Chapter 81

Liu Jingtong sat in the classroom, staring intently at the history teacher on the podium. He watched the teacher's mouth open and close, but had no idea what he was saying.

Having studied for over a decade, Liu Jingtong had mastered the skill of "paying attention while daydreaming" to perfection. He would focus intently, look straight ahead, nod occasionally to show agreement with the teacher, and if he was a good actor, he would even occasionally reveal a look of sudden enlightenment, which made the act even more convincing.

This was a strange mindset. Students generally liked to do trivial things in class, such as reading novels, chatting, writing love letters, sending text messages, or sleeping. After class, they would throw themselves into these activities wholeheartedly, as if, in everyone's mind, attending class was the least important thing.

Like many literary boys, in the other world, Liu Jingtong often used class time to fantasize about various types of thrilling stories, imagining himself in different novels, fighting evil, rescuing beauties, and showing off his coolness. When he got particularly engrossed, he would even wave his hands and feet.

However, at this moment, Liu Jingtong was not indulging in such fantasies. He was still thinking about the seven-character text message Yi Shui'an sent him at around eleven o'clock last night: "Gu Yongsheng ah, Gu Yongsheng..."

Just calling his name twice, with no other content. When he saw the message this morning, he immediately called to ask, but Yi Shui'an seemed to have lost her memory and completely forgot about it.

"Looks like I need to ask Mi Hu at lunch," Liu Jingtong thought, his mind gradually returning. He heard the plump history teacher on the podium passionately say, "The invaders were thus plunged into the vast ocean of the people's war of resistance..."

Liu Jingtong nodded in agreement.

...

"Gu Yongsheng ah, Gu Yongsheng?" In the cafeteria, Mi Hu, sitting across from Liu Jingtong, read the message aloud to herself, "What exactly was An Da trying to express?"

"I mean, what kind of mindset do girls usually have when they speak in this tone?" Liu Jingtong swallowed a mouthful of food, his chopsticks paused in mid-air, and he asked seriously.

"Isn't this sentence structure similar to 'you, you'? When people say this, their mental state is usually very complex. They seem to have a lot to say, but for various reasons, such as their position or face, they can't express it. If they do, it might seem too deep for a shallow relationship. If they don't, they suffer, and after much deliberation, they can only sigh and say the other person's name. It's probably something like that."

After analyzing, Mi Hu looked at the message again, confirmed it was correct, and handed the phone back to Liu Jingtong.

Liu Jingtong took the phone and said, "There's another possibility: being at a loss whether to laugh or cry?"

Mi Hu chewed on the vegetables in her mouth and nodded, "It's still about 'The White Horse Whistling in the West Wind.'"

"I agree, but logically, someone at An Da's level shouldn't be easily swayed by a novel. She seems to have no earthly desires."

Mi Hu glared at him and said, "That's why you can't truly understand girls. I can tell you with 100% certainty that An Da's true feelings about the breakup are not as calm as she appears. If my guess is correct, she must have been reading the novel for the second time and suddenly felt emotional, which is why she sent you this message."

"Why the second time?"

"That's easy to understand, right? 'The Great Jianghu' was released today. She must have received a sample last night and read it again while doing the final proofreading."

Liu Jingtong found this explanation convincing and nodded without saying anything more.

"Remember to check the online reviews tonight. Many people are waiting to see your show," Mi Hu said with a smug smile, "But they ended up being the show themselves."

"You seem more confident than I am."

"Don't try to coax me into praising you. I want to say that your martial arts novel still has many problems, but it's rare that you hit the mark so accurately," Mi Hu said, clearly not meaning it.

...

Liu Jingtong was naturally curious. He had done so much, just to give certain people a scare. Even if he didn't make them cry, he at least wanted to make them feel anxious.

After evening study, Liu Jingtong didn't linger in the classroom. He tidied up his desk and left.

"Hey, Liu Jingtong, wait!" A clear voice called from behind. He turned around and saw the ponytailed girl who coveted the position of English class representative.

Liu Jingtong smiled and asked, "What's up?"

"There's an English test this Thursday. You should study well. I might surpass you."

"Okay." Liu Jingtong nodded sincerely, said "thanks," and walked out of the classroom.

To his embarrassment, Liu Jingtong still didn't know the name of the spirited ponytailed girl. In fact, he couldn't name anyone in the class. This had nothing to do with arrogance or pride; it was purely because, as someone who had lived two lives, he felt a natural detachment from the high school classroom, which manifested in a lack of enthusiasm in interacting with his classmates.

On his way back to the dormitory, he bought a few skewers of "crying bull balls" and walked back leisurely. He thought he would be the first to arrive, but as soon as he reached the dormitory door, he heard Zhao Kan's angry voice from inside: "Damn, they didn't even read it, and they're commenting like shit."

Liu Jingtong pushed the door open and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhao Kan waved his hand in frustration and said, "Today 'The Great Jianghu' was released, and my brother Gu's love novel came out too. Some idiots are commenting without even smelling the book, they're really brain-dead."

"Your brother Gu?" Liu Jingtong was immune to random insults, so he didn't care. Instead, he was more interested in Zhao Kan's way of addressing him.

"Gu Yongsheng." Zhao Kan spoke to Liu Jingtong but kept his eyes on the screen. "Hey, I'm so stupid, this is clearly a paid comment. What's the big deal?"

"You said the magazine just came out, and some places might not have it yet. The ones who can respond so quickly are probably not readers. I don't even need to look to know what they're saying," Liu Jingtong said sarcastically.

"Then what are they saying?" Zhao Kan finally looked away from the computer.

"There are two types. One is pure insults, like 'the author is an idiot' or 'the author is brain-dead' or 'it's written like dog shit.' The other is fake analysis, like 'poor character development, weak plot, tedious writing, it's a scam to take readers' money, only a fool would buy it, and anyone who buys it isn't Chinese.' Something like that."

Zhao Kan laughed heartily, looking like he had found a kindred spirit. "The school newspaper stand will have it tomorrow."

"Then why did you rush back so quickly?"

"To see other readers' spoilers about the book title."

"Oh, then, cough, what's the book title?"

"White Horse—Whistling in the West Wind." Zhao Kan gestured and said with emphasis, "Just hearing the title makes you want to read it. That's what you call an expert's touch."

Liu Jingtong nodded exaggeratedly in agreement.

With Zhao Kan's preview, Liu Jingtong's curiosity about the online reviews was greatly reduced. By the time people got the book today, the earliest meaningful reviews would appear by tomorrow night. So he wasn't very interested in the online comments. However, there were two pieces of good news: first, 'The Great Jianghu' sold out as expected, with pre-sales approaching those of 'Children's Literature,' topping the youth magazine sales chart and firmly outpacing 'Ding Xiaoshuo.'

The other piece of news was that Yi Shui'an was releasing a new book, 'Half Lotus,' a collection of essays, to be released warmly at Christmas.

Qian Hong chose this time to advertise Yi Shui'an's new book in 'The Great Jianghu,' clearly intending to ride the wave of Gu Yongsheng's new book. Surprisingly, this time Yi Shui'an did not raise any objections.

Liu Jingtong opened a few forums out of curiosity, but all he saw were posts mocking the author or the book title. Occasionally, a reader would post a photo of the new book, saying, "I'm testing it out, I'll report back after I finish."

Meanwhile, 'The Great Jianghu' carrying 'The White Horse Whistling in the West Wind' was being distributed across the country via roads and railways, like dandelion seeds flying to every bookstore and then into the hands of readers.

...

The first batch of magazines was still on the way, but Xue Muliang had already obtained a copy through his connections. He flipped directly to Gu Yongsheng's article, skipping all the other content...

Shen You held a cup of coffee in his left hand, sitting on a white chair on his balcony, and read the magazine with his right hand, fully engrossed...

Luo An, sitting cross-legged on a large bed, was reading the magazine while casually munching on a red apple, but he was actually very serious...

Bei He Tang stood in front of his desk, holding the newly bought 'The Great Jianghu' in his right hand, with a cold expression, his eyes full of criticism and disdain...

Bu Tu Bu Kuai, after buying the magazine, quickly finished his meal, sat on the bed, placed the new 'The Great Jianghu' on the table, and took notes while reading...

Qin Se, who hadn't had time to buy the magazine, went to the bookstore and read a copy that had been opened by other readers, then paid for it after reading for half an hour...

Duan Dao was reading, Luotou was reading, and one by one, the readers Gu Yongsheng had accumulated were reading...

...

The forum seemed to be active, but it was actually very quiet.

The executives at Qian Hong, such as Lu Yichou, Wei Wuzhi, and Hong Ming, were waiting for the true readers' voices, while the hardcore fans like Bu Tu Bu Kuai were preparing their arguments and evidence.

This was an invisible struggle, between publishers and consumers, between authors and readers, and between publishers and publishers.

It was like a balloon being inflated, with the opposing sides continuously building up their strength. The balloon was getting bigger and bigger, and everyone was waiting for the moment it would burst.

On November 12th, at the school newspaper stand of Yuehe No. 1 High School, 'The Great Jianghu' arrived.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, a fat boy from Class 3, Grade 1, ran towards the newspaper stand at a speed that left passersby in awe. Ten meters away from the stand, he shouted, "Boss, is it here?"

The middle-aged owner of the stand waved the magazine in his hand and said, "I've kept it for you."

Around eleven o'clock that night, in the boys' dormitory 302, the four boys were already asleep, except for a faint light coming from Zhao Kan's bed. Half an hour later, a sad cry followed the light, coming from the sad fat boy's bed, turning into uncontrollable sobs.

Liu Jingtong, Yu Xiaoshu, and Sun Xinyang woke up from their dreams, groggily asking, "Kan Kan, what's wrong?" (To be continued. Please search for Piaowen.com for better and faster updates!)