Of course Han Leng would think that way. If Zhao Youyue could write well, she would not have asked for his help from the beginning. In addition to her musings, many of the scripts for her speeches given under the national flag had been written by Han Leng.
As a result of this, many unsuspecting students believed that Zhao Youyue’s literary skills were exceptionally good. She had a flowery way with words that was of extraordinary standards. Who would have thought that a ghostwriter lurked in the shadows behind Zhao Youyue?
Previously, when Han Leng was in the same class as Zhao Youyue, he had taken a look at her written essays, out of curiosity. One glance at the cover page told him that her essays were far better than his. Everything was concise and conclusive. Her handwriting was beautifully neat. Although her writing style lacked substance, it pleased the eyes of high school examiners…
Zhao Youyue’s essay standards had always above average because she relied on creating a good impression with the cover page, and this came as a great advantage. Content-wise, they were plain and simple, if one was being courteous. In more direct terms, however, the vocabulary was poor, and she had no talent whatsoever. It was probably at a level where she could express her thoughts fluently, but nothing more.
Even so, Han Leng did not look down on Zhao Youyue just because of this. Everyone had their own areas of expertise. He felt that all of Lady Zhao’s talents probably fell into the musical field. However, there was one thing that he could not decipher, and that was her apparent lyrics. Lady Zhao certainly did not have the skills to compose the lyrics herself…
The moment he thought of how a skilled creator was hiding behind Zhao Youyue, Han Leng felt an impending calamity looming over him. In his mind, two words quickly took form —- —- Shi Jingnian.
Shi Jingnian’s
Bakuman
was probably the most popular and topical piece of work as of late. As his personal experiences were especially tragic, it had caused widespread public sympathy for him. Of course, some people felt that this was a typical marketing strategy of sensationalizing his misfortunes to promote sales. It was just like those talent shows, where every contestant there seemed to have a tragic past.
However, Shi Jingnian was in a truly miserable state, and everything that purportedly happened were not, in fact, rumors, thus this greatly boosted the sales.
No matter what people said, the marketing strategy of using an artist’s misfortunes to promote sales was still a great idea. Moreover, the genius beautiful female writer Lin Shiya was also involved. All manner of grudges, hatred, as well as gossips about what had happened behind the scenes had wholly allowed Shi Jingnian’s to rise to fame. Of course, due to this, his
Bakuman
also experienced great sales.
Ah Yu was also a big winner in the popularity game. The public viewed her as the figurehead of kindness, justice, and maturity.
Of course, after Han Leng found out that Ah Yu was Zhao Youyue, he had also gotten to know how Zhao Youyue had lent a helping hand to Shi Jingnian through the internet. It could even be said that the only reason Shi Jingnian managed to rise from the ashes was because of Zhao Youyue…
Han Leng was well aware of how Lady Zhao gave preference to creators. Hence, he could not help but wonder if Shi Jingnian was the lyricist.
After all, Shi Jingnian’s talents were undeniable. Han Leng had read
Bakuman,
and he had to admit that Shi Jingnian was a virtuoso. The paragraphs were all well-written, and Han Leng admired him interminably. Furthermore, the book was abound with knowledge, and left Han Leng in awe of the great man.
There was also the iconic character, Wen Qingyu, who was in no way inferior to his Chu Luoxun. Wen Qingyu was merely a perfect reader and scholarly girl, in the eyes of all the creators. She could treat the various works of creators as if they were cuisines and taste them.
Han Leng had valid reasons to suspect things as so. Perhaps Zhao Youyue and Shi Jingnian had already knew each other, a long time back. Since Shi Jingnian willingly became a ghostwriter for Lin Shiya, there was a possibility that he also voluntarily wrote the lyrics for Zhao Youyue for free. After all, rumor has it, that Shi Jingnian was once a flirtatious good-for-nothing
Such speculations drove Han Leng to work harder at polishing his skills. At the same time, he also started coming up with ideas for his new work. He could not just live off the past glory of
Beautiful April
for all eternity. He had to prove to Zhao Youyue that he was the best!
Although Han Leng was skeptical of Zhao Youyue’s writing skills, he still supported her enthusiasm in devoting herself to literature. Even if someone was devoid of talent, perseverance and hard work could rectify that.
Perseverance is key.
Things are always easier said than done. One’s passion for something would only be prolonged if people did something that they genuinely liked.
The act of creation truly required passion and inspiration. Han Leng’s new piece of work was still not ready. His official excuse was that he needed to concentrate on his studies, but this was all just a farce. Judging by his academic performance, anyone could tell that he did not concentrate on his studies at all. He devoted himself to writing love letters instead. However, the act of writing love letters was only something like a tether to his addiction. He yearned for the feeling of being
intoxicated
again. He hoped to be able to create more iconic characters like Goddess Chu. Frustratingly, that feeling had been absent for a long time…
However, his love for writing and literature pushed him on. His knowledge of Lady Zhao’s preference for creators further motivated him. He hoped to become the best creator ever in Zhao Youyue’s eyes.
On a Sunday afternoon, it was a half-day break, as usual. Han Leng and Zhao Youyue agreed to meet up. As he had been given a chance to appreciate her works, he was full of anticipation. Even if Zhao Youyue’s works were cringe-worthy, it would be an opportunity for him to show some guidance and show her the ropes in turn, for once.
However, Zhao Youyue had not written anything. In the novel
Bakuman,
Wen Qingyu only began writing because she was momentarily tired of the works of others. In the world of works, there were not many works for her to eat. It was only a fictional world, after all.
In reality, a variety of literary works existed, and this greatly satisfied the
book shortage
Wen Qingyu. Even though Zhao Youyue truly wanted to start writing, she had just been
book-eating,
since the beginning. Thus, she had not even started on anything…
This left Zhao Youyue in a most helpless situation. In the settings of the novel, Wen Qingyu was more well-liked as a reader. With regards to her identity as a creator, it could only be said that she was deprived of nutrition for so long, that she started creating her own content to offset the famine. This was just like how web novelists started writing their own stories, because of the shortage of books.
For Wen Qingyu, eating books was always a priority. Since there were good books to eat, why was there a need to write your own?
Zhao Youyue did not experience that urgent desire to create, as there was still no way for her to transmigrate into her own works, for the time being. She also lacked a high popularity character card for sacrificial use.
With his royalties, Han Leng had bought an SUV which was priced at around half a million. He drove Zhao Youyue to a coffee shop which he often visited. It was the type of coffee shop that was smelled of books and style.
As he drove about, Han Leng could not help but say to Zhao Youyue who was seated in the back,
My Lady, is this the cheapest car that you’ve sat in before?
As usual, the cute bob-haired Zhao Youyue was wearing an everyday sports uniform and playing with her mobile phone. Out of everything, only her bag was capable of subtly hinting the casual onlooker of her true identity.
Hearing Han Leng’s words, Zhao Youyue smiled and said,
No matter what, the driver of the vehicle is extraordinary. He’s a top-notch genius writer, you know.
This made Han Leng laugh. Lady Zhao was really good at flattering others, but he took it to heart, anyway.
I’m not even close to being as good as you, my Lady. Other than your identity, you’re even a talented musician and violinist… Oh right, if you appear in public like this, won’t you get photographed?
Han Leng interacted with Zhao Youyue in a business-like manner, like how different parties tend to flatter each other, while also expressing some concern.
Han Leng did not want any rumors going around about him and Zhao Youyue, as it would affect her reputation and might even decrease her number of fans. He did not consider the fact he would be the one losing fans, instead. After all, his character was that of a clueless chick magnet. A type of guy that all the female fans wanted to chase. Now he was trying to please a noble member of the Zhao family in various ways. Where did the unyielding character of this scholar go?
His public image was bound to come crashing down on his head!
