The Chinese Web Novel Platform's Sincerity

Ruyi confidently promised them.

Well, that was a waste of breath. Li Changle looked at Wang Siyi helplessly.

Wang Siyi looked at the cute little girl just as helplessly. She had quite an imagination. This time, though, she didn't argue. She glanced at Li Changle without saying anything, then went back to her room.

Qinghe was curious that Li Changle was living with a fairly popular female singer from the entertainment industry, but he wasn't a gossip. He was only briefly surprised, then put the matter out of his mind.

He wasn't Ruyi. He was here on important business: to keep Li Changle at the Chinese Web Novel Platform and, while he was at it, discuss a screen adaptation of Legend of Sword and Fairy 1.

"Mr. Li, right? We've come to visit you on behalf of the Chinese Web Novel Platform, and we're doing so with the utmost sincerity. We can offer you a Platinum Great God contract right away. All you have to do is promise to publish at least three more books on our platform."

"Also, the rights to Legend of Sword and Fairy belong to our platform now. We're interested in adapting it for the screen, and we plan to give you a share of the adaptation profits based on the terms of your Platinum Great God contract."

Li Changle was a little shocked by the offer from the Chinese Web Novel Platform.

They really were being sincere. So Li Changle signed with them without hesitation. He hadn't planned to move to another platform anyway.

They'd even taken the initiative to raise his pay and offer him all kinds of benefits.

He'd never found an employer this good in his previous life, not even with a lantern.

As for the last point—the screen adaptation of Legend of Sword and Fairy—

Li Changle asked to be involved in the adaptation process and to have a vote on changes to the story and casting decisions.

He also said he was willing to forgo the Platinum Great God share for Legend of Sword and Fairy and settle for the standard percentage instead.

Qinghe and the others from the Chinese Web Novel Platform nodded. The request was perfectly reasonable. After all, Li Changle was the author himself.

No one knew the story of Legend of Sword and Fairy better than he did. With him involved, they could make the adaptation process twice as efficient.

And to show their generosity, they agreed to give him the Platinum Great God share anyway. That settled things to everyone's satisfaction.

Li Changle was quite happy with the result. Now that they'd finished discussing everything, he wanted to act as a good host and invite everyone from the Chinese Web Novel Platform out for a meal.

Li Changle gave it some serious thought and decided he couldn't leave Wang Siyi behind. If he went out, what would she eat?

From the looks of her, she probably couldn't cook. Surely he couldn't make her order takeout?

He went to Wang Siyi's bedroom and knocked.

"What is it?"

Wang Siyi's voice came from inside.

"Um, I'm taking them out to eat, but if I leave, you won't have anything to eat. Want to come with us?"

Li Changle hesitated, but still asked what she thought.

Wang Siyi was silent for a long while.

"Okay. Give me ten minutes."

Li Changle wasn't surprised. He told Qinghe, Ruyi, and the others that they'd have to wait a little, then made small talk with them as they waited for Wang Siyi to come out.

"Great God Xiaoyao, when did you and Sister Wanjun get together?"

Ruyi blinked her big eyes and asked Li Changle, brimming with curiosity.

"Get together how?"

Li Changle couldn't make heads or tails of the way young girls thought. He asked in confusion.

"You know! When did you two start dating?"

The question excited Ruyi. Her face was full of gossip.

Li Changle looked at her helplessly and said:

"We're not a couple. You're overthinking it. She's only staying here because of an accident."

"An accident? Don't tell me she got pregnant before you were married, and you're getting married now to make things official!"

Ruyi's imagination went wild, and a scene popped into her head.

Wang Wanjun, devastated by a setback in her career, had gotten drunk in the middle of the night. She'd run into Li Changle, who was also drunk, and the two of them had given in to their passions—

Li Changle's eye twitched. He reached out and gave Ruyi a tap.

This girl was already in her twenties, maybe even older than him. How could she be so mischievous?

"What are you thinking? We're just ordinary friends. There's nothing complicated going on."

Ruyi saw how sincere and serious Li Changle looked.

He didn't seem to be lying. Had she gotten it wrong? That didn't seem right. She glanced at him in disappointment.

What a shame. Her favorite star and favorite author had almost become a couple. She sighed. She was a little sad that her favorite pairing hadn't worked out.

At last, Wang Siyi came out of her room. Li Changle finally understood why she'd asked him to wait ten minutes. She'd changed her clothes and seemed to have put on some light makeup, too.

How had she managed to change and put on makeup in just ten minutes? Li Changle had no idea. But he was sure of one thing: Wang Siyi looked truly beautiful tonight.

She wore a white long-sleeved top, a short, pale-blue bolero jacket, and a pleated miniskirt in the same color. A white belt with short tassels cinched her waist.

Her long hair fell over her shoulders. Her delicate features made hearts race, and her tall, curvy figure moved with light, graceful steps.

"Let's go,"

Wang Siyi said to Li Changle in a calm voice.

Li Changle was still lost in Wang Siyi's beauty, unable to look away. They'd lived together for so long.

She usually wore plain clothes, or sometimes just her loungewear, whenever she was around him.

Even so, Li Changle had always thought she was beautiful. Waking up to a face like hers every day could put anyone in a good mood.

He just hadn't expected her to look so stunning when she dressed up tonight. She was far more beautiful than he was used to seeing.

Li Changle wasn't the only one stunned. Ruyi was, too.

When Ruyi saw Wang Siyi dressed like that, she almost rushed over to cover her with kisses. She was so beautiful!

The photos online were gorgeous, but Ruyi had seen them so many times that they no longer felt special.

It was only after seeing Wang Siyi all dressed up in person that Ruyi understood what it meant to be so beautiful that fish would forget to swim and geese would forget to fly.

"Wow, Sister Wanjun, you look incredible! Could I take a picture with you? I won't post it—I'll just keep it as a memento. I'm a die-hard fan of yours!"

She looked at Wang Siyi with big, pleading eyes.

Wang Siyi had noticed that Li Changle was stunned by her carefully put-together appearance, and she felt pleased. She didn't refuse Ruyi's request. Instead, she smiled and nodded.

Ruyi quickly took out her phone and snapped five pictures in a row. Then she walked away, completely satisfied.

This trip to Yangcheng had been well worth it. It was so worth it!

She'd met the genuine Great God Xiaoyao, and she'd also met the idol she'd followed for years.

One was handsome, and the other was beautiful. Best of all, the two of them seemed to be dating!

Ruyi wasn't convinced by Li Changle's explanation. The two of them were obviously so close when they talked.

Besides, she had a feeling that even if they weren't a couple now, they'd definitely end up together someday!

Wang Siyi was pleased to see Li Changle standing there in a daze.

But when she saw him standing completely still with so many people in the room, she felt awkward and a little embarrassed.

She hurriedly lowered her head and said softly:

"W-why are you looking at me?"

Li Changle finally came back to his senses.

"Oh, right, everyone's here. Let's go."

He quickly ushered everyone out.

Ruyi watched the two of them from the side, looking as if she'd just proved herself right. They definitely had something going on!

Ruyi, the shipper, was overjoyed. This was just perfect. A talented man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven. Those two had to get together!

Li Changle took Qinghe, Ruyi, and the others to a restaurant known for its local specialties in Yangcheng.

At the table, Qinghe was an easygoing person, and Li Changle wasn't the quiet type either. Besides, in his previous life, he'd often had to talk with clients while working on project proposals, and business dinners had been unavoidable.

Li Changle handled this kind of social occasion with ease, so the conversation never ran dry and dinner didn't turn awkward.

Qinghe couldn't help but look at the young man in front of him in a new light. As editor-in-chief of the Chinese Web Novel Platform, he'd met plenty of online novelists, but most of them were poor at socializing.

Li Changle clearly didn't have that problem. He could talk about all kinds of subjects, from all over the country and across every line of work.

He also had plenty of interesting ideas about fiction. Qinghe and Ruyi nodded along again and again.

"I wonder what kind of book Great God Xiaoyao plans to write next?"

Ruyi's curiosity flared up again. She couldn't help it; Legend of Sword and Fairy had left her deeply impressed.

Its fresh setting, the witty and humorous prose in the first half, and the weighty, tragic tone in the second half—

Anyone who finished the novel would find it hard to calm down afterward. The story left a powerful impression.

Legend of Sword and Fairy was still very popular online. Every so often, it even made the trending topics. That was an extraordinary achievement for a novel.

The online fiction industry had been around for years. This kind of success wasn't unheard of, but it was certainly rare.

The release of Legend of Sword and Fairy had inspired many writers online to create novels with similar settings or styles. Some were good, some were bad.

But overall, Legend of Sword and Fairy had introduced a new approach to writing fiction in this world. It had helped move the online fiction industry forward, which was unquestionably a good thing.

"What's the situation with the novels on the Chinese Web Novel Platform like these days?"

Li Changle asked. He'd only taken a brief look before. He'd thought his story was strong enough to become popular, so he hadn't paid much attention to the other novels.

"Before Legend of Sword and Fairy came along, the most popular genre on the platform was fantasy, especially stories about leveling up and defeating monsters. Those kinds of Power Fantasy Novels give readers a sense of satisfaction."

"Urban novels are doing pretty well, too, but their core is similar to fantasy—they're also mostly about leveling up and overcoming challenges."

"Other than those two big categories, everything else is doing pretty average. Oh, right, wuxia and science fiction are doing much worse. Those genres are mostly published as print books. And in recent years, there haven't been many particularly good wuxia or science-fiction novels."

Ruyi sighed. She liked wuxia novels best. She'd never forgotten how it felt to read them as a child. Even during class, she'd sneak a look whenever she could.

Online novels moved at a faster pace, perhaps because society had changed and life had sped up.

It seemed that people nowadays couldn't write good wuxia or science-fiction novels anymore. Those two genres had a hard time gaining traction online.

Li Changle nodded and thought it over. In the end, he decided to write wuxia. Just as he'd done with xianxia before, he'd make the genre popular with Legend of Sword and Fairy.

Li Changle believed that when the novel he'd planned started serializing, wuxia in this world would gain widespread acclaim, too.

After all, it was a novel by Jin Yong, the great Jin Yong himself.

On Earth, Jin Yong's wuxia novels were even better known than Legend of Sword and Fairy.

They'd remained popular from the 1970s through the 2020s, spanning more than half a century and five or six generations. They were classics among classics. Calling them household names was no exaggeration.

There was no reason a work like that wouldn't become popular in this world. Legend of Sword and Fairy had already proved that works that became hits on Earth could do just as well here.

"Then I'll write a wuxia novel,"

Li Changle said, having made up his mind.

"What?!"

Ruyi was shocked. She'd only asked on a whim. She hadn't expected to get an answer.

And Li Changle was planning to write a wuxia novel? Didn't he know how difficult the wuxia market was these days?

"Great God Xiaoyao, the wuxia market is in terrible shape right now. Wuxia makes up such a tiny part of the Chinese Web Novel Platform that hardly anyone reads it!"

Ruyi hurriedly told Li Changle just how badly wuxia was doing on the platform, but Li Changle wasn't concerned.

"Doesn't matter. Before I wrote Legend of Sword and Fairy, wasn't the xianxia genre in a similar situation?"

"That's not the same. Xianxia is similar to fantasy, so there's already a lot of overlap between their readers. That gives xianxia a solid audience. Wuxia is much worse off. It doesn't even have a solid audience—we don't even know whether it has any loyal readers."

"It's fine. I've already worked out the story."

Li Changle answered Ruyi calmly.

Qinghe saw how confident Li Changle looked. He'd been about to advise him to give up on wuxia and keep writing xianxia, but then he reconsidered.

If Li Changle managed to make another wuxia novel a hit, it would bring another surge of traffic to the Chinese Web Novel Platform.

If the novel didn't do well, they could always drop it or let him finish it, then advise him to return to xianxia for his next book. It was a risk worth taking!

Li Changle had a good track record. Qinghe had a feeling that his wuxia novel would be something special. He was looking forward to it.

Wang Siyi had barely said a word since she'd gone out with Li Changle. She watched him calmly and confidently handle the people from the Chinese Web Novel Platform.

She couldn't help feeling curious. She'd initially thought Li Changle was just an enthusiastic young man fresh out of college.

But after living with him for a while, she'd realized how attentive he was. It also seemed there was nothing he couldn't do: cook, write songs, write novels...

He was clearly younger than she was, so how did he know so much? Wang Siyi was a little bored and couldn't eat another bite.

All she could do was gaze at Li Changle, lost in thought as the many little moments they'd shared over this period replayed in her mind.

Suddenly, she felt someone beside her tapping her. She quickly came back to her senses.

It was the wide-eyed, excitable girl from earlier. Ruyi looked at Wang Siyi in confusion. She'd said she was a die-hard fan, after all.

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