System: 【Ah? Didn’t we agree to let Xie Lanze be the senior?】

【Don’t worry. Just write well and update regularly. If you want to be a senior, it will come, and you’ll also face backlash.】

Thinking about the pile of unfinished stories in his column, Xie Lanze felt a wave of darkness wash over him. He chose to play dumb: “Mr. Fu, what are you talking about? I’m just a screenwriter; I don’t have a column at all!”

Fu Yunshen replied directly, “Shuanghua, what year do you plan to fill in the sixteen unfinished stories in your column?”

Having followed Shuanghua’s writing and getting invested in it, only to find it abruptly halted, Fu Yunshen shared the same feelings as the readers: he wanted to jump through the internet and give Xie Lanze a beating, locking him in a small dark room to write.

However, since the author had come right to him now, trying to seduce him, Fu Yunshen didn’t need to jump through the internet to accept the invitation directly.

“I…” His disguise dropped in front of Fu Yunshen. Remembering all his abrupt hiatuses, Xie Lanze’s ears turned red, sneaking a peek at Fu Yunshen.

Unlike his cold demeanor in reality, Xie Lanze often acted cute online to avoid updating, consistently begging his readers to be lenient and then continuing to abandon them.

He had taken leave for his birthday, his family’s birthdays, the birthdays of various distant relatives, as well as occasional travel leave, sudden work obligations, unexpected illnesses, and even excuses like his computer breaking down, running out of electricity, and losing his saved drafts… He even once took leave for “Aunt Flo” when readers were unsure of his gender in the early days.

In short, he took a month off and updated just one day.

Fu Yunshen chuckled softly and said, “If you’re so eager to be a little aunt, is it really that hard to fill in a plot hole?”

“I’m not!” Xie Lanze quickly denied it, his pride too strong for such accusations. He explained, “I just have too many ideas! But once I open a new story and think through the plot in my head, I lose interest, and then I want to write something else…”

Xie Lanze came from a literary family, so his writing skills were not an issue. He had a rich imagination and often came up with brilliant ideas that left readers in awe.

However, his enthusiasm for each plot lasted only three minutes. Whenever he thought of a new story, he’d dive in and enjoy it in his mind, only to go silent afterward, leaving a bunch of readers eagerly waiting in the trenches. Meanwhile, he would excitedly start another story, dragging in another wave of readers, creating an endless cycle.

Having started writing at a young age, Xie Lanze was now twenty-four and had been writing for nearly ten years, finishing only eight books, with a few of them being short stories.

Fu Yunshen watched him quietly and smiled, “So this is your excuse for digging holes and not filling them?”

Now that the readers were right in front of him, no excuse for taking leave would work! Inside, Xie Lanze felt like a little person on his knees, shedding tears like wide noodles.

“Just fill in those plot holes properly, and we’ll become sworn brothers. Then Fang Rui will call you ‘little uncle,’ which is much better than being a little aunt, right?”

Xie Lanze was momentarily taken aback. “Sworn brothers?” When he heard Fu Yunshen earlier suggesting he take on a senior role, he thought it was just a joke to spur him into updating. But now it seemed there was a serious undertone?

Fu Yunshen nodded. “I’m serious. How about you fill in those two plots, The Sword Bearer and Whirlpool?” The Sword Bearer and Whirlpool were Xie Lanze’s two most popular books—one martial arts and the other science fiction—with tens of thousands of readers waiting for updates. Fu Yunshen had just finished both and was stuck at the bottom of those pits.

Xie Lanze understood that someone like Fu Yunshen meant what he said. If he was serious, he wouldn’t be lying to him. After all the time he spent in front of Fu Yunshen, he intended to slap Fang Rui in the face. Now, hearing Fu Yunshen suggest that he become ‘little uncle,’ he felt oddly pleased inside.

Moreover, compared to throwing himself into the story, writing seemed much easier, right?

Xie Lanze replied, “Alright, I agree.” Anyway, he had already finished the outlines for those two stories, so he wasn’t worried. He could at least still call himself a writer; writing was such a simple task.

“Good.” Fu Yunshen in the wheelchair had been waiting for Xie Lanze to say that. “I’ve specially prepared a room for you at my place. How about you write right here?”

Having seen the original plot, Fu Yunshen was well aware of how much Shuanghua loved to slack off. Normally, his typing speed was quite fast, at around two to three thousand words per hour, but as he typed, he would often open his phone to play games, browse forums, snack on fruit, and daydream. Even if the writing software on his computer locked him out of the word count, he had countless ways to escape that “little dark room.”

Xie Lanze froze for a moment. “No, no, I’m more used to writing at home.” As an author who dug holes without filling them, living at a reader’s house and being urged for updates every day sounded terrifying! Just thinking about it made him feel his scalp tingle and tremble in fear!

However, Fu Yunshen wasn’t asking Xie Lanze’s opinion; he raised an eyebrow and said, “Since Mr. Xie wants to be a senior, he should first move in to experience the family atmosphere of the Fu household, right?” He exhibited the commanding aura of a wealthy elder, but instead of using it on romantic advances, he directed it toward urging for updates.

System: 【QWQ, Fifth Master, I feel like your domineering aura is developing in strange directions!】

Xie Lanze was taken aback by Fu Yunshen’s firm attitude. He hesitated and asked, “Is it… necessary?”

Fu Yunshen smiled faintly, “What do you think?”

System: 【There are a million ways to escape from the writing software’s little dark room, but can you really escape from the little dark room in reality?】

System: 【Ahhh, so sweet! I’m dying! I originally wanted to say: lock him in the little dark room! Confront him! This conversation could easily be used to bring Xie Lanze home, but who knew Fifth Master would want to lock him up at home to write!】

Xie Lanze, eager to become Fang Rui’s little uncle, had no choice but to agree. “Alright then.”

…

Fu Yunshen immediately arranged for someone to help Xie Lanze move, preparing a living room and a dedicated study for him in the Fu residence.

When Old Master Fu and his wife first learned about this, they were thrilled. Their son, who had been single for twenty-eight years, had finally brought someone home! And he was a well-mannered son from the Xie family! They were very pleased with this future son-in-law!

However, Fu Yunshen calmly explained, “This is my sworn younger brother.” He spoke with a serious tone, leaving no room for any ambiguous interpretations.

Recalling the overwhelming educational news about his son taking in the city’s top student as his godson, Old Master Fu felt dizzy. “Are you addicted to adopting godchildren now?!” They didn’t want any godsons or younger brothers; they just wanted a son-in-law! Whether it was a top student or a writer, anyone would do as a son-in-law!

But regardless of what identity Xie Lanze had while living in the Fu household, this well-mannered young man was someone the elderly couple liked very much.

Xie Lanze was living happily in the Fu residence, enjoying an incredibly luxurious and comfortable environment, with delicious meals prepared by the chef, and a good relationship with the two elderly people. Except… Fu Yunshen got up every day at 7 a.m., and after breakfast, locked him in the little dark room to write. His punctuality was almost like a cruel capitalist watching over his employees clocking in!

In the little dark room, there were no phones, no internet—only a non-networked computer and an assistant who was always ready to look up writing materials for him. It was impossible to slack off or do anything else!

Moreover, if he didn’t write 5,000 words by the end of the morning, he wouldn’t be allowed to come out. Once he finished writing those 5,000 words in the morning, he would have to continue writing another 5,000 words in the afternoon.

Waaah, he, Shuanghua, had dominated the world of intermittent updates for ten years and had never hit ten thousand words in a day. Now he had fallen into Fu Yunshen’s hands. This hardcore, artificial little dark room was far more terrifying than any dark room writing software. If he had a choice again, he definitely wouldn’t have tried to seduce his readers!

System: 【The plot reversal value of After the White Moonlight Returned, I Married the Disabled Overlord is at 60%. Fifth Master, you truly are a devil.】

Fu Yunshen sat in his wheelchair, handling some necessary work. Fu Yunshen: 【It’s not that my legs are disabled; it’s just a good opportunity to supervise him as he becomes a writing deity.】

System: 【Fifth Master, are you sure it’s not because you want to read it yourself? Also… is this the purpose of the disabled overlord?】

Fu Yunshen: 【Rather than making him weak in the legs, I’d rather make him write until his hands are weak. Isn’t the role of the disabled overlord being fulfilled quite well?】

In the original story, Xie Lanze’s update speed and habit of digging holes without filling them indeed limited him greatly. Several of his stories had started trending, and film companies had even inquired about copyright issues, but he just wouldn’t fill the holes or update.

In Fu Yunshen’s view, Xie Lanze’s writing skills could easily have made him a bestselling author with a booming career in publishing and film adaptations. Instead, he was only somewhat well-known in the industry, and his popularity even paled in comparison to the marketing-savvy “male god screenwriter” Xu Qingli. It was truly a pity.

In the study, Xie Lanze was typing away while silently crying in his heart. He could only repeat to himself, “Little uncle, little uncle…” to motivate himself a bit.

With no way to slack off and eager to escape this real-life “little dark room,” Xie Lanze finally unleashed his impressive typing speed and completed 5,000 words in just two hours.

Fu Yunshen was the first to enjoy the privileges of an SVIP reader, getting to see the latest chapter, which was still 5,000 words. It was important to note that Shuanghua updated only once a month and usually added just 3,000 words at a time.

After reading the chapter, Fu Yunshen felt very satisfied. This was the joy of instant updates from the author right before him. He said to Xie Lanze, “I specially hired two chefs for you. You can eat whatever you want for lunch.”

Xie Lanze felt a bit touched. Was this what readers meant when they said, “As long as you update, I can do anything”?

In the afternoon, Xie Lanze finished writing the remaining 5,000 words, merging them into a 10,000-word chapter, which he then posted on the Qingshui website.

The readers went wild at once: 【Ahhhh! Look what I found? A 30-coin transaction!】

【Tears of joy! The author updated today with as much as in the past six months!】

【Shuanghua, I’ve been at the bottom of your pit for five years, and I just realized this is your first time achieving a daily update of ten thousand words!】

【I’ve turned into a mole, wanting to burrow into the author’s manuscript box and then bang my head on the cement floor until I’m knocked out.】

【Author! Did you finally remember the password to your Qingshui account?】

Fu Yunshen casually sent him a hundred deep-water torpedoes.

【A hundred deep-water torpedoes, sisters!!! This is such a splurge!】

【Oh no, another one must have gone crazy at the bottom of the pit!】

【Author! I have to ask, when is the next update? You’re not going to say you just updated with half a year’s worth of content, so we have to wait until next year, right?】

Xie Lanze looked at the comments, feeling a bit overwhelmed. Originally, he thought he had grown indifferent to not updating, but there was one man who used such tactics to steal away his first… cough, first daily ten thousand words.

And he has to do the same thing for me every day; your author has it really tough.

So, I have to achieve a daily ten thousand tomorrow!