After Being Bent by Reader

There were only a few days left before Xu Chuanchuan had to leave for Beijing. Yet, she didn't know what she should prepare for the trip.

The JJWXC Author's Conference was held once every three years, and those capable of receiving an invite were all authors with acknowledged skill. This was the first time Xu Chuanchuan was attending the Author's Conference, so it was inevitable for her to be nervous. When she searched for videos of past conferences, she found that attending authors would have to walk down the red carpet.

Moreover, from the videos Xu Chuanchuan saw, all authors attending the event arrived in formal wear. Naturally, Xu Chuanchuan couldn't lose out to them, so she had Murong Shi accompany her to buy a dress.

Xu Chuanchuan chose a simple princess dress for the event, and wearing it made her look several years younger. She also bought a pair of high heels to match her dress. And to familiarize herself with the heels, she even wore them while at home.

While watching Xu Chuanchuan practice walking, Murong Shi commented, "You should bring a shoulder bag with you. It'll help hide your anxiety."

Xu Chuanchuan would start clenching her fists whenever she got nervous, so she found Murong Shi's suggestion excellent.

After practicing for a few more minutes, Xu Chuanchua got tired and took off her shoes to rest. Then, when she sat down and saw Murong Shi rummaging through the wardrobe, she asked, "What are you looking for?"

A moment later, Murong Shi closed the wardrobe door and held a black dress in her hand. Then, she asked, "How do you think I would look in this?"

"You'll look beautiful."

"Then, you'll wear white while I'll wear black."

Blinking her eyes in confusion, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "What do you mean?"

Murong Shi walked over to Xu Chuanchuan with the dress in hand. Then, she said, "I can't help but worry about letting you go to a distant place by yourself."

"You want to go with me?"

"Mhm."

Xu Chuanchuan was naturally happy that Murong Shi was willing to accompany her. However, as Murong Shi wasn't one of jjwxc's authors, she didn't receive an invitation. Hence, she would have to pay for her plane ticket and hotel accommodation out of her own pockets.

Before leaving for Beijing, Xu Chuanchuan had asked if she wanted to join them. That way, Fang Qin would get to meet Ange. Unfortunately, Fang Qin declined the offer as she was too busy with work.

After the plane landed in Beijing, Xu Chuanchuan and Murong Shi made their way straight to the hotel.

Jjwxc had reserved a hotel room for every invited author. However, to save money, the company only reserved standard double rooms. Knowing this, Ange had secretly asked her editor to arrange for her to be in the same room as Xu Chuanchuan. Only, Ange didn't think that Murong Shi would follow Xu Chuanchuan to Beijing.

Murong Shi had reserved a much larger room in the same hotel. After she and Xu Chuanchuan set down their luggage, they went to meet up with Ange.

Jjwxc had arranged a buffet dinner for its authors. However, as Murong Shi didn't like crowded places, she called for room service and had the hotel bring their meal to their room.

After having dinner and showering, Xu Chuanchuan went to find Ange again to discuss tomorrow's matters.

The Author's Conference began the next day.

Murong Shi woke up Xu Chuanchuan early in the morning to dress up and prepare for the red carpet event.

The event venue was set to be at the hotel's first floor, and the organizers had long since laid the red carpet. Whenever an author stepped onto the red carpet, there would be someone announcing the author's name and their works. Xu Chuanchuan saw many heavyweight authors walking down the red carpet. When these authors appeared, their fans standing on the sidelines would fervently scream and wave the signs they held.

This sight dumbfounded Xu Chuanchuan. Then, she secretly asked Ange, "Are these actual fans? Or did the platform hire them?"

The exaggerated reactions of these fans made the authors look like they were Hollywood celebrities.

"There's no way the platform is willing to spend money for that. They should be actual fans," Ange replied.

Bestselling authors had a gigantic fanbase, so it wouldn't be surprising to see a few overenthusiastic fans.

Meanwhile, after looking around for a moment, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "Could any of your readers be here as well?"

Ange shrugged and expressed her ignorance.

Afraid that she would get stage fright, Xu Chuanchuan decided to proceed as a group with Ange. After waiting for several minutes for their turn, Xu Chuanchuan took deep breaths and stepped onto the red carpet hand in hand with Ange.

As soon as they stepped onto the red carpet, the MC introduced them, saying, "Walking to us now are the yuri authors Ange and I Love Malatang! Ange's representative work is The End of the World..."

Suddenly, a fervent scream came from outside the red carpet, "Ahhh!!! It's Lord An!!! Lord An, you're so beautiful! I love you! I'm your diehard fan!!!"

The fan screamed so loudly that she frightened everyone nearby.

Hearing the screaming girl's words, Xu Chuanchuan turned to look at Ange and said, "See? Your fans are here."

Ange chuckled.

After the small interlude, they successfully walked across the red carpet. Then, one of the staff members led them to the event hall.

The so-called Author's Conference was nothing more than an event to summarize and acknowledge the work of authors. Because Ange had sold the film rights to many of her novels, she received a Film and Television Copyright Award. She was even invited for an interview.

Due to the large number of fans attending the event this year, the organizers arranged a fan interaction session near the end of the event.

As soon as the doors to the banquet hall opened, a crowd of fans swarmed into the hall and rushed up to their favorite authors.

Xu Chuanchuan was in the midst of studying the trophy Ange won when she noticed people appearing around her. When she looked up, she saw four girls appearing within close proximity of her, so she subconsciously took a step back.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the four girls surrounded Ange.

—"Lord An! I'm Fanxi of the North! I've been leaving you comments every day! Do you remember me?"

—"Lord An, I'm Baby Guo Qianzhong! Please remember my face!"

—"Lord An, I'm Adorable Platelet!"

—"Lord An, I'm Lord of Gastric Colic!"

…

The four girls scrambled to report their nicknames to Ange, startling Ange. Then, after calming down, Ange scrutinized the four people in front of her and happily said, "Why are you here?"

"Baby Guo Qianzhong and I go to school in Beijing. When we found out you would be attending, we decided to come to see you," Fanxi of the North said.

"That's right, that's right! I'm a university freshman this year. I didn't expect to see Lord An as soon as I came to Beijing! I'm so happy!" Baby Guo Qianzhong said.

"Lord An, I'm a resident of Beijing. You are welcome to visit my house. My mom is good at cooking," Adorable Platelet said.

"L-Lord An, I had a one-night stand with you before..." Lord of Gastric Colic timidly said.

Fanxi of the North: "A one-night stand?!"

Baby Guo Qianzhong: "OMG, what did you say???"

Adorable Platelet: "What's a one-night stand?"

Several pairs of eyes swept over to Lord of Gastric Colic, causing the girl to blush. Then, the girl stammered to defend herself, "Don't get me wrong... I mean that I'm also writing yuri and that I added Lord An as a friend before. Afterward...there was no more afterward..."

Ange was given a scare when she heard the words "one-night stand." For a moment, she couldn't help but suspect that she had suffered from memory loss in the past and had forgotten about her romantic debts. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. Then, after letting out a sigh of relief, Ange turned to look for Xu Chuanchuan.

"What are you doing there?"

Hearing Ange's words, the four girls finally noticed Xu Chuanchuan's existence. Then, Fanxi of the North asked in an uncertain tone, "Are you Lord Malatang?"

"Hi, how are you?" Xu Chuanchuan greeted the four girls with an awkward smile.

The four girls were all Ange's fans, so they knew that Ange shared a good relationship with Xu Chuanchuan. Hence, they politely greeted Xu Chuanchuan even though they weren't her fans.

Xu Chuanchuan found her presence to be redundant here, so she said to Ange, "You girls continue chatting. I'll head back to my room first."

"Lord, don't go yet. My friend is in the restroom. She'll cry if she finds out she missed you," Fanxi of the North said.

Stunned, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "Your friend?"

"Yeah!" Fanxi of the North nodded. Then, she quickly said, "She's my roommate, and she likes your novels very much. But she suddenly had a stomach ache when we arrived, so she went to the restroom. Can you please wait for her?"

Xu Chuanchuan didn't think that one of her fans would come to meet her. Delighted by this news, she smiled and said, "Okay."

After waiting for a dozen minutes or so, the aforementioned fan finally appeared. Seeing the other party's pale complexion, Xu Chuanchuan offered her a cup of warm water.

"Thank you," the girl weakly said.

Xu Chuanchuan still dared not believe that one of her fans had come to meet her. So, she quietly asked, "Can you tell me your nickname?"

After taking a gulp of water, the sickly girl said, "It's Inverse Sign."

Xu Chuanchuan racked her brain for a long time but failed to remember such a name.

Seeing the perplexed look on Xu Chuanchuan's face, Inverse Sign said, "I've read every one of your novels, but I usually prefer stalking in the background instead of leaving comments."

Realization dawned on Xu Chuanchuan. Then, she asked, "Shouldn't you go buy some medicine?"

"I'll do it later," Inverse Sign said. Then, she took out a book from her bag and said, "I like After Being Bent by Reader the most. I brought the book with me, so can you please sign it for me?"

"Certainly," Xu Chuanchuan happily replied before eloquently signing the book with her pen name.

After happily keeping the book back into her bag, Inverse Sign changed the conversation topic and asked, "Lord, did you come here alone?"

"No, there is still..."

"There is still me," a voice coming from behind interrupted Xu Chuanchuan.

When Xu Chuanchuan turned around and saw Murong Shi walking over, she smiled and asked, "Weren't you supposed to be waiting in the room?"

Murong Shi walked over and naturally held Xu Chuanchuan's hand. Then, she said, "It's boring without you around."

Inverse Sign found herself instantly attracted by Murong Shi's beauty, and she fell into a daze for a long time.

Worried that Murong Shi's habit of getting jealous was acting up again, Xu Chuanchuan hurriedly introduced Inverse Sign, saying, "She is one of my readers."

"Hello," Murong Shi greeted the girl and stretched out her hand.

Murong Shi's slender white hand looked soft and boneless, and it looked even more attractive than a hand model's hand. Inverse Sign secretly gulped at the sight. Then, after rubbing her right hand on her pants, she hesitantly reached out and shook Murong Shi's hand, saying, "H-Hello."

Smiling, Murong Shi said, "Thank you for supporting my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Inverse Sign's eyes widened. "C-Could you p-perhaps be...Tycoon Shi?"

"Mhm."

"Heavens!" Inverse Sign exclaimed before hurriedly covering her mouth. Then, after scanning Murong Shi from top to bottom, she said, "You're so beautiful! Can I take a picture with you two?"

Xu Chuanchuan looked toward Murong Shi and asked for her lover's permission with her eyes.

"Sure," Murong Shi agreed with a smile.

After taking the group photo, Inverse Sign's stomach started rumbling again, so Xu Chuanchuan hurriedly helped the girl to the restroom.

However, Inverse Sign did not let go of Xu Chuanchuan's hand immediately after reaching the restroom. Instead, she looked around and made sure Murong Shi wasn't nearby before saying, "I've been reading your novels for six years now. I always thought you would end up together with Lord An. I didn't think you would end up with Tycoon Shi."

Xu Chuanchuan knew that many of her readers secretly shipped her and Ange, and it didn't matter how many times she came out to clarify the matter. So, she chuckled and said, "Thank you. Matters regarding relationships depend on fate as well."

Then, Inverse Sign added, "But once I finished reading After Being Bent by Reader, I instantly fell in love with Tycoon Shi. I wonder where I can find such a perfect girlfriend as well?"

Xu Chuanchuan didn't know how to follow up on such a question.

"I'm really envious of you two. I sincerely hope you two can live a happy life together," Inverse Sign earnestly said.

Xu Chuanchuan was so moved by Inverse Sign's words that she wanted to hug the girl. However, afraid that the girl's stomach couldn't handle the physical contact, she said, "Thank you. I also hope you can find your own happiness as soon as possible."