Begging Won't Help

June 15th, 7:00 a.m.

Chen Wen was in the craft room, arranging the solid resin strips he had removed last night on the table and sticking the pre-drawn Demon Blade Thousand Blades templates onto them.

He secured a solid resin strip with a vise, took out a scroll saw, and began cutting along the lines on the template.

Though it was called Demon Blade Thousand Blades, Chen Wen had actually only drawn two or three hundred fragments on the template—

If he really drew a thousand fragments, setting aside the workload, the pieces would be so small that the scroll saw would likely warp them. Some might even fall and become impossible to find.

Halfway through sawing, Chen Wen checked the time. It was nearly eight, and Si Jiao Ji and the others were probably about to arrive.

But judging from the sounds outside, he had no idea whether Jiang Qiuyi had gotten up yet.

For some reason last night, Jiang Qiuyi had gotten especially clingy and insisted on tormenting him for a long time.

The two of them had gone at it until around one in the morning before sleepiness finally overcame Jiang Qiuyi, and she dozed off drowsily on top of him.

So after finishing her morning run at six, Jiang Qiuyi had come back and crawled into bed for more sleep. She was probably still sleeping like a little pig.

Chen Wen therefore stopped what he was doing, took off his gloves and mask, left the craft room, and headed into the bedroom.

Sure enough, Jiang Qiuyi was buried beneath the covers, with only her smooth forehead and glossy black hair exposed. She was clearly sleeping soundly.

Chen Wen knocked on the bedroom door, producing a series of thuds.

"It's almost eight. Get up already. Don't you need to do your makeup?"

"Mmm..." Jiang Qiuyi turned over in bed and wrapped herself in another layer of blanket. "Five more minutes."

Chen Wen fell silent for five seconds, then knocked again. "The five minutes are up."

"You're lying..." Jiang Qiuyi's muffled voice came from under the blanket.

"Time passes very quickly when you're asleep. I didn't lie to you."

"Hmph..." Jiang Qiuyi gave a soft grumble, stretched one hand out from beneath the covers, and patted the bed. "Come here."

Chen Wen walked over and sat down, only for Jiang Qiuyi to grab him around the waist.

Wriggling like a grub, Jiang Qiuyi squirmed over beside Chen Wen and pressed herself against him. "What time is it?"

"Eight."

"The exact time. You're not allowed to lie."

Chen Wen glanced at the clock on the wall. "Seven fifty-eight."

"There are still two minutes left..." Jiang Qiuyi poked her head drowsily out from beneath the covers. "You lied and said it was eight, but you were two minutes off. One kiss for each minute~"

"..."

Chen Wen lowered his head, then raised it again a few seconds later.

"Alright, get up."

Jiang Qiuyi did not get up. She fished out her phone, unlocked it, tossed it into Chen Wen's hand, then tucked her head back under the covers and continued sleeping.

"I woke up earlier. Si Jiao Ji said she couldn't reach Dao Ye, so he might come later. We'll call each other then."

Chen Wen looked down and saw that Jiang Qiuyi's phone was open to the group chat for "Clothes-Swapping Squad."

Si Jiao Ji: Dao Ye's phone is off. No idea what happened.

Chi Hun De Tu Zi: He said yesterday that he was staying up editing a video. He probably overslept.

Si Jiao Ji: The two of us will go to Dao Ye's place and check on him first. If there isn't enough time this morning, we'll arrange Zhi Zhi Miao for the afternoon.

Zhi Zhi Miao rou: OK, I'm free all day today.

Mo Mo Momo: Dao Ye seemed to still be awake at three in the morning yesterday. His stream was still running.

Qian Qian Raising Huskies: Then I'll go get my nails done first, hehe.

Qiuqiu yiyi: I'm going back to sleep. Give me a call when you get here.

Si Jiao Ji: OK.

"..." After reading the chat log, Chen Wen's eye twitched. "Then why did you still make me kiss you?"

"That was punishment for lying to me. It has nothing to do with whether I'm getting up or not." Jiang Qiuyi giggled beneath the covers, then nudged Chen Wen. "Stop bothering me for now. I'm going to sleep a little longer~"

Chen Wen put her phone away, walked to the window, and drew the curtains. "Stick your head out. It's not good to sleep with the blanket over your head."

"Mm."

After leaving the bedroom, Chen Wen returned to the craft room and continued making Demon Blade Thousand Blades.

Since every fragment was tiny, Chen Wen could only slow down his cutting as much as possible in pursuit of precision.

With finals approaching, he still had to study as usual. Some classes also had final projects, and for projects requiring teams, he had to communicate with classmates he did not know at all.

Classes that included his roommates were fine, but for some general electives, he did not know a single person and could only team up with strangers.

With Chen Wen's personality... umm...

In short, Chen Wen still wanted to cherish precious uninterrupted time like the weekend.

He wanted to finish as many troublesome processes as possible over the weekend, so he could focus on studying during weekdays and avoid mishandling both.

By the time he had almost finished cutting, he checked the time and discovered it was already past nine.

But Si Jiao Ji and the others still had not arrived?

Chen Wen shook out his slightly sore arms, intending to rest for a while, when he heard sounds in the hallway outside. Then the craft room door opened.

Jiang Qiuyi poked her little head inside. "Si Jiao Ji and the others are on their way. I'm going next door to change first."

"Once the three of them get here, you should come over too. Get to know them—think of it as making some friends."

"Add each other on WeChat or something. Maybe there'll be opportunities to collaborate in the future."

"Mm." Chen Wen nodded. "Go get ready."

He understood what Jiang Qiuyi was thinking.

Although his videos were quite popular now, if the quality dropped later, he would only be an up creator in the crafts category with a few hundred thousand followers.

Even if he could ensure every future video went viral, the limitations of such a narrow subject matter meant he might not be able to break through the category's ceiling.

Chen Wen was fairly confident in himself, and he did not really care much about his follower count.

But Jiang Qiuyi had clearly made being an up creator part of her plans for the future, so naturally, she hoped Chen Wen could keep getting better alongside her.

At a time like this, if they could collaborate with famous up creators from other categories and make a few joint videos, they might be able to reach audiences outside their own category.

It was also an effective way to gain followers quickly.

Chen Wen shook his head and continued with his work.

It was a perfectly legitimate method, and Chen Wen did not object to it. He just found making new friends a little troublesome.

But since they were coming anyway, it was only right to meet them.

More than half an hour passed, and it was nearly ten.

Jiang Qiuyi finished changing and walked in with a white-painted face and sunglasses, her fat tail dragging across the floor behind her.

She swaggered up to Chen Wen, suddenly burst into laughter, then said in a lowered voice, "Begging won't help."

Chen Wen: "?"

"Your brave fighting spirit is still worthy of praise." Jiang Qiuyi curled her lips and looked at Chen Wen with an extremely chuunibyou expression.

"...What are you talking about?" Chen Wen's eye twitched.

"But you're only a Saiyan, after all." Jiang Qiuyi clenched her fist and said viciously, "This time, I'll definitely kill you! I'll crush you into powder!"

"..." Chen Wen turned away and continued fiddling with the Demon Blade Thousand Blades fragments he had just cut.

[Pu Jie Ri Ji]: Over sixteen hundred recommendation votes yesterday... You guys really know how to hide your strength... I still owe one update after release~