I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 44

Returning to my rented room, I nibbled on the buns while sitting at the computer. I opened QQ and collected and organized the messages I received last night, beginning to summarize what had happened yesterday.

I have a habit of not opening QQ or using my phone while writing or during the three hours before bedtime. I’ve had this habit for about two years. Avoiding QQ and phone messages while writing is to ensure creative inspiration and focus, preventing external distractions from affecting my mood. I don’t know about others, but personally, I can’t switch my mood instantly and control my emotions.

Being human means having “emotions” and changing moods due to various external factors.

When I write a book or create a storyline, I first adjust my mood before starting. For example, if I’m writing a battle scene, I’ll watch something exciting like “High-energy Ahead! Let the World Feel This Visual Feast!” or “The Thrilling Visual Feast Brought by 3D Maneuvering!” I’ll also listen to combat music like “Victory” or “Last Ride Of The Day” to stir up my emotions.

I’ve always believed that if a writer’s own plot doesn’t move them, they will never be able to move their readers.

Similarly, when I need to write everyday scenes, I play some gentle music like the background music from “Nichijou” or some of the insert songs from “Girls’ Last Tour.”

The time when my mood perfectly aligns with the storyline is the best time for writing and the time when I’m least willing to be disturbed.

That’s why I cut off all contact with the outside world during this time.

I’ve had experiences like this in the past, where I was writing with QQ open and then an argument broke out in a group chat. Both sides were angry, and even after the group admin muted them, they continued to argue. Some left the group, while others sent me private messages insulting me as the author. Some even kept sending window-shaking messages. As I was writing, I was suddenly interrupted and had to figure out what was going on. It took me a while to realize that there was an argument happening.

So, what can you do in such situations? Readers come from all walks of life, have different opinions, and receive different educations. Except for a few green software platforms where all comments are “The OP is a good person; I wish you a peaceful life,” the fact is, people on the internet can start arguments at any time, and reader communities are no exception.

In fact, in any small group, there are bound to be disagreements.

At the time, my advice to that reader was, “Just block the people you don’t like.” The reader replied with, “If the group isn’t properly managed, what kind of author are you?” and proceeded to insult my family, then blocked me.

That day, I happened to be writing a scene where the protagonist had just overcome difficulties with the female lead, found treasure, and shared their joy with each other. I should have been writing with a happy and relaxed mood, but with all that going on, my mood plummeted. I couldn’t write a hundred words in half an hour, and all I could think about were the words of that reader who insulted my family.

After experiencing similar situations three or five times, I got used to not looking at messages while writing. I would focus on completing the day’s update first, and then deal with personal matters during my free time.

However, this approach also had its downsides. I would receive messages like, “I asked you a question, and you didn’t reply for hours,” “You’re such a big-shot author, no wonder no one reads your novel,” “Are you there? Can you reply? Are you that busy?” and so on.

My understanding is that, no matter what happens, as an author, I have to prioritize the quality of the novel. Similarly, not checking external messages three hours before sleep is to prevent encountering depressing situations that would keep me awake at night. Being an author is already a profession that easily leads to insomnia and anxiety. I’d rather get a good night’s sleep and deal with any negative information the next day.

This habit led to me not finding out what happened the entire night after returning from Mingzhu Tower until the following day.

“Umm… congenital heart disease, transplantation…”

After spending some time carefully going through messages in my reader groups, Yae-Do’s signing group, Honeydew’s signing group, and Pipi’s gaming group, I finally understood the whole story.

Firstly, it was the owner of the now-defunct novel website, “Yae-Do Novel Network,” named Lu Xinjian. He was a local of Shenzhen, and over twenty years ago, he opened a small shop selling computer accessories in Shenzhen. Slowly, the small shop grew into a small company, and ten years later, it expanded to Mingzhu Tower, which was the “Shenzhen Network Technology Co., Ltd.” that I and others had visited before.

Around 2015, Lu Xinjian saw the boom in online novels and founded “Yae-Do Novel Network.” He used his computer accessory company to fund the novel network. At that time in 2015, it was the golden age of online novels, and Yae-Do Novel Network flourished.

But good times didn’t last long. Due to various policies and changes in people’s reading habits, the online novel market started to shrink in 2020. Coupled with some operational issues, Yae-Do Novel Network faced significant difficulties in 2021. At the same time, its parent company, “Shenzhen Technology Network Co., Ltd.,” entered a loss-making period. The company’s accounts were almost empty on the surface.

The owner, Lu Xinjian, had a daughter with congenital heart disease who needed regular hospitalization for treatment. Without a suitable heart donor, she could die at any moment. Moreover, the condition was extremely complex, and very few hospitals were willing to perform artificial heart surgery on her. It’s said that in the months when Yae-Do Novel Network was on the brink of collapse, Lu Xinjian received numerous critical condition notices from the hospital. The exorbitant medical expenses forced him to choose to abandon the company. He withdrew all the money from the company’s accounts, took out a loan, and the result was an instant break in the financial chain.

The reason why there were still so many things left in Room 1002 of Mingzhu Tower’s Shenzhen Technology Network Co., Ltd. was because the boss ran away too quickly. The company virtually collapsed in an instant, and employees scattered, including those responsible for cleaning up the mess.

Next came the gathering of Yae-Do authors to protest at Mingzhu Tower.

After I left that afternoon, the bald editor-in-chief and the remaining authors discussed the matter until 4 p.m. Then they received a call explaining the situation with Boss Lu Xinjian, stating that his daughter had received a heart transplant, and the operation had been very successful. The boss was in the hospital and was willing to gradually repay the debts.

Following that, as Pipi mentioned, journalists arrived to report on the boss giving up the company to save his daughter. Capital entered the scene, injecting funds into Yae-Do, and Honeydew Novel Network made a move to acquire Yae-Do.

“Heart transplant…”

After going through the details of the situation from various QQ groups, I felt a sense of relief deep within me.