Chapter 4

Although this world does not have novels like "A Wandering Journey," "Dragon Tiger," or "Buddha Is the Way" that pioneered new genres, the web novels here have been around for more than twenty years, perhaps even longer than on Earth. The genres such as Xianxia, fantasy, sports, and online games have already been categorized, so it's impossible to become the founder of a new genre.

"Writing web novels, the most popular way is to create a new genre, which will attract countless followers."

"The major categories of web novels in this world have already been fixed, with only some minor categories left."

"Among them, 'Buddha Is the Way,' 'Stellar Transformations,' and 'The Legend of the Immortal' would also be genre-defining works if they were brought to this world."

"'Buddha Is the Way' pioneered the Primordial Chaos genre, 'Stellar Transformations' pioneered the infinite upgrade genre, and 'The Legend of the Immortal' pioneered the ordinary person genre. These three books are still under consideration."

"The tomb-raiding genre, such as 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' and 'Tomb Raider Chronicles,' is more suitable for physical book publication and doesn't perform well in online subscriptions, so it's ruled out."

"The sci-fi mecha genre, 'The Legend of the Shaman,' and the infinite genre, 'Infinite Horror,' are first ruled out! 'Infinite Horror' is immediately ruled out because this world doesn't have the movies mentioned in the novel. To write it, I would have to create and produce these movies first, which is too much work, so it's ruled out! 'The Legend of the Shaman' is also ruled out for the same reason, as 'Transformers' and 'Gundam' don't exist here, and few people would understand it."

"Sigh, there are too many classic novels to choose from." I bet web novelists would envy this problem.

After much deliberation, the list of novels on the white paper was greatly reduced—

"The Battle Through the Heavens" (Peak White Stream) △ Under Consideration

"Buddha Is the Way" (Primordial Chaos Stream) △ Under Consideration

"The Legend of the Immortal" (Ordinary Person Stream) △ Under Consideration

"Stellar Transformations" (Infinite Upgrade Stream) △ Under Consideration

"How to Become a Bad Guy" (Peak Black Stream) △ Under Consideration

"Zizhuan" (Fantasy War Stream) △ Under Consideration

"God's Tomb" (Fantasy Suspense Stream) △ Under Consideration

"Dragon and Snake Evolution" (National Martial Arts Stream) △ Under Consideration

"Which one should I choose?" After much thought, Su Shichen finally made his decision.

"Xiao Chen, it's time to eat."

"Coming." He put down his pen.

In the end, only one book title remained on the white paper: "The Legend of the Immortal"...

The family of three sat down to eat.

"Shichen, have you finished your homework?" Su Shichen's father, Su Jian, asked.

"Finished. Today was the registration day, and the homeroom teacher only assigned an essay, which I've already completed, 600 words."

"Good." Su Jian nodded in satisfaction.

"Old Su, do you know what day it is today?" Wei Xin asked.

"I was just about to ask you. What day is it? The table is full of good dishes. Is it your birthday? But your birthday is on March 8th, which has already passed. Could it be my birthday?" Su Jian was puzzled.

Indeed, the table was full of good dishes: spicy fish, boiled meat slices, husband and wife lung slices, twice-cooked pork, braised pork intestines...

"It's not a birthday. Today's meal is to celebrate for Xiao Chen." Wei Xin rolled her eyes, but the joy in her eyes was unmistakable.

"Celebrate? Celebrate what? Did you get a high score on the exam? No, it's the registration day, so there couldn't have been an exam." Su Jian looked at her with a questioning gaze.

Su Shichen was about to speak, but Wei Xin beat him to it, "Xiao Chen wrote a book, and it's been picked up by De Yun Publishing. It's going to be published, and my son is going to become a famous writer, and he'll even get a 5,000 yuan advance."

"Xiao Chen's book is going to be published?" Su Jian was taken aback. When did his son have this kind of talent?

"Yes."

"Hmm, very good. Don't neglect your studies." Although Su Jian maintained his calm demeanor, the surprise in his voice was evident.

The family of three enjoyed a hearty meal, and Su Jian even drank a couple of extra glasses of wine. He had signed the contract.

The next day, cotton candy-like clouds floated in the sky.

In the classroom, the students were noisy after a long summer break.

"Hey, Xiao Si, have you finished your essay? Let me see it." Li Dongfang bounced over, reaching out for the essay.

"Wow, class president, you're not trying to copy my homework, are you?" Su Shichen said exaggeratedly.

"Hmph, I'm not that stupid. Who would dare to copy an essay? It would be obvious at a glance."

"Class president, do you remember the bet we made yesterday? Did you check? Was I right?" Su Shichen asked.

"I guess I did. The teacher is coming, I'll go back to my seat." Li Dongfang mumbled, her face turning red. In fact, she had asked her mother when she got home, and the word did indeed mean what Su Shichen said, and the other effects he mentioned were also real.

Li Dongfang wondered how Su Shichen knew so much after the summer break. Not only was he writing a book that would be published, but he could also explain the meaning of an English word. A seed of admiration was planted in her young heart.

But even so, with her proud personality, she wouldn't admit it, so she was being stubborn.

"Ding ding!" The bell rang, and the first class was Chinese.

"Hand in the essays assigned yesterday." The group leaders collected the homework and passed them to the Chinese class representative, who then took them to the homeroom teacher's office.

"The new semester has started. Please focus and study diligently. Today's first lesson is 'So-Called Freedom.'" The homeroom teacher, Zhou Bi, opened the textbook and began, "The United States was once called the land of freedom, with the president elected by citizens. However, the U.S. has severe racial discrimination, with black Americans discriminating against white Americans, and black Americans having no voting rights. This article is written by a Chinese author with a self-deprecating and satirical tone..."

It must be noted that the historical development of this world is very different from Earth. While this world does have the emancipation of black slaves, it lacks Martin Luther King Jr. and the U.S. civil rights movement, leaving black Americans in a very awkward position.

"Class is over..." The bell rang.

The teacher returned to the office to grade the essays.

The students naturally rushed out of the classroom, some to the restroom, others to buy snacks.

"Xiao Si," a familiar voice called from behind. Turning around, "Tiger, what's up?"

"Let's go out and play. Why stay in the classroom?" The speaker was Ma Jun, nicknamed Ma Tiger, and Tiger was Su Shichen's nickname. The two were best friends.

"No, you go. I have some things to do." Su Shichen changed the subject, "By the way, Tiger, I remember you said you have a relative who teaches painting."

"Yes, it's my uncle. He graduated from the art academy and runs a training class. Why, are you interested in painting, Xiao Si?"

"Sure, Tiger, can you help me contact him?"

"Sure, no problem, leave it to me." Ma Jun patted his chest in assurance...

In the office, the homeroom teacher of Class 10, Zhou Bi, was grading the essays. In fact, this essay assignment was not given by him but by the entire grade, with the theme being environmental protection. Each class would select the best essay to be published at the grade level, and from the 36 classes (12 classes per grade), the best 10-15 essays would be published in the school magazine.

After reading a dozen essays, he rubbed his eyes, feeling a bit tired. They all seemed to follow the same pattern, writing about the importance of environmental protection or a touching story about environmental protection, which were quite common.

"Sigh, let's see Tang Lingyu's." Zhou Bi sighed, finding Tang Lingyu's essay in the pile and flipping it open. The title was "A Letter to Mr. World."

"Good, personifying the world and using its mouth to criticize the destruction of the environment. Both the creativity and the writing are excellent. It seems that the best essay from our class will be Tang Lingyu's again." Zhou Bi quickly skimmed through it, focusing on the title, introduction, and conclusion.

Suddenly, he found a novel title.

"Hey—Out." From the title, it seemed to have nothing to do with environmental protection and more like a story about manners.

Zhou Bi's interest was piqued, and he read through it, discovering it was a short story.

His interest grew even more.

"Who wrote this essay?" He flipped to the front page of the essay book—Su Shichen.

"Su Shichen?"

Continuing to read, there was no doubt that the essay was very well-written. Of course, this was natural, as it was written by the father of Japanese short stories, Shinichi Hoshi, and was even included in the eighth-grade curriculum. While that was in the past, it still proved the quality of the short story.

Even if evaluated by professional writers, this short story would be considered a rare gem, let alone for a middle school magazine selection.

"Excellent, I didn't expect Su Shichen to write such a brilliant short story."

"Classmates, it's time for class. Please return to the classroom quickly..." The bell rang.

In the afternoon, there was another Chinese class. Zhou Bi entered the classroom with a stack of essay books. "I'm very pleased that you all took the assignment seriously. Two students wrote particularly well this time."

"One is Tang Lingyu. In her essay, the world is personified, and both the writing and creativity are excellent." The students below looked unsurprised, as Tang Lingyu was always mentioned when essays were discussed.

"As for the second student, I want to give special praise."

"That's Su Shichen. The title of his essay is 'Hey—Out,' a science fiction short story. I will read it aloud to show you why it's so good..."

---

"After a typhoon, the sky was clear. In a village not far from the city, the typhoon had caused some damage. However, the damage was not severe, with only the small temple at the foot of the mountain being completely swept away, without any casualties. The next morning, the villagers gathered to discuss the incident.

'Which dynasty did that temple come from?'

'Who knows, it's been around for a long time...'"

(To be continued)