four year itch

[Your affectionate gaze has the power to calm/the wildest passion in my soul/your tender words are drops/the mellowness that drops into the bitter cup of life/my only sorrow is only because/I have experienced this preciousness Favor/Harriet!If you want to live under your warm gaze, you must/pay a price beyond all pain—/should die in your contempt][1]

At 02:30 in the morning, Xu Ruibai sent the manuscript to Ye Jia as scheduled. The comic update time is [-]:[-] in the morning, and Ye Jia's working time is [-]:[-] in the morning.

Ye Jia set the automatic update time in the background, and then fell asleep with peace of mind.

It has been two years since he became Xu Ruibai's official editor, to be exact, it has been four years since he helped Xu Ruibai start delivering the manuscript in this way.

The story begins with a sleepless winter night.The protagonists of the story are a cartoonist who just debuted at that time and a college student who is ignorant and enthusiastic.

There are no turbulent crowds, no looking back at the first sight, no brilliant encounters with flowers along the way, and no carefully constructed coincidences and details.It's just very ordinary and vulgar. Ye Jia became Xu Ruibai's fan, and became a little transparent in the fan group.

Except for the gentle greetings in the morning, noon and evening, he has nothing to do with Xu Ruibai.

They just pass through a network cable, killing each other's boring life.

The turning point of the story is a piece of news that Xu Ruibai sent in the group.The content of the message is: Does any of you want to be a part-time editor?

Ye Jia said: I.

Xu Ruibai chatted with him privately: Do you want to be an editor?

It's like two rivers separated by thousands of rivers and mountains, gurgling and converging together.

Ye Jia simplified his enthusiasm into two short words: "Yeah."

At that time, Ye Jia didn't know that such brevity was the foreshadowing of fate, and in the long, long years to come, he would coexist with it and melt it into his blood.

"Then I'll give you the editor's number." Xu Ruibai replied.

"Just say you are my friend." Xu Ruibai added another sentence.

--friend.

It turns out that it can be such a shy and heart-warming word.

A good story should always have some mild twists and turns, so that the listener will not fall asleep.

The first twist and turns of the story is the entrance exam of the editorial department.Cutouts and watermarks for comics.For the 24-year-old Ye Jia, it has already been handy, but for the 20-year-old Ye Jia, it has become a difficult test.Ye Jia's major is literature, and he is used to reading and doing some illusory thoughts.Also, not proficient at all.He doesn't even have Photoshop in his heavy old laptop.

Ye Jia told Xu Ruibai dejectedly that this matter was probably a scandal.

"Send the manga, and I'll cut it for you."

"First install it yourself, and I will teach you how to use it tonight."

Why would there be such a person who spared no time and energy to help an unrelated stranger thousands of kilometers away?

Ye Jia was sensitive by nature, he understood human affairs early on, and naturally abandoned his expectations early, but this person who had never even met him gently picked up his expectations, and then stuffed him full of them.

Ye Jia suddenly understood what was written in the poem, only because I felt that when you looked back, it made me think about the twilight and the dynasty, probably it is such a hazy feeling.

It was as if the softest part of my heart was hit by something, and then it took root and sprouted there.

People always give in to tenderness, and Ye Jia is no exception.

Later, I successfully entered the editorial department and was responsible for the submission of some newcomers. I didn't have a great sense of accomplishment, and my salary was very meager.The only thing worth remembering is probably every chat he had with Xu Ruibai.

Xu Ruibai likes to chat with him late at night.

The crumbling night seemed to collapse at any moment, and then buried all the affection.

That should be Ye Jia's happiest time. Xu Ruibai would talk to him about the places he had been to, the people he had met, and the stories he wanted to paint.

Xu Ruibai likes to travel without a purpose, he will go to various places he has never heard of, stay in an unnamed hotel for two days, and then rush to the next place.

He is used to wandering, but not good at staying.

He seems to be a passer-by in the universe, obsessed with all kinds of wandering without asking where he returns.

He listened quietly, feeling envious.

Ye Jia seldom talked about himself. He liked to listen to Xu Ruibai's speech. Compared with Xu Ruibai's life, he was just a defective product mass-produced by the times. He was forced into mechanical thinking and lived a step-by-step life.

Ye Jia never said goodnight first, he stayed with Xu Ruibai until the time he drew, and he was always on standby for Xu Ruibai.

He asked Xu Ruibai if chatting with him would disturb his painting.

Xu Ruibai said, no.

So he became more at ease.

In their long chat records, Xu Ruibai never talked about his love, which was a well-known taboo place between the two of them.Ye Jia was obsessed with his tenderness, romance, and talent, and he also knew that he was unfettered and unattainable.He hates bondage and believes that there is nothing in the world except his own soul.So Ye Jia suppressed the shyness and enthusiasm in her heart, for fear that if she revealed a little bit, Xu Ruibai would be scared away.

What's more, Xu Ruibai doesn't like Omega.

At that time, Xu Ruibai didn't know that he was an Omega, and he never clearly expressed his likes and dislikes, but his dislike was conveyed between the lines, which made Ye Jia hide this secret even deeper.

At eight o'clock, the alarm clock was pressed, and Ye Jia got up on time, washed up, and went to work.

As soon as he arrived at the company, his colleagues informed him that the editor-in-chief wanted him to go to the office.Ye Jia could probably guess that it must be for Xu Ruibai's attendance at the annual meeting.

Sure enough, as soon as he walked in, the editor-in-chief couldn't wait to get to the point.

"Xiaoye, what did Southwest Wind say?" Southwest Wind is Xu Ruibai's pen name. According to him, he took this name because the day when he started drawing comics happened to be blowing southwest wind.

"He said we'll see when the time comes." Ye Jia didn't finish the job, and felt a little guilty.

After receiving such an ambiguous answer, the editor-in-chief's face immediately turned pale: "Did you tell him that all the top ten painters in the overall list will be present?"

Ye Jia shook his head honestly.He was not good at expressing himself, but after meeting Xu Ruibai, he became even more clumsy.

The editor-in-chief's face darkened again, and he flipped through the documents in front of him: "Did you tell him that he is the winner of the grand finale?"

"I didn't have time to say it..." Ye Jia defended in a low voice, thinking, even if he said it, Xu Ruibai wouldn't care.These things meant nothing to him.

"Very good, I didn't say anything." The editor-in-chief closed the folder heavily, and looked at him with a smirk, "Then do you know how much the attendance of Southwest Wind can increase the broadcast volume of our annual conference live broadcast?"

"I know." Of course Ye Jia knew.A high-quality Alpha with both talent and beauty, Xu Ruibai was on the hot search when he won the Rookie Award for the first time and showed his face for the first time.

It stands to reason that comics are only two-dimensional niche books, but Xu Ruibai is different. He not only has a readership, but also has a large number of fans.They don't like to read comics, but they can willingly pay for Xu Ruibai's new book; they don't follow comics, but they can easily make Xu Ruibai's weekly update rank first. Two-dimensional investors want to rely on Xu Ruibai to attract traffic, and three-dimensional capitalists want to rely on Xu Ruibai to expand new markets. Xu Ruibai is a myth that crosses Two-dimensional and Three-dimensional.

There is no way, this world has a natural adoration for Alpha, and beauty is the highest talent above all talents.What's more, this Alpha is not only good-looking, but also has excellent talent.

"I didn't say anything, so why did I give you a day off yesterday?" The editor-in-chief asked, "So that you can fall in love and have fun?!"

"Editor, I'm sorry." Ye Jia is best at admitting mistakes.

The editor-in-chief's anger seemed to hit a ball of cotton, and the other party didn't respond, and could only shout loudly: "What are you doing here! Go to work!"

Ye Jia nodded resentfully, turned around and left the office.As soon as the door was opened, the entire editorial department looked at him in unison. The voice of the editor-in-chief admonishing him just now was so loud that the entire editorial department could hear him clearly.

Ye Jia smiled at them awkwardly, and sat back in his seat.

"Ye Jia, the cover of Xi'an Fengda's new book has arrived and it's on your desk. Remember to show it to him." Lan Ying poked her head out and pointed to Ye Jia's desk.

There were three-point samples neatly placed on the table, Ye Jia nodded: "Okay, I'll trouble you."

After finishing speaking, I went to review the submission mailbox.

He heard whispers behind him, "Hey, didn't you say that he and Xixifeng are friends?"

"That's right, I heard that Southwest Feng asked him to be the editor."

"Oh, why can't you invite someone to come?"

"Who knows, hey, I hear they're more than just friends."

"Hahahaha, you know again, a friend of mine said she wanted to hear it too!"

Ye Jia has long been used to hearing these words. Omega seldom come out to work. Even if they want to work, they seldom accept ordinary positions.

Weakness, instability, and poor working ability have been synonymous with them since ancient times. The estrus period of Omega is much stronger than that of Alpha and Beta, so once a company accepts an Omega, it means that they must accept the estrus period that they don’t know when they will come and the ten-month pregnancy leave, so they want to work Most of the Omega will also do some freelance work.

He is the only Omega in the entire editorial department. He has been working officially for two years and part-time for two years. He still only has Xu Ruibai, a popular painter, and has always been responsible for reviewing contributions from newcomers.

He has long known that he is not suitable for this industry. What an editor requires is not only a keen sense of the market, but also excellent communication and coordination skills.But Ye Jia is not an eloquent person, and it can even be said that he has some social fears.

He is past the age where he wants to prove his ability, and he doesn't want to be a pioneer of any era. He just wants to stay here, because this is the only and strongest connection between him and Xu Ruibai.

Ye Jia took a deep breath and sent a message to Xu Ruibai: "Your new book cover proof has arrived, do you want to show it to you?"

Xu Ruibai didn't reply, so he probably hasn't woken up yet.

Taking advantage of the lunch break at noon, Ye Jia went to the city hospital. His inhibitors were used up. Although his estrus hadn't arrived yet, but thinking of Xu Ruibai's unscrupulousness yesterday, he decided to give himself another dose.

"Doctor Shen, I'll get the medicine." Ye Jia knocked on Shen Qingchuan's door.

In the spacious and bright office, a thin man in a white coat was sitting, talking to the patient in front of him.He wore a pair of rimless glasses on his sharp-edged face, and his untrimmed hair hung casually on his forehead. There was always a gentle smile on his mouth, and his whole body exuded a clean and dusty temperament.

"Xiaojia. Sit down for a while, and I'll talk to you after I finish this." Shen Qingchuan smiled at him, and continued talking to the patient in front of him.

Shen Qingchuan is a very good Alpha. He was already the deputy chief physician of their department when he was less than thirty.

Seven or eight minutes later, Shen Qingchuan let him in, and Ye Jia put the medical records on the table.

"Xiaojia, sit down." Shen Qingchuan pointed to the seat in front of him, motioning him to sit down.

"Doctor Shen, don't be so troublesome, you can still prescribe the same dosage for me." Ye Jia's lunch break was only two hours, and he didn't want to waste time here.

"In a hurry to go back to work?" Shen Qingchuan said with a smile.

Ye Jia nodded.

Shen Qingchuan flipped through Ye Jia's medical records, his face became a little more serious: "Your estrus period doesn't seem to be here yet, does it?"

"Ah."

Shen Qingchuan raised his head and asked with concern: "Why are the inhibitors used so quickly?"

Ye Jia was unwilling to answer, and smiled helplessly.

"You go for an examination first." Shen Qingchuan closed the medical records.

"Doctor Shen, I have to go to work at 01:30..."

"The body is more important than work." Then he placed an order for him on the computer.

Note: [1] Excerpted from Shelley's collection of poems: "To Harriet"