Diary of Guarding Monster Girls

(And so, Little Ba's life was completely ruined.jpg)

At that time, all I thought about was earning some manuscript fees to ease the burden of life. I didn't think much, mimicking the books I liked back then, I thought of a beginning and just posted it directly.

Worried that as a newcomer, I might not have the skills, I didn't dare to go to Qidian, but ended up smoothly writing to a million words concluding it. The epilogue alone stretched over fifteen chapters.

Perhaps nostalgia adds a filter, but among the four books I've written so far, it's my favorite, perhaps the one with the most Spiritual Qi—it feels reminiscent of that time now, and writing it makes me very happy!

Back then, if I had been braver, I should have gone directly to Qidian.

Later, the book's results were quite decent, and many people joined the group to encourage me.

It inflated my confidence a bit when I was already thinking of giving up, so I continued writing.

(Yes, Little Ba voluntarily took another step toward the Abyss.)

And I haven't been able to get any money from that book for a long time, haha.

Well, I can only say, back then I really wrote for my dreams, and it was quite enjoyable.

Afterwards, luckily I graduated, and during that time, through online interviews, thanks to my study-abroad experience and decent English, I received a few good offers.

The most memorable was an offer to go to Iraq to drill oil, using an armored vehicle to enter and exit the park... I wasn't very brave, so I eventually declined politely.

In the end, lured by the higher overseas salary, I joined a private large company in the capital. I started job training in July after graduation and was sent to East Africa as an expatriate in early August.

Because it's a permanent position, I could only return to the country once every six months (it turned out to be over a year due to the pandemic), so the income was quite considerable.

Honestly, the English spoken by my African brothers was really hard to understand. It took me a month to adapt after I went there.

And yes, the body odor issue existed, but thankfully, the black managers in my office all bathed frequently—though then it would turn into a strong perfume smell, and I'm allergic to fragrances, which gives me headaches if smelled for too long...

Since the company was a joint venture with the local national television station, the hierarchy for Chinese people over there was almost one Level higher than the local black people. My position was a manager, but to them, it was probably on the Level of a higher director, sort of a small leader.

At the time, another management trainee who joined the same position as me studied chemistry at Tsinghua University. I was in the marketing department, and he was in the sales department. We lived in a two-bedroom shared house for half a year, and later he returned to continue his graduate studies at Tsinghua.

Latterly, my job involved overseeing the advertising part of the branch, finding others to place ads on our channel. It's not me who went to negotiate deals, but the local manager arranged to do so—well, partly because I didn't know many people and couldn't secure deals myself.

I also had quite a few amazing experiences, like being the client-side at a local talent show backstage, visiting a local high-ranking official's house to build connections, having two wisdom teeth extracted in an African hospital, attending some large-scale events and banquets, setting up press conferences, helping the embassy connect with multiple media for interviews...

Though tiring, life was pretty exciting.

During those two years, I managed to save some money and gave it all to my mother, allowing her to negotiate with the bank for installment repayments, gradually paying them off one by one.

This also relieved my mother's physical burden, especially since her back wasn't in great condition, allowing her to finally take a rest and not work anymore.

In this way, we basically resolved a large portion of the family's financial issues—though not entirely fixed.

Everything seemed to be slowly improving, as if life was about to enter a new chapter.

It was also during that time that I met my girlfriend's parents—though the meeting at that dinner wasn't pleasant, they nearly wrote their disdain on their faces.

Leveraging my work connections with sports broadcasts, I managed to get a few authentic Dortmund jerseys as a gift for her father, bought a massage device endorsed by her favorite celebrity for her mother, and even acquired a set of stamps issued in East Africa during the 1997 Philatelic Exhibition. That dinner alone cost over a thousand...

Ah well, I actually prepared quite earnestly, it's just a pity that my background didn't impress them, but that's not surprising.

Compared to a young man who made it independently, they preferred a guy from a wealthy family, except for this spot, her mom liked ABC, which made me slightly want to spit.

But as parents hoping their daughter wouldn't suffer, there's nothing wrong with that perspective. I was displeased, but I could understand.

Although I never intended to bring my struggles to anyone, during those six years, I never let her endure any hardships with me; in fact, it was always me giving.

I stayed in East Africa for precisely two years, and my girlfriend said that long-distance overseas relationship was unbearable, and only by returning could have a future.

I was somewhat swayed; I didn't really want a six-year relationship to end over such issues. Additionally, with both physical and mental exhaustion, I took advantage of vacationing at home to submit my resignation.

Oh, and also because the company had delayed paying my salary for two months or was it three months, anyway, I was getting fed up too.

That company deducted taxes from my salary without paying them, causing my tax refunds to fail for three years...

Then there were legal battles with the company, wrangling over provident funds—I reported it, but I'm still waiting for progress.

Afterwards, less than half a year of writing books post-resignation, my girlfriend proposed breaking up.

According to her, she couldn't see hope, and her youth couldn't wait that long.

Though I wanted to say, "My youth is youth too!" "My life is life too!" or something like that.