After we broke up, my ex-girlfriend gave birth to a daughter.

Chapter 140 Choice is more important than effort

"It's approved! Your novel, *Joy of Life*, has passed!"

Wang Zhushan immediately shared this good news with Shu Jingming.

"Let me tell you, that top editor really praised the beginning of your novel. He rarely praises people on live streams!"

Compared to Wang Zhushan's excitement, Shu Jingming seemed much calmer: "I saw it, I was in the live broadcast room just now."

"Then you'd better write well! As long as the plot doesn't fall apart, you have a real chance of earning over ten thousand a month!"

When Wang Zhushan said this, his tone was full of envy. He also hoped that his novel could be approved and that he could earn more than 10,000 yuan a month.

Although there are often stories of people on the internet earning tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan a month, in reality, most people earn only three to five thousand yuan a month.

If he could earn 10,000 yuan a month in royalties from writing novels, he wouldn't have to worry about getting married at all; just thinking about it makes one yearn for it.

Do you earn over 10,000 yuan a month...?

Shu Jingming thought to himself that he wasn't writing novels to earn over ten thousand yuan a month.

After all, he now owns the music copyrights to four songs, and even if he does nothing, he can still earn a six-figure income every month.

In fact, he wrote the novel entirely with the intention of adapting it into an IP.

In another parallel world, "Joy of Life" is a top IP of Qidian.com, which has not only published physical books, but also been adapted into popular film and television works, and later went international and reached the world.

The commercial value here cannot be measured by a small monthly income of over ten thousand.

It's understandable that Wang Zhushan doesn't know the ins and outs of this, since he hasn't even gotten past the signing stage.

"What do you mean? How about we go out for a meal later to celebrate?" Wang Zhushan on the other end of the phone was in high spirits; anyone who didn't know better would think he had just had his manuscript approved.

Shu Jingming knew his good friend was happy for him and didn't want to spoil the mood, so he readily agreed: "Okay, I'll tell my wife and then drive over to pick you up."

Wang Zhushan replied: "okok, then I'll also report to my wife at home."

Shu Jingming put down his phone, pushed open the door, and went into the bedroom.

At this moment, Dai Qingning was lying on the bed, holding her phone in one hand and gently patting Mu Mu's back with the other.

She heard the door open and instinctively turned her head to look.

Worried about waking his daughter, Shu Jingming lowered his voice and said, "My novel has been approved. We'll go through the signing process tomorrow."

"Really?" Dai Qingning was overjoyed.

Shu Jingming nodded slightly, then said, "Zhu Sang invited me out for barbecue to celebrate."

"Okay, go ahead then, but don't drink, understand?" Dai Qingning instructed.

"Okay," Shu Jingming agreed. "Is there anything you want to eat? I'll bring it to you."

Dai Qingning gently shook her head: "I don't want to eat. It's good that you came back soon."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

Shu Jingming glanced at his sleeping daughter, then gently closed the door.

His home wasn't far from Wang Zhushan's; it only took half an hour to drive there.

Right now, Zhu Sang is standing by the roadside, waving from a great distance.

Shu Jingming parked the car and then asked, "Why didn't you bring your girlfriend with you?"

"She's been dieting lately, and she doesn't even eat rice at night, let alone late-night snacks," Wang Zhushan explained.

"Why didn't you bring your girlfriend or Mumu along?"

Shu Jingming then explained the situation: "Mumu is asleep, and Dai Qingning stayed home with the child, so she didn't come."

"I see," Han Zhushan said, suddenly understanding. "Then tonight will be just the two of us!"

Shu Jingming felt goosebumps all over his body: "Why does what you said sound so awkward?"

"The term 'a world for two' might not be the most appropriate, but you get the idea," Wang Zhushan chuckled.

Shu Jingming couldn't help but complain, "Now I finally know why your novel wasn't accepted. It's because the words didn't express the meaning."

Wang Zhushan scratched his head awkwardly: "There is indeed room for improvement in word choice and sentence structure, but I have already adjusted the original plot as you suggested."

"Would you like to see the beginning of my second version?"

At this moment, Wang Zhushan was like a diligent and studious student, bringing his completed test paper to the teacher for correction.

He knew his writing skills were limited and that it would be difficult to achieve success on his own, so he would occasionally seek advice from the experienced writer Shu Jingming.

In his eyes, anyone who can get their manuscript approved by the top editor Xinghehe is a big shot, and anyone who can receive high praise from Xinghehe is a big shot among big shots.

They say choice is more important than effort, so you can't go wrong by asking Shu Jingming for advice!

"It's a little better than the first draft, but only a little. Making money from this book will still be difficult." - Shu Jing

Ming patiently read through Wang Zhushan's opening remarks and then shared his own opinion.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhushan was completely dumbfounded, like a wilted eggplant.

As expected, I'm still not suited to writing novels.

Shu Jingming noticed his best friend's dejected look.

To be honest, with his current writing skills, he could easily write an opening paragraph to help Wang Zhushan get the manuscript approved.

But there's no point in helping with the draft; does he have to write the rest of the story for him?

He can only help for a short time, not forever; it's better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish.

Zhu Sang's biggest problem right now is her poor writing skills, coupled with the lack of a good subject matter.

Shu Jingming can't help with writing skills, but he can provide subject matter.

It's important to understand that a novel's writing style determines its upper limit, while its subject matter determines its lower limit. As long as the subject matter is chosen well, it's still possible to make money.

"Here's what I'll do. I'll give you a topic; you can just use it to write about," Shu Jingming said after a moment's thought.

"What subject matter?" Wang Zhushan thought he had reached a dead end, but unexpectedly, Shu Jingming's words rekindled his hope.

"Steady approach".

Shu Jingming spoke eloquently: "The protagonists of traditional novels all have an adventurous spirit. Even if the odds of success are slim, they will bravely forge ahead and live or die."

"The conservative protagonist, on the other hand, does the opposite. For example, if there's an 80% chance of success in this dungeon run, many people would think it's a sure thing, but the conservative protagonist would feel there's a 20% risk. What's the difference between that and suicide?"

Wang Zhushan was stunned, his mouth agape: "You can write it like that?"

"That sounds...interesting!"

"Such a great idea, why didn't you keep it for yourself and just give it to me?"

Shu Jingming waved his hand: "Just take it and write it. I have plenty of similar topics here."

Upon hearing Shu Jingming's words, Wang Zhushan was both shocked and moved, and couldn't help but shout, "Thank you, Godfather!"

Shu Jingming waved his hand: "Don't thank me yet, there's something I need your help with."

"What is it?"

"My family is going to Hangzhou in a couple of days, and we need to board our dog with you."

Wang Zhushan readily agreed: "This is a small matter. How long will it take?"

Shu Jingming thought for a moment: "About a week."

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