Zhang Qiren

Biodata

Background / History

Writing career and shared apartment

Zhang Qiren spent nearly two years writing webnovels while delivering takeout to support himself. His first two books attracted only double-digit subscriber counts, but he completed both without missing a day of updates. After a major argument with his family, he quit delivery work and moved in with Chu Ge through a writers’ forum roommate advertisement. They quickly became friends and had shared the apartment for almost half a year by his introduction 2 6 7.

With his delivery savings nearly exhausted, Zhang treated his third novel as his last opportunity to continue writing. He had agreed to return home if it failed; the expected alternative was a factory job arranged by his family 6 7.

He later explains that writing offered a possible route to independence without startup capital. Early in his first novel, a single reader’s daily votes encouraged him to finish it; he eventually discovered that this reader was his mother. Her support strengthened his determination to accomplish something through writing 52.

Premium launch and departure

His third novel initially exceeded expectations, gaining over four hundred subscriptions to its first paid chapter within an hour. Its strong conversion rate suggested a loyal readership despite relatively modest bookmark numbers 7.

The launch was interrupted when his editor reported a complaint accusing the book of political insinuations. Zhang maintained that it was simply a fantasy about leveling and clearing dungeons. The editor planned to hide it pending revisions, possibly because someone had distorted the meaning of its dungeon design 7.

Unable to identify what needed changing, Zhang believed an indefinite interruption would destroy the new book’s readership. He abandoned it, posted “Dropping this book. Sorry, everyone,” and moved out that afternoon. Before leaving, he thanked Chu Ge for their friendship and offered help whenever needed 7.

Zhang later rejects Chu Ge’s suspicion that his family arranged the report. He reasons that his father wanted him to discover the difficulty of earning money independently, whereas obvious interference would only have made him more resistant. The complainant’s identity remains unconfirmed 52.

Continued support for Chu Ge

Zhang remained involved in Chu Ge’s career after leaving. He promoted Chu Ge’s work through a thread on the No-Female-Lead Forum, helping attract readers outside its previous audience. As Chu Ge shifted toward romance-free cultivation fiction, he recognized the growing influence of Zhang’s writing style and wondered whether success might offer his friend some vindication 23 24.

When they later chatted, Zhang claimed to be working “basically” as a security guard. He said he had spotted Chu Ge shopping with a beautiful woman while chasing a thief, but avoided naming his employer 27.

Zhang subsequently confirms that recognizing elements of his own style in Chu Ge’s work makes him happy. He regards his friend’s success as recognition of the part of himself that survives in that writing 52.

His support continues after his underworld career develops. He supplies links to writing guides that Chu Ge forwards to Qiu Wuji, explains the promotional value of photographs of Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji, and later tells Chu Ge that his work already has Japanese readers. His suggestion to check overseas distribution earnings leads Chu Ge to discover more than four million in third-party distribution revenue 81 199 473.

Divine Miracle Nightclub

Zhang was subsequently revealed as the Divine Miracle Nightclub’s new owner and registered legal representative. During Lin Wuyang’s inspection, he truthfully identified himself and explained that he had taken over the family business only days earlier 40.

After the nightclub’s underground boxing operation shut down, Zhang appeared to concentrate on its legitimate business. He also sought contact with the “Black Room,” whose members were interested but remained hidden because of police attention. Zhang regarded Gu Ruoyan’s return to the capital as favorable and dismissed Lin Wuyang’s ability to interfere 47.

At a hotel, Chu Ge encountered him wearing expensive clothes and accompanied by underlings. Rather than displaying pride, Zhang felt embarrassed to be seen by his old friend. He discreetly ordered an underling called Big Ears to listen to Chu Ge’s table, then paid for the reunion’s two tables under the pretext of admiring Chu Ge’s work 48 49.

Lin Wuyang continued treating Zhang as an important investigative lead despite the case having been called off. He asked Chu Ge to report anything Zhang might reveal. Chu Ge’s suggestion that Zhang had returned home to inherit a billion-dollar fortune was an incredulous guess, not a confirmed account of his wealth 48 50.

Family background and awakening

During a visit to his former apartment, Zhang reveals that he is the illegitimate son of a wealthy man, rather than a pampered heir who had merely pretended to struggle. His delivery work and literary ambitions were genuine. His father’s domineering legal wife had kept him outside the family household, and he wanted power partly for his mother’s sake 52.

After Zhang graduated from college, his father considered giving him responsibilities because of dissatisfaction with the legitimate son, Zhang Xiaoren. Zhang resisted the unequal conditions: his brother’s involvement in the nightclub had been concealed, whereas Zhang himself would have to become its publicly registered legal representative. He feared that the supposed opportunity for training might instead make him a convenient scapegoat 52.

Roughly six months before this explanation, men sent by his brother attacked him. His esper ability awakened, allowing him to defeat them; those men subsequently became his subordinates. His father then pressed him more strongly to enter the family business, leading to the argument and departure that brought him to Chu Ge’s apartment 52.

Moon Shadow and the assassination attempt

Zhang explains that his brother had sought to punish the underground boxer Moon Shadow after she refused to throw a fight. When Wall-Passer followed her outside the venue, Zhang followed him with several men to monitor a situation he considered increasingly uncontrollable. His supposed pursuit of a thief was a cover story for this surveillance. After Wall-Passer’s capture, the family removed Zhang Xiaoren from the operation and installed Zhang Qiren as its legal representative 53.

After taking charge, Zhang himself arranged to make Moon Shadow lose, treating her as an obstacle to his rise. Chu Ge condemns this as an attempt to kill her. Zhang defends his conduct as a response to an unfair world in which refusing to hurt others does not prevent others from hurting him 52 53.

Chu Ge then reveals that the masked fighter is the girl from across the hall whom Zhang had admired. Zhang had never spoken to her and had not recognized her appearance, voice, or ability. Realizing that he had nearly killed her, he becomes speechless, trembles, and curls into himself. He eventually thanks Chu Ge for saving her without expecting that this gratitude can repair their relationship 53 54.

An assassin attacks Zhang during the same encounter. Chu Ge instinctively shields him with the Golden Bell Shield, and Qiu Wuji captures the attacker. Zhang promises to keep his old friends out of the consequences and regards the captured assassin as a bargaining chip. He also explains that abandoning his position would leave him vulnerable to immediate murder 54.

Maneuvering against the Wang family

Zhang turns the captured assassin into an instrument against his rivals. During the crackdown on Wang Zhenkun’s operation, he orders the man to intercept suspects escaping with drugs and records. Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji intervene first, while the former assassin publicly attributes the action to Young Master Zhang, helping direct suspicion toward Zhang Xiaoren 66 67.

When Chu Ge asks for reimbursement for damaged clothing, Zhang tips his novel ten million points. He states that he has also become an Alliance Leader for more than a dozen other books, including Silver Alliance Leaders, and promises that drugs will never be allowed on his territory. He advises Chu Ge to call rather than leave written records that might implicate him 67.

The Wang family subsequently retaliates against Zhang Xiaoren’s legitimate real estate company with evidence of tax evasion and fraudulent VAT invoices. Zhang Qiren benefits as attention shifts toward his brother and the Wang family rather than himself 86 93.

His father’s legal wife confronts his mother over these developments. Zhang intervenes and takes the slap intended for his mother. He argues that the family’s reliance on conventional criminal businesses is obsolete and proposes using esper abilities in legitimate commercial activity instead 93.

Zhang Xinglong recognizes his son’s ingenuity but criticizes his haste and lack of experience. He also points out that Zhang’s own attempt to kill someone helped create his predicament. When Zhang believes he has manipulated the Black Room into an alliance by hiring it against the Wang family and secretly leaking information to provoke retaliation, his father warns that Zhong Yi may instead be using the connection to investigate the Zhang family. Zhang Xinglong nevertheless permits continued cooperation and hints that spiritually affected objects may be the deeper prize 94.

Zhang and the Black Room later cooperate in entering the Wang villa. He adopts the language of a concerned citizen assisting police rather than openly seeking to absorb the group. While the Black Room searches the main building, he investigates a storeroom, identifies the most closely guarded cabinet as the likely location of the treasure, and starts a fire to expose divisions among its defenders 108 111 112.

Anvil steals the treasure amid the resulting fight. Zhang intercepts him, but Anvil’s metal control disables his men’s guns. Zhang’s reflected damage and Azhong’s gravity control help delay him, and Chu Ge’s intervention briefly lets Zhang seize the box. Moon Shadow takes it from him, arrests Anvil, and hands the box to Chu Ge for a month of study without acknowledging Zhang 112.

Departure for Japan

Zhang subsequently leaves for Japan. Moon Shadow explains that she allowed his departure partly because arresting him might make him hate the people who had saved her. Her decision does not amount to approval of his actions 120.

After Zhang Xiaoren’s later arrest, Zhang declines a suggestion to return home. Instead, he plans to ask his father to redirect investment and manpower toward his Japanese operation, judging Nanjiang increasingly unsuitable for shady business. His activities abroad include coercive negotiations with a bloodied Japanese businessman 155.

He also invites Long Sijia to work in Japan. Chu Ge advises Long Sijia not to follow Zhang down that path 242.

Azure Dragon relic and reunion with Moon Shadow

In Japan, Zhang cooperates outwardly with Matsuda while recognizing that Matsuda considers him a disposable outsider. During the search for the Azure Dragon’s toe bone, he anticipates that Matsuda may kill him and blame the missing relic on the disappearance of the Chinese participants. Rather than appealing to the Black Dragon Society’s headquarters, Zhang secretly passes information through Tang Jinyan toward his own country, hoping for intervention 349 366.

Moon Shadow enters Matsuda’s cabin under orders to protect a righteous informant and discovers that the person is Zhang. When Matsuda threatens her, Zhang shoots him from behind. Matsuda retaliates by stabbing Zhang in the chest, but Zhang’s Causality Law ability causes a corresponding wound in Matsuda despite his metal defenses. Zhang then shoots Matsuda in the mouth and kills him 372.

Moon Shadow attempts emergency treatment, but Zhang’s chest wound is too serious for her supplies. Chu Ge arrives, stops the bleeding with a medicinal patch, and gives him a pill. Even while critically injured, Zhang is delighted that Moon Shadow has been protecting him 373.

Zhang chooses to return to Japan rather than accompany them home. He proposes using his injuries to support a false account in which South Korean attackers killed Matsuda and stole the relic while he survived by playing dead. Because he had left his trusted men behind, his own forces remain intact. He requests covert support from Tang Jinyan or Moon Shadow’s department to exploit the surviving faction’s desire for revenge and work toward control of the Black Dragon Society 373.

Black Dragon Society and the World Within the Book

Zhang absorbs remnants of Matsuda’s group and, with Tang Jinyan’s backing, advances into the Black Dragon Society’s headquarters leadership. His promotion receives approval through people associated with Sandru, though Zhang himself has not dealt directly with them 421.

He is subsequently drawn into the Arctic Black Tortoise operation, a role he regards as being made cannon fodder rather than pursuing his own struggle for power. Chu Ge transports him, Moon Shadow, and the accompanying Japanese personnel into an uninhabited valley in the World Within the Book 419 421.

When hostile Japanese members confront them, Zhang restrains an enemy so Moon Shadow’s blades can strike, suffering numerous wounds himself. Allies secretly recruited by Zhang and Tang Jinyan then shoot the remaining opponents. Still bleeding, Zhang confesses that Moon Shadow is the only person in his heart 421.

The confession causes Moon Shadow to withdraw rather than accept him. Qiu Wuji treats his injuries with an elixir and questions his repeated self-sacrifice. Zhang admits that his reactions combine genuine anger when Moon Shadow is insulted with a novelist’s tendency to imagine a fatal sacrifice as the solution to their relationship. He says that he has never dared hope to have her while alive 422.

After returning to the glacier, Zhang tells Chu Ge that discovering Moon Shadow was his intended victim transformed an ordinary crush into a persistent fixation. The two also acknowledge that killing has become easier for them. Zhang contrasts Chu Ge’s wish for an ordinary life with his own inability to remain content with one, describing his underworld career as a road he can only continue following 426 427.

Qiu Wuji’s hidden controls over several Black Dragon Society leaders encountered in the book later give Zhang genuine authority within the organization. He keeps their obedience secret as a reserve asset. Nevertheless, he remains only one leader among several, not the society’s president: his foreign background and the society’s special purpose under Sandru prevent him from simply taking over through ordinary gang politics 565.

Peace Park intervention and return to writing

Zhang provides Gu Ruoyan with information concerning the Black Dragon Society’s activities in Nagasaki. His position initially gives him reason to let Sandru’s faction destroy itself, potentially leaving the society to him afterward, but Gu Ruoyan and Moon Shadow proceed toward the threat themselves 565.

When the society attempts a divine summoning at Peace Park, Zhang orders Azhong to gather his armed forces. He exposes his concealed supporters and launches an internal attack, creating the opportunity for Moon Shadow to sever the formation’s blood lines. Rather than repeating his earlier near-fatal performances, he takes cover and relies on Moon Shadow to defend him from Mizuno Shu 566 567.

The fighting breaks apart the society’s forces and expends the position Zhang had spent his time in Japan building. Moon Shadow thanks him and offers to remain and help rebuild his organization as repayment 567.

Zhang declines. He says that he has already earned enough in Japan to live comfortably for years and no longer needs criminal work. He declares his intention to return to writing, still believing he can become successful. Recognizing that Moon Shadow’s disapproval of his methods is a central obstacle between them, he accepts the destruction of his criminal empire, offers to settle wherever she eventually lives, and asks for a chance to get to know her again. Moon Shadow does not give an explicit romantic answer and goes to help Azhong 567.

Appearance

• Build: Skinny, with a physique that makes Chu Ge question his ability to chase thieves 2 27.
• Eyewear: Wears glasses at his introduction 2.
• Later presentation: Appears in expensive clothing with an entourage after taking over the nightclub 48.
• Combat injuries: Suffers a deep chest wound during his confrontation with Matsuda and numerous puncture wounds while protecting Moon Shadow in the World Within the Book; both incidents require extraordinary medicine to treat 372 373 421 422.

Personality

Zhang’s everyday manner is irreverent and often vulgar. He trades sexual jokes and self-deprecating remarks with Chu Ge, but also notices when his friend needs company. Despite his own launch anxiety, he readily accompanies Chu Ge for a late-night meal to discuss the latter’s troubled outline 2 5.

Writing is a serious ambition beneath that joking exterior. Zhang studied books and tutorial videos, accumulated extensive notes, and wrote roughly ten hours a day after moving in with Chu Ge. His discipline exceeded Chu Ge’s, but prolonged work had already damaged his neck and lower back. The complaint against his third novel crushed him precisely when its results seemed to validate those efforts 7 13.

His later wealth does not erase his attachment to his former life. He quietly supports Chu Ge rather than approaching him triumphantly, and rejects a lineup of attractive women because none is the person he actually wants 47 48 49.

His turn toward crime is accompanied by resentment and a belief that honest self-reliance leaves a person exposed to exploitation. He does not pretend his business is clean, but initially regards accepting its dangers as preferable to remaining powerless. His loyalty to Chu Ge persists despite recognizing that Chu Ge may reject his choices, and he maintains a stated boundary against drugs on his territory 52 54 67.

Zhang is ambitious, calculating, and capable of turning threats into leverage. He uses an assassin as a bargaining chip, manipulates conflict between his brother and the Wang family, and later exploits information gaps to rise within the Black Dragon Society. His father nevertheless considers his early methods too conspicuous and driven by pent-up resentment 54 93 94 373 421.

His feelings for Moon Shadow combine attraction, guilt, stubbornness, and an obsession he does not fully distinguish from love. He admits that learning he had nearly killed her intensified rather than extinguished his attachment. His tendency to interpret life through narrative patterns contributes to repeated attempts to take potentially fatal blows for her, even when less destructive options exist 54 422 426.

His final intervention at Peace Park marks a change in that approach. He sacrifices his accumulated power rather than deliberately staking his life, accepts protection from Moon Shadow, and then relinquishes the criminal career he had previously called irreversible. Financial security allows him to pursue writing again without the desperation that ended his first attempt 427 566 567.

Abilities & Skills

Webnovel Writing

Zhang’s stated strengths are imaginative concepts and snarky humor rather than romance 6.

• Favors stories without a female lead, a direction he maintains despite poor commercial results 5 6.
• Completed two unsuccessful novels while holding a delivery job, maintaining uninterrupted updates 7.
• Attracted unusually loyal paying readers with his third novel, although its launch was cut short 7.
• Retains his interest in writing after becoming an underworld leader, shares instructional resources, and ultimately decides to make another attempt once financially independent 81 567.

Story and Audience Analysis

Zhang helps Chu Ge identify ways to revise his novel without discarding Qiu Wuji’s importance 5 6.

• Points out that readers’ interest in the female sect master is overshadowing the protagonist’s struggles 5.
• Proposes leaving romantic possibilities unresolved and using an open ending, preserving flexibility because the protagonist has not committed to anyone 6.
• Promotes the revised work to a no-female-lead readership 23.
• Recognizes the potential for public interest in Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji’s relationship to attract readers and adaptation companies 199.
• Knows that Chu Ge’s existing overseas distribution and adaptations have already produced Japanese readership, and prompts him to check the associated revenue 473.

Backlash / Causality Law

Zhang’s registered esper ability is Backlash, described as reflecting damage received. His development level is recorded as unknown, while its classification and potential remain uncertain in the registry 93.

• Awakening: First manifests while he is being attacked by men sent by Zhang Xiaoren. He defeats the attackers, who later serve him 52.
• Reflected wounds: When Anvil pierces Zhang’s palm, Anvil suffers pain and injury to his own palm as well 112.
• Causality-based effect: During the confrontation with Matsuda, a stab wound to Zhang’s chest produces a wound at the same location on Matsuda. The effect bypasses the practical advantage of Matsuda’s metal defenses 372.
• Deterrence: An informed opponent in the Wang storeroom immediately withdraws a cleaver rather than strike Zhang’s raised arm 112.
• Limitations: Reflection does not prevent Zhang from being wounded or bleeding to death. His chest wound still requires Chu Ge’s medicine, and his later multiple puncture wounds require Qiu Wuji’s elixir 373 422.
• Limited offensive initiative: Zhang describes his ability as insufficiently proactive and his own fighting skills as poor. It remains inadequate protection in a large gunfight, where he relies on cover and Moon Shadow’s defense 421 566.

Esper Perception

Zhang believes that he should be able to sense other people’s esper abilities, but repeatedly fails to identify Chu Ge’s power or recognize Moon Shadow’s ability beforehand. Chu Ge attributes these failures in part to Zhang’s limited training, and Qiu Wuji privately dismisses his attempts to analyze who possesses abilities 52 53 54.

Strategy and Organization

Zhang applies deception, recruitment, and factional rivalry to compensate for his limited direct combat ability 93 108 373 421.

• Redirects retaliation toward Zhang Xiaoren by making an operation against the Wang family appear to have his brother’s backing 66 67 86.
• Adapts his approach to the Black Room from obvious attempted recruitment to presenting cooperation as assistance to the police 94 108.
• Uses a deliberately started fire to expose the Wang family’s actual treasure and trigger conflict among its guards 112.
• Exploits Matsuda’s death, his own genuine injuries, and outside support to absorb surviving forces and gain promotion 373 421.
• Preserves secretly controlled Black Dragon Society leaders as hidden assets until deploying them to disrupt the Peace Park summoning 565 566.

Power Progression

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• G-Wagon — Identified by Lin Wuyang as Zhang’s vehicle outside the reunion hotel 50.
• Handgun — Uses a firearm to shoot Matsuda from behind and subsequently kill him with a shot to the mouth 372.
• Lighter — Uses it to ignite the Wang family’s storeroom and force the treasure’s defenders to reveal their priorities 112.
• Emergency medicines — Receives treatment from Moon Shadow’s military wound supplies and then Chu Ge’s more effective medicinal patch and pill after being stabbed. Qiu Wuji later supplies an elixir for his multiple puncture wounds 373 422.

Relationships

• Chu Ge — Close friend, former roommate, and fellow writer. Their support extends from book recommendations and plotting advice to Zhang’s discreet promotion and payment of Chu Ge’s reunion bill. Chu Ge condemns his crimes but instinctively shields him from an assassination attempt and later saves him from a potentially fatal chest wound. Their friendship survives their disagreement over his career, and Zhang continues assisting Chu Ge’s literary success 2 5 6 23 49 54 373 426 473.
• Moon Shadow — Their former neighbor and the object of Zhang’s quiet attraction. He knew she had unsuccessfully streamed games, but financial insecurity discouraged him from approaching her. Their early assumption that she worked as a hostess was unconfirmed. Unaware that she was the masked boxer, he later nearly had her killed, causing profound guilt when Chu Ge revealed her identity. She initially hates and ignores him, but subsequently protects him on assignment. His confession does not immediately improve their relationship. After Peace Park, she offers to help rebuild his organization, while he instead abandons crime and asks to get to know her anew; no explicit romantic acceptance is shown 6 7 53 54 112 372 373 421 422 567.
• His family — Opposed his prolonged pursuit of writing and secured his agreement to return if the third book failed. He later identifies the nightclub as a family business. His illegitimate status and the unequal treatment of his brother are major sources of resentment and fear of becoming a scapegoat 6 7 40 52.
• His mother — Quietly supports his writing and is revealed to have been the sole regular voter on his earliest work. Concern for her is one reason he wants authority within the family. He later takes a slap intended for her 52 93.
• Zhang Xinglong — His father and a prominent Nanjiang entrepreneur. Zhang regards him as emotionally distant and suspects the responsibilities offered to him may be designed to leave him liable for the family’s crimes. Zhang Xinglong nevertheless recognizes his abilities, criticizes his impulsiveness, and advises him about Zhong Yi and spiritually affected treasures 52 94.
• Zhang Xiaoren — His older half-brother and rival within the family. Xiaoren sends men to bully him and later becomes implicated in attempts against him. Zhang engineers conflict between Xiaoren and the Wang family, then uses his brother’s eventual arrest as an opportunity to request more resources for Japan 52 86 108 155.
• His father’s legal wife — Excludes him from the main household and aggressively blames him and his mother for the family’s difficulties. Zhang intervenes when she tries to strike his mother 52 93.
• Lin Wuyang — Police officer investigating the nightclub and Zhang’s activities. Lin warns him to know when he has made enough money and asks Chu Ge to share future information. Zhang treats Lin’s scrutiny as a serious threat, though his operations against the Wang family also assist police investigations 40 48 50 66 94.
• Black Room — A group Zhang initially seeks to contact and later hires against the Wang family. He attempts to manipulate circumstances into binding it to him, but his father warns that Zhong Yi may have investigative motives of his own. The group subsequently cooperates with Zhang in the Wang villa operation 47 94 108 111 112.
• Zhong Yi — A principal contact in Zhang’s dealings with the Black Room. Their cooperation is accompanied by mutual strategic uncertainty rather than uncomplicated subordination 94 108 111.
• Big Ears — An underling tasked with discreetly listening to the conversation at Chu Ge’s reunion table 48.
• Azhong — A trusted red-haired subordinate with gravity control. Assists against Anvil, follows Zhang from Nanjiang to Japan, knows about his covert cooperation with Gu Ruoyan’s side, and commands his forces during the Peace Park fighting 112 566 567.
• Qiu Wuji — Chu Ge’s partner, whom Zhang addresses as his sister-in-law. She captures his would-be assassin, later treats his wounds, and questions his self-sacrificial approach to Moon Shadow. Her hidden controls over Black Dragon Society leaders help consolidate his authority 52 54 422 565.
• Tang Jinyan — South Korean underworld leader and important supporter of Zhang’s rise in Japan. Zhang uses him as an intermediary for warning his country about Matsuda’s relic operation, and Tang later helps him gain rank and recruit allies within the Black Dragon Society 366 373 421.
• Matsuda — An ostensible partner who intends to use and discard Zhang during the Azure Dragon relic operation. Zhang kills him after he threatens Moon Shadow and stabs Zhang 349 366 372.
• Gu Ruoyan — A state operative with whom Zhang later shares information and covertly cooperates. His information assists the investigation in Nagasaki, and he commits his forces after she and Moon Shadow head toward Peace Park 565 566.
• Black Dragon Society — The Japanese organization in which Zhang rises to become one of several leaders with real authority, without becoming president or controlling the entire society. He eventually exposes his hidden supporters to sabotage its summoning plan, then chooses to abandon the resulting criminal power struggle 421 565 566 567.

Notable Quotes

“I really love writing... I've always thought showing people the world inside my head was a wonderful thing.” 7

“All these years of struggling weren't entirely for nothing. The best thing I got out of them was a friend like you, Chu.” 7

“They're all pretty, but they aren't what I want. There's no point.” 47

“Brother Chu, whatever you think, Zhang Qiren hasn't turned so rotten he's oozing pus. There's at least one thing I can promise you. There will never be drugs on my turf.” 67

“Even now, I have never dared hope I could have her while I'm alive.” 422

“What I like is writing books... now that I don't have to worry about food or clothing, I'll go back and try again. I believe I can make it big.” 567

“Writing is something I can do in any city. Whichever city you settle in, I'll move there. I hope... you'll give me a chance to get to know you again.” 567

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