As soon as Zhang Zhaomu entered Duan Chan'er's house, he smelled a faint aroma of meat.
What smells so good?
He asked curiously.
"When I came out this morning, I had lotus root and pork rib soup simmering on a timer," Duan Chan'er replied.
"Wow!" Zhang Zhaomu exclaimed in surprise, "Is lunch this lavish today? No wonder it's the last lunch of the day!"
Duan Chan'er chuckled, "What? It's not like I'm stopping you from coming to my house for dinner. If you want to come, just tell me anytime."
"I'm sorry about that," Zhang Zhaomu said, spreading his hands.
She mimicked Zhang Zhaomu's expression, raising her chin slightly. "I won't be polite! From now on, my three meals a day are in your hands!"
"How could I be so shameless?" Zhang Zhaomu couldn't hold back any longer. "Three meals a day is too much. I'll just mooch lunch at most."
Duan Chan'er rolled her eyes at him.
"Then I'll have to charge you living expenses."
"Is this all the little rich girl needs?" Zhang Zhaomu laughed.
"Who's the little rich girl?" Duan Chan'er retorted, "You're clearly richer than me. You can earn your own money now, while I'm still relying on my family's allowance."
"How could this be? You—" Zhang Zhaomu stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence.
I habitually assumed that since she was a successful novelist, she must be a wealthy young woman. I almost forgot that, from Duan Chan'er's perspective, her true identity hadn't been revealed yet.
"What about me?" Duan Chan'er stared at him suspiciously.
"You were so generous when you bought things for September and the Barbecue, you must be rich." Zhang Zhaomu reacted quickly and found a reason.
"That's different." Duan Chan'er snorted. " September and Barbecue are my pets, so it's only natural for me to spend money on them. But the class monitor isn't my pet, so how can I let you keep getting freebies?"
She said with a mischievous grin, "Of course, if you bark, I might reluctantly agree..."
"Woof!"
Zhang Zhaomu did not hesitate.
Duan Chan'er: "?"
"What a joke, is that all it takes?" Zhang Zhaomu scoffed. "Before, I had to call Chen Zhenzhen 'daddy' just to get her to treat me to instant noodles. Compared to that, getting a free lunch from you is a piece of cake."
His tone even carried a hint of pride.
This made Duan Chan'er cover her face in embarrassment.
That was a miscalculation. Are all guys these days so low-class?
If it were me, I would never call someone "dad" no matter what!
"I'll go cook, can you feed the little ones for me?" Duan Chan'er immediately fled, not wanting to continue this topic with this guy.
"No problem! We'll still feed her goat milk, right?" Zhang Zhaomu asked.
"Yes, after a while, we can feed them dog food soaked in milk." Duan Chan'er tied on her apron and asked casually.
"By the way, have you read the latest chapter of the book my dad wrote?"
"Not yet," Zhang Zhaomu said with a smile. "I've been busy studying these past few days, so I'm taking a break. I'll finish reading it all at once when the time comes."
At this point, he glanced at Duan Chan'er and said with a hint of mischief, "After all, the author updates too slowly, only writing four thousand words a day, and frequently taking leave!"
Duan Chan'er felt a little embarrassed; she had ultimately been complained about to her face by a reader.
"My dad is usually quite busy..."
She said guiltily, "That's understandable, isn't it?"
"That's true." Zhang Zhaomu let her go and continued the previous topic, "What happened in the latest chapter? Has it already progressed to the point where the protagonist successfully resolved the conflicts between the female leads and started building a harem?"
"How could that be!" Duan Chan'er shook her head. "In this kind of novel, unless the female lead's character is completely ruined, no one would be willing to accept something like this, right?"
"Indeed." Zhang Zhaomu nodded. "I'm very curious how the author plans to write it so that the ending will be a happy one. Will it end up being a stock market novel where they choose one female lead and the others live out their lives alone?"
"Of course not!" Duan Chan'er replied reflexively, "It'll definitely end in a harem!"
Zhang Zhaomu: "That's good."
"However..." Duan Chan'er paused, then asked, "From the reader's perspective, how do you think it should be handled to achieve a harem ending?"
Zhang Zhaomu was stunned for a moment.
Wait a minute!
Is this guy seeking inspiration from readers because he hasn't even figured out what the story will be like?
After observing Duan Chan'er's expression, Zhang Zhaomu felt that this possibility was very high.
He probed, "Why are you suddenly asking this? Shouldn't this be a question your father, as the author, should be considering?"
"Just a casual chat," Duan Chan'er said calmly. "You're free anyway."
"Okay." Zhang Zhaomu thought for a moment:
"From the reader's perspective... all three female protagonists have distinct personalities, so we need to find a breakthrough point first, and then defeat them one by one, right?"
"A breakthrough?" Duan Chan'er asked thoughtfully, "How so?"
"For example, if one of the female leads is able to accept this kind of thing at first, then you can gradually open up the situation through her," Zhang Zhaomu said. "As the saying goes, bottom lines are compromised little by little. Once someone takes the lead, things become much easier to handle."
"That makes sense." Duan Chan'er's eyes lit up. "Focusing on this point, I... my dad could probably write hundreds of thousands more words!"
Then she suddenly stared at Zhang Zhaomu suspiciously. "You still say you haven't thought about having a harem? Isn't this a clever idea?"
"Uh, you were the one who asked me to think from the reader's perspective." Zhang Zhaomu felt wronged. "How can you say you're kicking me after I've served my purpose? I'm not discussing this with you anymore."
"It's my fault, it's my fault!" Duan Chan'er quickly apologized.
I finally found someone to discuss the plot with, how could I just let him go like that?
She then asked, "So, which female lead do you think is more suitable as a breakthrough point?"
"The third female lead, I guess," Zhang Zhaomu said. "Her background is rather tragic. After being saved by the protagonist, she's completely devoted to him. For her, even sharing him with someone else would be more acceptable than losing him, right?"
Duan Chan'er shook her head. "Impossible. It's precisely because the third female lead has such a tragic background that her personality is so extreme. She's unwilling to share even a fraction of the protagonist's love with anyone else. If you force her to accept this in the plot, she'll probably just give up and do whatever she wants."
She made a gesture of swiftly bringing down a knife. "Simply finish with a machete."
Zhang Zhaomu shuddered. "Then forget it."
He further analyzed, "It's definitely not the female lead. Although she has a lively personality and seems to act like the main wife, as a rich and beautiful woman, her values are the most normal."
"Indeed." Duan Chan'er nodded. "The second female lead has it tough too, after all, she's her childhood sweetheart, and a jealous one at that..."
Zhang Zhaomu shrugged. "It seems like there's no breakthrough. I'm out of ideas."
"Sigh." Duan Chan'er sighed and lamented:
"Building a harem is so difficult."