#79: Not As Good As You (1)

After that incident, the reputation of Yang Culture completely collapsed. Sales of all its magazines and publications plummeted. Back when Gu Congli was still working, Shi Yin had casually glanced at the comparison analysis graph on his computer showing the performance of industry competitors—it was downright tragic.

Li Nian’s new serialization continued for a while, but three weeks later, it consistently ranked at the bottom in popularity and ended up being axed.

Whether a series running in weekly or monthly magazines can be completed is beyond the author’s control. If popularity polls remain low for too long, the publisher will consider axing the work—cutting it and replacing it with a new serialization.

Her new series got axed, and under Li Nian’s Weibo, opening just a few of the top comments revealed thousands of replies, nearly all of them insults. These weren’t minor criticisms—they were about fundamental, serious issues that were almost impossible to recover from.

Li Nian had fallen completely from grace.

There were even rumors later that several artists in similar situations to that lady were preparing to file a joint lawsuit.

But all of this had nothing to do with Shi Yin. She was very zen about it and went into seclusion for a while. With a deadline approaching, Shi Yin tied a headband around her forehead with the word “FIGHT” written on it in black marker.

The weather was warming up, and her thick pajamas had been replaced with a cotton T-shirt and shorts. When Gu Congli pushed open the study door, this was what he saw.

The young woman wore a white T-shirt with red stripes on the sleeves and collar. Sitting cross-legged on the chair, her messy hair was tied back with a cotton headband, her eyes glued to the computer screen. She didn’t even glance at him as her stylus moved swiftly across the digital tablet.

Gu Congli didn’t say anything. He leaned against the doorframe, silently watching her with quiet eyes, his expression calm and gentle.

After being stared at for a while, Shi Yin belatedly looked up and blinked.

She’d been holed up for days, living a routine that went from study to bedroom to bathroom. She even ate at her desk and really hadn’t had time to pay attention to Gu Congli.

Gu Congli hadn’t said much either. But after she rejected his suggestion for them to live together, he silently expressed his dissatisfaction through actions.

Those actions were quite varied, extremely energetic, and frequent—so much so that it felt like he was on some kind of male enhancement drug.

Now, every time he got close, Shi Yin instinctively thought he wanted to do that.

Gu Congli approached the desk and leaned forward. Shi Yin immediately dropped her pen and raised her hand, pressing her palm against his abdomen in a defensive gesture.

Through the thin fabric, she could feel the ridges of his abs.

Gu Congli looked down, tilted his head slightly, and furrowed his brows with a puzzled expression.

Her chair had wheels. Shi Yin pushed herself back a little and looked at him with a wrinkled expression. “I don’t want to. It still hurts down there. I was swollen last time.”

Her voice was soft, and her words blunt to the point of being explicit. Gu Congli’s eyes darkened, and his lips pressed into a quiet line.

Understanding his expression, Shi Yin grabbed the edge of the desk and tried to roll back farther. But before she could, Gu Congli pulled the armrests and dragged her back in front of him.

With a pitiful expression, Shi Yin looked up at him for a moment, then suddenly grabbed the edge of the desk and stepped up onto the chair.

The chair wobbled under her movement. Standing was unstable, and Gu Congli quickly reached out to steady her with one hand while the other held the chair back.

Standing on the chair, Shi Yin was suddenly taller than him. She looked down with satisfaction as he tilted his head up at her, seeing someone from this angle for the first time.

She cupped his face, leaned down, and licked his thin lips with the tip of her tongue, then kissed him gently. Her lips brushed his twice, soft and light, as she sweetly coaxed, “Mr. Gu...”

Gu Congli closed his eyes.

This little girl was becoming more and more like a little seductress.

He held her waist and gently set her back down in the chair. Leaning on the desk, he said, “One more kiss.”

Shi Yin looked up and wrapped her arms around his neck, obediently kissing him.

Gu Congli cupped the back of her head and deepened the kiss.

A long moment passed before he let her go. The girl hung onto him, breathing in soft little puffs. Her lips were swollen, her long hair a mess, her eyes wet and hazy.

Gu Congli ran his finger along the damp corner of her eye, his voice low and raspy, “Cry for me a little, and I’ll let you go today.”

“…”

Shi Yin caught her breath and glared at him. “Editor-in-chief, did you forget to take your meds again?”

Gu Congli chuckled and straightened up. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything. Didn’t expect Teacher Shi to be so enthusiastic.”

This was not planning on doing anything?

Shi Yin rubbed her sore lips and rolled her eyes. “It’s because you’ve been too enthusiastic lately—it’s traumatizing.”

He didn’t reply but glanced down at her legs. Under the casual shorts, they were long and fair.

After a pause, his gaze landed somewhere specific. “Does it still hurt? Do you need to see a doctor?”

Shi Yin shook her head. “Not anymore. It was just... overuse, you know.”

She fell silent after saying that.

So did Gu Congli.

After a while, he said in a low voice, “I’ll be more careful from now on.”

Shi Yin blushed and pushed him away with the chair. “Go away, go away. I need to work!”

Hongming Dragon Sparrow was selling well. Even during the pre-sale, it had nearly hit ten thousand sales. After almost a month on shelves, if this pace kept up, it would likely go out of stock and need a reprint in two more months.

Right before the deadline, she submitted the final manuscript and got a call from Lin Niannian.

Ever since last time, Lin Niannian had returned to her hometown. Shi Yin occasionally checked in via WeChat, but Lin Niannian never said much. This was the first time she had reached out on her own.

On the call, Lin Niannian sounded upbeat. After a few words, she turned on the video and showed Shi Yin her belly.

Over twenty weeks into her pregnancy, her bump was starting to show. In the end, she had decided to keep the baby.

“Other than my dad almost beating me to death, and then not speaking a word to me for three months, the process was pretty smooth,” Lin Nian-nian said with a grin. “I’ve already made up my mind; there’s no going back. My mom didn’t say much, just asked if I planned on dating men in the future.”

“I told her, what do I need a man for? They don’t earn as much as I do, have few skills but plenty of issues. Now that I have a son, why would I need a man?”

Shi Yin chatted with her for several hours. After hanging up the video call, she felt deeply moved and suddenly missed home. She called her mother. On the other end, it sounded like her mother was chatting with one of her friends or relatives. When she answered the phone, Shi Yin could hear the lively chatter of women.

“Hello, Yin-yin.”

Shi Yin responded and exchanged pleasantries for a bit. Then she suddenly asked, “Mom, can I ask you a question?”

Her mother replied, “Go ahead.”

“What if I got pregnant, and the guy turned out to be a jerk? If I wanted to break up with him and raise the child on my own, would you agree?”

There was silence on the other end for three seconds before an angry shout erupted—her father’s voice: “Is it that bastard Gu again who came by last time?!”

Her mother’s voice trembled nervously, “Oh no, what are you doing?! Little Gu doesn’t seem like that kind of person. Just listen to what Yin-yin has to say first!”

Shi Yin quickly interjected, “No, no, it’s not me, Dad! Mom! It’s not me!”

No one paid attention to her as chaos reigned on the other side.

“Shi Wenhan! Get back here right now! Where do you think you’re going?!”

Her father bellowed, “I’ll fucking kill him!!”

“Just let Yin-yin finish talking!”

“Like hell I will!!!”

“Shi Wenhan, put down that kitchen knife this instant!!!”

Shi Yin sighed.

It took Shi Yin a great deal of effort to explain herself clearly and repeatedly assure them that she really wasn’t pregnant. Her father remained skeptical and insisted that she come home tonight so he could interrogate her face-to-face.

Helpless, Shi Yin agreed. Since she had just finished her work temporarily anyway, and it had been some time since she last went home, she decided to stay for two days.

Coincidentally, around the time her period arrived, her mother finally relaxed completely. With a grand gesture, she gave Shi Yin permission to return to her own place. Before leaving, her mother smiled and asked her, “Yin-yin, isn’t Xiao Gu turning twenty-nine soon?”

Shi Yin nodded.

Her mother continued, “He’ll be thirty, and you’ll be twenty-four after the New Year. Don’t you two have any plans?”

Her mother adored Gu Congli as a potential son-in-law, finding him perfect in every way. She enthusiastically suggested, “This year seems good to me. Set a date this year, get engaged, plan everything early. Next year would be the Year of the Rooster, perfect timing.”

Shi Yin was taken aback, “Mom, I’m only twenty-four, and we haven’t been dating for long. Why are you in such a hurry?”

“You’ll be twenty-five next year. When I was twenty-five, you were already reciting poems,” her mother joked, “E-e-eh—”

Shi Yin had no memory of that and unenthusiastically praised herself, “Wow, I was smart.”

Her mother widened her eyes and pursed her lips, “Just those three words.”

Shi Yin: “...”

After leaving home, it was still early in the morning on a weekday, just past the morning rush hour. Shi Yin wasn’t in a hurry, so she didn’t take a taxi but boarded the subway instead.

The subway wasn’t crowded, so Shi Yin sat in the middle, pulling out her phone to scroll through Weibo.

Not even a few minutes later, the subway arrived at a station. She glanced up briefly before looking down again. After boarding, she leaned against the corner and continued scrolling.

Several announcements passed before she suddenly realized something was off.

Why did the station names sound increasingly unfamiliar?

Shi Yin put her phone down, looked up, checked the station name outside, and then turned to look at the route map inside the train. Only then did she realize she had taken the wrong direction.

She hadn’t ridden the subway in a long time because of Gu Congli. Reversing this line meant the final stop was in a remote area, considered suburban. Shi Yin had almost reached the third or fourth to last station from the terminus, which explained why the number of passengers kept dwindling.

Just as she was thinking about getting off at the next stop, she glanced toward the terminal station and paused.

The hospital where Bai Lu stayed seemed to be around here.

When the subway stopped again, Shi Yin hesitated but didn’t disembark.

She rode all the way to the final stop, exited the station, hailed a taxi, and stood outside the ward door, only then realizing she had come empty-handed, in a daze.

Shi Yin had never visited Bai Lu alone; she always came with Gu Congli. She had never entered the room either, just standing at the door for a while. Even that short while felt suffocating.

She didn’t know why she had come today, especially since Gu Congli wasn’t around.

Standing at the ward door for five minutes lost in thought, Shi Yin touched her nose and started to reconsider.

Tomorrow was Saturday; she could come again with Gu Congli.

As she turned to leave, the ward door suddenly slid open.

Instinctively, Shi Yin turned back.

A man stood at the door. Seeing her, he also appeared surprised.

The man wore a black suit, exuding a cold demeanor, handsome features, and appeared to be in his forties, though it was hard to tell his exact age.

Shi Yin blinked blankly, instinctively nodding at him before fully processing the situation, “Hello.”

The man politely nodded back, “Hello, who are you looking for?”

“I’m here to see...” Shi Yin hesitated over what to call Bai Lu, glancing inside, “I’ve come to visit Aunt Bai.”

The man’s expression cleared, “Are you Congli’s friend?”

Shi Yin roughly guessed who this man was.

Blood ties were fascinating. Gu Congli resembled Bai Lu greatly, but there was something unmistakably familiar between him and this man too.

She recalled that this person had done terrible things, and Gu Congli detested him.

Of course, Shi Yin sided with her boyfriend.

She licked her lips, cleared her throat, and looked directly at the man in front of her, “I’m his girlfriend.”

The man was momentarily surprised, then smiled.

When he smiled, the ice melted, revealing faint crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes, “I’m his father.”