Chapter 22: Ying Zhicheng Comes Home

Inside the Wenxue Group in Changning City.

Hongdou, the chief editor of the Urban Division, was reviewing the Sanjiang recommendation lists submitted by several editors.

Each editor submitted three, totaling just over ten books.

Currently, there are 83 urban category novels still ongoing, and 124 that have been abandoned.

All 83 remaining novels have exceeded 150,000 words.

Among them, 65 books have reader retention numbers below 100.

There are 12 books with retention between 100 and 500.

There are 5 books with retention between 500 and 1000.

Only one book has retention above 1000.

Reader retention means the number of readers who read the latest chapter within 24 hours.

Generally, when a novel is monetized, the number of readers willing to pay for subscriptions is about 60 to 80 percent of the retention number.

This week, no major authors launched new urban novels, so these numbers are still quite good.

Especially this new book with over 1000 retention—it seems the author is a newcomer?

Hongdou opened the book and glanced at it, but when he came to his senses, over half an hour had passed.

"Chief editors from all divisions, meet to finalize the Sanjiang recommendation list," said Nan Feng, the overall chief editor of Wenxue Group, knocking on the office door.

All chief editors stood up, took their seats in the conference room, and began passionately arguing over Sanjiang slots.

When Hongdou returned to the editing team, exhausted, he sent out a notice to the editors.

【Urban Division has two Sanjiang slots next week: one for "Traditional Chinese Medicine Family," the other for "I Am Really Not a Star." The other divisions' lists have also been sent to you.】

Upon receiving this notice, Qingyue, the editor who had looked confident moments before, froze, unable to believe it.

"Chief, what's going on?" Qingyue frowned. "My book, 'K-Pop Maxed Out Guide,' has 780 retention—it's been consistently making Sanjiang for weeks. This week there aren't any hot books."

"Bad luck," Hongdou said without looking up. "Tell the author to wait another week, or else it goes straight to monetization. Fantasy, xianxia, and sci-fi all have several books over 800 retention this week—we couldn't compete. We only got two slots."

"That strong?" Qingyue blinked. "Wait, 'Traditional Chinese Medicine Family' I know—it's had high retention before, so topping the list this week makes sense. But what about 'I Am Really Not a Star'?"

"Judging by the title, it's also entertainment-themed?"

"Is there some K-pop novel I don't know about this week?"

"Ahem." Editor Qianzhou couldn't stay silent anymore. "Sister Yue, that's mine—it's an alternate-reality entertainment story, not K-pop."

"Not K-pop?!" Qingyue stared, astonished. "Who's the veteran author behind this?"

Based on her experience over the past half-year, K-pop novels dominated the entertainment genre.

Unless it was a veteran author's new work, a newcomer's book would be crushed by K-pop.

No exceptions.

"Just a newcomer I pulled from the new book pool," Qianzhou grinned innocently. "Remember the end of last month? There was an author who hadn't signed yet, so we all sent out signing invitations."

"Oh, right," Qingyue said, vaguely recalling.

"This book is by that author," Qianzhou explained. "The author is a minor, so it took time to convince his family—it delayed signing by a week."

At these words,

Hongdou, who had been sipping tea, spat it out.

"Cough, cough!" Hongdou coughed hard twice, his previously calm expression now filled with shock. "Wait, what? A minor? This book was written by a minor?"

Before the meeting, Hongdou had read this book—and got so absorbed he didn't notice half an hour had passed.

The book opens with a strong hook: the heroine's concert explodes into chaos.

But in Hongdou's view, what was truly impressive was the protagonist's behavior and logic—thoroughly mature.

Especially the opening: the protagonist, as a lucky audience member, steps onto the stage and sings a new song.

He didn't pick just any song—the style matched the heroine's latest album perfectly.

He hooked her interest, then followed up with copyright negotiations, using the song as leverage to secure a cascade of industry resources.

The copyright fee was secondary; the real value was the heroine's connections and other industry advantages.

This instantly opened up the protagonist's future strategy and vision.

This was clearly the work of a seasoned entertainment writer—some veteran's secret alias.

And now you tell me this was written by a minor?!

"Yeah," Qianzhou scratched his head. "The pen name is Chongran. I checked his signing info—he's definitely a minor, 15 years old."

The editing team fell silent, exchanging glances—they hadn't expected such a prodigy to exist in this day and age.

"Oh, by the way," Qianzhou suddenly remembered, checking his current new book list. "There's also 'Literary Era'—this week it has over 500 retention. The author is also a minor… 17, and a girl."

"Huh?"

All editors in the room blinked, staring at Qianzhou with strange expressions.

You're new, with no author resources—that's understandable.

But do you have to target only minors?!

Are you running some kind of breeding program?

…

Early August.

The weather grew hotter.

Li Luo worked all morning at the breakfast shop, his back soaked in sweat, his short sleeves drenched.

During lunch at the shop, Li Luo sat at his table, watching his parents bustle about.

Sweat streamed down his forehead—they'd lived like this for over a decade.

He'd only helped out for a month during summer break, yet every day he woke up feeling utterly exhausted.

Thinking of this, Li Luo pursed his lips and finally truly understood the hardships his parents endured.

If possible, he still needed to work hard and strive to free his parents from such repetitive and exhausting work.

As he thought about these things, Li Luo finished lunch, and his phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

The phone he was using now was still the flip phone his mother had retired.

When he opened it, he saw it was Ying Chanxi calling; Li Luo raised an eyebrow, answered, and held it to his ear.

"Hello? What's up?"

"Li Luo, where are you right now?" Ying Chanxi asked softly on the other end.

"At the shop. What's wrong?" Li Luo frowned. "Aren't you in class?"

"Yes, it's lunch break now," Ying Chanxi replied. "I checked the weather forecast yesterday—it said it would rain today. I forgot to bring in my clothes, and I didn't close the balcony window. Can you help me collect them when you get back?"

"Oh, got it," Li Luo nodded. "Anything else?"

"Hmm…" Ying Chanxi thought for a moment. "These two days are the accelerated class's full-subject test. Just wish me luck for a good score."

"With your ability, first place should be a given."

"So?"

"Then I wish Ying Chanxi, student, top of all subjects—that's the real challenge," Li Luo grinned, chuckling. "Good luck."

"Mmmh," Ying Chanxi nodded satisfied. "Wait and see—I'll give it my all."

After hanging up, Li Luo stretched, glanced at the gloomy sky outside, and felt rain was coming soon.

"Mom, did you bring an umbrella?" Li Luo asked Lin Xiuhong before leaving.

"No, why?"

"It might rain this afternoon," Li Luo said. "I'm heading back. If it rains in the evening, call me—I'll bring an umbrella down."

"Understood. Go on."

Watching her son's back disappear through the shop door, Lin Xiuhong wiped sweat from her brow and felt her exhaustion somehow lighter than before.

She had originally thought this kid was just putting on an act—wanting to impress his parents during summer break to squeeze out more pocket money.

Even so, Lin Xiuhong felt that even if it was just performance, it was still a change, so she supported and encouraged him wholeheartedly.

She never expected Li Luo would truly come to the breakfast shop every morning, early, to help them.

He'd been helping for over a month now.

Judging by this pace, he had no intention of resting until high school reopened.

Every time she thought of this, Lin Xiuhong's face filled with quiet satisfaction.

At that moment, Li Guohong walked out of the kitchen, washed his hands at the sink, wiped them twice on his apron, and spoke as he walked:

"Just now, my younger brother called to say the loan has been deposited. He told me to set a time so we can go handle the transfer paperwork."

"Oh, that's fast," Lin Xiuhong smiled upon hearing the news. "How about this weekend?"

"That's what I thought too," Li Guohong nodded. "Oh, by the way, Zhicheng messaged me—he's coming home today and wants us to go to his place for dinner. He asked us not to tell XiXi yet."

"Finally decided to come back?" Lin Xiuhong frowned at the news of Ying Zhicheng's return. "He's been gone for months again—is his job more important than his daughter?"

"He works for a big company; being busy is normal," Li Guohong shook his head. "Besides, XiXi is well-behaved and studies hard—she doesn't need him to worry about her."

"Still, he shouldn't be absent all the time," Lin Xiuhong, thinking as a mother, felt a pang of sorrow imagining Ying Chanxi growing up without parental company, yet still so sweet. "At least he remembers to come back."

Meanwhile.

Li Luo had already returned to Jincheng Community, climbed to the fourth floor, pulled Ying Chanxi's key from between the couplets on her door, and walked inside.

The sky had turned fully overcast, and a light drizzle drifted down.

Li Luo hurried to the balcony and shut the window first.

Then he looked up and took down all of Ying Chanxi's hung clothes.

"You really have no sense of boundaries," Li Luo sighed helplessly, gathering her cute trinkets along with her clothes and pants into his arms, planning to place them on her bed so she could sort them out herself.

He muttered under his breath, "Why does she like Pikachu so much?"

But just as he stepped from the balcony into the living room, heading toward Ying Chanxi's bedroom, a key turned in the lock at the door.

This made Li Luo freeze.

Wasn't she supposed to be taking an exam?

Why would she come home at noon?

As he thought this, the door opened.

A middle-aged man stepped inside.

Ying Zhicheng wore a crisp suit, his neatly trimmed beard and short, tousled hair giving him an air of refined elegance.

After entering, he instinctively kicked off his shoes and glanced down—his usual blue slippers were nowhere to be found.

But the next second, he saw them.

Ying Zhicheng stared at the boy wearing his blue slippers—and at the pile of girls' clothing in his arms—and fell silent.

"Oh, Uncle Ying," Li Luo awkwardly greeted. "You're back?"

【Chapter Recommendation】: My Wife Is a Dragon

Synopsis:

"Such powerful holy light—its penetration and duration far surpass my race's. I accept it."

"It's just a flashlight…"

"A rare beast breeding chamber? A million times more advanced than my race's livestock technology!"

"This is a TV—it's playing Animal World."

"Rice cooker—the greatest human invention!"

"You… you only want to eat, don't you! You've been on Earth for so long, and you've learned nothing but how to eat!"

After returning from another world to Earth, Xia Li never expected to encounter his former nemesis again.

A pure-blooded silver dragon from a world of swords and magic.

Fortunately, there was no magic on Earth, and the silver dragon had become nothing more than an otaku girl.

In this modern society that values logic, Xia Li decided to turn his enemy into a friend.

But he overdid it, and accidentally turned his enemy into his wife.