Chapter 68: Still Having to Ask for Leave on Public Holidays Is Outrageous!

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Still Having to Ask for Leave on Public Holidays Is Outrageous!

Chen Jingle was in a fantastic mood. He had made twenty thousand yuan in a single night without even busting his ass. Was there anything more comfortable in the world?

"Looks like I really need to keep practicing calligraphy!" he thought. If he were selling soy-braised pork buns and potato beef stew instead, how long would it take to make that much money? Art was where the real money was at!

Chen Jingle sighed with emotion, "I finally understand why so many people in the entertainment industry miss the coal bosses from back in the day. It’s probably because those bosses both understood and respected art." That was unlike the internet capitalists of today.

At first, he had worried his writing wouldn’t satisfy his patron, but unexpectedly, Li Beixing ended up ordering an extra piece. It seemed that catering to a patron’s taste was indeed crucial.

"Let there be more rich and generous patrons like her—low demands, easy to communicate with, and quick to pay!" he wished. If each of them bought a few more pieces, he would have enough living expenses to lie flat for the next few years.

Of course, Chen Jingle also knew such good fortune was hard to come by. After all, not everyone was as generous and easygoing as Li Beixing. If he truly relied on calligraphy to make a living without hiring someone to manage his reputation, he would probably starve to death. Did people think doing art was easy? In the end, those who actually reaped the dividends—no matter the industry—were always just the tiny handful at the very top.

Still, he was quite happy to make money from calligraphy. At worst, whenever he set up his stall to sell pork buns, he could set up a small table next to it to write calligraphy for people. After all, working one job was the same as working two. It wouldn’t get in the way.

"From now on, I can tell people that my writing is worth 2,500 yuan per character, and 2.5 million for a thousand characters," he mused. "2.5 million yuan for a thousand characters! Isn’t this much more awesome than those top-tier web authors like Potato and Red-Haired Monster? The so-called Central Plains Five Whites are nothing—just watch me thoroughly crush you all!"

Later that night.

The cheerful Chen Jingle put away his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. He decided to reward himself with a cream pudding ice cream bar he had been hoarding in the fridge for quite some time. Eating the ice cream while sitting on the roof, enjoying the night breeze and admiring the moon—it was a pretty good feeling.

The wind of yesterday blew unnoticed, but tonight’s clear moonlight was just as it was in years past.

However, he couldn’t stand it for long.

"Damn it, there are giant mosquitoes!"

Chen Jingle grimaced at a large welt that had somehow appeared on his forearm and scurried back indoors in defeat.

Since it was the Mid-Autumn Festival, he still had to eat mooncakes. Only, now that he was older, he no longer loved them the way he did when he was a kid. Perhaps mooncakes nowadays just didn’t taste as good, or maybe his palate had grown picky from all the fancy snacks available today.

He opened a box of lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes; it should be the one Chen Xiuyun had given him. It seemed like starting last year, mooncakes no longer came with plastic knives and forks. Chen Jingle had no choice but to pick it up and take a bite. In truth, he didn’t really like salted egg yolks. The mix of sweet and salty tasted too weird to him, so he usually picked the yolk out. This time was no different.

"Good thing the mooncakes Sister Xiu gave me aren’t those giant ones, otherwise holding it and gnawing on it would be too unsightly," he muttered.

The lotus paste was a bit too cloyingly sweet, making him frown. He eventually chugged two glasses of water just to force down one mooncake. He packed the rest away to eat as snacks later. His Mid-Autumn night basically ended just like that.

Some might think that spending the Mid-Autumn Festival alone was inevitably a bit lonely. But for Chen Jingle, loneliness didn’t exist. On the contrary, he greatly enjoyed this solitary life. Living alone meant he could do whatever he wanted—he couldn’t even describe how awesome it felt! Growing up, being alone was his norm. He basically only saw his parents during holidays.

Of course, this kind of lifestyle wasn’t suitable for everyone; it depended on one’s personality. Some people liked the hustle and bustle, going to crowded internet-famous spots when traveling. Others preferred peace and quiet, retreating deep into the mountains and old forests. Whatever suited you was best.

If his parents weren’t still around, and if it wasn’t for his deep attachment to his hometown, he had considered moving to a small city in the Northeast. He could buy a cheap apartment for a few tens of thousands, get a cheap commuter car, and from then on live a blissful life with a house, a car, and savings—just eating, drinking, and sleeping. He couldn’t even imagine how comfortable it would be to not step out of his residential compound for half a year at a time.

"Things back here in my hometown are still lacking a bit," he mused. At the very least, packages and takeout couldn’t be delivered straight to his door; he had to go to the nearby pickup station himself. In a few years, as the surrounding areas continued to develop, maybe things would get better.

After eating the mooncake, he brushed his teeth and turned off the lights to sleep under the system’s urging.

The night passed uneventfully.

The next morning.

At six o’clock, he was woken up by the system alarm as usual.

For once, Chen Jingle had a complaint. "This feeling of working year-round with no days off is just too damn ridiculous. At least other people get holidays and can sleep in. But you? You urge me out of bed early in the morning even on public holidays."

[A healthy body requires persistent exercise. You can’t just slack off every other day.]

"Alright, alright, I’m just complaining." Chen Jingle suddenly had a thought. "Wait, it won’t be like this during the Lunar New Year too, will it?"

[The Spring Festival is different from ordinary holidays. If it really comes down to it, little Chen Jingle can also choose to take a leave of absence.]

"It’s a statutory holiday to begin with, and I still have to ask for leave? That’s ridiculous."

Chen Jingle didn’t even have the energy to complain anymore. He had clearly returned to his hometown to lie flat, yet now he was grinding harder every day than anyone else. It was truly messed up.

He got on his electric scooter and headed out.

There seemed to be even fewer people at the Teacher College today. It looked like everyone was sleeping in. At the school gate, he ran into a few boys who looked like they had just returned from pulling an all-nighter at an internet cafe. Braving the chilly morning wind, they all sported obvious dark circles, shrinking their necks and hugging their chests.

Chen Jingle shook his head silently. He had been the same way back in the day, relying on his youth, good health, and high spirits. But after working for a few years, let alone pulling an all-nighter, even staying up a bit late would leave him completely dead on his feet the next day.

At the thought of this, the trace of resentment he felt toward the system’s year-round schedule vanished into thin air.

"You’re right. When it comes to exercising, consistency is key," he admitted. Without taking pills or getting injections, the simplest method was relying on quantitative changes leading to qualitative changes—getting a little bit stronger every day. One day, when he looked back, he would realize that he had already walked such a long way without even noticing.

"Keep it up!" Chen Jingle silently cheered himself on.

Arriving at the track field, he parked his electric scooter and started warming up.

"Today’s goal is still five kilometers. Time to get to work!" he told himself.

After running a few laps, he suddenly saw that familiar figure from a few days ago appear again, sitting in the bleachers with a book in hand.

"Still so diligent even on a holiday! Awesome!"

Chen Jingle was a bit impressed. Sure enough, there were still plenty of hardworking people in the world. However, they were just strangers passing by chance. If it were a guy, he might have been interested in chatting with him, asking whether he was studying so diligently early every morning for the postgraduate entrance exam or the civil service exam.

Meanwhile.

Chen Qiyun got up to eat breakfast and specifically measured her height. First, she stood with her back against the wall, used a pencil to draw a line level with the top of her head, and then measured from the bottom up with a tape measure.

"153 centimeters, I grew a centimeter!" Chen Qiyun’s eyes lit up.

The poor little girl didn’t know that there was a difference between measuring one’s height in the morning and in the evening. This one centimeter didn’t necessarily mean she had actually grown taller. It was very likely just a margin of error. But Chen Qiyun didn’t know this. She thought she had truly grown taller and was overjoyed.

"Looks like drinking milk and eating more is actually useful," she thought. These past few days, she had been drinking a bottle of milk in the morning and another before going to bed. Aside from breakfast, she basically ate an extra portion for both lunch and dinner at Chen Jingle’s place. Her appetite had practically multiplied compared to before. Looking at it this way, growing taller was perfectly normal.

"Chen Jingle is doing a good job. I’ll have to mark this down as a major merit for him later!" Chen Qiyun was very satisfied. However, the moment she remembered that she still had a lot of homework to do today, her little face immediately fell.

"Oh right, Chen Jingle!" she thought. "It’s time for you to perform! Don’t forget what you promised Teacher Li!"