Chapter 69: Chasing Deadlines and Book Reviews

In the year 1982, the official statutory holiday for the Spring Festival was only three days. Enterprises and government offices resumed work on the fourth day of the lunar new year, while schools started slightly later.

For Li Ye, who was long accustomed to extended holidays, this was utterly jarring. Therefore, he had arranged with Hu Man and the others in advance that their formal study sessions would not resume until the sixth day.

Even so, Li Ye considered himself a paragon of diligence for a time-traveler.

Hu Man and her peers had also figured out Li Ye's temperament. Even when they came to the No. 2 Grain Store for their studies, they would not show up until the sun was high in the sky, and they strictly guaranteed not to disturb Li Ye, keeping any questions to themselves.

However, things often turned out contrary to expectations. On the morning of the fourth day of the lunar new year, before Li Ye had even crawled out of his small brick bed and was pondering whether to visit Li D. Yong today and where they might stroll, Wen Leyu came rushing over to knock on the door.

"It's not even nine o'clock yet. What's the rush?"

"Look quickly, a telegram."

Li Ye hurriedly took the telegram and began to read it carefully.

[Matters have progressed. The return trip may be delayed... Please mail the subsequent manuscript to Room 306, Guangming Grand Hotel, XX Road, Beijing as soon as possible.]

Li Ye read it twice to ensure there were no hidden meanings before looking at Wen Leyu and saying, "This should be good news."

Wen Leyu nodded vigorously, her nose stinging as she said, "It is good news."

Li Ye smiled and said, "If it's good news, why are you sniffing? Hurry up and help me copy the manuscript, or what are we going to mail?"

Li Ye had a habit of keeping the original drafts of his novels, so both the Blue Sea Publishing House and Teacher Ke had only taken away copied manuscripts.

Although he had been lazy and laid-back during the New Year period, he had still written ten to twenty thousand words, and copying them out would take the better part of a day.

Fortunately, Hu Man and the others had also tagged along today. With five people splitting the task of copying ten to twenty thousand words, the speed increased significantly.

Before noon, Li Ye went to the post office to mail the manuscript, and Wen Leyu finally breathed a sigh of relief, no longer feeling so anxious.

Yet, just a day later, on the morning of the second day, Teacher Ke's second telegram arrived.

[Supplementary materials have been dispatched. Please make sure to check and receive them, and organize and use them as soon as possible.]

"Supplementary materials?"

Li Ye was very puzzled. When he was rewriting *Deserters in the Flames of War*, he had already shown the outline to Teacher Ke.

After multiple discussions and revisions between the two of them, the outline and plot structure of the novel were already basically perfected. Adding supplementary materials at this point was certainly not good news for an author.

Sure enough, just on the afternoon of the day after the telegram arrived, a thick parcel reached Li Ye's hands.

[Is this the speed of JD Logistics?]

Li Ye had a bad feeling. There were less than five hundred kilometers between Beijing and Qingshui County, but parcel delivery in '82 usually took three to five days even if things went fast.

Yet this parcel had taken less than thirty-six hours.

It was confirmed; this parcel had been sent by a big shot.

Opening the parcel, the first thing he found was a letter from Teacher Ke.

The letter informed Li Ye that some prototypes of the characters in the novel had provided many additional details about the battles and daily life of that era, and asked Li Ye to integrate them into the subsequent manuscript as much as possible after screening them.

Teacher Ke's letter was written with sincere phrasing, sounding less like he was addressing a high school student and more like he was negotiating with an equal writer.

However, after reading it just once, Li Ye understood Teacher Ke's true intent—pushing for updates, pushing for updates, and demanding updates according to instructions as quickly as possible.

Li Ye put down the letter and began to flip through the stack of "materials."

Then, for the better part of a day, he sat there motionlessly, like a clay sculpture.

Wen Leyu, sitting beside him, was somewhat frightened and gave him a hard nudge.

"What is it, Li Ye? Is something wrong?"

"Your imperial concubine can do... Nothing, nothing."

Li Ye snapped back to reality, smiled at Wen Leyu to put her mind at ease.

At that moment, however, he really wanted to let out a loud cry—*"Your imperial concubine cannot do this!"*

These weren't supplementary materials at all; these were fierce comment threads from the big-shot readers!

[Dear author comrade, I have some opinions to share with you... Your critical portrayal of that fellow surnamed Yang is not profound enough. Let me tell you, on XX month, XX year, he... You must write this clearly to vent our frustration.]

[Dear author comrade, can you tell me who on earth told you that Gao Yidao is the top bayonet fighter in the entire regiment? You see if he dares to brag like that in front of me. You must write me into the story. I am XXX from the Second Platoon of the First Company. Remember to give me a nice-sounding nickname!]

[Author comrade, I must criticize you for a moment. How can you only give us half a book to read? When will the second half arrive? Even my doctor has criticized me for not sleeping on time.]

This damn thing wasn't urging for updates; it was a life-threatening urge!

They wished they could see the rest of the manuscript tomorrow, but there were still over a million words left! How did they expect Li Ye to write that?

Li Ye looked up at the sky and sighed deeply, "The money for customized writing is truly not easy to earn!"

This was much like writing web novels: a gold-medal reader suddenly jumped out and demanded that the author change a storyline or modify a character's persona.

Though the author would burn billions of brain cells, there was always a way to make subtle adjustments.

But when several big-shot readers made demands—one wanting the protagonist to go east, another wanting the protagonist to go west, one wanting the righteous characters to soar to the heavens, and another wanting the villains to plunge into the abyss—how on earth were you supposed to revise that?!

Li Ye tossed the "supplementary materials" aside, grabbed some manuscript paper, and wrote furiously.

He wasn't going to revise it—at least not anytime soon. He would just write one hundred thousand words based on the draft in his mind and mail it out first.

Mass production and high volume were a writer's ultimate secret weapons. Under the condition of burning the midnight oil and updating explosively, even the most picky readers would feel sympathy for the author and try their best to find fewer faults.

While Li Ye immersed himself in writing the novel without distractions, Wen Leyu picked up those supplementary materials and began to read them carefully.

As she read, her expression shifted. Her little face wrinkled up like a steamed bun, and her eyes kept glancing over at Li Ye.

Without stopping his pen, Li Ye asked casually, "What is it?"

Wen Leyu said, "Is it... too difficult?"

Li Ye shook his head, "Not difficult at all! You get used to it after a while."

Wen Leyu: "........"

Naturally, Wen Leyu had no idea that when Li Ye wrote web novels in his past life, he was often flamed by readers to the point of autism, and over time he had forged a high-defense, high-durability constitution.

He would revise what could be revised; as for what couldn't be revised—go ahead and flame me, I can take it.

With his train of thought flowing smoothly, Li Ye wrote four to five thousand words in one breath, stopping only when his wrist began to ache slightly.

Wen Leyu finished copying right after him, packed up the manuscripts for him sluggishly, looking completely listless.

Sensing something was amiss, Li Ye asked her, "Are you in a bad mood?"

Wen Leyu nodded her little head twice, pouting her lips with a face full of grievance.

Li Ye asked warmly, "Can you tell me about it?"

Wen Leyu looked at Li Ye, pondering for a long time.

"Actually, Shi Cheng... was my grandfather."

"Mm."

Li Ye responded softly without asking further.

He had long guessed that the prototype of Shi Cheng had a very close relationship with Wen Leyu and Teacher Ke.

Wen Leyu continued, "My grandfather passed away a few years ago."

Ah, well! No wonder he had been forgotten. The headmaster had departed for the heavens, so naturally the senior apprentice brother was treated a bit differently.

"Hmm?"

Li Ye suddenly realized something was off.

He straightened his posture, looked into Wen Leyu's eyes, and after a moment, the realization dawned on him.

Wasn't this the exact feeling of those girls on blind dates in his past life, when they were introducing their family backgrounds to him?

"My father and older brother are over at the Bei'an Ridge... I haven't seen them for many years."

"But my father writes to me every month... Even though we are far apart, our familial bond only grows stronger..."

Wen Leyu spoke at length, but she spoke with utmost earnestness.

Li Ye understood that only at this very moment had this young girl truly opened her heart to him.

Prior to this, she had tightly wrapped herself inside a shell of indifference.

Had it not been for Li Ye, this heaven-defying anomaly, chipping away at that barrier bit by bit, she probably would have kept herself locked away goodness knows how long.

Pointing at those supplementary materials, Wen Leyu said softly, "Some of these people, I've met; others, I've only heard of. They are all of my grandfather's generation..."

"They all have very stubborn tempers and are fiercely competitive, refusing to yield to anyone. If you say even a little bit of bad about them, they will make an unreasonable fuss..."

"It's fine, I'm not afraid of stubbornness. I've seen even more difficult readers than that." Li Ye smiled to set Wen Leyu's mind at ease.

Looking at Li Ye, Wen Leyu said with some guilty conscience, "What I mean is, this book *Deserters in the Flames of War* might... possibly... not be able to be published."

"Not able to be published?"

Li Ye was stunned, but immediately understood. Involving so many people and so many opinions, it indeed posed quite a hassle.

Wen Leyu nodded, "If it can't be published, you won't get your manuscript fees."

"Huh?"

Li Ye hadn't expected Wen Leyu to throw such a sudden plot twist at him. Just a moment ago they were discussing family backgrounds, how did the conversation suddenly veer into manuscript fees?

Was money between the two of us really that important?

Why did her guilty look make her resemble a lioness shouting for "a million-dollar bride price"?

Li Ye magnanimously said, "If we don't get manuscript fees, then we don't! You must know that writing novels doesn't necessarily guarantee earnings. Most of the time, flopping... failure is just a trial before success."

On Wen Leyu's little face, grievance was written all over again, "But if you don't get manuscript fees, then I won't get my proofreading fees! What am I going to do for meal money?"

Li Ye was dumbfounded.

Everyone ate together in the small warehouse of the No. 2 Grain Store, and Li Ye charged a symbolic rate of ten cents a meal.

Because Wen Leyu had her proofreading fees deposited with Li Ye, she had always eaten and drank for free with a completely righteous and confident air.

It wasn't that Li Ye wouldn't give her the money; it was that she stubbornly refused to take it.

Li Ye had always assumed this girl viewed wealth as dirt; unearned money through undefined relations was something she wouldn't touch. As for meals, that was only natural—even short-term laborers for landlords were provided meals, let alone a humble proofreader!

Yet right now, what kind of logic was this?

Is your money mine, and my money yours too?

No, wait, it seemed more like... actively striving to secure... a long-term meal ticket?

Moved in his heart, Li Ye whispered to Wen Leyu, "If you are willing, I can provide your meals... until the end of time."

The pool of autumn water in Wen Leyu's large eyes seemed to freeze suddenly.

Then, tumultuous waves rippled across it.

She slowly stepped back, like a vigilant little deer, and then abruptly turned and ran away.

Listening to the sound of "tap, tap, tap" footsteps fading into the distance, Li Ye's heart began to beat wildly and uncontrollably.

Could this be considered a confession?

Would it?

That definitely wouldn't count! Otherwise, wouldn't it be utterly humiliating?