576 The Moon and Sixpence (1/2)
Chapter 576: The Moon and Sixpence
Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
”Woof woof!”
Xiao La's bark could barely be heard.
The Amazing Fate Pet Shop had considered the soundproofing issue during its past renovation. Both the walls and the doors were thick. Even if Xiao La barked its lungs out in the storage room, it wouldn't bother the other pets.
Zhang Zian put Xie Tao's rice cake in the fridge, and wondered how he should cook it. Should he boil, fry, or stir-fry? The problem was, he could not do any of that.
After coming out of the kitchen, he looked casually in the living room. He was expecting to see Pi typing in front of the computer, but the chair was empty.
That was rare. Did Pi get up to stretch without being reminded to do so?
Zhang Zian was happy that Pi finally learned to take care of its body. As he turned around to go downstairs, he suddenly heard keyboard tapping coming from the desk.
What was going on?
He stopped. Pi wasn't sitting in front of the computer, so where did the typing sound come from? Was there a ghost fond of typing?
”Pi? Are you there?” He asked, and stuck his head inside the door.
”Eek?” Pi was sitting straight in the chair, and looked around at him in confusion.
Zhang Zian frowned. He felt that something was wrong. He didn't see this before.
He didn't open up the curtain this morning when he woke up. The lighting in the living room was a bit dim, but even so, he should've seen it, shouldn't he?
He walked into the living room and opened the curtains, to let light into the room.
Pi followed him with its eyes, its confusion not diminished.
”Pi, have you been sitting here, typing all this time?” Zhang Zian asked, trying to maintain a gentle smile.
”Eek!” Pi nodded.
”You never left the chair?” He asked again.
”Eek.” Pi shook its head.
That was weird. Did he really not see it?
Zhang Zian's doubt grew. Everything else in the room was clearly visible, except Pi.
”Eek?” Pi blinked its eyes, asking him what happened.
”Nothing. Something's wrong with my eyes,” he answered halfheartedly. To avoid Pi asking more questions, he switched topics. ”Pi, how's your novel going? Are you getting more favorites after signing the contract?”
Pi didn't answer him. It looked down at the keyboard with a sad face, and drew circles on the desk with its fingers.
The answer was obvious from its body language. Zhang Zian sighed.
Pi had already published over 40 chapters, nearly 90,000 words, but there were only 50 favorites.
He returned to Qidian's home page, and clicked on a random novel. Most chapters had an average of 30,000 favorites. Even the worst one had 10,000 favorites. The signed novels had hundreds of favorites. Qidian readers were numerous. Why nobody was reading this one? Was the topic unpopular?
Tap tap!
Pi's fingers moved over the keyboard. It was a fast typer, but it seemed to have weights attached to its fingers because they struggled to move.
After a while, it slowly typed, ”Writing novels may not suit me.”
After seeing these words, Zhang Zian's heart filled with sadness. He knew better than anyone how much effort Pi was investing, yet there were no results. It reminded him of when he first took over the pet shop. He sat in the shop alone everyday, looking at the the pedestrians walking past. His old colleagues were posting about their great lives in Wechat Moments, which made him question his choice. Was it a mistake to inherit the pet shop? Am I in the wrong business? Why am I wasting my youth and my day, sitting here alone?
Now, Pi was facing the same difficult situation.
”Would you like to talk to the editor?” He was trying to help.
Pi logged into QQ and clicked on the bald monk avatar to show him its chat history with the chief editor.
The most recent message was from yesterday, which meant that Pi had been down for at least a day. Zhang Zian secretly blamed himself for not noticing it earlier.
Pi asked: ”If nobody is reading my novel, should I continue writing?”
The chief editor's answer was simple: ”Keep writing.”
Zhang Zian browsed the online novel discussions in Wang Haige Forum, and realized that some novels were barely known in the beginning. They only became popular because the authors kept writing until they were promoted by the website. Those instances were rare, but everybody loved discussing them.
Then, he encouraged Pi, ”I don't think you should quit so easily. Even if you want to quit, at least wait until it gets promoted by the website. It's written in the contract that the novel gets at least one promotion, and further promotions will depend on performance.”
Pi grew silent and typed: ”I'm tired. I don't want to write any more.” It pushed the keyboard away, took off the Pince-nez, and looked out of the window.