"How is this classical Chinese? Huh? How is it classical Chinese?" Qiu Wuji grabbed Chu Ge's collar in indignation. "This is clearly vernacular Chinese, just some parallel prose used for describing scenery!"
Chu Ge was also a bit of a headache.
Calling it classical Chinese was definitely wrong. Actually, her writing style belonged to ancient vernacular, similar to the style of the Four Great Classical Novels. If you read *Journey to the West*, the first chapter is filled with countless poems and songs that make you dizzy, but most of the narrative and dialogue are actually quite vernacular. At most, it could be called a semi-classical style by today's standards, still quite far from classical Chinese.
Chu Ge certainly didn't think this style would do well, but since he had no expectations for its performance, he let her publish it.
He didn't expect it to be rejected, not even allowed into the database.
After all, he wasn't an editor or part of the review team; everyone's review standards were different.
"Ultimately, it's because the opening paragraph's descriptive prose about the scenery went too far. There was no need to be so overly flamboyant. Just honestly describing a majestic green mountain would have been enough. Instead, you put in 'A poem describes this scene,' with lines like 'The river flows far and wide, where are the fishermen and woodcutters? The clouds are deep, and a child seems to return.' Two or three hundred words of this is unnecessary, truly unnecessary..." Qiu Wuji bit his lower lip, his expression indignant. "I thought about it for a long time! This is a necessary scenic backdrop. I've read thousands of years of stories and folk tales, and they all write like this..."
"Emmmm, thousands of years..." Chu Ge scratched his head. It really wasn't easy to change. Qiu Wuji's reading habits and writing style, cultivated over so many years, were deeply ingrained. It wasn't something that could be changed overnight. He hadn't read many novels in this world; it certainly couldn't overshadow his millennia-old foundation.
"Speaking of which, didn't you deliberately study my writing style back then?"
"Huh? I was reading stories... Writing style, isn't it just like that?" Qiu Wuji sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought. "Besides, I read so many Taoist scriptures and classical texts, and then I went back to that..."
"You adapt to speaking very quickly, but why can't you write?"
"Speaking is different; it depends on the environment. You can't write like that when you're writing. You wouldn't write in the book about what you said in the group chat, like 'Lulu gave me a sneak peek,' would you..."
Chu Ge: "...That's true."
Qiu Wuji felt wronged: "Am I supposed to read like crazy, trying to find the feel of modern writing style?"
"How about this, if you don't use your own style, but deliberately imitate other people's styles, can you do it?"
"I can try, imitate yours?"
"You publish in the female-oriented genre, so imitate the female-oriented masters. Actually, the female-oriented genre also values beautiful writing, it's just that everyone's way of being beautiful is different. You can study it." Chu Ge said, "If you're imitating me, then you have to publish in the male-oriented genre." "What's the main difference between male and female authors? Female protagonists versus male protagonists?"
"That's a difference in perspective. There's also a difference in style. Female authors focus more on romance, while male authors focus more on career. Of course, it's not a hard and fast rule; there are female-centric career stories and male-centric romance stories, but the details are still different—perspectives and ways of thinking..." Qiu Wuji's head was spinning: "Stop, stop, stop..." Chu Ge could only say, "Every field seems simple, but once you delve into it, there are many intricacies. That's what they mean by 'a trade is like a mountain.' Speaking of which, you haven't even figured out the difference between male and female authors, are you sure you want to continue writing?" Qiu Wuji thought for a moment: "Your divisions here are indeed very detailed, with sub-categories for different readers. On our side… hey, you tell me, if I don't publish here, but instead publish and spread it over there, does that count? With my influence, it's easy for it to become known throughout the world within ten days… I can even consult with people who study the art of books…" Chu Ge slowly opened his mouth wide. If you're writing a book over there, and you create a world within it, this is...
"Let me try it first? If it doesn't work, I'll come back and figure something out." Qiu Wuji said somewhat embarrassedly, "Well, I've stayed long enough this time, how about going back for a few days?"
This tone of seeking her opinion made Chu Ge feel a little satisfied.
She's the head of the household!
Chu Ge didn't insist, patting her shoulder: "Go take the test. Although I don't have high hopes, I'm quite interested. I hope you succeed."
Qiu Wuji didn't speak, just stared intently at his hand.
Chu Ge awkwardly withdrew his hand.
Qiu Wuji pushed him towards the door, saying, "Get out, get out, I'm going back." Chu Ge then remembered that she was going back to hide on the bed and undress. The thought made his heart flutter, and he suddenly said, "Your protagonist's name is really lacking in that world. How about I change one character?" Qiu Wuji was a little confused by his sudden change of thought and asked curiously, "Change what?" Chu Ge turned back and changed one character in the document: "Chu Muqiu." Then he turned and smiled, "Is it good?" Qiu Wuji stared blankly at his smile, something strange stirring within her, indescribable.
Wasn't this Chu Ge trying to woo Qiu Wuji again, constantly using different tricks?
Hmph.
She turned her head away, "Alright, alright, you can write books now, right? Get out, I'm leaving."
Chu Ge reached out and took her slender hand, "In our world, a handshake is at least a farewell."
Qiu Wuji let him hold her hand, even letting him squeeze it a couple of times, without saying a word.
...
Qiu Wuji went back. Standing in her room, Chu Ge looked at the computer that hadn't even been turned off, and felt that Qiu Wuji's return this time was somewhat like a hasty escape.
"Is it really necessary? I'm not going to pull off your blanket."
Chu Ge smelled the fragrance on his hands, his gaze falling on the computer document, lost in thought.
In his own setting, the Book Dao of that world definitely couldn't reach the level of creation; it was far from it. Such cultivators could only summon some book spirits or use the properties of words to achieve certain magical effects—that was already the limit.
Even in his planned conception, the ascended celestial realm couldn't create a world through the Book Dao. This kind of method, belonging to the supreme creation, was either possessed by the protagonist or by the final boss level, and it simply didn't exist in the setting of this book.
Qiu Wuji's attempt to create a nested world was unlikely to succeed; she couldn't break through the limitations of the world.
So the nested world issue could be put aside. What Chu Ge was really thinking about was, since his book didn't mention Qiu Wuji writing books, what kind of nature would her going back to write books and spread them throughout the world be? This will definitely have some impact and change on the world... but it shouldn't affect the plot. Will this level of change cause any problems?
This is also part of the testing.
I wonder if Qiu Wuji has thought of this... judging from her running away, probably not.
Chu Ge felt like a worried parent.
Hmm... a parent should do parental work! Chu Ge looked around furtively, sat down at the computer, and opened Qiu Wuji's hard drive and browser.
What car did you watch last time? And what weird stuff are you searching for every day? Let Daddy see!
Hmm... the car is here...
Chu Ge clicked on it and almost dropped the mouse.
This is a fucking BDSM film where a male masochist is whipped and disciplined!
No wonder her reaction that day wasn't as intense as I expected; instead, her gaze was extremely strange, looking her up and down... I see!
Although she wasn't beaten back then! But this isn't a good thing, damn it!
And I've never seen this kind of film before! Chu Ge was so angry he almost vomited blood. He opened the group chat on his phone: "Who sent the M car to Sect Leader Qiu that day? Step forward and face your death!"