After Being Bent by Reader

This place used to be an abandoned old factory building with a large area and three floors. Initially, Xu Chuanchuan had been the one leading Murong Shi around. Later on, probably because she got tired of Xu Chuanchuan's short and slow legs, Murong Shi took the lead instead. Xu Chuanchuan, meanwhile, worked her short legs as she tried to keep up with Murong Shi.

When the two of them arrived in the office area, someone finally recognized Murong Shi, and their arrival immediately caused a moment of commotion. The staff members who had originally gathered to chat scattered like frightened birds and tentatively began typing away at their respective computers.

As Murong Mingkun, who was in charge of the company, had yet to return from a business trip, these office workers had grown fearless recently. Xu Chuanchuan was also quite familiar with such situations already. Though, it was a different story for Murong Shi.

Sneaking a glance at Murong Shi, Xu Chuanchuan prepared herself for Murong Shi to explode in rage. However, contrary to her expectations, nothing of the sort happened.

Murong Shi stood blankly for a moment before leaving without saying a word, baffling Xu Chuanchuan.

An hour later, Xu Chuanchuan returned to the engineering department while supporting her aching back. As it so happened, the engineering department's gossip lovers, Zhou Gong and Deng Gong, were present. Approaching Xu Chuanchuan, Zhou Gong asked eagerly, "Little Xu, Little Xu, what do you think of Miss Murong?"

Blinking her eyes, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhou Gong added, "How's her personality? Is she easy to get along with? I heard she visited the office area just now and gave the bunch there a scare."

Xu Chuanchuan took a sip of water and remained silent.

She had only been in contact with Murong Shi for a short time, so how could she know what sort of personality Murong Shi possessed? As for whether it was easy to get along with her...

Although Xu Chuanchuan had been overwhelmed by Murong Shi's powerful aura throughout the tour, she did not dare casually comment on the company's new leader. After taking another sip of water, she gave an ambiguous answer, "I guess she's alright."

After all, Murong Shi had offered her when she sprained her back.

However, Zhou Gong and Deng Gong clicked their tongues when they heard Xu Chuanchuan's reply. Knowing that they wouldn't get to find out anything interesting from her, they left after losing interest.

After Xu Chuanchuan finished her cup of water, she sat down and breathed out a deep sigh.

Before leaving, Murong Shi had told Xu Chuanchuan to send the pictures she took to Linda. Opening her email, Xu Chuanchuan found Linda's address and did as Murong Shi told her.

Because Xu Chuanchuan had spent her whole morning accompanying Murong Shi, she still had a lot of unfinished work in her hands when it was time to get off work. Yet, she also didn't wish to work overtime because her back had started to hurt again. Hence, she decided to set aside her work until tomorrow.

When everyone began leaving the office, Xu Chuanchuan went with them.

After returning home and taking a bath, Xu Chuanchuan grabbed a medicinal patch and stuck it to her back. She then laid on her bed, grabbed her phone, and saw a message from Ange asking: "When will you start your new book?"

Xu Chuanchuan: "I'm not getting any inspiration. I'll think about it after I get some more rest."

Ange: "Didn't you say you wanted to write about a model?"

Speaking of this topic, Xu Chuanchuan inadvertently recalled Murong Shi. Setting aside the matter of her new book for the moment, she told Ange: "I met my boss's daughter again today. Her assistant was absent, so I got called to become her assistant for an hour."

Ange: "Any photos?"

"..." Xu Chuanchuan was rendered speechless. She never thought that Ange would still be thinking about this matter after such a long time. However, she had indeed snuck a shot of Murong Shi while the latter had not been paying attention this morning.

Opening her photo album, Xu Chuanchuan quickly found the picture she secretly took. However, as she didn't dare to be too blatant, she only got a side shot. At that time, Murong Shi appeared to be checking her QQ messenger.

Murong Shi's facial features looked much more prominent from the side. She had a full forehead and a tall nose. Her curled eyelashes also gave off an indescribable sense of charm.

After staring for a moment, Xu Chuanchuan remembered that Ange was still waiting for her reply. After pondering for a moment, she then forwarded the picture.

Several seconds later, Ange replied: "Damn! Is this really your boss's daughter? Are you sure you didn't just send me some celebrity's photo you found online???"

Xu Chuanchuan was similarly stunned when she first laid eyes on Murong Shi. During the hour she spent following Murong Shi, she had remained jittery the entire time. However, she still couldn't help herself sneaking peeks at Murong Shi from time to time. She similarly liked admiring beautiful women, but she would never react as intensely as Ange. Perhaps it was because she wasn't a lesbian?

Xu Chuanchuan: "It's her. I snapped this with my phone. There's no need to get so excited, right?"

The next second, Ange calmed down and said: "But although she's good-looking, her expression is too cold. I still prefer cute girls like you. Little Soup[1], be my girlfriend!"

Isn't the topic getting changed too quickly?!

Xu Chuanchuan wasn't surprised when she first found out Ange was a lesbian. After all, Ange was a yuri writer. The only problem she had was that Ange would occasionally ask her to become her girlfriend from time to time. This was something she could never get used to.

Her lips twitching, Xu Chuanchuan responded: "How about in our next life? Right now, I am very certain that I like men."

Ange: "But I like you. What should I do? 〒_〒"

Treating Ange's words as a joke, Xu Chuanchuan replied: "We've never even met. What if I'm a short and fat country bumpkin? Would you still like me?"

Ange: "I won't."

Xu Chuanchuan: "..."

Ange: "Little Soup, send me a picture."

Xu Chuanchuan: "No! You won't even send me yours, so why should I?"

Ange: "You first."

Xu Chuanchuan: "No!"

They had been holding such fruitless conversations almost every day, so Xu Chuanchuan had long since gotten used to it. After chatting with Ange, she noticed that her back no longer hurt as much.

While reading through the messages in her reader group, Xu Chuanchuan saw a message asking when she would start her new book. After pondering for a moment, she replied: "I'll do my best. In the meantime, you can read Lord Ange's books if you're free. They're outstanding, and I'm reading them myself. Love you all <>

With nothing better to do, Xu Chuanchuan thought to read one of Ange's novels before going to sleep. However, as soon as she opened jjwxc's application, she saw several unread messages from the system.

The messages were a reply to the applications she had sent in via email, and they stated that two of her books had met the publisher's requirements. Now, all she needed to do was print out the attached contract, sign it, and mail it to the publisher within a week.

Xu Chuanchuan downloaded the attachment right away for fear of forgetting to do so afterward. She then decided to get the contract dealt with tomorrow.

Although writing novels wasn't something to be ashamed of, Xu Chuanchuan did not wish people in the three-dimensional world to recognize her.

As the printing shop did not open early in the morning, Xu Chuanchuan only left home after having lunch.

The printing shop's owner was a middle-aged man. When he opened the document and saw the contents of the contract, he looked at Xu Chuanchuan curiously and said, "You know how to write novels? You even wrote so much. How amazing."

Xu Chuanchuan only responded with a dry laugh and dared not continue the topic.

When the owner was about to ask another question, Xu Chuanchuan gritted her teeth and said, "I write BL novels, which are about gay men. Uncle, do you want to read it?"

A trace of embarrassment flashed across the owner's face. He then said awkwardly, "I'll pass. Novels of this type aren't my cup of tea."

After receiving the printed contract, Xu Chuanchuan ran away from the printing shop and stored the A4 paper in her shoulder bag.

When Xu Chuanchuan arrived at her workplace, she had received yet another pile of work. Combined with the unfinished work she had from yesterday, she ended up working overtime for the day.

As it had rained last night and the sun was playing hide-and-seek today, the weather was cooling. When Xu Chuanchuan opened the window to her office, a cool breeze blew at her face.

Looking at the gloomy sky outside, Xu Chuanchuan wondered if it would rain later on. When she turned around, a loud "bang" entered her ears as the office's originally shut wooden door was blown open by a strong gust of wind.

Xu Chuanchuan was startled momentarily. By the time she snapped out of her daze, she suddenly noticed a piece of paper on her table getting blown into the air. Before she could reach out to grab it, the white paper whizzed past her fingertips and flew out the window. It then slowly drifted down to the concrete pavement downstairs.

Xu Chuanchuan's face paled.

That was the contract she had brought out to sign just now! The contract had her pen name and novel name written on it!

Although the wind had blown many other things on her table to the floor, Xu Chuanchuan paid them no attention. After exiting her office and closing the door tightly, she ran for the elevator at the speed of a 100-meter sprinter.

Xu Chuanchuan knew that she definitely wouldn't make it before her contract landed on the ground. She could only hope that everyone in the company had left already at this time.

However, when she rushed out of the elevator and saw the black car parked outside the entrance, she halted her footsteps immediately.

That's Murong Shi's car...

Before Xu Chuanchuan had any time to wonder why Murong Shi had yet to leave, the black Maserati Quattroporte moved.

As the car slowly reversed, Xu Chuanchuan caught sight of Murong Shi sitting in the passenger seat. Xu Chuanchuan found the driver to be somewhat familiar, and she guessed that the person was Linda.

Xu Chuanchuan was first taken aback. She then snapped out of her daze and greeted, "Miss Murong..."

The moving car stopped. Murong Shi glanced indifferently at Xu Chuanchuan's panting figure and asked, "You haven't got off work yet?"

Xu Chuanchuan couldn't think of a suitable reason for a moment. Ambiguously, she said, "I... I still have some unfinished work."

"Why did you come running down in such a hurry, then?"

Xu Chuanchuan did not expect Murong Shi to look so deeply into the matter. Feeling a little awkward, she said, "I...came down to look for something."

Maintaining her gaze on Xu Chuanchuan, Murong Shi asked, "Was that piece of paper yours?"

Xu Chuanchuan's expression changed. However, she neither nodded nor shook her head to the question.

The next moment, Murong Shi calmly said, "That cleaning lady picked it up thinking it was trash just now. I didn't know it was yours."

Stunned, Xu Chuanchuan followed Murong Shi's gaze and noticed a cleaning lady pushing a trash can nearby. At this sight, Xu Chuanchuan sighed in relief.

Xu Chuanchuan hadn't signed the contract yet, so even if the cleaning lady read the contract's content, the cleaning lady wouldn't know who the contract belonged to.

Gulping down her saliva, Xu Chuanchuan smiled stiffly at Murong Shi and said, "It's not anything important. It's fine if she threw it away. Then...I'll head back to work now. Drive safely."

"Mhm."

After Xu Chuanchuan left, Linda, who had remained silent all this time, looked at Murong Shi and asked curiously, "What was written on that paper?"

However, Murong Shi did not respond. Instead, she stared at Xu Chuanchuan's departing figure with a thoughtful look on her face.

TL Notes:

[1]Little Soup (小烫儿): Xu Chuanchuan's pen name is I Love Malatang (爱吃麻辣烫). Malatang is a type of spicy soup used in hotpot. Malatang can also be used to refer to hotpot [e.g., Let's eat malatang. —meaning, Let's eat hotpot (with malatang as the soup base)].

In the conversation between Chuanchuan and Ange, Ange refers to Chuanchuan by 小烫儿 (Little Soup), which takes the 烫(tàng, soup) from 麻辣烫(málàtàng). Instead of "Little Tang-er," I've opted to go with "Little Soup" instead, so please remember this henceforth.