Chapter 611

Xia Xia Xia Mujun stopped his movements and looked back.

Natsume Ruri asked curiously:

"By the way, Brother, weren't you supposed to have dinner with Tsukishima-san and Araki-san today?"

"It was just a meal, so why are you back so late?"

Xia Xia Xia Mujun was slightly stunned:

"Eh? Ruri, how did you know I was going to have dinner with them?"

Natsume Ruri curled her lips into a sly arc and explained:

"Because when Tsukishima-san was chatting with me yesterday, she mentioned in passing that she was going to have dinner with Senior Araki today."

"But Ruri didn't expect that you would go too, Brother."

Upon hearing this, Xia Xia Xia Mujun's expression became somewhat strange.

Thinking back carefully... it seemed that every time he had an appointment with Senior Araki Kiai recently, Senior Tsukishima Rin would "coincidentally" be there too.

Was this intentional on Senior Tsukishima's part, or was it truly just because she was close with Senior Araki and they often went together?

He collected his thoughts and explained to his sister:

"Before dinner, we went to an amusement park first."

"An amusement park?!"

Natsume Ruri's cheeks puffed up at a speed visible to the naked eye, like an angry little pufferfish:

"You went to an amusement park to play?! Why didn't you call Ruri when you went to the amusement park?!"

Looking at her cute, pouting appearance, Xia Xia Xia Mujun couldn't help but laugh and explained patiently:

"It was after the previous Shogi tournament ended. The seniors in the club weren't in a very good mood because they lost, so they suggested going to the amusement park to relax."

"Besides, those were seniors you didn't know, so it wouldn't have been very good to bring you along suddenly."

Seeing his sister's still dissatisfied expression, he smiled and promised:

"How about this: once Brother wins the tournament tomorrow and gets the prize money, I'll find a time to take you to the amusement park, okay?"

"Really? Mm-hmm!"

Natsume Ruri immediately turned from anger to joy, nodding vigorously, her eyes full of anticipation.

However, amidst her happiness, she also quietly felt a trace of nervousness for her brother's match tomorrow.

She had looked at the tournament summary and knew that from the sixth round onwards, the opponents her brother would face would all be professional Shogi players.

As a "quasi-professional," could her brother really keep winning?

But this thought only flashed by.

Soon, Natsume Ruri felt at ease again.

Regardless, for my brother to have broken into the sixth round is already a very, very impressive achievement!

Moreover, most importantly, the novel my brother wrote is now a super bestseller—it’s incredibly popular!

The publisher has already confirmed they will print an additional fifty thousand copies, and that’s on top of the initial five thousand copies from before...

By the time the royalties are settled next month, our household will suddenly have an income of nearly ten million yen!

Compared to that, the prize money from the tournament doesn't seem quite as urgent anymore.

My brother still has over two hundred thousand yen on him right now; as long as he doesn't spend money recklessly, it's enough to last until the royalties arrive next month.

Thinking of this, Natsume Ruri felt much more at ease.

Of course, deep down, she still hoped more than anything that her brother could win.

However, even if by some chance... her brother really did lose the match, she wouldn't pester him about going to the amusement park anymore and add to his stress.

Natsume Ruri secretly clenched her small fist.

If her brother doesn't do well in the tournament, then once her own submission to the manga magazine is accepted and she gets her payment, she’ll be the one to take her brother out to have fun!

After the lights were out.

The bedroom was quiet, with only the faint sound of wind coming from outside the window.

Natsume Ruri's breathing soon became steady and long; she had already drifted into dreamland.

Xia Xia Xia Mujun lay on his bed, but he didn't fall asleep immediately.

He took out the phone by his pillow, the light from the screen appearing quite striking in the darkness.

Let's check the messages before sleeping.

If there was nothing particularly urgent, he would ask for leave from Mr. Sakai, then rest early to recharge for tomorrow's match.

He lit up the screen and unlocked it.

Sure enough, there were quite a few red dots for unread messages on the LINE icon.

He opened the app, his fingers sliding across the screen to browse quickly.

He replied briefly to some ordinary greetings and club group chat messages.

Then, his gaze stopped on a few names that required careful attention: Gao Gao Qiaochun, Tsukishima Rin, Akita Sana, Ando Chizuru, and Shanshan Ying-shu.

He first opened the chat box with Gao Gao Qiaochun.

The message was sent around eight o'clock in the evening.

【Gao Gao Qiaochun: Teacher Xia, good evening. Are you there?】

【Xia Xia Xia Mujun: I am, Editor Gao, good evening.】

The message was replied to almost instantly.

【Gao Gao Qiaochun: Teacher Xia! That's great, you haven't rested yet. I specifically looked for you this time because I want to report some good news!】

One could almost feel Gao Gao Qiaochun's excitement through the text.

【Gao Gao Qiaochun: Your book, "The Devotion of Suspect X," is currently being reprinted at full speed! The company's expectations for this book are very high; it can be said to be one of our most important projects recently.】

【Gao Gao Qiaochun: Because of this, we coordinated with the printing plant and gave it the highest priority. The printing speed is unprecedentedly fast!】

【Gao Gao Qiaochun: In just two days, 10,000 copies have already been successfully reprinted!】

Xia Xia Xia Mujun raised his eyebrows in surprise.

In the Japanese publishing industry, this speed was indeed highly efficient.

Printing plants usually had full schedules; being able to free up capacity for a single work so quickly showed how much the publisher valued it.

【Gao Gao Qiaochun: This batch of new books has already started to be loaded onto trucks tonight and transported to the warehouses of major partner bookstores. It is expected that they will be on the shelves of many bookstores early tomorrow morning!】

This was indeed exciting news.

【Xia Xia Xia Mujun: That's great. The printing and distribution are so smooth. Editor Gao, thank you for your hard work; thank you very much for always following up on these matters.】

【Gao Gao Qiaochun: Teacher, you are too polite; this is all part of my job!】

【Gao Gao Qiaochun: In addition, there is the matter of submitting the manuscript for "Snow Country" to the headquarters for review tomorrow afternoon; I need to confirm the schedule with you again.】

【Gao Gao Qiaochun: If there are no last-minute changes on your end, I will follow our previous agreement and drive to your designated location around 3:00 PM tomorrow to pick you up, then we will head to the publisher's headquarters together for a face-to-face meeting with the editor-in-chief and other senior editors.】

Xia Xia Xia Mujun thought about tomorrow's arrangements.

In the morning, there was the Shogi tournament, and after the match, he still had to tutor Furukawa Saio.

3:00 PM should be enough time.

【Xia Xia Xia Mujun: Mm, the schedule remains unchanged; let's follow the original plan. Sorry for the trouble.】

【Gao Gao Qiaochun: I understand! Then I will contact you at 3:00 PM tomorrow. Teacher, please rest early, and I wish you success in your match tomorrow!】

【Xia Xia Xia Mujun: Thank you.】

Exiting the chat interface with Gao Gao Qiaochun, Xia Xia Xia Mujun exhaled gently.

While the progress of the novel was gratifying, tomorrow's schedule was indeed packed.

The tournament, the tutoring, going to the publisher... he was also still thinking about Ando Toshio, wanting to go and win that special equipment.

Hopefully, the publisher wouldn't take too long.

He shook his head and tapped on Tsukishima Rin's profile picture.

【Tsukishima Rin: Xia Xia Xia Mujun, good evening. Today... thank you very, very much.】

【Tsukishima Rin: Being able to go to the amusement park with you, I... am really, really, really happy.】

Xia Xia Xia Mujun recalled the scene at the amusement park during the day; although there were some surprises along the way, the overall atmosphere was indeed relaxed and pleasant.

【Xia Xia Xia Mujun: I had a lot of fun too.】

【Tsukishima Rin: (〃'▽'〃) Really?】

【Xia Xia Xia Mujun: Really.】 ===== CHAPTER 980 =====