Chapter 38

The next day was Saturday. At seven in the morning, the alarm didn't ring, but Zhang Tan still woke up naturally.

The cicadas on the mulberry tree outside the window were already chirping, signaling a sunny day.

After washing up, Zhang Tan changed into shorts and a sleeveless sports shirt, ran ten laps around the yard, and then went out to buy breakfast. The streets were bustling with traffic, and the weekend didn't reduce the hustle and bustle.

There were many mobile breakfast stalls on Xichang'an Street. Opening a breakfast shop here would be too expensive, but the demand for breakfast from people going to and from work was high, so many such mobile stalls appeared. Most of the stall owners came from breakfast shops in the urban villages, where they prepared the breakfast and then set up their carts on the street.

Zhang Tan bought breakfast from the village and returned. The guard booth's windows and doors were tightly closed; Old Li hadn't come to work yet.

He went to the second floor, and just as he arrived, Teacher Xiao Liu opened the door. Seeing him, she was taken aback and instinctively checked her appearance. She was unadorned, not expecting to run into Zhang Tan. Usually, he would already be at work by this time, but then she remembered it was the weekend.

Sigh, Teacher Xiao Liu had given up. Every time she met Zhang Tan, she was unadorned and without makeup, looking as plain as could be.

"Here's breakfast for you and Xiao Mi." Zhang Tan divided the breakfast into two portions and handed one to Teacher Xiao Liu.

Teacher Xiao Liu was surprised by the thoughtful breakfast.

"Oh? Thank you, thank you. How much is it? I'll pay you."

Xiao Mi stayed at the school at night and had breakfast here in the morning before the police officer came to pick her up. In the evening, she would be brought back.

"I'll treat you; you've worked hard this week."

"Not at all, not at all. It's my duty."

Actually, this week had been really tough. She had to take care of Xiao Mi, who wasn't misbehaving but missed her mother and would cry every night.

"Is Xiao Mi still sleeping?"

"She's sleeping soundly."

"Did she cry again last night?"

Teacher Xiao Liu nodded. Every night, Xiao Mi would suddenly wake up from her sleep, crying for her mother.

Zhang Tan sighed and said, "I'm really troubling you."

This week, it was Teacher Xiao Liu's turn to stay at the school to take care of Xiao Mi. Next week, it would be someone else. Since it was extra work, there was a bonus.

"No, it's fine."

Teacher Xiao Liu also felt sorry for Xiao Mi. At just four years old, she had lost both her parents, how pitiful.

But it was definitely tiring, not getting enough sleep at night. However, Zhang Tan's concern instantly melted away her grievances.

"Go eat your breakfast. If Xiao Mi wakes up, you might not have time."

"Oh, okay, thank you, boss."

"Call me Zhang Tan from now on."

Watching Zhang Tan go upstairs, Teacher Xiao Liu softly said, "Okay, Zhang~ Tan~~"

Back home, Zhang Tan laid out the breakfast on the dining table, washed his hands, turned on the TV in the living room to listen to the morning news, went back to the dining room to finish breakfast, tidied up, took a shower, changed clothes, turned off the TV, went back to his desk, opened his computer, and watched some more news before opening a document on the desktop named "GG Copy."

This was about a financial product called "Entrepreneur Loan" launched by a bank, along with the requirements for the GG copy.

This was sent to him by Luo Ming when he finished work yesterday.

The bank had launched a financial product called "Entrepreneur Loan" and now needed to create a GG. They required a copy to be written.

It was common for full-time screenwriters to take on side jobs in their spare time to earn extra money to support their families. Not every full-time screenwriter could work for a large company like the Pudong Film Studio. In many entertainment companies, there weren't enough projects, and full-time screenwriters often only received a basic salary.

Luo Ming had been in the industry for many years and had his own network. He took on some profitable projects in his spare time. This time, he was working on "Under the Tianyu Mountain" and planned to take his family on a weekend trip, so he passed the job to Zhang Tan.

The fee was 10,000 yuan, and the copy should be around 1,000 words. It needed to be a soft GG, a story-type, emotional piece aimed at young people.

Zhang Tan had never written a soft GG before, so he looked up some examples online. Essentially, it was about writing a short story with a twist at the end, where the GG was attached.

Compared to traditional GGs, this type of soft GG was not only cheaper but also very effective for a specific audience.

Online soft GGs developed later, initially published in newspapers. Now, with newspapers flooded with GGs, readers mostly read the news as a side activity, and young people no longer read them, leading to their decline. The battle has shifted to the internet.

After flipping through a few soft GGs, he inadvertently started browsing entertainment news. It wasn't until nearly half an hour later that Zhang Tan realized he had gone off track. He quickly closed the webpage, focused, and started thinking about the copy, which he needed to submit by Monday.

Writing a story was easy for Zhang Tan. He just needed to fill in the details according to the eight elements.

After thinking for less than ten minutes, Zhang Tan confidently started writing:

---

"The first time I was about to kiss her, she suddenly said, 'Wait a moment.' I was puzzled by what she was going to do. She took out three candies from her pocket—those small, round ones with strawberry, apple, and lychee flavors. She asked me to pick one. I pointed to the lychee one and asked her what she was going to do.

She didn't say anything, immediately tore open the wrapper, and ate the candy. Then she tiptoed and kissed me.

We kissed, and the whole time, it was filled with the scent of lychee.

Later, she told me that life is so long, and she wasn't confident that I would remember her. But since I liked lychee-flavored candies, she wanted me to remember that our kiss tasted like lychee. This way, whenever I ate lychee-flavored things, I would think of her.

Now that we've broken up, indeed, every time I eat lychee-flavored things, I think of her.

...

Finally, one day, I couldn't suppress the feelings in my heart and decided to find her.

After much inquiry, I learned that she had found a stable job after graduation and, a few years later, quit to open her own candy shop, which was quite successful.

One day, I finally found her. The first thing I said was, 'Do you remember the taste of the lychee candy?'

She told me, with tears in her eyes, that she had never forgotten, or she wouldn't have opened a candy shop.

I was deeply moved and asked, 'Where did you get the money to start your business after quitting your job?'

She said, 'A friend introduced me to the "Entrepreneur Loan" product from Big Bear Bank. His name is Manager Liu, and his phone number is 138xxxxxxxx. If you want to start a business, find him!'

---

He read it once, made two revisions, and sent it to Luo Ming.

He thought Luo Ming wouldn't respond so quickly, but in less than ten minutes, he replied: "Great, I've already sent it to the client. Waiting for their response."

That evening, Luo Ming replied again, saying the client approved and directly transferred 10,000 yuan.

Playing around, he earned 10,000 yuan, so Zhang Tan opened a bottle of Little Bear drink for Xiao Bai that night.

Despite her repeated waving and firm resistance, saying she had no money and was a pauper, Zhang Tan was generous and opened the bottle, handing it to her.

Xiao Bai said it wasn't right, but she sipped it happily.

Learning that Zhang Tan had earned money that day, Xiao Bai was very envious and asked him, in a roundabout way, if he could teach her how to earn money. She didn't want to earn much, just enough to buy a bottle of Little Bear drink every day. She had fallen in love with Little Bear and even expressed interest in trying Little Bear cigarettes when she learned they existed.

Zhang Tan firmly refused, saying, "Then you'll really become a big brother."