Chapter 16#
“Great Physician of the Common People”—this book could be considered Qiao Jing’s breakout work in the web novel world.
Because of its hardcore nature and the thoughts and emotions expressed in the writing, it had even received recommendations from many university teachers. Qiao Jing had also seen people mention this book of his more than once in various settings.
But that didn’t mean he could maintain a calm and composed expression when Jing Xinglan held the book and recommended it to him, the author!
You should know, the prototype for the protagonist of this book was Jing Xinglan!
At that time, Qiao Jing was still in university, not long after graduating from high school. When he started writing, he naturally thought of the people around him. In particular, Jing Xinglan’s characteristic of being a clean freak was simply perfect for a doctor protagonist—but who would have thought that one day the protagonist under his pen would come to his door with the book?
Social death! This was absolute social death!
Qiao Jing didn’t know if Jing Xinglan knew his pen name, but he was already on the verge of suffocation. Under the man’s puzzled gaze, he took several hurried breaths before barely managing to speak: “No… no need, I’ve already read it.”
Please just leave!
“You’ve read it?” Jing Xinglan said in surprise, but quickly became happy again, saying in a certain tone, “As expected, you also like Jing Hua Shui Yue! Right?”
Qiao Jing desperately squeezed out a word from between his teeth: “…Yes.”
“So, you must also know about the author terminating the contract,” Jing Xinglan’s voice suddenly dropped. He thought back to the sea of gray locked chapters he had seen in the car earlier. “Even though I’m a businessman, Xingchen Web’s practice of ‘killing the donkey once the grinding is done’ will sooner or later come back to haunt them.”
Qiao Jing thought silently: I don’t know if they’ll have retribution, but I know mine has already arrived.
It was standing right in front of him.
Jing Xinglan continued, “After returning to the country this time, my work has eased up, and I have quite a bit of spare time. But thinking about it, there doesn’t seem to be much to do. If you’re free, could you accompany me to a place?”
Qiao Jing refused without hesitation: “Sorry, I’m quite busy.”
“Is that so? Oh right, even if you work from home, the workload should only be more, not less.” Jing Xinglan remembered that Qiao Jing was a web novel editor. He asked curiously, “What do you usually do—reviewing novels? Or finding authors to sign?”
Qiao Jing gave him an indescribable look, his expression making it very clear:
Are they really going to stand at the doorway and chat like this?
Jing Xinglan laughed: “So, really not going to invite me in for a seat? It’s not like I’m some kind of monster.”
You’re much scarier than a monster.
Qiao Jing took a deep breath and wordlessly moved aside: “Come in.”
He just didn’t like having strangers in his home, but even if Jing Xinglan really came in, he wouldn’t discover anything.
“Too kind,” Jing Xinglan said, but his movements were swift as he immediately stepped through the door.
It was a very clean and tidy house.
That was his first reaction upon seeing the scene inside.
It was tidy in a way that didn’t quite seem like the residence of an adult man living alone. There were no messy snack bags, no clothes thrown everywhere, and no dusty tables or chairs. Everywhere was cleaned to be spotless, and even the books on the shelves were neatly arranged according to category.
As a person with a mild clean freak tendency who clearly separated workspace and living space, if this were a game, Qiao Jing would definitely be able to see a “+1 Favorability” prompt over Jing Xinglan’s head right now.
“So many books,” Jing Xinglan’s eyes immediately lit up when he saw the complete series of Jing Hua Shui Yue in the study. “Is this the hardcover edition? Heavens, you actually have the author’s limited-edition signed copies! How did you buy them?”
Qiao Jing stood in the living room, lips pressed tight.
Of course he couldn’t buy them.
—Because they were sent by the publisher.
In fact, besides his own novels, Qiao Jing’s bookshelf also held many novels by other authors from Xingchen Web, which were all smugly sent to him by the people in the group after they were published. But Jing Xinglan seemed not to see them at all, only staring blankly at the books he had written.
“Is this a perk of being a web novel editor?” he lamented. “I’m suddenly a bit envious of you. Have you seen Jing Hua Shui Yue in person? Is he handsome?”
Qiao Jing: “…I don’t know.”
He didn’t have the hobby of admiring himself in the mirror.
“I see.” Jing Xinglan wasn’t surprised; instead, he had a feeling of “as expected.”
True, even he, a film company boss who had bought the rights to several of Jing Hua Shui Yue’s works, couldn’t meet the author in person. How could Qiao Jing, a web novel editor, know a “great god” of that level?
“Which website do you work for?”
Qiao Jing watched helplessly as Jing Xinglan, after carefully observing the seat cushion for a moment, sat down on his sofa and looked up to ask him. It looked like he didn’t intend to leave anytime soon.
He began to regret why he had relented and let the man in, and why he had cleaned the house so thoroughly during the spring cleaning a few days ago. But he still answered the question: “Liuliu Web.”
“Liuliu… Web?” Jing Xinglan wouldn’t say that he had never even heard of this website before. He gave an awkward but polite smile and coughed: “Is that so? Then the website’s benefits should be pretty good, right?”
Otherwise, how could Qiao Jing afford such an expensive apartment?
“It’s okay,” Qiao Jing said, but he couldn’t help but think of Liuliu Web’s website design, which was so ugly it made one silent, and Don’t Pigeon’s social media posts that always radiated the aura of a poor corporate slave; his voice involuntarily dropped half an octave.
He really wasn’t good at lying.
Jing Xinglan: ?
Why the reluctant look?
“Meow, meow, meow!”
008, who had been in the room all along, suddenly started calling out to Qiao Jing repeatedly, reminding him that the update time was approaching and to hurry up and code!
Qiao Jing looked at it expressionlessly: Do you think I don’t want to?
Jing Xinglan watched the way the person and the cat seemed to be communicating via brain waves, finding it fascinating.
But just then, the phone in his pocket rang. After finishing the call, the smile on Jing Xinglan’s face clearly faded quite a bit. This time, without Qiao Jing needing to urge him, he took the initiative to stand up from the sofa.
“Sorry,” he said to Qiao Jing with an apologetic look. “There’s something at the company. I have to go.”
Qiao Jing let out a sigh of relief: “Then hurry along!” Best if you don’t come back!
Jing Xinglan raised an eyebrow; he could guess what the other was thinking without even trying. But he really couldn’t attend to Qiao Jing right now, so he just pulled out his phone and said, “Let’s add each other as friends first. I changed my phone once before, and many friends in my QQ contacts couldn’t be recovered.”
Qiao Jing didn’t raise any objections.
As long as he could send Jing Xinglan away, he’d do anything right now.
“I mentioned before that I wanted you to accompany me to a place,” before leaving, Jing Xinglan turned back to leave a word. “I’ve already pulled you into that group. The details of the activity are written in the group announcement. Don’t be in a hurry to refuse me. You’re a web novel editor, right? Going there might even bring a surprise.”
Qiao Jing slammed the door shut in front of him: “Take care, I won’t see you out.”
After closing the door, he looked down at his phone.
“You have been pulled into ‘Jing Hua Shui Yue Fan Group 174’ by ‘Jing Xinglan.’ Come and chat with your group members~”
Qiao Jing: “…”
Chat? Chat my foot.
Today, Don’t Pigeon was still fighting on the front lines of corporate slavery.
Regarding the matter of filming short videos mentioned earlier, after working overtime for several days, he had finally found a few decent actors, but the candidate for the protagonist, Yang Liu, still couldn’t be decided.
With no other choice, he could only go online to find Qiao Jing: “Great God, take a look at these few. Any you’re interested in?”
Don’t Pigeon sent him several photos.
He thought the Great God would be busy coding and would take a while to reply, but unexpectedly, Qiao Jing replied instantly today: “They’re all too old. Aren’t there any slightly younger ones?”
Yang Liu was only in his teens, an age between youth and adolescence. These actors, who were clearly at least twenty-five or older at a glance, weren’t unable to play the part, but they would still give people a subtle sense of discordance.
“People that young are basically still in school; it’s not easy to find…” Don’t Pigeon typed bitterly.
In fact, it wasn’t that they were hard to find—there were plenty of fresh-faced teenagers in film schools—it was just that the funding Liu Huayi provided was simply too little. Forget about professional actors; even third- or fourth-tier minor actors in Hengdian might not even look at the offer.
But since the Great God had spoken, he could only go look again.
It was all the boss’s stinginess! he thought resentfully. Otherwise, why would he, a web novel editor, be doing talent scout work!
Just as he was about to close the dialogue box with Qiao Jing, another message suddenly came from the other side.
“There’s a question I’d like to ask you.”
Don’t Pigeon’s spirit perked up, and he immediately said: “Please go ahead!”
“What does a web novel editor usually do?” Qiao Jing hesitated for a moment but still sent the question.
In case Jing Xinglan pressed for details, at least he would be prepared.
Don’t Pigeon was stunned for a moment, a bit puzzled as to why Qiao Jing wanted to know this, but he still very seriously told the other party about his daily work responsibilities. However, he added a sentence at the end: “Recently, the boss also gave me the task of selecting actors. Great God, you don’t know—communicating with those actors is truly too painful. It’s like coaxing princes and princesses…”
He sighed and complained to Qiao Jing for a long time, saying that even though they were “Party A” (the client), they still had to turn around and flatter these actors. The key point was that these people were all marginal figures in the entertainment industry with no fame, not even counting as minor stars.
“Did you tell them what you’re filming?” Qiao Jing asked him.
“I did,” Don’t Pigeon said helplessly. “But they only replied with ’never heard of it.’ Even if I sent the script over, I guess they wouldn’t look at it until the last moment. Celebrities are all like this nowadays. It’s not that there aren’t dedicated ones, but they’re too few.”
Since they can earn quick money, who would bother to settle down and study a script properly?
“Then don’t want any of them,” Qiao Jing replied calmly. “Reject them all.”
“What?”
Don’t Pigeon was startled: “Wait, Great God, then who else can we find to film? The budget given by the boss is only this much…” Even if he wanted to find good actors, it was simply impossible to find them.
“It’s fine,” Qiao Jing said very calmly. “When the time comes, there will be actors begging you to let them film.”
Don’t Pigeon: “…”
He instinctively felt that even if the Great God said such things, it was too whimsical. But looking at those few big shots who had recently been added to his list—people Don’t Pigeon had never in his life thought he would have contact with—he still silently swallowed his words.
Professors, Academicians, intelligence department personnel, high-level national leaders… if these people were added together, the whole country would probably shake.
Seeing the Great God’s avatar turn gray again, Don’t Pigeon also silently closed the chat box.
It’s over, he thought. Am I getting a bit ahead of myself?
—Being told that by the Great God, it seemed that he, too, was beginning to look forward to the arrival of 그날.