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Li Xuexin had no trouble finding the Five-Character Quatrain titled "Longing" among the many submitted poems.

He sighed. The talent of this young man named Li Xiaoyao was enough to make anyone green with envy. If he could write a poem like this, he could die without regrets.

When Wang Weimin submitted Li Changle's poem, he hadn't used his real name. He'd submitted it under Li Changle's pen name, Li Xiaoyao.

Li Xuexin posted "Longing" in the judges' group chat, then said:

"This poem is the winner of this year's Guangfu Poetry Competition. Who agrees? Who disagrees?"

The group fell silent at first, seemingly stunned by the poem. Then the discussion immediately grew heated.

"This poem! Could it be a new work by some literary master?"

"It looks simple, but it's actually the highest level of poetry about things. Who is this Li Xiaoyao? How come I've never heard of him?"

"Incredible. I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me this poem was written by a poet from a thousand years ago..."

"I'm fine with this poem taking first place."

"I think it works."

"Works for me too!"

"Putting out a work like this in the Guangfu Competition Area is downright unfair. This would easily take first place at the national competition, too."

Watching them marvel in the group chat, Wang Weimin felt immensely pleased. That kid Li Changle had really made him proud.

"Since everyone agrees, this poem takes first place. Also, let's post our top ten selections on the official social media accounts and let netizens vote for this year's most popular Guangfu work."

Li Xuexin decisively named the winner of this year's Poetry Competition. With "Longing" in the running, the other poems probably didn't stand a chance. He no longer cared how they ranked.

The gap was simply too great. There was no point comparing them. Wasn't this like using a higher dimension to crush a lower one?

Soon, the official social media account of the Guangfu Poetry Association posted this year's top ten poems. In first place was a Five-Character Quatrain titled "Longing."

Although the Poetry Association's social media account didn't have a huge following, it still had over a million followers. As soon as the post went up, netizens began commenting.

"Holy crap, people still write Five-Character Quatrains these days? And this one's so good. Amazing!"

"With the simplest, most straightforward words, he expresses the most intense feelings. This author named Li Xiaoyao is incredible."

"Red beans symbolize love and longing. They're also known as longing beans. This poem uses twenty characters across four lines, with a declarative sentence, an interrogative sentence, an imperative sentence, and an exclamatory sentence. Through praise of the red bean, it conveys the deepest, most sincere longing. It describes an object and expresses emotion at the same time. The Poetry Competition has been held for so many years, and I'd call this poem the best. It could stand alongside the ancient poems that have been passed down through the ages..."

"I can't analyze it as thoroughly as the previous expert. I just think it's beautiful. I'm changing my WeChat status again!"

"Doesn't this Li Xiaoyao seem kind of familiar?"

"Now that you mention it, the name Li Xiaoyao does ring a bell..."

"Wasn't the main character in Legend of Sword and Fairy called Li Xiaoyao? The author's pen name is Li Xiaoyao..."

"Holy crap, no way! Why isn't that rascal writing novels? What's he doing entering a poetry competition?"

"Poster, didn't you know he's written a new Wuxia novel called The Legend of the Condor Heroes? He updates tens of thousands of words a day..."

"This author must just share the same name. Could someone really write online novels and classical poetry—and be good at both?"

"No way, no way. There really are people this versatile?"

"I think it's him. He's written two novels, one of which is still being serialized. Both have quite a few poems, and they're pretty good..."

"This guy's a freak."

The netizens seemed to have uncovered something incredible.

Shocking! Online novelist revealed to have another identity: apparently...

Men in tears, women in heartbreak! The unknown identity of an online novelist.

Through word of mouth, "Longing" began to spread across the internet.

"Have you heard of Li Xiaoyao's 'Longing'?"

That became the hot topic of the day online, and people naturally began discovering the poem.

Then, one after another, people made "Red beans grow in the southern land. How many sprigs appear when spring arrives?" their social media status.

"Longing" had become a hit. Netizens even exposed Li Changle's account on the Chinese Web Novel Platform, giving his novels another boost in popularity.

His fans saw that the comment section was full of Weibo check-ins and were completely confused. Why were so many people checking in there?

They went to Weibo and found out that Li Xiaoyao, that rascal, had gone off to write poetry instead of focusing on his novels!

How could that be allowed? Sure, The Legend of the Condor Heroes had updates of tens of thousands of words a day, making him more conscientious than many authors, but it still wasn't enough to satisfy them!

It had only reached the second chapter, "The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan," and that chapter had already shown everyone that The Legend of the Condor Heroes was extraordinary, with a tightly interwoven plot.

There wasn't a single bit of filler, and the writing was remarkably polished. Fans who'd fallen in love with the story exclaimed that this was what Wuxia should be.

The protagonist was about to make his entrance, too.

And this guy still had time to write poetry? That meant there was room for him to do more!

If he wasn't worked to death, then he ought to be worked to death! Capitalism needed workhorses, not rest.

One chapter a day wasn't nearly enough. If he still had time to write poetry, he should be putting out two chapters a day!

So the fans began demanding more updates in the comments. The wealthy readers, led by Brother Lacks Money, showered him with tips.

Brother Lacks Money loved this Wuxia novel so much. He even thought it was better than Legend of Sword and Fairy, with exciting fights and a plot where each twist led to another. It was impossible to put down. This was real Wuxia.

More chapters! He had to post more!

Li Changle, however, couldn't see any of this. And even if he could, he wouldn't have cared. There was no way he was going to work overtime.

Ever since the royalties from Legend of Sword and Fairy had been steadily flowing into his bank account, he'd had enough to live on.

He kept updating The Legend of the Condor Heroes mostly out of passion. He wanted people in this world to see more of the classic works from Earth, and to earn a little on the side. Once he had enough money, it wasn't money anymore—just a string of nice-looking numbers.

Li Changle wasn't like the protagonists in novels. He had no plans to become the richest man in the world, nor any dream of building an entertainment empire. He just wanted to live out the rest of his life in peace.

If possible, he'd adapt the stories into films and television dramas someday, so that the classics of Earth could become classics in this world too. That was his mission.

Cultural ambassador for Earth—that was how Li Changle defined his role in this world.

As "Longing" continued to earn praise online, it climbed the trending searches. Within a day, it had quickly reached the top ten.

There were quite a lot of tips and Monthly Tickets today. There's limited space here, so I can't thank everyone individually. I can only offer my heartfelt thanks to all the readers who've supported me. Thank you!

One more thing: everyone knows I've been posting a fixed four thousand words a day before the novel goes premium. Starting today, those four thousand words will be split into two chapters, each two thousand words. To be clear, this doesn't mean the author's gotten shorter.

I asked my editor about it specifically today. Apparently, chapters shouldn't be too long before the novel goes premium. I only found out today.

So the other chapter will be posted tomorrow morning. The daily word count will stay the same as before, or even be a little higher...

Finally, please bookmark the novel, and please vote for it with your recommendation tickets and Monthly Tickets. If it doesn't do well during the trial promotion, it probably won't get any more recommendations afterward. So please, everyone. Thank you!