Yao Zhicheng works in administrative work at a university. Although he is busy, his life is stable and regular. Therefore, Lao Yao comes to connect with many classmates and the alumni reunion.
This day was Yao Zhicheng's wife's 30th birthday. Yao Zhicheng held a few tables of banquets at a hotel near his home, all of whom were close relatives and friends. Not only did the couple celebrate their birthdays, but they also had good news to tell everyone - they were married for three years, and they were finally ready to welcome a little life.
Su Pei and He Yiming were at the same table, but some people recognized He Yiming during the banquet. There were several men who were more enthusiastic than women, and had been chatting around He Yiming, talking about current investment and employment.
He Yiming knew that he had no chance to chat with Su Pei alone tonight, so he said hello to Yao Zhicheng and left early.
Before leaving, He Yiming asked Su Pei, "What are your plans for the New Year's Day holiday?"
Su Pei said, "I'm not sure yet. Maybe I'll take Little Cookie out to play."
He Yiming looked at him and said, "How about my place? I set up a farm in the outskirts. The air is good, so let's stay for a few nights."
In fact, Su Pei was not in the mood to go out to play.
The crew of "Rongcheng Confidential" has not contacted him these days, and he gradually began to worry about the final payment. I don't know what will happen until New Year's Day.
Now when He Yiming asked him, he could only vaguely say: "See the situation at the time. Maybe there is something else on my mother's side."
He Yiming nodded: "We'll talk about it then."
After the banquet, Su Pei and Yao Zhicheng went to the cafe to chat and drink tea to dispel the alcohol.
Su Pei likes Yao Zhicheng as a friend very much. Yao Zhicheng was at the same level as him and had been a roommate for a while. Therefore, he has known Yao Zhicheng longer than He Yiming.
He likes Yao Zhicheng differently from He Yiming. Having been friends with He Yiming for so many years, he always had a feeling that He Yiming couldn't catch it. Yao Zhicheng is different, Yao Zhicheng will always be a reliable old Yao.
"You and Xiaoliu are so good. We met after graduation, got married for two years, married for three years, and had children. The time was just right. Everything was stable." Su Pei said with admiration.
Yao Zhicheng smiled and said, "You can't live my life without you. I'm happy without freedom. Besides, my stress is only starting now. God knows how much it costs to raise a child now!"
As soon as the word money was mentioned, Su Pei's heart twitched. He couldn't help but talk to Yao Zhicheng about his distress - his current financial situation is not optimistic, and he can't save money no matter what.
Yao Zhicheng asked him if he needed help with the turnover. Su Pei said, "I don't need it for now. But if the crew doesn't settle the bill for me in another two months, I may have to borrow some from you."
Yao Zhicheng said readily, "No problem." He and Su Pei have always been friends who help each other with everything. Because of this, he can directly say something to Su Pei: "You are making a lot of money as a screenwriter now. You should really change your consumption habits, don't spend money lavishly."
Su Pei had a headache when he mentioned this. He knew that he had this problem, and spending money was no brainer. But recently he has started to keep accounts, and he is also trying to save some unnecessary expenses.
"Some can't be saved. I have to repay the mortgage every month, as well as the cost of small cookies. The private tuition and accommodation costs are taken care of by my mother, and I also have to subsidize it. Off-campus dance and swimming lessons are The most basic…”
Su Pei suddenly stopped, he felt as if he had said the exact same thing to someone not long ago. There was a sudden flash of light in his hazy memory, and a pair of hands supporting him.
Su Pei covered his face, he remembered, he said to He Yiming on the day He Yiming came to the crew, the night he was drunk.
"Su Pei?" Yao Zhicheng saw that his face was wrong.
Su Pei said: "It's nothing. It's mainly because this industry is like this. There are too many variables. I can only hope that the next crew will not have so many moths."
Yao Zhicheng said, "Have you ever thought about asking He Yiming for help?"
Su Pei responded like a conditioned reflex: "No!"
Yao Zhicheng didn't expect Su Pei's reaction to be so big. He, Su Pei, and He Yiming are friends since college.
In Yao Zhicheng's view, Su Pei is very easy to accept anyone. He will never assume that a person is a bad person, and he will be naive if he is not defensive.
And He Yiming's vigilance is much heavier. Yao Zhicheng once doubted whether He Yiming had a system for silently rating his friends. Once the rating was too low, he would be eliminated from his circle of friends.
So if we must distinguish between close and distant, he is more close to Su Pei, and he cares more about Su Pei.
He knew that Su Pei was not easy in the past few years, so he sincerely helped out with ideas, hoping that Su Pei would relax.
"Why? He Yiming's company is expanding rapidly now, and it will definitely recruit people. If you go to his company, he will take care of you. You don't have to be so tired." Yao Zhicheng said.
Su Pei said in a low voice, "That's really not good."
Yao Zhicheng asked: "Is it a shame? At least two of the classmates I know went to He Yiming's place. Do you remember Zhang Lun? The one who didn't deal with He Yiming in the past has gone to him now. It is said that the treatment Not bad. As long as you say a word to He Yiming, it will be the strongest internal push."
Su Pei laughed twice: "It's not a matter of face. I am so familiar with He Yiming, why should I care about face..."
Yao Zhicheng said, "Yes, it's been so many years."
Su Pei said: "It's because of the old friends for so many years. I think it's better to be a job and a friend to be a friend. It's better to be pure."
He said to Yao Zhicheng again, "If it really comes to the end, I will go to He Yiming for help."
Yao Zhicheng felt relieved after hearing what he said, and said, "It's best if you can think so, don't force yourself too hard."
Su Pei nodded with a smile.
fraud. he said in his heart. Saying something is not a face problem, this is a man's face problem. He just couldn't hold back his face to ask He Yiming to give him a job, and he had to be brave.
The more He Yiming is not optimistic about his screenwriting work, the less he can easily give up.
It's ridiculous, he always thinks that he can write a script with super high ratings, and then after the income is good, he can focus on writing novels.
In the eyes of others, such success cannot be compared with He Yiming's career at all, but for him, being able to persevere until Little Cookie becomes an adult is a victory.
For the next two weeks, Su Pei has been revising and revising his new novel, and started to write the second half of the novel again, hoping to give it to the editor of the publishing house for review as soon as possible. But he was a little restless because there was no news from the crew.
On the weekend before New Year's Day, Su Pei brought Little Cookie home, and worked in the study since then, and didn't sleep until after twelve o'clock.
Early the next morning, Su Pei was awakened by a clanging sound. He lay in bed and listened for a while, and found that the sound was coming from the kitchen.
He lifted the quilt and rushed to the kitchen: "Su Yao!"
The little cookie rebelled in the kitchen. The coffee machine was on, a lot of coffee powder was sprinkled on the cooking table, the gas stove was also on, the blue flame was beating, and I didn't know what was being boiled in the pot.
Su Pei turned off the fire with a single step. He rarely got angry with Little Cookie and asked loudly, "What are you doing?"
Little Cookie has a small face and aggrieved: "I'm making breakfast for you!"
Su Pei saw that she was not scalded, so her heart was put down. He slowly cleaned up the kitchen and said, "I should sleep in on a rest day and what to do for breakfast."
He didn't sleep well last night and still has some headaches.
The boiled eggs were boiled in the pot, and the coffee was badly brewed. Su Pei fished out the eggs and made coffee again.
Sitting at the dining table, Little Cookie said, "The school asked us to do it. We cook breakfast with our parents on weekends, and then write a small diary."
Su Pei said, "Why are there so many things in your school?"
He poured milk on the little cookie, peeled the eggs, and threw a bag of bread to her.
He himself only drinks one cup of coffee in the morning, and eats two slices of bread, not even eggs. He thought boiled eggs had a fishy smell.
While drinking milk, Little Cookie said, "Our school has a lot of things to do. There are parent-child tasks almost every week..."
She recalled: "When you weren't there, you were doing gardening with your parents, filming small travel videos with your parents, doing small experiments with your parents, and writing experimental reports. Grandma doesn't know how to do small experiments, so she gave it to me on Taobao. Bought one."
Su Pei remembered that when he was working outside, the messages Xiao Cookie sent him every day were "Dad, good night, come back early."
Behind these information, Little Cookie's daily life, in fact, he can't participate in it.
"The school asks you to cook breakfast with your parents, not for you to do it yourself." Su Pei said.
Little Cookie whispered: "Grandma said you were too tired, so you went home early. I want you to sleep more and rest more after you come back."
Su Pei felt like he was hit in the chest, his throat was suddenly blocked and he was speechless. He took a sip of coffee before saying, "After drinking the milk, wash the cup."
He got up and went back to his room, shut the door tightly, and then called a producer of "Rongcheng Confidential" directly.
The call is connected.
The voice on the other side showed fake enthusiasm: "Mr. Su? Hello, hello, I haven't been in touch for a while, what's the matter..."
Su Pei held back his anger, and his voice was hoarse: "Listen, don't fucking give me this fake, hypocritical, and disgusting set. You know that the crew shouldn't fire me, but you just kicked it out for the sake of peace of mind. No problem, anyway, I don’t want to stay with that smoky crew, and I can’t stand it any longer. I’m still quiet when I’m gone. My only request now is to settle the balance, settle the balance…”
"Mr. Su, I said, you don't have to worry, but the crew is a little nervous now..."
Su Pei stopped him: "Don't talk. Don't say anything about the lack of funds. My balance is only a drop in the bucket for your investment, and it's not my turn to pay for the draft, which will cause pressure on the crew."
He took a breath, the other party was still arguing something.
Su Pei continued to speak, his voice calmer, but deeper.
"I am an out-of-date writer. Now I have a mortgage, a credit card debt, and a divorce. I can imagine my emotions..."
"Now, please follow my line of thought and imagine. A writer who once published a best-selling novel, because of the decline of physical publishing and forced by life, turned to be a screenwriter, and disappeared in the eyes of the public. Readers have not seen his new book for many years, nor have Heard about him. Suddenly one day, he committed suicide."
"Many people immediately thought of the author's name, remembered that they had bought his novel when they were in middle school and college, and remembered how much they liked this novel ten years ago. How did they share this novel with their classmates and friends, How many good memories are there…”
"So they all asked what a pity and heartache, why did he commit suicide? Why is it so painful to be a screenwriter?"
"At this time, the writer's family will publish his suicide note. In his suicide note, he tells his family how much he cherishes this job and hopes that this job will bring changes to his life, but in the end, all he faces is despair. The suicide note is very touching - everyone who sees it will feel sorry for it, and then even more angry at the crew who owes the payment... Can you imagine that scene?"
"I think it's interesting to think about how much readers love writers who commit suicide. If you haven't gotten it, I can tell you straight away that if I don't see the final payment before January, I'm dead. It will also make your drama unsaleable."
Su Pei finished the long paragraph in one breath.
The crew producer was silent for a moment on the other end of the phone and said, "Mr. Su, isn't that right?"
Su Pei said, "As for."
He hung up the phone.
Su Pei stood on the spot holding the phone.
He didn't think he ever had suicidal thoughts, not even in the most difficult of times. But he was talking incessantly just now, and now that he hung up the phone, he seemed too excited, his hands were shaking a little, and his heart almost jumped out.
"dad!"
He suddenly heard Little Cookie calling him outside the door.
The author has something to say: Teacher Su: I am too difficult.