Back to 17, My Brother is the Cult Leader

Mid-April, Beijing.

The willow catkins haven't stopped falling yet.

Fang Yuan sat at his desk in the dormitory, with three things spread out in front of him: a computer, a cup of lukewarm tea, and a sales report faxed over by Ellie.

Twilight's global sales surpassed three million copies in the first quarter.

"New Moon" was released in the first week of April, with an initial print run of 800,000 copies, and the feedback from distribution channels was very positive.

He put down the report and opened his email.

There was an email from Ellie in my inbox. It was sent at 11 p.m. Beijing time last night, and the subject line consisted of five words plus a punctuation mark: "You better reply to me."

The main text is just one paragraph: "The New York Times' list for this week has just come out, and Twilight is number one."

"New Moon" climbed to fifth place as soon as it was released.

"Fang, what are the arrangements for what comes next?"

Fang Yuan held his cup and thought for a while before dialing Ellie's number.

"Fang," Ellie answered quickly, the background noise of an office playing in the background, "You saw my email?"

"I saw it. I've changed my mind."

"you say."

"All four Twilight movies will be released this year."

There was silence for a few seconds on the other end of the phone.

When Ellie spoke again, she slowed her pace: "Four books a year? 'New Moon' just came out in April, and 'Eclipse' is scheduled for release—"

"Eclipse in August, Dawn in November. One book every three months, with constant popularity in between."

"What about The Hunger Games?"

"Postponed to early next year."

Ellie was silent for a moment, and Fang Yuan heard the sound of her flipping through papers. "Why?"

"Because next year is 2000. The new millennium, the Y2K bug, everyone is staring at the same countdown to the new millennium."

When you publish a dystopian book, all the public attention will be on the New Year's Eve celebrations, and nobody will care what you're talking about in the book.

Perhaps we should postpone it until after the millennium—when the revelry ends, people return to reality to find the mess still there, and then release a story about totalitarianism, survival games, and media manipulation, which would perfectly coincide with a period of reflection.

"That makes sense." Ellie paused for a moment.

"But the second half of this year's schedule can't be empty. We can't just have one Twilight series."

"I have prepared three new books."

"Three books?"

"Ready Player One, Source Code, Pacific Rim."

He put down the cup, speaking slowly but clearly, each sentence structured as follows:

"Ready Player One" is a near-future science fiction film where everyone escapes into a virtual reality game oasis during an energy crisis.

The founder hid an Easter egg in the game after his death, and whoever finds it will inherit the entire company.

The protagonist is a poor boy from a slum who uses his knowledge of 1980s pop culture to fight against big corporations.

This book is nostalgic, full of references to movies and games from the 80s and 90s, which happened to coincide with the global wave of nostalgia surrounding the Y2K bug.

"The Source Code," a time loop mystery.

A captain is trapped on a train for the last eight minutes, and in each loop, he must find the bomb and the killer.

The system changes every time it restarts.

The background directly mirrors the Y2K bug—a vulnerability in the railway signaling system that couldn't have been resolved before 2000.

"Pacific Rim: Giant mechs battle deep-sea monsters."

Wormholes are man-made black holes at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, openings created by humans while testing new energy sources.

Behind this cross-century technological revolution lies the fact that we ourselves opened the door.

"These three books are completely different from Twilight."

One is a virtual reality treasure hunt, another is a time loop brain teaser, and the last is a mecha monster battle.

The target audience for Twilight is young women, while these three books are aimed at men and science fiction fans.

"Once it's finished this year, your readership won't just be limited to women."

Ellie didn't reply. Fang Yuan knew she was processing what was happening.

With three new books and four Twilight books, seven books were published in one year, a pace rarely seen in the entire publishing industry.

"Where's the manuscript?" she finally asked.

"I've finished writing 'Lunar Eclipse,' and the final draft is on my computer."

I can send it to you today. The first draft of "Dawn" is also complete, but the ending is still being polished.

"Ready Player One is more than halfway done, and I have outlines for Source Code and Pacific Rim; the framework is already set."

Give me an order.

"Ready Player One in August, Source Code in October, Pacific Rim in December."

The August release, "Ready Player One," had the lowest barrier to entry. With its VR treasure hunt and 1980s nostalgia, it could capture the teenage market during the Christmas season and also attract some readers from "Twilight."

"Source Code" is the shortest and fastest-paced, and will be released during the Thanksgiving holiday season.

Pacific Rim will be the grand finale of December, featuring mechs battling monsters with the strongest visual impact—a major Christmas release.

Ellie sighed: "When you told me last time that The Hunger Games was postponed to next year, I guessed that the second half of the year wouldn't be empty."

But I didn't expect you to pull out three books at once.

Her tone became crisp again.

"I received the 'Lunar Eclipse' book today, and I'll schedule its release for August."

"Give me the complete manuscript for 'Ready Player One' by the end of June; I need to meet the October deadline."

"no problem."

"There's one more thing. The Y2K bug—you said all three books are related to the Y2K bug. I need to confirm the details."

In Ready Player One, the real-world energy system collapses, and the initial problem with this energy system is the chain reaction caused by the Y2K bug.

Power grids, oil pipelines, communications—if one link isn't patched, the entire system collapses like a domino effect. It's not the focus of the main description, but it serves as a solid background setting.

The story of "Source Code" begins directly with the Y2K vulnerability in the railway signaling system, which a programmer discovered in 1998 and reported three times but was ignored.

The wormhole in Pacific Rim is man-made; it was created when humans tore through space in 1999 while testing a new type of energy.

On the surface, it solved the energy crisis, but in reality, it opened the gates of hell.

Three books, three perspectives, but the core message is the same: the system created by humanity has, in turn, created disaster for itself.

Ellie remained silent for a long while.

"Okay." Ellie's voice regained the decisiveness of a New York agent.

"I'm meeting with the publisher now. Send me 'Eclipse'."

Also—I want priority agency rights for those three new books.

"no problem."

After hanging up the phone, Fang Yuan drank the lukewarm tea in his cup, opened his email, and sent the final draft of "Lunar Eclipse" over in a package.

The moment the progress bar finished, he leaned back in his chair.

Willow catkins outside the window clung to the screen, leaving a white layer.

The phone rang again. Wang Jinghua.

"Fang Yuan, the recording studio schedule for this week is set."

"Summer Solstice of the Thirty Years" will be filmed in the studio tomorrow.

Zeng Li asked me to ask you if you have time to come and listen.

"What time tomorrow?"

"Two o'clock in the afternoon."

"OK."

"And another thing," came the sound of Wang Jinghua flipping through her notebook.

Professor Li has asked you to listen to the final version of the arrangement for "Red-Haired Girl" again. He added a section of tremolo to the pipa part.

Professor Chang also mentioned that, regarding Zeng Li's operatic lines, Teacher Zhang's original words were—"She's ready to go on stage."

"That's fine then."

"The venue for the May Day Gala has been decided: Studio 1 of Beijing TV. Director Sun has scheduled a rehearsal for Thursday and the official recording for Friday."

After hanging up the phone, Fang Yuan opened a new document and typed the title: "Ready Player One" - Chapter Six.

The cursor blinked a few times on the screen.

He wrote two new clues about Wade in the Oasis, deleted a dialogue, and reorganized the story.

Tomorrow afternoon at the recording studio.

Things will come one by one.