Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

September.

The film "Secret" grossed 1.7 billion yuan in its first month of release.

Champion of the Qixi Festival season, champion of the month, and champion of the summer season finale.

The rating on Douban has stabilized at 9.2—it has dropped slightly from the initial rating of 9.4, but it is still terrifying.

The theme song "Secret" topped the charts on major music platforms for a whole month, with over 300 million downloads. The piano prelude was played everywhere, from shopping malls and milk tea shops to convenience stores.

Qian Zhuangzhuang once went to a milk tea shop near the school gate to buy water, and the shop was playing this song.

He took a picture and posted it on his WeChat Moments, with the caption: "Now, every time I hear the intro, I subconsciously glance to see if there's an old piano."

Zhou Zixuan commented below: "Are you experiencing any aftereffects?"

Qian Zhuangzhuang replied, "This is artistic cultivation. What do you know?"

Chen Mo liked that post on WeChat Moments but didn't comment.

The matter concerning the film has come to an end.

But there's another thing we can't avoid.

Lin Yuan opened the Red Eggplant Literature website, and the number of private messages in the author's backend had risen to four digits.

His last update was five months ago—he hasn't written anything since the Murder on the Orient Express case was concluded.

The comments section was filled with lamentations—

[Reader "Catching Up on Anime All Night": You old bastard??? Are you still alive??? It's been five months since Orient Express ended! Are you going to disappear again?! Last time you disappeared for three months, how long do you plan to disappear this time?! A year?!]

[A reader, "From Book Drought to Brick-Chopping": I'm severely suffering from a book drought. I've already reread *Zhu Xian* three times and *Oriental Express* five times. If there aren't any updates soon, I'm going to have to resort to studying textbooks. Please help me!]

[Reader "Immortal's Finger": I've calculated with my fingers that this kid definitely has a backup plan. But I've been calculating for five months and still haven't figured it out, I'm extremely anxious.]

Lin Yuan glanced at the comments section, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

It's been five months since the last update.

These people have certainly waited long enough.

He leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment.

I've written fantasy novels and suspense novels.

that--

He opened a new document, and the cursor blinked twice.

Then he started typing.

The fate of the forsaken is to traverse the wasteland, raise the battle flag once more, and return to their homeland. Death is not frightening; it is merely a long slumber. Before I can devour this world, it is better to sleep peacefully than to trek alone. We will awaken again.

He stopped and looked around.

Then he laughed.

Fine.

Since you enjoy being tortured so much, then I won't hold back.

Two weeks later.

On the author activity page of Red Eggplant Literature Network, "Old Fool of Mount Akina," a new message popped up—

[My new work, *Dragon Raja I: Dawn of Fire*. The story of a loser's rise to godhood. This time, I'll take you to a world you've never been before.]

[PS: This is not a web novel serialization, it's a physical book, releasing next month. Online pre-orders begin tonight at midnight. First come, first served!]

The comment section instantly erupted—

[Fellow cultivator "binge-watching anime all night": !!! Alive!!! The old bastard is still alive!!!]

[Fellow enthusiast "Detective Connoisseur": The old fox has changed tracks again? Xianxia, ​​suspense, now "Dragon Raja"... Just how many cards do you have left?]

[Fellow fan "Waiting for the Wind": "I'll take you to a world you've never been to before"—he's written about cultivation and mystery before, and this time he says "never been to before," so it's probably an original fantasy world. Next month, look forward to a new world.]

[Fellow reader "Midnight Bell": No matter the genre, I'll buy anything by this old fox. I've already spoken to the bookstore owner, and he'll reserve it for me as soon as it arrives.]

That night.

Pre-orders will be available at midnight sharp.

Within half an hour, pre-sale orders exceeded 100,000 copies.

Two hundred thousand in one hour.

Before dawn, pre-sale data from various platforms had already been transmitted to the publisher's distribution department.

"Pre-sales have exceeded 300,000."

The head of the distribution department stared at the constantly fluctuating numbers on the back end, forgetting to even drink his coffee.

The first print run was 100,000 copies.

Pre-sale of 300,000 units.

There is a shortfall of 200,000.

He put down his coffee, picked up the phone: "Notify the printing press, don't wait for the release date, start a second printing now. At least 200,000 copies."

On the day of release.

rain.

It's been raining non-stop since morning.

But this did not stop anyone.

Queues begin forming in front of physical bookstores across the country as early as 7 a.m.

"Wan Juan Shu Wu" on the North Third Ring Road is the largest independent bookstore in Beijing. When the store manager, Sister Wang, arrived at the store at six o'clock in the morning, there were already more than twenty people queuing at the door. By the time she opened the door, the queue had turned into the alley next door.

"You're all here to buy 'Dragon Raja'?" Sister Wang was a little confused.

"What else can I do?" The boy at the front of the line held up his phone, the screen displaying the e-commerce platform's sales page—the words "Sold Out" were grayed out. "If I can't get one online, I can only try my luck at the physical store."

Sister Wang walked into the warehouse and looked at the neatly stacked new books.

She ordered three hundred copies.

She suddenly felt it wasn't enough.

We open for business at 8:00 AM sharp.

The first boy to rush in went straight to the new book section, grabbed a copy of "Dragon Raja I: Dawn of Fire", flipped through a couple of pages, and then stood in front of the bookshelf and wouldn't leave.

People surged in from behind, and the new book section was instantly packed with people.

Three hundred copies sold out in half an hour.

"Is there anything else?!"

It's gone!

"How could it be gone?!"

Sister Wang stood behind the counter, looking at the empty bookshelves, her hands still trembling.

She had worked in the bookstore for fifteen years and this was the first time she had ever seen such a scene.

She picked up the phone and dialed the publisher's distribution department number.

"I want to order an additional five hundred copies. No, eight hundred. Will they arrive today?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Sister Wang, you're not the only one placing additional orders. I've already received over a hundred calls this morning. The printing factory is working through the night, but capacity is limited; the earliest delivery will be the day after tomorrow."

Sister Wang hung up the phone, looked at the queue stretching to the end of the alley outside, and sighed.

"Dear readers, this book is temporarily sold out. It will be restocked the day after tomorrow—"

No one left the group.

Some people waited in the rain with umbrellas, some squatted at the bookstore entrance scrolling through other people's book reviews on their phones, and some simply sat down and opened the books they had already bought.

It's not just one bookstore that's placing additional orders.

It's the whole country.

In Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Qiantang River, Nanjing, and Chang'an—the physical bookstores in every city sold out on the day of release.

Orders from distributors across the country poured in like snowflakes, with individual orders ranging from a minimum of two thousand to a maximum of ten thousand.

The head of the distribution department stared at the constantly updating total deficit on the screen and gulped down his now-cold coffee.

"The second printing of 200,000 copies was still not enough."

He picked up the phone: "Add another 300,000. Tell the printing factory to get more paper if they run out. Money is not a problem."

That evening, the top three trending topics on Weibo were:

[#Dragon Raja physical book sold out#] First.

[#DragonClanThreeTimesReprinted#] Second.

[#RainyDaysCan'tStopBuyingDragonClan#] Third.

The real storm begins when the reader turns to the first page.