Chapter 321: Zhu Mengmeng's Relationship Analysis |
Chu Ge couldn’t quite figure it out and ultimately concluded that there wasn’t enough content in the comic to gain any insights.
The number of physical books was also insufficient, with only two copies of the sample book sent so far. Chu Ge wondered if there would be new volumes in the next few days. He planned to read more volumes then, as he was sure that the direction would be found there.
Honestly, deep down, Chu Ge didn’t think that the characters in the book would cause any trouble. He had more and more control over his creations in the book, and he could visualize and materialize anything he wanted within it. For instance, he could materialize his face next to Qiu Wuji without her noticing….
It might seem like a small matter on the surface, but it reflected something significant. Qiu Wuji was undoubtedly the strongest in the mortal realm, and in the past, Chu Ge had tried to spy on her multiple times but was caught every time. Now, even when he was stood right behind her, she remained unaware. This indicated that Chu Ge had transcended the cognitive limits of the strongest beings in the mortal realm, almost to the point of being omnipresent. What was the concept of that?
Moreover, all key figures from both the righteous and evil factions had already “submitted” to him. He had initially been worried about the main character, but felt relieved after hearing the thoughts of Chu Tiange. This meant that the mortal realm was essentially his garden. Chu Ge truly couldn’t see what trouble the Heavenly Emperor could cause.
He was only so concerned about the changes because it had become habitual. There was no point in rushing. Regardless, any adaptation would take time.
While looking through the previous sections, Chu Ge’s most significant gain was an understanding of time. That feeling was truly profound and wonderful, but it was too mysterious to be turned into a controllable method. He had tried to backtrack to before the story started several times, but it had only worked once. Most of the time, it had failed, and he couldn’t go back.
He could only watch the “movie” over and over, getting closer to that feeling, hoping to make progress someday.
At the office door, Zhu Mengmeng peered out her head and was quickly dragged back by Qiu Wuji.
“He’s fine,” Qiu Wuji reassured her. “He’s just like this when he’s working. His absentminded look is actually a sign of his complete concentration.”
“No matter how I look at it, he seems to be daydreaming, or maybe he’s slacking off?”
“No, no…”
“Even if he’s focused on work, isn’t it okay to ask him if he’s okay? Why are you so nervous?”
“Don’t disturb someone who’s working,” Qiu Wuji coughed. She wouldn’t tell Zhu Mengmeng that she was actually expecting Chu Ge to embark on a journey through time and find her past self. There was no way she’d let anyone disrupt that.
“Someone who doesn’t know might think it’s some super important creative process, but isn’t it just a proofreading task?”
Qiu Wuji couldn’t be bothered to explain further. She held Zhu Mengmeng’s face and dragged her back to the adjacent room.
“What’s wrong with proofreading? Do you look down on editorial review?” she asked. “Just wait until you submit something and it gets rejected. That’s when you’ll learn the meaning of being at the mercy of someone else!”
Zhu Mengmeng grumbled, “You don’t have to grab my face, you know. I’ve gained some weight…”
She felt like Qiu Wuji was shifting the subject… Whatever.
“Do you also know that you’ve put on some weight?” Qiu Wuji said, “I have something to ask you privately.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Has your ability made any progress?”
Zhu Mengmeng looked around like a thief, lowered her voice and said, “I can now distinguish many threads that represent different things, not just romantic relationships.”
Qiu Wuji widened her eyes, “Really?”
Zhu Mengmeng nodded.
Qiu Wuji was surprised. Could this girl be one in a million, a chosen one? Panda and his group had been training hard and even went to special training in Beijing, and no one knew how much they improved. And this girl, who was sipping tea and goofing off at work every day, had made such significant progress.
Yes, this progress was remarkable. According to her previous assessment, as long as Zhu Mengmeng could discern the various relationship threads, she could sever them. When the day came that she could identify everything, it would signify the true mastery of severing causal connections, a god-like power.
Qiu Wuji asked, “So, you mentioned before that there were all these messy threads between me and Chu Ge. How many can you distinguish now?”
Zhu Mengmeng, who had been confident just a moment ago, suddenly looked hesitant and said, “Well, I may not have fully mastered my ability yet; I might have misjudged.”
Qiu Wuji: “?”
Zhu Mengmeng explained, “Besides the thick romantic thread between you and him, there’s also a career-related thread entangling you two. Moreover, it’s the kind where you both support each other. You help him advance in his career, and he helps you achieve success in yours.”
Qiu Wuji was delighted, “That’s perfect! Why do you think you made a wrong judgment?”
“I haven’t finished yet,” Zhu Mengmeng hesitated. “You and him still share a cousin relationship, apart from that thick ‘love’ thread. It’s all tangled together.”
Qiu Wuji smiled and said, “Yes, our official family relation is that of cousins. You’re amazing, Mengmeng.”
“Is that so? Then is he your Master?”
“Yes, he is.”
“And are you his Master too? And you have a bit of a principal vibe.”
Qiu Wuji was even more astonished, “Mengmeng, you’re surprisingly accurate!”
“But how is that possible?”
“What’s the big deal about learning from each other?”
“It’s not quite right. Normal mutual learning doesn’t create such a clear teacher-student relationship. For example, I learned about nutrition and dietary therapy from you, but we didn’t establish a master-disciple relationship, right? That would require a more formal apprenticeship…”
Qiu Wuji grinned, “We had a little private ceremony. So what?”
“So…” Zhu Mengmeng became increasingly hesitant, “If even these unbelievably complex relationships are real, does that mean the other connections I’ve seen are real too?”
Qiu Wuji secretly thought that if Mengmeng mentioned the father-daughter relationship, she would deny it; after all, that’s impossible. Most likely, even Mengmeng herself would think she was wrong and there was nothing more to say…
But to her surprise, Zhu Mengmeng began cautiously stepping back and said, “You are his puppet, like you have strings tied to you, making you do whatever he wants. So, you guys play around like this in private? When will let me see the collar?”
Qiu Wuji’s smile froze on her face.
The air fell completely silent.
Zhu Mengmeng could almost visualize Qiu Wuji slowly petrifying and then cracking apart like a special effect in an animation. Her head was practically emitting smoke.
In reality, Zhu Mengmeng didn’t think it was a big deal. Men and women in the modern world could play around however they wanted, and if Qiu Wuji had a thin skin and didn’t want to admit it, she could just say she made a mistake, and there was no need for this petrification…
But then, Qiu Wuji’s petrified expression turned bright red. She opened her mouth as if to deny, but with her face burning like a furnace, she asked softly, “Mengmeng… Can you… cut this thread?”
Zhu Mengmeng, “?”
Why do you need someone else to cut it when you’ve been playing with it yourself?
“Could it be that you got addicted and need me to help you quit?” Zhu Mengmeng asked in surprise. “I didn’t see that coming, Qiuqiu…”
Qiu Wuji, her face filled with embarrassment and frustration, snapped, “Do you need to say so much? Just tell me if you can do it or not!”
Zhu Mengmeng hesitated and gestured with her hand.
Qiu Wuji suddenly stepped back and stammered, “I… I changed my mind. Let’s not do it.”
Zhu Mengmeng looked at her without hiding her annoyance.
Qiu Wuji tightly pursed her lips and said quietly, “No, we’ll handle it ourselves. I’m afraid something might go wrong if we mess around randomly.”
Zhu Mengmeng didn’t know what she was thinking and said irritably, “You make it sound like I can solve everything. I don’t know why, but when I see other people’s threads, they seem easy to cut, but your threads give me a dangerous signal, as if touching them will blow me up, so I dare not touch them.”
Qiu Wuji fell silent for a moment and then sighed. It was like a tense string had just relaxed, and she said weakly, “Mengmeng, practice more. Maybe in the future, we’ll need your help.”
Zhu Mengmeng was just an ordinary human. The idea of severing the divine connection between Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji was almost impossible.
But… why had she been avoiding it, and why did she not want to let her cut it in the end? Wasn’t this what she had hoped for the most? Why did she feel relieved when Mengmeng said she didn’t dare to cut it?
Was she really willing to be manipulated her whole life?
Zhu Mengmeng said softly, “Actually, you know, it’s normal for couples in this day and age to have some quirks. I won’t judge you…”
Qiu Wuji was exasperated, “It’s not what you’re thinking… Ah, what am I even saying to you!”
From the next room, Chu Ge’s voice came, “Qiuqiu, I’ve finished reviewing the artwork. I think you should tighten the threads on your end a bit…”
Qiu Wuji erupted in frustration, “Threads? What threads? Go and play with your own threads!”