Chapter 63

In the midst of cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

The exaggerated advertising language that Liu Jington once used as a laughing matter was now happening to him in reality. Besides the six national first-class printing factories with their lights blazing, the 62 large high-speed printing machines were roaring, and the 23 binding machines were operating non-stop. One thousand five hundred printing factory workers worked day and night, while five text editors, three proofreading editors, and three art editors worked tirelessly, taking shifts to meet the deadlines...

When "Harry Potter" was first published, the military was directly mobilized to escort it. According to another story, a female bookstore owner in Japan personally went to the UK to meet J.K. Rowling to secure the sales rights for "Harry Potter," and eventually made a fortune from the book.

At this point, Gu Yongsheng's popularity was naturally not enough to warrant the mobilization of the military. On one hand, the Seven Swords were not yet complete, and on the other, "Dragon Tiger Battle in Jinghua" and "Yue Girl Sword" were still short. Moreover, the fairy tale that was gradually taking shape was moving further away from the name "Gu Yongsheng." Therefore, objectively speaking, Gu Yongsheng's current influence still fell short of Xue Muliang's, otherwise, the number of machines and editors mentioned earlier would have to be doubled.

Lu Yichou's decision to announce a first print run of one million copies while actually printing only five hundred thousand (publishers seemed to have the habit of doubling the announced first print run) clearly confirmed this.

However, to everyone's surprise, including that of his competitors, the first week's sales of "The White-Haired Deviless" did not see the expected surge. Although a weekly sales volume of 200,000 copies was already quite impressive, it was somewhat disconnected from the hype created before the book's release.

Thus, discordant voices arose at the right time, and the media began to subtly criticize with phrases like "the public's eyes are sharp" and "excessive marketing can no longer deceive the masses." Competitors gleefully asked Lu Yichou, "Where's the second batch you promised?" completely ignoring the fact that his new book's sales had already exceeded theirs by ten times.

Qianhong remained calm in the face of this. Lu Yichou made a brief statement on his microblog, pointing out that the sales of "The White-Haired Deviless" in the first week equaled the total sales of all other similar new books combined, and he couldn't understand why everyone was so excited. He also noted that any form of literary work, once released, must be tested by the market, and it was suspicious for so many peers or outsiders to rush to make judgments after just one week. Finally, he reminded everyone to focus more on the novel itself.

Lu Yichou's counter-arguments not only failed to effectively suppress the doubts and ridicule but also sparked a stronger desire for creative expression. Some people expressed their confusion, asking why they should devote their limited attention to the novels published by Qianhong.

Lu Yichou felt that his first response was already against his nature, and he certainly wouldn't make a second explanation. Having been in publishing for so long, he had encountered situations where the hype was much greater than the actual results. Even though he knew the value and significance of "The White-Haired Deviless," his inherent pride occasionally made him doubt whether his judgment had gone awry or if he had set his expectations too high for the new book.

"This performance is already quite extraordinary," the chief editor Wei Wuzhi seemed to understand his old partner's thoughts and gently consoled him, "Moreover, from a content perspective, this book still has a lot of potential."

Lu Yichou trusted Wei Wuzhi's judgment. He smiled wryly and said, "To be honest, since Xue Muliang suddenly emerged, my mindset has changed. When I published my first bestseller, he was still in elementary school. I don't feel like I've regressed, so why did he suddenly surpass me?"

"So you decided to show your youthful vigor and compete with him?"

"At first, I didn't take him seriously, even with the support of the Yellow River Literature. But look, in just six or seven years, he's already surpassed me," Lu Yichou laughed lightly, "I can't stand it."

"So you urgently want to introduce an author who can compete with him?"

Lu Yichou shook his head and then nodded, "We've always had authors who can compete with him. In terms of personal popularity, Han Shuo and Yi Shui'an are no less than him."

Wei Wuzhi smiled, "Let's talk about book sales."

Lu Yichou understood what he meant and spread his hands, "You know their personalities. If one of them cooperated, we could organize a national book signing tour and break all sorts of records."

"The new one has the same temperament, and perhaps even more so."

Lu Yichou smiled bitterly and nodded, "If Gu Yongsheng could be like Xue Muliang, I could take him to all sorts of media appearances, and those clowns wouldn't have a chance to talk."

"Still thinking about how Xue Muliang launched his book?"

Lu Yichou laughed, "The older I get, the more impatient I become. I'm ashamed, and I need to learn more from the young Gu Yongsheng."

"He's a unique talent," Chief Editor Wei waved his hand, "I've never seen a young person like him. If he didn't have such depth, how could he be so composed? I advise you not to drag him into the世俗 world."

"I wish I could, but I can't," Lu Yichou said, feeling much better after talking with his old friend. His usual calmness returned, "Most of the first batch of buyers are die-hard fans. Once the word of mouth spreads, there will be another wave of enthusiasm. Let's wait and see."

"Let them jump a few more days."

...

This time, Chief Editor Wei's judgment was slightly off. He said they would jump a few more days, but the next day, the online discussion was completely overwhelmed by a new wave of enthusiasm.

The first batch of readers who finished "The White-Haired Deviless" couldn't contain their excitement and spontaneously wrote reviews on Douya, Jianghu, Haijiao, and microblogs. On Douya, nearly 500 long reviews and over 3,000 short reviews were posted in just ten hours. On Haijiao, the literary forum was flooded with hot discussions, with almost a new page every ten minutes, leading the technical staff monitoring the forum traffic to think there was a malfunction.

Of course, a small group still believed this was a PR move by Qianhong. However, when they saw the insightful reviews, they closed their mouths. No company could mobilize such a powerful group of reviewers.

The doubts and ridicule gradually lost their market, and more people began to seriously study the story, recommending it to classmates, friends, and colleagues...

Smart businessmen knew that once this advertising effect was formed, they could open their wallets.

In just two days, the remaining 300,000 copies of the first print run were sold out, and tens of thousands of bookstores across the country were out of stock. Qianhong and its competitors were once again taken aback. The expected surge had suddenly arrived.

"Let's print another one million copies," Lu Yichou tried to remain calm, "Don't get it wrong, it's really one million copies!"

Afterward, Lu Yichou posted a rather annoying blog, saying, "Sorry, the second batch is a bit late. Please be patient."

No one cared about the industry's internal struggles anymore. Everyone's attention was on the girl with the white hair.

Xue Muliang was reading, Beihetang was reading, Dandao was reading, Qinshe was reading...

In the face of absolute strength, meaningless verbal disputes seemed extremely ridiculous.

Xue Muliang finished reading and sighed lightly, putting the book aside without saying a word. His time was always precious, but he still spent three evenings reading the book. Initially, it was a so-called "work reading," but after finishing, he could only sigh with a complex feeling.

Beihetang finished reading, shook his head, and smiled bitterly, posting a vague comment on his microblog: "The night is long, and the river is wide. Laughter and sighs abound!"

This comment used two allusions: "The arrogance of the Night State" and "The sigh of the River Lord," the meaning of which was clear.

Dandao and Qinshe, after finishing the book, both said the same four words: "Heartily convinced."

...

"The White-Haired Deviless" might not be Liang Shi's most outstanding work, but it was definitely the most famous and emotionally intense. The character of Lian Nishang created in the novel could stand alongside classic artistic figures like Yang Guo, Ximen Chuixue, Su Mengzhen, and Fan Fan.

Because of their deep emotions, their bold love and hate, and their strong personalities, they made mistakes and were controversial, but it was precisely these aspects that made them vivid and lifelike in the eyes of readers.

One of the simplest ways to judge whether a work is a classic is to see if it creates memorable characters. For example, Lin Daiyu in "Dream of the Red Chamber," Quasimodo in "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame," Wei Xiaobao in "The Deer and the Cauldron," and Li Xunhuan in "The First Sword of the Storm."

When facing the artistic image of the "White-Haired Deviless," readers from both this world and the other showed a unified understanding. The forum discussions were filled with similar and resonant comments:

"Lian Nishang's independence is not limited to love but extends to a complete independence of personality. She loves bravely and separates decisively. Only those with deep emotions can turn their black hair white in one night; Zhuo Yihang's weakness is not limited to love but also to his limited views. He already sees Lian Nishang as a thief, and the subsequent events are mostly due to this." Rational readers said.

"In the Yellow Dragon Cave, a poetic encounter; in the Bright Moon Gorge, a night talk; on Wudang Mountain, a heartbreak; in the vast desert, a sad farewell. They should have been a divine couple, but due to misunderstandings, they ended up with a sad and helpless conclusion." Literary readers said.

"The character portrayal is somewhat stereotypical, and the control of the martial arts scenes is a bit scattered. The pacing is not smooth, and the novel is too focused on chivalry, making it somewhat rigid. The emotional descriptions could be deeper." Critical readers said.

...