Muchuan and Xiang Wan - Chapter 145
Chapter 145: Savage Bombardment
He might have felt at ease, but that was not the case for Xiang Wan.
By reaching this stage, they really do felt like a pair of lovers, but the problems between them had not been solved?
Just earlier, he was saying he might be going back to the capital to form the Serious Crime Department?
Furthermore, there’s still his family members…
The moment she thought of this, the images of the people that she had not met for quite a while suddenly appeared in her head.
The haughty, cold, and unapproachable elder sister, Bai Musi. There’s also his niece, the imperious Bai Lu, who inverse right from wrong, as well as the legendary Bai Family…
Ah no, Xiang Wan felt her head hurting.
She was an independent woman after all. No matter how good Bai Muchuan was, she was really afraid of getting involved in the disputes of a big family and behaving like a meek and resentful daughter-in-law of the family. She might struggle and fight to get accepted by them, but even then, they might condescendingly accept her and she couldn’t even decide for herself if she could opt for a cesarean section…
She shuddered as she thought of this appalling social news!
“You’re feeling cold?” Bai Muchuan took a glance at her, held her shoulder, and gave her a hug.
As it rained last night, the temperature was cool. There was indeed a chilly feeling in the air.
However, what made Xiang Wan cold was not the temperature, but the thoughts inside her heart.
Unknowingly, she walked slightly slower.
“Bai Muchuan.”
She called him, her voice soft like a mosquito.
“Hm, what’s up?” He squeezed his hand and hugged her closer. “I let you have my jacket?”
“I’m not cold!” Xiang Wan cleared her throat lightly, slightly lowering her head. She asked softly after a brief pause, “Your family won’t like girls like me, right?”
“Hm?” Her out of the blue question baffled Bai Muchuan. “Who are you going to marry in my family?”
“…”
Xiang Wan could not see Bai Muchuan’s face clearly.
Nevertheless, his serious inquiry did not seem like a joke at all.
He was always joking around with a serious stance.
Xiang Wan lifted her head and looked at him speechlessly but noticed that his face gradually looked serious under the street light.
“Silly girl, I’m not them and they’re not me. You need to believe me—that I’m a responsible man who’s capable of handling everything well. Otherwise, I’m not qualified to like you!”
That sure felt good!
Xiang Wan wanted to laugh but felt that it was inappropriate.
Hence, she bit her lower lip as her mouth secretly turned upward as she rested her head on his shoulder.
This was a significant moment.
For the first time, the two of them spoke openly about their family’s views and future.
It was also their first time holding hands while walking slowly together in the light fog…
Time flowed quietly like water.
Xiang Wan’s black hair hung on her shoulders as a smile appeared on her face.
Bai Muchuan was still as dashing as before, free and bold.
They were immersed in their own world where they only see each other and nothing else more.
Therefore, they did not notice the figure who was jogging before dawn.
Cheng Zheng.
He looked on quietly as though he had become a part of the background…
…
The door opened.
Bai Muchuan let go of Xiang Wan’s hand slowly.
“Go on in, turn off your mobile phone, and sleep till you naturally wake up.”
“Okay,” responded Xiang Wan, but she did not move at all.
She pondered for a while, as though struggling to make a decision before she looked up at him. “Why don’t you come in to sleep a while on the sofa? Yuanyuan won’t wake up so early…”
“Better not.” Bai Muchuan stroked her hair. “Wait till I move in officially…”
“Okay then,” said Xiang Wan, “you better grab some sleep when you go back too.”
“Alright, meddlesome woman!”
Bai Muchuan seemed to view her as a very close person to him. He sounded as though he was very close to her.
Such a feeling was somewhat unfamiliar. It was sweet that Xiang Wan was unable to reject it. She stood there like a fool which Bai Muchuan could not help but laugh.
“Why are you in a daze? You’re not tired or…” He dragged his sentence with his husky voice and spoke in her ear, “You really want to lend me half of your bed?”
“… You can scram now!”
Bai Muchuan laughed when he heard that and patted her head again.
“Okay, I’m leaving now. Do lock the door properly! And… repeat what I’ve said before?”
“Huh? I still need to repeat that?”
“Do it!”
Uh! Xiang Wan pouted as she looked at his cold face.
“Unless really necessary, I must not act alone. If I really need to do so, I need to let you know beforehand!”
Bai Muchuan’s frozen face instantly become flowers in bloom during spring.
“Good!”
He turned to leave, took a few steps, and then he turned to look at her again. Finally, he waved his hand and stood still.
With that, the door which had just opened secretly, closed back slowly again.
…
At daybreak, there was a heavy rain.
Xiang Wan quickly washed up and fell asleep.
When she woke up, it was already noon. The warm sunshine sloshed on the windowsill after the rain, it was golden all over. That sight made her feel that everything that happened last night was as though a dream.
She squinted at the sunlight for half a second before taking a look at the time on the mobile phone. She realized that she had received numerous messages while she put the phone on silence while sleeping.
WeChat, QQ, were as though flooded with messages! Due to these, her phone only had a tiny bit of power left.
Xiang Wan was startled for a moment and quickly charged it while reading the messages.
The bulk of messages were related to her discontinuation announcement of her novel.
The most aggressive messages came from Fang Yuanyuan. She was as though dealing with an enemy as she bombarded Xiang Wan with the messages!
“You better give me a good explanation. You want to stop updating? You want to discontinue the novel? Hurhur! Why don’t you kill me instead?
“Do you know how much good words I’ve put in for you in front of my Chief Editor? I even swore by my heart that you are definitely a potential author which you were then sent for the training programme in the Capital. Many a times, I’ve recommended your book during meetings, which your novel is now part of the recommendation listing at the website and the company treated you like a new, talented author!
“Xiang Wan, how can you let me down like this! Have you even let me know beforehand by making a decision just like that! Are you a wuss?
“Are you going to make me die of anger?
“Say something! You’re still sleeping or something?
“You’re dead! You don’t even answer my phone calls. What the hell is going on? I’m so angry that I want to kill someone!
“?
“The royalties are out today. Go login your account and see for yourself how much you’re getting. Are you sure that you want to be a mean wuss when your book is obviously going to take the highway?
“… Sis, did something happen to your love life? I saw you behaving so lovey-dovey with Bai Muchuan just two days ago. Did you get jilted after that? D*rn!
“Forget it! It’s nothing serious. If this Bai Muchuan jilted you, there will be numerous Bai Muchuan(s) liking you. It’s perfectly fine not having a man, but d*mned if you don’t have a career! I’m warning you, don’t take it out on your work because of a setback in your love life. You’ll be the one in a disadvantage!
“What happened? If you don’t pick up my call again, I’ll come back right now!
“Sis! Are you really okay? Don’t do anything silly alright?
“… I’ll apply for leave and come back right away! Wait for me!”
Oh dear!
Due to staying up overnight, Xiang Wan already had a headache. Now that she saw all these messages, she felt even worse.
However, Fang Yuanyuan had no idea what happened to her last night… Xiang Wan rubbed her head and took a look at the time of the last message that Fang Yuanyuan had sent. She was worried that Yuanyuan would really do that and quickly called her.
“Hello!” When Fang Yuanyuan took the call, she was like an explosive that got lit and exploded at the first second.
“Geez, my madame finally returned my call. Tell me, why did you want to discontinue updating the novel? Is it because you got upset with Bai Muchuan that you did this in a fit of anger? Don’t admit this, alright? I’ll look down on you…”
“Goodness! Stop this! Fang Yuanyuan, give me a break?”
Xiang Wan thought Yuanyuan’s words felt like the incantations of the Golden Hoop[1]. Her head felt like bursting.
“My dear, I stayed up overnight and switched my phone to silent mode so as to get a good rest. Aren’t you silly to think that I would do anything silly?”
“Gosh! Okay, you can go and die now.”
Fang Yuanyuan sounded relieved.
However, the next instant, she started to bombard her with a series of questions.
“If it’s not about love, tell me then, why did you do this?”
“…”
This problem is really too complicated!
Moreover, as it had something to do with the case, she couldn’t tell Fang Yuanyuan at all.
Xiang Wan rubbed her temples as she was troubled. “It’s a long story. Well, I’m tired. I want to take a break before I start to write again…”
“Break? No way!” Fang Yuanyuan’s tone sounded as though she could poke her to death. “Madame, have you seen the statistics of your book and the amount of your royalties?”
Not yet—
Xiang Wan immediately sat straight on her bed after hearing Fang Yuanyuan’s shouts.
“Okay, okay, okay, I’ll switch on my laptop now!”
That day was October 1st, their National Day.
The royalties for last month were out. Xiang Wan logon to her author’s account and clicked on the royalties.
She took a look and was instantly dumbfounded.
OH! 12,000 yuan?
It broke her personal best earnings record.
“Saw that already? Sis, your book is starting to earn money!” Fang Yuanyuan gritted her teeth, seemingly angry at her for giving up easily. “Can’t you just buck up? You’ve persisted for so long and now that you’ve seen some results, you actually wanted to stop updating! Do you have a grudge against money?”
“…”
She liked money.
She did not want to stop, either.
But she had no choice.
Xiang Wan did not know what to say and chose to stay quiet.
Fang Yuanyuan immediately started to give threats.
“Earlier on, my Chief Editor told me that we will never recommend authors and their books if they discontinue their book without rhyme or reason.”
“…” Xiang Wan replied weakly, “Then I’ll change to another pen name—”
“You can change to a different pen name, but you can’t change to a different identity number. The same identity card will also give you the same treatment.”
“… That’s really merciless!”
“Having such regulations on websites are also a way of being responsible to our readers. If every author discontinue their novels like this, how are we going to manage the website?” Fang Yuanyuan tried to convince her earnestly, “My dear sis, I’m really not scaring you. You can take a look at the rules of the website, there’s also… Wait a while, I’m sending something to you. You take a look yourself!”
After Fang Yuanyuan finished saying that, she hang up the phone.
Almost immediately, Xiang Wan’s QQ sent a notification. Fang Yuanyuan had sent a screenshot of a chat over.
It was her chat with her Chief Editor—
The Chief Editor held a very stern stance and had used very harsh words: if any author permanently discontinued their book without a good reason, according to the rules of the website, they would be punished accordingly as a warning to other authors.
“Say something!” Fang Yuanyuan sent an angry emoticon.
“I’ve bleeping nothing to say!” Xiang Wan sighed.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s what I’ve said in the discontinuation announcement!”
“You—are the death of me!”
“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. Please calm down first.” Xiang Wan tried to coax her. “My good editor, my good younger sister, my little darling…”
There was no reply from her.
No matter what Xiang Wan messaged, Fang Yuanyuan did not reply anything back.
Sigh! Looks like she’s really angry about it.
Xiang Wan’s arms supported her head as she looked at the laptop screen, wearing only pajamas and looking all sloppy. She really felt she must have looked pathetic!
After a while, her stomach gave a grumble and she realized that noon had past and she had yet to take her breakfast.
Her stomach grumbled, but notifications from WeChat and QQ still hadn’t ended!
Some were concerned, while some curious—there were even a few extreme readers who sent her their regards and asked if someone passed away in her family. Otherwise, they could not understand why she had to stop updating her story…
Xiang Wan did not know how to answer all these messages and closed the social apps.
It was finally quiet!
Without the internet, it seemed that she could be at ease in her own world.
However, in her own little world, she did not receive Bai Muchuan’s messages.
Is he asleep? she thought.
Xiang Wan did not want to disturb him, and she got up to make some food for herself.
When she finished eating, it was around one o’clock in the afternoon and she thought she should go to office.
She remembered Bai Muchuan’s instructions, hesitated for a while, and took out her phone to type a message.
“Bai Muchuan, I’m preparing to go to office now. And yes, I’m going there alone, so can I go there by myself?”
She hit the “Send” button and waited.
She thought it might be a long wait, but she never expected that she would receive a reply in just a few seconds.
“Hail a cab and stop right in front of the office. I’ll get Little Liu to wait for you there.”
“…”
Wow, he would actually send someone to wait for her?
Is there a need to be so formal and serious?
Nevertheless, the feeling of being treated with importance felt good. Xiang Wan gave a smile as she typed her reply.
“Okay!”
…
The cab stopped at the entrance of the office. From afar, she could already see Little Liu looking out for her.
Xiang Wan alighted and was a little embarrassed. “Thank you so much for waiting here. Is Captain Bai in office?”
“He is. He’s talking to Captain Cheng now.” Little Liu laughed, “He asked me to come here and wait for you!”
Uh! Xiang Wan was a little surprised. Why was Bai Muchuan still working?
This man didn’t need sleep?
Xiang Wan noticed Little Liu’s inquiring look and cleared her throat. “Are there new leads to the case?”
Little Liu blinked but did not answer that question. Instead, he asked softly, “Teacher Xiang, did something bad nearly happen to you last night?”
[1] Incantations of the Golden Hoop – Originated from the story, Journey to the West. The Golden Hoop is worn by the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, which is a way of controlling Sun Wukong given to the Tang Monk. When the Tang Monk chants the incantations, Sun Wukong would feel tremendous piercing pain in his head.
