Honkai Impact 3rd: Join Anti-Entropy at the start and dominate the entertainment industry.

However, the current sensation is mainly felt in literary circles. Ordinary readers don't feel much about it; they just think that "The Gift of the Magi" is incredibly awesome, and the ending is even more chilling. They think that this writer named Qian Jian is quite amazing.

This is actually normal. After all, it takes time for art to reach the masses, and only a few can become famous in the contemporary era.

Many works that are regarded as classics by later generations did not cause much of a sensation when they were first released, and it may take hundreds of years for people to realize their importance.

Think about those world-class masterpieces; how long after they became famous was there a gap between the time they were published and the time they achieved fame.

Chapter 288 Forgetting is the most shameful betrayal

Unless the author already has a very high level of influence, it is extremely difficult to achieve contemporary deification.

More often than not, it is time itself that nurtures these masterpieces.

When these masterpieces were created, the creators already possessed the qualifications to be deified, but to truly ascend to godhood, they might need the recognition of a Nobel Prize, or—a death.

Bai Qianqu naturally didn't need to prove himself through death; he was cheat-like and could produce countless masterpieces at will.

One isn't enough? Then two! Two aren't enough? Then three! Three aren't enough? Then a hundred!

Someone will eventually notice their value!

Moreover, Bai Qianqu himself is not an unknown creator; he has three aliases!

If no one discovers how awesome I am, I can't just not discover it myself, right?

For example, Qu Yin discovered Qian Jian's talent and promoted him extensively, ultimately creating a beautiful story of a talent scout and a promising individual.

Bai Qianqu rubbed her nose and chuckled.

In that case, we might really have to take this issue of using fake accounts to our graves.

Otherwise, if it gets exposed, I'll be completely ruined.

However, the meaning of "The Gift of the Magi" is not limited to this. It not only presents an "O. Henry-style" ending, but also reflects the hard life of the lower classes and praises the kind hearts and pure love of the male and female protagonists.

People in this world live relatively affluent lives. Many have enjoyed privileged lives since childhood, having everything they could want. They have never experienced poverty and have even gradually forgotten the feeling of "poverty."

When viewing these works, they might even think that the characters and stories in the stories have been artistically processed and are fabricated.

Only those clear-headed readers, especially older readers who have experienced hardship, can sigh deeply and believe that the works created by the author Qianjian are very much in tune with the times and very realistic.

Peng Jianhua, the vice president of the Short Story Association, is an elderly man who once experienced "hard times".

The world has only been unified for two hundred years, and the situation is different in different parts of the world. The levels of wealth and development vary greatly. Although the united government has been trying its best to maintain balance, it is often impossible to treat everyone equally.

Many places are still very poor.

Peng Jianhua himself came from a poor family in a remote mountainous area. He knew that the stories Qian Jian wrote were not fictional, but real. Perhaps somewhere in the world, some people's lives were not as good as this couple's—after all, they had the money and the inclination to prepare gifts for each other.

Many families have never seen a gift in their children's lives.

Life is indeed much better now than before, but we must not forget our original aspirations, because forgetting is the most shameful betrayal.

Peng Jianhua has a very good impression of the author, Qian Jian.

Nowadays, fewer and fewer authors are willing to write about "hard times," and many prefer to write about the rich.

In the writings of those authors, the rich are the epitome of "truth, goodness, and beauty," while the poor are the epitome of "falsehood, evil, and ugliness." Any good quality must belong to a wealthy person, while any unreasonable and argumentative behavior must belong to a poor person.

Even worse, there have been cases of "fake poor people"—those supposedly "poor" people who live in riverside luxury apartments, eat self-heating hot pot that costs tens of yuan a bucket, and whose shoes cost thousands of yuan.

However, Peng Jianhua knew that the screenwriters couldn't be blamed, since this was indeed the poorest situation they could imagine.

In comparison, the world depicted by Qianjian seems all the more real.

Unfortunately, although Zhenyu and Peng Jianhua were optimistic about Qianjian, many people still had doubts about him.

"It's just that a newcomer got lucky. Even if he really has an innovative writing style, it doesn't necessarily prove that he has enough ability!"

"Exactly, they don't even dare to show their true faces. Who knows if they're just some big shot's alt account?"

“I acknowledge his current abilities, but there’s nothing I can do about his lack of experience. If he had a few more years, he might have achieved great things.”

"In short, the quantity of works is still insufficient; we need to continue to refine our skills."

Nowadays, although many people in the literary world are amazed by the new writing style created by Qian Jian, they do not boast or promote Qian Jian as a person. They value Qian Jian's writing style rather than Qian Jian as a person.

Ultimately, Qianjian is just a newcomer who has only written two works. In the eyes of many authors, he is a newcomer. No matter how good a newcomer is, he is still a newcomer. There is no reason for that. They look down on newcomers in their hearts.

Since ancient times, scholars have been prone to belittling each other.

If you want intellectuals to lower their proud heads, you must reach a height that they cannot see even when they look up, a height that is unattainable.

Bai Qianqu was unaware of what others were saying about him; he only knew that his works seemed to be selling like hotcakes and were very popular.

However, this has little to do with him. After all, he has already received a million-dollar exclusive publication fee. How many copies of "Spark" are sold is irrelevant to him. Whether it sells one copy or ten thousand copies, the money he receives will not change.

However, he is still very happy that so many people like his work.

It is believed that it will not be long before the charm of the "O. Henry" ending will be widely spread throughout the world.

However, he also took this opportunity to calculate the royalties and dividends he had earned from World Snake.

The royalties from just one book, "The King's Avatar," have already exceeded 30 million! And there's still a lot more that hasn't been calculated!

I glanced at it and it's about fifty million!

The key is that "The King's Avatar" isn't finished yet! Once it's finished, it'll definitely make a fortune!

In comparison, short stories are truly made with love.

It's not about making money, it's just about making friends.

It can be said that Bai Qianqu is now financially independent. With several songs and novels, as long as he doesn't misbehave, he has more than enough to live on!

Of course, some of that money is for getting married later!

If I were to have a wedding with Bronya, it would definitely cost a lot of money, right?

After all, Bronya was Welt's student, and Welt had always groomed her as his successor.

In other words, entropy reversal will eventually belong to Bronya.

Her dowry was the entire Anti-Entropy!

The current market price of anti-entropy is a whopping 500 billion.

Bai Qianqu suddenly realized that she was still quite poor and that she needed to work harder to earn money in the future.

Bronya might not care, but Bai Qianqu was unwilling to compromise.

If you're going to give her something, you have to give her the very best!

Chapter 289 Nursery Rhymes

Just as Bai Qianqu was happily thinking about what to name their future child, Ai Li approached him, her face full of suspicion!

"Chiku! What are you staring at your phone and grinning like an idiot for?"

Bai Qianqu quickly put away her phone and coughed, "It's nothing, I just remembered something happy."

"Happy?" Ellie looked at her suspiciously. "Is there anything more fun than being with Ellie?"

Bai Qianqu chuckled twice, glanced at the children playing nearby, and began to change the subject.

"Ellie, aren't you going to play with the children? Why are you here?"

The two were at Celia's orphanage, there to offer New Year's greetings.

As usual, the two of them carried a lot of things in large and small bags, but most of them were snacks and toys.

The children love it and are currently gathered together, sharing the items.

Upon hearing Bai Qianqu's question, Ai Li pouted.

"Why did you stay hidden away all the time? The kids asked me to call you to come play with them."

Bai Qianqu waved her hands repeatedly: "Me? Forget it, I'm not good at dealing with kids."

"Oh, it's alright. Children are so innocent and adorable. Come on over."

Without saying a word, Ai Li pulled Bai Qianqu up and brought her to the children.

Seeing so many small eyes staring at her, Bai Qianqu felt her scalp tingle and didn't know what to do with her hands and feet.

That extremely awkward feeling is back again.

Even when facing young children, Bai Qianqu couldn't remain calm. He felt a lot of pressure and didn't even know how to speak.

Fortunately, there was Ellie, who smiled and said to the children:

"This is Brother Qianqu, does everyone remember him?"

"I remember!" a boy shouted. "He's Ellie's boyfriend!"

Ellie smiled brightly: "Hmm, that's clever. Here's a lollipop for you!"

The children were all excited when they saw the boy get the lollipop.

"Brother Qianqu, when are you and Sister Aili getting married?"

"Does getting married involve a wedding ceremony?"

"A wedding? Yay! I want to see Ellie in her wedding dress! The bride is so beautiful!"

"At a wedding, there must be lots of delicious food to eat!"

"Yes, yes! I heard it's even better than what we eat during Chinese New Year!"

"So, let's get married soon!"

Bai Qianqu:

He looked helplessly at the grinning Ellie, knowing that she was just teasing him again.

Looking at the excited children in front of her, Bai Qianqu had no idea how to comfort them.

This gave him a bit of a headache.

Just then, the system's voice sounded in my mind.

[We've detected that you're unsure how to handle children. New task assigned: Become the King of the Kids!]

[Kid Leader: It's essential to build good relationships with the children! Please try to leave a good impression on them!]

[Mission Successful: You have been awarded ten chances to win a prize!]

Bai Qianqu slowly typed out a question mark.