A drop of 34.000 copies.
Seeing the number, Suspense World's editor-in-chief, Wei Heming, was momentarily stunned.
What happened?
How did magazine sales plummet so drastically?
It didn't make sense. They had just signed a renowned master of the supernatural genre last week, and this week, sales were suddenly crashing.
Something didn't add up.
But Wei Heming wasn't just anybody. He was the man who had taken Suspense World from a niche supernatural magazine to the top of the industry.
A quick analysis was all it took for Wei Heming to pinpoint the problem; it had to be Sanyue's 'Even Ghosts Despair'.
"Zhu Shi, looks like Midnight Talk played us."
At this moment, everything became clear to Wei Heming.
All that talk about how Midnight Talk's sales surge was thanks to Sanyue?
All those claims that Sanyue's asking price was too high and Midnight Talk had no choice but to give him up?
Complete bullshit.
They had set the whole thing up, waiting for Suspense World to take the bait.
And stupidly, Suspense World had walked right into the trap.
"You were right before, 'Even Ghosts Despair' isn't just mediocre. No, forget mediocre, it's downright awful. I'm honestly scared to open the letters we're going to get from readers in a few days."
Just the thought of reader complaints flooding in made Wei Heming feel like coughing blood.
Damn Sanyue. Damn Midnight Talk.
That move was 'ruthless'.
"I'm terminating Sanyue's contract immediately," he growled, seething.
But Zhu Shi shook his head.
"Wei, sure, we need to cancel the contract with Sanyue. But that's not the most urgent issue. Right now, our priority is figuring out how to recover those lost 34.000 copies. You know how this industry works, sales fall easily but are painfully hard to recover. It took us nearly five years to build Suspense World up to 200.000 weekly copies. And now, in a single issue, we've dropped below that mid-tier magazine survival line. If we can't get back above 200.000 soon, all that effort over the last five years will go to waste."
"…Yeah. You're right. I got too emotional."
Wei Heming smacked his forehead, gathering his thoughts.
"Looks like we've got no choice but to bring Zhang Yun back ahead of schedule."
"It's our only option," Zhu Shi agreed with a nod.
…
Time returned to the present.
When Midnight Talk received insider news that Suspense World's weekly sales had dropped by 43.000 copies in the latest issue, Editor-in-Chief Zhou Qing was ecstatic for the entire night.
Hahaha, hahahaha, too exciting, too satisfying!
They've fallen below 200.000 weekly, let's see what investors still want to touch them now.
His mind spinning with ideas, Zhou Qing couldn't stop grinning. He was thrilled to have led Suspense World straight into such a brutal trap.
And yet, beyond the euphoria, Zhou Qing found himself increasingly interested in the author Fanchen behind 'Strange Tales'.
Those stories are absolutely brilliant.
If he could lock Fanchen down and have him consistently write 'Strange Tales' for Midnight Talk, then surpassing Suspense World wouldn't just be a possibility; it might be inevitable.
No, who even cares about Suspense World?
If Fanchen could churn out dozens or even hundreds of 'Strange Tales' of that quality, Midnight Talk could completely reinvent itself, from a niche supernatural rag to a mainstream story magazine.
The more he thought about it, the more desperate Zhou Qing became to contact Fanchen.
But Fanchen had been missing for nearly twenty days. No one knew where he had gone.
Still, Zhou Qing refused to give up.
The future of Midnight Talk might very well depend on this one mysterious writer.
With that thought, Zhou Qing didn't care that it was already late at night; he immediately called Editor Dong Xiaoyu.
"Dong Xiaoyu, I'm ordering you, whatever it takes, if Fanchen comes online, you contact him 'immediately'."
Zhou Qing's strict orders left Dong Xiaoyu near tears. How was she supposed to monitor the computer 24 hours a day? If he didn't reply, what could she do?
But she came up with a plan. She linked her TT account to her phone and set up an alert: the moment Fanchen logged in, TT would instantly notify her.
Finally, after more than 20 days of silence, Fanchen quietly came online.
Dong Xiaoyu shot up from bed in an instant and sent Huang Yifan a message.
"Fanchen Boss, don't go! Please, I'm begging you, don't go offline. I have something important to discuss!"
…
The next morning, Huang Yifan headed back to school.
This time, his mother Li Shuhua didn't come with him. He went alone.
"Looks like I need to write a few more 'Strange Tales' soon. Otherwise, that editor Liangcha might cry himself to death."
Just thinking about how Liangcha was bawling on TT the night before gave Huang Yifan a headache.
In the end, he gave in and agreed to the man's desperate request: one 'Strange Tales' story per week.
Fortunately, that was manageable. Though his hands hadn't fully recovered yet, writing a 1.000 words story each week was still within reach.
But compared to Midnight Talk, the real problem he didn't know how to deal with… was that girl sitting next to him.
'Huang Yifan, where did you go? The teachers were looking for you. Your mom came too. When she found out you skipped class and disappeared, she cried so hard. Where are you? Please come back.'
That was the message Zhang Huiping had sent him at 9:30 p.m. the night before, just after evening study ended.
Huang Yifan knew she was a boarder. The school didn't have computers, so there were only two ways she could send a TT message: either by going home or to an internet café.
And he remembered, when she was little, Zhang Huiping had once been scared walking alone at night. Ever since, she 'never' went anywhere by herself after dark.
Whether she went home or to a net café, just imagining that timid girl forcing herself out into the night, conquering her fear, just to send him a message,
Huang Yifan felt his eyes sting.
In his mind's eye, he saw a frail little figure stumbling through the darkness.
So small, so fragile, like the night might swallow her at any moment.
'Huang Yifan, you've been missing for 24 hours. Mr. Lin reported it to the police. They even questioned me about you. I feel so guilty. I think it's my fault you ran away. I'm sorry, Huang Yifan. I don't even know what I said that upset you. But please, forgive me. Come back when you see this message, okay?'
That was the second message.
'Huang Yifan, the police said they've put out a missing person report. But it's already been three days. I'm really worried. I don't know where you are, or if you're safe. I hope no one's hurting you. If you see this, please…'
'Huang Yifan, you've been gone for five days. Did you forget you promised to tutor me? Come back to school.'
'Huang Yifan, I'm not very smart. I'm clumsy with words and don't know how to write anything touching. I don't even know what to say to convince you. But skipping school like this isn't good. Everyone's worried about you.'
'Huang Yifan, today marks the seventh day since you left. You haven't replied once. But it's okay. I just hope you'll see this. Even if you don't reply, that's fine. Actually, I don't know why, but I suddenly feel like maybe your absence isn't as bad as it seemed. Maybe… you had something really important to do.'
'Huang Yifan, I remembered, you said you wanted to save your world. Such a profound thing to say. I still don't understand what it means.'
'Huang Yifan, it's been ten days. You know, I used to be terrified of walking alone at night. But lately… I'm not scared anymore. I don't know why. Maybe because you're not here. I don't even have anyone to share this little victory with. Come back, okay? It's kind of lonely without you.'
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