Blade Overhead, Knife at the Belly

A eunuch was someone missing the part below, which happened to perfectly describe a common phenomenon in online fiction: a novel would suddenly stop updating before it was finished, and it was called "castrated." The author of such a novel was called a eunuch, while the more famous ones among them were called chief eunuchs—the chief stewards of the imperial palace.

When those novels occasionally updated two chapters after a long break, it was called "leaving the palace"... but after leaving the palace, they would inevitably return to it, so there was no need to get too excited.

Ma Shilong was exactly that kind of chief eunuch. He had written novels for years and even changed pen names. Even if he claimed that unfinished endings did not count as castration, blaming the times, the platform, and all sorts of reasons, it could not change the fact that he was a chief eunuch.

If Ma Shilong had known that one day a huge hammer would smash down on his head, would he still have dared to castrate his novels?

For authors like that, blades ought to hang beneath their bellies at all times, so they would learn to stay alert.

"Why hasn't your novel been signed yet?" Zhu Baiqing asked Qin Luming. "Getting signed is easy these days. My new book was internally contracted—I showed the editor twenty thousand words, and it was signed."

"You're an established author. How could that be the same?" Guo Gaoming said.

Diao Ligang added, "Honestly, I prefer Qin Luming's novels. Old Zhu, your book is too simplistic. It's all the same arrogant face-slapping formulas. It gets tiresome after a while."

"That's exactly why it needs formulas. As long as it makes money, who cares if it's simplistic?" Zhu Baiqing said disdainfully. "Do you think you're writing a masterpiece? Online novels are meant to be fast food. If people want depth and substance, why would they read online novels?"

"Even fast food has different grades... Some use gutter oil and are poisonous. Some are nothing but junk food, and eating too much is bad for you. A proper mix of meat and vegetables should aim for color, aroma, and flavor. Why can't that be the goal of fast food?" Qin Luming shook his head dismissively. Fast food was synonymous with cheap and low-quality, but it did not have to be cheap and low-quality.

"That's true... but you should get signed first. If no one reads your book, what does it matter how good its color, aroma, and flavor are?" Zhu Baiqing said with a smile, then earnestly advised him, "A lot of newcomers think just like you. They all look down on simplistic fiction, but after they crash and burn, they think of bowing to reality and writing simplistic fiction. Then they discover that even their simplistic fiction has no readers... because simplistic fiction isn't that easy to write either."

"I don't need to bow to reality." Qin Luming smiled as he took out his phone, opened the novel app, and tapped around. "People are always lowering their heads. That's a little boring. Only by holding your head high and walking your own path can you feel accomplished... Think about it. Among today's great authors, some made their names writing pure simplistic fiction and mobile-oriented stories. But others have reached the pinnacle in prose, plot, and storytelling, and they earn plenty too... Why shouldn't I learn from the latter?"

"But you need to understand, how many authors like that are there on the whole internet? Authors making money from simplistic fiction outnumber them by a thousand or ten thousand times. I've seen authors with good prose, good plots, and real depth, but they get praise without sales. They don't even make a few hundred yuan in royalties a month." Zhu Baiqing curled his lips slightly. "Qin Luming, I'm not trying to discourage you, but even if your current book gets signed, it might not earn a thousand yuan a month. In the end, you still won't be able to keep writing."

"We'll see when the time comes." Qin Luming tapped his bowl with his chopsticks. "Eat, eat."

"Old Zhu, you've got a Silver Alliance!" Guo Gaoming suddenly cried out. As he listened to Qin Luming and Zhu Baiqing arguing about novels, he had taken out his phone and casually checked Zhu Baiqing's book.

"It really is one... Damn, that's ten thousand yuan! You have readers like that?" Diao Ligang stared at Zhu Baiqing in disbelief. Sure enough, readers of simplistic fiction were rich!

As roommates, the two of them had added Zhu Baiqing's novel to their libraries out of friendship. Though they did not particularly enjoy reading it, they had still supported it with saves when it had first been published and needed recommendation votes, clicks, and bookmarks.

Zhu Baiqing's heart pounded like thunder. After writing for so long, this was the first time someone had rewarded him with a Silver Alliance. Was this real? Many authors longed for a Silver Alliance with every book they wrote, yet might write for years and several novels without ever seeing one.

Zhu Baiqing no longer cared about eating. He hurriedly wiped his hands, pulled out his phone, and checked his book page. Sure enough, there was an additional reader with one million fan points.

Zhu Baiqing was ecstatic. A Silver Alliance meant four or five thousand yuan for the author after the revenue split. More importantly, it came with a sitewide promotional banner—an invaluable advertising opportunity, and an achievement every author dreamed of.

Zhu Baiqing's fingers trembled slightly as he refreshed the page, but he did not see the sitewide promotional banner. He checked the announcements as well, but there was no sitewide announcement for a Silver Alliance reward.

What was going on?

Zhu Baiqing entered the author dashboard and discovered that this "Silver Alliance" was fake!

A real Silver Alliance had to be a single reward of one million points! His Silver Alliance had been rewarded in installments of fifty thousand points, twenty times in total. One million points in total did not count as a Silver Alliance at all!

Zhu Baiqing was deeply frustrated... Which brainless reader had done this? He hurriedly checked the reader ID, but it was an unfamiliar name. Then he opened that reader's activity feed and saw that the reader had only left comments on Qin Luming's novel. He could not help staring suspiciously at Qin Luming.

"No need to thank me." Qin Luming smiled.

"It really was you!" Zhu Baiqing's eye twitched. He looked again at Qin Luming's phone, and his blood immediately began to boil.

"Old Qin, you rewarded Zhu Baiqing with a Silver Alliance?" Guo Gaoming was shocked. "Do you have so much money that it's burning a hole in your pocket?"

"Ten thousand yuan! No wonder you were going on about not bowing to reality!" Diao Ligang slapped Qin Luming's shoulder hard, filled with envy and jealousy.

"You used an Apple phone to reward him?" Zhu Baiqing stared fixedly at Qin Luming's phone, utterly miserable.

"Yeah." Qin Luming opened his phone. "Someone else topped it up for me, and they added too much. I couldn't possibly spend it all on reading anyway, so I rewarded you with it."

"You... do you know that... for Apple rewards, the website takes fifty percent, Apple takes thirty percent, and after channel fees, taxes, and several months of settlement delays, it's basically the same as nothing for the author!" The dramatic rise and fall, the frustration that immediately followed his joy, made Zhu Baiqing's face turn ugly.

"I see. Once my own book gets signed, I'll reward myself using a computer or Android. Then there won't be a problem, right?" Qin Luming said in sudden realization.

Yeah, reward yourself with ten thousand yuan, and your royalties would definitely exceed one thousand yuan! You win! Zhu Ziqing picked up his tray and left irritably. He really could not keep eating. It was his first time seeing someone use such a disgusting method to irritate people. Qin Luming really had too much money! Zhu Ziqing suspected that Qin Luming had done it deliberately.

"Old Qin, you did that on purpose, didn't you?" Guo Gaoming could not help laughing as he watched Zhu Baiqing leave.

"I only wanted to tell him that everyone has different standards when they think and act. Don't always assume you're the one who's right. Don't always draw a conclusion based on your own circumstances, then assume it applies to others whose circumstances are different." Qin Luming did not deny it. He had more than one device for reading. In fact, the Sony DPT e-reader he often used for reading ran Android after being cracked, while the novel app credits on this phone had been topped up by Zuozuo, and this was an Apple device.

Zuozuo liked male-oriented novels. Whenever she came across a novel she enjoyed, she would reward it with an Alliance Leader. She had already rewarded dozens of Alliance Leaders.

Caicai rewarded less often, but whenever she did, it was a Silver Alliance. However, she only read female-oriented novels.

After lunch, they attended two classes that afternoon. Qin Luming used a ride-hailing app to find a car and headed toward the Zinc Factory.