I asked you to write a light novel, but you wrote about living?

The following morning, the headquarters of Midtown Observer was located at the Midtown Observer headquarters.

Tang Wan pushed open the door to the editor-in-chief's office and walked straight to the desk.

"Editor-in-chief, I just sent you an article that I'd like to put on the front page tomorrow."

The editor-in-chief turned on the light screen and immediately saw the title on the document.

Running for governor.

Author: Yu Huashi.

Upon seeing the author's name, the editor-in-chief was visibly surprised and couldn't help but chuckle.

"He went on a three-day vacation and came back with a manuscript. He truly lives up to his reputation as Chief Editor Tang."

"It was just a coincidence."

Tang Wan pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Please take a look first."

"Okay, I'll take a look first."

The editor-in-chief opened the document and began reading.

A dozen minutes later, the editor-in-chief finished reading the last page and couldn't help but chuckle.

"This kid..."

He flipped back to the beginning of the document.

"It's written in a way that's both absurd and funny. It doesn't mention a single real name, but it describes all the recent methods of fabricating charges and inciting public opinion."

Tang Wan asked, "What do you think?"

"From the manuscript itself, there are no problems."

The editor-in-chief looked at the title, "Running for Governor."

"However, the fact that Midtown Observer published it at this time will inevitably lead outsiders to think that we are responding to the recent public opinion on behalf of Yu Huashi."

"Yu Wen is very smart."

Tang Wan said, "He still set the story in the past. He tells a story from the past, a story from the previous era, or even a story that took place on the West Coast."

"The article doesn't mention any current platforms or anyone's name. Even if someone insists on identifying themselves with the person, they can't blame the novel."

The editor-in-chief looked at the document again.

"But anyone can see that he's using the past to satirize the present."

Tang Wan said, "This only proves that the novel is well-written."

The editor-in-chief did not answer immediately.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze returning to the final paragraph of "Running for Governor".

The office was quiet for a while.

A moment later, he suddenly chuckled softly.

"Too."

He looked up, and the hesitation he had shown earlier had vanished.

"Go do the layout, go through the fast track, get it on the front page of the StarNet website."

"Only make necessary textual proofreadings, leave the main text unchanged, and do not add editor's notes."

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away."

……

Midtown Observer refreshes its homepage as usual.

Those who are used to browsing the morning news will soon notice that today's headline is a bit strange.

What was hanging there was not city government affairs or financial news, but a novel.

Running for governor.

Author: Yu Huashi.

After the novel was published online, the exposure data in the background almost immediately began to climb.

After all, it's Midtown Observer.

As one of the most credible official media outlets in Zhongcheng District, it is forcibly pushed to tens of millions of personal terminals, public screens, and corporate information streams every day.

But exposure is exposure.

Not many people actually clicked on it.

Most people have long been accustomed to this ubiquitous official information.

Economic data, urban planning, company announcements, council speeches, public safety notices...

Those seemingly serious and correct contents, yet separated from the lives of ordinary people by a thick layer of glass, slip past my eyes every day.

Some people glanced at the headline, assuming it was political news from some state or region, and swiped away without looking at it.

Some people noticed the "fiction" label, but became even less interested.

A political novel?

What new things can you write?

Most likely, it's another allegory of the times written by a member of some association, or a timely article generated by some literary model.

Some people even clicked in, glanced at it, and then quickly left.

The very first sentence of the article left them completely bewildered.

Several months ago, I was nominated as the New York State governor candidate, representing the Independent Party against Mr. Stewart LeWoodford and Mr. John t Hoffman.

New York State?

Independence Party?

Steinwald Le-Wooford?

John Tr Hoffman?

What are all these things?

Are there still any districts called "New York State"?

Someone glanced at the timestamp at the top of the article.

[Historical background: Approximately two hundred years ago.]

"Historical novels? The era of print media?"

Why did Midtown Observer suddenly publish something like this?

"And with a West Coast background?"

An office worker in the central district frowned.

He was just casually browsing the morning news on his commute, and was about to quit when he saw this.

Before exiting, his gaze inadvertently swept over the author's section.

Yu Huashi.

His fingers stopped.

"Yu Huashi?"

This name seems somewhat familiar.

He thought for a few seconds before finally finding the name amidst the recent deluge of controversial news.

Isn't this the author of "To Live"?

The person recently accused of exploiting the deceased, inciting fans, and using suffering for marketing purposes.

He paused for a moment, then looked back at the beginning of the article.

Is this really written by Yu Huashi?

Why does it look completely different from what I've heard?

He didn't know much about Yu Huashi, only that the other party had written several extremely heavy works, each of which was said to take readers several days to recover from.

However, the article "Running for Governor" in front of him, in terms of both subject matter and writing style, is far removed from the Yu Huashi he had heard about. It is more like a political anecdote unearthed from more than two hundred years ago.

He scrolled down a few more paragraphs, still unable to figure out why this novel appeared on the front page of Midtown Observer.

Since the shuttle was still more than ten minutes away from the company, and the article wasn't very long, he patiently continued reading.

He read the first few paragraphs somewhat casually.

The narrator in the story is nominated as a candidate for governor of New York State. He believes he has a clean record and his biggest advantage is that his reputation far surpasses that of the other two competitors.

But just as the election campaign began, a newspaper unearthed a case of perjury that occurred in Cochinchina, claiming with certainty that there were thirty-four witnesses who could testify that "I" had attempted to seize a poor widow's banana plantation, which she relied on for survival.

I was so shocked by this crime that I had never heard of before that I didn't know how to respond.

He remained silent for only one day before the next day's newspapers announced that he had "maintained a rather suspicious silence" regarding the perjury case.

From then on, every time the newspaper mentioned him, it would add "notorious perjurer" before his name.

Upon seeing this, the company employees could barely suppress their smiles.

Next, another newspaper accused "me" of stealing my companions' belongings in Montana, being smeared with tar and covered in feathers, and being driven out of the camp on a wooden pole.

But the "I" in the story has never been to Montana in my life.

Later, the newspapers, based on several dubious sworn testimonies, claimed that he maliciously defamed his opponent's deceased grandfather and incited "angry public" to retaliate.

That night, a group of people broke into his residence, smashed furniture and doors and windows, and took away any valuables they could carry with them before leaving.

From then on, he became known in the newspapers as a "corpse trafficker".

The company employees finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

This group of people doesn't even need to prove anything.

All they need to do is put on a show of witnesses, affidavits, and public questioning, and then shift the responsibility of explanation to the accused.

If the other party doesn't answer, silence implies guilt; if they are prepared to answer, the next charge is already waiting to be brought up.

Bribery, extortion, arson of a mental hospital, poisoning of his uncle to seize his inheritance...

The accusations are increasing, and becoming more and more absurd.

Finally, at a public gathering, someone instigated nine young children, dressed in tattered clothes and of different skin colors, to rush onto the stage, hug "my" legs, and call out "Daddy" in unison...

Upon seeing this, the company employees completely lost their composure.

"The media was already this wild more than two hundred years ago?"