It was just a love letter; I'm really no great writer!

The staff coming and going were all stunned.

This guy managed to win over a cold and aloof beauty like Director Di; he's incredibly impressive.

Lu Ran not only hugged him, but also gave him a quiet kiss.

Di Qingling glared at him, took off her coat and draped it over Xiao Di's shoulders, "Aren't you cold?"

"Please sit and wait for me for a while, I'll give you a few more instructions." Dressed in a black suit, she regained her shrewd and capable demeanor and walked into the control room to issue orders.

Lu Ran pulled Di Lingyan to sit down on the chair next to him.

Wrapped in her sister's coat, Xiao Di looked even more elegant, with a rosy glow around her eyes, adding to her charm.

"The important thing you need to do... is it your sister?" Di Lingyan said in a low voice.

"Yes, she is my pipa player," Lu Ran said.

Di Lingyan was startled. She raised her eyes and looked at Lu Ran with great surprise. She bit her lip, but in the end, she couldn't say a word.

Lu Ran thought she was completely heartbroken.

A few minutes later, Di Qingling came out again, helped Xiao Di up, and scolded Lu Ran, "What a fuss! Aren't you afraid of being recognized?"

Lu Ran shrugged: "I'm nowhere near being a celebrity."

His poetry is widely disseminated, and he has millions of fans online, but he himself remains a niche within a niche.

The three of them arrived at a coffee shop.

Di Qingling gently held Xiao Di's hand, while Lu Ran sat opposite them.

"This is the surprise you gave me! I'm so happy!" Di Qingling looked at her younger sister gently. "This is your first time seeing a theatrical performance, isn't it?"

"I went to great lengths to make Xiao Di feel the pressure you're under," Lu Ran said, taking a sip of Pu'er tea.

Di Qingling gave him a charmingly disdainful look.

While Lu Ran and Di Qingling were chatting, Di Lingyan remained silent, only offering wooden answers when asked. She was like a human-machine interface stripped of its intelligence.

Di Qingling sighed inwardly and said, "It's late, go home and get some rest. Have you bought your plane ticket for tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow afternoon."

Lu Ran got up and escorted Di Qingling to the tea room entrance. He took out a jade bracelet from his pocket, which looked warm and misty in the moonlight. "Give me your hand."

Di Qingling obediently stretched out her hand, letting her lover put it on for her.

"Did you capture any inspiration while you were out sketching this morning?" Di Qingling asked playfully.

Lu Ran held her hand and looked into her eyes: "Everyone says that Jiangnan is beautiful, and tourists should only grow old in Jiangnan."

"Spring waters are bluer than the sky, and painted boats sleep in the rain."

"The woman by the wine shop is like the moon, her fair wrists like frost and snow."

After a moment of stunned silence, Di Qingling said reproachfully, "Did you make this up on the spot?"

"I wanted to tell you about Xiao Di last night, but you overreacted," Lu Ran said.

"Who knew you would bring Xiao Di here?" Di Qingling looked into the tea room, her gaze filled with complex emotions.

If one's heart were not open and honest, how could one allow them to meet?

She couldn't help but tiptoe and kiss Lu Ran's chin. "Thank you. I neglected Xiao Di's feelings. When you go back, please take good care of her for me."

Lu Ran chuckled: "You trust me that much?"

Di Qingling gently pinched his waist: "A woman's infatuation is beyond words."

Lu Ran said earnestly, "I will hold your hand and grow old with you."

Through the hazy window, Di Lingyan saw a man and woman embracing and kissing deeply under the moonlight, and her heart ached so much she felt like she could suffocate. Why...?

Why are you guys so skilled at this...?

A bittersweet pleasure rose from the depths of my heart...

Clearly, it is...

……

That night, Lu Ran brought Di Lingyan back to the hotel.

Out of concern, I stayed up with her for half the night playing Golden Shovel, and she seemed to be fine.

Lu Ran asked her, "I'm with your sister, don't you show any appreciation?"

Xiao Di could still joke with him in a lively way, saying something like, "Buy one get one free, dowry doubled?"

Lu Ran said with a smile, "I'm sorry, I'm being kept by your sister. There's no bride price, only a dowry."

Joking aside, Xiao Di kept her distance from him and was no longer as close as before.

Relieved, Lu Ran focused on her writing the next morning and finished the second act by the afternoon. Meanwhile, the two sisters took Lu Huamian shopping and had many photos taken.

In the afternoon, Di Qingling took them to the airport, thus concluding their two-day trip to Suocheng.

Before leaving, Lu Ran sent the first half of "The Seagull" to Di Qingling, instructing her to reserve the female lead role for Lu Huamian.

After all, it was Xiao Huamian who helped her out of trouble that night.

Communication requires attention to both method and timing.

If it weren't for his departure that morning and that epic drama as a buffer, the rift between the sisters probably wouldn't have been resolved.

The plane flew away into the distance.

Di Qingling stared at the script he had left for her, standing there for a long time, lost in thought.

……

Landed in Huaicheng.

No matter how wonderful the distant place may be, it's hard to leave one's homeland.

Lu Ran took a deep breath: "Free oxygen is the best."

The sunlight fell on Di Lingyan's slightly pale cheeks, adding a touch of sparkle to her eyes, a rosy glow to her skin, a vibrant vitality, and a truly captivating and radiant beauty.

These past two days have been like a mini-holiday.

After sending Di Lingyan back, Lu Ran also returned home and continued to painstakingly finish writing "The Seagull".

Di Qingling sent a message saying that the script was very subversive, which ignited her fighting spirit. She said that she would devote herself to producing "The Seagull" after the tour of "Parasite" ended.

Lu Ran pondered.

Parasite has almost grossed 500 million at the box office, so a 6% share would be 30 million.

He then punched his thigh again.

Grass!

Giving "The Seagull" to Sister Di means she's going to be busy with another big production, doesn't it?

Get the script back? That's impossible.

Given Di Qingling's passion for drama, she would pass by her home three times without entering, determined to produce "The Seagull".

...It's like I personally extended the separation period of our long-distance relationship by a significant margin.

Lu Ranxin twisted into a pretzel.

"I'm retiring from writing!"

He sighed deeply and said that after finishing "The Seagull," he would never write another play.

After returning home, I received some good news.

The sound system room, which cost a total of 3.9 million yuan, has been installed and inspected, and the experience is fantastic.

Whether it's watching a movie, listening to classical music, or playing a vinyl record, it's an unparalleled enjoyment.

"When Sister Di comes to Huaicheng, I must take her to this amazing listening room...hmm, to enjoy it." Lu Ran thought to himself.

The night was cool and still.

Lu Ran sat down at his desk and started the literary society's video conference.

The main discussion focused on the magazine's sales. After word-of-mouth spread, the estimated weekly sales of "Huaizhong Pictorial" soared to 5,000 copies!

This is even taking into account the impact of piracy...

Otherwise, the combined market of Huaicheng and the provincial capital would easily yield 10,000 copies.

With the money from the magazine sales coming in, Xia Liang breathed a sigh of relief, praying that the police would quickly destroy the piracy den that deserved to be struck by lightning.

……

A book makes a long story; a bookless story makes a short story.

As the new week began, Lu Ran's days back at school became relatively peaceful: attending classes, playing games, and preparing for final exams... it was quite fulfilling.

Spending money is like water flowing away, while making money is like a mountain collapsing.

I'm broke. I'm just looking forward to July so I can make a fortune from all my royalties and copyright fees.

Until Wednesday, when they encountered a challenger...

It was the third period.

On a sweltering summer day, a group of boys were huddled together in front of a standing air conditioner, laughing and joking around.

Li Xingping sat in Xia Liang's seat, leaned over and rested her head on Lu Ran's desk, and whispered about the short story she had written.

It tells the story of two elementary school students who train in sprinting. One is a sprinting prodigy with extraordinary talent, and the other is an ordinary child with resilience but no natural talent. The two become friends and mentors through sprinting. (Note 21)

Lu Ran nodded in surprise: "Contrasting character settings, the pursuit of dreams, an exploration of talent and hard work—it's a great work... How did you come up with that?"

Li Xingping's delicate face flushed slightly: "I was inspired by Xiao Di."

"She hasn't come to the literary club activities these past few days. She's been going to run every day, probably to participate in the Central Field Championships... I was thinking, could I use this as a theme to write a short story?" She kept her legs tightly together, not letting the joy of being praised overflow from her heart.

"Yes, that's great. Your writing talent is much stronger than Xiao Shengke's." Lu Ran nodded.

His other apprentice, Xiao Shengke, spent half a month painstakingly writing a fantasy novel, thinking that a great work was about to be produced, but instead he produced a huge mess.

It's unbearable to look at.

I had no choice but to teach him to rewrite supernatural stories.

This category doesn't exist in this world yet; anything you write here could be considered groundbreaking. Lu Ran wrote out the outline of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" and told him to study it.

This made Li Xingping extremely envious... Waaah, I should have pretended to be candy too.

Lu Ran was explaining writing techniques to Li Xingping when suddenly a large group of people, both men and women, poured into the back door of the classroom from the corridor, each in a different posture.

The boy in the lead had a braid and an arrogant look on his face. Zhou Jiahao, who was leading the way, pointed to Lu Ran's seat and said, "That's him."

"So you think you're Lu Ran?" the braided man said arrogantly.

"It's me." Lu Ran turned around calmly. "What brings you here?"

"Aren't you quite good at writing poetry?"

The man with the braid looked down at him and said, "Let me, the number one poet of Huaicheng, meet you."

Whoosh—!

-

Note 21: Adapted from Yu Feng's comic "100 Meters".