Chapter 40: Held Firmly in the Palm

On the evening of the thirteenth.

Wen Han's studio transferred the money into Chen Shu's account.

It was a pity that the money was not much—

The current environment in Yiguo is quite good, friendlier to creators than in his past life, but correspondingly, the competition is also high.

If one is a songwriter of average fame, selling the lyrics or melody of a song for a few thousand is considered a high price; those with higher fame can sell them for ten to twenty thousand. A very small number of songwriters with strong fame, reputation, and ability—the kind who bring their own traffic and fans—might get clients proactively seeking them out for songs, perhaps fetching one hundred thousand, several hundred thousand, or even higher prices.

But this does not represent the total income.

There are subsequent copyright royalties.

If the song quality is excellent and sales explode, the subsequent income is the bulk of it. If the market feedback is poor, there is basically no subsequent income.

Chen Shu's fellow townsman has no fame.

And as for this song, although he likes it very much, it is not considered top-tier in this world. Fortunately, Wen Han herself also likes this song very much and had the intention of befriending him, so she gave a relatively high price.

The lyrics were 10,000 yuan.

The melody was 12,000 yuan.

A total of 22,000 yuan.

For just this little bit of money, he sold out his fellow townsman's masterpiece.

Chen Shu felt deeply ashamed...

Now he is only a few thousand short of the Second-tier Breakthrough Potion; he cannot count on Supervisor Wang, as there have been no commissions in the last few days, and even if there were, he wouldn't get the money until next month.

Fortunately, Chen Shu had prepared early.

August fourteenth.

Early morning.

Meng Chunqiu had no classes in the morning and slept until he woke up naturally; when he walked out, he found that Chen Shu had already been busy in the kitchen for a long time.

This roommate, who always gave him a strange feeling, was holding a small brush, coating the inner walls of the mooncake mold with oil, then picking up a small round ball, placing it inside, pressing down hard, holding it for a few seconds, then releasing it and repeating the press; his expression was careful and focused, possessing a rare kind of charm.

When the small round ball was taken out of the mold, it had already turned into a beautiful mooncake shape.

Beside such small round balls, there were twenty-some more.

Meng Chunqiu was very curious and sat over to watch carefully, seeing one small round ball after another turn into a mooncake shape.

Chen Shu sprayed a layer of water mist on top and put the mooncakes into the preheated oven at 210 degrees for five minutes. Taking advantage of this time, he took a bowl, cracked an egg, took only the yolk, added a tiny bit of water to fully stir the yolk and water together, and then waited.

Meng Chunqiu rested his chin on his hand and looked toward the oven: "I didn't expect you to have this side, Brother Chen."

"Stereotypes are not good."

"Brother Chen speaks with reason."

Meng Chunqiu paused as he spoke: "I wonder what kind of impression I leave in Brother Chen's mind?"

"..."

"Ding~~"

"Oh my, five minutes are up!"

Chen Shu, as if finding a savior, hurriedly opened the oven door.

Taking out the mooncakes, he first brushed them with a thin, even layer of egg yolk liquid; at this time, the mooncakes were not yet baked hard, so the movements had to be light. This allows the mooncakes to bake into a beautiful color.

He put them back into the oven, lowered the temperature, and baked for another five minutes.

When taken out again, the mooncakes had already begun to take on color.

He brushed them again, this time coating the sides as well.

Put them into the oven for eight minutes.

The final mooncakes were already very beautiful—golden yellow, small and cute, with clear patterns, neither bulging nor deformed; they were at a level that could be sold.

Chen Shu casually picked one up and handed it to Meng Chunqiu: "Try it, I've been making these for many years, there shouldn't be any problems."

"What kind of filling is it?"

"Just eat it."

"Oh."

Meng Chunqiu broke it open and took a peek.

It was red bean paste filling.

One bite in, the aroma of the freshly baked pastry was very rich, the filling was soft, the sweetness was moderate, neither cloying nor bland, and it was unusually palatable.

But now is actually not its best time to be eaten; it needs to be left to cool, probably for a day, so it can "return to oil," become softer and more fragrant; it will be even better then.

Meng Chunqiu nodded: "Not bad, this is my first time eating freshly baked mooncakes."

Chen Shu revealed a smile and took out three boxes, putting only four pieces into each box: "I'm taking these to give to people, leave the rest here, don't sneak any, we'll eat them tomorrow night."

"Thank you for your hard work, Brother Chen."

"Heh..."

Chen Shu went over and opened the door to the freezer section of the refrigerator—

The dumplings wrapped yesterday had also frozen hard, so he could take them down and put them together. This time he only took two packing boxes, took out all the ones he had wrapped, and packed them into two portions.

Chen Shu: I'm coming to bring you dumplings and mooncakes

Chen Shu: Wait for me at the school gate at 12:15

After sending it, he put away his Mobile Phone directly.

Chen Shu arrived on time, but Ning Qing did not.

She was still standing at the entrance waiting for Chen Shu, wearing a mask, her gaze calmly scrutinizing the students entering and exiting, occasionally showing a look of contemplation.

Chen Shu walked over.

Ning Qing turned around as he approached, pulled down her mask, tilted her head slightly, and looked at him with some confusion—

This person didn't sneak over to ambush her today.

"..."

Chen Shu was exceptionally speechless: "Why are you looking at me like that? Can you not bring this up? After some time passes, when I feel you've almost forgotten about this matter, I will naturally begin."

Ning Qing remained silent—

She had a very good memory.

Anything she wanted to remember, she would never forget; anything she didn't want to remember would simply not be stored in her brain at all.

At this moment, Chen Shu said again: "I don't care what you think, I only care what I think."

"..."

Ning Qing fell into thought.

This person seemed to know what she was thinking.

Chen Shu chuckled, lifting both hands, each holding a bag: "Each one has four Mooncakes, plus enough Dumplings for one person to eat two meals. Do you want the Moon Crescent Dumplings or the Willow Leaf Dumplings?"

Ning Qing stood motionless, watching him silently.

"Oh!"

Chen Shu handed the Moon Crescent Dumplings to her.

Ning Qing took them with an expressionless face.

"I'm leaving."

Chen Shu smiled and turned to walk away.

But after only a few steps, he suddenly turned around; Ning Qing was still standing in place watching him.

"Haha..."

Chen Shu walked back to Ning Qing with a smile, took the bag from her hand, and hung the other one on it: "Do you think only you are so good at guessing? I am also very good at guessing, especially when guessing you... I'm really leaving this time; I still have to deliver this bag to Chen Banxia, and I have to rush back for an Archery class in the afternoon."

It was 12:20 now.

Fifteen minutes later, Chen Shu arrived at Chen Banxia's home.

Chen Banxia's door was still open, and she was still curled up on the sofa sleeping soundly.

Seeing her like this made Chen Shu angry, and since her face was truly interesting, Chen Shu lightened his steps as he walked over, aimed at her face, and slapped it heavily with the back of his hand.

"Fire!"

"!!"

Chen Banxia woke up instantly, her eyes wide with rage; her already large eyes looked even bigger, black and white clearly defined, sparkling, as she stared at him:

"You hit your sister again!"

"Here..."

Chen Shu placed the bag on the coffee table in front of her: "Mooncakes and Dumplings I made especially for you. There are four Mooncakes, red bean paste filling with red dates, just made this morning. They taste better if you let them sit for a day, but I reckon with your personality, I'll allow you to sneak two today; the remaining two must be saved for tomorrow, hear me?"

"Got it..."

Chen Banxia's voice softened at once, as chubby as her face—

Her younger brother cared for his sister so much and was so good to her, how could she bear to be angry with him anymore.

"I'll put the Dumplings in the fridge for you; it's enough for two meals."

"Only two meals..."

"I wrapped them all night last night. The school supermarket doesn't sell much. Next time I go to the vegetable market, I'll buy some fish, shrimp, mutton, and beef, and wrap Dumplings for a whole day to bring over to you. So you don't just eat takeout or junk food every day, or just not eat at all."

"I like eating black fish and shrimp fillings!"

"That's why I said I'd wrap them for you on the weekend."

"My little brother is the best!"

Chen Banxia was so moved her heart was about to melt; she even wanted to help her brother arrange the Second-tier Breakthrough Potion he would need in the future.

She wiggled as she climbed off the sofa, put on her slippers, and followed her brother to the fridge, watching him put the Dumplings inside, and said: "Why didn't you wrap those... the willow-leaf-shaped ones you invented? Those are so unique."

"I didn't invent them."

"Huh! Why didn't you wrap them?"

"I'll wrap them next time."

"Okay, okay..." Chen Banxia nodded repeatedly, "Make me some Cooked Chili Oil too!"

"We'll talk about that tomorrow."

"Then are you staying here tonight?"

"I have an Archery class in the afternoon; I have to go back for it."

"Then you must come here to reunite with me tomorrow, right?" Chen Banxia said, suddenly revealing a mischievous smile, "But if you want to spend it with Qingqing, then you don't have to come."

"Come here for dinner. I'll come over in the afternoon, stop by the vegetable market on the way, buy some groceries, and buy the ingredients for the Cooked Chili Oil, and cook dinner for you in the evening." Chen Shu yawned lazily, "I'll see if I can bring her over too; she's been practicing Closed-Mouth Zen lately, can't speak, and acts like a fool, staring intensely at others."

"Bring her, bring her!"

Her ladyship was very excited.

Chen Shu was somewhat speechless and got up to walk toward the kitchen again.

It was almost one o'clock, and this woman hadn't eaten yet, nor had she prepared anything for him to eat, just waiting for him to come and cook for her.

Good thing she's a celibate.

If she were to marry someone else, it would truly be a sin committed by the Lao Chen family.

Three o'clock in the afternoon.

Chen Banxia sent her brother away and lay back down on the sofa, her head resting in the very corner, eyes squinted, her whole person exuding a sense of satisfaction from the inside out.

There were two points of satisfaction—

One was that her brother had come to offer tribute to his sister again, which not only showed his filial piety but was also truly delicious.

Second, in her joy, the older sister transferred another ten thousand yuan to her younger brother, which not only demonstrated the older sister's generosity, strength, and status, but also expressed the older sister's concern and care for her younger brother.

Combining the two, such satisfaction is the most perfect.

At the entrance of Chen Banxia's residential complex.

Chen Shu got on a shared scooter, held his Mobile Phone, and looked at the number in his account.

This wasn't him asking Chen Banxia for it, oh—

It was Chen Banxia who insisted on giving it to him!

Honestly!

He couldn't even refuse it!

How could there be such a person...

He opened the official website of the Blue Light Company; the Second-tier Breakthrough Potion T2A was priced at 129,999, with a Mid-Autumn Festival special offer of 126,666, and the discount would start tomorrow.

He opened the National Potion Network to compare.

The official website was still cheaper.

Then he would wait until tomorrow.

Chen Shu got on the scooter and left this place.