Chapter 206: Before the Provincial Finals

Chapter 206: Before the Provincial Finals

"I recall that triple, quadra, and penta kills refer to achievements earned by securing takedowns in rapid succession!"

Chen Daqiang, already inside the elevator, nearly pressed the wrong floor upon hearing Meng Fan’s remark. He reached out from the closing doors and raised a middle finger in a gesture of profound respect.

"You don't even draft your tall tales before spinning them."

Meng Fan muttered with a hint of envy. While he had never dared to dream of a seven-kill godlike streak, it would be a lie to say he didn't crave that first blood.

Sigh.

He exhaled, and when his phone buzzed with a message from Wu Tong confirming she had returned to campus, the weight on his heart finally lifted.

That single word—"sister-in-law"—from Chen Daqiang had nearly cost Meng Fan half his life.

As for that incident, he would naturally feign total ignorance; only a fool would go out of his way to explain it to Wu Tong.

After replying to her, Meng Fan called Qin Jiu to inform her that he had handed the post-production of his manga over to the studio and that Chen Daqiang had already arrived.

"You certainly know how to delegate. Fine, I’ve noted it. If you’re short on hands, I’ll find more," Qin Jiu said. "The publishing deal is essentially settled; the house is very eager to take on your manga. Oh, right, they also asked—about that first volume of 'Campus Love Guide' you self-funded... ugh, what a terrible title... they wanted to know if you’d like to reprint or reissue it."

"That works!" Meng Fan had been meaning to bring this up. "Can I leave that to you as well?"

"No problem, but you’ll have to pay the studio a service fee for the trouble."

"...Fine by me."

After hanging up, Meng Fan returned to his study. The sight of the flower arrangement and the potted cactus on his workbench put him in an exceptionally good mood.

From one o'clock until five-thirty in the afternoon, Meng Fan drew two more chapters of "Campus Love Guide," maintaining a remarkably high level of efficiency.

He sent the drafts to Chen Daqiang, then went to the kitchen to serve the soup he’d been simmering, paired with rice and a few side dishes. Dinner was sorted.

He skipped his run that evening, choosing to continue drawing after his meal.

He finished a chapter around eight, went live to draw another, then ended the stream, shouldered his drawing tube, and grabbed his pillow and stool before heading out.

He hailed a taxi to a scenic spot by West Lake, donned his cap, found a secluded corner, set up his easel, and took his seat. With his night-vision goggles on, he resumed his work.

If he was going to draw anyway, why not do it while grinding his night-tour missions? He had all the equipment he needed.

Meng Fan even used his streaming assistant to scan for nearby security cameras, allowing him to navigate the area perfectly unseen.

From just before eleven at night until past four in the morning, he finished a chapter and earned 5 points of night-tour experience, bringing his total to 51 and completing the third stage of the quest.

"Ding! Visited 50 night attractions, completing Stage 3 of 'Night Wanderer'; Reward: +50 points, +1 Night Owl Stamina."

He planned to grind the remaining 49 points over the next ten days. The subsequent rewards—+6 Night Owl Stamina, +4 Observation, and +1 Aesthetics—were quite generous.

Over the next few days, Meng Fan maintained this frenzied pace. Time flew, and soon it was November 17th.

By now, "Campus Love Guide" had concluded, and "Spirits Beneath the Earth" had reached its 21st chapter.

Regarding post-production, the studio had assigned four additional people alongside Chen Daqiang, giving Meng Fan a total of five assistants.

While such a setup was standard for a Japanese manga master, it was considered ultra-luxurious in the domestic industry.

Yet, even five assistants couldn't keep up with Meng Fan's speed!

Focusing on "Campus Love Guide" had allowed it to wrap up smoothly online, but while "Spirits Beneath the Earth" was drawn up to chapter 21, it had only been updated to chapter 16 due to the bottleneck in post-production.

Even this update volume had sparked heated discussions in the industry. Artists had begun to treat Meng Fan as a synonym for a demon—a demon who shattered "industry rules." Who the hell updates like you do? How are the rest of us supposed to survive?

The kicker was that, thanks to his live streams, everyone knew Meng Fan wasn't working from a stockpile; he was drawing in real-time, and the quality remained high. It put immense pressure on everyone else. Whenever someone else lagged, fans would immediately cite Meng Fan, and many readers were already complaining that weekly updates were too slow!

"Look at the guy next door, then look at yourself. Aren't you ashamed?"

"Can't you update like that streamer?"

"You both graduated from the same art academy; why is your speed so pathetic?"

These were the polite comments; being called "trash" was just part of the daily routine, leaving the other manga artists miserable.

Where did this guy come from? If you're a streamer, why not just stick to streaming or drawing illustrations? Why did you have to come and draw manga!

On the morning of November 17th, Meng Fan finally stopped drawing. After a lunch date with Wu Tong, he took a taxi to the Huanglong Sports Center.

He had rehearsed there on the 15th, and today was the final dress rehearsal for the Hangzhou stop of Su Qingcen’s concert tour.

Beyond singing, Meng Fan was also slated to perform sand art to accompany one of Su Qingcen’s songs.

The previous rehearsals had gone smoothly, and this one was no different.

"Leaving already? Not staying for dinner?"

"I have other business."

Meng Fan did indeed have business. After leaving the arena, he went to the arcade where he’d competed in the basketball machine tournament for an hour of training. Tomorrow was the Zhejiang Provincial Finals of the CGL Basketball Championship!

Fortunately, the finals would start in the morning and conclude before nightfall. Since the venue was in Hangzhou, he would make it back in time for the concert.

Meng Fan took the provincial finals very seriously; he was determined to win. It meant a championship honor point and potentially another chance to appear on CCTV-5. He couldn't afford to miss it.

"Brother Fei."

Meng Fan had streamed this training session to boost his view count. After ending the stream, he pulled several tickets from his bag and handed them to Da Fei and the others, who had come to join the fun. "Tickets for Brother Shan Jin’s concert tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night? I have to catch the evening bullet train back to Wenzhou after the tournament tomorrow; a friend is getting married the day after," Da Fei said with a hint of regret.

Pao Ge chuckled and took them. "If you can't use them, give them to me. Xiao Le and the girls have been whining for days about not being able to buy tickets."

"If they were whining to you about it, don't you think they wanted you to ask my brother here for tickets? Didn't that occur to you?"

Da Fei rubbed his forehead. How could Pao Ge have such low emotional intelligence yet still be surrounded by so many girls?

The girls Pao Ge had introduced to Meng Fan during the Double Eleven gala had naturally seen him perform.

Pao Ge thought about it seriously. "I guess that’s true." He smiled, waving the tickets. "But I got them, didn't I?!"

Meng Fan gave Da Fei a look that asked, "Are you convinced yet?" This was just how life worked!

Buzz, buzz.

Meng Fan’s phone rang. He glanced at it; it was Su Qingcen.

"So you were practicing on the basketball machine!" Su Qingcen had seen his stream. "My rehearsal is over. You've ended your stream, right? Come over and have dinner with me."