Create Original Works Yourself

For the past two days, Ma Feifei had been living quite freely—drinking in taverns while listening to adventurers from all over recount amusing tales from distant lands; wandering through the trading market to see the exotic treasures, secret artifacts, and spirit beasts of another world; and witnessing spells that could retrieve objects from afar and fly through the sky or burrow through the earth.

It was all truly marvelous.

All in all, Ma Feifei had broadened his horizons.

When people were happy, they had energy for everything. On Monday, Ma Feifei opened the Bookstore early, carried a small stool outside, and sat by the door munching on snacks he had bought at the market the day before.

Now that he had money, his standard of living had to keep up. The backyard was piled high with snacks, all things that had not existed in his old world—Thunderbird Crispy Eggs, Secret Recipe Eyebrow Feather Turkey Legs, Brash Bull Tripe Slices, and all sorts of other things. And honestly, every one of them tasted pretty good and was packed with calories. They could practically serve as meals.

Of course, food, clothing, shelter, and travel! Once he was eating well, he had to dress well too. Take Ma Feifei's outfit that day: his clothes were made of premium purple silkworm silk, with formations inscribed by a runemaster. It was called the Purple Qi Comes from the East Inscription Shirt, and supposedly repelled grime and never stained.

His shoes were made from the hide on a Di Yun Beast's belly. They were soft yet durable, and carried the beast's unique fragrance, which was said to prevent athlete's foot.

That outfit alone had cost Ma Feifei two hundred gold coins.

There were also three other sets in different styles inside the house, though there was no need to list them all.

As a transmigrator, Ma Feifei lacked even the slightest awareness of striving forward. His small-time mentality was on full display.

Yet for some reason, after sitting outside for less than an hour that day, Ma Feifei could no longer sit still.

He turned to look at the empty bookshelves in the Bookstore, then at the bustling crowd outside. Stroking his chin, he thought, This can't go on. I need to figure something out.

Nearly a month had passed, yet the Bookstore was still barely alive, with only one or two customers. At this rate, who knew how long it would take to develop the shop?

What was more, the new mission had a time limit. Nearly a week had already passed, yet the reading count was still stuck at "0." What if he failed to complete the mission in the remaining three weeks and the system punished him? Didn't those novels always have people getting erased at the drop of a hat?

At that thought, Ma Feifei lost his appetite for snacks, his face full of gloom.

"But what can I do? I'm desperate too!"

Go out and promote the place? The price of one Spirit Crystal per hour was enough to make people shy away. Let people read for free? Even less possible. Who knew whether the system would judge that as cheating? The risk was too great. Ma Feifei had also tried reading the books himself, but found that his own reading did not increase the reading count. So only customers who spent Spirit Crystals to read could add to it.

As for thinking of other methods, that was asking too much of Ma Feifei.

So other than waiting, he basically had no options.

But only three weeks remained.

Ma Feifei had been in quite a good mood at first, but the more he thought about it, the more anxious he became. The more panicked he felt, the more irritated he grew.

"Eh! Right, didn't a young man come into the Bookstore to read a couple of days ago? He seemed to really like it. If he finishes the book, won't that raise the reading count a little? I just don't know if he'll come back." Thinking of that made Ma Feifei somewhat dejected. He had not considered it at the time. If only he had gotten some contact information. With so many people out there, where was he supposed to find him now?

"And Zhao Xiaodao! She likes reading so much. Now that the shop has new books, she'll surely come read too." Ma Feifei thought of the first customer his shop had ever had. Unfortunately, ever since Zhao Xiaodao had left without saying goodbye last time, he had never seen her again.

"What a pity, what a pity. I should've gotten some contact information." Ma Feifei could not help stomping his foot. If he had thought of that earlier, he would not have had to worry about those ten reading points at all! Zhou Guanyu and Zhao Xiaodao were both residents of this world. If they finished their books, he could ask them to spread the word and bring three or five friends along to read. Wouldn't that solve his reading count problem? Worrying that they would refuse to help was even more absurd. With Zhao Xiaodao's money-grubbing nature, give her two Spirit Crystals and she would definitely pat her chest and promise to bring people in.

"Ah, damn it." Ma Feifei's heart ached.

At that moment, even delicacies from land and sea would have been impossible for him to swallow. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. When people felt bad, nothing looked right to them.

Even the flashy Purple Qi Comes from the East Inscription Shirt he wore began to offend his eyes.

"Why the hell did I buy such a flashy outfit? And it's fucking purple too. It's ugly as hell." Ma Feifei felt uncomfortable all over.

Just as Ma Feifei was criticizing his own appearance, a familiar figure entered the corner of his vision.

Dressed in white, with a folding fan in hand.

He was so flashy that he was impossible to overlook.

Ma Feifei instantly stopped studying his clothes. Pretending not to see the other man, he calmly lowered his head, picked up the discarded snack bag from the ground, and began eating from it as if nothing had happened.

"Shopkeeper, we meet again." Zhou Guanyu looked at the newly refreshed Ma Feifei and greeted him with a smile.

Ma Feifei raised his head, glanced at Zhou Guanyu, then looked at the woman beside him.

So beautiful, but so haggard.

This woman was even more beautiful than Zhao Xiaodao.

When Zhou Zhuling saw Ma Feifei staring at her, her brows furrowed slightly. Paired with her pale complexion, she was truly pitiful enough to stir anyone's heart.

"Ahem." Sensing her slight displeasure, Ma Feifei quickly withdrew his gaze, turned to Zhou Guanyu, and said expressionlessly, "Here to read? Go inside."

He put on an aloof manner. Ma Feifei did not know why he was acting that way. Perhaps it was because of the beauty beside Zhou Guanyu?

Probably not, right?

Zhou Guanyu did not seem to find anything strange about it. He nodded, and with a flicker of his hand, ten Spirit Crystals appeared. Handing them to Ma Feifei, he said, "This is the fee for my elder sister and me to read."

Ma Feifei accepted the Spirit Crystals, and Zhou Guanyu led Zhou Zhuling into the Bookstore.

"Not bad, not bad. This young man has prospects. He even brought his sister along. Later, should I tell him to bring all his aunts and relatives tomorrow? Then wouldn't I get those ten reading points in no time?" Ma Feifei was still thinking rather optimistically.

"Sister, there are only two books in this Bookstore for now. Let's each take one," Zhou Guanyu's voice came from inside.

"That's true. There are only two books. Even if I called ten thousand people over, it would be pointless if there were no books for them to read." Ma Feifei instantly deflated.

What irritated him most was that someone had to finish an entire book for it to count toward the reading total. Zhao Xiaodao had spent half a month reading Andersen's Fairy Tales. For this mission, that book could at most be expected to add a little reading count. More than that was absolutely impossible.

What he had to rely on was the other book, Half a Mu of Flower Fields. It had over five hundred thousand characters. Someone who read quickly should be able to finish it in a day, right?

If only there were more books. At that thought, an idea suddenly appeared in Ma Feifei's mind.

Could I write them myself? I can't remember long novels, but would it count if I wrote some short stories? What about poems and lyrics?

Or better yet, I could create something original myself!