Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

On its third day of release in China, The Shawshank Redemption received a 9.4 rating on Douban.

Those in the know understand what this means, and the theaters are acting very quickly.

A cinema manager posted on Weibo late at night, saying, "After the last show tonight, a viewer sat in his seat for ten minutes without leaving. I thought something had happened, so I went over to check and found that the person was crying."

Major cinema chains have collectively added screenings, with one cinema adding seven screenings at once. Staff members privately said that the boss was in a particularly good mood today.

In North America, word-of-mouth spread faster than anyone expected.

The initial sentiment that "expansion of arthouse cinemas is hopeless" completely fell silent in the second week—screenings in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago began to sell out.

The film received a flood of positive reviews on overseas social media platforms. Fans from Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia submitted applications for its import on these platforms. The most impressive response came from Japan, where the number of signatures exceeded 300,000 within 48 hours.

The comment section of that article, "Lin Yuan's Hollywood Failure," has been completely transformed by later readers.

The producer sent the data to the group chat, adding at the end, "None of you have ever seen a curve like this before."

After finishing reading, Lin Yuan put his phone aside and continued reading.

Zhou Zixuan leaned over and watched him. "Brother Yuan, aren't you excited?"

"Excited."

What's on your face?

"I was thrilled."

Zhou Zixuan: "..."

Lin Yuan turned a page and added, "I have more important things to deal with now."

[Weibo @秋名山老匹夫工作室]

[Official Announcement]

Lin Yuan's first offline book signing event is scheduled for next Saturday in Beijing.

Signed books: *Zhu Xian*, *Dragon Raja*, *Murder on the Orient Express*

Limited spots available. See the pinned link in the comments section for details.

The comment section exploded within ten minutes of this Weibo post being posted.

@Master of Unresolved Feelings in the Immortal World: You killed off Biyao? How dare you come to sign books!

@DragonClanLuMingfeiIsNotATrueFan: When will Dragon Clan 2 finally be released?! Tell me!

@BookFan777: Bring razor blades, bring razor blades, bring razor blades! I'm waiting online, it's urgent.

@Emoji Factory Director: The fans of "Zhu Xian" are already sharpening their knives, and the fans of "Dragon Raja" are waiting with their breath hanging on them. Old man, are you sure you want to come?

@Passerby A: This is the first time I've seen a book signing announcement with a more intense atmosphere in the comments section than a wanted poster.

The hashtag #LinYuanOfflineBookSigningEvent# trended on Weibo, followed closely by the second hashtag #ZhuXianFansPrepareToDemandDebts#.

The Weibo editors were incredibly fast; they created a special discussion image with a cheerful title: "The old scoundrel has kept his appointment, and readers are hunting him down online."

Lin Yuan scrolled through the comments in his dorm room and calmly put his phone down.

Qian Zhuangzhuang poked his head out from the top bunk, his expression slightly worried. "Brother Yuan, I have a feeling you're going to get beaten up by your fans next week."

"fine."

"They really did mention razor blades."

Lin Yuan rolled over. "Biyao is worth it."

The book signing event was held on the third floor of a bookstore in Beijing. The venue was small, with 300 slots available, and the tickets were sold out in two minutes.

The scalper price had quadrupled by the afternoon of the same day, prompting the studio to issue an urgent statement: "Transfers are invalid; entry is by ID card only." The scalpers were devastated, while the book fans were overjoyed.

Lin Yuan arrived at 2:00 PM sharp. Staff led him in through a side door. He glanced outside repeatedly as he walked, then turned to his assistant and asked:

"Is there enough water in the store?"

The assistant paused, taken aback. "You mean...your water?"

"Dear reader, you've been standing here for so long."

The assistant went to coordinate, and the bookstore temporarily added several cases of bottled water, which were passed from the front of the line to the back. Later, someone took a picture of this and posted it on Weibo, where the comments section was overwhelmingly negative.

@Passerby A: That's how people are. He's not thinking about himself, which is why you're willing to stand in line for him for two hours.

The book signing officially began. The first twenty people were generally quite normal: they got their books signed, said a few words, took a photo, and left.

A girl with pigtails came in and pushed a well-worn copy of "Zhu Xian" onto the table, her voice filled with obvious grievance: "Teacher Lin, why did Biyao have to die?"

Lin Yuan took the book, turned to the title page, signed it, and looked up, saying, "The real regret comes from having possessed it, and then losing it."

The girl paused for a second, then her eyes reddened. In the end, she couldn't help but sniffle, nod vigorously, and admit defeat.

Someone raised their hand and asked when Dragon Raja 2 would be updated. Lin Yuan replied, "It's being written."

Where are you in your writing?

"I can't say."

Why can't I say it?

"If I told you, you wouldn't have bought it."

The room erupted in laughter, and then someone asked, "So, what's your new book? What kind of direction will you take next?"

Lin Yuan thought for two seconds and gave a direction: "I might write a story about...starting over."

"restart?"

"Yes, it's the story of someone who once stood at the pinnacle and returned."

After he said that, there was a silence for about three seconds.

Then someone whispered, "Bought it."

The laughter from the audience was even louder than before.

The book signing event lasted until 6 p.m., almost two hours longer than scheduled.

As the last group of readers left, the bookstore staff began clearing away the tables and chairs. Lin Yuan sat down and took a sip of water.

Fei Zhao walked over from the signing area, holding a document in his hand, and glanced at Lin Yuan.

"Are you done with your work?"

"Um."

"That's perfect," she said, placing the file on the table and pushing it towards you. "There's an invitation; take a look."

Lin Yuan glanced down at the document; there was a red stamp in the upper right corner.

—The CCTV Spring Festival Gala Program Team.

He looked up.

"Spring Festival Gala?"

Fei Zhao sat down, his tone as direct and to the point as always: "The program team wants you to write a duet for the Spring Festival Gala, where two singers will perform together."

Lin Yuan asked, "Which two?"

Fei Zhao paused for a second and then said two names.

Putting these two names together, there are probably very few people in the entire Chinese music scene who can match this lineup.

Lin Yuan remained silent for nearly five seconds, then closed the file again and leaned back in his chair.

"Okay, I'll take it."

"Is it really settled?" Fei Zhao raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to reconsider?"

"I've thought it through."

Fei Zhao looked at him, didn't ask any more questions, took the document back, and turned to walk out.

Lin Yuan stood up, casually picked up his coat and draped it over his arm, then looked up at the light.

Two divas, on the Spring Festival Gala stage, performing a duet—he probably already knew what to write about this song.