Chapter 69

Perhaps due to the rich life experiences and profound understanding of human nature that adults possess, when Su Xu met Liu Jington, he did not show any surprise or confusion at all. He politely went up to shake Liu Jington's hand and kept saying, "You saved our whole family."

Liu Jington had never dealt with such a situation before, and this time helping out was indeed a "trivial matter" for him, so he inevitably felt somewhat unworthy. He could only humbly express his modesty.

Su Nanhong stepped forward to hold her father's hand and said, "Let's go inside."

Only then did Su Dad react and hurriedly invited Liu Jington into the house.

Xu Zhuojun specially asked the nurse to raise the head of the bed, combed her hair, tidied her clothes, leaned against the pillow, and wore glasses. Although her face was pale, her spirit was radiant.

Su Xu led the three of them into the room, and Xu Zhuojun immediately saw Liu Jington holding flowers. He looked like an ordinary high school boy, so ordinary that if he walked down the street, his face would blend into the crowd. However, this ordinary face gave Xu Zhuojun a different feeling—gentle and kind, with a natural demeanor, completely free of the arrogance often seen in rich kids, making him feel more like a neighbor's nephew.

"Aunt, hello, I'm Liu Jington." The boy greeted politely. Su Xu took the flowers and fruit basket and placed them on the bedside table.

"Liu Jington? The Jington from 'Looking at each other without tiring, only Jington Mountain'?"

Liu Jington smiled and nodded, saying, "Aunt, you look much better, your recovery is fast."

"The surgery was timely. I'm sure Nanhong's father has already thanked you many times, but I still want to express my sincere gratitude."

Liu Jington was very humble, gently shook his head, and said, "It's nothing."

"Then there's the surgery fee..."

Liu Jington quickly responded, "Aunt and Uncle don't need to worry about the surgery fee. It's a matter for us young people, so let us handle it. I said I would give Xinyang thirty years. Although it's a bit of a joke, it's also a way to test him in advance. In any case, I can't accept your money."

Liu Jington, at the request of Sun Xinyang, took on the surgery fee for him. Later, when Su Mom and Su Dad proposed various ways to repay the money, Liu Jington politely declined each one.

Liu Jington stayed in the hospital for about ten minutes, then returned to school with Su Nanhong and Sun Xinyang. They were going to the grasslands the next day. Even the calm Liu Jington showed a hint of excitement. He followed Mi Hu's guide and began to pack happily.

Around ten o'clock, Mi Hu called again, reminding him not to forget anything. Then Liu Jington casually asked what Wang Qianqian had mysteriously talked about with her, but naturally, he didn't get an answer. "It's a girl's secret."

"Gong Chengen told me before he left that they want to become true friends with us. I was very curious, when did the rich start to actively make friends?"

"Then let's boldly tell him to go away."

"Don't discriminate against the rich. In fact, whether someone is rich or not shouldn't be a factor in making friends. I just feel that our lifestyles are too different. I'm not familiar with and don't want to be familiar with each other's circles, like the restaurant in North City, I have no interest in going there again."

"Gong Chengen might be worried that you suspect he's using your relationship to promote his business. Of course, building a friendship does make it easier to promote business."

"Ha, I can't say such things."

The two chatted casually, and before they knew it, nearly forty minutes had passed. After hanging up, it was already eleven o'clock. Liu Jington carefully organized the manuscripts he was going to send to "Children's Literature" and "Great Jianghu," then sent them to Editor Yao and Tang Nan's emails.

Next, Liu Jington, as usual, browsed the forum and microblog. Generally, as a new author, browsing book reviews requires a lot of resistance. Ignoring the personal attacks from water army, even normal comments and opinions from real readers can affect some authors. When Mi Hu first released "Migratory Birds," she was so criticized that she long avoided going online, a significant example.

Of course, this situation is not limited to writing. Looking at the entire arts circle, it's the same. So, to some extent, a person must have a strong enough heart to match their status. For example, Yi Shui'an can calmly say that all malicious attacks are essentially powerless and meaningless, and will dissipate over time; Han Shuo can mischievously organize and rank the attacks on him, even awarding the "Best Water Army Award"; and Xue Muliang, who is frequently attacked, bluntly points out that those who attack him are just jealous or have an unbalanced mindset.

Liu Jington's uniqueness lies in the fact that he never had this problem from the beginning. After releasing his book, he immediately became a reader himself. This mindset is worth learning from for many new authors. After completing a book, you can transform into a reader and even join other readers in reviewing the book.

Online discussions about "The White-haired Devil Woman" have not stopped, especially after the front-page microblog forwarded a "insider's" revelation, the discussion about "The White-haired Devil Woman" reached another climax.

"According to an insider, Star Moon TV has purchased the rights to the currently popular martial arts novel 'The White-haired Devil Woman' for a seven-digit sum..."

This news first shocked some authors and book companies, but since the discussion about "The White-haired Devil Woman" has already gained widespread attention, no large-scale water army has appeared to maliciously defame or smear the novel.

This result satisfied Liu Jington. When he first met Mi Hu, he explained Confucius' famous saying about poetry—its ability to inspire, observe, unite, and criticize. Any work of art, once created, must face the test of readers. People form friendships or relationships because of a work, which is itself a beautiful virtue.

Liu Jington turned off his computer around half past eleven. Yu Xiaoshu and Sun Xinyang were already asleep. Strangely, he didn't hear Zhao Kan's snoring. Turning his head, he saw the fat boy sitting on the bed in a posture that didn't match his character, looking sadly out the window.

Liu Jington asked softly, "Kankan, what's wrong?"

Zhao Kan sighed and said, "Jington, do you know what day it is in ten days?"

Liu Jington calculated the time and answered, "November 11, Singles' Day?"

Zhao Kan almost cried, "Fate is cruel. In ten days, it will be my 17th birthday. Isn't that very ironic? It feels like a destiny. Every year at this time, I can't help but feel sad, and it won't stop."

Liu Jington laughed, "You've been reading too many of Yi Shui'an's novels."

After a moment, Zhao Kan said, "At around six this evening, I saw my junior high school goddess holding hands with a boy, laughing as they went from the classroom to the cafeteria. Jington, how can they do this? So young, not focusing on their studies, always thinking about love. And do they have to hold hands in broad daylight? Don't the teachers care? It's so impolite."

Liu Jington laughed, about to offer some advice, when he heard a sigh from Yu Xiaoshu's bed, "Love is a curse! Love is a curse!"

Liu Jington and Zhao Kan were surprised, thinking Yu Xiaoshu was talking in his sleep. Then they heard him continue, "A hundred years in the human world is but a moment in heaven. Kankan, if you see it this way, you can understand the true meaning of love not being possession."

"Damn, Xiaoshu, the 'White-haired Devil Woman' I lent you, you're using its lines to comfort me? Are you sure?"

Yu Xiaoshu suddenly sat up and laughed, "Just finished it, couldn't help but speak. Speaking of your junior high school classmate..."

"Not a classmate, she's a year older than me." Zhao Kan interrupted.

"A senior, then ask Brother Ting. He has rich experience dealing with seniors."

Liu Jington quickly said, "Enough, don't disturb Old Sun's sleep."

Before he finished speaking, Sun Xinyang said, "Jington, you guys can chat, I'm listening." After that, the four of them burst into laughter.

Zhao Kan said, "You don't need to comfort me. My mother chose to give birth to me on November 11, setting the tone for my life. Besides, when Luotou commented on Gu Yongsheng's 'The Sword of the Yue Girl,' he said that all failed confessions are because the confessor is ugly. What else can I say?"

Liu, Yu, and Sun laughed even harder, but they didn't know that when Zhao Kan mentioned Luotou, Luotou had just posted a microblog— "Reading 'The White-haired Devil Woman,' how frustrating."

The beautiful young woman Lian Nishang, turning white-haired from love, aging quickly, how frustrating;

Zhuo Yihang, indecisive, like a sheep, how frustrating;

Lovers not becoming a couple, separated by the world, how frustrating;

The Udumbara flower, blooming for a long time, endlessly, how frustrating;

...

At midnight, Luotou listed over ten "how frustrating" points. For him, this was just one of the many book reviews he had written, and one of the daily updated related reviews. However, to those who had been watching closely, this microblog was a long-awaited opportunity, especially since they knew that Qianhong was going on a group trip the next day.

Four hours after Luotou's microblog, at four in the morning, a post appeared quietly on the Jianghu People forum: "Stayed up all night reading 'The White-haired Devil Woman,' can't sleep, just want to say a few words."

This post started from the most controversial emotional descriptions in the novel, presented from a pure reader's perspective. It seemed like a reader venting frustration after reading, but a careful analysis would reveal that the post's direction and arguments were a comprehensive integration of all recent negative reader reviews. The poster lamented, "What should have been the most brilliant part has become the biggest flaw of the book!"

With the appearance of this post, the discussion about the novel's emotional descriptions on the forum became a hot topic again. When Liu Jington and the Qianhong editors boarded the plane, the discussion had almost flooded the forum.

And it appeared to be a spontaneous action by readers, with no signs of water army manipulation. Only the most experienced forum users could detect from the subtle clues that there were six to seven relatively active old IDs in this discussion, whose behavior was highly suspicious. Each of their posts showed a high level of skill, quoting classics, and providing substantial content. Their views and arguments were also surprisingly non-repetitive, with both praise and criticism, and little connection between them. However, a careful reading of their posts would reveal a common point: they were subtly guiding the discussion, trying to expand the topic from the novel to the author.

"From just reading Gu Yongsheng's current works, one can roughly guess that he has either been cruelly abandoned by someone or is completely clueless about human emotions. The poster is puzzled, even if he hasn't experienced love, he must have seen it, his parents' experience of dating, marrying, and having children could be a reference."

"So, is Gu Yongsheng just imagining the interactions between men and women? Isn't that a way of deceiving and敷衍 readers?"

"The author is too deliberately using tragedy to highlight emotions, thinking this will avoid clichés, but this approach is even more pretentious. I suggest the author go out and fall in love first."

...

A high-level water army can be as effective as a thousand low-level ones because they can precisely control the direction of the discussion and skillfully stir up the emotions of some readers. At this point, adding a few ordinary water army posts can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

These high-level water armies have a very elegant title—high water. They have five or more active accounts on almost every popular forum. They have rich combat experience, know the style of each forum and the general psychological trends of users, and are skilled in data analysis and text integration, able to extract the information they need from thousands of posts