Chapter 1 The Boy Who Wanted to Become a Light Novel Writer
In his dream, Xia Yan felt a sharp pain in his head, as if he had been hit several times with an iron rod. A flood of memories, both his and others', surged and merged. He felt as if he were becoming a different person, but ultimately,
Xia Yan's own will prevailed. Those memories that weren't his eventually became like videos, sinking deep into his mind, as vague as an adult's childhood memories. Even if you try hard to recall them, you might not be able to.
But everyone has had the experience of dreaming about past events occasionally. Xia Yan was in this state now. In his dream, he was someone else, seemingly a girl. 🍟♣ 69kj.com ♝☮
Lying in his room at home, eating potato chips and drinking cola, he stared intently at the computer on his desk. The screen was playing a scene from an anime:
Aoharu Ride!
Xia Yan had never seen this work before, but after immersing himself in the girl's perspective, the name of the work immediately came to mind.
In this bizarre dream state, Xia Yan calmly watched the romance anime from the girl's point of view.
After all, China's light novel, animation, comics, and games industries are extremely developed, forming the country's fourth largest pillar industry. Chinese anime works are popular worldwide, and most of the Chinese population, especially middle and elementary school students, are enthusiasts.
Xia Yan was no exception. Although it was strange, he enjoyed the process because his immersion was primarily based on the girl.
The girl in his dream watched episode after episode of the anime "Ao Haru Ride." She was truly happy; she didn't have to work, didn't have to go to school, had no unproductive social interactions, and her parents had died early, leaving her millions in assets deposited in a trust fund. The only part she could access was the annual returns from the fund.
There's virtually no possibility of her becoming penniless.
She only needs to do what she loves every day: be a carefree, lazy girl, regularly meet up with friends at anime conventions as a cosplayer, collect figurines, do what she enjoys, and spend all her millions in annual fund returns on her hobbies.
Therefore, the sense of immersion she feels now comes from Xia Yan, who, while watching the anime from her perspective, is equally happy.
Is this the ultimate otaku's spiritual world? She's so happy!
While watching this anime, the girl even ordered a serving of sweet and numbing glutinous rice balls, which she then dipped in chili and houttuynia cordata.
The taste... left the highly immersive Xia Yan speechless, but she ate it with relish.
Sweet glutinous rice ball lovers, savory glutinous rice ball lovers—they're all heretics! For her, a mix of sweet, savory, and spicy is the perfect match. Unfortunately, there's no cilantro at home today, so this glutinous rice ball delivery only gets a 90 out of 100.
Xia Yan tries her best to forget the strange taste of the delivery she ate after immersing herself in the girl's world.
Her attention is focused on the computer screen displaying the anime on the table in her viewpoint.
Beautiful art style and a story full of youthful energy.
The female protagonist, named "Futaba," encounters Kou, her crush from middle school, in high school—a man she secretly loved but who moved away due to family reasons!
Thus begins a bittersweet, youthful romance anime!
Although it's a shoujo anime, even a pure young man like Xia Yan occasionally has a girlish heart.
Xia Yan, who reads plenty of romance novels and anime, finds himself taking the story seriously as he watches. ☜✌ 6❾ˢ𝐇Ǘ𝕩.ᑕ𝑜𝐦 ♠♔
This plot
is really good!
The two who once had mutual feelings meet again in high school three years later. Misunderstandings, youth, songs...
Before you know it, the anime has progressed to episode six, where the female protagonist, Futaba, is confused because she and her best friend both fall for Kou.
To maintain their friendship, should she sacrifice her own feelings to support her best friend in confessing to Kou, the boy she's secretly loved for years? Or
should she bravely compete, confess her feelings to her friend, and pursue Kou fairly, even though this might cause a rift with her friend?
Unable to make a choice,
the female protagonist, Futaba, leaves the answer to the male protagonist, Kou. On their way home together, just as the subway train is about to depart, she pretends she forgot something at school, takes a few steps back, and exits the train.
As the train doors close, the girl and boy, a meter apart, stare at each other through the doors.
Will he get off and accompany her to school to retrieve her forgotten item,
or will he find it too troublesome and go home alone, leaving Futaba to go back to school alone?
[If Kou doesn't get off with me, I'll stop liking him.]
[If he gets off, I'll continue liking him.]
Futaba's inner monologue echoes, accompanied by the anime's background music.
The subway train doors slowly closed, and the anime's protagonist, Kou, had no idea of the significance behind the girl's impulsive decision to get off the train.
His choice a second later would determine whether Futaba would continue to harbor her unrequited love for him.
"Ugh, I can't watch anymore. What if Kou finds it too much trouble and doesn't get off with Futaba? I'll be so upset I can't sleep! Hmm... just to be safe, I'll go to sleep now and catch up tomorrow, nipping the possibility of the plot affecting my sleep in the bud!" The girl muttered, snapping the computer shut.
Xia Yan, immersed in the girl's world, was left with a jumbled mess of thoughts.
[No, don't stop here! Watch one more episode!]
[Are you even human? You can sleep even if the plot ends here? Unbelievable!! You're an animal!]
Xia Yan subconsciously cursed, the nauseating feeling of having a favorite work abruptly cut short at a crucial moment washing over him.
It was too awful.
The screen went black.
Xia Yan woke up with a start, drenched in sweat.
"What... was that?"
Xia Yan's voice was weary. Last night's dream had been so real.
A sudden realization dawned on him.
Blue Star, a girl... it seemed the soul of a girl from another world had entered his body, but the fusion had failed?
No, not half-failed. Her will had been extinguished, leaving only her remnants of memories sealed deep within his brain. Occasionally, he could see fragments of her life in that world in his dreams.
That's why Xia Yan now hated that anime called "Ao Haru Ride"
so much. Halfway through, the girl fell asleep, forcing Xia Yan to abruptly stop watching. ★🎁 ➅➈𝐬𝒽𝕦χ.ℂσм 🐉♝
But immediately, the feeling of watching the anime through the girl's memories was instantly shattered by reality.
In the dream, because he was in the girl's shoes, he felt her emotions, so the worries and troubles of reality faded away in the dream.
But after Xia Yan woke up, the immense pressure of reality he had faced for the past month surged forth.
Xia Yan:
Sixteen years old, 176cm tall, 63kg, handsome young man. A second-year high school student at Nancheng No. 3 Middle School. His mother died of illness ten years ago.
A month ago, his father, due to an economic crisis and mismanagement, saw his small company go bankrupt, accumulating huge debts. Unable to withstand the blow, he committed suicide with his lover.
This kind of tragedy, usually only seen in newspapers, happened to his own family a month ago. Xia Yan was stunned, but after the initial shock and grief, the harsh reality outside of school pressed down on him.
The huge debts his father's company owed before his death were more than enough to repay even if Xia Yan sold his current house.
Under these circumstances, Xia Yan couldn't choose to inherit his father's estate (debt), as he was insolvent, owing over two million yuan. Therefore,
in about two or three months, after the judicial auction process was nearly complete, he would have to move out of his current residence.
Xia Yan had no paternal or maternal relatives to rely on. Those who were once his relatives were essentially his father's creditors, now part of the debt collection army. Xia Yan hadn't promised to repay his father's debts, which meant he'd offended most of them; forget about any more.
The immense reality facing Xia Yan now was
the pressure of survival.
A sixteen-year-old high school student was about to become homeless and penniless within three months.
His choices were limited. Dropping out of school and entering the workforce was one option, but continuing his studies wasn't impossible either.
University tuition in China was exorbitant; good schools and majors like medicine and law could cost hundreds of thousands of yuan over four years, but these fields required high investment and offered high returns. Most people couldn't afford them; avoiding intense competition was the best option.
However, aside from these majors, for ordinary majors, as long as one could get accepted, student loans were likely possible.
Xia Yan chose to continue his studies, and by the time he entered his senior year of high school, he could apply for financial aid for tuition, regardless of the cost.
So, his path to higher education wasn't completely cut off, just more difficult.
Should he drop out and enter the workforce?
Or try to persevere and continue studying under pressure? These were the questions Xia Yan had to consider. After all,
it was already late January, and in a little over a week, the second semester of his junior year would begin.
His father's assets had been largely seized, and aside from this house, which Xia Yan could temporarily reside in before the foreclosure auction,
the only money he had at his disposal was the four thousand yuan of pocket money he had saved.
If it weren't for his father's situation, Xia Yan had actually planned to use this money to date his ex-girlfriend, his classmate and class monitor, Su Ling, during the winter break to deepen their relationship.
But now,
his girlfriend of two months, Su Ling, broke up with him a month ago after learning that his family had gone bankrupt and he had gone from a middle-class child to a pauper.
After all, Xia Yan had received a generous allowance from his father while pursuing her, showering her with gifts; now he might need her for financial support, so naturally, she wanted to get away as soon as possible.
Xia Yan understood her choice, but she was still very sad.
The two worlds had many cultural differences, but one thing was consistent:
society was cruel in both. Even high school girls were already very particular about their boyfriends' family backgrounds.
"Dating you doesn't necessarily mean I'll marry you, but if you don't have money, I definitely won't even consider dating you. After all, romance takes money.
" "No matter what, I just need to get through the next year and a half of high school. Dropping out now, not even graduating high school, only having a junior high degree, is really difficult in China. And after studying for over ten years, half of my high school life is over, and not getting a diploma is really hard to accept." Xia Yan lay on the bed, contemplating the future.
As for whether to pursue further education after graduating from high school, he thought
, "I'll take it one step at a time. "
But if he chose that
path, "I'd have to figure out how to make ends meet for the next year and a half, including living expenses and rent after being evicted from the house. The four thousand yuan I have isn't nearly enough in Nancheng, a second-tier city."
Xia Yan was a person with relatively strong mental resilience; otherwise,
he wouldn't have been able to recover from his father's death, his family's bankruptcy, the impending evictment, and his girlfriend's breakup within a month. He remained calm even when the soul of a girl from another world merged with his body. After all, the more setbacks a person experiences, the less they are easily alarmed, and their resilience is extremely strong.
"Is there any way I can earn a certain amount of income while attending high school?"
Although Xia Yan was composed, he couldn't think of any solutions based on his experience.
He plopped down on the bed, looking out the window from the 21st floor. The beautiful scenery of Nancheng was spread out before him.
Xia Yan's home was, after all, located in the core area of Nancheng, a second-tier city, in the heart of its commercial district, nestled against the mountains and beside the water, with complete urban infrastructure.
"Sigh, it's a pity, I won't be able to see this view in two or three months."
Xia Yan was irritated. He lay down on the bed and turned to look at his cabinet full of anime DVDs, light novel serials, and comic books.
Xia Yan's eyes narrowed.
"..."
In the room, Xia Yan didn't talk to himself, remaining silent for a moment.
Xia Yan began to mutter to himself again.
"I can't draw comics, I can't make games, and I can't write animation scripts. But I can write novels! My Chinese is pretty good." Xia Yan's eyes were thoughtful.
"And that anime I watched last night called 'Ao Haru Ride' was pretty good. It's much more interesting than the romance stories in the light novels I bought." "
Nancheng, there seem to be several local light novel publishing houses. If I rewrite it as a light novel and submit it, and it gets selected for serialization, the royalties should be pretty good, right?"
The boy's eyes gleamed.
Even as an outsider, he knew that the second-dimensional industry, the fourth largest pillar industry in China, was a graveyard for newcomers—anime, games, comics, and novels akin to
a tornado of infighting destroying parking lots, a truly competitive and discouraging industry.
But think about it: would anyone actually work as a security guard or a public toilet attendant in this competitive environment?
The reason this industry is so competitive is that if you're the king of competition and achieve success, the rewards are incredibly high, far exceeding other industries, which is why so many people are drawn to it. This was
Xia Yan's perspective as a seasoned second-dimensional anime, novel, and game enthusiast in China.
He found the work "Aoharu Journey," which he saw in his dream through the memories of the merged girl's soul, very interesting.
It was far more interesting than many works in the South City market that had already obtained serialization and production qualifications.
The original work of this work was able to break through the siege of the cruel manga market in the other world and eventually be adapted into anime, novels, and movies, so
its quality was guaranteed.
Although different worlds have different tastes, and one man's meat may be another manga's poison, Xia Yan felt that his taste as a long-time anime fan in China was not niche.
This work that had attracted him should have a considerable audience in the market with the same taste as him.
There was no reason why Xia Yan would have no chance at all if he adapted it into a serialized light novel in China.
Xia Yan didn't necessarily need the work to become a huge hit and make a lot of money; he just needed to earn some royalties to cover his living expenses and rent for the rest of his high school life!
And most importantly, writing a serialized novel wouldn't interfere with his classes to get credits and obtain his high school diploma.
After school started, he could still write during foreign language, math, and physics classes that he couldn't understand at all.
This advantage was something Xia Yan couldn't achieve through any money-making scheme he could think of.
"Wow, I'm a genius."
Thinking this, Xia Yan sat up in bed
and looked at the letter paper and pen on his desk.
However, the biggest problem was that
Xia Yan could only passively dream about the girl's memories of watching anime. He'd only seen half of "Aoharu Ride" last night before it was interrupted! How long would this interruption last?
Would he continue it in his dreams tonight? Or would he never continue recalling this part again?
"Heh,"
Xia Yan scoffed.
Why worry about all that?
The most urgent thing wasn't considering the possibility that the work might be abandoned and ruined after publication because he couldn't see the memories of the second half of "Aoharu Ride" in his dreams!
That was too far off!
He hadn't even learned to walk yet, why was he thinking about running away?
That was something the readers of the novel should worry about after the work was actually published and serialized.
Xia Yan, this aspiring "author," has to consider how to get his work approved by the light novel publishing house's editors if he actually writes down the first half of the plot he knows and submits it!
If they don't accept it, then all his worries are pointless!
Well, it's a new book, I hope everyone will support it!
(End of Chapter)-+Chapter 2 Writing Chapter 2 Writing
Her name
is Yuan Qing.
Yuan Qing?
As Xia Yan frantically wrote at her desk, she suddenly remembered the name of the girl whose soul lay dormant deep within her mind.
It was like suddenly remembering the name of a childhood friend; Xia Yan felt a strange excitement, but the excitement quickly faded, leaving only distress.
Many ordinary people think writing novels is easy—frantically writing 10,000 words a day.
But think about it: 10,000 words is roughly equivalent to twelve 800-word essays. How many students struggle to write even 800-word essays for a language arts exam? If you haven't practiced writing 10,000 words regularly, it's unimaginably painful.
Xia Yan was in this state. He thought it would be easy to adapt the plot of the "Ao Haru Ride" anime into a novel, but in reality,
the descriptions of characters, environment, expressions, and details were completely different from his usual Chinese essays. Even
if he hadn't eaten pork, he'd seen a pig run.
Xia Yan hadn't written light novels before, but he'd read many from China. He might lack writing skills, but his appreciation skills were quite high.
He spent two hours writing something, and when he looked back at it... what was that? He was so embarrassed he wanted to die.
"As expected... it's not that easy." Xia Yan had actually anticipated this situation.
He was quite confident in his Chinese language skills, but good Chinese language skills didn't necessarily mean fluent novel writing.
Moreover, although Xia Yan adapted the light novel based on the anime plot in his mind, it doesn't mean that the novel he wrote will necessarily have the same excellent reading experience as the original work.
Just like the girl named Yuan Qing, whose soul merged with Xia Yan's, her world had an anime called *5 Centimeters Per Second*. After the anime's success, two different official novel versions were actually adapted.
One version was a short version written by the anime's original author, Makoto Shinkai, and the other was a novel written by a professional novelist based on the original anime.
They are both novel versions of *5 Centimeters Per Second*, with the same main storyline, but reading the two official novels carefully provides a completely different reading experience.
Xia Yan let out a long breath, looking at the string of words he had just written on the table.
There were too many irrelevant descriptions.
Writing and revising simultaneously, Xia Yan gradually grew tired. Before finally falling asleep, she had only managed to handwrite about two thousand words of the novel based on the anime scenes she remembered.
The speed was actually quite slow. In
her dream
, Xia Yan once again transformed into the girl named Yuan Qing.
This time, the dream's timeline did not continue from where she was sleeping after getting off the plane the previous night.
This time, she was playing a shooting game on her computer, controlling female characters like Cui Zhiyun and Anna, and having a great time killing zombies.
"Try to refresh your memory of the second half of the Ao Haru Ride anime! What are you doing playing those shooting games?"
Xia Yan mentally ranted, but it was clear that the girl in his memory wouldn't be bothered by his words; after all, these were just memories.
In the morning, Xia Yan woke up. CS, CF, Dungeon Fighter Online, Genshin Impact.
For the past eight hours, the girl had been playing games on her fully-equipped accounts, completely ignoring the later parts of Ao Haru Ride.
However, Xia Yan found watching others play games quite interesting, and he watched for eight hours. The girl's satisfaction while playing also transferred to Xia Yan, making his gaming experience quite fulfilling.
After stretching, Xia Yan looked back at his desk.
"Alright, let's get this going! I need to finish at least the first few chapters of the novel today."
Xia Yan wrote furiously; his learning speed was quite fast, and his writing, which was still clumsy last night, had become fluent. 🐼♡ ❻9şĤǗＸ.ⓒόⓂ 🍮♪
He really had writer's block. When he didn't know how to describe a certain passage, he would directly pick up existing light novel works from China to refer to and see how others handled it.
Gradually, Xia Yan's desk piled up with more and more manuscripts. His novel, a youth journey adapted from Chinese school, society, and environment, was also entering a smooth creative phase.
However, these were just first drafts. After finishing them, he needed to check for typos, polish the text, and proofread repeatedly.
Three days later,
Xia Yan had roughly converted the first 5.9 episodes of "Ao Haru Ride," which the girl named Yuan Qing in his soul had watched, into a novel text of acceptable quality.
Why 5.9 episodes? Because Xia Yan hadn't finished watching the ending of episode 6 before the girl went to sleep, leaving him interrupted.
In these three days, Xia Yan had only once again entered the girl's memories in his dreams last night to participate in a cosplay event at a comic convention.
As for the previous two nights, he had simply slept normally, and nothing had happened.
This also made Xia Yan realize that, at least for now, he couldn't control this situation of watching anime through Yuan Qing's soul memories in his dreams; he could only wait and see if the situation would change in the future.
As for Xia Yan's reflection on his dream last night, to be honest, it was a very strange feeling, a completely new experience he had never had before. In his soul's memory, he was transformed into a cute girl in black stockings, wearing gothic Lolita fashion, enjoying the amazement of passersby at a comic convention, taking photos, and cuddling and hugging with the high-quality female cosplayers Yuan Qing had met in that world, and having fun with his best friends.
*Slap!*
Xia Yan slapped himself.
"How could you envy that kind of life? You're a man!" Xia Yan looked at himself in the mirror. He
was horrified by the thought that he had previously had of wearing gothic Lolita fashion and attending a comic convention, which he found quite interesting.
Am I a pervert?
Xia Yan spent a little more time adjusting his mindset.
There were only five days left before school started, and after that, he wouldn't have so much freedom. What he needed to do now was submit his light novel to the authorities in the remaining five days.
Dragon Kingdom, one of the most powerful countries on this planet, has a population of 1.5 billion, accounting for one-sixth of the world's population. The
overall national income has basically entered the high-income category, belonging to the upper-middle level in the world.
After the people escaped the struggle for survival, like many middle-to-high-income countries, sports, athletics, and cultural and entertainment industries have flourished in this country.
Among these, the ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) industry, primarily comprised of games, comics, novels, and animation, has developed into one of China's pillar industries over the past thirty years. Not only are these cultural works beloved by the Chinese people, but they are also exported overseas and renowned worldwide.
With high public acceptance of the ACG industry, the status of its creators has naturally risen accordingly.
Well-known novelists, comic artists, and animators enjoy a prestigious position domestically, and naturally, their incomes are enormous.
The reason is simple: the island nation in the memories of the girl named Yuan Qing is also a country with a highly developed ACG industry, but how many people does that region have? Only about one hundred million people, yet it has created a group of world-renowned high-earning animators, comic artists, and novelists.
In China, however, there's a massive market of over a billion people, where creators of various anime and manga works naturally earn far more than in that other world.
Of course, signing with top-tier publishing houses is still a long way off for Xia Yan. Those light novel serialization platforms that publish millions or even tens of millions of copies per issue wouldn't possibly publish a newcomer like Xia Yan.
No matter how excellent your work is, or how captivating the opening plot
is, being a newcomer means enormous risk. A bad ending, discontinuation, the author disappearing—editors scrambling the world to find manuscripts—these things are countless in the Chinese light novel industry. Even established authors behave this way; newcomers are not.
Those industry giants won't easily take the risk of collaborating with newcomers.
Therefore, Xia Yan didn't dare to submit his manuscript, which he had spent several days writing, to those top publishing houses.
Besides, the headquarters of those top light novel serialization companies were mostly concentrated in first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai; mailing the manuscript would be too slow.
His target was the five large local light novel serialization publishing houses located in Nancheng, the capital of Nancheng Province.
The light novel industry is also highly competitive. Apart from a few top light novel publishers whose works can be sold nationwide and become bestsellers in every province,
most small, medium, and large-sized light novel publishers, whose headquarters are only located in provincial capitals, have their works popular only in their own province or a few provinces near their home base.
This is actually quite normal. How could just any company have the capital, strength, and foundation to build a nationwide or even global sales network?
Establishing sales channels is extremely difficult in any industry. To have influence in a local area is the result of winning against other competitors over a long period.
However, while these local novel serialization publishers in Southern Province cannot match the influence and nationwide coverage of top light novel publishers like "Starry Sky Novels" and "Qingze Bookstore,"
these five publishers, at least within their home province of Southern Province, have considerable sales. Even considering only their local novel magazine sales, they are not lower than the sales of those top national magazines in Southern Province.
Of course, the quality of serialized works in journals is definitely much lower. The reason their sales are similar is because local publishing companies only need to cultivate their own sales territory. Their established local sales channels, journal promotion, and discounts naturally give them an advantage over top publishing houses that are distracted by the national market.
Since he couldn't compete on internal strength, he decided to improve external skills.
He had seven or eight copies of his handwritten manuscript made at a printing shop, took out his student bus pass, and walked out of his apartment complex.
(End of Chapter)-+Chapter 3 Submission Chapter 3 Submission
Yun Dian Bookstore, Qing Kong Bookstore, Fantasy Literature, Sakura Library, Red Maple Literature. 💙♞ 6➈𝔰𝐡𝕌乂.co爪 🐙☟
These are the names of the five major light novel serialization bookstores in the southern part of the provincial capital.
Basically, the headquarters of these five bookstores are all located in the northern CBD area of the southern part of the city, so Xia Yan doesn't need to run all over the city.
After spending an hour taking the bus, Xia Yan first arrived at the headquarters building of Red Maple Literature.
Remember the first website domain name 𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞
The two-hundred-meter-high office building in front of him obviously couldn't all be Red Maple Literature's offices.
Its office area is limited to floors nineteen through twenty-one.
Before coming here, Xia Yan had repeatedly researched the information of five light novel publishing houses through various channels.
After registering at the front desk, she stepped into the elevator with a little trepidation.
It was ten o'clock in the morning, and the flow of people in the office building was not too busy. Xia Yan was the only one in the elevator. With a nervous heart, she pressed the button for the twentieth floor. Just before the elevator doors were about to close,
a pair of slender, fair hands reached in and stopped the elevator doors.
The elevator doors slid open after touching something, and Xia Yan looked over. A girl wearing a baseball cap and a mask walked into the elevator carrying a stack of semi-transparent plastic file bags containing documents, and then hugged the file bags to her chest.
After she entered, she stood a little distance away from Xia Yan in the elevator.
The girl was about 1.6 meters tall, with waist-length black hair. She wore a light red tracksuit top and slightly loose beige trousers. She wore a baseball cap and a mask, obscuring her face, but from her exposed eyes, the fair and delicate skin around them, and the overall shape of her face, Xia Yan could basically tell that she was a pretty girl.
Her finger pressed the button for the nineteenth floor.
Xia Yan wasn't intentionally peeking; she was just naturally noticing these details.
But his gaze swept over the girl's semi-transparent file bag, revealing some documents.
The first page had the words "Yesterday's Starlight!" written in large colored markers, followed by a stack of paper documents.
Connecting this to the fact that she had pressed the button for the nineteenth floor, Xia Yan thought,
"Ah
, probably... she's here to submit her work, just like me." "Hmm, Yesterday's Starlight? What kind of novel?" A few thoughts flashed through Xia Yan's mind. Perhaps his gaze on the girl's file bag was a little too forward, for the girl's vigilance increased, and she subtly adjusted her posture. As the elevator ascended, an awkward atmosphere inexplicably filled the room. "Excuse me, I just wanted to remind you... if you want to submit your work to Red Maple Literature, you need to go to the 20th floor. The 19th floor is where the operations department and senior editors work. The 20th floor is where the editors accept submissions from newcomers." Xia Yan preemptively used conversation, trying to ease the awkwardness. 💀☺ ➅➈SнǗˣ.𝓒ｏΜ 🎃☝ After all, it was indeed a bit impolite of him to stare at the file folder she was holding to her chest earlier. His words did indeed ease the girl's guard considerably. "Thank you." After a few seconds of silence, the girl raised her hand and turned off the button for the 19th floor of the elevator. Her voice was clear and crisp, her tone slightly cold, but after she replied to Xia Yan, the awkward atmosphere in the elevator dissipated considerably. "You're welcome," Xia Yan said with a polite smile. Then, the two remained silent. They quickly arrived at the twentieth floor, and the two stepped out of the elevator one after the other, walking through the corridor, which was covered with posters from beginning to end. They were all illustrations of various light novels by Red Maple Literature that had been renowned in Southern Province over the years. These works on the posters were the face of Red Maple Literature; any one of them had sold hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of copies in total. A significant portion of these works were in Xia Yan's complete collection at home. After navigating the corridor, Xia Yan finally arrived at the Red Maple Literature office lobby. It was bustling with activity. After all, this was the area specifically for handling submissions from new authors, and in the light novel world, who are the most numerous? That's right, newcomers. Even on such a cold day as February 3rd, there were seven or eight people queuing in the waiting room. In the central editorial area, stacks of manuscripts mailed from all over the country or submitted in person by authors were being carefully reviewed by the editors. "Are you two here to submit your manuscripts?" A receptionist with long legs in black stockings, wearing a professional office lady skirt, greeted them with a smile. Having worked here for many years, she could tell at a glance why Xia Yan and the girl who had accompanied her in the elevator were here. "Hmm." "That's right." The two spoke almost simultaneously. The girl in the red tracksuit and mask finally glanced at Xia Yan's face. So he was here to submit his work too. "Please come this way..." the receptionist smiled. "There are seven people ahead of you two, but don't worry... our on-site review editor will meet with you within twenty minutes." "Twenty minutes?" the masked girl asked to confirm. "That's right. Twenty minutes!" After confirming, the receptionist led the two to the waiting area and left. "Twenty minutes, seven people..." the masked girl's gaze drifted to the room directly opposite another exit of the waiting room.
The shadows cast through the frosted glass revealed only one editor reviewing the work on-site.
This simple information actually exposes the cruelty of this industry.
Red Maple Literature publishes only a few dozen periodicals of various types, each with only a dozen or so serialized novel slots.
In most cases, a new slot is only filled after an existing serialized novel ends.
These limited slots are contested by a large group of imaginative young people from Southern Province, influenced by various forms of anime and manga, who want to dedicate their lives to light novel writing.
Most submissions are simply cannon fodder, garbage.
Experienced editors only need to spend a minute or two reading a few thousand words to decide the fate of a submitted novel.
The masked girl gripped the transparent file folder in her hand with slightly more force.
Xia Yan, on the other hand
, looked around nervously and asked the receptionist to pour him a cup of hot coffee.
There was nothing to be nervous about. If a masterpiece, into which he had poured his heart and soul, were rejected within a minute, it would be a huge blow to the creator.
But strictly speaking, Xia Yan wasn't the actual writer of the plot for *Youth Journey*, so even if the plot was rejected, he wouldn't be too upset. If Red Maple Literature didn't work, he could submit to four other publications.
"Xia Yan," the receptionist gestured for him to enter the meeting room.
Less than twenty minutes later, only fifteen minutes had passed. After the seven people before him walked out of the meeting room dejectedly, it was finally Xia Yan's turn.
"Hey, you're here." Xia Yan perked up, excitedly carrying a copy of the "Journey of Youth" document, and pushed open the door to enter.
(End of Chapter)-+ Chapter 4 The Boy Submitting a Romance Novel to a Young Girl
Xia Yan entered and saw a woman who looked to be in her early twenties, wearing black-rimmed glasses. She had
an oval face, willow-leaf eyebrows, a high nose bridge, delicate features, and long, flowing hair—a true beauty.
She was Tang Yin, the editor at Hongfeng Literature responsible for reviewing new submissions today. Her face showed signs of fatigue.
After all, every day, Hongfeng Literature receives anywhere from thirty or forty to over a hundred submissions, and continuously reviewing new manuscripts naturally leads to exhaustion.
Xia Yan entered the room with a curious expression. He was sizing up Tang Yin, and Tang Yin was also sizing him up. Tang Yin,
a student ,
sighed inwardly.
After all, Xia Yan had a delicate appearance; he was only sixteen years old. Even the most blind person wouldn't mistake him for a working adult.
It wasn't that there weren't student writers in the Chinese light novel scene, but students often had to balance their studies and lacked experience. Ninety-nine percent of their novels were, to put it mildly, poor quality; to put it
bluntly, they were practically self-indulgent fiction, completely disregarding the market. The writing style and plot structure were chaotic, written haphazardly. Very few student works were ever selected for serialization.
Most authors who get their works serialized in major publishing houses' novel magazines are people who have been studying in the novel industry for years and make a living from it. These people are mostly adults; after all, they have so much time to conceive plots and find inspiration.
Of course, there are a very few unreasonable geniuses in the industry who are exceptions.
"Hello, Xia Yan, right? I'm Tang Yin, the editor at Red Maple Literature." Tang Yin smiled as she looked at the information form Xia Yan had filled out earlier.
"Hello, Ms. Tang." Xia Yan sat down.
Although he was just a student, his father had taken him to many gatherings with his uncles and friends before his death, so he wasn't as socially awkward as many of his peers.
"You're a second-year high school student at Nancheng Third Middle School, right?" Tang Yin looked at Xia Yan.
"That's right. 🎈💛 69S𝓱ᑌ𝓧.Ć𝕠Μ 💜🔥"
After a pause, Tang Yin didn't ask any more questions. Once the name and identity were confirmed, there was no need to know anything else. After all, if the manuscript Xia Yan brought wasn't of good quality, understanding those things would be a waste of time.
"I see on your information form that the title of the novel you want to submit is 'Youthful Journey,' hmm... the genre is... shoujo romance." Tang Yin's tone was slightly strange.
Normally, a novel a high school boy could create would be a work with a male protagonist, such as a battle, superpower, or romance novel.
Shoujo romance? As the name suggests, the protagonist is female.
Can a novel written by a second-year high school student accurately depict the thoughts and feelings of a female character, the delicate inner world of a woman?
It's important to understand that the inner worlds of boys and girls are vastly different.
In Tang Yin's two years as an editor, she'd seen female authors create hit young adult novels, but she'd never seen a male author create a hit young adult romance novel.
"That's right, it's a young adult romance. I'm very confident in 'Youth Journey'!"
Xia Yan deliberately flashed a confident smile, handing the manuscript file to her with both hands, his aura undeniable.
It wasn't that he wasn't nervous; he was also apprehensive. A work that succeeded in a parallel world might not succeed in China.
But as an author, he couldn't show any fear. If an author lacked confidence in their work, others would certainly find it difficult to have confidence in it either.
Tang Yin didn't waste time, opening the file and taking out the manuscript to begin reviewing it.
[I once had an unforgettable time!]
The beginning of the story of a youth journey is actually quite simple. The female protagonist, Futaba, and the male protagonist, Kou, huddled together under the eaves to take shelter from a rain shower during junior high school. After this brief encounter, they developed feelings for each other.
However, later, due to various reasons, Kou was about to transfer schools. Before leaving, Kou wanted to ask Futaba to meet him at a temple fair for a final farewell.
But because Futaba and Kou were getting too close, their classmates teased them about their impure relationship. 💢😝 6➈𝓼Ħù𝐱.¢𝐨Ⓜ ♝🍪
In a moment of desperation, Futaba blurted out to everyone, "I hate all boys!"
These words deeply stung Kou, who overheard them nearby. So, at 7 PM that evening, at the agreed-upon meeting place, Kou, despite being the one who invited them, didn't show up and transferred schools the next day. As the
saying goes, pride and arrogance ruin a life.
This is the beginning of the story between Futaba, the heroine of Ao Haru Ride, and Kou, the male protagonist.
In the novel adaptation of "Ao Haru Ride" by Xia Yan, the opening devotes considerable space to depicting Futaba's clumsy, arrogant, and dishonest nature during her middle school years.
The plot easily drew Tang Yin into reading.
She initially thought it was just an ordinary high school romance novel, but after reading the opening scenes:
"This relationship was surprisingly clumsy and hazy. Although it seemed like she was constantly groping her way, I really liked him back then."
"Even now, he still holds a place in my heart. I want to go back to that time."
→
The female protagonist's inner monologue vividly portrayed her feelings about her unrequited love.
As a teenage romance novel, this opening had already captured Tang Yin's attention.
The main story then shifts to the female protagonist, Shuangye, three years later during her high school years.
In order to avoid being isolated by girls because of her cute and weak image that made her popular with boys, Futaba deliberately acts carefree in front of her classmates in high school, hiding her cute side.
She deliberately eats loudly, speaks loudly, and is deliberately ungentle and inconsiderate, making the boys think she's unladylike. This is how she gains the trust of the girls in her class.
The opening text, nearly 30-40% of which describes the inner world of the protagonist, Futaba.
Yes, this is a major difference between works aimed at girls and works aimed at boys.
In most boys' romance novels, especially harem novels, the reader's focus is on the various female characters. The male protagonist? He's just a tool for the reader to identify with. Often, you'll find that if you changed the male protagonist's personality, his character, or even replaced him with the reader, the story wouldn't feel out of place; it would still make sense.
But girls' romance novels are different. The protagonist is the female lead, and she's irreplaceable in the story.
The highlight of the work lies in the female protagonist's emotional journey, from innocence to liking, to being hopelessly infatuated, and then to the heart-wrenching, sweet, or bittersweet
portrayals of her inner feelings. These are things male authors would find very difficult to write, much like palace intrigue dramas, which are mostly written by women. How could a male author write a story of a bunch of women vying for a man's favor? Tang Yin looked up at
the young man in front of her. "His novels, the descriptions of a girl's feelings for someone she secretly loves are so delicate! More captivating than many female authors," Tang Yin thought to herself. This female protagonist named Shuangye has a rather interesting character design. Will there be a sequel to her relationship with the boy she secretly loved three years ago, Guang? Soon, the main plot of the novel begins on this day, when she encounters Kou again at high school. Attracted to him, she unconsciously searches for him at school, approaches him, and they talk again under the eaves where they had sheltered from the rain three years prior. [Even though his height and voice have changed, the boy standing before me is the first boy I ever liked.] The girl's heart races. Tang Yin continues reading: "You seem to have disliked boys since before." Three years later, at the place where they had sheltered from the rain together, Kou chuckles casually. "Yeah, I've always disliked them." Shuangye clutches her backpack tightly, her fingers clenched, her voice steady as she tries to suppress her trembling. "But...you're the exception!" The boy covered his eyes, concealing his expression. "What?! Is that so?" "Yes, me too. I used to like you a lot." Kou said gently and calmly. [Just like those happiest times, let time turn back!] Futaba prayed inwardly. "It's too late to start over. Me too, and you too," Kou smiled, his tone indifferent, and turned to leave. Tears welled up in Futaba's eyes as she watched his departing figure. [He was telling me to forget, but as he spoke those cold words, a hint of loneliness lingered on his face. Three years ago, at that temple fair, she waited for him all night, but he didn't come.] I was thinking that once summer vacation ended, I would properly explain the misunderstanding to him. I thought there would be many more opportunities. We can no longer go back to that time. The first chapter of the novel ends here. Tang Yin's hand trembled slightly. To be honest, normally, she would only spend two or three minutes reading the more than ten thousand words of plot description from the beginning of the story to the reunion of the male and female protagonists. Don't underestimate the editor's ability to read quickly. High efficiency, and fast reading speed does not affect the quality of review. But this time... Tang Yin looked at the clock hanging on the wall. Eleven minutes . She watched it seriously for eleven minutes, completely immersing herself in the inner world of Shuangye, her love for Guang, her romance, and the regret of saying those false words three years ago. Even after the first chapter ended, the thought in her heart, "There are still many opportunities!" made her unconsciously feel a touch of sadness. In this world, how many opportunities are there? Once missed, they are gone forever. Xia Yan had written the first three chapters of the youth journey novel manuscript he gave her. Xia Yan had researched the five major publishing houses in Southern Province; each of their serialized light novels typically only had a few tens of thousands of words of plot text per installment. Therefore, he tried to keep the plot and chapter length within this range. Xia Yan waited for Tang Yin in the silent room for ten minutes. During this time, she didn't say a word, and Xia Yan was actually a little anxious. Was it good, or bad? (End of Chapter)
-+Chapter 5 A Good Start and... Alumni Chapter 5 A Good Start and Alumni
Xia Yan had finally waited until Tang Yin finished reading the first chapter's plot, wondering what she would say.
Unexpectedly, Tang Yin directly grabbed the manuscript of the second chapter and read on without saying a word.
At this point, Xia Yan roughly understood, and her inner tension gradually disappeared.
If she found it boring, she wouldn't have wasted so much time, right?
Meanwhile,
the other person waiting outside the meeting room, the girl in the red tracksuit who had entered the Red Maple Literature office building with Xia Yan through the elevator,
had already looked at the reflection in the frosted glass of the meeting room for the hundredth time.
Through the light and shadow of the frosted glass, she could see the reflection of the boy and woman who had gone in earlier talking inside the room, a conversation that had been going on continuously for ten minutes and was still ongoing.
He... had been inside for half an hour.
The girl in the red tracksuit removed her mask to let some fresh air, revealing a beautiful, delicate face.
A small nose, cherry-red lips, and clear, spring-like eyes; her fair, smooth skin was slightly red from being covered by the mask for so long.
"What kind of work did he bring?" the girl asked curiously.
She knew perfectly well that if the boy's work wasn't interesting, the editors wouldn't have wasted so much time on it. But then, anxiety welled up inside
her.
The longer she waited, the more her mind raced, already rehearsing over a dozen scenarios in her head about how her work would be bombarded with criticism by the reviewing editors.
"So, your problem is that you devoted too much space to describing Futaba. Obviously, the two main characters in Aoharu Journey are Futaba and Kou, but where is the detailed description of Kou? After reading the entire first three chapters of the novel, I was deeply moved by the image of Futaba as a sensitive, afraid-of-getting-hurt, liking Kou, and wishing to turn back time to three years ago to reconnect with Kou—a cute girl whose past relationship with her was severed."
"Kou? A mysterious boy? My concept of him is very vague. His appearance, height, and interpersonal relationships with his classmates are not clearly described. Does he show double standards in his treatment of the female lead, Futaba, and other girls? These details are very important. It is true that the female lead is the main character of a shoujo romance novel, but if the male lead is not clearly portrayed, don't expect readers of the magazine to have a deep sense of identification with him."
Tang Yin criticized Xia Yan's manuscript, and Xia Yan shrank his head and humbly accepted the suggestions and criticisms. 😡💚 ➅➈𝕤𝕙ᵘⓍ.ℂσⓜ 🐊☜
"Here, here, here, here...and here, give Kou more room to develop. Also, expand on the storylines of Shuangye's drinking buddies a bit. Honestly, these buddies can really stir up some hatred."
"After you've revised these parts, bring the manuscript to me tomorrow, or at the latest the day after. Here's my business card; just call me then." Tang Yin took out a business card from her pocket and handed it to Xia Yan.
"I've accepted your submission. Remember to contact me directly after you've revised it; don't try your luck at other publishing houses. Romance novels for young women are a staple genre at Red Maple Literature. The fact that you chose our company as your first submission suggests you've done your research," Tang Yin said, her voice softening slightly at the end.
"And what about mine?" Xia Yan asked.
"At least this work has passed my review," Tang Yin said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Three days from now, our company will hold a routine meeting to discuss filling some vacancies in our novel journal for completed novels. So your revised manuscript needs to be submitted to me by the day after tomorrow. ♛🍮 ➅9ѕ𝕙𝓤Ж.Ć𝔬𝐌 ☟🐯"
Tang Yin's words were clear.
She felt that the manuscript for "Youth Journey" had potential, but she couldn't give a definite answer as to whether it could be serialized in Red Maple Literature's novel journal, or in which journal it could be serialized. Such matters needed to be discussed in an editorial meeting.
For Xia Yan, the success or failure of this matter only concerned whether he would receive royalties. However, for Red Maple Literature, the serialization of each work was no small matter; it concerned the company's reputation among novel fans. It required careful scrutiny; one or two junior editors couldn't possibly have the final say.
"Understood."
Xia Yan was overjoyed. Passing the review editor's hurdle meant the work would be submitted to the serialization meeting. This situation was unexpectedly smooth.
However, Tang Yin told him not to submit the manuscript to other publishing houses, but to revise it and submit it to her immediately.
0000000.000
Xia Yan thought for a moment, took a deep breath, nodded, exchanged a few pleasantries with Tang Yin, and left the meeting room.
At this moment,
the girl in red, who had been waiting for Xia Yan outside for forty minutes, finally passed by Xia Yan, who was leaving the reception room, wearing a mask.
As the girl brushed past her, she carefully examined Xia Yan's face.
She went into the reception room, and of course, out of politeness, removed her mask.
After all, she wore a mask only because she was worried that acquaintances would see her submitting her work and spread rumors at school.
"Song Lingyun, right? I'm editor Tang Yin." Tang Yin looked at the information Song Lingyun had filled out earlier, and then looked at her.
A beautiful girl novel author... a rare animal!
"The two of you came one after the other, and you're both students from Nancheng Third Middle School." Tang Yin's expression was strange.
"You know Xia Yan, and you came together?"
"Xia Yan? Who's that?" Song Lingyun blinked, asking in a somewhat cold voice.
"Hmm, I don't know him! Then forget what I just said." Tang Yin coughed.
But what she said in jest was taken to heart.
Song Lingyun's eyes were thoughtful.
Another
Xia Yan, a student from Nancheng Third Middle School?
Song Lingyun glanced again at the text information on the first page of the stack of novel manuscripts on Tang Yin's desk.
[Written by Xia Yan, "Youth Journey"]
After thinking for a moment, Song Lingyun basically understood the meaning of Tang Yin's previous words.
So that's how it is... a fellow alumnus?
Song Lingyun's lips curled slightly. She was worried that a mere high school student wouldn't focus on his studies and would be criticized for neglecting his studies by submitting light novels, which was why she wore a mask to submit her work, worried about being recognized by acquaintances.
But at least now she knew
that there was another person in the school who wasn't focused on his studies.
What a coincidence.
Hmm... Youth Journey, is this the novel he submitted? What a terrible title.
"Yesterday's Starlight."
Tang Yin took the novel manuscript handed to her by Song Lingyun. She felt awkward about the title.
But she didn't say anything. After all, Tang Yin knew that her taste didn't represent the general public. Although she didn't like it, it didn't mean there was a problem with the title.
After carefully reviewing the manuscript,
Tang Yin's expression gradually changed.
The review lasted another seven minutes. She looked up, and her expression and attitude towards Song Lingyun were more serious than before.
This novel is quite interesting.
Why hadn't I paid much attention to Nancheng Third Middle School? How come all the students there are potential novelists?
Xia Yan walked out of the Red Maple Literature office building, glanced at the offices of the other four publishing houses, sighed, but abandoned the idea of submitting the same manuscript to multiple publications.
Tang Yin had already said she would submit "Youth Journey" to the meeting to decide whether to serialize it, and told him not to submit it to other publications, and Xia Yan had personally agreed to Tang Yin's request on the spot.
Most importantly, Tang Yin had pointed out some flaws in Xia Yan's writing during their previous conversation and expressed her willingness to cooperate. Xia Yan hadn't yet developed the thick skin to come up with other strange ideas.
Furthermore, after some consideration, he realized that Hongfeng Literature was indeed the most suitable of the five large novel publishing houses in Nancheng for a romance novel like "Youth Journey." If he could actually serialize it with Hongfeng Literature, that would be the best-case scenario. He decided
not to take the risk! At worst, if Tang Yin's serialization proposal at the meeting failed, Xia Yan could submit it to other publishers, wasting a few more days.
It was already noon. Xia Yan stopped thinking about it and boarded the bus home.
During the new book period, please vote for me if you have any! If you have any questions about the plot, please let me know; the author will listen to your opinions. Feel free to share any favorite works you'd like to read; if it's suitable, the author can incorporate them into the plot.
Also, please try not to let your books "grow" (i.e., not have a steady stream of readers). If the latest chapter's readership doesn't rise, Qidian (the platform) won't recommend it, which is very detrimental.