It was just a love letter; I'm really no great writer!

"Let go first."

Lu Ran thought for a moment and said, "What novels have you written? Let me see."

Xiao Shengke nervously took out his phone.

They're going to investigate my spiritual roots...

He opened the author's backend and showed it to Lu Ran, and couldn't help but feel nervous.

"I started writing online novels in junior high school. I wrote three books on and off, but I stopped writing them all before they reached 100,000 words..." Xiao Shengke said.

Lu Ran clicked on the first few books, which were all rather cliché.

Moreover, it begins with a long explanation of the setting: XX Continent, XX Empire, XX City, realms, magic weapons, cultivation techniques... and that's one chapter already.

"This is a common mistake newcomers make: they try to be mysterious and cryptic instead of diligently telling a good story."

"What should we do then?" Xiao Shengke scratched his head.

"One word: delete."

"Delete all the useless nonsense and keep only the useful information."

"You could write three or four pages describing the scenery here, and there are too many obscure words here, which seems like piling up fancy words."

"The characteristics of online articles are that they are short, concise, and fast."

Lu Ran shook his head. "Ultimately, it's a matter of aesthetics. The online novels you used to read were terrible."

Xiao Shengke felt as if he had been struck by lightning, as if he had heard a celestial-level cultivation technique: "Master, speak slowly! I'll write it down!"

Admittedly, he grew up reading pure literature.

I stumbled upon online novels by chance, and then I was hooked—if classical literature is a state banquet, then online novels are street food.

While state banquets are certainly meant to be savored, the snacks are equally tempting.

"Don't bother writing anything down," Lu Ran said. "Don't rush to write it down, look at it first."

"I'll give you a reading list of books that I recently found on the Zhongdian Chinese website. You only need to read the chapters before they were officially released, and then write a research report for each book."

"Thank you, Master!" Xiao Shengke was overjoyed.

He took the phone with great anticipation.

In the bookshelf.

Several more textbooks designated by Lu Ran have been added: "Rebirth Legend," "Super Student System," and "Across Different Worlds"...

These books are early prototypes of rebirth novels, system novels, and time-travel novels.

It may be a bit too pale, but compared to the current mainstream online novels, it is still a big step forward.

You can also see it from the side...

Just how much of a dimensional reduction attack have "White Night Walking" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" had on the online novels of this world?

"Go ahead." Lu Ran's gaze shifted. "Wait, about my online novel writing..."

"Don't worry, Master, I'll keep it to myself!" Xiao Shengke swore an oath and ran off in a flash.

Lu Ran resolved one of the problems.

Li Xingping looked at him expectantly: "Lu Ran, I also want to learn how to write online novels and screenplays!"

"You have to practice dancing, act, and publish magazines. How can you manage all of that?" Lu Ran asked.

"No problem, I didn't get the job anyway."

Li Xingping's tone softened, becoming pitiful, "Please teach me, I'm willing to do anything~"

"..."

Lu Ran asked, "What books have you read?"

"It's mainly pure literature. I've only read your 'White Night Walk' and 'The Condor Heroes' online novels. I urge you to update them every day!" Li Xingping's doe eyes seemed to be filled with flirtatious glances.

"Okay, okay."

"I'll give you face, even if I don't care about the monk," Lu Ran pondered. "If you don't have any background in reading online novels, then write a short story for me to see first."

"Let me make this clear beforehand: I won't hold back when I criticize you."

Lu Ran agreed to teach them.

It's not that he likes bringing people along.

He could sense that both Xiao Shengke and Li Xingping had a pure passion for creation.

As fellow creators, how could we not be moved?

……

Back in the quiet, cool classroom, Lu Ran covered his head and took a nap.

I've been so busy lately that it's rare for me to get a peaceful night's sleep.

In a hazy dream, I dreamt of Earth again. In that parallel world, my life trajectory was like looking at flowers through fog, impossible to see clearly.

Upon waking, I still couldn't quite remember what would happen in the future.

Lu Ran was melancholy for a long time.

But then I thought, if we knew the future in advance, we would lose a lot of the fun.

The unknown future is like a vast ocean under a dark night sky, full of infinite possibilities.

Moreover, there are already countless stars above my head to guide my way.

When Zheng Yue woke up, Lu Ran mentioned to him that Xiao Shengke had come to ask him to become his apprentice.

Zheng Yue was filled with shame and said, "I'm sorry, I was too eager to show off."

"It's nothing, just a reminder not to be too flashy."

Lu Ran is already quite famous in Huaizhong. When he walks on the street, his classmates point and whisper about him. It's better for him to keep a low profile.

Today, he is a typical example of someone whose works are far more famous than he is.

In terms of poetry.

"When You Are Old" and "The Past Was Slow" became famous in the poetry world;

The poem "Can't Write Poetry" from the Three-Line Love Letter Contest has also circulated widely on the Internet.

However, Lu Ran himself receives very little attention.

Regarding online literature.

"The Legend of the Condor Heroes" continues to dominate the charts.

But "White Night" is about to fall out of second place.

On the one hand, after physical books are published, reading paper books has a more enjoyable experience compared to online reading.

On the other hand, a whale fall can bring forth a myriad of life.

These two top-tier masterpieces directly spurred a revolution in the online literature world, greatly lowering the reading threshold by "making novels more accessible."

Good works are emerging one after another like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

More and more schools of thought have emerged:

Wuxia gave rise to Xianxia; Xianxia in turn gave rise to Eastern fantasy.

Rebirth, system, time travel, Western fantasy, farming, suspense, folklore... these themes have also emerged.

It has completely revitalized the online literature industry!

In contrast.

Lu Ran released "Dragon Raja I: Dawn of Fire" using the pseudonym Tingyu.

Although a contract was signed, the data was mediocre—it didn't even have 300 favorites.

Comments were few and far between, with both praise and criticism.

"Not bad. Did the author secretly follow me while writing this?"

"The plot is a bit frustrating."

"Nonsense, do you think you're platinum?"

"The protagonist is so unlucky."

"The show gets really exciting after Nono appears!"

"Damn, this is kind of fun to watch, but also kind of interesting!"

"Updates are so slow..."

"What's the editor doing? They'll sign this? Why won't they sign my 'The Legend of the Immortal Cultivator'?"

"Come on, even the real person never gave me any mushrooms."

"The author's writing style is excellent, absolutely top-tier among online novels. I predict this book will be a huge hit!"

There are indeed discerning people here... Lu Ran took note of his ID: Jinghongke.

I set him as the operations manager, pinned the featured posts, and then left him alone.

No joke.

Dragon Raja does indeed have a selective readership.

But once they're in sync with the radio waves, the destructive power is absolutely nuclear-level.

The magazine over here.

Lu Ran sent "To Live" to Xia Liang.

However, she was busy preparing for the weekend performance and hadn't had time to proofread the manuscript yet.

Sales of the last issue of the magazine were indeed sluggish.

They're pinning their hopes on the weekend's performance; hopefully it will stir things up and revive the literary society from its dire straits...

……

The last class in the afternoon was changed to physical education.

Huaizhong holds a football tournament for first-year high school students every year, and each class has to prepare early.

Moreover, this year is the World Cup year, so the atmosphere is very lively.

Class 6 had already made an appointment with Class 7 to play a thrilling friendly match.

"Let's go, let's go!"

"Crush Class 7!"

Lu Ran walked at the front, surrounded by the crowd.

Ever since Lu Ran wrote that love letter, he has awakened like a sleeping lion, gaining a newfound air of leadership.

The boys in Class 6 all followed his lead.

A group of boys, carrying their team uniforms and shoe bags, walked arm in arm, laughing and joking, toward the track and field.

Zuo Hanzhi followed Lu Ran at a distance.

As always, she would watch from afar whenever Lu Ran played football.

The blazing sun hung in the sky, and the air was so hot and dry that it almost scalded the sparse grass on the football field.

"A few people, come with me to the store to get some water," Lu Ran called out, and walked towards the store.

Zheng Yue, Yuan Binbin, and Tang Shu, who were familiar with Lu Ran, followed suit.

"Have you noticed? Zuo Hanzhi seems to have become more beautiful." Sports committee member Tang Shu whispered.

"It's true! I didn't notice before when she was wearing her school uniform..." Zheng Yue exclaimed in surprise, "It feels like she jumped straight from the cute level to the cool summer level!"

Zheng Yue has a very strict classification of girls' looks: average, cute, class beauty, school beauty, and summer cool.

This is a very high evaluation.

"Are you male colleagues? I noticed a long time ago that she's stunningly beautiful!" Yuan Binbin said dismissively.

Tang Shu laughed and said, "Hehe, it's all thanks to Brother Ran's foresight that he won over your sister-in-law with just two love letters..."

"Don't say that, we're just good friends." Lu Ran turned around and looked at Zuo Hanzhi.

Actually, she didn't make any changes, except that she put a red hair clip on her bangs.

It's one of those affordable hair clips that part the hair on both sides to the temples, simply revealing the widow's peak.

Then I became much more confident and stopped always looking down.

Even without saying a word, the mere sight of that authoritative face is like a refreshing breeze on a summer day.

Her eyebrows were truly like a painting, and her eyes like peach petals.

……

"I understand what you mean."

"Brother Ran is so gentle."

"I'm totally shipping them!"

The boys chuckled knowingly, all thinking that Lu Ran was deliberately denying it to protect Zuo Hanzhi's social anxiety.

Denial is tantamount to cover-up.

Once, she presented a world-class love letter in front of the entire school. Another time, she even achieved a hat trick in the love letter competition…

You call this a good friend?

There were no couples left in the world that day.

Lu Ran bought three cases of Baishui Mountain beer, and decided to buy some for Class 7 as well. His current popularity stems from four words: generosity and charity.

They each carried a box to the stadium, while I bought myself a bottle of iced cola.

He looked up and saw Zuo Hanzhi walking up to him.

"What's wrong?" Lu Ran asked.

Since that bathroom incident, the two have occasionally discussed poetry in the evenings, and their relationship has improved considerably.

Even if we don't speak of perfect harmony, it's still something to listen to at will.

"I won the love letter contest last time."

Zuo Hanzhi tiptoed hesitantly, her finely downy cheeks glowing like gold leaf in the sunlight, her earlobes rosy. "You promised to grant me one request."

So proactive?

Could it be that she's experiencing her first stirrings of love...? Lu Ran smiled.

"you say."