Chapter 1068: Dark’s New Work ‘Constant’!

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Capital University had no summer vacation, so the students would do projects with their teachers or just hang out in the labs when their finals were over. There were still a lot of people coming and leaving the various lab buildings.

“I’ll just go by myself.” Gu Mang put on her black bluetooth earphones, grabbed her black backpack that was hanging off the chair and her phone from the table, and then nodded slightly to her seniors to indicate that she was leaving the lab.

Lu Chengzhou’s warm and deep voice rang out from the earphones. “I’m on leave. Want me to accompany you?”

Gu Mang was surprised to hear that as Red Scorpion had been preparing for a large-scale drill lately. He’s on leave at this time when he’s been busy with the drill?

“What about Red Scorpion?”

“Dad’s around.” Lu Chengzhou stepped on his brake. “I’ve arrived at the Medical Faculty.”

Oh well. Gu Mang raised her eyebrows. “Fine.”

She took the lift down to the first floor, where she saw Lu Chengzhou lazily leaning against the wall by the huge glass door as soon as she stepped out of the lift. His face was half-hidden in the shadow, making his features look deep and sharp.

Upon noticing her arrival, he straightened himself and walked over to her. He then took the backpack from her and led her outside. “What time is the appointment?”

“Four o’clock.”

It was currently 3:20 pm.

…

Meanwhile, the people at the Chinese Reading Society were frantically busy. Even the boss himself had come down to the editorial office.

He nervously rubbed his hands. “God D will be here in forty minutes. Is everything ready?”

The editor-in-chief replied in a tense voice, “Everything is ready! Our top priority for today is to welcome God D, so we cleaned up the place early this morning! I even ordered a horizontal welcome banner just in case.”

He talked as if they were welcoming some sort of big shot who was here for inspection.

The boss nodded in satisfaction. “Good job.”

The editor-in-chief smiled and looked around the editorial department once more before sliding his hand down the trophy cabinet. “Have you wiped God D’s trophies?”

Even though the trophies had been wiped three times, Wen Ke, the managing editor who was responsible for Gu Mang’s new book, said, “I’ll wipe them again.”

Thereafter, she quickly walked over and wiped the trophies herself, not even trusting this simple task to her subordinates.

The trophies were polished to the point that they could practically show one’s reflection.

“Where are the books God D will be signing later?” The editor-in-chief asked.

One of the editors pointed to the conference room. “We’ve put them in there.”

“Go check the quantity again and make sure there’s no mistake!”

“Okay.” Without further ado, the editor went and did as told—even though she and the managing editor had already checked everything countless times.

At 3:40 pm, the editor-in-chief led everyone from the editorial department and the distribution department to wait at the company’s entrance.

At 3:50 pm, the boss got so nervous that his breathing became erratic, and his hands started trembling. “Ten minutes to go. Ten minutes before God D arrives.”

Even the boss himself was so nervous, what more his subordinates.

Although the editor-in-chief had met Gu Mang before he wasn’t any better than the others. He kept looking at the time.

The group waited for Gu Mang in silence.

At 3:59 pm, the editors became so nervous that they felt like they would pee their pants at any moment. She’ll be here soon!

The elevator ding-ed at 4 pm sharp.

At that moment, everyone tensed up their spine and stood even straighter than soldiers. The boss sucked in his beer belly.

That was the scene Gu Mang and Lu Chengzhou saw when they stepped out of the lift.

The daughter of the Chinese Reading Society’s boss was a fan of Gu Mang, and she treasured the music video posters of Gu Mang dearly like a treasure. As such, the boss recognized her at a glance. He went up and greeted her with a warm welcome. “You’re here, God D.”

Gu Mang nodded.

The rest of the people, however, widened their eyes in shock when they noticed Gu Mang’s slightly bulging belly. God D… is pregnant…

And when their gazes landed on the man who was holding onto her hand, they gasped so hard that even the even the muscles on their calves were twitching. This must be Young Master Lu… No wonder he wants to come over with God D. God D alone is enough to make us antsy, but now there are two big shots here! Is this the Chinese Reading Society’s lucky break? They even came together…

The sight of Lu Chengzhou made the boss’s legs go wobbly too. But he was, after all, somewhat more experienced than his subordinates, so he could still keep his composure somewhat. He turned to Lu Chengzhou and greeted, “Mr. Lu.”

Lu Chengzhou nodded in greeting.

“This way, please.” The boss led them into the conference room, with everyone else following behind.

When they walked past the wall of honor, Wen Ke said, “God D, these are the awards you’ve won over the years.”

They were all prestigious awards in the literary world. All of Dark’s works were award-winning works with each winning at least one important award. The piece of work that had gotten the most awards was ‘The Black Sea’ as it had won all the domestic literary awards.

Lu Chengzhou looked over to see that the wall of honor was almost entirely filled with Gu Mang’s trophies. Only two belonged to other authors.

Gu Mang did everything to the extreme.

“If you want to take the trophies back, I’ll get someone to pack them for you.” Even though the office’s air-conditioner was working very well and was powerful, the boss still couldn’t help but break into cold sweat standing next to the two big shots.

Gu Mang lightly answered, “No need, just leave them here.”

“Okay.” The boss hurriedly nodded. “Then let’s go to the conference room.”

Those in the leadership positions all entered the conference room, while the young editors stayed outside.

As soon as the door closed, two female editors excitedly held each other’s hands and shrieked in delight, “I can’t believe I’ve really met God D! I can die with no regrets now! She’s so pretty! God D is really so pretty!”

“Ahhhhhh! God D is pregnant! That means we have one more person to love in the future!”

“I’m so excited! Given how good-looking they are, their baby must be equally good-looking as well!”

“I really want to get God D’s signature, but I don’t dare to ask for it!”

“Same here! I want her to sign my copy of God Hand!”

The two female editors felt like they’d become successful fans as they looked in the direction of the conference room with moist eyes.

…

In the meeting room.

Gu Mang took a copy of her new book titled ‘Constant’. The cover was well-designed, using the elements of the universe to create a mysterious and luxurious feeling with the gradual blend of colors—purple, gold, and black.

Wen Ke said, “God D, your new book’s pre-sale is scheduled for the end of the month, and it’ll be available nationwide. Although we previously said that we needed three hundred signed copies, we can do away with the signing session and opt for printed signatures if you find it troublesome.”

Although the senior management knew that Gu Mang was pregnant when they saw her last time, they thought that she had only just gotten pregnant, so they didn’t think that the signing would affect her much.

After that, they had been liaising with her online about the details of her new book, and that was how they made an appointment with Gu Mang for her to come and sign the books.

However, by the looks of it now, Gu Mang seemed to be a few months into her pregnancy already. Hence, they decided to make last-minute changes so as not to tire her out.

“It’s fine.” With one hand, Gu Mang pulled off the cap of the pen, tossed it on the table, and then flipped open the book to sign on the title page.

The word ‘Dark’ was written powerfully, and the hook at the end showed hints of unruliness.

Actually, three hundred signed copies weren’t a lot. This was nothing compared to the number of her large fan base.

Lu Chengzhou took the initiative to flip open the book cover to make it convenient for Gu Mang to sign on the title page while raising his eyes to look at the staff. “What else do you need her to do?”

This was the first sentence that Lu Chengzhou had said since he stepped into the Chinese Reading Society’s office. His voice was deep, magnetic, and indifferent, and he exuded a powerful and cold aura that made people involuntarily tense up with just one look.

Wen Ke squeezed her fingers, although she looked relatively calmer than the rest as she had been in charge of Gu Mang’s previous books as well and was thus familiar with them. Her voice sounded steady as she replied, “We might need God D to upload a Weibo post before the pre-sale for marketing purposes. We’ll do up the post. All she needs to do is upload it.”

Lu Chengzhou nodded.

Regarding the new book, the Chinese Reading Society would try to settle whatever they could on their own and would only ask Gu Mang for her assistance if they couldn’t. The signing of the books and the uploading of the Weibo post were things that only Gu Mang could do.

“Oh, and we need to borrow your seal for a moment,” Wen Ke added.

Lu Chengzhou handed Gu Mang the opened book before taking the seal out of her bag.

Wen Ke immediately took the seal and left to supervise her subordinates. They would handle the documents that needed to be affixed with Gu Mang’s seal.

The only sounds in the conference room were the flipping of pages and the scrawling of the pen.

The senior management even tried to breathe softly so as not to disturb them

Not long after, Wen Ke came back and returned the seal to Lu Chengzhou. She then looked at Gu Mang, who was still signing away. Her gaze dropped to the latter’s slightly protruding wrist bone and her fair and beautiful fingers.

Gu Mang worked fast. In just a short while, she finished signing a hundred copies.

After giving it some thought, Wen Ke mustered up her courage to ask, “God D, can I take a picture of you signing the books? You don’t have to show your face.”

Gu Mang hummed an assent as she continued signing the books.

Wen Ke heaved a sigh of relief and immediately took out her phone. She then looked for a suitable angle to aim the camera at Gu Mang’s hand.

After she took the picture, she felt that her phone had become a priceless treasure, and she couldn’t help but tighten her grip over it. Just then, she suddenly recalled something. “God D, Capital Daily called and asked if they could do an exclusive interview with you.”

“No interviews,” said Gu Mang lightly.

Other than that interview with Fei Luo which was necessary at the time, she had never accepted any interviews. However, her name was now associated with profits. That particular issue of God Hand was sold out, shocking even the extranet. Everyone thus naturally wanted a slice of the pie.

Gu Mang’s Weibo page had only been created a few months ago, yet she had over twenty million followers. She was even more popular than the hottest celebrity. She was ranked number one on Weibo.

Even though everyone didn’t dare to offend her, they still couldn’t resist trying their luck. If she was ina. Good mood, she might have been willing to work with them even for a small project. Hence, Capital Daily approached the Chinese Reading Society.

Upon hearing Gu Mang’s refusal, Wen Ke said, “Okay, I’ll let them know.”

Gu Mang nodded.

Once everything was settled, Gu Mang and Lu Chengzhou left the conference room, only to see two girls rushing toward them when they arrived at the editorial department.

Lu Chengzhou tilted his body slightly and silently hid Gu Mang behind him. He then turned and noticed that the two girls were holding pens and copies of God Hand in their hands.

The two girls nervously held out their hands as they looked expectantly at Gu Mang. “God D, can we have your autograph?”

Gu Mang took the pen and the magazines from them and signed them.

When the rest of the people from the editorial department saw this, they joined in as well.

One of the girls asked, “God D, Wei Ming will be staging a comeback, right?”

Wei Ming was the male protagonist of her new novel, Constant. The story ended in suspense, and it made the readers eager to know what would happen next.

Everyone in the editorial department had finished reading the first book of the two-book series and couldn’t help wanting to read the next book. However, Dark’s books were probably the only ones in which the protagonists didn’t seem like protagonists. Based on her past works, they were afraid that the male protagonist of this series would end up dying or go missing again. Hence, the girl couldn’t resist posing the question.

Hearing that, Gu Mang glanced at her and then continued signing as an ambiguous smirk spread across her face. “Take a guess.”

The girl was so mesmerized by Gu Mang that she couldn’t utter a single word. All she could think of was that God D had just smiled at her.

…

Lu Chengzhou had swiped a copy of Gu Mang’s new book from the editorial department. Apart from the Chinese Reading Society’s staff, he was probably the first person to read her new book.

That very night, he sat on the bed and began reading it while Gu Mang sat in front of the study table and looked through the documents Yu Zhongjing had sent to her earlier. She then told Yu Zhongjing which parts needed amendment and which parts were incorrect before she finally shut the laptop and went to take a shower.

When she came out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, Lu Chengzhou had already taken the hairdryer out to place on the bedside cabinet and prepared a glass of warm milk for her.

Lu Chengzhou closed the book and placed it aside before pulling Gu Mang into his embrace and helping her to blow dry her hair. He asked all of a sudden, “When are you submitting the draft for the second book?”

Gu Mang turned to look at him with raised eyebrows.

“The second book of Constant,” he added.

Gu Mang’s books used to be about intellectual crimes, so this was the first time she was writing about space science fiction. As she had learned many things in the past, she had a wide range of knowledge that spanned many topics. This time, her new book covered scientific topics like psychology, biology, physics, cosmology, and string theory.

Outsiders’ evaluation of Dark was that she was best at coming up with unique, logical, unexpected, and eerily realistic concepts. She portrayed the beauty and ugliness of human nature to the extreme.

This time, her new book, which was combined with the real world to create a novel and surprising sci-fi concept, was simply convincing. It wasn’t an exaggeration to describe it as a masterpiece.

Gu Mang gave the question some thought before saying, “I’m not sure. I have a lot of things to settle.” Besides, I haven’t started on it.

“Can you give me spoilers?” Lu Chengzhou teased her hair with his fingers, allowing the hairdryer to blow the roots of her hair.

Gu Mang raised her eyebrows. “No.”

“Not even for me?” Lu Chengzhou turned off the hairdryer.

Gu Mang turned around and lazily leaned against the bed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Want to know the ending?”

Lu Chengzhou placed his arms on his bent knees, dangling his wrists. “I’m wondering if you’ll make the protagonist die this time.”

Gu Mang grinned. “Keep wondering then.”

“Tsk.” Lu Chengzhou pinched her chin and shook it. “Sleep?”

Gu Mang nodded.

He then lifted the blanket for her to lie down before lying down to give her a back hug. “Your writing has changed.”

In fact, it was very different from her past works.

“I’m sick of writing suspense stories,” Gu Mang whispered.

“You get tired of things so easily?” Lu Chengzhou held her hand asked in all seriousness, “Will you get sick and tired of me then?”

Gu Mang didn’t really want to continue this topic, for she might end up sleeping late again if she didn’t phrase her words properly. “How long is your leave?”

It was so obvious that she was changing the topic.

Lu Chengzhou chuckled as he rested his chin in the crook of her neck. “Five months.”

“Are you sure you didn’t use the wrong unit of time?” Gu Mang turned around to face him. Five months? Not five days?

Lu Chengzhou lazily replied, “Nope, isn’t it normal to get five months of maternity leave? I can extend my leave if it’s not enough.”

His plan was to spend the last trimester of her pregnancy with her and two months taking care of her after that.

Gu Mang couldn’t help but be speechless. He’s on maternity leave?

“Aren’t you gonna sleep?” Lu Chengzhou pushed the hair that had fallen onto her face away. “If you’re not going to sleep, I want to hear spoilers of your new book.” Her new book is really different this time, particularly in some areas…

“I’ve finished Book one, and I can’t sleep now. Can I ask you to hurry up with your next book?” Lu Chengzhou said sincerely.

…

On the day of her new book’s pre-sale, Gu Mang arrived at the Medical Faculty early in the morning. She took the time to publish a Weibo post that included a link to pre-order her new book before entering the lab.

That post was shared like crazy.

News about Dark’s upcoming new book pre-sale spread rapidly across Weibo and soon topped the trending list in just a few minutes.

#Dark’s new book ‘Constant’# Hot!

[Gu Mang is trending online again!]

[Only three hundred signed copies nationwide! It even topped the trending list! Waaah, now everyone knows about it!]

[I don’t deserve it! I don’t even dare to dream about it! I’m not worthy of owning a signed copy! Hell, I’ve never even managed to get a printed signed copy!]

[Daddy is the only person whose autograph can’t be bought with money! (kneels)]

[Please take a picture of your signed copy if you have one! Let me take a look at it! I’m begging on my knees! (kneels)]

The last comment became the most popular comment with two hundred thousand likes.

Just then, the Chinese Reading Society posted something on Weibo.

[Chinese Reading Society V: Here’s a picture of God D signing the books. (picture)]

It was the photo that Wen Ke had taken when Gu Mang visited the Chinese Reading Society.

[Daddy’s hand looks so pretty!]

[Ahhhhhhh! She personally signed them!!!]

[Hey, didn’t you guys realize that there’s another hand in the photo?!]

[Ahhhhhh! I see it! Is that Mommy’s hand?! The one with black sleeve? It must be Mommy!!!]

[Omigosh! Mommy flipped open the books, and Daddy signed on them! Who’s so lucky to receive such special treatment?!]

[Mommy flipped open the books, Daddy signed on the books, and the baby accompanied them! Who’s so lucky to receive such special treatment?!]

[Ahhhh! I nearly forgot that Daddy is pregnant!!!]

[This is so sweet!!! I don’t have to pay to see this photo?!]

The screen was filled with exclamation marks.

The photo of Gu Mang and Lu Chengzhou’s hands made the netizens go crazy.

Weibo even crashed, but the site was up and running again in no time.

That day, the Chinese Reading Society received many calls. Even though the book hadn’t been released on the market, many people wanted to buy its IP rights. However, they were told that it had been sold to the Qin Corporation’s film company.

The share prices of the Qin Corporation’s film company soared when the news got out.

…

The pre-sale was scheduled to start at 8 pm.

Half an hour before it started, comments were starting to flood Weibo’s forums.

[The exciting moment has come! Please have mercy on me, sisters and brothers!]

[That’s what you say, but when it comes to snatching the signed copies later, we’ll no longer be your sisters and brothers, and you probably want to have us buried!]

[Please bless me, God D! I’m willing to let my sisters stay single for ten years in exchange for that signed copy!!!]

[Bwahahaha! What the heck?! That’s so twisted!]

…

[Ahhhh! Five minutes to go! I’m getting really nervous! Even my hands are shaking!!!]

[Weibo crashed once already… I wonder if a certain website has prepared itself… It’d better not crash later…]

[Surely not… Their website didn’t even crash when it came to their annual shopping sale. Besides, this is just the pre-sale of God D’s new book. I doubt that’ll happen.]

[I hope so…]

…

At 8 pm sharp, the internet blew up again.

The hashtag #A certain website crashed# trended on the internet.

The website wouldn’t load and refresh for some people.

[F*ck! Didn’t I say that a certain website should prepare themselves? Now it’s crashed! There goes my signed copy! Arghhhhh!]

[I’ve never seen this website crash before! I’m boiling mad! My signed copy is gone!]

The Chinese Reading Society watched the number of pre-sales shoot through the roof. In just half an hour, they sold a million copies on a certain website. And that was just one out of many other channels. She broke the record! She broke the record again! Dark has long set a record for physical book sales, and her record can only be broken by herself!

…

As days passed, Dark’s new book ‘Constant’ eventually reached the readers’ hands. Everyone only bought the book because of Dark’s reputation, but after they finished reading the book, they went online and urged Dark to quickly publish her next one.

[Wow! This is phenomenal!]

[I finished the book in just half a day! It’s so good! Wei Ming! I have a new favorite character now!!!]

[I foresee that ‘Constant’ will sweep all literary awards again!]

[I love it!!! This book feels completely different from Dark’s past works! They used to be dark, cold, and depressing, but I see the light with ‘Constant’! I love space science fiction!!!]

[Me too! Me too! Stars seem different to me when I look at them now!!!]

[Did anyone notice the surprise on the second last blank page of the book? The words on that page can only be seen under sunlight!]

[I noticed it! It really only can be seen under the light!]

[To think I was wondering about the two blank pages! I’m going to take a look at it under the sunlight now!]

…

I was in the depths of the mud, where it was dark and cold. Not even the starlights could reach me. I gave up struggling, but I wasn’t resigned to being confined.

I indulged, vented, and drowned in the darkness.

Until you tore the darkness away, ripped the lights, and presented me the stars.

…

Gu Mang was used to hiding her emotions, and her acting could even fool Lu Chengzhou. Her works represented her psychological state.