After that weekend, Liang Ru no longer affectionately called Bai Sijun “Ge” in a sticky manner. Instead, she reverted to calling him “Bai ge” as before. Besides that, she came up with various nicknames for Bai Sijun, such as “Big White Pigeon,” “Little Dove,” and so on. When they were having a good time, she would even pat him on the back. In short, she no longer resembled the shy girl who used to get embarrassed easily.
One afternoon, the two of them went out for errands. While walking on the road, a handsome guy with long legs passed by. Liang Ru nudged Bai Sijun’s waist with her elbow and said, “Look, a handsome guy!”
The handsome guy glanced at them as he walked by.
Bai Sijun, looking embarrassed, lowered his head and whispered, “Could you be a bit more subtle?”
Liang Ru burst into laughter, “We’re good friends, no need to be subtle.”
Bai Sijun understood now. Once a girl loses interest in you, she won’t see you as a man anymore.
Recalling Mei Yuchen’s words, Bai Sijun said harshly, “Are you having fun?”
Liang Ru immediately restrained herself and asked cautiously, “Bai ge, what are we going to do?”
Bai Sijun, with a sigh, supported his forehead, “To deliver a contract to Teacher Qi.”
Although the contract could be sent to Qi Yun, the chief editor went abroad last week to negotiate copyright contracts and brought gifts for several important authors on his return, including one for Qi Yun. Since the contract needed to be delivered to Qi Yun, the chief editor arranged for Bai Sijun to bring the gift of red wine as well.
When Bai Sijun got the red wine, he casually asked the chief editor, “Does Mei Yuchen also get one?”
The chief editor gave him a glance, “He’ll have it when he submits his manuscript.”
Liang Ru interrupted Bai Sijun’s thoughts, asking with gossip written all over her face, “Can you tell me, is Teacher Qi making more money or Teacher Mei making more money?”
Bai Sijun twitched his mouth, “It’s not about money; it’s called royalties.”
“I’m just asking casually.” Liang Ru said, “Your Mei Teacher is more famous, so he should be making more, right?”
“It’s not that simple.” Bai Sijun answered helplessly, “An author’s royalties depend on the sales volume. Mei Yuchen’s royalty rate is 10%, and he even has a guaranteed minimum. It’s indeed more special than ordinary authors.”
“You must be very motivated as his editor.” Liang Ru teased, “After all, you’re earning money for your own company.”
“…Nonsense.” Bai Sijun said seriously, “In my heart, both Teacher Qi and Mei Yuchen are the same, and I do my best for their books.”
“But clearly, they are not the same.” Liang Ru muttered, “I don’t believe you’d peel shrimp for Teacher Qi.”
“It’s not about personal matters, it’s about work attitudes being the same.” Bai Sijun frowned, suddenly realizing that most of the things he did for Mei Yuchen belonged to the realm of personal life. However, each time he visited Mei Yuchen’s home, he went with a work mindset.
“If your attitude at work is the same, why do you call Qi Yun ‘Teacher Qi’ but directly address teacher Mei by his full name?” Liang Ru, like a righteous warrior defending Mei Yuchen’s honor, insisted on proving that Mei Yuchen was special to Bai Sijun. “We’ve never heard you call him ‘Teacher Mei’ at work, right?”
“That’s because…” Bai Sijun paused, “He’s mischievous, and I don’t want to call him ‘teacher’.”
Initially, Bai Sijun approached Mei Yuchen’s home with respect and rang the doorbell, but Mei Yuchen pretended not to be at home, deliberately making him stand in the cold wind outside the door for half an hour. Since then, he completely lost any respect for Mei Yuchen.
The first impression turned out to be correct; that guy Mei Yuchen was really nothing worthy of respect.
“Keke.” Liang Ru chuckled, covering her mouth, “Look at you, pretending to be upright.”
“…?” Bai Sijun was puzzled, “What do you mean?”
“You complain a lot, but you can’t stand seeing him suffer even a little.” Liang Ru patted Bai Sijun’s shoulder with a triumphant look, “In public, you’re very critical, but you can’t bear to see him unhappy.”
Bai Sijun was taken aback, “I’m not like that.”
“Then let me ask you.” Liang Ru pushed her imaginary glasses up with her middle finger, “When I arrived at his place, you went ahead to make him tea. Were you afraid he’ll get tired?”
“That’s because I knew he woudn’t make it.” Bai Sijun replied.
“Then when his bowl was empty, you took the initiative to peel shrimp for him. Were you afraid he’ll go hungry?” Liang Ru questioned.
“…I did it out of humanitarian sympathy.” Bai Sijun defended himself.
“Alright.” Liang Ru crossed her arms, speaking with a sense of justice, “During our chat, you always looked at him. Were you afraid of saying something that will upset him?”
Bai Sijun subconsciously opened his mouth to refute, but in the end, he couldn’t find any reason. Indeed, he was afraid Mei Yuchen would be upset. Although he often couldn’t figure out what Mei Yuchen was upset about, as soon as he sensed a trace of unhappiness, he couldn’t help but want to soothe him.
Liang Ru patted his shoulder, saying with satisfaction, “Even in a relationship, you can’t slack off. If you like someone, you should express it.”
“…” Bai Sijun absentmindedly looked at the continuous flow of traffic on the road. He didn’t want to continue this topic, so he casually said, “You win.”
Qi Yun deliberately cleared his afternoon schedule for Bai Sijun and Liang Ru. As a university teacher, and Liang Ru happened to be a student at the same university, although they belonged to different departments, they found the school-related discussions quite congenial.
Liang Ru was actually very good at chatting. However, there were several times during their last visit to Mei Yuchen’s home when she was choked and couldn’t say anything. Bai Sijun couldn’t help but think back to the time when he doubted his own communication skills. Now it seemed that Mei Yuchen himself was just difficult to handle.
But…
This difficult person would still stick to him, act spoiled, apologize when he did something wrong, and even make an effort to express his feelings.
Why did it feel strangely fulfilling?
“Bai Editor?” Qi Yun’s words interrupted Bai Sijun’s thoughts. “What are you thinking about?”
“Ah, sorry.” Bai Sijun scratched the back of his head, “Congratulations on the good sales of the new book. I forgot to congratulate you.”
“Of course, it’s thanks to Hongtu.” Qi Yun said politely, “Since we rarely meet, why don’t we open the red wine together? Is it okay for Xiao Liang to have a bit?”
“Red wine is fine.” Liang Ru said, “What about you Bai ge?”
“Well, since I’ll go directly to the company to clock out, I have no issues.” Bai Sijun said.
“Okay.” Qi Yun found a corkscrew and then took out a box of snacks from somewhere, “These are special products brought to me by students. Please try them.”
Bai Sijun and Liang Ru stayed in Qi Yun’s house until around four in the afternoon, drinking most of a bottle of red wine.
Before leaving, Qi Yun talked about his thoughts on the new book and promised to submit the manuscript within six months. Liang Ru, slightly tipsy, pulled Bai Sijun and said, “Look, Teacher Qi is much more reliable than your Teacher Mei.”
“Teacher Mei?” Qi Yun’s movements of tidying up the table paused for a moment, then suddenly he realized, “Is it Mei Yuchen?”
“Yes.” Bai Sijun nodded, “He should be submitting his manuscript soon too.”
Qi Yun continued to tidy up the table, saying without a clear expression, “It seems he’s been sharpening his sword for three years.”
Bai Sijun sighed, “I’m afraid readers have long been impatient.”
“How could that be.” Qi Yun raised his head and smiled, “People will always love the books he writes.”
“True.” Bai Sijun subtly lifted the corners of his mouth.
Due to frequent fieldwork by editors, Hongtu’s clocking system was not strict. After leaving the faculty dormitory, Liang Ru went directly back to the student dormitory, while Bai Sijun leisurely took the subway back to the company.
It was not yet the peak of rush hour, and there weren’t many people on the subway. Bai Sijun, feeling bored, took out his phone and started scrolling through his social media. Soon, he came across a photo posted by Qi Yun and Liang Ru on their moments.
Liang Ru suggested taking the photo, and her social media post was more casual, captioned with: “Happy, met Teacher Qi.”
On the other hand, Qi Yun’s post was more formal: “Hongtu is a publishing company that values human care. I am delighted to collaborate with such a company. Thanks to Editor Bai for being my editor. The success of the book signing event owes much to Editor Bai’s hard work throughout the night. Thank you again.”
Two months ago, when Bai Sijun was officially promoted to editor, he had some self-doubts, worried that he wouldn’t be able to handle the responsibilities of an editor alone. However, in recent times, it seemed that his work was gradually getting on track.
In a good mood, Bai Sijun gave a thumbs-up to Qi Yun and Liang Ru’s posts before putting away his phone.
As it approached the end of the workday, the popular pastry shop downstairs was, as usual, forming a long queue. Bai Sijun glanced at it and felt that there were unusually many people lining up that day. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the shop had introduced a pink cherry blossom pastry.
Late March was the season when cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Perhaps due to the rarity of cherry blossoms in the country, the romanticism from the neighboring country always managed to capture the hearts of Chinese consumers.
Bai Sijun’s steps suddenly slowed down.
The chief editor brought back seven bottles of red wine from abroad, all gifts for well-known authors collaborating with Hongtu. If this were three years ago, these wines would have definitely included Mei Yuchen. However, now it seemed that Bai Sijun was the only one in the entire company who still remembered Mei Yuchen as a significant figure among the authors.
It felt like the top students in the class received praise from the teacher, but there was one top student who was forgotten by the teacher because they didn’t perform well in one exam.
Moreover, that student was quite solitary and didn’t even want to explain why they didn’t do well, so the teacher didn’t favor them much.
When Bai Sijun snapped back to reality, he found himself at the end of the queue. Glancing at the prices of the pastries – 38 yuan each – with four different styles from bud to full bloom, it would cost over a hundred yuan to buy them all, making him feel a bit reluctant.
However, when he placed the order with the shop attendant, he gritted his teeth and bought four. He thought that Mei Yuchen lived in the “wilderness,” and it wasn’t easy for him to get such pastries. Besides, compared to the thousand-yuan bottles of red wine brought back by the chief editor, a little over a hundred for pastries didn’t seem like much.
Two hours later, when Bai Sijun, with an empty stomach, rang Mei Yuchen’s doorbell, he suddenly thought that what Liang Ru said might be right – he really couldn’t stand seeing Mei Yuchen suffer even a little.
