BXBX NOVEL Chapter 112 - 109: Heaven and earth are unkind, treating all things as straw dogs _1
The next day.
After Lin Yuan got up and washed up, he went down to have breakfast. When he was ready to pay, the breakfast shop owner laughed and waved his hand:
“No need to pay.”
Lin Yuan asked, “Why?”
The owner laughed even more excitedly, “We have a new owner for our breakfast shop. His name is Sun Yaohuo. He showed us your picture, said he’s your good friend. He also said that, from now on, you are the most precious lifelong, super free member of our breakfast shop.”
“Thank you.”
Lin Yuan didn’t insist.
He was quite surprised.
It is said that celebrities in the entertainment industry like to invest in catering. He didn’t expect senior Sun Yaohuo to be also interested in it.
He had set up a milk tea shop a while ago, and today he invested in a breakfast shop.
Should he also consider investing in the future?
Forget it.
He should not think about this for now.
The first volume of “Zhu Xian” has been completed, and Lin Yuan plans to release it as soon as possible.
He will choose Silver Blue Books as his publisher.
Lin Yuan has a good impression of Silver Blue Books. During the serialization of “King of the Net”, both the distribution and promotion channels were quite comprehensive, and they even increased their contract share in the middle. He has no reason to change his partner.
Also, Lin Yuan had once cooperated with Silver Blue Books’ “Fun Reads” on a short story, and the experience was also—
They gave a satisfying amount of compensation.
Unlike the trepidation he felt last time, Lin Yuan is quite confident in “Zhu Xian” this time.
Thinking of this.
On his way to school, Lin Yuan sent a message to his editor, YangFeng, “I have finished my new book.”
“So fast?”
YangFeng responded almost instantly, “Can you send it to me now?”
The reason why YangFeng replied so quickly was because he set Chu Kuang as his special attention.
Although he is responsible for communication with many authors, Chu Kuang is the most famous author YangFeng is in charge of, so he must pay special attention to him.
Before Chu Kuang could reply.
YangFeng, fingers flying across his phone screen, continued to ask, “Is your new book still about tennis? You should know this sport best, and with the experience of the last book, writing it should be easier. I think it won’t be difficult to achieve another success.”
YangFeng was cheering Chu Kuang on.
He believed that Chu Kuang’s new book would definitely continue to write about the sports competition theme that he is best at, and persist in this niche genre. This is also the matter most expected by everyone in the Fantasy Editorial Department of Silver Blue Books.
Chu Kuang: “No.”
YangFeng: “Then, what are you writing?”
If he’s not writing about tennis, is Chu Kuang planning to write about the currently popular basketball or football? Recently, many people in the industry are following Chu Kuang’s trend and writing about sports competitions, mostly focusing on football and basketball. Is Chu Kuang planning to teach these people how to write about basketball or football?
That’s quite audacious!
Chu Kuang really lives up to his reputation!
YangFeng felt that his speculation was quite accurate, but when he saw the answer given by Chu Kuang, he was stunned. Because the two words Chu Kuang replied with made even him, an editor, feel somewhat estranged:
“XianXia.”
Chu Kuang wants to write XianXia.
The question is, what is XianXia?
YangFeng felt like he was going to split apart. As a professional editor, of course he wouldn’t not know what XianXia is. But precisely because he knows, he feels it’s troublesome: “Like ‘Immortal and Demon War’?”
“More or less.”
Lin Yuan had looked up the information before and knew that “Immortal and Demon War” was Blue Star’s most recent XianXia work. After this work, Qin Continent had no other noteworthy XianXia novels. It has been about eighty years till now.
“Can I call you?”
“I am about to go to class.”
Chu Kuang stopped replying after that. However, YangFeng’s mailbox received a novel called “Zhu Xian”. YangFeng was both amused and frustrated. After all, Chu Kuang was really going to persist in the niche genre till the end!
Writing a XianXia novel?
Is Chu Kuang an old-fashioned guy?
He is clearly a university student.
Readers who have feelings for XianXia probably have to trace back to YangFeng’s grandfather’s generation. “Immortal and Demon War” was a work praised by that generation. Now someone wants to write XianXia, YangFeng simply can’t imagine it.
YangFeng arrived at the company with a mournful face.
His colleagues found YangFeng’s appearance very strange: “Did another author go off the rails again?”
“Worse than that.”
YangFeng said, “Chu Kuang is starting a new book.”
Everyone was taken aback, then they all laughed.
“That’s a good thing.”
“Chu Kuang is starting a new book, why do you look so gloomy?”
“Exactly, Chu Kuang is willing to write a novel again, you should be happy!”
“I was worried that Chu Kuang might cooperate with other publishers. Now it seems that he is quite satisfied with our Silver Blue Books.”
“Does the new book also write about tennis?”
“I feel like he would write about basketball or football.”
The colleagues were quite interested in discussing this.
YangFeng looked at everyone and said, “Chu Kuang’s new book is about
XianXia.”
The editorial department was silent instantly.
After a long time, someone asked tentatively, “Is it the XianXia I know about?”
YangFeng forced a smile, “Do you know ‘Immortal and Demon War’?”
Really?
A XianXia novel?
What year is this?
Everyone was really confused. The scene turned silent once again.
Ignoring everyone else.
YangFeng has already taken a seat at the desk.
No matter what, he has to review the manuscript, to see what on earth Chu
Kuang has written in this XianXia novel.
To be honest.
YangFeng almost gritted his teeth when he opened “Zhu Xian”. The first thing that caught his eye was the preface of the book.
“Heaven and Earth are not benevolent, and regard all things as straw dogs!”
This is the first sentence in the preface of “Zhu Xian”.
If YangFeng has read fewer books, he might think this sentence is amazing.
In the past, some people even thought this sentence was the original creation of “Zhu Xian”.
However, YangFeng has read the “Tao Te Ching”, he knew that this sentence came from that work.
Laozi was one of the most famous people during the Spring and Autumn Period. Therefore, there are two conjectures in the academic world about this sentence. The first conjecture is: Laozi wanted to express the idea of fairness between heaven and earth.
The second conjecture is: Heaven is not kind, and only treats all things as lifeless offerings.
No matter which conjecture is in line with Laozi’s thoughts, the fact that Chu Kuang could think of quoting this sentence as the beginning of the novel gives the impression that he seized the initiative.
It seems that Chu Kuang didn’t decide to write XianXia on a whim, but had done some homework in advance.
But why did he insist on writing XianXia?
YangFeng shook his head and continued to read.
Editors read books very quickly, and so did YangFeng.
The preface, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, YangFeng read them very quickly.
But when he read to Chapter Three, YangFeng suddenly stopped.
Like someone had pressed the pause button on him.
When the image resumed, as if rebooting, somehow, YangFeng opened the preface of “Zhu Xian” and started to read it again.
This time, his reading speed is incredibly slow, he is practically reading word by word.
This is the first time in YangFeng’s editing career that he has read a book at such a turtle’s pace—
As if, he was afraid of missing a word.
ps: Finished for today, three chapters are the minimum, this is the fourth chapter, considered an extra chapter, so I still have some energy left, pleading for the monthly tickets.