceros horn to burn beneath, leaning on the railing, yet fearful; the wind and thunder rage, the fish and dragons are in misery—that's the spirit we should have!"
"Eh?" Qiu Wuji laughed. "Chu Ge, you're quite cultured, aren't you?"
Chu Ge put his hands on his hips. "Of course! How could I write something like this if I wasn't cultured?"
Actually, in this aspect alone, Chu Ge was no match for Qiu Wuji. Of course, Qiu Wuji wouldn't expose him. For a modern person, having Chu Ge's collection of poems was already quite impressive; he couldn't compare to someone like her from the ancients.
However, just as it was easy for her to memorize Tang and Song dynasty poems with her divine sense, it would be just as easy for Chu Ge to memorize more famous lines of poetry. This meant Chu Ge's writing still had room for improvement.
It's just a matter of whether he'll have another book.
Sure enough, Chu Ge brought up the topic: "This afternoon we'll split up. You and Lao Zhu will have the investment meeting here, and I'll go to the website and talk to them."
"Don't go flirting with the female editors!"
"I don't even know what they look like, what am I supposed to flirt with?"
"So, if you knew they were pretty, you would flirt with them, right?!"
"Where did this jealousy come from?" Chu Ge suddenly reached out and swept Qiu Wuji up in his arms.
Qiu Wuji struggled: "Hey, hey, what are you doing? I haven't finished my drink yet, I'm going to spill it!"
Chu Ge leaned in and slurped down the rest of his drink.
Qiu Wuji helplessly tossed the bottle into the trash can.
The next moment, he was pounced on the large bed, the remaining drink on his lips licked clean by Chu Ge…
"What are you doing!" Qiu Wuji struggled, turning his head to stop him from kissing him: "You get excited when you talk about female editors, don't you?"
Chu Ge whispered in his ear: "Isn't the right thing to do to drain me dry first?"
Qiu Wuji paused, hesitatingly stopping his struggle.
That seems to make sense.
Back then, Mengmeng said…
"Hey, hey, don't take it off… You're so good at doing this! Ha… um…"
Chu Ge buried his face in the clouds, mumbling indistinctly: "So, why bother with the large bed…"
Qiu Wuji was embarrassed.
Even more embarrassing was that he actually wanted to drain him dry before letting him go to his mother.
So, being a jerk was a huge flaw…
…Qiu Wuji had no idea how meaningless his midday attempt to drain him was.
Chu Ge arrived at the website feeling refreshed. Reaching the editorial department floor of the office building, he found it densely packed with editors working at their desks in the lobby. Each one or two would look up at him as he entered, like a spectator watching a monkey.
"Who's that?"
"I heard it's Chu Ge."
"Oh, it's him...wow, he's handsome."
"Pshaw, am I more handsome?"
"Please look in the mirror." Chu Ge just wanted to cover his face. This was so different from the literary atmosphere he'd imagined!
And with so many people, there were hardly any private offices; everyone was crammed into the lobby. His lofty ideals were shattered.
It was even worse than the floor he'd passed earlier, with its shelves filled with books published by the group itself—all familiar titles. Browsing through them felt like strolling through an online novel corridor.
He was greeted by his team's editors. The editor-in-chief and the others were all there; his female editor was just one of them. Once inside the office, the boss was sitting, and the group was chatting together.
Although the female editor was indeed a pretty young woman with delicate features, she was worlds apart from the scene Qiu Wuji had imagined of a secret rendezvous with a beautiful editor.
So what was the point of squeezing him out of his life? It made him weak in the knees even to come inside for a chat.
The boss was very amiable, even addressing him as "Master Chu": "Master Chu, President Xie attaches great importance to this book..." Chu Ge knew the other party was respecting Xie Wenyuan, not him, and calmly replied, "President Xie is a very idealistic person." The nervousness he used to feel when meeting important figures was completely absent.
Whether meeting his own boss or Xie Wenyuan... Chu Ge felt no different from meeting ordinary people.
To the Father God of a world... they were truly ordinary people.
Seeing Chu Ge's attitude, the boss's eyes flashed with surprise, then he smiled: "I heard from the editorial team that Chu Ge doesn't want to renew his long-term contract?"
Chu Ge gave the same answer: "There might not be another book, so it's pointless."
The boss knew the real reason perfectly well, but simply smiled: "What if it's just a collaboration?"
"Hmm?" This time it was Chu Ge's turn to be taken aback: "What kind of collaboration?"
"If there is another book, just prioritize publishing it here, without any binding."
Chu Ge remained silent.
Although the details weren't explained, as a seasoned veteran, he immediately understood that this was a partial platinum-level collaboration model…
This wasn't something that could be obtained simply by selling the rights to one book; it was due to Xie Wenyuan's terrifying power.
The key point was clearly the phrase "President Xie attaches great importance to this," and Chu Ge had actually met with Xie Wenyuan for an hour of tea and conversation, rested for a whole afternoon under Xie Wenyuan's arrangement, and only leisurely came to the website in the afternoon.
Could this be a matter of an ordinary author selling rights? It seemed to be one of the core strategies of Datang Guangying Culture Company…