"Don't you know it's impossible...?" Zhu Yao seemed to be deep in thought.
Lang Xi smiled and leaned back, crossing her arms behind her neck in a comfortable position. "Miss Zhu is a smart person, isn't she?"
"...just a struggling writer."
“I read your recent writing, and the changes are really significant. I only mentioned literary creation a few times while playing games, and you quickly adjusted the narrative rhythm and perspective of the novel.”
Zhu Yao sighed helplessly, "People always have to improve."
Let's just take it as Wolf Blade praising her.
"You probably don't really enjoy writing novels."
"Yes, I write novels just to make a living. I have very low material desires, and I can live a completely comfortable life on the royalties."
"As expected of Beiling University, their thinking is very advanced."
Zhu Yao covered her ears in pain, "Please don't be so harsh on me. In the past hundred years, Beiling has produced a person as useless as me."
"The English Department at Beiling University is ranked first in the country, so finding a job won't be difficult. Even if you fail several courses, getting a degree is still better than writing novels."
"Writing novels is quite free. I can write three thousand words a day, and the rest of the time is mine."
Lang Xi didn't delve any deeper. There were some things Zhu Yao didn't want to say, so he left it at that.
"How about you consider taking on a part-time job?"
"Am I not a part-time live streamer anymore?"
"No, no, no," Lang Xi said mysteriously, "Come be Yu Nan's lead game planner and story planner."
"Isn't Yu Nan the lead planner?"
“Yu Nan is not suitable. She doesn’t have a good grasp of the overall framework. She’s okay at making small games, but she struggles when it comes to AAA games.”
"For example, Yu Nan has a lot of imaginative ideas in her mind and can capture some very beautiful moments."
However, no matter how beautiful it is, a fragment is still just a fragment; it lacks an overall structure.
Some creators will create an entire work to express a "fragment". Apart from the inspiration fragment, other methods of creating the work are cumbersome, boring and tedious.
Yu Nan is such a creator. She has unique insights into art, but lacks sufficient logical thinking to support the whole world.
"But you are different. I have observed your novel. Putting aside the shortcomings of verbose narrative, your worldview and plot are clear and concise. It is as if you put the protagonist in a set world, observe their behavior and describe it."
Your verbose narrative style is actually an advantage in game creation.
The most important and difficult skill for an excellent game story designer is the ability to "tell a story that combines the characteristics of the game".
Whether it's novels, anime, movies, or games, the commonality of these fictional works lies in "providing a world that can withstand scrutiny, and using it as a stage for a reasonable and sufficiently engaging story."
"You're carrying a heavy burden."
"Why don't you give it a try, Demon King? You're a smart man, you can assess the pros and cons, right?"
“Yes, this is outside my comfort zone,” Zhu Yao did not deny it. “Based on the estimated benefits, I might refuse you.”
"However, it's good to be slow on the uptake sometimes. I didn't compromise my sexuality with my family because I knew it was impossible, and now I want to do it even if I know it's impossible. As long as Yu Nan is willing, I will agree."
"Perfect!" Lang Xi grabbed Zhu Yao's hand and gave her a high five. "I'm going to go after my next girlfriend."
"You heartless woman, you just got her and you're already breaking up with her!" Zhu Yao joked. "Go on, second brother, hurry up and build your harem, I want to reunite with my sisters too."
As Lang Xi left, Zhu Yao felt something inside her about to burst forth.
Do you knowingly do something that is impossible?
Perhaps she could be braver, less timid.
At least, we will no longer refuse to embrace tomorrow because of the possibility of a bad outcome.
…
Saying she wanted to complete her harem, Lang Xi left Yu Nan's house, and the villa returned to its usual state—one day, three meals, one house, two people.
As usual, Zhu Yao took care of Yu Nan and was no longer as resistant to Yu Nan's advances. The time the two spent playing games together was reduced to half a day, and the rest of the time was used to make up for their shortcomings.
Everyone is preparing for the upcoming game development.
The nightly poetry readings continued, and Yu Nan had been engrossed in studying her professional books these past few days, asking Zhu Yao questions whenever she didn't understand something.
Zhu Yao glanced at the books and saw that besides those on game development, there were also many books on music, art, film, comics, and even architecture. She increasingly felt that Lang Xi wanted to train Yu Nan to be a graphic designer.
“Game designers need to apply all knowledge to their field,” Lang Xi explained over the phone. “And art is interconnected; music can have color, and numbers can have emotions.”
"So, why are there probability theory and advanced mathematics?" Zhu Yao looked at Yu Nan's error notebook expressionlessly. "Yu Nan asked me questions from almost half a book."
Lang Xi laughed without trying to suppress it, and Zhu Yao held the phone away until the laughter stopped.
"Isn't this for numerical design? If you feel sorry for Yu Nan, you can learn probability theory for her. We don't necessarily need her to do numerical design. With you from Beiling University, we feel more at ease."
"Alright, you should hurry up and build your harem too."
After hanging up the phone, Zhu Yao pushed open the door to Yu Nan's bedroom and placed a hot towel on Yu Nan's forehead. "Sweetie, it's time to sleep."
Yu Nan looked up, her eyes bloodshot from exhaustion. She picked up the hot towel Zhu Yao handed her and wiped her face haphazardly.
The skin, wiped by the steaming hot towel, felt as if its energy channels had been opened, and the fatigue from before was swept away. Yu Nan opened her eyes and saw Zhu Yao looking at her with gentle eyes.
"Sister, are we sleeping together again tonight?"
"Can"
Zhu Yao helped her to the bathroom to wash up. Yu Nan leaned against Zhu Yao, dozing off while brushing her teeth. Hmm... Zhu Yao's body is so soft.
Yu Nan has been incredibly happy these past few days! Since Lang Xi left, playing games with Zhu Yao has become much smoother. In addition, Zhu Yao's attitude towards her has changed a lot, as if she suddenly let her guard down.
Yu Nan could sense that a wall that had stood between Zhu Yao and the outside world had disappeared, and a path that could penetrate deep into Zhu Yao's heart had appeared before her, leading to a bright and clear world.
With her eyes half-closed, Yu Nan was led to the bed by Zhu Yao. She wrapped herself tightly in the blanket and hugged Zhu Yao like a sloth.
Zhu Yao was sitting on the bed, the two of them covered with the same quilt. She was reading poetry on her phone. As the last line ended, the person next to her could no longer resist the drowsiness and fell asleep, and the tightness in her arms loosened a lot.
Zhu Yao turned off the light and gently lay down next to Yu Nan. The room quickly returned to calm, with only the sound of two rising and falling breaths mingling together.
In fact, Lang Xi also gave Zhu Yao homework—to write a novel as quickly as possible and finish it as soon as possible.
The workload of plot planning is not low. In Lang Xi's eyes, writing 10,000 words a day is just passing grade. For someone like Zhu Yao, who writes 3,000 words a day, it's practically like she's retired.
Now, her writing has become a "script" for practice, honing the quality of her narrative and the speed at which she outputs text.
This didn't put too much pressure on Zhu Yao. When she was studying at Beiling University, her workload was much heavier. Lang Xi's assignments actually became the motivation for her to save up drafts, and the contents of her draft box visibly increased.
Every day, Zhu Yao wakes up and spends half the day playing games with her child, then she writes and explains problems to her child while typing, and then she puts her child, who is afraid to sleep alone, to bed at night... Zhu Yao suddenly realizes that she is a housewife.
However, children sometimes want to give back to their parents.
At five o'clock that morning, during their lunch break, Yu Nan insisted on reciprocating Zhu Yao's kindness by cooking for her.
Perhaps... Yu Nan has read some professional books on food science?
It's not entirely about cooking.
Yu Nan pressed Zhu Yao down onto the sofa and busied herself in the kitchen with a spatula, keeping Zhu Yao from seeing what she was doing.
Fortunately, there was no smell of burning coming from the kitchen, and if there had been a fire, Zhu Yao could have rushed in immediately.
A moment later, Yu Nan came out carrying two bowls. Zhu Yao glanced at them and saw that they were rice topped with vegetable sauce, and the texture of the vegetables looked like... frozen food.
At least, the time Yu Nan spent inside wasn't enough to accomplish all of this.
"This is... a ready-to-eat meal kit?"
Yu Nan nodded, "That's what those takeout restaurants use. When I lived alone before, I would heat up the ready-made meals in the microwave every day, along with self-heating rice..."
"Why are you suddenly cooking?" The instant meal kit is still warm...
“We should share the housework. I don’t want you to take care of me all the time anymore. I want to help you with the chores too.”
Zhu Yao patted Yu Nan's head. "This is what Li Yue and I agreed on. Let me take care of you."
Yu Nan seemed a little disappointed, muttering softly, "I want our relationship to be more equal..."
Zhu Yao felt that these words sounded familiar. "Why did you suddenly think that way?"
“The book says…” Yu Nan suddenly fell silent.
Because she was reading a novel written by Zhu Yao.
In yesterday's update, the director said this to the junior staff: "First, establish an equal relationship, then work together well."
Yu Nan felt that this was Zhu Yao's view on love, so she decided to start with the small thing of "cooking" today.
"Which book?" Zhu Yao asked Yu Nan with a leisurely air.
Yu Nan, though unconvinced, replied confidently, "Uh... I forgot, I read too many books every day."
Zhu Yao narrowed her eyes; there was definitely something fishy going on.
I think there was a similar plot in her novel. Judging by the timeline, that part of the plot in the draft should be released by now.
Zhu Yao took out her phone and glanced at the latest update. It was indeed updated; it was the new chapter from last night.
A strange thought popped into her mind: Could Yu Nan be her reader?
It's not surprising, after all, Lang Dao'er is her reader. Since Lang Xi could accidentally "let slip" that Yu Nan is a lesbian, she could also accidentally "let slip" to Yu Nan that she writes.
It's hard to say for sure, so let's wait and see.
Zhu Yao continued eating without making a sound. The ready-made meal kit tasted pretty good, but it lacked a bit of home cooking—after all, it was a soulless dish made by a machine according to a program.
"How is it?" Yu Nan looked at her expectantly.
"Not bad, it would be even better if you had made it," Zhu Yao said, a smile spreading across her face.
My mood suddenly improved.
Author's Note:
Happy Dragon Boat Festival!
Chapter 44 One game can last a whole day
In the past few days, Zhu Yao's live stream has turned into a challenge arena.