Chapter 8

Those involved in promotion should know that it’s almost impossible for something to smoothly progress from mediocrity to its peak without any hiccups along the way.

If people’s curiosity is fully satisfied from the beginning, then it might only briefly catch their attention, and the discussion will soon pass.

So, from the start, Sheng Quan didn’t release all the information.

After voices of doubt arose, “Roadside Flower” waited a day before releasing screenshots from the group chat as proof, with timestamps, and there were also screenshots from other girls in the group providing evidence.

Now that it was proven to be true, the curiosity of netizens naturally wouldn’t be satisfied with just this. Their focus shifted to: Which novel is this original story from? How handsome is the pancake stand guy? Which drama is this? Did they really invest 10 million?

After this, Sheng Quan didn’t need to do anything. Naturally, there were netizens who transformed into ace detectives, unraveling the mystery with evidence, logic, and sound reasoning, causing other netizens to cheer them on.

The scene of casual observation instantly turned into a relay race of investigation.

Vinegary Potato Shreds Stir-fried Potatoes: [Although it’s blurred, decoding it isn’t difficult. Firstly, there’s a popular character in this book surnamed Qin, readers call him Brother Qin. Moreover, this book can be adapted into film and television, and it even has true fans. Even if it’s not a big hit, the results are definitely not bad. Plus, the production team is still filming. Originally, the actor scheduled to play Brother Qin terminated his contract due to scheduling conflicts, and just now it was officially announced that the handsome guy from the pancake stand will play Brother Qin. As long as this is true, just check the recent posts from the official accounts of the filming crew.]

Mild Pollution: [Found it. There are quite a few filming crews recently, but only two have officially announced their cast. One announced the entire cast, and the other only announced one actor, and the character he plays is surnamed Qin. The screenshot is below.]

With a direction, the vast number of netizens spontaneously searched for other evidence.

Sweet and Sour Cilantro Wholesale Manager Luo: [That’s right, this filming crew is adapting the novel “The Road of Life.” I specifically went to the comments section of “The Road of Life.” Readers who like Qin Heng call him Brother Qin, it matches up perfectly.]

Cat Teaching the World’s Best Compass: [Wow! We unexpectedly stumbled upon our own heads while casually observing. I’ve read this novel before, and my favorite character is Brother Qin! Previously, when I heard the author mention the drama adaptation, I thought it would definitely ruin the original work, and I refused to watch it. If this is really the drama, won’t it be a celebration for us original fans?]

AAA Coriander Wholesale Luo: [Count me in for the celebration! Amazing! If the investor is a fan of the original work, who would dare to ruin it?]

Cat’s Compass: [As a book fan, I have to say, Sister Rich Lady has really good taste. The guy she placed in the crew really gives off the vibe of Qin Heng! When will this drama air? I want to follow it!]

500 Gram per Kilogram: [I checked it out too. I can only say that you can always trust the aesthetics of wealthy people (dog holding rose.jpg).]

Generally speaking, revealing that the investor is inserting people into the production usually invites scorn, but this time the situation of “Rich Lady Book Fan Splurging 10 Million to Preserve the Original Work” was completely different.

Who wouldn’t want their favorite book to have such a powerful wealthy fan supervising the whole process?

As the topic heated up and more people joined the discussion, girls in the readers’ group also began to chime in.

Black Snail Powder: [I was in the group at the time, lucky to have witnessed the whole thing. At the time, we all thought it was a joke. I even said I signed a contract with a snail (facepalm), but turns out they really meant it.]

Sun is mine sMD: [Who isn’t, right? I even earnestly taught the rich lady how to pay the contracted artists, she shouldn’t be too old, and she said she just started in the industry and wants to learn from me. I’m deeply sinful!]

The comments from these book fans groups were all heavily upvoted, with a sea of laughter below.

Some attentive individuals went directly to the comments section of the original novel and successfully found an account suspected to belong to the rich lady.

Why could they find it so quickly? Because she directly checked the fans ranking, and the first name was “Brother Qin Handsome Breaking the Sky.” Although it seems different from the name of the book fan group, this user had read through all the chapters and found that “Brother Qin Handsome Breaking the Sky” would send gifts in every chapter where Qin Heng appeared.

The value of each gift in every chapter was no less than one thousand, and in Chapter Seven, it even reached a staggering thirty thousand, note, not thirty thousand virtual coins, but thirty thousand RMB.

She summarized all the gifts this account had sent: [Eighty-nine thousand! A whopping eighty-nine thousand! She has spent a total of eighty-nine thousand on gifts alone!]

The bystanders were deeply envious: [Is this the world of the wealthy?]

[Is it still possible to start writing novels now? Does the rich lady need leg ornaments, someone who has been to university, can cook, and can go to the toilet by herself?]

[To love a novel so much as to spend eighty-nine thousand, and then to spend ten million to threaten the director not to ruin the original work once it’s adapted into a TV series. What a joyful life! Sob, I’m tired of saying ‘envious’ already!]

[Darn!!! I’m a lemon!!! Having had several original works ruined, I just want the rich lady to take a look at my reading list!]

[Not only that! It seems the rich lady is re-reading the book, sending money while reading! Darn! Witnessing history!]

[Isn’t the original author living the dream! Writing a book that attracts a rich lady’s spending, selling the IP, having investors who are book fans, and now so many people are curious to read it. If the show becomes popular, her other copyrights will surely sell well too. What a stroke of good luck in life! I really want to interview the original author and see what she’s thinking now.]

Reading this comment, Sheng Quan paused for a moment. She also wanted to know what the author of “The Road of Life” was thinking. Would she feel a little better seeing the skyrocketing data and increasing profits?

Sheng Quan tapped the original “The Road of Life” in her hand. “I really like this book. It gives off a very warm feeling, and after reading it, it makes you want to be a little kinder, a little more compassionate.”

She set the book down. “You can tell the author is a really good person.”

Yuan Xiangwan asked, “You really like her?”

“Of course,” Sheng Quan replied. “She’s much better than that author who creates great characters and then cruelly gives them the worst endings, who gives the characters the best setup but doesn’t let them succeed in their careers.”

Indeed, she was talking about the book “Starlight.” Even though she had traveled through time, Sheng Quan still felt frustrated every time she thought about the final outcome.

Yuan Xiangwan could tell that Sheng Quan was full of resentment. His eyes narrowed behind his golden-rimmed glasses. “Who is that author?”

Sheng Quan didn’t need to look to know what Yuan Xiangwan wanted to do. Others might not, but he definitely could stay up all night cursing the author on her behalf. “You don’t need to help me curse; I’ve already done it.”

Even though she died after cursing, it didn’t matter. The dogged author didn’t act like a human, but she could change that bloody ending herself.

At least now, someone had already changed it because of her, right?

Sheng Quan gently set down the book. “If I have the chance, I’d like to meet the author of ‘The Road of Life’ and invite her for a cup of milk tea.”

As the producer of the crew, no one asked Yuan Xiangwan, but he quietly finished reading the original work. Clearly, despite his skewed values, he could discern from the text that the author was experiencing some difficulties, though he didn’t see anything.

But that didn’t stop Yuan, the producer, from centering his thoughts around Sheng Quan’s wishes. “If you like her, you can invite her to be a scriptwriter for the crew.”

Sheng Quan shook her head. “No, she also has her own job, and besides, I express my fondness in a very singular way.”

Yuan Xiangwan raised his glasses slightly, already knowing what Sheng Quan was going to say.

Sure enough, Sheng Quan pulled out her phone. “By spending money.”

After saying this, Sheng Quan continued to madly tap the option to send gifts on the novel website page. All the gift messages were: [Really love the books written by the author, as the saying goes, ‘Really like drinking milk tea, please enjoy some milk tea~’]

Onlookers passing by: Do you wealthy people spend tens of thousands just for a cup of milk tea?!

As more and more passersby watched Sheng Quan send gifts, the heat of the matter continued to rise. Some people even joined in just for the fun, claiming they wanted to participate.

Everyone had one thought: I really want to know how the author feels about the tens of thousands being spent by the rich lady book fan.

In reality, the author had no idea because she hadn’t been aware of this at all.

The pen name of the author of “The Road of Life” was Nalan. As long as she logged in, she would see messages from all sides. But during this period, she was experiencing a sudden personal crisis and was mentally exhausted. She hadn’t logged in to her account or followed any entertainment gossip news for two full months.

Nalan’s real name was Chen Lan, and in reality, she was a teacher. She barely made it to school today, having rushed here, and was about to hurry to class when a new intern teacher asked curiously, “Teacher Chen, didn’t you switch classes with Teacher Ma yesterday?”

Chen Lan then remembered and absentmindedly nodded, “Yes, yes, I forgot.”

The intern teacher couldn’t help but remind her again, “Is your clothes on backward?”

Chen

Lan looked down and indeed they were. She hurriedly stood up, “Ah, I didn’t even notice, thank you, I’ll go to the restroom and change.”

As she left, the intern teacher asked the person next to her in a low voice, “Teacher Chen used to be so neat, what’s going on?”

The person next to her glanced around and whispered, “You don’t know yet? Something happened to Teacher Chen’s family. Her husband had a car accident and passed away.”

“Ah?!!”

The other teacher, He, said, “It’s normal that you don’t know; you just got here. Hey, she and her husband grew up in the same orphanage, childhood sweethearts who worked together. Their relationship was very good; her husband used to pick her up from work often and always brought her milk tea. They also have twin daughters. After her husband passed away, she had to handle everything on her own, take care of the children… Haven’t you noticed she doesn’t smile anymore?”

Colleagues sighed, “I remember they just bought a house, right? Our salaries are so low, how can Teacher Chen manage it all by herself?”

Teacher He sighed, “Not just the mortgage, there’s also the preschool fees for the kids, taking care of their daily needs, car payments, all of it falls on her shoulders alone. So, if we can help, we should lend a hand. If our schedules don’t conflict, we can swap classes to help out.”

“And, don’t bring up these things in the office. Don’t make her feel nostalgic.”

The intern teacher nodded repeatedly, “Okay, I got it, I’ll be careful in the future.”

After a while, Chen Lan indeed came back. She sat down to prepare for class, but just as she sat down, the phone rang. She went out to answer it; it was the kindergarten urging her to pay the fees for the next quarter.

Just as she hung up that call, she received a text reminder; it was about the mortgage payment. She let out a sigh, rolled up her sleeves, and noticed a doodle on her arm, most likely drawn by her daughter while she was sleeping.

She couldn’t blame the children. They were full of energy, but she was so exhausted that she couldn’t even play with them. Both children were very well-behaved, knowing to entertain themselves while Mom was sleeping.

Chen Lan tried to tell herself it was okay, but the next moment, a tear fell onto the doodle.

The pressure from all directions made her feel like she was on the verge of collapse, especially since her family had been at their happiest just before her husband’s accident.

Everything had been fine. She received the copyright fee, which wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but it was very satisfying for them. After discussing it, the couple used this fee along with their savings to pay the down payment and renovation costs for a house, ending their days of renting. Without any help from their parents, they were able to own their own home, and they both felt very content.

According to their plans, their combined salaries would comfortably cover the car and mortgage payments, with some left over to save. They even had enough to continue donating to the orphanage.

But just when they were at their happiest, her husband passed away.

Their happy life overnight turned into sorrow and despair. She had to deal with her daughters asking where Daddy was, sell the home they had just built, and support everything on her own with her salary. She wanted to write a new book to earn money, but she couldn’t write a single word, and she didn’t even have time to reminisce about her husband. She was already numb from the overwhelming tasks.

To make matters worse, both children fell ill during this time. She only slept for two or three hours each night for several consecutive days. At first, it was because she didn’t have time to sleep, but later, even when she fell asleep, she would wake up suddenly.

So tired.

More and more tired.

Walking along the corridor of the school, Chen Lan suddenly looked down. Reason told her that everything would pass, but her heart uncontrollably thought, maybe it would be better to just jump down; then she wouldn’t be so tired anymore.

She woke up suddenly, as if she had touched something terrifying. She quickly withdrew her hand from the railing. Chen Lan could be described as panicked. She took out her phone and looked at the screensaver, a photo of her twin daughters, and suppressed that terrible thought.

After the panic, came exhaustion and confusion. Chen Lan could vaguely feel that her current state was like walking on a tightrope by a cliff, or falling down from the cliff. She thought, perhaps she had some psychological problems now, which seemed reasonable. She and her husband had grown up together, relying on each other as their strongest support, more like family than partners.

With her partner gone, it was normal to have some psychological issues, but where could she find the money and time to see a psychologist now? Just taking care of her two daughters was already exhausting.

It’ll be okay, everything will be okay. Time will heal everything.

Chen Lan’s hand unconsciously fell back on the railing. She didn’t even realize it herself.

“Chen Lan!!! Chen Lan!!!” Teacher Ma ran over excitedly. She was Chen Lan’s friend and the only person in the school who knew Chen Lan’s pen name. She grabbed Chen Lan’s hand and pulled her away from the railing.

“Did you see Weibo? I saw it right after class! You’re famous! No, your book is famous!!”

“And a very wealthy book fan has spent a lot of money on you! Many people are spending money on you! Haven’t you logged in for a long time? Right! I knew it! Otherwise, you would have told me! I just checked it out; the screen is full of gifts, it’s great! You need cash now, right?! This money is enough for you to hire someone to take care of your kids, and it can also ease your car and mortgage payments, giving you time to figure things out! This money came just in time!”

Chen Lan reacted slowly, but she still heard it clearly, “What…?”

---

Sheng Quan, soaking her feet and drinking the milk tea delivered by the errand boy, opened her phone and clicked into the novel page of “The Road of Life,” seeing the replies.

Author’s reply: [Thank you, the milk tea is really delicious.]

Sheng Quan satisfiedly put her phone aside and took a sip of milk tea, “Milk tea is really delicious~”

006, belatedly aware: [Host, you’ve changed her ending. Her ending should be severe depression leading to suicide, known to fans after the show airs, and fans discover that she and her husband had been committed to charity work during their lives, sparking public mourning.]

Sheng Quan: [I know.]

006: [She wasn’t the chosen beneficiary.]

Sheng Quan: [I know.]

Sheng Quan took another sip of milk tea, [Haven’t you noticed that I used system funds without any warning? That’s because every penny I gave her was converted into heat for the crew, for Yan Hui’s heat, which is within the system’s rules for expenditure.]

006: [No, 006 isn’t asking about that, 006 wants to know why, as she wasn’t the chosen beneficiary, why did the Host still want to help her.]

Sheng Quan thought for a moment, then smiled, [Because I didn’t like that ending, and I have the power to change it.]

006 seemed to understand vaguely, and Sheng Quan smiled as she set down her milk tea, [Alright, it’s okay if you don’t understand.

Weren’t you worried about my lifespan? You can relax now.]

In the signal-poor mountains, after a hard day’s shooting, Wan Bao yawned and walked back with the crew. As he walked, he took out his phone intending to check for any recent juicy gossip. But as soon as he opened Weibo, he exclaimed, “Why is the network still so slow?”

Being quite aware that their own crew was just a small fish in the pond, he didn’t think much about excessive messages causing the lag: “What’s going on? Is Weibo down now? At this time… Aaahhh!!!!”

Wan Bao’s excited, booming voice almost deafened Lin Aike, who was drinking water from a thermos cup on the side. Behind them, Zhou Zhi and Yan Hui, who were sharing chicken jerky, also looked startled.

Lin Aike quickly drank some wolfberry water to calm herself down, thinking, “What’s going on? Has the director finally gone mad? I’m so hungry. Is the director going mad from hunger too?” Just then, her phone, which was in her pocket, reconnected to the network, and the notification sound kept chiming.

The same happened to others; many people’s phones started chiming with notifications from various platforms.

Lin Aike was a bit puzzled. It seemed like there weren’t so many messages when they lost network during shoots before. Just as she took out her phone, her agent called:

“Why did you take so long to answer the phone! Never mind, that’s not important! Do you know what’s happening? The drama you’re shooting right now is trending!!”

Wan Bao, the director, exclaimed, “What’s happening? Why does our drama’s Weibo have so many more followers? Did Miss Sheng buy us followers? But they look so genuine… Ahhh!!!”

The agent’s high-pitched voice and the director’s excited voice complemented each other quite thrillingly.

Lin Aike, holding her thermos cup filled with wolfberry-infused water and pondering what to eat for dinner, was left speechless: “???”

“What?!!”