"You think you can just fob me off with ten thousand words? Am I a beggar?!"
Hearing Lin Ruo's words, Roselle immediately flared up. He pointed at Lin Ruo, about to curse, but swallowed the profanity back down. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Lin Ruo, don't go too far. I have a temper too."
"Oh…" Lin Ruo responded with an 'oh', his expression as if to say, "What does that have to do with me wanting to hurry you up on your manuscript?"
"You—!" Roselle instantly grew even angrier. He took a deep breath, looked at Lin Ruo, and said fiercely, "Your new book is gone."
"This time, even if you lock me in a dark room, you won't get another word out of me."
Lin Ruo blinked, as if finally realizing the seriousness of the matter. He then took a sip of tea and said, "My apologies, I was just in a bad mood earlier. Actually, your latest chapter is very good. With this quality, ten thousand characters are completely enough."
"Heh!" Roselle sneered, ignoring him. He sat down in a nearby seat and poured himself a glass of water, intending to calm his anger.
"I heard from Bullock that your recent investment has encountered cash flow problems," Lin Ruo said unhurriedly, not caring about Roselle's attitude. "Perhaps you need some sponsorship?"
Although the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery had begun to value Roselle, this appreciation was primarily reflected in their emphasis and support for Roselle's research and inventions, the special privileges they granted him in various fields of knowledge, and his priority in advancement applications, among other things. They wouldn't truly become an Incarnation of a nanny, covering all of Roselle's living expenses and giving him countless gold pounds to squander.
Therefore, while this appreciation brought Roselle many benefits, it still couldn't solve some problems, such as—a lack of money.
The reimbursement limit was, after all, finite, and the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery wasn't a sucker; they wouldn't provide Roselle with unlimited funds.
So, upon hearing Lin Ruo's words, Roselle's hand, holding the cup, stiffened. He then heard Lin Ruo continue:
"How about ten thousand gold coins? If that's not enough, I don't mind adding more later."
Damn, he's really rich… Roselle's fingertips trembled, but he still said in a cold voice, "Am I the kind of person who would bow for ten thousand gold pounds?"
"Hmm, you are not." Lin Ruo put down his teacup, understanding Roselle's subtext of "you need to add more money." He continued unhurriedly, "So, is twenty thousand gold coins enough?"
Money, for a Angel of Judgment, was merely a number.
Therefore, for anything that could be accomplished with money, Lin Ruo would not be stingy at all.
Roselle's fingertips trembled again. He quickly drank all the water in his cup before looking at Lin Ruo and saying seriously:
"…I won't take advantage of you. The money you invest, I will give you dividends based on shares later. From a long-term perspective, you will definitely profit."
"Then please help me establish a charity with this money to assist those children without parents," Lin Ruo replied with a smile.
Damn, aren't you making me look heartless… Roselle muttered in his heart, then nodded and said, "Alright, as long as you don't feel bad about the money later." At the same time, he also decided that once this charity was established, he would also invest a sum of money into it.
"Hmm…" Lin Ruo blinked, ultimately not saying anything else that would prick Roselle's heart.
After all, if he truly angered him further, appeasing him would be troublesome.
Lin Ruo was still waiting for Roselle's output; if he truly blew up, wouldn't he have no books to read?
"So, what exactly did you encounter earlier that put you in such a bad mood that you took it out on me?" Roselle, whose fur had finally been smoothed, finally had time to focus on this matter. He asked curiously and exasperatedly.
"Do you really want to know?" Lin Ruo propped his chin with one hand, his smile becoming a bit brighter.
Roselle immediately sensed danger and quickly shook his head, saying, "Forget it, I'm not interested in knowing that."
"Heh heh…" Seeing his cowardly reaction, Lin Ruo was immediately amused and then said, "Actually, it's nothing major. I just met someone I didn't want to see and recalled some things I didn't want to hear."
That certainly doesn't sound like nothing at all… Roselle mentally retorted. Although still somewhat curious, he ultimately didn't ask further.
Lin Ruo took a sip of tea, then remembered something and looked at Roselle, asking, "I heard from Bullock that you're getting married soon?"
"…How does Archbishop Bullock tell you everything?" Although their time together wasn't too long, Roselle, who had clearly grown accustomed to Lin Ruo's Leap thinking , complained, but he couldn't help but think of his fiancée, Matilda. His mood instantly improved a bit, and he nodded, saying, "The fifteenth of next month will be my wedding with Young Miss Matilda."
Although Roselle initially held a resistant attitude towards this fiancée, after meeting the Immortal Master, Roselle quickly chose to embrace it.
While he might not necessarily like this fiancée much, and it certainly wasn't love at first sight, Roselle was undoubtedly satisfied with Matilda as his future wife.
"So, you're getting married in less than a month, yet you haven't invited me to your wedding. Ah, that's truly heartbreaking," Lin Ruo said, displaying a sad expression.
Roselle: …
Do you really not have a clue why I wouldn't invite you?
Who would invite someone who brings up Expediting in three sentences every time they meet to their wedding?!
And can your expression be any faker?
Roselle had countless complaints in his heart, but essentially, he was in the wrong. After all, he had known Lin Ruo for over half a year. Although every meeting was chaotic, and the main topic, besides rushing the manuscript, was rushing the manuscript, they could still be considered friends.
Since they were already friends, it was indeed not good to not invite the other party to such a major event as a wedding.
So, after thinking for a moment, Roselle said, "How about I write an extra two thousand characters in the next chapter as an apology?"
"I treat you as a good friend, but you don't invite me to your wedding. Is that a problem that can be solved with two thousand characters?" Lin Ruo looked at Roselle, his attitude equally clear.
"Four thousand," Roselle stated a number.
"Two chapters," Lin Ruo stated another number.
"You might as well just rob me!" Roselle gritted his teeth instantly.
"Isn't that what I'm doing?" Lin Ruo replied with a smile, fully demonstrating what it meant to be unforgiving when in the right.
"Impossible, at most eight thousand, not a single character more." Roselle flatly refused, his attitude very firm.
"Alright then, eight thousand it is. I'll check it when you submit the manuscript next time." Seeing his firm attitude, Lin Ruo didn't insist further. After all, for him, every extra character he read was a gain.
It was just a matter of gaining more or less.
"As if you don't check it every time," Roselle pouted, saying exasperatedly.
Lin Ruo merely smiled without speaking.
He then put down his teacup, remembered something else, and reminded, "Oh, by the way, has Young Zaratul been secretly contacting you again recently?"