Walking the Path of a Workaholic in Cliché Novels (QT) Chapter 116

The travel magazine was so niche that An Yinong had no idea about this matter, let alone that his photo had appeared in some brochures for sale. There was nothing that cannot be sold in this place as long as the price was right.

A hand with an emerald ring pointed at the photo: “I’m willing to pay $10,000 for this.”

While waves surged in the dark, An Yinong in the sunshine was still battling with Chinese characters and English letters every day. He had made great progress in mathematics, but his Chinese and English were only improving slowly. At this time, painting became a relaxing and entertaining activity. He painted more and more without realizing it and really began to like it.

His correspondence with ‘X’ also continued. This was a moment he looked forward to during the day, and he became more and more curious about ‘X’s’ identity.

Not long after, the revised version of “Hua You” appeared in various bookstores again. Its exaggerated colorful comic cover and the exquisite little gifts inside attracted many people. The revised version of “Huayou” promoted his comic “Devil City: Legend of the Desert Heroes”.

At the same time, two comic magazines were sent to his home, one was a comic magazine sent to the “boss” for review, and the other was a sample issue sent to the “author Yinong”. He sat down at his desk and took out the parcel from his schoolbag that he had not had time to read.

In addition to the sample issue, there was also an envelope containing his royalties: five yuan per page, a total of one hundred yuan. He put the hundred yuan aside, opened the book and looked for the page with his comic strip. Finally he found it, in the second half of the magazine, appearing as a new artist in the new works column.

“Even though I drew it myself, it feels completely different once it appears in a magazine. Will it appear in bookstores and magazine stands tomorrow?”

“My comics have appeared in comic magazines. Maybe you’ll see them when you pass by a newsstand one day. ^_^——X”

The man looked at the cute smilwy face and couldn’t help laughing. He picked up the phone and called his subordinates: “Bring all the new comic magazines that have been published in the past two days.”

Although he didn’t know which book it was, as long as he reads all of them, it means he has seen the child’s paintings. The man actually didn’t know how old the person he was communicating with was, because when they were communicating, he seemed very rational and mature, but sometimes he had the naive optimism of a teenager. Another time, he complained about the exams, so he was probably still in school?

He didn’t expect that he would have such a happy chat with a middle school student and they became pen pals – they were at least ten years apart in age, and if they met, the child would call him uncle.

“I passed by a newsstand today and thought that one of your works might be included in this magazine, so I couldn’t help but buy one. It turns out that comics are really interesting. -X” The man turned a page of the magazine in his hand, and a knight riding a horse in the moonlight appeared.

“Congratulations, life will have a new kind of fun. -H” In another place, An Yinong also opened the draft. He was drawing a knight drinking with a friend. The protagonists of the two pictures had the same face, only the background was different. He used the backyard of the county government office in Dingsha County as a template and drew the friend’s home where the knight was.

That night, the man had a strange dream. He dreamed of a stretch of yellow sand, tall towers and horse thieves with knives. In the dream, there was an unclear figure of a young general in a silver robe, holding a bow, with eyes as bright as stars.

That night, An Yinong also had a strange dream. He dreamed of a bottomless void space with layers upon layers of nothingness, where blurry monsters were blocked. He was coiled in the middle by a monster that looked like a dragon but covered in black scales. It rubbed him with its horns, making him feel itchy.

“Hurry up and find me, Yinong.”

The little man in the dream looked up at the big monster. He stood up, tiptoed and hugged the monster’s rough head: “Okay.”

An Yinong woke up and it was daybreak. The shadow of a familiar bird appeared in the window, imitating a woodpecker. “Knock, knock, knock.”

He was still immersed in the excitement of his comics appearing in magazines and being revised, and looking forward to “Devil City: Legend of the Desert Heroes” becoming a hit in Hong Kong. At this time, another piece of news hit An Yinong in the face – He Chengjue was going to get a divorce.

There was no lover or third party, it’s just that the relationship was not harmonious and they can’t live together anymore. Their modern fairy tale of prince and Cinderella finally had an ending – albeit a bad one.

“I didn’t expect they would really get divorced.” The family members sighed.

The new monogamous marriage law had only been instated for less than two years. In the early years, divorce was not called divorce but “separation”. This showed how rare divorce is in this era, especially among such wealthy and powerful families who want to save face.

“Your mommy is a hard-core person, and your daddy is a playboy, ah.” Li Yufeng’s fellow sisters came to move Li Yufeng’s luggage. Many men in wealthy families have affairs, even many men who marry into wealthy families have affairs, and those wives turned a blind eye. Li Yufeng was really hot-tempered.

“Third Aunt, please take good care of Mommy.”

“Don’t worry.” Third Aunt left with the luggage.

“After this incident breaks out, there will definitely be unscrupulous Hong Kong media outlets snooping for news. I’m going to send you to live outside for a while. It’s the house your grandfather gave you when you were three years old. It’s been cleaned up there, and Granny Lian and the others will go there too.” The drunk He Chengjue fell on the sofa in the hall.

He was determined to get a divorce, and now that he was really divorced, he was not in a good mood. Seeing him like this, An Yinong was too lazy to say anything: “Then I’ll pack my things.” It would be good to leave here and be free.

“Atong, your father…is not a good husband, so your mom is relieved.” He Chengjue half opened his eyes, “Don’t learn from me. When you find someone in the future, treat her well.”

An Yinong patted his shoulder and said, “You are drunk.” Was this what a dying man says?

With the help of several servants at home, his things were packed up quickly. One car was not enough, so he took two cars. But An Yinong did not leave immediately. He waited until the parrot came back.

“I’m moving and may not live here in the future. Do you want to go with me to get acquainted with the house?”

An Yinong was sitting in the car with his schoolbag on his back and a parrot in his arms. There was no sadness or nostalgia on his face, but he was very calm. Granny Lian and the others were in another car, and they were very worried about An Yinong’s condition.

“Twolegs, are you sad?” the parrot asked, tilting its head.

“No. It’s just… leaving here suddenly makes me a little emotional.” An Yinong kept looking at the receding scenery outside.

His bad mood was not because of the original owner’s parents. Anyway, whether they were together or not, it didn’t affect him much. And at this time, the original owner’s influence on him was no longer that strong. He was in a bad mood because this house he had become accustomed to did not actually belong to him. The owner of the house wanted him to leave temporarily, so he had to leave temporarily.

An Yinong wanted a nest of his own. The car slowly drove into a high-end residential area. The houses here were all smaller villas. They were the kind of townhouses with a small garden that were common in later generations.

“Is it here?” An Yinong thought that the temporary residence was a commercial house, but he didn’t expect it to be a villa.

“It’s here.” said Uncle Cai, who was the driver.

The car stopped in front of a small villa with pine and cypress trees. The security guard was a middle-aged man with a scar on his face. He opened the door after checking the person.

An Yinong looked out through the window. Neatly arranged small gardens with lawns and azaleas were planted on both sides. Workers were bending over to mow the lawns.

After passing the circular fountain in front of the villa, the car stopped in front of the stairs. The driver opened the door and An Yinong, holding the parrot saying “Thank you”, was helped out of the car.

The door of the villa was open, and one could see the exquisite European-style sofas and large crystal chandeliers inside at a glance, as well as the natural marble floors and patterned wool carpets on the ground. The mahogany ladder led all the way to the second floor.

He looked up and saw the second floor of the villa, which was an empty small balcony. However, the balcony of the villa next door is already full of colorful flowers as soon as spring arrives, but he didn’t know what kind of flowers qwew planted.

There seemed to be someone on the second floor next door… An Yinong squinted his eyes facing the sunlight, but couldn’t see clearly. The people on the second floor next door could see him clearly: the orange sunlight of dusk fell on his flying hair, dyeing it light gold, and under the golden hair were a pair of bright and clear eyes.

In the boy’s hands, he was holding a cockatoo that looked very much like his family’s escaped pet. No, that seemed to be his pet bird.

The man stood there. He had thought many times about what the child he was communicating with looked like, but when he really knew it, he realized how limited his imagination was. That child should look like this, with the rationality of an adult and the innocence of a teenager.

The man by the window smiled. In fact, he had seen him before, many times. He remembered that there was a small teardrop mole under those lively peach eyes. When ‘he’ smiled, there were stars in his eyes.

An Yinong watched them move all the luggage down and put his things into the master bedroom.

This room reflected He Chengjue’s aesthetic, with exquisite European style, wool carpets, marble, oil paintings, velvet drapes… The only thing that was not European was a whole wall of tropical fish. However, because no one had lived here for a long time, it always felt a bit cold when walking inside.

An Yinong liked the decoration of the master bedroom – it finally no longer a children’s style, but a simple style of warm gray.

“Where is this?” asked the parrot stupidly.

“My future home.” An Yinong turned around and smiled after arranging the newly bought comic books in a row.

“But isn’t this near where my master lives?”

“Huh?”

The news of He Chengjue’s divorce was reported the next day. The tabloids exaggerated the story and made up countless stories of love, hate and passion. Some said that He Chengjue got sick due to domestic violence and promiscuity, and some said that the original owner’s mother cheated on him because of a relationship they had with each other in a play.

The fairy tale image of a wealthy family was so loud when they got married, so their divorce also attracted so much attention. There were also media people who wanted to find their only child, but He Tiantong was too low-key in his daily life, and not even a photo of him growing up had been leaked, so his life could remain peaceful.

In fact, An Yinong didn’t care at all about the original owner’s parents’ divorce. He was thinking about the parrot’s words: X lived here as well? When he thought about this, he felt inexplicably embarrassed. He boasted about his painting skills and character in the letter. If he really met him, he would still feel a little embarrassed, right?

When he thought about it, he even felt that he could move again.

“Wait a minute, I know X lives here because he can understand the word ‘thank you’, but the real ‘thank you’ hasn’t learned human language yet, so X doesn’t even know I moved here.” This analysis convinced An Yinong.

When he returned to his current residence after school, Grandma Lian said that the neighbors had sent a gift, which was a basket of honey lemon cakes.

“Honey lemon cake?” An Yinong’s mood improved as he smelled the fragrance. “Why did he send this?”

“The owner of the house knew that a neighbor was moving in, so he asked someone to send gifts. I will make some snacks and send them over in a couple of days.”

“Okay, I’ll trouble you with these matters, grandma.” An Yinong was not very good at dealing with these interpersonal relationships, so it would be most appropriate to leave it to Granny Lian.

“It’s my duty. I noticed that you didn’t have a good appetite this morning. Are you still thinking about your father and mother?” Granny Lian asked with a distressed look on her face.

“…No, I’m a little uncomfortable with the change of place.” An Yinong told the truth, but no one believed him. They still felt that he was very sad, but he just refused to show it.

Amid the attention of countless media people and onlookers, He Chengjue’s marriage ended in divorce and the two officially separated. The He family did not make any movement or comment. The couple had been separated for many years, and everyone was prepared for this. Now it was just a matter of time before the dust settled.

Another issue was property. The property under each person’s name belonged to that person. This was very clear and there was nothing to say. An Yinong even made a small fortune during this period, because both of them expressed their guilt towards him and gave him a lot of things, including antique luxury cars and watches, and two properties. He really got rich overnight.

All these were external things. When he came back, he would have to continue to work hard with his textbooks. No matter how expensive the antique luxury car was, it cannot cure his congenital disease. At this time, He Chengjue, who suddenly wanted to make up for his son, became so loving that he spent a lot of money to hire an excellent university professor as a tutor for him.

With a professional teacher helping him systematically sort out his knowledge structure, An Yinong’s learning progress was accelerated. Oh, it was not that reading had become easier, but the key points have been sorted out, the scope of memory and understanding was narrowed, and efficiency has been enhanced.

“Actually, your comprehension ability is okay, and your memory is OK. Why is it so difficult to read the questions?” The home teacher Mr. Wu couldn’t figure it out.

An Yinong’s math and general studies are okay, but his Chinese and English, which were also required courses, are a mess. He even writes the simplest words wrong, which makes people suspect that he does it on purpose.

“Teacher, sometimes when I read a book, it seems like the words are moving and I can’t catch them.” An Yinong said tentatively. He wanted to know if he, as a professor, had any solution.

“Is it a lack of concentration?”

“…Is that so?” Looking at his disapproving expression, An Yinong suddenly didn’t want to say anything.

Professor Wu was 28 this year and went to college when he was 16. It was obvious that he was a genius in studying and taking exams. Geniuses have their own patterns. They don’t understand the fact that “it’s difficult to even read books”, so they naturally think that the other party was not working hard.

Even if An Yinong explained it in detail, it would only be considered an excuse.

“I used to be like this too,” An Yinong thought, “I thought failure meant I didn’t work hard enough.”

After Teacher Wu left, he sighed deeply, feeling a little tired. Unexpectedly, the parrot ‘comforted’ him: “The weather is so nice, why don’t you go out for a walk?”

“You’re right.” He took a deep breath, “The weather is so nice, why aren’t you happy?”

He picked up the parrot and said, “Come on, I’ll take you for a ride.”

The sun was so bright, it would feel like a waste of time if he didn’t go outside for a walk. So he walked out of the garden holding the parrot in one hand and his roller skates in the other. The garden was too small to skate, so he decided to skate on the small path outside the garden. There were not many people coming and going here anyway, so he didn’t have to worry about bumping into anyone.

“I’ll take you to experience the joy of high-speed gliding.” He held the parrot in his hand and began to glide amid the parrot’s cries.

The parrot’s reaction made him laugh out loud, and his previous depressed mood seemed to be forgotten during this gliding process. In fact, An Yinong was not used to double-row roller skating. He had learned single-row roller skating before. But as long as he fell a few times, he would learn it. There were many wild birds resting on the trees on both sides of the path. They were also very willing to get close to him. If he stopped, some birds would fly over and rest on his hands.

Now he glided slowly along the path, with birds following him and the breeze blowing the fallen leaves along with him.

To the people living on the next building, this scene seemed like a fairy tale world reappearing.

“So he’s usually like this.”

The man felt that he was behaving like a dirty criminal and that he should control himself. Anyone else who saw him would have dirty thoughts that would violate their friendship. Assuming this was really ‘friendship’.

The parrot flew from one window to another, and the man opened the letter.

“If I say that there is a kind of person in the world who sees words jumping around as if they are flying, would you think that person is a fool? – H”

“That must be a very strange world. Although I can’t make words dance on the book pages, I can turn beautiful music into nightmares. Do you want to experience it? -X”

The man was sitting in the room closest to his neighbor. He heard cheerful laughter coming from there, flowing between the two windows like a song. He seemed to have gained another kind of happiness from this happiness, and his world became happy as well.