BXBX NOVEL Chapter 59 - 56 Fun Reads Magazine i
This was the first time Zhu Hui had a change of heart about novelists who wrote youth fantasy novels. Before this, she had assumed that Chu Kuang was one of those vulgar authors who wrote mindless harem stories.
Now it seemed that was not the case.
“Artificial Beauty” was too brilliant. A mere two to three thousand words left her speechless. From this situation, it was clear—
Chu Kuang undoubtedly had an extraordinary level of writing skill!
Opening the comment section, Zhu Hui found out she was not the only one surprised. Many comments also expressed emotions similar to hers:
“This story is so interesting!”
“Did Chu Kuang really write this?”
“Isn’t Chu Kuang a youth fantasy writer?”
“I originally came here to urge for more of “King of the Net”, but I was drawn in by a short story by Chu Kuang. This short story isn’t at all youth fantasy, but it’s fascinating.”
“I really like this style!”
“The text doesn’t have much personal expression from the author, just pure narration, but the ending doesn’t need any emotional embellishment yet it shook me to my core.”
“That twist at the end.”
“Am I over-interpreting this? 1 feel this article satirizes many social phenomena. Wasn’t there a news going around sometime ago about the creation of lifelike robots that look indistinguishable from humans? It’s truly frightening thinking about it in conjunction with this story.”
“Was disappointed that it wasn’t an extra chapter for “King of the Net”, but after reading the short story, felt contented haha.”
“To the one above, you’re not alone.”
“Screw off, you’re not alone either.”
Aside from comments, many people had shared and praised the story.
The Tribe had a praising feature.
Readers could reward the stories they liked on the Tribe’s novel section, and ultimately, the author could earn half of the money.
Moreover, as many people shared it, even pedestrians who didn’t know Chu Kuang started paying attention to “Artificial Beauty”.
It had to be said, the four-character title “Artificial Beauty” was rather eye-catching.
Upon hearing it, people might initially think the author was satirizing society’s plastic surgery faces?
Especially the two words “^A” (beauty), they inherently had a kind of attraction, especially for male netizens!
As a result, more people finished reading this novel—
That’s the benefit of being short!
Well…
Although it was different from what they imagined, this seemed to not affect many people’s evaluation of the novel. Even some bloggers who specialized in recommending books on the Tribe noticed this short story “Artificial Beauty”, and casually shared it.
“Shocking!”
One blogger who apparently knew the trick to attracting clicks said: “Who would believe this is a short story written by Chu Kuang, the author of “King of the Net”,?”
Even though the method was shameful, it was effective.
Chu Kuang originally had the popularity plus from the author of “King of the Net”.
Added on to the promotion from the readers, the little “Artificial Beauty” story had unexpectedly high heat.
In the end, even the person in charge of the Tribe’s novel section took notice.
“Boss, the click rate on this short story is skyrocketing.”
Listening to the report from his subordinates, the person in charge of the Tribe’s novel section raised an eyebrow: “Isn’t Chu Kuang the recently popular youth fantasy novelist? The author of “King of the Net”?”
“Yes.”
The person in charge nodded, took some time to finish reading “Artificial Beauty”, and then put on a smile: “Indeed, the story is very well written. Give it a push in the hot category of the novel section.”
After Lin Yuan had dinner, and took a walk with his family downstairs, by the time he logged back into his Tribe account again, it was already the next day.
This day was the Spring Festival.
Every household was bustling with joy.
Lin Yuan’s home was also very lively, but after a short time outside, Lin Yuan returned to his room and turned on the computer.
“Eh?”
Lin Yuan was surprised to discover that overnight, there were over a thousand new messages in the backend of his Tribe account.
All these messages were related to “Artificial Beauty”.
And his casually posted “Artificial Beauty” now had over four thousand comments and over a thousand shares!
Apart from that,
The follower count of Chu Kuang’s account had also successfully jumped from ten thousand to twenty-two thousand.
At this moment,
Lin Yuan’s phone rang.
Lin Yuan looked at it, it was an unknown number, so he hung up.
After a while, the phone rang again.
Lin Yuan again hung up.
On the third ring, still the same number, Lin Yuan had no choice but to answer it.
The other side laughed, “Happy New Year.”
Lin Yuan answered: “I’m not New Year.”
There was a long pause on the other end before they changed their greeting: “Hello, Chu Kuang.”
So, they were looking for Chu Kuang.
For these strange phone calls, if it’s not an advertisement or similar, Lin Yuan would first confirm whether they were trying to reach Xian Yu, Chu Kuang, or Lin Yuan, this process was very essential.
Lin Yuan asked: “What’s up?”
The man on the other end laughed: “Let me introduce myself, I’m Yu Rong, the editor-in-chief of Silver Blue Books’ Fun Reads magazine. I’m calling you today to discuss a potential collaboration.”
Lin Yuan asked: “What type of collaboration?”
The other end said seriously: “I saw the novel you posted on the Tribe yesterday, and I feel it’s a bit of a waste. Such an excellent story could absolutely be serialized in our Fun Reads magazine. Our magazine is mainly focused on short stories, prioritizing fun and placing no limitations on the genre of novels. Moreover, our sales volume is quite substantial. What’s more, the Tribe won’t pay you for your publications, but we at Silver Blue Books are willing to pay!”
“How much?”
This hit right in Lin Yuan’s heart, he was somewhat short of money. Though he had received his salary for this month, it was not enough to buy a house for his family as he wished.
“Three thousand per thousand words!”
The other end quoted: “One thousand words equates to three-thousand yuan. We can collaborate on the basis of this price. Of course, the precondition is that your work has to pass our audit.”
Lin Yuan frowned: “That’s too little.”
He roughly calculated that the reward for “Artificial Beauty” on the Tribe had already accumulated to several thousand. Moreover, its timeliness was high; readers could give feedback at the earliest, and the prestige value could also be credited at the earliest.
“How much do you want then?”
The ball was kicked back to him.
This was the kind of question that Lin Yuan dreaded most. However, he could continue playing Tai Chi: “I’ll send you a piece first, and you quote a price. If I feel the price isn’t appropriate, then forget it.”
“Alright, my email is…”
“I’ve already sent it.”
“Huh? You still don’t know my email…”
“Aren’t you from Silver Blue Books? I sent it directly to YangFeng’s email. You guys are colleagues, just go to him to get the manuscript.”
“But….I haven’t….with their department….”
The person on the other side was a bit taken aback, his tone noticeably flustered.
Lin Yuan said: “I’m hanging up now, goodbye.”
Lin Yuan really did hang up the phone.
Mainly because the Spring Festival really had come, the food today was even more plentiful than the previous days. If he didn’t go out to eat now, what if his sister finished it all?
Meanwhile,
Editor YangFeng received a manuscript. It was a short story sent by Chu Kuang, titled “The Gift of the Magi”.
What was going on?
YangFeng was completely baffled..