Chapter 90

"Lost and fallen, seeking change, enlightenment and salvation."

Liu Jingtong lay in bed, thinking about that Hollywood movie again, recalling their classic three-act structure: the protagonist starts off on the wrong path, either indulging, falling, or muddling through life, then encounters someone or an event that touches their heart, and finally awakens to make the right choice.

Hollywood has swept the world, not just because of its advanced filmmaking techniques, but because of its values that resonate with human nature.

In "The Wedding Singer," Will Smith's character is a dating expert who uses his years of experience to create three foolproof dating strategies, successfully pairing hundreds of couples in New York. Later, he helps a fat accountant pursue a beautiful female celebrity, and through a series of misunderstandings, realizes that his so-called dating secrets are not decisive. In his pursuit of a beautiful journalist, he further realizes that his pickup techniques are completely ineffective. In the end, he understands that love is not a game to be manipulated, but requires genuine effort and sincere dedication.

Liu Jingtong's prank confession plan for Yu Xiaoshu had a similar undertone, but his main goal was not to help Yu Xiaoshu gain any profound understanding of love, but to... prank.

At this moment, Yu Xiaoshu sighed and turned over. Liu Jingtong smiled silently. Although his roommate did not show any signs of deep sorrow in front of everyone, maintaining his usual nonchalance, Liu Jingtong, being as perceptive as he was, could easily see his inner discontent. However, compared to his previous solitary existence, at least he had some interaction with Ye Chi. If Yu Xiaoshu could develop the awareness that "if I can't make you like me, I'll make you hate me," then this outcome wasn't too bad.

"I hope Ye Chi is really a die-hard fan of Yi Shui'an," Liu Jingtong thought to himself.

...

The first rays of early winter sunlight had just spread across the cold streets, where early risers were already bustling about, as if in a fast-cut scene from a movie. Some held baozi and soy milk, some read newspapers, some looked at their phones, some stood by the roadside hailing taxis, and some craned their necks to watch for the bus...

At this time, Xue Muliang, the chairman of Dingjie Culture Company, the editor-in-chief of "Ding Novel" magazine, and the new generation's best-selling king, hurriedly walked towards a new building. Of course, he didn't need to挤公交 or hail a taxi like other office workers, as his home was only a six-minute walk from the company.

Some smart people have summarized that a person who walks to work for ten minutes a day has a 99% chance of being more successful than someone who spends an hour on the subway, with success naturally meaning promotions, raises, becoming a CEO, being headhunted, and becoming the CEO of a larger company...

Regardless of whether this statement is true, commuting by subway or bus is indeed a nightmare for many office workers.

Just as Xue Muliang reached the entrance of the building, a few junior high school girls carrying backpacks, holding milk and hamburgers, appeared beside him. They looked at him excitedly and said, "Xiaoliang, here's your breakfast."

Xue Muliang smiled and thanked them, but politely declined their breakfast and walked through the revolving door. The girls called out to his back, "Xiaoliang, we will always support you!"

For these junior high school girls, although they consciously passed by this building every day, the chance to encounter Xue Muliang was rare, so "accidentally" seeing him once was enough to make them extremely excited.

Xue Muliang, who had encountered this situation a few times, began to think about how to avoid this spot. Just as he reached the company entrance, he saw, as usual, various notes stuck on the door, such as "Keep it up," "Support you," "Xiaoliang, take care of your health," "Does Shen You have a boyfriend?" "I've liked Luo An for a long time," "Adam is so cute"...

Xue Muliang had once described such scenes affectionately in his column, but in real life, this was... quite troublesome, as it added to the cleaning staff's workload.

No one had arrived at the company yet. Xue Muliang entered his office, brewed a cup of coffee, and began to review the documents his subordinates had handed over the previous day, signing, making decisions, and sending back for revisions.

All of this had to be done before the official start of the workday, because when his assistant arrived, he would begin his day's schedule, including interviews, announcements, manuscript requests, and discussions of collaborations.

His new book, "Sad Forest," was about to be released, and the next month would be very busy, with pre-release promotions, a book launch, and subsequent distribution all requiring his personal involvement. In fact, from the release of his first book, Xue Muliang had been trying to understand the entire book distribution process, and now his influence extended to major bookstores, including the placement of books and the approval of poster locations.

Most writers in this industry are anonymous, content to type away in their homes, either proud, poor at socializing, or simply preferring to be alone, writing their own books and reading others'.

However, there is a small group of people who not only write great stories but are also skilled at promoting themselves and their works, maximizing their profits by securing every possible copyright.

In interviews, Xue Muliang clearly stated that when his company signs a work, they consider not only the work's uniqueness and recognizability but also its potential for adaptation, such as into comics or films.

These people thus stand at the top of the industry, or more simply, they are the ones who earn the most money.

In this country, those who give speeches, summarize success formulas, and write autobiographies are usually the ones who earn the most.

After finishing a stack of documents, Xue Muliang opened his microblog, browsed the latest news, and monitored his competitors' activities, paying particular attention to Qianhong's movements. He then saw a few pieces of information that made him frown:

Yi Shui'an and Gu Yongsheng would jointly release books at Christmas;

The new magazine editor, Han Shuo, who had been dormant for a year, would release his latest essay collection, "When We Were Young," on New Year's Day;

For the astute Xue Muliang, this time, Yi Shui'an and Han Shuo's new books would not have a significant impact on him, as the sales of essays and miscellaneous writings could never match those of novels. In fact, Han Shuo's essay sales were even lower than those of Dingjie's top authors, and the same applied to Yi Shui'an's "Half Lotus."

What truly troubled Xue Muliang was the rapidly rising Gu Yongsheng. After the impact of "The White-Haired Demoness" and "The White Horse Cries in the West Wind," Gu Yongsheng had already established his position as a new best-selling author.

Qianhong's advertisement, "The ending of The White-Haired Demoness will be revealed in 'Seven Swords' with a heartwarming twist," was highly provocative, making even Xue Muliang want to get an early copy through his connections, let alone the general readers.

What troubled him even more was what followed. Lu Yichou updated his status: "Since Christmas is a double act, New Year's Day can't let Han Shuo be alone. After three days and nights of persuasion by the company's young female editors, the great Gu Yongsheng will soon release a new martial arts short story, forming a triangle with the heart-wrenching 'The Sword of the Yue Girl' and the heart-breaking 'The White Horse Cries in the West Wind.' It will be a tender New Year's release—please call us the industry's conscience. Please call Gu Yongsheng the industry's model worker!"

Xue Muliang hummed softly and subconsciously tapped the table with his right hand. Qianhong's move was clearly aimed at him.

"Short story collection, New Year's release? Do you really think I'm afraid of a newcomer?" Xue Muliang muttered disdainfully.

At this moment, his chief assistant entered the office with a yellow bag.

...

Half an hour before Lu Yichou posted that microblog, he had been chatting with Gu Yongsheng. Based on his experience and market sensitivity, he made some predictions, hoping that Gu Yongsheng's third short story would be a comedy. For readers, sad stories can cleanse the soul and satisfy their deep-seated need for melancholy, but this doesn't mean they always want tragedy.

This is similar to listening to music or watching movies. Sometimes people inexplicably want to listen to a sad song or watch a tragic movie, but this is only "sometimes."

Liu Jingtong had to assure him again that he would write a comedy, telling Lu Yichou, "You can tell the readers it will definitely be a comedy; the story is already planned."

Even so, Lu Yichou did not make any promises during the first promotion. He had similar experiences and knew the rules of novel writing. Once a story develops its own rhythm, it can escape the author's control and take a completely different path.

"Experienced writers know that stories often become uncontrollable, as if the story is pulling the author along. I won't make any assumptions until I see the complete manuscript."

Sitting in the classroom, Gu Yongsheng looked down at his phone and suddenly laughed silently. Just as he was about to reply, he paused, blinked rapidly, and his smile became strange. Then he replied, "Since you're not sure, why not have a guess-the-ending event?"

"How do you mean?"

"At the end of the month, I'll hand over the manuscript to you or An Meinv. You can start serializing it in 'Great Wulin,' but I'll hold back the ending. Then you can invite readers to guess the ending, which can also serve as a promotion. As for the short story collection, we can delay it a bit. After all, 'Seven Swords' is just out for Christmas, and it would be too dense if we release another one too soon."

"Do you mean our editors should also participate in the guessing?"

"Is that okay?"

After a brief pause, Lu Yichou decisively replied, "It's been a long time since we've discussed the plot and pushed the story with the author. Let's do it your way. I'll take the opportunity to test the editors' skills. By the way, I have some good news: 'The White-Haired Demoness' will break 2.2 million copies by the end of the year, surpassing Xue Muliang's 2.15 million single-book record and securing the top spot for the year. Congratulations."

Gu Yongsheng humbly replied, "Unexpected, but who else could it be?"

"Ha, as for your suggestion to serialize first and then release the collection, I'll consider it carefully and discuss it with Old Wei and An. It shouldn't be a problem."

Gu Yongsheng seemed to be thinking of something amusing, his expression excited. Just as he was about to reply to Lu Yichou, he heard the English teacher call his name: "Liu Jingtong, answer this question."

"Huh?" Liu Jingtong looked up blankly and quickly hid his phone in the gap between the books on his desk.

"Huh? What do you mean, huh? Stand up and answer the question."

Liu Jingtong instinctively glanced at his desk mate, who was looking down at the book, completely ignoring his plea for help.

"Teacher, I didn't hear the question clearly."

"Did you even know what class this is?" The middle-aged female teacher walked up to Liu Jingtong with a stern face and asked, "Were you reading a novel just now, laughing all the time, weren't you?"

Liu Jingtong took out the "scapegoat" magazine, and the teacher, about to scold him, noticed it was "English Square."

"Are you reading this magazine?"

Liu Jingtong nodded sincerely. Although high school English classes were mostly about solving problems, with no one speaking complete English throughout the class, he wasn't foolish enough to not know what class it was.

"Then tell me what you were reading."

"Should I say it in English?" Liu Jingtong asked cautiously.

The middle-aged English teacher, knowing her class representative's capabilities, hesitated for a moment and waved her hand, "Forget it, read it after class. Translate 'Facts speak louder than words.'"

The English class that day was mainly about translating famous English sayings and idioms. The teacher had already taught a few on the board, but this one hadn't been covered yet, clearly intended to challenge Liu Jingtong. The other students lowered their heads, afraid of being called next, even the fierce girl who wanted to replace Liu Jingtong as the class representative frowned and tried to write down her answer.

The English teacher looked at Liu Jingtong with a hint of satisfaction, about to give a hint, but Liu Jingtong confidently said, "Facts speak louder than words!"

The teacher was taken aback, looked at the magazine again, and her expression changed several times before she said, "Sit down."

Liu Jingtong quietly sat down and didn't touch his phone again. The fierce girl glanced at Liu Jingtong, then at her own answer, and drew a few lines with her pen, looking frustrated.

...

Since being scolded by Ye Chi, Yu Xiaoshu had not taken any further action. Whenever he saw Ye Chi on campus, he would avoid her from a distance. Ye Chi and the handsome boy had also reconciled.

On December 20th at 11:00 AM, Yi Shui'an's signed new book, "Half Lotus," was delivered to Liu Jingtong at Moon River High School, and he passed it to Yu Xiaoshu, who looked stunned.

That evening, Ye Chi invited classmates to sing, naturally not including Yu Xiaoshu. However, the 302 dorm mates, including Sun Xinyang's girlfriend, Su Nan, booked the adjacent private room. Yu Xiaoshu, using the pretext of going to the bathroom, hung a plastic bag containing Yi Shui'an's new book on the handle of Ye Chi's private room door, along with a note that read "Happy Birthday."

After doing this, Yu Xiaoshu returned to his private room, leaned over to Liu Jingtong's ear, and sincerely thanked him, then boldly selected the song "Love Until Death."

Just as the chorus began, the birthday girl stepped out to take a call and noticed the plastic bag.

...

(Writing this has made my hands and eyes tired, and I can't help but want a few votes and rewards! I have to get up at six tomorrow for work. Good night, everyone!) (To be continued. Please search for Piaotian Literature for faster updates!)

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