"How about we each contribute a copy and go try our luck?"
Several people remained silent for a long time before the younger, short-haired youth tentatively broke the deadlock and spoke.
"Try my ass. How can one read a good book while being around these parasites who only know about romance?"
Another youth, older and with long hair, glared with wide eyes and cursed.
"But, President, I'm so envious!"
The person stared straight at the girls queuing behind them and said.
"Hmph! Then go!"
The long-haired youth flicked his sleeve angrily and turned around, saying, "You go! Go! Go! Don't come back if you go! Don't blame me for not warning you, our Book Club..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly felt it was a bit too quiet behind him.
What was the situation?
He turned around immediately, only to find that the short-haired youth who had been standing behind him was already gone.
"Where is he?"
He looked up and saw the short-haired youth holding a book, running all the way to a lovely-looking young girl.
"Um, excuse me, I have extra books here. Could we find a place to read together?"
The short-haired youth stammered.
"Uh, sorry, I am queuing with my older brother."
The girl smiled awkwardly and then politely declined.
As she spoke, a burly man beside the girl coughed, then stretched his body. Veins popped out on his thick arms like small green snakes, and as he rubbed his fists together, cracking sounds erupted from his fists, which were the size of clay pots.
"So... sorry to disturb you two."
The short-haired youth trembled all over and fled back to the others with a pale face.
The long-haired youth didn't say much; he just patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let's go. If we're late, there won't be any good seats left."
"Mhm."
The short-haired youth responded and fell into silence.
They walked all the way to a nearby tea house and sat at a table by the window.
They ordered snacks and tea.
The long-haired youth sat at the tea table, placed the other books aside, and then placed Sword and Fairy in front of him.
"Alright, let's begin."
The long-haired youth said as he opened the book cover. After reading two paragraphs, he couldn't help but nod and marvel, "Unexpectedly, Fang Qiu can write the atmosphere of Liyue's marketplace so vividly. I just don't know where Yuzhou City is..."
"Indeed, it's not bad. The character Jing Tian is simply vividly portrayed. There's someone with a very similar personality in the antique shop next door to me."
"An unruly heroine, I actually quite like that type. Moreover, Jing Tian, Xuejian... I feel like I've heard these names somewhere before."
...
In a flash, it was noon, and a long queue still remained at the entrance of Wanwen Bookhouse.
"The first Hilichurl fell ill, the second Hilichurl observed..."
Hu Tao pulled a cart along the street while humming the Hilitune in an operatic tone with a beaming smile.
The cart was filled with Fang Qiu's new books.
She had bought another fifty copies.
If not for the severe protests from the customers behind her, she would have wanted to buy a hundred copies.
It was a pity that Xiangling had been invited to the dock construction site to help in the kitchen, so she couldn't come to buy books together this time.
Otherwise, if she gave the Mora to Xiangling, maybe they could have bought another twenty or thirty copies.
Ever since Your Lie in April exploded in popularity, the attitude of those people was much better when she delivered The Eternal.
There were even people who actively asked her for them.
So, this batch of Sword and Fairy would definitely be very popular.
Just as she was passing by Heyu Tea House, she saw a beautiful, dignified, and elegant young girl coming down from upstairs.
"Eh, Hu Tao, long time no see."
The girl was slightly stunned for a moment, then smiled faintly.
"Yun Jin, long time no see."
Hu Tao waved her hand with a beaming smile and said, "What are you doing? Have you eaten?"
"I just finished listening to Mr. Liu Su's The Sound of Cutting Rain and was just preparing to eat."
Yun Jin said, "By the way, did you buy the books of that friend of yours named Fang Qiu?"
As she spoke, Yun Jin cast her gaze toward the small cart filled with books behind Hu Tao.
"That's right, I bought fifty copies in one go."
Hu Tao turned around, took a copy, handed it to Yun Jin, and said, "Here, a gift for you."
Yun Jin shook her head gently, intending to refuse.
Aside from not wanting to take things for free, there was actually another reason.
Previously, Hu Tao had also given her a book written by Fang Qiu; it was a story about a female knight roaming the world with a sword.
How should she put it?
Both the writing style and the story were a bit hard to describe.
However, Hu Tao didn't wait for her to refuse. She directly stuffed the book into Yun Jin's hands, smiled proudly, and said, "The stories she writes lately are super hot and popular. I queued at Wanwen Bookhouse for a full two hours today just to buy her book. Because I bought too many copies at once, I was even glared at fiercely by the people queuing behind me. Take a look, I guarantee you won't regret it."
"Eh? Is that so?"
Yun Jin was slightly stunned.
She had been busy writing new operas recently and hadn't paid attention to these things for a long time.
Hearing Hu Tao speak like this, could it be that the girl named Fang Qiu had finally made it?
Thinking of this, she looked at the book in her hand. On the cover, five large characters were written in bold, vigorous calligraphy.
Sword and Fairy.
And beneath the title followed a line of small text.
Author: Fang Qiu.
"Since that's the case, I won't be polite and will accept it."
Yun Jin gave a shallow smile and said.
"Then I won't delay your meal. See you next time."
After giving the book, Hu Tao waved her hand, bid farewell to Yun Jin, turned around, and left pulling the small cart.
She walked all the way back to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. A tall youth with handsome features was currently standing in front of the parlor.
"Mr. Zhongli, what are you doing here?"
Hu Tao asked while pulling the small cart.
"The season is just right; one ought to go out for a walk and wait for a good book."
Zhongli spoke in a flat tone.
Having heard yesterday that Fang Qiu's new book was of the Xianxia genre, even he couldn't help but feel a little anticipation.
He was somewhat curious about what the humans and immortals depicted by Fang Qiu's pen would be like.
"Here, for you."
Hu Tao turned around and took a book out of the small cart, handing it to Zhongli.
Zhongli accepted the book. Just as he was planning to turn back to the study to savor it carefully, he discovered that what Hu Tao had handed him was not Fang Qiu's Sword and Fairy.
Written on the cover of the book were the four characters: Liyue Idle Talk.
One look and it was clear it wasn't a formal publication; it was handwritten.
This book was obviously this child's own collection of poetry.
Looking at Hu Tao, who was staring at him with a mischievous smile, Zhongli couldn't help but sigh.
He really couldn't handle this child.
"What I wanted was not this one."
Zhongli shook his head and said.
"Hehe, sorry, picked the wrong one."
Hu Tao giggled, took Liyue Idle Talk back, turned around, and handed a copy of Sword and Fairy to Zhongli.
Zhongli took the book, flipped through it casually to confirm Hu Tao hadn't swapped the book cover, and only then accepted it.
After exchanging a few words with Hu Tao, he took the book and returned to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Hu Tao, meanwhile, pulled the small cart and sat on the bench outside Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. Then, the female undertaker of the parlor walked over.
"Director Hu, could you give me a copy?"
"No problem, no problem."
Hu Tao picked up a book with a beaming smile and handed it to her.
Time flowed by, and in a flash, it was dusk.
Although night had not yet completely fallen, lights had already been lit in many places in Liyue Harbor.
Wisps of cooking smoke rose from Chihu Rock.
Liyue Harbor was about to enter the night.
Wanwen Bookhouse.
"You guys go ahead, I'll rest for a while."
Jifang slumped into the reclining chair and let out a long breath, her face full of fatigue.
She had been busy for a full day.
She even had the employees buy lunch and bring it to the shop, and she continued working after eating only a few bites...
She would take the remaining food back to heat up and eat tonight.
She looked up at the sky, which had been dyed orange-red by the setting sun, and couldn't help but start missing the days when Fang Qiu wasn't famous yet.
Back then, although book release days could also be tiring, she was never tired to this extent, and she could pretty much relax by the afternoon.
That was until Fang Qiu exploded in popularity, dragging a batch of people who didn't previously love reading novels into the pit of fiction.
Especially female readers.
It could be described with the word 'surge'.
Although good business was a good thing, business being too good was also quite troubling.
She was hesitating about whether to open a branch store.
For example, open one over at Chihu Rock?
Forget it, organizing a storefront and such is also very troublesome; might as well hire a few more employees.
Next time, she wouldn't have to come help out herself.
Let's just do that...
She glanced at the book by her hand; it was Sword and Fairy, of which she didn't know how many copies had been sold.
Then she stood up, stretched her waist, and cast her gaze toward the crowd sitting at the tea table reading books.
"Tsk tsk, not bad, truly not bad. Unexpectedly, Fang Qiu controls the 'Immortal' flavor and the 'Heroic' flavor so well."
"Fresh flavor and shrimp flavor? Damn it, don't talk about that, I'm craving it now."
"Speaking of which, it really is true; it's dinner time."
"No, what nonsense are you guys talking about? How far have you read?"
"The writing is awesome. My evaluation is that it is not inferior to Legend of the Lone Sword."
"The book Sword and Fairy completely uses our Liyue as a background to construct another mythological world, right?"
"This is quite good. It's better than using Rex Lapis to write stories. The son of the old man next door to me planned to write a book called The Empress of Rock, but ended up being hung up and beaten by his dad, who also tore up his manuscript."
"Well done. Thinking about it that way, Fang Qiu is actually quite smart."
"Let's not talk about that, let's talk about the book. I really like the bickering between Tang Xuejian and Jing Tian; I want to find a partner like that too."
"A person of integrity like Xu Changqing is also quite nice; he has quite the air of an Adeptus."
"According to Zhang San from next door, he once went up the mountain to chop wood and ended up surrounded by a group of Hilichurls. He was saved by a white-haired immortal. Thinking about it carefully, it must have been someone like Xu Changqing. Besides, Xu Changqing is also dressed all in white."
"I actually like the Demon Lord Chonglou more. He's really too strong; he smashed the Demon Locking Pagoda with one move, and not a single person in the entire Mt. Shu dared to come out and accept the challenge."
"Speaking of which, that earthquake Jing Tian and Tang Xuejian felt earlier was caused by Brother Lou smashing the Demon Locking Pagoda, right?"
"Now that you mention it, it's possible. I was wondering why that earthquake at the beginning was so sudden."
The crowd discussed spiritedly, and the entire Wanwen Bookhouse was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Seeing everyone discussing the novel's plot so harmoniously, Jifang couldn't help but be stunned.
She felt as if she hadn't seen this scene for a long time.
Thinking of this, a strange thought involuntarily surfaced in Jifang's mind.
Today, the expectations of the tavern owner downstairs would probably fall through.
"Speaking of which, how about I read it too?"
She smiled, pondered for a moment, then immediately picked up a copy of Sword and Fairy by her hand, lay back on the reclining chair, gently turned the page, and began to read.
________________________________________
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