"She was kidnapped by human traffickers and sold to a remote mountain village when she was little, and was just rescued..." Chu Ge looked at Qiu Wuji's file, speechless: "With her delicate skin and ethereal beauty, who would believe her identity?"
Zhong Yi shrugged: "What if we consider you a human trafficker? Doesn't that suddenly make some sense?"
Chu Ge: "?"
Qiu Wuji said: "Seems quite reasonable."
Chu Ge: "..." Zhong Yi scrutinized Qiu Wuji for a moment, then sighed: "You really should wear a mask. You're a hundred times more beautiful than in your ID photo. If you walked into a dark room, those people would probably be terrified. And your ID card even says Qiu Wuji..."
Qiu Wuji smiled slightly, without answering.
In this world, praising someone's appearance seems commonplace, but she still wasn't used to it. In that other world, people were much more reserved. Actually, no matter which world she lived in, she didn't like people focusing on her appearance... But for now, her other things that she was proud of were things she needed to hide. Oh well.
"Hmph, once I become a master writer, I'll have plenty to praise!"
Qiu Wuji, who hadn't even figured out the protagonist's name, was brimming with confidence.
Zhong Yi said, "This is just for record-keeping. Being abducted or something like that won't be made public. Who would believe it? The publicly verified identity is your distant cousin, registered under your household registration… By the way, how distant is this distant relative?"
Chu Ge was extremely serious: "Beyond the five degrees of kinship!"
Qiu Wuji didn't refute.
He was created by Chu Ge, so was he a relative? But there was no blood relation. So, he should be considered a relative beyond the five degrees of kinship, no problem.
The household registration was done just like that. The ID card still needed to be made and could only be picked up the next day, or it could be mailed. Chu Ge didn't linger, leaving his address, taking the household registration, and leaving with Qiu Wuji, his feelings complicated.
Qiu Wuji sat in the back seat, looking at the household registration over and over, his feelings equally complicated.
Head of Household: Chu Ge.
Family Members: Qiu Wuji.
The registered address wasn't a rented apartment; it was Chu Ge's old house, which he'd moved out of, in the old town of the city… Hmm, so he actually owned property?
Aside from the fact that his relationship with the head of household was "cousin," just looking at this thing, it felt almost like they had a marriage certificate.
Head of household, family member—it looked really strange.
Right, now that he had an identity, it seemed like they could actually get a marriage certificate, right?
"Cousin…"
"Ah…ah?" Chu Ge, riding his bike, said with a sigh, "Once the ID card comes through, go open a bank account…you're really a modern person now." Qiu Wuji remained silent.
The fact that his phone was linked to WeChat and used his bank card felt like a vine clinging to him, as if it were just yesterday.
Now he could have his own account; he was an independent individual.
"Aren't you a little disappointed?" Qiu Wuji suddenly asked.
"Yes," Chu Ge smiled, "there's a feeling…like my daughter has grown up."
"Stop being so cheeky," Qiu Wuji said irritably, "I have my own identity now, I'm no longer dependent on you, I can leave anytime, go wherever I want! Don't you know that?"
"Yes, that's what it's like when a daughter grows up."
"You…"
"There is a bit of disappointment," Chu Ge's tone became serious, "But Qiu Wuji, this is what we've been pursuing for the past two months…"
Qiu Wuji fell silent.
Chu Ge said, "Actually, I don't know if I feel more disappointed or relieved. To be honest, I don't really feel it. Maybe it's because this wasn't something we achieved through our own hard work; it lacks a certain flavor. You really can't cheat in games." Qiu Wuji said helplessly, "I've never seen someone want to make things harder for themselves. Do you think this is a cultivation challenge? With you, a writer who spends all day holed up at home, you probably couldn't handle this even after years of trying."
"Uh, anyway, the process isn't important. This result is what we need." Chu Ge rode his bike to the neighborhood and slowly stopped. "Your identity is independent now… I hope your life is too." Qiu Wuji watched his retreating figure, speechless for a long time.
Occasionally, she would have wondered why she was so close to him, but at this moment, she didn't need to think about it anymore.
It probably had little to do with his "setting."
Because he was truly helping her wholeheartedly. Humans aren't plants or trees; how could they be without feelings?
"Today is the 15th of the seventh lunar month here," Chu Ge suddenly said. "Our timelines are a bit different, right? It shouldn't be time for your final battle with Yan Qianlie yet?"
"Not yet," Qiu Wuji replied. "The timeline inside follows your storyline and has nothing to do with real time. But it'll be soon..."
"Maybe I just don't understand your state of mind. I always feel it's incongruous that you're worrying about family matters when something so important is happening."
Qiu Wuji smiled slightly: "So you want to get rid of me?"
"That's not what I meant..."
"I'm studying your creation intent. This is truly a good way for me to seek a breakthrough... Don't worry about cultivation." Qiu Wuji walked towards the elevator, her ponytail swaying: "I will definitely write it!"
A moment later.
Chu Ge looked at the protagonist's name, "Chu Xiaoqiu," on the document and was speechless.
Whether as the protagonist's name or as our child's name, it seems a bit lacking... Qiu Wuji glanced at him sideways: "What? A name should be simple and natural. The protagonist is set up as a poor girl, so it should be like this. Names like Chu Tiange and Qiu Wuji are too contrived, obviously just deliberately chosen poetic allusions."
Surprisingly, there's a shred of truth to it... Chu Ge was both amused and exasperated: "Fine, whatever you want. Save a few chapters, and once your ID card arrives, you can order your book."
Hmm, suddenly Chu Xiaoqiu doesn't seem so bad, it's a combination of two names after all... Chu Ge secretly glanced at Qiu Wuji's profile, thinking this shouldn't be a name she'd be willing to use. Logically, even if he suggested it, it should have been rejected, but it turned out she really came up with it herself...
Does this mean...?
Never mind, thinking too much might get me beaten up.
But Chu Ge was still in a good mood, humming a little tune as he returned to his room to write.
Both rooms were quiet, only the faint sound of typing echoing, much like the days when he shared an apartment with Zhang Qiren. Chu Ge never imagined that his girlfriend would be someone he'd be writing with...
Well, not a girlfriend, but pretty much... Anyway, when their writing styles actually came to fruition, Chu Ge didn't feel out of place at all. A writer's life is probably always the same, and he'd gotten used to it.
It's fine.
Qiu Wuji wrote for three days, a total of five chapters, each two thousand words, totaling ten thousand words.
That day, his ID card arrived.
With the solemnity of preparing for a duel with Yan Qianlie, Qiu Wuji opened the author registration page, carefully filled out every piece of information, and clicked to publish the first chapter, nervously awaiting its approval.
Chu Ge temporarily put aside his own affairs and sat down to wait with her: "The approval process for this is very fast now, at most an hour, or even a second if it's quick." Qiu Wuji was a little nervous: "What if it doesn't pass the review?"
"Generally not. There are only two situations where it won't pass the review: one is that Chapter 1 has obvious sensitive issues, and the other is that the sentences are not fluent, even worse than AI... You know, even AI-written works often pass the review and are included in the database."
Qiu Wuji was confident about this.
She just couldn't make up stories and didn't know the techniques and elements of novel writing, but that didn't mean her writing was bad. If it came down to elegant language and using poetry and parallel prose, she could easily beat a hundred Chu Ges.
The two waited anxiously for over ten minutes, only to receive a text message: "Sorry, your work did not meet the submission criteria. Please try again..." Qiu Wuji was dumbfounded: "Huh?" Chu Ge scratched his head. He also felt that, regardless of whether anyone would read the story, the writing in Chapter 1 was at least excellent. The opening was a beautifully written scene, even an ancient writer couldn't have written something like that. How could such writing not meet the submission criteria?
He thought for a moment, then steeled himself and contacted his editor, sending Qiu Wuji's Chapter 1: "Editor, could you please take a look? This is my cousin's work. Why didn't it pass the submission process? Did it trigger any sensitive words?" The editor was silent for a moment, then replied with a few words: "We don't accept classical Chinese texts."