Chapter 18 - Story 54-55

【54.]

Xu Chi created a room for them to play games, in which Xu Chi didn’t download too many skills, so they both chose the simplest characters to play. Since the game started, they began to exploit their territory. Xu Chi asked when he was playing, “Tangtang, how long have you been playing this game?”

Tang Yanzhi replied, “For more than thirty hours.”

Xu Chi: “Oh… Well, maybe I’m a little better than you. After all, I’ve been playing for more than a hundred hours.”

Tang Yanzhi: “Are you sure?”

Ting Ting: I doubt it.

Xu Chi: “Well. I have something to tell you. I have applied to appear on the home page.”

Tang Yanzhi: “Hmm? Really?”

Tingting: Huh?

Xu Chi said, “Yes. It’s my editor who asked me to apply for it. Now that I’m having a holiday, I think I could update on time.”

Tang Yanzhi: “Congratulations! Then, your stories will be read by more readers.”

Tingting: ????

Tingting: Shortie! You finally begin to work hard!

Tingting: Finally, you are gonna be popular!!!

Looking at Tingting’s comment, Xu Chi said with a smile, “Come on! You mean I didn’t work hard, right?”

Tingting: Ah. My dear writer! Your smile is full of magic!

Tingting: You always work hard. But now you work harder than before!

Tingting: ?

Tingting: So what are you doing now?

“What am I doing now?” Xu Chi said. “I’m playing games.”

At the same time, Tang Yanzhi read that comment, “So what are you doing now?”

Tingting: ?

Tingting: How come you are playing games? You should have written stories now! To appear on the home page, you should write at least ten thousand words. So how many words have you finished now?

Xu Chi: “About one thousand…”

Tingting: ?

Tingting: Tangtang, stop playing games now!!!! Come on! My dear writer, do you deserve to play games?

Xu Chi: “…”

Xu Chi: “Didn’t I deserve it?”

Tingting: No!!! You should sit in front of your computer and write stories instead of playing this boring game here!!!

As soon as Xu Chi finished reading this comment, he saw Tangtang offline in the game. Xu Chi asked in surprise, “Tangtang? What happened?”

Tang Yanzhi said in a girl’s voice by using the voice changer, “Tingting sent me a private message that if I was still playing games, she would never be my bestie.”

Xu Chi: “…”

Xu Chi: “All right. Then I’ll try.”

Occasionally, someone entering this broadcasting room quickly exited it due to Tingting’s ferocious comments. They were surprised by this fan’s behavior. Has the fan become the boss of her idol?

In the chat group of pushing Xu Chi to update.

Tingting: Come on. It’s just a game.

Tingting: If we can’t save each other, our good relations can hardly be maintained.

Tingting: Stop lying to yourself.

Tangtang: Tingting.

Tangtang: I got it.

Tingting: My dear.

Tangtang: Walk across the rest of the bridges with me, please.

Tingting: You go alone.

Tangtang: Then forget it.

Tangtang: I am gonna swim over there.

Tingting: I admire you.

Xu Chi: …

【55.]

The next day a new list on the home page of X website would be released. Last night, after quitting the online game, Xu Chi did as Tingting said, writing stories instead of chatting happily with them. He was so absorbed in writing that he didn’t go to sleep until 3 a.m. When he woke up in the morning, the first thing he did was to see the time, and the second thing was to turn off the flight mode on his phone.

Countless messages flooded his Wechat. Xu Chi hesitated before he clicked into that group to read the chatting records.

Tingting: [picture]

Tingting: “The top is such a love rat, while the bottom is such a coward. Please be manly! After all, he was a man! Every time he encountered some trouble, he was as indecisive as a girl, which made me feel sick.”

Tingting: Haven’t you read the synopsis? It’s a love story between a man and the substitute of his lover；It’s a campy and tacky story. What should an ordinary person do if he meets a specially privileged one? Do you think what you are reading is a story of a bossy president falling in love with an innocent chick?

Tingting: [picture]

Tingting: “Add “heartbreaking love” to the tag list, please. Early in the morning, I saw a new story on the home page. After I read several paragraphs, I found it was a heartbreaking story rather than a sweet story. Sorry, it’s not suitable for me. Bye!”

Tingting: Are you blind? Didn’t you read the description? You’d better get out of here. Don’t let me see your comments next time.

Tingting: [picture]

Tingting: “After reading dozens of chapters, I think it’s really wasting my time. The characters lets me down. I am confused about the characteristics of the top and the bottom. What’s more, I haven’t figured out the whole plot yet. It was really confusing. Is there any normal relationship without car accidents or amnesia?”

Tingting: You’d better never figure it out! I suggest you change your brain.

Tangtang: …

Tangtang: Calm down.

Tangtang: There are still a lot of positive comments.

Tangtang: “Campy story! My favorite! Come on!”

Tangtang: “I haven’t seen such an exciting heartbreaking story for a long time!!! Well done! Update more, please!”

Tangtang: “Oh My God! What a great story! Why does it have less readers?”

Tangtang: Look. There are still many good comments!

Looking through these comments, Xu Chi thought, “At least, there is no one complaining about his writing.”

Tingting: [picture]

Tingting: “Is this the first time this writer writes a story? His affectionate writing makes me feel sick.”

Xu Chi: …

Tingting: If it’s written casually, the readers will say the writer’s writing skill is poor. [Smile]

Tingting: If it’s written seriously, the readers will say it’s too affectionate. [Smile]

Tingting: If it’s about loving a substitute, the readers will complain the characters didn’t talk straight to each other. [Smile]

Tingting: If the characters were having a relationship step by step, they will complain that it was too fast for a relationship. [Smile]

Tingting: If it’s about career, they will say the plot is not realistic. [Smile]

Tingting: If it’s about the entertainment industry, they will say it makes pointed allusions to a real star. [Smile]

Tingting: If it’s about a straight man who becomes a gay, they will complain the writer stoops too low. [Smile]

Tingting: If it’s about affairs, they will complain about the immorality. [Smile]

Tingting: It’s so hard for writers to meet the need of readers. [Smile]

Tangtang: …

Tangtang: Are you going to writing a passage?

Tangtang: Calm down, please.

Tingting: I am indeed calm! I just said that in our group instead of posting it on the website.

Tangtang: Then speak in a normal way.

Tingting: It’s useless to speak in a normal way. Will they understand what I mean if I speak in a normal way?

Tangtang: It’s quite normal for readers to make such kind of comments. Every writer will experience it. Don’t take them seriously.

Tingting: Why shouldn’t I take them seriously? Everyone has something he or she likes. The story I really like has been regarded as shit, which makes me really angry! Why should I care about their feelings? Will they care about how I feel now?

Xu Chi: …Be calm… No need to quarrel with each other.

Tingting: Why should I be calm if this matter could be solved through a quarrel?

Tangtang: …

Tangtang: @ Shortie She’s crazy. Leave her alone. I’ll talk to her in private.

Tingting: …

Tingting: I’m sorry, Shortie. I lost my temper just now. I didn’t notice it was you trying to calm me down.

Xu Chi: It’s okay.

Xu Chi: I know you’re defending me.

Tingting: [crying .jpg] Shortie, did you see that? I’m really angry. Even if you have shortcomings in writing, they should’ve given milder advice. Such as “I think the writing is good. Well, there are some defects in the plot and characterization, which needs to be improved.” This kind of advice is easier for me to accept. Why should they say it in a completely negative tone? Or, does they think everyone in the world is stupid, except themselves?

Tingting:     Everyone has something he or she likes. What you said casually may become a knife that hurts others. Why not respect each other? Every day, Shortie racks his brain about the plot and writes until 3 or 4 a.m. However, his effort is belittled as shit. What will the new readers think when they see these comments? Don’t tell me about the tags, which have been mentioned in the synopsis. Some readers never read the synopsis.

Tangtang: Calm down. Not every writer would mention it in the synopsis. It’s normal for some people to read a story which he or she doesn’t like by accident. Not all readers are mean and harsh.

Tingting: Why should I fucking calm down? Are those people delusional? Or they like being the messiah, thinking that other readers in the need of their help in deciding which story to read? Yes! They’re right! They’re fucking right!

Tangtang: These words only represent some of the readers’ thoughts. There are still a lot of readers supporting Shortie. After all, everyone has their own ideas. As for Shortie, he has no choice but respect everyone’s choice.

Tingting: Tangtang, are u kidding me?

Tingting: Those people didn’t respect Shortie. How come you want Shortie to respect them?

Tangtang: Because Shortie is a writer. If he is popular one day, he should feel thankful that the readers like his writing, and all his achievements in the future would be attributed to the readers. Now that he stands at a certain height, he should bear all the comments at that height.

Tingting: That’s bullshit. Shortie will be popular only because he writes well.

Tangtang: No matter how well he writes, he won’t be popular if no one reads it. No one can be popular without any readers.

Tangtang: Do you want Shortie to be a writer who scolds the readers while making use of them? Do you want him to be such a writer?

Tingting: So Shortie has no choice but bear the vicious comments, right? He can’t say a word even if he is scolded badly. Is that what you want?

Tangtang: I didn’t ask him to bear it. If readers are discussing the plot with a serious attitude, Shortie could reply them. As for those readers who just want to prove that they are have better judgement in choosing good stories, then forget it. It’s quite simple. Why do you make it so complicated?!

Tangtang: By the way, Shortie won’t be scolded badly. If it happens one day, I will be the first one to post on Weibo to support him.

Tangtang: [Smile]

Tingting: I’m sorry. I just can’t stand that my favorite things are criticized. If someone criticizes my dear writer, I will do the same thing with him/her.

Tingting: Hhahaha. Are you kidding me? If that day comes, how can you protect Shortie by your Weibo account with only three fans?

Tingting: [Smile]

Xu Chi was stuck in the pillow. Lying on the bed, he finally began to type slowly.

Xu Chi: I have a friend, who is also a writer. He told me the writer’s heart is too small to be stuffed with all the bad messages. He told me a lot of advice, and I think they are quite useful.

Xu Chi: Well, when I saw the negative comments, I suddenly found that it’s hard for me to ignore them.

Xu Chi: I knew all of the reasons, but I can’t still live a happy life.

Xu Chi: Hahahaha. Sorry. I just thought of this sentence.

Xu Chi: As a writer, I shouldn’t say these words. However, now that you support me so much, it doesn’t matter if I tell you these words. I have written for three years. However, I haven’t been popular until recently I have a few new readers.

Xu Chi: From the point of view of a less-known writer, some slightly encouraging words are much better than those malicious comments.

Xu Chi: I think I am talking nonsense. Everyone wants to be praised instead of being criticized.

Xu Chi: When I see this kind of comments, I often think that if you don’t like my story, don’t tell me, please. My confidence is on the verge of crash.

Xu Chi: No. Maybe they’re telling the truth. Ha-ha! Maybe I really don’t have a gift of writing.

Xu Chi: I’m sorry. As a write, I’m not supposed to say such things.

Xu Chi: Fortunately, you are here for me. The biggest gain except the works from being a writer is having you as my friends.

Xu Chi: I am gonna be fine as soon as possible. And I’ll update tomorrow.