The online dispute did not affect Lu Yanhe's study and life.
However, the classmates around him seemed to be quite cautious in their attitude towards him because of this incident, as if they were worried that he was in a bad mood. Once they got close to him, they would speak in a lower voice.
Lu Yanhe didn't know what to say. He couldn't just say to everyone he met, "I'm not affected by the online attacks, you don't have to be like this."
Fortunately, because the whole morning was filled with classes, Lu Yanhe spent most of his time concentrating on listening to the lectures and taking notes.
In the first semester of freshman year, the main courses are literary history, cultural overview, basic linguistics, etc.
Lu Yanhe had a hard time taking these courses.
Because he is not really a person interested in literature or language, he just likes to read novels and at most some poems.
He had no relevant knowledge, and Lu Yanhe had no idea what most of the allusions and deeds that the teachers cited in class meant. He could only record them temporarily and look up information after class to figure them out.
I chose history as my first choice and literature as my second choice because I liked history more.
However, I didn't get into history, but instead enrolled in literature because I thought it would help me become an actor in the future and improve my cultural literacy.
Looking back now, dreams are beautiful, but reality is not so beautiful.
After class at noon, Lu Yanhe opened his phone and saw that Li Zhibai had asked him and Yan Liang in the group five minutes ago whether they would go back for lunch.
Yan Liang replied with an OK.
Lu Yanhe: I’m not going back. I’m going to the library. I didn’t understand a lot of the morning classes, so I have to cram.
Li Zhibai: Then you just eat bread at noon?
Lu Yanhe: Well, I have a dinner party with my classmates tonight, so I’ll just have something simple to eat at noon.
Li Zhibai: Don’t end up malnourished.
Lu Yanhe: You’re exaggerating. It’s not like I didn’t eat it.
Li Zhibai: It’s the same as not eating it.
Lu Yanhe: ...
-
Today is also the second day that "Jump Up" is available on Yemai.com.
On the way to the library, Lu Yanhe opened the APP as soon as possible.
On the reading homepage of "Jump Up", the number of people who have added it to their bookshelf has exceeded 390,000.
According to the rules of Yemai.com, if you want to read "Jump Up", you must be a registered user. Unregistered visitors can only read the first three pages.
Therefore, Lu Yanhe guessed that most of these 390,000 people were probably fans of Jiang Yuqian and Li Zhibai.
Without them, the numbers wouldn't be this good.
Lu Yanhe mainly reads the comment section.
He wanted to know what people thought of the book.
However, just as the market positioned this book, it inevitably showed a fan-oriented trend.
In the comment section, most of the comments are from fans of several artists praising their idols.
However, few people discuss the novels written by authors such as Liu Jiazhen, Mingyin, and Bai Yu.
Lu Yanhe was a little disappointed.
The popularity of this book has met everyone's expectations, and even exceeded them.
However, this popularity did not come from the content itself. While Lu Yanhe felt relieved, he was still a little hesitant. In this case, could he continue to make the second book?
Just as I was thinking about it, Chen Siqi called.
"Have you finished class?" Chen Siqi asked.
"get out of class is over, on my way to the library," Lu Yanhe said. "I was just reading the reviews for 'Jump Up'."
Chen Siqi: "Me too. I was basically staring at the comment section yesterday and today. Are you a little disappointed?"
"Um?"
“Because most of the content in the comments section is related to the artists.”
Lu Yanhe thought that Chen Siqi was really right in guessing his thoughts.
"A little."
Chen Siqi said firmly, "There's nothing I can do about it, but as long as there's a chance to move on to the second and third seasons, I want to keep doing it. You won't be discouraged, will you?"
Lu Yanhe: “…”
Chen Siqi: "Lu Yanhe, you can't give up halfway."
"No." Lu Yanhe lowered his head and smiled. "I'm just worried that when we switch to charging, there won't still be such data. Maybe no one will be willing to pay for it."
Chen Siqi: "You have no idea how successful the pre-sales of the physical book 'Jump Up' are. It was put up for free on Yemai.com yesterday. Logically, if it's free, people wouldn't pay for it. But yesterday alone, pre-sales of the physical book across various channels exceeded 10,000 copies. Sister Xiaoyin told me that this number is outstanding."
"Ah, really?"
"You were recording a show, so we didn't bother you." Chen Siqi said, "Don't underestimate yourself. The book we made is very beautiful."
Chen Siqi's voice is full of vigor and determination, as if she is facing the sun and moving forward unswervingly.
Lu Yanhe was also inspired by Chen Siqi's momentum.
"Let's do this together."
-
After hanging up the phone, Lu Yanhe's mood was brought back to normal.
But he didn't expect to meet Zhou Mukai in the library.
He also reads in the study room of the library.
Lu Yanhe went in and sat down, then greeted Zhou Mukai softly.
Zhou Mukai was very surprised to see him, as if he had not expected to meet Lu Yanhe here.
When Lu Yanhe passed by him, he glanced and found that the tablet in front of Zhou Mukai was actually a page from "Jump Up".
It is a short story by Liu Jiazhen.
Lu Yanhe was stunned.
Zhou Mukai said nothing.
Everyone is studying quietly.
Lu Yanhe silently took out his book and began to study. He didn't know what was in his mood. After he knew that Zhou Mukai was reading this book, he really wanted to ask Zhou Mukai what he thought of the book.
But it's too embarrassing to ask such questions.
Zhou Mukai would never say it was ugly in front of him.
Lu Yanhe shook his head, focused his attention, stopped thinking about other things, and started reading seriously.
Lu Yanhe had an elective course in the afternoon, in the seventh or eighth period. Before that, Lu Yanhe had been sitting in the library reading.
When he left, Zhou Mukai was still sitting there.
"I still have classes, so I'm leaving first." Lu Yanhe sent a message to Zhou Mukai and packed up his things.
Zhou Mukai glanced at his phone and nodded at him.
The tablet screen in front of him no longer displayed the page of "Jump Up".
-
In the evening, there were many people attending the party organized by Miao Yue, nearly forty people.
Lu Yanhe was shocked. He didn't expect there would be so many people. They even needed four tables for dinner, and it was quite crowded.
Miao Yue is like a social activist, very familiar with everyone and always talking to different people.
Lu Yanhe went in and was stunned when he saw so many people.
Miao Yue saw him and immediately waved at him, "You're finally here! Why are you so late?"
"I have an elective class in the afternoon, period seven or eight, so I'll be here after class." Lu Yanhe asked quietly, "Are all the students from the entire college here?"
"Some classmates have classes in the evening or other things to do, so only this many of them came," said Miao Yue.
In Miao Yue's words, "only this many have come."
Lu Yanhe looked at her in surprise and was speechless for a long time.
"Why don't you sit next to me?" Miao Yue asked, "It seems the other two tables are already full."
Lu Yanhe was originally thinking of treating everyone to dinner tonight, but with so many people, uh, let’s just buy it.
Who knew Miao Yue would suddenly say at this moment: "Don't pay the bill. We agreed to split the bill. You don't have to pay for everything."
Lu Yanhe had no choice but to nod.
Over forty people sat at a table, the atmosphere lively and boisterous. In the eyes of others, Zhenhua University students are the chosen ones, the elite, the pillars of society. But beyond the halo bestowed upon them, they are simply a group of eighteen or nineteen-year-olds who enjoy a lively atmosphere and hanging out with their peers. They are not students who only want to sit in the library and study, nor are they arrogant individuals who look down on others.
Miao Yue asked Lu Yanhe: "You probably don't know everyone yet, right?"
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "I only know these students in our class at the moment."
"And me." Miao Yue emphasized.
Lu Yanhe smiled and nodded, "Yes, and you too."
Miao Yue whispered in Lu Yanhe's ear introducing who was who.
Lu Yanhe really mobilized all his memory to remember who was who in this short introduction.
Obviously, even though they were all top students from all over the country, they still couldn't take it for granted that their classmate was a celebrity. Everyone was still curious about Lu Yanhe.
Especially their celebrity classmate, who is still on the hot search list and is being criticized by many people.
"Yan He, aren't you worried at all about the people scolding you online?" Han Yue asked.
Han Yue is a member of an ethnic minority and comes from the Northeast, but she looks like a southern girl, has a small frame, and speaks in a delicate voice.
When she asked this question, everyone's attention was focused on Lu Yanhe. This was something everyone was very curious about.
"There's nothing to worry about. My agent warned me about this when it happened during the recording of the show," Lu Yanhe said. "Whenever there's a conflict, there will definitely be people who criticize you. Different people have different perspectives, but I know what I'm doing and I don't think I've done anything wrong. That's enough. Those who think I've done nothing wrong will support me, and those who criticize me mean they think I've done something wrong. That's fine. I can't be liked by everyone anyway. Just keep your mind at ease."
Lu Yanhe felt that this was a good thing. He could finally explain the matter in front of everyone with a clear conscience.
He smiled.
"Maybe there will be many more things like this in the future, and I can only try to get used to it."
"Even though we're the same age, you seem much more mature than us."
"No, no." Lu Yanhe quickly waved his hands. "My agent said these words to comfort me. I just learned them. If I see someone scolding me, I will definitely still be angry."
Everyone laughed immediately.
Zhou Qingcheng also sat at their table.
There aren't many men in the Faculty of Arts. Today, out of over forty people, there are only about ten men.
Zhou Qingcheng immediately said, "I spent a lot of time arguing with people online, but they acted like they didn't understand what I was saying. One moment they asked me how much I had received, the next they called me a brainless fan, and the next they called me an elementary school student."
Lu Yanhe looked at Zhou Qingcheng in surprise: "Why are you cursing at people online?"
Zhou Qingcheng: "I watched your show too, and I think what you said about Meng Li is very true. You didn't say anything wrong. Her fans are like they took the wrong medicine. They can't tell right from wrong, and it's impossible to reason with them."
Lu Yanhe didn't expect that Zhou Qingcheng was actually helping him argue online.
"There are always people like this online. No matter what you say to them," Miao Yue said, "as long as what you say is not what they want to hear, you will become their enemy."
Zhou Qingcheng: "I was too hasty. I actually thought I could reason with them."
"But why did you clash with Meng Li on the show?" Ji Qianxing, who had been friendly with Lu Yanhe that night, suddenly asked, "Since you knew that clashing with her would get you scolded by her fans?"
"Because I couldn't stand her behavior at the time." Lu Yanhe explained.
"It's mainly because Meng Li has been targeting Li Zhibai, and she hasn't targeted you." Ji Qianxing said.
Lu Yanhe: "But Li Zhibai and I are friends. I can't just stand by and watch her target me."
"I just think what people are saying online is really excessive, but it's not without reason. After all, it started as an argument between Meng Li and Li Zhibai. When you got involved, Li Zhibai had help, but Meng Li didn't," Ji Qianxing said. "Meng Li certainly has problems, but I think it's understandable that her fans feel she's being bullied."
Miao Yue looked at Ji Qianxing in surprise.
Lu Yanhe was also a little surprised, but looking at Ji Qianxing, he did not refute, but nodded.
"Well, from your perspective, it's correct," said Lu Yanhe.
"What's right? Your friend had a conflict with someone, and you just stood by and watched because that person was alone?" Zhou Qingcheng looked at Ji Qianxing speechlessly. "According to you, when two people are arguing, no one should intervene. If you intervene, it becomes one party bullying the other. What kind of logic is that?"
Ji Qianxing blushed after hearing what Zhou Qingcheng said.
"Why are you being so aggressive? I'm just saying that what those people say online isn't completely unreasonable."
"Damn, you're one of those idiots who quarreled with me online, right?" Zhou Qingcheng widened his eyes in shock and looked at Ji Qianxing in disbelief.
Ji Qianxing's cheeks flushed red, as if her self-esteem was hurt by Zhou Qingcheng's words, and her eyes suddenly turned red.
"Zhou Qingcheng, what you said is too much." The girl sitting next to Ji Qianxing immediately stood up for her friend.
Zhou Qingcheng: "Wait a minute, you'd better shut up, otherwise according to Ji Qianxing, you can gang up on me and bully me now."
He looked at the two of them with a nonchalant expression.
Ji Qianxing was so angry that her face turned green at this moment.
The consequence of this incident was that Ji Qianxing left directly.
Leaving everyone at the table looking at each other in bewilderment.
She left so quickly that no one had a chance to keep her.
At this moment, the girl sitting next to Ji Qianxing, who had been defending her, glared at Zhou Qingcheng and said, "You're so annoying. You're so unreasonable."
Zhou Qingcheng curled his lips and did not refute this time.
Lu Yanhe was also a little embarrassed. Although Ji Qianxing had been driven away by Zhou Qingcheng, it was still ultimately his fault. He didn't know if Ji Qianxing truly believed that, or if his earlier refusal had irritated her. In short, Lu Yanhe felt embarrassed for causing such unhappiness today.
Fortunately, such unpleasant things did not happen again.
Everyone at the table was very interested in the entertainment industry and had a lot of gossip they wanted to ask Lu Yanhe if it was true.
Lu Yanhe quickly raised his hands in surrender and said, "Everyone, although I'm an artist, I don't actually have any more channels to eat melons than you do. I just eat melons online. I don't know whether it's true or not. I can't ask the other party if it's true."
When the others heard this, they also agreed, but they were still a little disappointed.
After all, everyone wants to hear the real news.
-
Halfway through the meal, Lu Yanhe went to the bathroom and ran into Zhou Qingcheng, who had left earlier. He was standing at the window at the end of the corridor, smoking.
Lu Yanhe was a little surprised to see him smoking.
Zhou Qingcheng saw him, waved his hand and greeted him.
Lu Yanhe came out of the bathroom and washed his hands. He saw that Zhou Qingcheng had finished the cigarette in his hand, put out the cigarette butt, and came over to wash his hands.
"When did you start smoking?" Lu Yanhe asked in surprise.
"Last year." Zhou Qingcheng was actually a little embarrassed and smiled with his head down.
Last year? That was when I was in my senior year of high school.
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"What about you? Do you smoke?" Zhou Qingcheng asked.
"No." Lu Yanhe shook his head.
"But it's true. You are public figures, so smoking is not good."
"Not really. Quite a lot of people smoke," Lu Yanhe said. "I just haven't tried it, and I don't really like the smell."
Zhou Qingcheng: "Not smoking is a good thing. I'm trying my best to control my smoking now and want to quit."
"Why do you smoke?"
"I was under a lot of pressure at the time, preparing for the exam from morning till night, so I started smoking secretly," Zhou Qingcheng said. "I had to hide from my teachers and parents, and I had to wash my hands immediately after smoking."
Lu Yanhe laughed.
Zhou Qingcheng: "To be honest, I admire you very much."
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe looked at him in surprise.
Zhou Qingcheng said, "I've seen news about you online, especially the story about your comeback in your senior year of high school. It's really amazing. I guess all the students in the college admire you."
"How could that be? I should be the one admiring you."
"Nonsense! You only took one year to accomplish what took us years to do," Zhou Qingcheng said. "Besides, aren't you still studying and working at the same time? For that alone, I admire you. You're really amazing."
"No, no."
"Don't be so modest. I even registered as a member today and read the book you edited," Zhou Qingcheng said. "The novel written by Liu Jiazhen is very good."
"Thanks."
"I heard that you originally wanted to make this book into a magazine. Will you continue to publish it in the future?"
"It depends on whether the publishing house and Yemai.com are willing to do it. Of course I want to continue publishing."
Zhou Qingcheng nodded and said, "If you can keep doing this for a long time, you will become an idol for the entire academy."
"ah?"
"Who else but you could start a new magazine these days and keep it going?" Zhou Qingcheng said. "And it's a literary magazine, too. That's incredible."
-
Lu Yanhe didn't expect that he would have such an impression in the eyes of his classmates.
He was also vaguely worried that his identity as an artist might bother his classmates.
Celebrity artists are surrounded by all kinds of halos, but Lu Yanhe is also very clear that in the eyes of non-fans, they are just people with a little fame, commercial packaging, and good looks.
Zhenhua was a top-tier institution, and the students who could attend were the very best, or in other words, 99% of them had been exceptional since childhood. Therefore, Lu Yanhe had never considered himself any more special than them, nor did he believe that his status as an artist would help him gain a foothold in the school. Everyone's curiosity and attention to him was simply due to his fame.
To some extent, Lu Yanhe even felt that he was inferior to everyone else - just like when he was in class, he always encountered allusions that he didn't understand and knowledge that he didn't know, and it was very difficult for him to keep up with the teacher's pace.
Unexpectedly, in the eyes of others, he is another shining image.
-
Lu Yanhe couldn't help but start wondering when this layer of false bubble on him would be exposed.
He really doesn't think he is that "shining".
After the dinner, everyone prepared to leave.
There are no classes on the first and second periods tomorrow morning. Lu Yanhe glanced at the time and decided not to go back to the dormitory tonight.
So, Lu Yanhe said goodbye to everyone and walked in another direction alone.
"I'm really a little envious of Lu Yanhe for being able to rent a house off campus." Some girls envied him.
"Don't be envious. They've been working hard to build their careers since they were fifteen, while we were just students back then."
"Come to think of it, Miao Yue is really enviable. She's already published two books," another person lamented. "My mom even told me to be more humble after coming to Zhenhua, saying that Zhenhua is full of talented people. Now I realize it. There are so many talented students."
"Let's not be so arrogant, okay? We've only just entered university, how can we compare to them? The book edited by Lu Yanhe is already on the shelves. Have you read it?"
"I read it, but I don't think it's interesting. Most of them are articles written by celebrities, and there are very few real literary works."
"As for the first issue, aside from that, I think it's pretty good."
"Don't you like writing too? Why don't you submit your work?"
"The stuff I write is not suitable for public reading."
…
Lu Yanhe returned to the dormitory and found only Yan Liang there.
"Li Zhibai went home?" Lu Yanhe asked in surprise.
Li Zhibai never lived in the school dormitory. He thought the environment of the school dormitory was too bad. He said he could not sleep well every night no matter where he lived.
Therefore, usually when Li Zhibai is not here, he has gone home.
Yan Liang shook his head and said, "Zhou Ping'an took him a temporary role in a play, so he hurriedly packed up his things and sent them over."
"Ah?" Lu Yanhe was shocked. "Isn't his next drama 'Washing House' going to start filming at the end of the year?"
"An extra play was added, also a male lead role. Originally, Zuo Xing was supposed to be the lead, but Zuo Xing canceled at the last minute. The crew was looking for someone to help out, and they found Li Zhibai." Yan Liang said, "Li Zhibai went there cursing and swearing."
Lu Yanhe could almost imagine Li Zhibai's reaction.
He laughed too.
"Why are you back so late?"
"I just had dinner with my classmates. It's getting late, so I need to read for a while. If I read in the dormitory, it will disturb the others. They all go to bed early."
"Is that so?" Yan Liang nodded and gave him a rather strange look.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm a little surprised. I didn't expect you to study so hard even though you got into Zhenhua." Yan Liang said, "You won't be working in this field in the future anyway, so why are you still working so hard? Getting 80 or 90 points won't affect your graduation, right?"
Lu Yanhe was stunned.
He thought about it and shook his head. "I don't know, but it's not for the purpose of getting 80 or 90 points. But if I don't study with all my strength at Zhenhua, I'd think it would be a shame."
Yan Liang looked puzzled.
Lu Yanhe shrugged and said, "Maybe I just don't want to make do when I can do better."
"Alright." Yan Liang nodded. "Although I don't quite understand, it's impressive that you think this way. Sometimes I wonder if my efforts are too opportunistic. I was reflecting on a question today. It seems that I'm only willing to work hard on things related to the performing arts. I have no such thoughts in other areas. A classmate asked me if I wanted to learn archery together, and I directly refused. They then said that this skill might be useful for acting in the future, and I suddenly became interested. I realized that in this area, I am...how should I put it, quite utilitarian."
"That's not the case. Hard work is hard work. Taking shortcuts means not wanting to work that hard. If you don't like archery, you don't want to learn it. But if you think it might be useful for acting in the future, you suddenly want to learn it. Doesn't that mean you're actually working hard? People who take shortcuts will only learn it at the last minute when they think they'll need it, or even use a substitute for shooting." Lu Yanhe said, "Don't use me as a reference. If it weren't for Phoenix TV, I wouldn't be able to get up every day to run and exercise."
Yan Liang smiled instantly.
"Okay."
-
Lu Yanhe didn't expect Yan Liang to be so confused.
In fact, both he and Yan Liang are people who think a lot about themselves.
Too many thoughts means more worries.
Lu Yanhe shook his head, and just as he sat down, his cell phone rang.
He picked it up and saw that it was a message from Xin Zixing: The number of readers of "Jump Up" has exceeded 500,000!
"Jump Up" will be available on Yemai.com on the 25th. According to the previous agreement, the three days from the 25th to the 27th will be free reading time.
Lu Yanhe was pleasantly surprised when he received the news: Great!
Xin Zixing sent a second message: It attracted nearly 200,000 new registered users, awesome!
Seeing this data, Lu Yanhe was also very happy.
Xin Zixing said: We will officially release the good news later, so remember to forward it.
Lu Yanhe: Yeah.
Xin Zixing said: "Let's find some time to discuss what to do next with 'Jump Up'? The feedback from the first episode was much better than we expected, and the market response was also very good."
Lu Yanhe said: Okay.
Xin Zixiong: I'll also make an appointment with Siqi to see if she will be back for the National Day holiday. It would be best if we could sit together and discuss it face to face.
Lu Yanhe: Okay.
-
The day when "Jump Up" was officially charged was also the day when the physical book of "Jump Up" was officially released.
Lu Yanhe was picked up by Xu Xiaoyin at noon and taken to the Chengpin Bookstore in Guangmao Building to cooperate with this large bookstore in a book signing event.
In addition to Lu Yanhe, there are also Liujiazhen and Mingyin, all arranged by Jiangyin Publishing House.
Lu Yanhe could only sign autographs for one hour as he had a class at 2:30 in the afternoon.
Some media also came to the scene to film the signing event.
Jiangyin Publishing House arranged interviews with two media outlets, but ended up only having enough time to complete one, and the other had to be completed on the way.
"Sorry, I have to rush to class in the afternoon." Lu Yanhe apologized to them as soon as he got in the car.
The media were very understanding and said it was no problem.
These interviews are all routine, promotional interviews, and the questions have been discussed with the publishing house long ago.
Lu Yanhe answered according to the usual procedure.
As we were almost at school, the interview was about to end when the other party suddenly asked, "Yan He, what do you expect the sales of the book 'Jump Up' to be?"
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was stunned. He had not prepared for this question.
"Teacher Yu Jiang posted an update on her social media today. Did you see it?" the other party asked.
Lu Yanhe shook his head, a little confused.
This car belongs to the media. From the driver to the reporter to the photographer, they all belong to this media. There is no one from the publishing house.
At that time, Lu Yanhe was thinking that after finishing the interview in the car, he would go directly to school for class. The on-site signing had not yet ended, so Lu Yanhe told Xu Xiaoyin and the others that they didn't need to follow.
Now Lu Yanhe felt a little regretful.
When he was in a difficult situation, no one could stand up to help him.
He had a feeling that the dynamic content posted by Teacher Yu Jiang was probably not very positive.
He also remembered the name Yu Jiang, a female writer who had been unpleasant to him on a show and had said some unpleasant things about him.
He remembered.
The reporter pulled out his phone and said, "Teacher Yu Jiang said: Hiring a celebrity as editor-in-chief is the publishing industry's act of bowing to online popularity and traffic. Real creators would disdain to contribute to such an editor-in-chief. Creation has dignity and not everyone can do it. Its threshold is not so-called popularity and traffic. Even if the sales volume is high, it is just empty."
Lu Yanhe's heart skipped a beat.
Okay, here I come.
Sure enough, it wasn't a good thing.
Lu Yanhe frowned silently.
The other party was still waiting for his answer.
Lu Yanhe pondered for a moment and said, "I don't really want to respond to that."
The reporter asked, "Why?"
"If you discuss something with a preconceived attitude from the outset, you'll find fault wherever you want. Ms. Yu Jiang is also a famous writer. She has her own perspectives, and I have mine. If she feels I'm not fit to be an editor-in-chief, she can be the editor-in-chief herself and run a magazine." Lu Yanhe said, "In this world, just because I'm editor-in-chief doesn't mean others can't. There are always paths open to you. If you don't like my path, there's no need to deny it. Just find your own path." (End of chapter)
