Wen Ying worried for Xiao Ni, but Xiao Ni herself was not worried at all.
Wen Ying was influenced by memories from her previous life, while Xiao Ni had no awareness of breaking up the “official couple”. She threw herself into this romance without reservation.
As soon as the two confirmed their relationship, Zheng Zhihe confessed his romantic history.
Upon learning that Zheng Zhihe had only one first-love girlfriend, Xiao Ni was very satisfied. Zheng Zhihe had been working for years, and if his emotional experience was a blank slate, there might be something wrong with him. Having an ex-girlfriend was not strange, as long as it was cleanly over now.
Xiao Ni was very optimistic, and Zheng Zhihe was infected by her optimism. He looked forward to a future with Xiao Ni.
If he missed this chance, he might never meet a girl like Xiao Ni again. Heaven truly favoured him too much!
Zheng Zhihe and Xiao Ni happily began their romance. Knowing his first-love girlfriend had a volatile personality, Zheng Zhihe deliberately kept a low profile for a while.
Although the two were together, Xiao Ni had to busy herself with magazine affairs, while Zheng Zhihe had several cases on hand, including representing Jiang Youjia in a breach-of-contract compensation matter. Work came first, then romance, so they did not have much time to cling to each other.
Helplessly, the single dog had escaped singledom, and his happiness was written all over his face. Zheng Zhihe and his first-love girlfriend still shared a social circle, so after just a few dates with Xiao Ni, the news reached the first-love girlfriend’s ears.
The first-love girlfriend did not act immediately upon hearing the news. She first investigated Xiao Ni thoroughly.
From another province, ordinary family background, ordinary education, not a graduate of any prestigious university, now an editor at a magazine in Rongcheng.
The first-love girlfriend even obtained photos of Xiao Ni.
Xiao Ni herself was full of vitality, with a fresh and pretty appearance. The photos could not capture the real person’s spirit, so the first-love girlfriend inevitably underestimated her a bit. She muttered to a mutual friend, “Zheng Zhihe is tired of big fish and meat, and now he has switched to plain porridge and simple vegetables?”
Unlike Xiao Ni’s modest and jade-like fresh prettiness, the first-love girlfriend was the cold and glamorous type, somewhat famous in Rongcheng’s legal and political circles. After graduation, she did not become a lawyer but entered the procuratorate due to family arrangements. She outshone Xiao Ni in every aspect and firmly believed that Zheng Zhihe was only briefly with Xiao Ni and would ultimately choose her.
She said that, but on a certain Friday afternoon, the first-love girlfriend could not hold back and went to the Spark Magazine to see Xiao Ni in person.
So what was Xiao Ni doing at that moment?
Xiao Ni was reading the opening of Wen Ying’s new book.
It was not a novel with the same name as The Galaxy and You. That novel posed no difficulty for Wen Ying, but it was merely to cooperate with the drama’s broadcast for promotion and to develop greater benefits. Xiao Ni and Zou Weijun shared the view that they hoped Wen Ying would pursue higher literary achievements.
What Xiao Ni was reading was the opening of Wen Ying’s new book in the Nine Cauldrons series.
After scrapping several openings, Wen Ying simply abandoned the previous setting, sticking only to the core of “Nine Cauldrons”, and wrote this completely new version of the opening.
The word count was not much, just a short thirty thousand words, but Xiao Ni took a long time to read it. After finishing, she asked Wen Ying if she could serialise the new book in the next issue of Spark.
Although Wen Ying had guaranteed a submission each month to Spark over these months, they were all short stories of one or two thousand words. These short stories received good reviews from readers, who wanted more after one and had been eagerly awaiting Wen Ying’s new long-form work.
Short stories were certainly wonderful, but once read, they were done. A long-form novel serialised in the magazine allowed monthly updates to chase, and that anticipation and urgency were irreplaceable.
Chasing a long-form novel for half a year, the emotional investment was incomparable to a short story?
“You should serialise a new book too!”
The writing contest had brought Spark many authors they could commission, including a batch like Song Chan who emerged prominently. The magazine had more choices, and higher quality submissions were a good thing, but it also posed a threat to Wen Ying as the top resident author.
The sales of The Teenage Idol were high, and Wen Ying had achieved fame and fortune at such a young age, inevitably attracting jealousy.
With Master Fu’s statement, the troublemakers did not dare to criticise Wen Ying openly, but there were still some discordant voices online.
Having become famous young, did Wen Ying have the follow-up strength?
After The Teenage Idol, what kind of work would Wen Ying use to prove herself? Outsiders thought she would cling to the hot-selling “youth literature” market and that her next work would inevitably be a replica of The Teenage Idol!
Hmph, she was sure to make those long-tongued gossips drop their jaws.
Xiao Ni was impatient, while Wen Ying was half-believing. “Do you really think this version of the opening works? Do not lower your standards just because we are too close!”
Wen Ying had scrapped several openings and developed self-doubt.
Xiao Ni pretended to be angry. “We may be close, but you cannot doubt my professionalism. If you do not believe me, you can ask someone else.”
Who to ask?
Zou Weijun was away on a business trip, attending a book fair in another city.
Xiao Ni enlisted Song Foxiang and Editor Wan to help review the manuscript, without telling them beforehand that it was Wen Ying’s new book. Song Foxiang had a sharp eye and locked onto Wen Ying immediately after reading.
“Your new book?”
The genre had shifted from campus to fantasy adventure, but some habits in wording and phrasing remained unchanged.
Although only thirty thousand words, Song Foxiang still saw Wen Ying’s tremendous progress in it.
He had just been smug about his daughter Song Chan advancing to the semi-finals, but now it was like a bucket of cold water dumped on his head.
Literary creation was certainly related to a writer’s subsequent diligence. Reading more and writing more could improve writing skills, but “talent” was a pain many diligent writers were reluctant to mention.
Writing more would bring progress.
But relying solely on writing more would not make one a great writer.
For the same theme, each author’s entry point differed, as did the depth and breadth of their writing.
Wen Ying’s new book had few words but glimpsed the whole from the small, already unfolding a gorgeously magnificent scroll that drew readers to explore… Song Chan’s current level was far inferior to Wen Ying’s!
Song Foxiang’s mood was too complicated.
The one with issues could not possibly be his daughter Song Chan, nor himself. After thinking it over, it must be his ex-wife’s genes that dragged down his daughter’s creative talent.
“Editor Song, you have been looking for so long without giving your opinion!”
Xiao Ni urged him.
Song Foxiang cleared his throat. “… It is alright, I suppose.”
Bald-headed Editor Wan quickly made up for it. “Old Song, you are really something. If it is good, just say it is good. Why say ‘alright’? Are you afraid the young one will get arrogant? I think Wen Ying is neither arrogant nor impetuous, more steady than most her age. You can boldly say the truth. I remember when The Teenage Idol was just published, you did not skimp on the praise!”
Song Foxiang wanted to kill the meddling Editor Wan!
He glared fiercely at Editor Wan twice, then helplessly changed his tune. “It is quite good. You can serialise the first two issues in the magazine to test the waters and see the market reaction.”
This sounded more professional.
An editor saying it was good did not count. Whether it attracted readers had to be tested by the market.
Of course, with The Teenage Idol’s performance and Wen Ying’s fame, even if the new book was poorly written, publishers would still be willing to publish it and offer decent contract terms. Wen Ying, Xiao Ni, and Zou Weijun were all pursuing quality, hence their caution with the new book.
This pair of clowns, Song Foxiang and Editor Wan, made Wen Ying laugh.
Wen Ying was still smiling when suddenly someone came to the magazine looking for Xiao Ni.
Wen Ying looked up. Good grief, it was exactly Zheng Zhihe’s wife from his previous life!
