Everyone's first reaction was that Big Chu had gone completely insane. Keeping up daily ten-thousand-word updates was already hard enough — now he could spare the attention to dash off a side story, and the side story looked like it would keep updating, too.
And the book really had barely touched on Qiu Wuji's past — a blank space, basically. Writing a serialized autobiography of Qiu Wuji was no different from starting a whole new book. How was that any different from running a second book under one account?
Still, it had to be admitted: the most popular figure in the book right now wasn't the protagonist Chu Tiange, but the ever more vivid Qiu Wuji. People had long been curious about Qiu Wuji's past — more so, in some ways, than about the main story itself.
Releasing an autobiographical side story now really was a good way to gather attention, and it helped the book's numbers too. That was why Chu Ge had said it "counts as working for me."
At that moment Chu Ge had no idea what this autobiography meant for Qiu Wuji's own cultivation. He just stared, jaw slack, at the wildly climbing chapter comment count.
Hell, my main chapters don't even get this many chapter comments!
Sure, it's posted in the free Work-Related section, but isn't this a bit much?
Only now did he truly grasp how popular his book really was... and even more, just how unbeatable Qiu Wuji's popularity with readers was.
"For Qiuqiu's autobiography, even if it read like an elementary schooler's essay, I'd still cast my monthly ticket."
"Author, your ticket's secured."
"So have you guys read it yet? This is actually really well written."
"Waaah, my Qiuqiu had such a miserable childhood..."
"Ahaha, haven't had time to look yet... anyway, it's Big Chu who wrote it, so the quality's there no matter what. You really think there's a Qiuqiu out there writing it herself?"
"I'm starting to suspect Big Chu is a girl. Look how he mimics Qiuqiu's voice in that autobiography — it's uncannily lifelike."
"The poster above cracked the case — female author confirmed!"
Chu Ge was left speechless.
This wasn't written by me. There really is a Qiuqiu, and she wrote it herself.
Qiuqiu's autobiography writing is maybe a hundred times better than her skill at making up stories — that's all.
Or maybe her skill hadn't improved so much as her story itself was simply good at stirring up feelings.
Because it was a real past — things she could still recall after ten thousand years of vicissitude naturally carried their own weight.
You could already tell the rest would be just as interesting... it wasn't an invincible-protagonist story; it was the grueling climb, hacking through thorns every step of the way.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that, when she'd discovered everything was a story someone else had written, the way her world must have collapsed inside her — the fact that she hadn't cut him down with a single sword strike right then showed what a cool head she already had.
Still, thank goodness... at least he could be certain he had never written any of this. Which meant it was real experience.
If it was to be written down, then her own life would be penned by her own hand.
Meanwhile, Qiu Wuji was sitting on the curb with her grocery basket, also looking at her phone.
Watching people's enthusiasm for the side story, she couldn't quite name what she felt.
Maybe everyone takes it as a made-up story... that's fine. Reading is reading someone else's story anyway — even reading real history feels the same.
The point was that people now knew a Qiu Wuji they never had before.
"Handsome Written on My Face has become an Alliance Leader of this work."
"Blue Little Pill has become an Alliance Leader of this work."
"Let me say this up front," Panda was gloating in the group chat. "This Alliance Leader I funded is for Qiuqiu's autobiography, not for Shorty Ge."
Chu Ge: "Under the bright heavens and sun — since when does an author who bangs out ten thousand a day get called short and little!"
"Bangs out who?"
Chu Ge changed Panda's group ID to "Ten Thousand."
Ten Thousand: "?"
Qiu Wuji read along, burst out laughing, then quietly unblocked Panda and added him back.
Fine, since you funded an Alliance Leader for Qiuqiu's autobiography — but next time, don't go calling yourself my grandpa whenever you feel like it.
Qiu Wuji raised her head in high spirits, and a more delightful thought struck her: I really can help him write and work as his assistant! That can't be written off against my rent and called even — he has to pay me!
How much, though?
A thousand? A cut of the Alliance Leader take?
Qiu Wuji checked her WeChat wallet: this morning Chu Ge had waved a hand and transferred her ten thousand... How am I supposed to factor that in?
Mm... I'll worry about it later. First, do what an assistant should — like buying the boss some tea leaves.
Drinking cola every single day. Baidu says that stuff's bad for you.
Qiu Wuji's eyes rolled thoughtfully; she slipped off to a deserted spot and snapped her fingers.
The grocery basket vanished into thin air, straight to the kitchen at home. Her shirt and jeans became an OL outfit, her tied-back ponytail came loose, and in moments she went from the girl next door to an office lady of striking poise.
Back then I bought clothes to deliberately familiarize myself with everything modern. Now it doesn't matter — I change into whatever I like, whenever I like.
Cosplay's pretty fun too!
Just around the corner on this street was a tea shop Qiu Wuji had been eyeing for a long time; its antique-style storefront gave her a warm, familiar feeling. Chu Ge had said before that everything here had to be pricey — daylight robbery, all of it — but she wasn't afraid of that anymore!
Daylight robbery? This Sect Master knows how to haggle now!
Stepping inside, she found the decor classically elegant, with a girl in a qipao playing the guzheng. In one corner a miniature rockery and a flowing spring burbled, chiming in harmony with the guzheng.
Qiu Wuji's delight grew as she looked around — it was the first time she had seen this kind of classical flavor in this world.
The guzheng girl saw a customer arrive and rose gracefully. "Would the customer like to try some tea?"
Qiu Wuji said, "Can I just listen to the guzheng?"
The girl: "..."
"All right, all right," Qiu Wuji said. "Then let me try a few teas first."
"Certainly. This way, please." The girl recovered her professional smile and led Qiu Wuji over to the tea table.
The tea table was carved from tree roots, and Qiu Wuji could tell it was worth a fortune; the clerk laid out a row of teas, and she could tell those were worth a fortune too... Watching the clerk elegantly brew gongfu tea, Qiu Wuji suddenly wondered what she was even doing here. All Chu Ge needed was a big pot of tea to replace his cola — he didn't need all this ceremony...
Mm, but I could learn this. It's rather interesting, and I could do it back in that world too — it looks so refined.
"Please try this Tieguanyin, customer." The clerk's slender hands divided the tea. "This one's low-roast, so the flavor is light, with a nice sweet finish and a smooth mouthfeel..."
Qiu Wuji didn't understand a word of her spiel; she lowered her head and took a small sip.
As the fragrance of the tea spread through her mouth, Qiu Wuji's heart gave a small start, and a hint of sharpness entered her eyes.
This tea... has spiritual energy?
It was extremely faint — imperceptible unless you paid close attention — but Qiu Wuji was incredibly sensitive to such things, and she could almost certainly conclude that the tea really did contain spiritual energy!
Where did the spiritual energy come from?
Not from the tea leaves themselves, and not from the water...
Qiu Wuji studied the clerk for a moment and shook her head. The girl was just an ordinary person; she wasn't the source.
Seeing her shake her head, the clerk smiled apologetically. "Shall we switch to another? This one's roasted a little higher..."
Qiu Wuji took the second cup and sipped; again she shook her head.
This cup has no spiritual energy.
Her gaze wandered a while, then settled on the gaiwan in the clerk's hand.
The two cups used different gaiwans... so the earlier spiritual energy came from the teaware?
Seeing her shake her head again, the clerk said, "How about we try a rock tea..."
"Hold on." Qiu Wuji asked, "Do you sell teaware here too?"
The clerk laughed. "Of course we do. We have excellent zisha pots as well. People say brewing tea in our zisha pots is good for your health — we get a lot of repeat customers."
Qiu Wuji now had a hunch. "Then show me the teaware first?"
Standing before the cabinet of zisha pots — the small ones palm-sized and adorable, the big ones holding a jin or two and quite large — her lips curved into a faint smile as she looked.
She'd never seen this gaiwan-brewing, cup-by-cup method before, but this zisha pot style of brewing was familiar to her; their way of boiling tea was quite similar, and she had studied plenty about what materials to make pots from — suddenly she felt she'd met a fellow professional.
This particular zisha she wasn't an expert on, but the clay itself didn't matter; what she cared about was the spiritual energy.
Every zisha pot here carried a faint trace of spiritual energy, so clearly the clay pit the sand came from was itself a deposit steeped in spiritual energy. The ore's energy was very thin — did that mean the land there bore spiritual energy, or that something else lay beneath the ground, some treasure, such that the whole deposit had been tainted with it?
That was the instinctive first reaction of a cultivator who had spent a lifetime fighting others over treasures in the cultivation world. If there was a treasure... would it benefit Chu Ge's cultivation?
"Does the customer like any of these styles?" the clerk said with a smile. "This little zisha one is lovely — perfect for a great beauty like you. You can hold it as a hand warmer, and it's good for your skin..."
"Huh?" Qiu Wuji snapped out of her treasure-hunting thoughts and blurted, "The biggest one — the one that holds two jin!"
The clerk: "?"
Qiu Wuji smiled elegantly. "Actually, I'm buying it for my boss. I'm only a secretary."
The clerk was envious. "With such a beautiful, elegant young lady as his secretary, your boss must be worth hundreds of millions."
Back in the rented apartment, Chu Ge sneezed.
"Ahem." Qiu Wuji asked, "So how much is this big pot?"
"9,888."
Qiu Wuji: "..."
"This is local zisha — that's already quite cheap..."
You call that cheap? Well, if you count the spiritual energy it really is cheap, but I don't think you people even know about that.
Qiu Wuji asked, somewhat at a loss for words, "Then how much were those teas earlier?"
"The first brew was three thousand a jin. The second was 5,888."
Qiu Wuji's face went blank, and she turned to leave.
"Hey, hey, miss, wait!" The clerk hurried after her. "If you're serious about buying, we can talk."
Qiu Wuji felt there was nothing to talk about. The shave-off-the-odd-cents technique she had mastered was utterly meaningless here — unless she could knock off an entire digit!
And here I thought Chu Ge had some money now. Turns out he can't even afford tea...
The tea, forget it — but I really do want this zisha pot. If Chu Ge could drink tea boiled in this pot every day, it'd be very useful for his cultivation...
Just as she hesitated, a woman's voice came from the doorway. "If this pretty lady wants it, then I'll make the call myself — half price, as a gesture of friendship!"
Qiu Wuji turned to look. A young matron in her thirties came through the door and trotted straight toward her. "I just need this young lady to tell me what skincare you use and where you get your SPAs — how about we be friends?"
Qiu Wuji looked at the clerk, who covered her forehead. "This is our young proprietress."