Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 383, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," is now available.

In the past two or three years, thanks to Cao Sheng's works, Hsin-Chang Publishing House in Taiwan has far surpassed other publishers in terms of both brand recognition and market share, and is recognized as the number one in the industry.

As a result, it currently publishes a large number of works every month.

This month, not only did the end of San Shao's works feature a preview of Cao Sheng's new book, but all other works published by Xinchang also had the same advertisement at the end.

For example, works by Lao Zhu, Jin Hezai, Gongqiang, Yanyu Jiangnan, and others.

The author himself may not have noticed the advertisement at the end of the sample book.

But readers in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other places naturally saw that advertisement when they finished reading these works this month.

He Shui is a reader of Lao Zhu's "Nine Sons". She is 16 years old and lives in Taipei.

That evening, after finishing the last chapter of the latest episode of "Nine Sons," I saw this advertisement.

He was surprised.

He certainly knew Zhongyuan Yidianhui from the advertisement. He liked Zhongyuan Yidianhui's works, but when the last two volumes of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's "The Legend of the Primordial Era" were published at the beginning of the month, there was no announcement of a new book. So, disappointed and suffering from a book drought, he bought Lao Zhu's "Nine Sons" through a friend's introduction and became a reader of "Nine Sons".

I never expected to see an advertisement for Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book at the end of the work "Nine Sons".

Surprised, he decided not to buy "Nine Sons" next month and instead save the money to buy Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book.

The title "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" reminded him of "The Romance of the Primordial Era," which had just finished airing in the early morning of the Central Plains. The similarity between the two titles made him very much looking forward to how exciting "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" would be.

……

Kwong Chi is a parking attendant in Hong Kong.

Parking life isn't very enjoyable.

Every day, besides being able to touch some luxury cars and look at beautiful women's legs to feast my eyes, the gap between reality and the outside world is too big. All the good things can only be imagined in my mind; I am not qualified to possess them.

Especially after get off work every day, apart from watching TV and reading magazines, there are no other forms of entertainment. It's not that there aren't any, but that there's no money to spend.

Over time, seeing others reading novels, he became curious and tried reading one himself. Gradually, he became hooked and a seasoned bookworm.

By the way, the first novel he ever read was "I Want to Become an Immortal" by Zhongyuan Yidianhui.

Therefore, he is also a fan of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's books.

That early morning, after getting off work, he couldn't sleep, so he took out his recently bought book, "The Legend of the Heavenly Demon," by the author "Pistol." Kuang Zhi had never heard of this author before. This book seemed to be the author's first book, but it was very well written.

As he watched, he saw that dawn was breaking.

I finally finished reading the book at dawn.

He was about to put down the book and go to sleep when he suddenly noticed a preview of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book at the end.

On the market on March 12th?
The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts?
He looked at the advertisement over and over again, and happily decided that he would not buy "Tales of the Heavenly Demon" next month, but would buy Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book instead!
……

Ah Chang is a Malaysian Chinese.

He was not particularly good-looking. While many of his peers had grown to 1.6, 1.7, or even 1.8 meters tall, he was only 1.4 meters tall.

Although his sister often comforted him, saying that good things come in small packages.

But his childhood sweetheart, the girl next door, has fallen for someone else this year. The girl who said she would be his wife when she grew up has been stealing glances at tall, handsome men all the time, and sometimes she even takes the initiative to talk to them.

This caused Achang great distress.

He didn't understand why other people grew so fast during puberty, but he didn't grow taller when he reached puberty.
During his lonely and painful days, he gradually developed the habit of reading novels in his spare time.

However, he didn't have much pocket money, so he could only rent books from bookstores.

As a Malaysian Chinese, he enjoys reading Chinese novels.

Especially the new-style novels published in Taiwan.

That afternoon, he sat under the eaves of his wooden house, engrossed in the latest episode of "Bad Guy." His childhood sweetheart next door was sitting under the eaves, picking vegetables. She glanced at him several times, hoping he would come over and help her. He noticed her, but he didn't go over.

Why help her prepare the vegetables? If you help her finish preparing the vegetables sooner, she'll go flirt with other people, leaving her to prepare them all by herself! In the end, she'll be preparing them until dark, so she won't have time to go out.

only……

He had almost finished reading the book "Bad Guy" in his hand; as he flipped through the pages, he reached the last page.

This left him with a slight sense of regret.

I thought to myself: I have to rent books again.

The biggest benefit of the girl next door changing her mind for him is that he can now spend his monthly allowance on himself; otherwise, he wouldn't have any money to rent books.

The book "Bad Guy" had a significant impact on his thinking.

He envied the male protagonist in the book, who could transform from a cowardly high school student into a ruthless and unscrupulous villain.

After reading the last page, he suddenly saw a preview of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book.

The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts?
He knew that Zhongyuan Yidianhui had been selling many of his works in the rental bookstores near his home for the past two years, and he had read every single one of them, which broadened his horizons.

Upon seeing the preview of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book today, he immediately felt a surge of anticipation.

The girl next door deliberately coughed lightly to attract his attention. She smiled and waved to him repeatedly, throwing him flirtatious glances, trying to get him to come and help her pick vegetables. But he was unmoved. He glanced at her and then looked away, continuing to stare at the advertisement at the bottom of the book page—"Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book will be released on December 1st."

He was looking forward to it.

I'd like to learn from them and try writing a novel myself.

He had heard about Zhongyuan Yidianhui from a friend, knowing that Zhongyuan Yidianhui was a college student in mainland China who started writing novels at the age of 18, became incredibly famous, and earned a lot of money. He had long wanted to imitate Zhongyuan Yidianhui.

He didn't expect to reach the heights of Zhongyuan Yidianhui; as long as he could successfully publish and earn royalties, he didn't care about the girl next door.

He believed that once he had money, even prettier girls would like him.

He's been having this dream for quite a while now.

I've finally made up my mind recently.

The reason he hasn't started writing yet is that he wants to follow the latest trend in this subject matter.

In his memory, Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new books always have fresh and creative themes.

For example, the title of the new book in this advertisement, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," immediately tells you it's another new subject. Otherwise, why wouldn't I understand what "Chinese martial arts" means?

……

In a blink of an eye.

It’s April 12th.

For most people, it was just an ordinary day, nothing special.

If there's anything special about this day, it's simply that it's Saturday, nothing more.

But for the vast number of book fans who love Zhongyuan Yidianhui's works, today is very special.

This is because it is the official release date of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts".

On this day, not only are many book lovers paying attention to this new book, but also many publishers, authors, and journalists.

As book lovers, we all hope that this new book will have a fresh theme and an exciting plot.

Other publishing houses that are Xinchang's rivals have mixed feelings.

Some people hope that Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book will flop and suffer a major setback.

In the past two years, many industry peers have said: "When a whale falls, all things are born; if a speck of dust falls in the Central Plains, it won't cause a disaster, but other authors and publishers will not fare well either."

This statement is widely accepted.

Many people believe that Zhongyuan Yidianhui, which has long been at the top of the industry, is still on an upward trajectory, which is very frightening.

After all, this is a winner-takes-all industry.

As Zhongyuan Yidianhui continues to rise in popularity, it means that his fan base will grow larger and larger, to the point of being overwhelming. If you were to randomly interview some people who like to read novels now, you would probably find that almost everyone has read his works.

Therefore, many authors and publishers hope that Cao Sheng will fail miserably and never recover.

What author stays at their peak all the time?
It's too much!

For some journalists who follow Cao Sheng, many of them now hope that Cao Sheng will fall from grace.

Because the news of his new book becoming a bestseller has lost its appeal, readers are no longer very interested.

But if his new book flops, I believe readers will be very interested.

Under such complex psychological circumstances.

That morning, Cao Sheng's new book, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," officially appeared on bookshelves in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other places, attracting countless book lovers and rental bookstores to snap it up.

Naturally, some staff members, authors, and journalists from other publishing houses were also mixed in.

To the disappointment of book fans, Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book only has one volume.

"One episode? Like a parched land receiving a single drop of rain? Who's going to watch that?"

"This isn't even enough to fill a tooth gap!"

Does he think we can't afford it?

"Damn it! I told you we couldn't let him get rich! He'll become lazy once he gets rich. Look at him, he only releases one chapter of his new book!"

"Why did the price go up? You have the nerve to raise the price after releasing just one episode?"

"Yeah! Why did the price go up? Why is it more expensive than 'The Legend of the Primordial Era'?"

……

Book lovers from all over the world protested as they rushed to buy the new book.

Most people protested that the book only had one volume.

Some price-sensitive consumers expressed dissatisfaction with the price.

Yes!

Because Cao Sheng requested a two-percent increase in royalties, Xinchang raised the price of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" by 10%.

The price of "The Legend of the Primordial Era," which just ended last month, has increased by 10%.

This was a decision personally made by the boss, Lan Tianhu.

During the meeting, he told all the senior executives, "The money comes from the consumers, not us! Cao Sheng wants to increase his share of the profits, so there's no reason for us to cut our own flesh to feed him. Therefore, I announce a 10% price increase for 'The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts'! I believe that with Cao Sheng's fame and the quality of this new book, readers will buy it!"

(End of this chapter)