185: Chapter 185 Empress Su: I want you to pay in installments

A week had passed at the Songjiang film set, and the school scenes were mostly finished.

Jiang Fan had sat behind the monitor for a few days and discovered that, aside from cracking melon seeds, he basically had nothing to do.

Shen Feng's performance was getting better and better, and there was no need to even mention Sister Yue.

Whenever the two of them stood there for a scene and delivered their lines, Director Ning Yuan couldn't even be bothered to call "Cut," simply waving his hand to signal for the next take.

Lu Wanqing would occasionally stumble, but Director Ning Yuan's coaching method was simple and brutal—scold her a couple of times, redo the take, scold her a couple more, and then it would pass.

Jiang Fan dumped the melon seed shells into the trash can and brushed the crumbs off his hands.

"Director Ning Yuan, I'm heading back. I'll leave the rest to you."

Director Ning Yuan didn't even look up, his finger pointing at a spot on the monitor screen.

"You should have left a long time ago. Having you here just adds to my pressure."

——

The first thing Jiang Fan did upon returning to the company was open the Word document on his computer that had been paused for nearly a week.

The cursor was resting in the middle of the fourteenth chapter.

On the journey to fetch the scriptures, Elder Jinchi of the Guanyin Temple was planning to burn The Monkey King's cassock.

Jiang Fan loosened his wrists and rested his fingers on the keyboard. The images in his mind were as clear as watching a movie; he only needed to translate them into text.

After typing for ten minutes, his phone buzzed on the corner of the desk.

[Song Siyi: Jiang Fan, do you have any idea what the comment section looks like right now?]

Jiang Fan ignored it and kept typing.

[Song Siyi: I'll send you some screenshots.]

Then, three screenshots popped up.

The first pinned comment in the comment section read—[Author, are you dead?]

It had reached 83,000 likes.

The second one was [I'll pay 5,000 yuan; whoever can find Jiang Fan's address, I'll go to his place and demand an update.]

Thousands of replies followed below, all joining in the chain.

"I'll sponsor one yuan."

"Count me in."

"Located in Shanghai, ready to leave at any time."

"I suggest crowdfunding to hire a hitman."

"That's too much, upstairs. I suggest crowdfunding to hire kidnappers to tie him to the computer and make him write."

Jiang Fan closed the screenshots and replied with one message.

[Jiang Fan: I'll update three chapters tonight.]

[Song Siyi: Really? How many words for three chapters?]

[Jiang Fan: Around 20,000.]

There was silence on the other end for five seconds.

[Song Siyi: I'll go to the comment section first to pacify the rioters.]

Jiang Fan tossed his phone aside and kept writing.

Elder Jinchi, coveting the cassock, set a fire in the night, which ended up attracting the Black Wind Monster.

He wrote until 5:00 PM—three chapters, 20,000 words—saved them, and sent them to his email.

Song Siyi received them instantly and replied with a voice message.

Jiang Fan tapped to play it—

"Jiang Fan, I love you."

Jiang Fan deleted the voice message directly.

Twenty minutes later, Song Siyi sent a screenshot of the backend data.

Less than fifteen minutes after the three chapters went live, the subscription numbers started to skyrocket.

The tone of the comment section instantly shifted from "Kill the author" to "Author, I was wrong."

[Author, I'm sorry. The one who said they wanted to kidnap you earlier was my cousin, not me.]

[Waaah, it's finally updated! I want to have the author's babies.]

[The Black Wind Monster part was too exciting; please, don't stop.]

The corners of Jiang Fan's mouth twitched.

Song Siyi sent another backend data screenshot.

The number of paid subscribers had risen from 320,000 before the hiatus to 410,000.

The hunger marketing effect was very significant, although Jiang Fan hadn't done it on purpose.

[Song Siyi: Boss Chen says that at this growth rate, we can break 600,000 subscriptions before the end of the month. Zhongdian has never seen data like this since it was founded.]

[Jiang Fan: Understood.]

[Song Siyi: ...Can you try to act a little more excited?]

[Jiang Fan: Oh. I'm so amazing.]

[Song Siyi: [Kitchen Knife]]

——

At 6:00 PM, Jiang Fan leaned back in his office chair and stared at the ceiling.

Xu Qingya had gone out of town for a concert—the third stop of her tour—and wouldn't be back for a week.

Tang Yingxue had returned to Kyoto and hadn't sent any messages in the past two days.

Shen Nian's advertising schedule was also very full; she left early and returned late, going straight to sleep when she got home.

Jiang Fan had been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately.

He had been running on a non-stop cycle for nearly two weeks—writing scripts, supervising the set, and rushing his novel. While he had saved up enough Lifespan Value, he felt completely drained.

After some thought, he took out his phone.

[Jiang Fan: Are you home?]

A reply came quickly.

[Su Yuyan: Yes. What is it?]

[Jiang Fan: Haven't eaten.]

[Su Yuyan: You only think of me when it's time to eat? Do you treat my house like a cafeteria?]

[Jiang Fan: A cafeteria doesn't have food as good as yours.]

[Su Yuyan: You only know how to sponge off me.]

But she didn't say he couldn't come.

Jiang Fan tucked his phone into his pocket, grabbed his jacket, and headed out.

——

Half an hour later, Jiang Fan stood at Su Yuyan's door and knocked twice.

The door opened a crack from the inside.

Su Yuyan revealed half her face; her wet hair was draped over her shoulders, and she was wrapped in a bathrobe.

"You got here pretty fast."

Jiang Fan slipped inside and closed the door behind him.

Meals were laid out on the dining table—

Braised soft-shelled turtle, a few plates of light side dishes, and a pot of dark soup.

"What's this?" Jiang Fan lifted the lid of the soup pot and sniffed it.

Su Yuyan walked barefoot to the sofa, sat down, and curled her legs up.

"Antler and black-bone chicken soup. Aren't you staying up late every day? This is to build up your strength."

Jiang Fan pulled out a chair, sat down, picked up a spoon, and took a sip.

The taste was good, though the color was a bit indescribable.

"Aren't you eating?"

"I've already eaten."

When Jiang Fan had finished eating, Su Yuyan stared at him for two seconds.

"How long has it been since you came over?"

Jiang Fan calculated. "Ten days?"

"It's been twelve days," Su Yuyan corrected him.

Jiang Fan didn't respond, finished most of the bowl of soup, wiped his mouth, and walked over to sit by the sofa with the soup pot.

"I've been a bit busy lately," Jiang Fan said.

"I know you're busy." Su Yuyan hugged her knees a little tighter.

"I'm busy too. My daily schedule is packed until 10:00 PM, and when I come back, I'm all alone in this place without anyone to talk to."

Jiang Fan placed the soup pot on the coffee table.

He didn't reply, instead reaching out to brush Su Yuyan's wet hair back from her shoulders.

"It won't be this long next time."

Su Yuyan turned her head to look at him. Because of her curled-up posture, the collar of her bathrobe slid down, exposing her collarbone completely.

"Really?"

Jiang Fan didn't explain further; he pried apart her hugged knees, pressed his palm against her calf, and pulled her toward him.

She lifted her foot and gave him a push.

"My hair isn't dry yet."

"No rush. I'll dry it for you in a bit."

Su Yuyan stared at him for two seconds.

"Did you come over tonight just to sponge a meal?"

Jiang Fan's hand slid from her calf to the inside of her knee.

"The meal was just a bonus."

Su Yuyan's breath hitched; she pressed her foot against his chest, preventing him from moving forward.

"You don't come for twelve days, and as soon as you get here, you want to—"

"Want to what?"

Su Yuyan bit her lip.

"You know what I mean."

Jiang Fan held that foot and brought it to his lips to kiss it.

Su Yuyan's toes curled instantly, and she tried to pull her leg back.

"Stop it—that tickles—"

Jiang Fan didn't let go, his fingers gripping her ankle as he leaned in along the opening of her bathrobe.

Su Yuyan twisted her body.

"Go brush your teeth first—"

"I just drank the antler soup; it's very nourishing."

"Get lost—who wants you to use that nourishment on me—"

The belt of her bathrobe came completely undone.

Su Yuyan turned her face to the side, her wet hair spread over the sofa cushion, and sounds squeezed out of her throat in broken gasps.

"Twelve days... you owe me..."

"Then I'll pay it all off tonight."

Su Yuyan reached out and punched his shoulder.

"Who told you to pay it all at once... installments..."

Jiang Fan lowered his head and silenced the rest of her words.