Chapter 7#
Sa Yi actually didn’t want to come to this book signing.
It wasn’t because of Qiao Jing; he had no idea Qiao Jing lived in this city. It was mainly because a book signing was too exhausting. Not only did he have to maintain a smile for the readers throughout, but his hand was also about to get tired from just signing names.
“Stop complaining. Didn’t you just release a new book? Although the website will help you find people for marketing, you have to put in effort yourself too,” Wang Cheng said to him on the phone, even taking a jab at him using Qiao Jing. “After Jing Hua Shui Yue left, you’re the face of Xingchen Web. You also know the website’s upcoming plans. At that time, we’ll take the lead in collaborating with other websites to hold this Web Novel Gala. If you don’t win a big award, the higher-ups’ faces won’t look good.”
“Are you kidding me?” Sa Yi said gloomily. “I have over a hundred reader groups alone. Which blind person would dare to suppress me?”
Wang Cheng chuckled: “Who knows. Anyway, as long as you’re aware. I’ve already arranged the book signing for you; you just need to go through the motions then.”
“…Understood.” Sa Yi could only reluctantly agree.
This Old Wang, back when he was responsible for Jing Hua Shui Yue, was a notoriously prickly editor who never hesitated to snatch resources for his authors. Over the years, Qiao Jing’s reputation in the web novel world had become mixed—readers were fine, but many authors within the website avoided him.
Now that the higher-ups of Xingchen Web had sent him to be in charge of Sa Yi, they were probably playing a game of “the stick and the carrot.”
Sitting behind the long table, Sa Yi thought about Wang Cheng while listening to the host beside him enthusiastically introducing him. He twirled his pen quickly and gave a casual smile to the readers who had bought his books and were queuing for signatures.
The female fans in the crowd immediately let out low screams, excitedly whispering with their companions.
Seeing the enthusiasm of the readers, the frustration that Sa Yi had been holding in his chest finally eased slightly.
He casually looked toward a corner of the bookstore, but his pupils suddenly contracted when he saw Qiao Jing standing there.
“Next is the signing session that reader friends have been looking forward to… Teacher Sa’en, what’s wrong?”
The host held the microphone with a beaming smile, but halfway through, Sa Yi suddenly stood up from his seat.
The bustling bookstore instantly fell silent.
Everyone was looking at him with puzzled expressions.
The host thought something had happened and quickly moved the microphone away, asking in a low voice: “Teacher Sa’en, are you feeling unwell?”
“…No.” Sa Yi’s eyes flickered, and he suddenly sat back down.
He snatched the microphone from the host’s hand, curled his lips, and said to the readers in the hall: “Everyone, thank you for coming to support my work today. My new book, ‘Legend of the Qilin,’ has already begun serialization on Xingchen Web. Friends who liked my previous works can also go take a look.”
After a pause, he continued: “So, to express my gratitude to everyone, any reader who participates in the signing today and purchases any of my novels can choose one book for free from the discounted books provided by the bookstore!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the readers on the scene immediately cheered.
But the bookstore owner’s face suddenly changed; no one had discussed this activity with him before the signing!
Sa Yi glanced at him, sneered disdainfully, and lowered his voice to tell the host: “Tell him to bring out all of Jing Hua Shui Yue’s novels in the store and put them with those discounted books. I’ll pay for them.”
The host wiped his sweat: “This… isn’t very good, is it?”
Although he didn’t know what conflict Sa Yi had with the author whose pen name was Jing Hua Shui Yue, this operation was inevitably a bit too insulting. Who would want their painstakingly created work to be bundled with someone else’s as a “buy one, get one free” deal?
“Then you’ll pay the bill?” Sa Yi narrowed his eyes, his tone threatening. “Don’t forget, I’ve already said the words, and the readers are waiting below.”
With no other choice, the host could only do as told.
Propping up his chin, Sa Yi coldly watched as the readers excitedly swarmed up, snatching up the pile of discounted books. His gaze crossed the crowd and looked toward Qiao Jing.
Thirty years on the east of the river, thirty years on the west. Thinking about how Qiao Jing had ignored him when he first participated in an author conference compared to the scene now where he sat on the stage surrounded by readers and fans, a twisted sense of pleasure couldn’t help but surface in Sa Yi’s heart.
‘Brother Jing,’ he mouthed, ‘I know you’re short on money after the contract termination. My treat, no need to thank me.’
Even when provoked to his face by Sa Yi, Qiao Jing’s face showed no expression.
Among the fanatical fans, his behavior was even a bit overly calm.
The young man had one hand in his coat pocket and even had the leisure to look down at a message from his editor, as if he didn’t care about this matter at all.
However, 008, perched on his shoulder, was half-dead with anger: “Ptui! A villain’s success! If you hadn’t taken the initiative to terminate the contract, those rotten books this bastard wrote wouldn’t even be wanted for firewood!”
“Not really,” Qiao Jing put away his phone after replying to the message, and corrected seriously, “Half the people in this bookstore are just here for the spectacle, and half are indeed here for Sa’en himself.”
008 said incredulously: “Hey, I’m speaking up for you! Don’t you think he’s very annoying?”
It was so angry its fur was almost standing on end!
Seeing this, Qiao Jing had no choice but to say: “I’ve already told the editor that my book will hit the channels on the same day as Sa’en’s, and there’s no need to avoid it.”
008 immediately turned around, looking at him expectantly: “Really?”
Qiao Jing: “Why would I lie to you?”
To prevent others from thinking he was a lunatic talking to a cat, Qiao Jing wore wireless headphones when he went out.
But in Sa Yi’s view, this black-haired young man’s smiling, oblivious appearance meant that Qiao Jing, just like a few years ago, didn’t regard him at all.
“Bastard!”
He squeezed the pen in his hand until it creaked. It wasn’t until a reader at the front of the line asked a question in confusion that he came to his senses, barely squeezed out a smile, and continued signing names with his head down.
By this time, Qiao Jing had long left the bookstore.
After a brief moment of happiness, 008 began to worry again: “I just looked online. Liuliu Web has collaborations with seventeen novel sites, but Xingchen Web has a full hundred and seventeen! And the most prominent positions on those channel websites are also theirs. What should we do?”
“Don’t worry, a good story can break through,” Qiao Jing said calmly.
008 muttered in a low voice: “That phrase again… but even the fragrance of wine fears deep alleys. It’s like being a star; no matter how handsome you are or how good your acting is, you won’t become popular without a company pushing you.”
It thought Qiao Jing would object, but to its surprise, the young man stopped, thought for a moment, and actually nodded: “You have a point.”
“Then are you willing to let me help you promote?” 008 said excitedly. “I promise, I can cover the entire network in one night!”
Qiao Jing coughed: “That’s way too obvious. You’re just asking for someone to come knocking on my door.”
The content he wrote—if it really covered the entire network one day… Qiao Jing thought about it; it would probably cause a huge uproar in the whole country, no, the whole world, right?
Although it was only a matter of time before it became like that with the current trend, Qiao Jing still felt it was too early given the current plot progress of “Song of the Earth.”
Before accumulating enough bargaining chips, he didn’t want to get the entire website banned along with him.
“I’ll mention it to the readers,” he said. “I’ll say ‘I hope everyone supports and subscribes. The new book is about to be listed. If the results on the channels are good, I’ll release two bonus chapters that day as thanks.’ How about that?”
“…”
The despairing expression appeared once again on 008’s cat face, which was as black as a coal ball.
Don’t think it doesn’t know!
Those wealthy authors on Xingchen Web give away watches, bags, and thousands of yuan worth of cosmetics to thank readers! Even for bonus chapters, it’s tens of thousands of words for several consecutive days, okay?
Current readers are very picky; who cares about just two chapters!
But Qiao Jing felt his idea was very good. After returning home, he opened the virtual space and started coding.
After finishing the updates, he added that sentence above the synopsis of “Song of the Earth.”
Ding Qi, seeing the synopsis refresh in the lab: !!!!
He immediately called his supervisor and told him about it.
“Listed? Channels?” Gao Xinglu had never read web novels before and didn’t understand the meaning of these terms. “What are all these things?”
So Ding Qi explained it to him. Gao Xinglu nodded: “So it’s something like the selection of academicians? I get it.”
Ding Qi: “…No, Teacher, you’re thinking too complicatedly.”
Gao Xinglu laughed twice but soon became serious and instructed: “Anyway, since the author specifically mentioned it in the synopsis, we must support it! Think about it, two update chapters are nearly seven thousand words, and the content in the annotations doesn’t count toward the word count. How much ‘dry goods’ (solid content) will there be in there? Little Ding, go tell the people in the lab now, have them all mobilize the people in their friend circles to support Yan Heqing!”
Before Ding Qi could speak, Gao Xinglu, fearing these young people would be unreliable, added: “Don’t take it lightly. You all know how much ‘Song of the Earth’ has helped our research. It’s almost the end of the year, and I still have some PhD student stipends left to distribute. The completion rate of this task will also be included in the assessment criteria.”
Hearing about the stipends, Ding Qi immediately perked up: “Okay, Supervisor, guaranteed to complete the task!”
Hanging up the phone, Gao Xinglu looked at his phone and chuckled: “You young people today, you think I don’t know you?”
However, relying only on them definitely wouldn’t be enough.
No matter how great a supervisor is, their energy is limited, and the number of PhD students under them can basically be counted on one hand.
But Gao Xinglu had been at the Chinese Academy of Sciences for so many years, and he knew more than just one or two old guys.
The friends and relatives, seniors and juniors of one PhD student might not be much, but when an Academician speaks… that night, the entire CAS, along with the PhD and graduate students—and even undergraduates—of several C9 and 985/211 universities, all got busy…
When Qiao Jing woke up the next day, he found 008 missing.
He searched the whole house and finally found the small black cat on a lounge chair on the balcony, its belly exposed, looking dazed as if it had inhaled too much catnip.
It happily hugged a small dried fish pillow in its arms and laughed like a creep:
“Hehe, so many reputation points, all mine… hehe…”
Qiao Jing silently watched 008 rolling around on the floor.
Is it… crazy?