Extras 6

Fang Qiuye was a writer whose work schedule was similar to a worker who did overtime. So, she gave herself a nickname on WeChat – Fang Xiaogong*.

*小攻 xiǎo gōng – (slang) it roughly means, the ‘giver’

Other than having to construct a plot and type it out, her work had no difference between a coder who clacked on codes on the keyboard all day. Writers and coders alike, would probably become bald from staying up late. However, coders have a large repertoire of formatting statements that could be repeatedly used; the actual day-to-day work was easier, if not, repetitive. This was impossible for a writer.

So, she was busy. Super busy. When her mother introduced her a blind date, her first reaction was no. NO. Her daily updates required her to work from morning to night, since she had to update at 12 and 6 o’clock. She also had no beauty, no money, no job. What can she offer to her blind date?!

“He’s a professor who just came back from studying abroad,” her mother said.

“Mom, is he bald then?” Fang Qiuye asked.

“What nonsense! He’s less than thirty years old! I’ll get my friend to send his photos. You wait! Stop saying that you’re going to go bald and stop thinking the whole world is going to go bald! Aiya!”

Fang Qiuye hummed angrily. “He’s under thirty and he’s a professor? Mom, a professor is not a treasure.”

She instantly pointed out the fawning that her mother did for this man. In the past, her blind dates were objectified like this. The elder would describe them like a male lead in a fictional drama. Then, that fantasy bubble would pop when they met…

“Hey, he might not be one now, but he may be one in the future!” her mother said. “Don’t mess with me, I’ll see what Aunt Zheng sent me… um, um, he’s currently a lecturer. It’s a matter of time before he gets promoted to an associate professor or professor! And it’s only been a year since he came back.”

Fang Qiuye could only accuse her mother with her eyes. In order to trick her into going on a blind date, she was really doing everything she could! They received the man’s photos ten minutes later.

“Ah, this guy is quite handsome, Qiuqiu!” her mother exclaimed. Mother Fang was very happy.  “He’s not bald. Not bald at all! I’ll ask him to invite you to dinner!”

Fang Qiuye: “…”

But… it was impossible to have the time for a meal with him. Her schedule for the next week was already full. She had to get up at 9 o’clock in the morning to write a detailed outline of the first update, officially start writing at 10 o’clock, complete and revise before 12 o’clock, and upload after correcting typos. Lunch break at 12 o’clock, then brainstorming about the second chapter… finally, complete the second and third updates before 6 o’clock in the evening. After 6 o’clock in the evening, she had to revisit the outline of the next ten chapters and search for relevant information on the Internet to use for the next book.

In order to start a new book seamlessly, she should do it simultaneously while updating. She felt that her hair was thinning as the days slowly passed…

Of course, her plan was only to supervise herself. Oftentimes, she would start spacing out when she was writing. Then, she would start watching TV series, movies, etc, with the excuse of collecting inspiration. This was why her actual updating task would be delayed… until the next early morning.

Fang Qiuye, who knew her own bad habits and wanted to change her life, felt that she had no time. She typed for a whole day and finally uploaded the chapter after checking for any errors, she finally had time to look at her phone. It was then that she realized that the male teacher had added her on WeChat.

“After accepting his friend request, should I say hi? Umm…” Fang Qiuye yawned and squeezed out tears. “Forget it, it’s so late. What if a text message wakes him up?”

She touched her nose and threw her phone on the bed. Next, she threw herself onto the bed. One advantage of being a full-time writer was that the number of times she would look at her phone in a day plummeted. She had no boss, no colleagues, and no one cared about what she used the computer for. Therefore, her mobile phone had no other functions except making calls.

On the second day, when she found out that the instructor had sent another message inviting her for a meal. She read it in the early morning again…

“Opps… sorry, I’ve procrastinated again. I still haven’t finished my ten thousand words update at six o’clock today, teacher Gong!” she wailed.  “If he insists on meeting for dinner… a meal would last for at least two hours, I will lose the time to figure out what three thousand words to write. Well… if I can write 1,000 words per day for three days, it should be fine…”

After calculating, she told the other party that he should invite her three days in advance. Then, she fell on the bed again after sending the message!

However, her plans are never concrete. If the update would always follow the timetable to a T, she needed to have inspiration and be in high spirits. Every. Single. Say. And the draft shouldn’t have too many revisions.

However, reality was often too cruel…

[No, Dacheng. This chapter is not good. The villain’s strength is not enough, you have to rewrite it~]

[Dacheng, I think this part is meaningless. Overall, this chapter is a bit poorly written. Why don’t you start over?]

Every day, she got feedback on the story. Other than discussions about the novel, the main purpose was gleam probable revisions. But the faster the speed needed for an update, the lower the quality; the more anxious she got, the more substandard the content.

“Rewrite…” Fang Qiuye bit her lip angrily. Before she could read all the comments, or take a breath, she already made up her mind to delete the whole chapter “Okay, I’ll just stay up all night again!” she blurted angrily.

She had no other choice but to put the teacher’s invitation on hold. She would not be able to salvage the story within just three days!

While the other party asked her out, she would either be rushing the draft, or on the way to write the draft.

The other party might be in disbelief, but she was truly busy. Even when she needed to go to a convenience store downstairs, what to write was all that was in her mind.

“I’m sorry, Teacher Gong.”

Fang Qiuye sighed. Although she did not feel like attending a blind date, her soul also felt ashamed when she repeatedly rejected him.

“It feels great when I stop updating for a while. It feels even nicer when I stop updating for a very long time. but… a crematorium only awaits for me when the high is over,” she wailed. “I can’t stop!”

She was obsessive and could not accept when a day’s absence would make the little red flowers on the pages of her works disappear. So Fang Qiuye slowly continued to struggle between staying up late and her desire to become a lazybones. Still, she wrote Teacher Gong’s name on her sticky note and pasted it on the screen of her desktop computer.

“Every time I see Teacher Gong’s name, I feel a sense of urgency,” she nodded. “Maybe this would influence my brain to become innovative, and I can really write a thousand more words.”

This was the first note of a non-writing content to be plastered on her screen. She thought the note could be taken off in a month at most. Who knew that it would last there for nearly half a year in the end!

Books could never be finished; another story begins after the first one ends.

Fang Qiuye didn’t have much day off, and the only remaining day off should be dedicated to her nagging parents and her best friend. Finally… after she had rehearsed countless scenes of inviting Teacher Gong to eat high-quality steak, she didn’t expect that they would finally meet.

The day they met was full of confusion and dizziness. In order to squeeze out the time for the date, she rushed the draft the day before. Although she slept very late, she had to get up early at six o’clock the next day to write. Even on the way to the subway station, she used her mobile phone to type around 500 words. Then, she finally arrived at the scene – it was a pretty, well-known restaurant.

There, she unexpectedly met a handsome male teacher… Not only was he not bald, but he was also a bit handsome!

If she were to describe him with her usual phrase, he would be the male protagonist who would help her write two or three hundred words. Fang Qiuye, who hadn’t washed her hair in time because of the draft, blushed. Then, a gleam of inspiration shined through her eyes.

She had never written a campus-themed story; she had also never written about a male protagonist teaching at a university.

‘Gee! Material, here we go!’

It turned out that the male teacher in his collared shirt was quite charming. His fingers were slender. The way he held the chalk must be quite nice to the eyes. The female students sitting in the first row of the classroom must be splitting their eyes when they see his hands, right?!

“Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?” he said. The male teacher smiled and handed over the menu.

Huh? Fang Qiuye narrowed her eyes. His voice sounded quite gentle, though it was not in line with the deep voice she often liked to describe. But unexpectedly, it made her feel like the sound of the ‘cello’ in the ancient romance… Although she did not hear the cello very frequently, she, who grew up surrounded by the ancient words, had such a right to imagine!

Not bad!  Facing such a handsome guy, her appetite was wide open. Fang Qiuye’s mind, which had gotten chaotic because of staying up all night, lit up in the darkness, because of the calm, warm dark eyes in front of her.

Her mind suddenly became clear.  She was suddenly reminded of today’s agenda. She came to better her English skills for Yaoyao! Attracted to his eyes, my a*s!

“Uhhh… Mr. Gong, shall we order in English?” she said. “How do you say bullfrog in English? For the dry pot and boiled…. Is there a more beautiful word for each of them?”

Ugly words were not worthy of such a beautiful Yaoyao. Fang Qiuye blurted out, a little embarrassed. However, the handsome teacher Gong not only made her feel at ease with her questions, but he also seemed quite happy. In his warm black eyes, there seemed to be appreciation and joy.

“Well, great minds think alike. The translation must not only express the meaning, but they must also have an aesthetic sense,” he said, nodding.

Fang Qiuye was overjoyed. She immediately took the opportunity to ask all the English names of the food on the menu. Then, she took out English elementary school textbooks from her bag. “Teacher, I understand all these. Can you listen to me and see if my pronunciation is correct? Ah, because…”

Gong Xuechang seemed to be happier. His warm eyes narrowed, and he nodded. “No problem,” he said. “I’ll order you another glass of watermelon juice, and you can read slowly.”

“Okay,” she said. Fang Qiuye lifted the sleeves of her sportswear. Since she had decided to go for tutoring, she must be serious and must not mislead Yaoyao. “Mr. Gong, if I encounter something I don’t understand in the future…”

“Except for class hours where I can’t reply in time, you can ask me at any time. Just  call me directly, since communication is more efficient that way.”

“Ah, okay~”

Fang Qiuye was even happier. The word “efficient” suited her very well. So, their first meeting ended happily. Soon, there was a second time, a third time… for the so-called ‘tutoring.’ Gong Xuechang soon discovered the truth from the little bits of clues.

“Jinjiang Romance Network… seven times in a night… Are you a romance writer?”

Fang Qiuye was stunned for a moment, and her face turned red, “…Teacher, we are having an English class.”

“So?”

“S-so, you can’t chat in class.”

“Then… the class is dismissed…”

“!!!”