Random Thoughts No. 1: A Classroom Anecdote.
This was the piece Huang Yifan submitted to 'Youth Daily', a reflective essay about his thoughts on attending class in this world.
There wasn't anything particularly radical in it; it was just that Huang Yifan, with an adult's perspective and a cultural background slightly different from this world's, presented ideas that came across as unique. For instance, he described the current education model as a "force-feeding" approach, pointing out its many drawbacks.
Of course, Huang Yifan only briefly touched on this in his essay; he wasn't trying to critique the entire education system.
In just half an hour, he finished writing 'A Classroom Anecdote'.
He wasn't sure if this piece would catch Sun Zaian's attention.
After all, this was traditional literature, and Huang Yifan didn't have full confidence.
Still, it wasn't like he had none either.
Over the past few weeks of writing, Huang Yifan had been struck by waves of inspiration, constantly feeling fresh insights into his craft.
And when he wrote, he felt a kind of joy and ease that was hard to describe.
As he typed, it felt as if the words spilling from his fingers were perfectly expressing the thoughts in his heart.
Not bad at all.
After a careful review, Huang Yifan smiled slightly.
In 'The Ghost Mocks the Scholar', he had described how some scholars had such a powerful "literary aura" that it pierced the skies and rivaled the stars and moon. Lesser ones could project their aura for eight or nine zhang, lighting up their surroundings. And the weakest still glowed like oil lamps, more brilliant the darker it got. Compared to those great scholars, he was still leagues behind, not even close to rivaling the stars. He probably didn't even have the aura of eight or nine zhang. The question was, could his words at least shine like a small lamp, guiding others through the dark?
Ah, thinking too much again. That was just a made-up anecdote from a novel. Better to keep working hard.
He opened TT and saw Sun Zaian wasn't online, so he sent the essay to his email directly.
…
With that done, Huang Yifan opened the Striving Writers Group he hadn't visited in a long time.
Since finishing 'How a Bad Guy Is Made', he'd stayed out of group chats.
Partly because he was recovering, and partly because he just didn't have the time. But now that he was on break and with his next novel set to launch in just over a month, it was a good chance to reconnect with fellow writers and learn more about the current market.
"Popping in, popping in."
He sent a smiling emoji to announce his return.
The Striving Writers Group was just as lively as ever, and once people saw Huang Yifan's emoji, the chat exploded.
"Whoa! The Great White is here!"
"Don't call him Great White, call him the White God!"
"White Boss, are you making a comeback?"
Everyone chimed in one after another, welcoming Huang Yifan back.
"Thanks for the concern, guys. I'm recovering well. As for the new book, it's not coming out just yet. Just showing my face so you don't all think I've kicked the bucket."
"Haha, if you didn't show up soon, we really would've thought you were gone. What've you been up to, White Boss? You've been so quiet."
"Well, first I was resting and recovering, so I wasn't online much. And second, junior high exams. Didn't have time."
Huang Yifan answered honestly.
"Resting, huh? Looks like you're fully recovered. Congrats! But... junior high exams? What the hell?"
"White Boss, don't tell me you're only 14 or 15, just took your high school entrance exam?"
"You mean college entrance, right?"
"Sigh... White Boss always messing with us honest folks. Just like Chen Xiao, 18 years old every year."
When the Chen Xiao joke came up, the whole group burst out laughing, even Huang Yifan couldn't help but smile.
Huang Yifan knew who Chen Xiao was, a platinum author on Lingdian with real skill. One time, Chen Xiao wrote a side note saying he had to take the college entrance exam and couldn't update, asking readers for understanding. Readers were super supportive, after all, exams are more important than novels. Nobody minded the lack of updates; in fact, many encouraged him to focus on studying.
But the next year, Chen Xiao posted again, still a high school senior, apparently repeating the year.
And just like that, Chen Xiao wrote for seven or eight years, claiming to be 18 the whole time.
Eventually, that cutesy tactic became a meme. Other authors followed suit. Whenever someone missed updates, they'd say they were still in school, or that their dad banned them from writing.
Huang Yifan didn't bother explaining himself. He'd slipped up earlier and didn't want his real age getting out. Thankfully, nobody pressed, and after some light jokes, the group got back to the previous topic.
"Jiangcheng Yinan, are you really leaving Lingdian for Huanyue?"
User Thirty-Two asked Jiangcheng Yinan.
"Yeah, Thirty-Two. You're a veteran on Lingdian and have a fan base. I'm just a newbie. Ever since the mass deletion incident, Lingdian's traffic has tanked. If I stay, who knows how long it'll take to break out. Huanyue's got more power and traffic, I'll test the waters there."
"Hmm, Huanyue's not exactly a cakewalk either. Jumping from site to site isn't really a solution."
Thirty-Two sighed.
"That's true, but what choice do we newbies have?"
Another author named Doujiao picked up Jiangcheng Yinan's point.
"I say forget Huanyue, go to Lianheng instead. They've got this new buyout plan for new authors. A lot of people have gotten modest contracts there."
DouShaBao chimed in.
"Good idea! I'll check it out and see if I can get a bargain deal, 10 yuan per 1.000 characters sounds fine to me."
Doujiao replied, clearly excited.
"Hey, White Boss, what about you? You staying at Lingdian, or headed to Huanyue or Lianheng?"
Thirty-Two turned to Huang Yifan.
"Lingdian."
Though his new book hadn't been launched yet, Huang Yifan had already made his decision.
"No way, White Boss. Lingdian deleted 'How a Bad Guy Is Made', and you're still staying?"
Thirty-Two was shocked. "Don't tell me Huanyue and Lianheng didn't try to poach you, that's impossible. Even I got offers, and I'm just a bottom-tier writer. I heard Lianheng was ready to offer you 200 per 1.000 characters. Don't tell me... You turned them down?"
"Well, how should I put this…"
Faced with Thirty-Two's question, Huang Yifan hesitated for a moment before replying, "'How a Bad Guy Is Made' had gang-related content. Whether it was posted on Lingdian or Huanyue, it was going to be deleted sooner or later. As for why I stayed with Lingdian, it's just a personal hunch. I believe in their future."
"I see now… Lingdian must've paid a hefty price to keep you. White Boss, tell us, how much was the buyout? Over 200 per 1.000? Or 300?"
"Crying here, my next book is revenue share."
"What? Revenue share? White Boss, you serious?"
Thirty-Two couldn't believe it.
At 200 yuan per 1.000 characters, if you wrote 10.000 characters a day, that's a yearly income of 700.000 to 800.000 yuan.
Giving up that for the instability of revenue sharing, he must be crazy, right?
"I actually think revenue share is better than buyout. Sure, it's riskier, but it pushes the writer to do their best. Buyouts are more stable, but I'm afraid they make you complacent. You start slacking, tossing in filler chapters, and in the end, it hurts both the readers and yourself."
That was a common problem for web authors in his past life.
Plenty of authors regressed after landing high-price buyouts, eventually quitting the industry altogether.
But in this world, buyouts were still a new concept. Most authors, even the top-tier ones, were infatuated with them. They were all hoping their next work could land a buyout. None of them had considered the downsides. Heck, even the publishing platforms offering buyouts probably hadn't thought it through yet.
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