Sounds Logical

Su Yan opened the text editor again only to realize that he still didn't know if there was a word limit for this story. He wanted to take a look at his phone again but hesitated.

Writing the story was part of the main task. Considering that the current part of the main task was interacting with his readers he didn't even know where to look for a word limit. So maybe … there wasn't one in the first place?

He turned to Nie Chang who had put the notebook to the repaired devices and picked up a smartphone instead. Uh, his boyfriend was obviously working right now. He had already disturbed him once … or twice … or was it three times?

Well, anyway, he had disturbed him already. He couldn't just tug at his sleeve again and expect him to help him out, right? If he did that, then Nie Chang would never finish his work. Then he definitely wouldn't continue to sit with him at the counter which would be quite a pity. He liked being so close to him.

Su Yan's thoughts were quite nice but he had already stared at Nie Chang for so long that it would have been a wonder if his boyfriend hadn't noticed.

Nie Chang turned around and was presented with a pensive-looking Su Yan, whose face immediately lit up when he faced him just to turn dark the next moment. One after another his face seemed to express the thoughts 'This question is really troubling me …', 'Great, now I can ask my question!' and 'Ugh, I shouldn't do this.'. It really was interesting to watch.

Nie Chang cleared his throat. "Was there something you wanted?"

Su Yan's eyes widened and he hurriedly shook his head. "No! No, why would you think so? I can see that you're working so I definitely wouldn't dare disturb you!" His dark expression shifted into one of guilt that clearly said that he had wanted to do exactly that in the beginning.

"Oh … Well, I was just thinking that I might need some other tool for this."

"So you want to take a break?" Su Yan perked up and his eyes started to sparkle. "How about we take a break together? There are hardly any customers this early in the morning."

"Sounds good. So, how did things go for you?" Nie Chang motioned at the notebook without any intention to stand up. Naturally, he didn't really need anything else. He already had everything there that he needed.

Su Yan pursed his lips. "Well … It wasn't bad, it's just … the system didn't tell me everything. You know that it gave me a word limit of five-thousand words for the first story? This time, it didn't tell me anything! I'm supposed to plan a story without knowing how long it can be!"

"Was there really no information at all?"

Su Yan nodded vigorously. "Yes! Isn't that mean? What if I plan an ultra long story and then it tells me that I'm only supposed to write five-thousand words again?!"

"I doubt that that would happen. The last time when the limit was mentioned did you start writing the story before that?"

Su Yan shook his head. "No."

"And neither did you now. I'd say that means there won't be a limit this time. Or maybe the system will calculate a reasonable one according to what you've planned."

"Mn …" Su Yan didn't seem thrilled at all. He didn't want to have a word limit enforced on him. He would feel so much more relaxed if he knew that he could write however much he wanted. Having to count the words after every little scene was really too troublesome!

Seeing his boyfriend's expression Nie Chang knew what was up. He couldn't help but smile at his silly little darling who looked at him as if the end of the world was near. Ah, it really must be tough if something doesn't work as you want it to after years of being spoiled.

Nie Chang thought so but he couldn't bring himself to say that out loud. Instead, he pulled Su Yan onto his lap, hugged him and gave him a kiss. "Alright, no need to look so down. Those are just possibilities. I still think that it is much more likely that there won't be a limit at all. Look at it like this: The system first tested you with the first story and now that you've accomplished some tasks it probably won't restrict you as much anymore. Instead, you'll get the opportunity to make choices for yourself."

"Mn …" Su Yan pursed his lips.

Actually, that sounded quite logical. Just looking at the different stories he had started working on since he got the system it was pretty obvious anyway: First, there was a fanfiction where he could choose which characters to write about but where a limit of two-thousand words was imposed on him. Then, he had to create his own main characters for his first original story and the word limit was loosened and he could write five-thousand words.

This time, he was still required to create two characters for an entirely original story. The only difference was that now he was also supposed to communicate with his new readers while he did. So, there had been nothing new for this task. In other words, it would be really logical to drop that useless word limit, right?

Thinking things through Su Yan's face lit up. He encircled Nie Chang's neck and kissed him back. "Thank you! I know now! There's nothing to worry about."

"That's good then." Nie Chang smiled and craned his neck to get another kiss.

Unfortunately for him, it was a fleeting one. His lips had barely touched Su Yan's when his little darling started to squirm around. Nie Chang hurriedly let him go before something embarrassing could happen.

Su Yan didn't notice anything. He wanted to happily skip back to his seat but at least remembered to pay his boyfriend a little more attention as thanks for his help. He turned back around, cupped his cheeks and kissed him again. He let go just as fast though and Nie Chang could only watch how his little darling wiggled back to his seat and ignored him again.

Ah, as much as it hurt being abandoned for an inanimate object it was still quite cute to watch …