“Do you think so?”
“Probably? I mean, there aren’t any other companies here, right?”
“That makes sense. So one of them has to be the author then?”
“I’m more curious about which one is the ‘family member.’”
As soon as she finished speaking, the two girls beside her immediately stared at her with blazing eyes.
She froze for a moment and waved her hands quickly.
“I was just saying it casually. If you guys mind…”
“Mind what? I’ve been curious about that for ages!”
One of the girls spoke bluntly.
While talking, she kept staring fixedly at the entrance of the venue.
“…But honestly, if those two aren’t actually a couple, that’d be great. Wouldn’t that give us sisters a chance?”
The moment she finished speaking, the girl beside her poked her.
“Look over there.”
The girl instinctively turned to look.
Zong Cheng was taking off the scarf around his neck.
A bad premonition flashed through her mind.
The next second, she watched with her own eyes as Zong Cheng—his movements both intimate and a little forceful—put the scarf around Yin Chen’s neck.
“…Damn.”
She couldn’t help swearing.
Hell. That’s the smell of dog food!
The taste of dog food!
She rolled her eyes and exchanged a speechless look with the other two.
After a while, one of them quietly let out a “woof.”
“I’m really stupid. Truly.”
Her tone was full of melancholy.
“I once wrote a character too—also a male author. Short, fat, poor, and without a girlfriend.”
And now?
Just look.
A real male author standing right there—tall, handsome, and definitely richer than her.
The girl beside her spoke leisurely.
“He might not have a girlfriend, but he does have a boyfriend!”
Well then.
Fair enough.
The three of them forced brave smiles together.
After a moment, one of them couldn’t help adding quietly,
“And his hair is pretty thick too.”
Damn it!
The other two girls glared at her instantly.
Seriously? Killing the shrimp and stabbing the pig’s heart too?
Give us a way to live!
“Pfft!”
That really was a brutal finishing blow.
As expected of a famous writer—top-tier at hitting the key point!
Yin Chen tried to hold back his laughter.
He couldn’t.
Silently, he turned his head and buried his face in Zong Cheng’s shoulder.
Frozen.
The three girls froze at the same time.
They exchanged glances and saw the same dead-inside despair in each other’s eyes.
Heh. So what if it’s just a bit of social death?
No big deal!
Worst case—
Next time they’d come back after getting hair transplants. QwQ
Yin Chen wanted to wander around a bit longer.
Unfortunately, Zong Cheng’s editor had already walked over.
Editor Qi approached with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
He looked at Zong Cheng, then at Yin Chen.
“You two are…?”
Although he could guess that one of them had to be that infamous pigeon spirit.
The question was—which one?
Ah.
It was time for the boyfriend to make his official appearance.
Smiling, Yin Chen took half a step back.
Zong Cheng spoke in a cool tone.
“It’s me.”
Damn!
That familiar cold tone!
Editor Qi instantly felt that the person in front of him wasn’t unfamiliar at all anymore. 🙂
This guy was the only author who sounded like someone owed him hundreds of thousands every time they talked on the phone.
He must have owed this guy a debt in his previous life!
Sighing inwardly, Editor Qi still put on a professional smile.
“I figured the male author Yingga had to be you.”
As he spoke, he glanced at Yin Chen beside Zong Cheng, his tone turning a little subtle.
“And this is…?”
Zong Cheng’s expression, which had been completely calm, changed slightly.
Then Yin Chen suddenly felt Zong Cheng quietly tugging at his little finger.
What’s wrong?
Yin Chen looked at him instinctively.
Zong Cheng’s ears were slightly red as he looked back.
He coughed lightly.
N-nothing.
He was just suddenly a little nervous.
Saying the words boyfriend out loud and all.
“He’s my boyfriend, Yin Chen.”
The moment Zong Cheng finished speaking, he felt like he was floating.
He said it!
He actually said it!
Yin Chen is his boyfriend!
Good.
No matter what happened here today, he wouldn’t feel embarrassed at all.
Today he was a happy and joyful person!
Editor Qi had a complicated expression.
Of course he knew Yin Chen was Zong Cheng’s boyfriend!
This guy had already shown off their relationship publicly!
Like the whole world didn’t already know!
He’d only asked out of politeness!
Tch!
While ranting internally, Editor Qi calmly extended his hand.
“So you’re Mr. Yin. Welcome, Mr. Yin—and…”
His words paused strangely for a moment before he vaguely continued,
“…and your boyfriend as well, to this author conference.”
Whew!
That was close!
He almost blurted out “King of Pigeons”!
Still—he’d better sneak a look at this guy’s pen name later.
What the heck was it again?!
“My pleasure.”
Yin Chen shook his hand, then naturally withdrew his own and slipped it into Zong Cheng’s coat pocket.
The movement was so natural, and his expression so calm, it looked no different from someone putting on another layer because of the cold.
Immediately, even more gazes turned their way.
Even Editor Qi looked like he’d just been force-fed dog food.
How did that happen?
Just a handshake and he still ended up eating a mouthful of PDA?
Other authors who had brought partners glanced at their own companions.
Then they all fell silent at the same time.
One romance-genre author couldn’t help pulling out her phone and snapping a picture.
After taking it, she thought for a moment and put mosaics over both Zong Cheng and Yin Chen’s faces—even though there would probably be group photos later, what if they didn’t want to be on camera?
Then she took another photo of her boyfriend, who was still grinding ranked matches with a power bank plugged in.
She posted both to Weibo along with a sigh worthy of a single dog.
CodeLikePoundingGarlic V:
Look at this. Both of us brought partners. Other people’s partners are sweet and affectionate. Meanwhile mine sat down and has already lost two ranked matches. For a moment there, I felt like I’d be happier as a cheerful single dog.
She had about ten thousand active followers, and quite a few readers knew she was attending the conference. They quickly rushed over.
They opened the post and burst out laughing.
“HAHAHAHA this is too real! Dating isn’t as good as being single!”
“LOL already lost two matches? Sounds like he’s kinda bad.”
“I almost choked laughing! That boyfriend is way too realistic! Author, maybe dump him? Isn’t being single great?”
“Ahem, honestly being single really is nice. At least you get half your time back. Use that time to write and release more chapters—it’s perfect!”
?
CodeLikePoundingGarlic slowly typed a question mark.
“Doesn’t your conscience hurt?”
Her readers replied sincerely.
“Nope. In fact we’re looking forward to it!”
“Same!”
Come on.
She updated daily. Was that still not enough for these little demons?
Watching the topic gradually drift somewhere strange, she dragged it back.
“Look at the key point. The key point isn’t that they’re super sweet?”
The comment section fell silent for a full three minutes.
She even wondered if her post had been throttled or something—until the comments started appearing again.
“Sigh, this author is so mean. She ate fresh dog food at the conference and now she’s force-feeding it to us poor readers.”
“Ugh. I dodged Valentine’s Day only to get stuffed with dog food here. Being single is so hard.”
“Tragic. Truly tragic.”
The readers were all whining miserably, but CodeLikePoundingGarlic felt much better.
Perfect.
Exactly the effect she wanted.
She definitely wasn’t going to be the only one eating this bowl of dog food!
Satisfied, she put her phone away.
Right on cue, the author conference officially began.
She gave her still-gaming boyfriend a sharp knock on the head, then straightened her posture.
Even if it wasn’t being livestreamed, there would still be photos and recordings. Better behave properly!
Gotta keep some dignity!
Meanwhile, the readers who were still whining in the comments waited for the author to comfort them.
Ten full minutes passed.
Nothing happened.
Squatting in the comment section, they slowly started posting question marks.
“I reasonably suspect this author got hurt by dog food and came here to hurt us. Thoughts? :)”
“Heh. I’ve already seen through her. That’s exactly the kind of woman she is—drop the word ‘suspect.’”
“Damn it, no update today and she’s still torturing us? I’ll perform a 360-degree Thomas spin kneeling on the ground—please update a chapter and feed the children!”
While they were wailing, one reader suddenly posted a question mark.
“Wait… I didn’t notice earlier, but looking carefully now—aren’t both people in the photo men?”
What!!!
The readers who had been rolling around dramatically all froze at the same time.
They hurriedly opened the photo.
Good lord!
Those long legs! That waist! And that guy’s bulging chest muscles!
Someone immediately swallowed.
“Holy crap, those pecs must take years to build, right? Not to be rude, but—what pigeon author is this? If he has time to build chest muscles, why isn’t he writing ten thousand words a day?”
Everyone else shuddered.
Damn!
That question was legit!
In an instant, the issue of them both being men was completely forgotten.
Come on—who hasn’t read a few BL novels before?
Two men dating? No big deal!
They’d seen plenty of that.
But!
A pigeon author who works out?
That was rare. Extremely rare.
So people started counting on their fingers.
Then everyone grew confused.
It seemed… they didn’t actually know many male pigeon authors who liked working out.
Or rather, the ratio of male authors among pigeon spirits was like one in a thousand.
Thinking about it, someone finally made a bold comment.
“Guys, does anyone remember that old thread? The no-CP big shot who got exposed for having a boyfriend!”
Of course they remembered!
“You mean the thread where that all-winery group tried to smear him? I remember!!! Ahhh! You reminded me—yeah! That legendary male author!”
“Wait what? I didn’t know about that! Spill the tea, sisters!”
“Go to the forum hot post! I remember it had like ten pages!”
“Ten pages?! Damn! I’m going right now!”
Nervous.
A little nervous.
Zong Cheng watched other authors introduce themselves on stage. Nervous, he quietly turned to look at Yin Chen’s face.
Instead of being nervous, his heart started beating faster.
Good. This method worked.
He stared at Yin Chen for a while, then slowly realized something was off.
What was Yin Chen looking at that made him look so happy?
Unable to resist, Zong Cheng leaned over to look.
“Girls! Someone leaked info! They said there’s only one male author from the romance section here today! Cross-checking the list, the ‘pec guy and handsome youth’ from Garlic’s photo—one of them must be the King of Pigeons!”
“What? Then I bet on the handsome youth! If the King of Pigeons had time to work out chest muscles, why wouldn’t he write ten thousand words a day?!”
Zong Cheng slowly typed a question mark in his head.
Are you demons?