Chapter 43

"Do you all still remember the old man by the great lake, Gu Yongsheng? That person is me."

Liu Jingtong, who had remained silent all along, had been waiting for this sentence. Ever since he saw the advertisement for the essay contest on TV, he had started to plan this counterattack in his heart. It wasn't really a grand scheme, just a response to the frustration of being criticized, and it was mainly about taking advantage of the situation.

He looked up the submission rules online and then submitted "The Sword of the Yue Maiden."

Despite his strong confidence in this novel, Liu Jingtong didn't have high hopes for the grand prize or the first, second, or third prizes. In his mind, the higher the prize money, the further the competition was from true fairness, especially when it involved relevant departments, which were even more unpredictable.

Liu Jingtong had three reasons for persisting in submitting his work. First, "The Sword of the Yue Maiden" was extremely relevant to the competition theme. Second, he believed that this story would shine in the online voting round. Even if it didn't win any awards later, the unique charm of the story would ultimately earn it the recognition it deserved.

The third and most important reason was that he needed to give everyone a preview. Apart from "Dragon and Tiger," both "Seven Swords Descending from Heaven" and "The Legend of the White-Haired Witch" were representative works of Liang Yusheng, and the Liang style was already very distinct. Once these two works were out, whether he chose to write about Gu Long or Jin Yong, readers would likely become suspicious.

Therefore, this was a伏笔 (foreshadowing). Although "The Sword of the Yue Maiden" was short, it already revealed the language style and writing feel of Jin Yong. As long as the subsequent books were selected and arranged properly, it shouldn't feel too abrupt to the readers.

This was a significant insight for him. Initially, he had started with martial arts novels based on his interests and then introduced Liang Yusheng, the founder of the new school of martial arts, according to the unified understanding and conclusions of later generations. This approach certainly aligned with the development timeline of martial arts novels, but the differences in style between novelists always existed.

For hardcore martial arts fans, even if the names were hidden, they could easily distinguish which words belonged to Jin, Gu, or Liang just by reading a segment of text.

Liang Yusheng's works were known for their literary allusions, with the main characters often reciting poetry. Gu Long's works were characterized by short sentences, like sharp knives, emphasizing atmosphere and philosophy, often carrying his own insights into the world and bursting with golden phrases. Jin Yong's works, on the other hand, were different from the first two. In summary, they were "plain and unremarkable," but they were captivating.

Therefore, people often saw famous quotes from Gu Long, but rarely from Jin Yong or Liang Yusheng.

Even so, this wasn't a major issue. After all, they were all martial arts novels. As long as the groundwork was done well, Liu Jingtong was confident he could smoothly introduce the works of the three masters. The real challenge was the books that came after martial arts. Imagine if "Gu Yongsheng," who wrote martial arts novels, suddenly wrote "The True Story of Ah Q." It could easily lead to a backlash from readers.

This was also why Liu Jingtong insisted on not associating Gu Yongsheng with "Shuke and Beta."

...

After submitting "The Sword of the Yue Maiden," Liu Jingtong remained calm and observed the situation. Qianhong kept urging him to participate in the contest, and Liu Jingtong responded with "I'm still thinking, but I have some ideas." On the other hand, Mi Hu, who had mustered the courage, finally sent over her manuscript.

Mi Hu chose the second image, "The Bearded Guest," and wrote about the story of the Three Heroes of the Dust. As a girl, she naturally didn't focus on national heroes. Instead, she explored why Hongfu preferred Li Jing over the Bearded Guest.

When Liu Jingtong read Mi Hu's article, he vaguely remembered something. In his first year of college, during a boring class, he had played a word game with a girl in the class. At the time, the talented girl had come up with the line "Hongfu's wise eyes recognized Li Jing," and he had responded with "Hongyu's heart left the dust."

Hongfu and Liang Hongyu were two of the most famous women in history, known as the "Two Reds." The talented girl had also asked a similar question: why didn't Hongfu like the grand and imposing Bearded Guest?

These two incidents showed that, regardless of the world, when women read novels or watched movies, they often focused on whether the main characters ended up together or who ended up with whom.

Mi Hu's writing was very straightforward, and it was clear that she was trying to break away from the established conclusions and express her own thoughts. For example, when she wrote about the dialogue between Hongfu and the Bearded Guest, she described Hongfu's mindset in great detail. This description was the core of her article, a way to express her own thoughts through the story.

Liu Jingtong frankly told Mi Hu, "From my personal perspective, there are many commendable aspects of this article, but..."

"But it's not suitable for the contest?" Mi Hu interjected, "I knew you would say that."

"That..."

"Alright, no need to explain. I agree with your opinion. This article isn't for submission."

"Then?"

"Written for you to read?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't overthink it. I want to motivate you to participate."

"Actually," Liu Jingtong confessed, "I've already submitted my manuscript."

Mi Hu didn't show much surprise, calmly saying, "That's about right. You're only fifteen, but you're so calculating."

"It's just my nature," Liu Jingtong said with a self-deprecating smile, "But I couldn't help telling you."

Mi Hu was satisfied, "If you win, 'Seven Swords' can continue, right?"

"I haven't really thought about that. Whether I win or not, the story will continue. Everyone knows that this is just about venting my frustration. If I win, it might backfire. They don't want to be slapped in the face."

"What about Qianhong?"

"They're waiting for the publication number of 'Grass on the Plain.' Let's not talk about that. Have you submitted your manuscript?"

...

As "The Sword of the Yue Maiden" gained popularity online, Liu Jingtong wasn't particularly surprised. The value of these works had already been proven, so he was confident.

In fact, when Liu Jingtong handed over the manuscript of "Shuke and Beta" to Editor Yao, she had subtly hinted that if there were any troubles, he could find her. This was a clear indication of the current situation, but Liu Jingtong had also subtly refused, saying that if they agreed not to contact each other, they wouldn't. Moreover, he really didn't want to trouble others.

Qianhong, perhaps feeling guilty or realizing something, stopped urging Liu Jingtong to participate in the contest. When "The Sword of the Yue Maiden" became a nationwide sensation, Lu Yichou mysteriously sent a message: "It will be a resounding slap. If I can't handle the aftermath, I'm incompetent."

Then, media outlets began to invite him for interviews through the contest organizers, but he naturally refused. This was a predetermined decision. As long as the book promotion plan wasn't complete, he wouldn't appear as an "author" in public. He had a final plan in mind.

After the media's failed attempts to interview him, they began to hint at the author's stubbornness, leading to a situation where netizens pressured him. Seizing the opportunity, Liu Jingtong released his self-introduction, which caused a brief moment of silence in both online and print media. Then, everyone quickly became agitated.

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves!

The ones who said he was corrupting social morals and leading children astray were the same ones who praised his clever use of history and skillful storytelling. The ones who called his work a "spiritual opium" and "toxic weed" were the same ones who praised it as a "short masterpiece" and "classic work."

This was an incredibly awkward situation, as the previous news was still fresh.

A wave of ridicule quickly flooded the internet. This time, the targets of the ridicule didn't remain silent. They quickly responded forcefully: "We criticize the wrong and praise the right. That's what we've always done!"

"We focus on the issue, not the person. We have a clear conscience!"

...

Thus, everyone entered a new round of confrontation and negotiation...

Even Lu Yichou, who had already guessed that the author of "The Sword of the Yue Maiden" was Gu Yongsheng, couldn't help but smile bitterly after reading the self-introduction. They had better ways to handle the situation, such as having Gu Yongsheng politely choose a few friendly media outlets for interviews, speaking as a pure author about his creative journey, and presenting some grand theories about the meaning of literature.

If Gu Yongsheng could be a bit more gentle and cooperative, the situation would have been easier to resolve. Unfortunately, like Han Shuo, he was a wild horse that could only be followed, not controlled.

"Perhaps this is the genius disease," Lu Yichou said with a self-deprecating smile, then began to plan a response.

...

"One can be young if one can be passionate," Mo Yuzhi said to Cui Song, greatly admiring Gu Yongsheng's retaliation. "I bet Lu Yichou is having a headache again."

"It seems we can't continue to poach talent for now," Cui Song said regretfully.

"Let's stop here," Mo Yuzhi said calmly. "This time, I met Lu Yichou in the capital, and that old fox even brought Yao Lihua and Tang Feng to persuade me."

Cui Song nodded, "Let the young man know our power. I just got the news that Chen Shi from Fudan University really likes Gu Yongsheng. There will likely be an article in the next few days, so we need to wrap things up nicely."

"I've already contacted him and expressed our goodwill. The future is long—though I don't think he'll accept the award after all this."

Cui Song shook his head and smiled, "Yes, it's very unlikely."

...

"I won't say much. Editors, form three groups. You have half a month to discuss a martial arts-themed topic and submit a detailed outline. This will be jointly responsible by Chen Yin and Beige Tang. Everyone understand?"

At Dingjie Culture Company, President Xue Muliang was assigning new tasks to his subordinates.

"Understood," they all replied.

Beige Tang hesitated and asked, "What about the author?"

"First, come up with the topic, then choose the author. If there's no suitable author, you can write it yourself," Xue Muliang said firmly, looking at Beige Tang.