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.
