Chapter 127 Very Impressive
Right. She forgot–this man wasn’t like ordinary people.
Sensing the conversation had taken a slightly personal turn, Louis changed the subject at the perfect moment. “How’s your novel going lately?”
The second he asked, Freya lit up. “Really well! I got featured once before, and my followers shot up like crazy. Just a few days ago, my editor saw how well it was doing and gave me a front–page slot. The numbers are even better than before–my subscription income has more than doubled, and even the tips are up by about two–thirds.”
Louis was affected by her excitement. He turned to glance at her–and found himself momentarily stunned. The woman beside him was smiling so brightly, her eyes sparkling like they held their own light. It was the same face, and yet it felt completely different. Without meaning to, he tried to recall what she used to look like–and realized he couldn’t..
“You’re pretty impressive,” he said.
“It’s not that big a deal,” Freya said modestly, but she couldn’t hide the pride in her voice. “My editor said the genre I’m writing is super trendy right now. And since I’ve written it well, it’s got real adaptation potential. If it actually gets adapted, it could bring in a lot of money.” She sounded quite proud–she’d had two novels adapted into dramas in her previous life, one of which had even aired on a national network.
Louis had always assumed she was just casually writing stories, pulling in a few thousand a month–hard–earned, but not a big deal. He’d never imagined her books could actually be adapted. But seriously, those silly CEO romance novels… people really wanted to adapt that kind of thing?
Seeing how indifferent he looked, Freya immediately remembered that one time he’d read one of her weaker novels. She suddenly suspected he thought the one that might get adapted was that one. So she clarified:
“The one my editor says has potential isn’t the one you saw before. That one had a bunch of issues and could never be adapted–it was just something I wrote for quick cash. The one that’s doing well is a completely different project.”
“Oh,” Louis didn’t know much about web novels. Given his background and the way he lived, he never read them–and he definitely didn’t watch any of those dramas based on them. Most of the time, he stuck to financial news.
Freya thought he didn’t believe her and immediately grew a little annoyed.
“Everything I said is true. You can’t question my skill. I’ve been in this industry for years and I understand the rules and market demands really well. The success I have now didn’t come by accident–it’s exactly what I planned for. And you can’t compare this with those massive business deals worth hundreds of millions. This is a completely different kind of work.”
She sounded serious–stern, even. And her eyes flashed with a kind of quiet indignation over not being taken seriously. Louis caught the look and, for some strange reason, a sticker Baylon once sent him popped into his head: a fluffy little kitten looking up, wide–eyed and indignant, with a caption that read “super fierce.”
He wanted to say he didn’t doubt her–but what came out of his mouth instead was:
“You’ve been in the industry for years… hasn’t it been less than two months?”
The knife. Always so quick. So sharp.
Freya couldn’t even argue with that. She suddenly felt like a balloon that had been popped, completely deflated. “I’ve read tons of web novels for years, okay? I do know this industry.”
She looked just like the kitten she used to have–small, mopey, and sad. Louis hesitated for a moment, then suddenly let go of the steering wheel with one hand and gently patted the top of her lowered head.
“Mm. You’re very impressive.”
