Chapter 38: Since it’s a book written by a celebrity, one must at least get a taste of it.

The suspicion that Yu Wei was writing a web novel spread through the online literary community with incredible speed. The reason it hadn't fully broken out into the mainstream was solely due to that word: "suspicion."

While readers had provided logical and well-substantiated analyses, everything rested on the premise that the song Yu Wei performed on the show was the exact same track, "The Sound of Rain," which appeared in his novel. The probability was high, but until the episode aired, no one dared to say for certain. If they analyzed it in painstaking detail only for Yu Wei to sing a different song on the show, they would look like complete clowns.

Because of the suspense maintained by the show, the news remained a hot topic in private chat groups but had not yet hit mainstream media outlets. Everyone was waiting for the broadcast to get to the bottom of it. If the song turned out to be "The Sound of Rain," the author's identity would be self-evident. With so many onlookers eager to see the reveal, the viewership for this episode was bound to reach a staggering level.

"The production team is really going to make their money back on this one," Yu Wei remarked, and he wasn't just bragging. Many had intended to watch the show for his new song alone, and with the addition of readers and curious onlookers, the audience size was likely to double, if not more.

His QQ account had already been flooded with a massive number of friend requests and temporary chat messages—not just from fellow authors in writing groups, but from many curious onlookers who had heard the rumors. Needless to say, his account had definitely been leaked; those who knew couldn't resist spreading it. It was probably even being sold on Xianyu for two yuan or something similar.

There was good news, however: his novel's metrics had skyrocketed. In just one afternoon, he gained over ten thousand bookmarks, and his active reader count soared past a thousand. Of course, Yu Wei understood that this success didn't truly belong to him; his writing ability was still that of a mediocre amateur found on the side of the road.

If his QQ was in chaos, his novel's comment section and fan community were completely overrun. No one was talking about the book; it was nothing but a gathering of gossip-mongers. They genuinely couldn't understand why Yu Wei would write this.

When other celebrities wrote books, they usually penned autobiographies or accounts of their personal experiences—a young person stepping into the spotlight, overcoming turbulent times to find success, focusing on inspiration and self-reflection. Or, they wrote about their professional fields, offering tips on directing, hosting, or singing, sharing artistic insights that at least aligned with their expertise. Others wrote out of pure personal interest, like G.E.M. writing sci-fi or Han Hong writing poetry—hobbies, essentially. These were all normal; they resulted in physical books with collectible and commemorative value that fans would actually buy.

But Yu Wei’s approach was entirely different.

Readers and netizens couldn't fathom it. If you have literary aspirations, write a real book. If you have personal reflections, write an autobiography or an essay. What are you doing writing a web novel?

It lacked artistic or literary merit—it was clearly just a standard, lighthearted web novel that couldn't be considered high-brow. It wasn't a raw expression of genuine emotion either; it was just a typical entertainment-themed novel, offering nothing more than the simple thrill of a "power fantasy." As for making money, that was even less likely. To earn money from a novel, you’d need at least a million words. A celebrity's time is precious; if you really wanted to make money, wouldn't taking a commercial endorsement pay more than typing away at a keyboard?

Not for fame, not for fortune, no personal reflection, and no professional instruction—why go through all this trouble? Just to mess with his readers? That seemed a bit too twisted.

More than half of those trying to add Yu Wei as a contact were purely curious: what kind of mindset led him to write this book? But regardless of their confusion, they still had to read it. When a real celebrity writes an entertainment novel, you have to at least taste the flavor.

"I'm relieved to see your 'trash' being devoured by so many little gluttons," Qi Luo'an said. She had already returned home for summer vacation, but she was still thousands of miles away, keeping tabs on Yu Wei’s book. There was no helping it; the situation was just too entertaining. This was an unprecedented, bizarre event in the entertainment industry. People were already confused while it was still just a suspicion; one could only imagine how many would question their reality once the episode aired.

Living in the entertainment world, updating five thousand words a day.

"Stop enjoying the show and help me out. I'll make you an admin—help me manage the fan circle. I don't care about readers posting gossip or chatting, but delete the spam links."

Damn it, he had just glanced at the board and already seen four or five people posting URLs, not to mention those looking for local dating partners. This was a respectable novel!

"You want me to work for free? You've got some nerve," Qi Luo'an retorted mercilessly, though she didn't refuse. To be honest, watching the chaos was fun, but after Yu Wei’s secret writing hobby was made public, she felt a strange, small sense of loss. This was no longer a little secret between the two of them.

Yu Wei’s novel had officially entered the "I Am a Singer-Songwriter" arc. Upon hearing that it was a variety show focused on original music, the readers' enthusiasm reached a fever pitch. A music variety show, and original music at that—this meant the protagonist was going to sing a new song, which meant Yu Wei was going to release a new song.

The new readers couldn't wait to witness the whole process of "spoiling the plot through his book." Was the author really as godlike as the comment section claimed?

In the story, Wei Yu joined the show as a challenger, meaning he had to win to stay. The theme for this round was "Color," and all the guests entered a week of isolated creation.

Yu Wei had already chosen the rival song: a popular viral song from short video platforms called "Scarlet." While it was popular, it was shallow and pretentious, and it even carried rumors of plagiarizing a Japanese track. As for the song he would use to counter it, he had plenty of options. He planned to listen to the rival track a few more times and then launch a comprehensive, targeted strike.

However, before he could officially enter the music competition plot, at 8:30 PM on Saturday, the highly anticipated seventh episode of "HELLO Roommate" aired. Yu Wei was quite curious to see how the production team had edited it. The plot of a reality show depends entirely on the editing; the final product is often quite different from the filming process.

He had barely started watching when a private message from Qi Luo'an arrived.

"Your song is trending."

The show had only just started, right? Had it already reached the performance segment? Everyone must be skipping straight to the progress bar.

Yu Wei clicked on the link. There were eight trending topics for the seventh episode, and he alone occupied six of them. The highest-ranking one was "The Sound of Rain."

Once the song title appeared, the gossiping netizens finally understood: who else could this dog of an author be but Yu Wei?

"It really is Yu Wei. What is he even aiming for?"

"Beyond is quite the professional, writing novels while on a variety show, huh?"

"I must let everyone know about Yu Wei's other side immediately!"

"Look at the 34:22 mark of the episode—Yu Wei's screen has the 'Writer Assistant' logo on it."

What kind of frame-by-frame analysis was that?

They say you should never underestimate the investigative skills of netizens, and Yu Wei had finally seen it for himself. They could find even the blurriest, fleeting images. These netizens could find anything—except, perhaps, a partner.

The content on his screen wasn't clear, but that one logo was enough to prove the point. The Melancholy Spray Mushroom—he didn't change his name, he didn't hide his identity; in the world of web novels, he was known as Yu Wei the Amateur.

#YuWeiWritingBooks

A brand-new trending topic took root at the bottom of the list and began to climb rapidly.