System: Master Your Life

Chapter 1023 - 272: Back to Jiangdu, Reunion with Shang Wanjun (Part 2)

Very thoughtful.

Today Shang Wanjun is at home, because the floor is wooden, and it’s cleaned every day, so she walks barefoot.

"Shall we go out for dinner tonight?" Xu Lin asked.

"Sure." Shang Wanjun nodded slightly.

Once inside, Shang Wanjun habitually made tea for Xu Lin.

Towards Xu Lin, Shang Wanjun was absolutely considerate, almost like a perfect wife, the kind of woman every man dreams of.

But in fact, she’s not a perfect wife, nor a virtuous wife and good mother. If it were another man, Shang Wanjun might be a bad woman; her spiritual world is very free, she desires a man who can handle her, otherwise, if an average man marries her, he’s very likely to end up with nothing more than a headache.

Besides, she is financially independent, so there’s no point in trying to trap her, it’s impossible.

In ancient times, many women were not financially independent and faced various social problems, forcing them to rely on men. It was equivalent to women in primitive societies needing to depend on strong men who could hunt, so they could have a relatively stable environment for survival, reproduction, and nurturing. As for purely good women, there weren’t actually many.

Shang Wanjun enjoys this current environment very much.

She is indeed spiritually free and independent. She has bought a house and moved in, without her parents knowing, nor will she tell them.

Because she doesn’t want her parents to bother her, especially now that she’s twenty-five, her family often urges her to find a boyfriend, get married, and start a family.

But Shang Wanjun doesn’t want that; she believes a family would restrict her, and she doesn’t want to live an unfree life.

Here, it’s just her and Xu Lin.

This time when making tea, it was a tea ceremony, still very elaborate.

Shang Wanjun spent tens of thousands on a rather expensive tea.

It’s a type of jasmine tea, called Green Ming’s Flower Admirer • Flower Thirty Thousand. The name sounds quite poetic; the price is 30,000 per pound, and the packaging Shang Wanjun bought is very well done, over 40,000 a box.

If her mom knew, she’d definitely accuse her of being wasteful.

But Shang Wanjun’s life philosophy is different; she believes in living life to the fullest, simply put, doing what feels good. If she doesn’t spend money, then what’s the point of earning it?

"Will you go to my new book launch tomorrow?"

"I’ll go. I’ll accompany you tomorrow. In a while, I’ll start getting busy again."

Xu Lin simply mentioned he would be researching neuroscience for a while.

"So complicated, I don’t understand a thing," Shang Wanjun laughed.

In the evening, Xu Lin began reading Shang Wanjun’s new book.

This new book is the one they mentioned last time. It’s now released, and tomorrow is the signing event.

The title is "Redemption of Desire," about a woman who fails in a traditional marriage and after meeting a young man, gradually indulges in desire, but eventually awakens and achieves self-redemption.

Just over four hundred thousand words, and Xu Lin easily finished reading it.

Shang Wanjun’s writing craft is getting stronger, with each book better than the last. The strength in story progression and character transformation is very pronounced, living up to her reputation as the number one new-generation female writer.

"Will you still write books in the future?"

As Xu Lin read, Shang Wanjun couldn’t help but ask.

"Not sure, maybe I won’t write anymore, but it’s hard to say, maybe I’ll be inspired again someday."

Xu Lin’s mindset has changed; he can’t be as pure as when he was in college.

Back then, he was only eighteen, full of youth.

Though now at twenty, still youthful, his mindset is different.

Not to mention, he doesn’t have the inclination now.

Speaking of, Rong Xiyi occasionally asks Xu Lin to write her a book, because Ning Yuhuan has one, and Rong Xiyi can’t forget it.

Oh well, maybe I’ll write one in the future.

Writing one for Rong Xiyi?

Xu Lin suddenly thought of Yu Xinyan; she hasn’t mentioned it again, but when Xu Lin was eighteen, he promised her one, which wasn’t realized, and now she’s quit.

Yet thinking now, Yu Xinyan follows him, without requiring status, Xu Lin feels some guilt.

Perhaps someday, when the mood strikes, Xu Lin might write one for her as a youth record.

Still, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and as Xu Lin arrived here, Shang Wanjun, being a woman with normal needs, naturally wouldn’t let Xu Lin off tonight.

The two kept going until late, sleeping only after three in the morning.

The next day, ten in the morning was Shang Wanjun’s new book signing event, so they got up at eight.

This signing event was not held in a large bookstore like last time but at a book fair.

Such book fairs gather many publishers and authors to increase promotional and exposure opportunities.

For example, today’s Jiangdu Book Fair is just like this, held at the Jiangdu Convention and Exhibition Center, with numerous publishers and authors.

Xu Lin looked around; these publishers and authors, he didn’t know them.

For example, the authors are all traditional literary authors, not in the same circle as online authors. Traditional authors like Shang Wanjun publish their work in print format, and indeed, this is a higher threshold, requiring depth, literary and artistic value, among other things.

Shang Wanjun writes like this, both with story and depth.

She is already the number one new-generation female author in the country, and thanks to her beauty and youth, labeled as a genius beauty writer, truly a beauty writer. After all, those so-called beauty writers have nothing, yet claim to be good-looking, while Shang Wanjun at 1.73 meters tall, with a slender figure and high beauty, not needing glasses, easily outshines them; she’s simply not in the same league.

Shang Wanjun also mentioned that she attended a writer’s event before, where many female writers dared not stand next to her.

As she is in her prime in writing, with high commercial value, and yet another contest in appearance, Shang Wanjun’s outstanding appearance conditions they could not bear.

How many people dare to stand next to her?

At this time, the book fair was quite crowded.

Xu Lin and Shang Wanjun arrived at her dedicated venue for the new book signing.

Shang Wanjun’s fans were already lined up waiting for her.

Most of them were female, accounting for about eighty to ninety percent.

Especially since the content of the newly released book was of more interest to women, male fans only looked at Shang Wanjun’s beauty.

Besides, how many men would read this book of hers?

In simple terms, this book tells the story of a woman having an affair with a young man, but the essence is of a soul transcending the mundane, elevated at the end. Shang Wanjun wouldn’t write a simple affair story; otherwise, she wouldn’t be the famous female writer she is now; she also has pursuits and enjoys exploring various themes.

The signing event officially started at ten in the morning, and Shang Wanjun attracted the most people here.

For no other reason than she’s attractive.

As for how well the book is written, sometimes it’s not as important.

Midway, Xu Lin wandered around looking at other authors’ books; he reads quickly, and for dozens of books, it didn’t take him an hour.

So, after reading fifty or sixty books, Xu Lin found several people who wrote better than Shang Wanjun, whether in story, depth, or literary quality. They had it all.

But they had fewer people because they lacked looks, being ordinary.

"Signings partly rely on appearance too."

Xu Lin sighed, glancing towards Shang Wanjun, who was conducting the signing event.

The fans were enthusiastic, each wanting a photo, rivalling idol signing events.

Hence, there were security guards nearby to maintain order.

The whole signing event lasted three hours.

When Shang Wanjun came out of the convention center, she swung her little hand, "I’m exhausted from signing; my hand feels numb. I didn’t expect so many people today."

"Your fans are here for your looks, how could there not be many?"

"Actually, I hope they’d focus more on my work rather than my looks, to the point where people in the circle jealous of me say I’m just a vase, more looks than ability."