Without realizing it, Xiao Ting had been standing there for nearly twenty minutes.
Her knees were starting to ache, and only then did she notice. She closed the book, a look of profound shock on her face.
This book was too shocking!
The descriptions of the Three-Body Civilization completely exceeded Xiao Ting's imagination.
Moreover, a lot of cutting-edge scientific knowledge about physics was written in incredible detail.
And the speculative science that hadn't yet been researched was also very logical.
The imagination in this book was truly powerful!
Xiao Ting bought both books and planned to read them in one go back in her dorm.
The lively girl returned to the dorm and was a bit shocked to see Xiao Ting still reading. She said:
"You're still reading? Aren't you eating lunch?"
Xiao Ting shook her head, "I'll eat after I finish reading."
"Have you read both of these? Is Da Fei's book good?"
Xiao Ting nodded, "It's good."
"Better than Teacher Zhou's?"
Xiao Ting pushed up her glasses, "Not even in the same league. It's a total stomp."
Flying High Publishing House. Editor He and Kang Wenxue were having lunch.
Editor He said, "Old Kang, you took a bit of a risk this time. You rejected Zhou Shifang's manuscript. What will you say to the editor-in-chief if he wins first place in the competition?"
Kang Wenxue said, "That's not your concern. I discussed this with the editor-in-chief. Do you think he would have agreed to use Da Fei's book in the competition if he didn't have faith in it?"
Editor He asked, "How are the numbers? Did you check?"
"No, it's only the first day. Sales should be similar for now. We'll need a few more days to see any real difference."
Of course, Kang Wenxue had looked at the bookstore's data. Da Fei's book was selling well, but Zhou Shifang's book was also selling very well. Both books were quite popular.
There was no clear gap yet.
"Have you read Alien Homeland?"
"I read it. It's alright. The worldview is very unique, but the plot isn't that engaging."
"Didn't Zhou Shifang say he was going to expose Da Fei? Any news on that?"
"Looks like there isn't. Da Fei's book seems to have no logical errors, it's flawless. At his level, he definitely can't find any."
There were also many people online urging Zhou Shifang.
"Three-Body has been released! Teacher Zhou, give us your review! Quickly slap Da Fei in the face and make him feel ashamed!"
"Exactly! Waiting for Teacher Zhou's assessment. Da Fei, an actor, the science fiction novel he wrote is bound to be full of holes, he'll be exposed in front of Teacher Zhou."
"@Zhou Shifang, Teacher Zhou, update quickly! You haven't finished reading it, have you?"
"..."
Sitting in front of his desk, Zhou Shifang stared at the book Three-Body, lost in thought.
This book had completely overturned his worldview, and even opened up a new perspective on alien novels.
The logic was rigorous, without any flaws.
He even had to look up a lot of the scientific knowledge online to understand it. Some of the bold scientific speculations even matched the guesses of those scientists.
Zhou Shifang couldn't find any fault with it at all. He had already made big promises, but he couldn't write it himself.
He finished reading the book in one go, and his worldview was completely overturned.
How could Da Fei possibly have this level?
Zhou Shifang hesitated for a moment and replied online.
"I read a few chapters and couldn't get into it. It's boring."
That's a fair assessment, right? I wanted to critique it, but I couldn't keep reading. If I could, I'm sure I'd find plenty of flaws.
Anyway, that's Zhou Shifang's attitude. He doesn't care what others say.
Immediately, Da Fei's fans began to fight back.
"If you don't understand it, just admit you don't. Do you even understand the Three-Body phenomenon in astronomy? You clearly don't understand the gravitational pull of three stars, right?"
"Exactly. Just write your own novel. Why pretend to be a scientist and try to find flaws in Da Fei's work? Do you even have the ability?"
"Maybe you could nitpick Da Fei's plot issues, but you're talking about logical issues and scientific knowledge? Looks like you're out of your depth."
"Zhou the dog, stop trying to ride on Da Fei's coattails. Do you really think you'll sell well by using Da Fei?"
"..."
Zhou Shifang wasn't angry at all; the more he saw these fans cursing him, the happier he became.
Now that his new book was being released, he could ride on Da Fei's popularity. Maybe his book sales would double.
Almost every one of Zhou Shifang's Weibo posts was about riding on Da Fei's popularity, and all of them were about his own book, which made many fans feel disgusted.
Xishuangbanna.
Lin Qiqi was happily playing while riding an elephant. Lin Chudong was acting as the photographer below, taking many photos for her.
Lin Qiqi was truly photogenic; being beautiful meant there were no bad angles, and she looked good in every shot.
The filming location had already been chosen, and Sun Xuan was negotiating. Lin Chudong and Lin Qiqi were free to wander around and play, really making it feel like a vacation.
In the evening, before returning to the hotel, Lin Chudong bought a copy of Alien Homeland.
Back at the hotel, Lin Qiqi said,
"We're leaving tomorrow! Time flew by so fast!"
Lin Qiqi was lying on the bed, looking unwilling. The holiday was too short.
Lin Chudong said, "You still have two days off, right? Help me record a show. You can discuss the price with Sister Song."
Lin Qiqi was excited, "Okay, wait a moment, I'll call Sister Song."
A few minutes later, Lin Qiqi said, "Sister Song said two million per episode, and we can bring in a mobile phone sponsor."
Lin Chudong nodded. The sponsor's money wasn't going to him; it was going into CCTV's coffers. But with two million per episode, the station should be able to shoulder some of the burden, right?
Even if they didn't, it would be acceptable. Lin Qiqi wouldn't be there every episode. Recording two episodes would be enough.
"I'll talk to Director Sun on the plane tomorrow. Let's rest first."
Lin Chudong picked up Alien Homeland and started reading it carefully.
He saw the online chatter about Zhou Shifang trying to ride his coattails. He hadn't responded yet, but that didn't mean he wouldn't.
Did they think they could just casually leech off his popularity? Lin Chudong would make them pay.
The book's concept was somewhat novel, telling the story of an ancient scientist from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties who time-traveled to an alien world, learned a lot of technology, and then returned to change the world.
The subject matter was quite fresh, but there were a lot of logical flaws.
Lin Chudong posted on Weibo after finishing his read.
"I've carefully read the book Alien Homeland. I have a few questions for Mr. Zhou."
"Firstly, the protagonist in your book is a scientist from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. However, he uses the Lagrange Mean Value Theorem to solve mathematical problems. Leaving aside whether that mathematical theorem had even been introduced to China at that time, the timeline is problematic."
"The Lagrange Mean Value Theorem was proposed in 1797, which is the late Qing dynasty. Your protagonist is from the Ming dynasty. Did he invent it himself? If so, it shouldn't be called the Lagrange Mean Value Theorem, but should be named after your protagonist."
"Secondly, the technology on the aliens' planet has officially entered the quantum age, with quantum technology being widely used in weapons and daily life. But when they are at war with other planets, they are still using nuclear fission weapons, that is, the principle of the atomic bomb. Isn't this ridiculous? It's like an army that has already developed missiles still using cold weapons in battle. It completely defies common sense."
"Thirdly, when you describe alien technology, you've written that they've researched materials that surpass the speed of light, so Relativity is already invalid. Yet, these aliens are still using Relativity as their physics foundation. Isn't this self-contradictory? Has Mr. Zhou not read Relativity?"
"..."
Lin Chudong's review was published.
The comments immediately caused a huge uproar.
"Wow, Da Fei commented on Zhou Shifang's book!"
"Zhou the Dog, come out and take on the challenge, hahaha. Da Fei finally made a move; he couldn't just watch you ride the coattails forever."
"Da Fei's analysis is so professional. I read Alien Homeland, and I really didn't think of these things at the time."
"Exactly! Zhou Shifang seems professional on the surface, but he's actually just a pseudo-science enthusiast. He doesn't have the chops, yet he still writes this stuff. Now, the cracks are showing, aren't they?"
"What a slap in the face! Zhou Shifang couldn't expose Da Fei's flaws, but instead, he got exposed by Da Fei. What a scrub."
"Hearing Da Fei say that, I don't want to read this book anymore."
"Me neither. I already returned it online. He can't even get these basic logical points right, yet he calls himself the number one sci-fi writer. Hilarious."
"I've finished reading it. I thought it was okay at first, but after Da Fei spoke, I instantly felt like Zhou Shifang had fed me shit. Refund!"
"Zhou Shifang's mistake was trying to portray himself as a scientific scholar. You're just a novelist, why try to act so pretentious?"
"Da Fei specializes in slapping the faces of these pretentious people, haha!"
"Who gave you the courage to provoke Da Fei? Was it Sister Deng?"
"I'm not buying the book, goodbye!"
"..."
After reading Da Fei's post and the comments from netizens.
Zhou Shifang's forehead immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
He immediately opened the electronic version of his book and began to search for information online. Sure enough, it matched what Da Fei had said perfectly.
If the aliens had entered the quantum technology stage and were still using nuclear weapons, that could be considered nitpicking and was somewhat acceptable.
But the other points, he couldn't refute at all.
He hadn't studied Relativity in such depth either.
As for the Lagrange Mean Value Theorem, he'd forgotten to check it. Who knew that Lagrange, that idiot, had only proposed this theorem at the end of the Qing Dynasty?
Zhou Shifang's head was now as big as an ox. He wanted to write something to explain it, but found he couldn't explain anything.
He sent Da Fei a private message on Weibo.
"Delete your Weibo, let's make peace. I'll immediately delete those Weibo posts about you, how about it?"
He sent it, but a sigh mark appeared, he was actually blocked!
The next day, Zhou Shifang received a call from the publishing house.
The sales of Alien Homeland had plummeted. After an entire morning, they hadn't even sold a hundred copies.
This data was simply dismal!
The chief editor of the publishing house didn't mince words with Zhou Shifang, and didn't say anything nice.
If you ride the coattails well, then that's a skill. But to end up in this state... isn't this dragging the publisher down?
Given Zhou Shifang's fame, the publisher directly placed an order for 500,000 copies with the printing factory. Judging by the current situation, not even 100,000 copies might sell! Idiot! Zhou Shifang's face was ashen.
The next day after returning to Modu, Sun Xuan called.
Regarding Lin Qiqi's appearance fees, the station is willing to provide one million, and the remaining one million will be taken from Da Fei's production costs, for two episodes.
And they guarantee that there will be no more sponsors for this program, only sponsorships from "Dancing Group" and TT Mobile.
It's estimated that the mobile phone company gave a lot of money, which is why Jingcheng TV Station is being so generous.
This time, "Yearning for Rural Life" is basically all invested by Liangyin Media, providing two million for equipment and labor costs. The rest will be paid by their company, which is equivalent to the sponsorship fee for "Dancing Group".
That evening, everyone in Modu shot the promotional poster and sent it directly to Sun Xuan.
Sun Xuan saw the poster and smiled. "It's convenient to work with Da Fei; he can handle this himself."
Sun Xuan, the producer, seemed to be a tool man, seemingly having no role. Da Fei handled all the work.
That evening, Jingcheng TV Station released a preview.
"Yearning for Rural Life begins recording tomorrow, with the premiere this weekend. The guest lineup for the first episode is as follows."
"Da Fei, Cheng Huanhuan, and Tian Yingxiong are the regular guests. The mysterious guest for the first episode is to be announced."
Although there was only a silhouette, many people guessed it was Lin Qiqi.
This is how reality shows work: they give the audience room to guess, but in reality, many people already know.
"Da Fei and Cheng Huanhuan as permanent guests? This show is a comedy, right?"
"The elephant in the fridge still hasn't come out, and those two are going on a reality show."
"Haha, the scene of them coming out in disguise is still fresh in my memory."
"This show has potential, Da Fei is finally a regular, let's see what sparks Da Fei can create with the guests this time."
"The setup of this show doesn't seem very interesting, just rural life?"
"The focus isn't on rural life, it's on Da Fei and Sister Huan. I wonder if Da Fei will do something funny."
"You have to watch Da Fei for variety shows now, he's the pillar of variety shows."
"…"
At the same time, Zhang Yiran also released a reality show, Seaside Life.
This was unexpected.
This seemed to be Zhang Yiran's first reality show. As a music diva, she had never participated in one before.
And this time, Seaside Life was said to be a big production, with her sister Zhang Yina as the producer.
The reality show produced by the Zhang sisters had as many as six sponsors alone.
And the guest lineup was very strong, all big names in film and television, handsome men and beautiful women. The production budget was definitely calculated in the hundreds of millions.
The first episode featured Zhang Yiran and Li Zhilin, two top-tier celebrities, as well as Wu Bo, a young heartthrob.
Li Zhilin had been on quite a few reality shows and showcased many of his talents. He had a strong idol image to maintain.
And Wu Bo became popular because of a dating show some time ago, and his "straight man cancer" persona brought him considerable traffic.
This time, Seaside Life is a show recording the lives of several top-tier celebrities camping overnight by the sea.
Just looking at the subject matter, it seems to be clashing with Yearning for Rural Life!
Sun Xuan frowned when he saw this news.
He sent Da Fei a message on WeChat.
"Do you know about that show with Zhang Yiran? It seems to be broadcast on Mango TV."
Lin Chundong: I just found out too.
Sun Xuan: Should we avoid it? Lin Chundong: No need to avoid it.
Sun Xuan: Why not? Lin Chundong: Because I'm not afraid.
Sun Xuan: Why aren't you afraid?
Lin Chudong: I'm not afraid, just not afraid.
Sun Xuan: A little awkward.
Lin Chudong: Haha, it is indeed awkward. The news of us doing this show shouldn't have been leaked, maybe it's just a coincidence. When winter ends, people naturally think of doing reality shows of this type. Sun-ge, there's no need to be afraid of them.
Sun Xuan: Yeah, then let's proceed as usual. The show will be recorded tomorrow, I'll take the team, you take the guests, we'll gather in Yunnan.
The next day, Wutuo Town, Xishuangbanna.
Before filming began, an all-staff meeting was held.
Lin Chudong said, "Everyone, I'm honored to be the director of this episode. Next, I'll explain the precautions, especially for the prop masters."
"The props must be made according to my requirements. Whatever rural life is like, that's what we'll do. Don't make it overly dramatic."
"This time, our reality show is all about Yearning for Rural Life. It has to be authentic. We need to capture the real state of the artists, no staged shots, no pretense."
"For example, when filming me, my hairstyle will definitely be a mess when I get up. Remember to give a close-up of the messy hairstyle."
"The guests are all my people, they don't have any idol baggage, so you don't have to worry."
"Then, after we officially start filming, Sun-ge will be the general director. I don't know anything, so don't ask me!"
Several directors and editors laughed. That's how reality shows are, it's impossible to have no script at all.
These rules were all designed by Da Fei himself, but he still had to pretend he didn't know anything, which was really hard on him.
Sun Xuan completely became a tool director.
"Alright, everyone, get ready. We can start filming once the lights and props are set!"
Jingcheng TV Station.
Zhang Qinxue saw that many people from the station had been reassigned, and she spoke to a middle-aged woman in front of her with some concern.
"Director Huang, is Sun Xuan's program clashing with Zhang Yiran's?"
The middle-aged woman in front of her was the Deputy Director of Jingcheng TV Station, Huang Tianran.
Zhang Qinxue had just finished "Crossover Singer," and the program's ratings were not bad, especially the finals, which were quite successful.
As a conservative, Zhang Qinxue taking on a live broadcast was already a significant step forward.
This time, after hearing the station's decision, she was very surprised.
The entire variety show production was handed over to Sun Xuan and Da Fei's company. This kind of operation was simply unheard of.
Huang Tianran smiled faintly, "If it clashes, it clashes. This show has Da Fei's company backing it. Don't you think highly of Da Fei? What's there to worry about?"
Da Fei was providing the production funds, and the station had already made a profit from advertising fees before the show even started, so they definitely wouldn't lose money.
If this show became popular, the benefits it would bring to the station would be quite substantial.
Zhang Qinxue said, "Da Fei is indeed quite good at singing, and he's also good at comedy, but I feel it's not very reliable to plan a reality show."
"Although Lin Qiqi is there, she is not a regular guest after all. Zhang Yiran and Li Zhilin, the two top-tier celebrities, plus Wu Bo, a newly popular singer, the effect will definitely be better than ours."
"Mango TV's ratings have always been higher than ours. I'm afraid we'll fail again this time."
Huang Tianran said, "Let's see what happens. Even if it flops, it flops. Sun Xuan isn't one of us anyway. He'll go back after this program. We just happen to have a gap in our schedule, so let him do what he wants."
Zhang Qinxue nodded, "I hope it's not too disastrous."
Jingcheng TV Station didn't consider Sun Xuan one of their own. It was really difficult for him to make a name for himself here.
If it weren't for Da Fei's exclusive sponsorship this time, he probably wouldn't have even been able to make this program.
After recording two episodes at once, Editor Kang called as soon as he returned to Modu.
"Da Fei, I have good news for you. The sales of Three-Body Problem have exceeded 50,000 copies, and it's only been a week! This sales figure is much higher than Beginning."
Lin Chudong said, "That's good. Thank you for your efforts, Editor Kang."
Lin Chundong was so calm, Editor Kang was a bit surprised.
But considering Da Fei's current fame, it didn't seem like there was much to get excited about after a book became popular.
However, this book was ridiculously popular. They had done science fiction novels before, and for the entire reading market, science fiction was actually still considered a niche genre.
Not many people read science fiction; most people preferred romance.
But this time, the sales of Three-Body Problem were simply terrifying. It wasn't just leading in the science fiction novel field; it was number one in sales across all platforms, crushing all other novels released at the same time.
At this rate, it would probably break a million copies sold within three months!
Editor Kang said, "Da Fei, when are you planning to release the sequels?"
Lin Chundong said, "Before October 1st this year. There are two more books, and I'll release them together."
"Okay, I'll wait for you. I'll let you know when I have news."
Lin Chudong could write it now, after all, a [Memory Search Card] could directly search the entire collection.
But finishing it now wouldn't be as profitable; stretching it out would increase the earnings.
Many writers become famous with one book and can live off it for the rest of their lives, indefinitely extending the sequels but refusing to finish the story.
While this maximizes profits, it also diminishes the reputation.
It's actually better for readers to release the second part when the anticipation for the first one is at its peak.
Besides, writing books wasn't difficult for Lin Chudong; he could just do it when he had time.
He inquired about the review of Sword of Glory, which was basically finished. Some review comments were given, and the editing team needed to make some changes.
Fortunately, the review comments weren't too outrageous. Even after editing, the overall viewing experience wouldn't be affected.
Sword of Glory should be able to premiere in a week without any problems.
Saturday, Jingcheng TV Station, Yearning for Rural Life premieres. It will be broadcast during prime time at eight o'clock in the evening.
Mainly because Jingcheng TV Station didn't have any other good programs, Sun Xuan had no problem getting the prime time slot, and Huang Tianran approved it directly.
At the same time, Mango TV's Seaside Life also began broadcasting. The two variety shows started a ratings battle.
Yearning for Rural Life was the first to start promoting, but Zhang Yina and the others didn't change the broadcast time, indicating they were very confident and wanted to compete with Yearning for Rural Life.
Liang Yin, Jia Lu, and Su Yulin prepared some potato chips and sat in front of the TV.
"If I'd known, I would have bought a few more TVs. That way, we could have boosted the ratings a bit."
Lin Chudong was speechless. "Buying more TVs still uses the same line. Besides, this show doesn't need to cheat."
Liang Yin nodded. Da Fei said it would work, so it definitely would.
-----------------------
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