Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 385: Overwhelmingly Positive Reviews and Strong Protests

Compared to the complex psychology of their peers and publishers, book fans have a much simpler mindset.

After purchasing "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," book lovers eagerly began to read it.

The quality of this book has basically not disappointed any book lovers.

Even though I felt a little disappointed and didn't feel any surprises in the introduction and the first chapter, as the plot of the second and third chapters gradually unfolded, the brand-new cultivation system and various martial arts theories that were so realistic that they could be mistaken for reality were enough to surprise everyone.

Ah-Tian is from Taipei.

At 18 years old, he has already had three girlfriends because of his wealthy family background.

Although he is not faithful to one woman.

However, he is quite devoted to Zhongyuan Yidianhui's novels. For three years, he has been a fan ever since the first time he read one of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's novels.

Today, as he sat on the edge of the bed reading the newly bought "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," his girlfriend Afen arrived. As usual, she snuggled into his arms in a coquettish manner.

Ah Tian, ​​engrossed in his book, frowned and impatiently shoved A Fen, sending her tumbling off the bed. A Fen cried out in pain, but this did nothing to draw Ah Tian's attention to her; his gaze remained firmly fixed on the words in the book.

……

Hsu Yung-fei lives in Kaohsiung and is also 18 years old this year.

He comes from an average family, is of average appearance, and has average academic performance, so he has never had priority in choosing a partner and has remained single since birth.

But his sister is quite beautiful. She has had no shortage of suitors since she was a teenager. She is only 21 years old this year and is getting married tomorrow.

Xu Yongfei has no other brothers or sisters, only this one sister. Logically speaking, his sister is getting married tomorrow, so he should go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow is his sister's wedding day, and he will have to be busy greeting guests and helping his family to get married smoothly.

That's what he was thinking too.

For many days before this day, he had been thinking about what he should do on his sister's wedding day. Should he put on a show of brotherly love?

but……

Today, Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," was released. As a long-time fan of Zhongyuan Yidianhui, he couldn't resist and immediately went to the bookstore to buy a copy.

That night, my parents and sister were all asleep.

He remained curled up in bed, engrossed in his book. He was completely absorbed in the content of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," his attraction comparable to that of a magnet for iron filings. Tiny iron filings cannot resist the magnet's pull and are hard to resist.

It was past 1 a.m., and reason reminded him that he should go to sleep; his sister was getting married tomorrow, and he couldn't stay up late tonight.

He told himself: Read one more chapter, then I'll go to sleep.

Around 2 a.m., reason reminded him—he really needed to sleep, otherwise he wouldn't be able to get up tomorrow. Tomorrow was his sister's wedding, and he needed to help out!

He told himself: Read one more page, then go to sleep.

Around 3 a.m.

He knew he had to go to sleep.

But a voice inside me was saying: "Such a wonderful plot, I definitely won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't finish it. I should finish it before I go to sleep! Anyway, there are only a few chapters left."

Logically speaking, a book of 65,000 words should have been finished long ago, given his reading speed.

But his sister is getting married tomorrow, so he has been helping out until very late every day for the past two days. During the day, he helps with shopping, cleaning the house, contacting relatives and friends, and so on.

In the evenings, I also have to help write invitations, help my sister decorate her room, and so on.

Therefore, he started reading the book around 11 p.m. tonight.

By the time he finally finished watching, it was already past 4 a.m.

After reading it, he was wide awake and not sleepy at all.

One moment I'm wondering if this kind of martial art really exists in mainland China? Where can I learn such genuine skills?
One moment I was thinking, if I had that kind of skill, if my brother-in-law ever bullied my sister, I would definitely beat him into a pig's head in order to keep my mind clear.

Then I thought: Sister, you've grown up. You're getting married tomorrow. I won't be able to get up. Can you handle it by yourself?

……

Hong Kong.

Ah Hu was late that night.

The boss called him in the afternoon to tell him that he was going to Mong Kok to chop someone up after midnight tonight, and he readily agreed, not expecting to be stood up by the boss.

However, since it was still early in the afternoon, before midnight, he took out the "Chinese Martial Arts Chronicle" that he had just bought that afternoon and started reading it.

He is not highly educated and reads very slowly.

In addition, he found the book "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" to be very well-written, and he was reluctant to read it too quickly.

So, by the time he finished reading the book, it was already past 1 a.m.

He completely forgot about what the boss had told him that afternoon.

When he finally remembered this and rushed to Mong Kok, he only saw water trucks washing away some bloodstains on the street.

He immediately called the big boss.

No one answered.

I called my best friend, and he said in a low voice, "The boss... he's gone."

Ah Hu was stunned, like a wooden chicken.

……

Ah Bin was also late.

But he was late not because he was attacking someone, but because he was late for a date.

He is also from Hong Kong.

He is also a fan of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's books.

He recently started dating a girl through a friend's introduction.

At noon today, the two of them made plans to have dinner and watch a movie together tonight. He even bought a one-time insurance policy. Speaking of which, he bought this one-time insurance policy on the way to buy "The Legend of Chinese Martial Arts".

But... on the bus home from get off work, while he was reading "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," he unknowingly became engrossed in it, finding it more and more fascinating and reluctant to stop reading.

Back at his place, his original plan was to take a quick shower and change into clean clothes before his date.

After all, he had already bought a lump-sum insurance policy.

but……

Back at his lodgings, he had already packed his change of clothes. He opened the bathroom door, turned on the electric water heater, and while waiting for the water to boil, he sat on the edge of the bed and picked up "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" to read again.

Then?

He kept listening until his phone rang, and when he picked it up, he saw it was his girlfriend calling.

He was startled and suddenly realized that he had forgotten his date that evening.

He quickly answered the phone, and just as he was about to apologize, he heard his girlfriend's angry voice: "Where are you? Huh? Where are you? Are you hanging on the wall? Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?"

He quickly apologized, "Sorry! Sorry!"

"Break up! Goodbye! Don't ever come looking for me again!"

After saying this angrily, his girlfriend hung up the phone in a huff.

Ah Bin was stunned, thinking: I've already bought a lump-sum insurance policy, and now you're breaking up with me, isn't all that insurance wasted? No way! I have to coax her!
With that thought in mind, he quickly dialed her number.

Surprisingly, after a bit of coaxing and cajoling, he actually managed to calm his girlfriend down.

Otherwise, Cao Sheng would have unintentionally caused a disaster, leading to a couple breaking up because of his book.

……

Taiwan.

That evening, on a book forum...

Posts discussing "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" are popping up like a gushing flood.

The various post titles attracted a lot of attention.

For example: "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts redefined martial arts, it's amazing!"

"Zhongyuan Yidianhui certainly didn't disappoint me; the new book is fantastic!"

"I always thought the mainland was a wasteland of martial arts culture, but I never expected to see a place like Central Plains Spotless..."

Are there any netizens from mainland China? Could you please tell me if traditional Chinese martial arts really exist in mainland China?

"I didn't expect that 'The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts' wasn't just riding on the popularity of 'The Romance of the Primordial Era'..."

When will Taiwan produce a worthy successor to the Central Plains?

When will the second volume of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" be released? I can't wait!

……

There are also dedicated martial arts websites in Hong Kong.

After all, the internet here is very developed now, and there have been many famous martial arts writers such as Jin Yong and Ni Kuang, so martial arts forums have been established long ago.

Starting that afternoon, the most popular martial arts forum saw a surge of discussion posts.

"Everyone, hurry up and read Zhongyuan Yidianhui's 'The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts'! I think it's an excellent new-style martial arts novel!"

"I never thought that martial arts, a genre that has been written to death, could produce a new work like 'The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts'."

"When will Zhongyuan Yidianhui be able to write a true martial arts novel?"

"Zhongyuan Yidianhui dug up the roots of martial arts fiction, and now he's actually starting to write martial arts fiction. What exactly is he trying to do?"

"Martial arts fiction is saved! 'The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts' has paved a new path for traditional martial arts fiction!"

"A speck of dust in the Central Plains, truly a genius! I'm impressed!"

……

The news of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book being published in traditional Chinese characters naturally reached the mainland as well.

In fact, Cao Sheng's number of fans in mainland China far exceeds the number of fans in the traditional Chinese market.

After all, the total population of the mainland is what it is.

It's just that there are very few people in mainland China who buy genuine novels, and reading Cao Sheng's works online is free. Therefore, the first to see Cao Sheng's new books are always book fans in the traditional Chinese market.

However, this does not mean that mainland book fans do not want to read it first.

Don't you see how every time news of Cao Sheng's new book being published in Taiwan reaches the mainland, it always sparks protests from mainland book fans?

This time was no exception.

The serialization of "The Legend of the Primordial Era" by Rong Shuxi is not yet finished, and fans of the book are currently enjoying it.

In their spare time, people chat about the characters and plot in the book review section, occasionally discussing Cao Sheng's recent scandals in Hong Kong and the news about his popularity in the Hong Kong film and television industry. Overall, the atmosphere in the book review section is very peaceful.

However, the news that Cao Sheng's new book "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" was published in Taiwan caused a huge stir in the book review section, leaving many book fans both surprised, delighted and angry.

Surprisingly, Zhongyuan Yidianhui has released a new book again?
The good news is that this book, "The Legend of the Primordial Era," hasn't even finished its serialization yet, and there's already a new book to read.

What's infuriating is that Taiwanese book fans got to see Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new book first, while mainland book fans don't know when they'll get to read it.
As a result, many book fans posted in the book review section, condemning Cao Sheng and strongly demanding that the new book be released as soon as possible.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened to us.

They have accumulated a wealth of experience.

Knowing that if everyone strongly protested, Cao Sheng would quickly compromise and release the new book for everyone to read for free.

Therefore, while protesting online, book fans were also mentally prepared to get the book for free.

Unbeknownst to them, Cao Sheng had long planned to use this new book to... pioneer the paid online reading of mainland Chinese web novels.

(End of this chapter)