In the Huanyu Editorial Department, Shax finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The tide of public opinion had completely shifted. Even the accounts in the comment section that had been deliberately trying to stir up trouble couldn’t make any waves anymore.
After all, several big shots had spoken up one after another, and their statements carried far more weight and eloquence, completely overshadowing those jumping up and down. The focus of the discussion had shifted entirely.
However, Shax still felt a lingering worry. “Contract Marriage” had become explosively popular far too quickly, and its unique style had undoubtedly stepped on some toes. What if it continued to attract targeted attacks?
What concerned him more was Yu Mian, a newbie author whose mindset was fragile and most vulnerable to such blows.
If his mentality collapsed, it would all be over.
He had to take good care of this fledgling author!
And besides, they could seize this opportunity to have Yu Mian interact with these influential figures on StarBlog. This influx of free traffic was too good to pass up.
In the interstellar era, musical arts such as ancient musical instruments have indeed been neglected for a long time.
But precisely because of this, those who could afford to learn or dedicate themselves to long-term study of these obscure classical instruments were almost always people with extraordinary backgrounds.
Most of these big shots had already achieved financial independence, which allowed them to turn these non-lucrative hobbies into lifelong pursuits.
So when Shax saw these typically aloof professors personally stepping forward to call for Yu Mian to tailor a new book, he couldn’t help but think it was a rare and perfect opportunity.
However, when Shax asked Yu Mian on StarMessage if he had plans to follow up with a related project, his reply was completely unexpected.
[Fish: No. While I’m indeed brainstorming my second book, the next one won’t have a protagonist who plays an instrument, and it won’t be the same genre either.]
Shax: What!?
Shax was so shocked by Yu Mian’s response that he nearly exclaimed aloud in the office.
[Crispy Shark: Are you serious? This book is such a huge success—why wouldn’t we continue with a sequel?]
[Crispy Shark: Especially with the violin-playing protagonist! Even those professors have personally invited you. Why not take this chance to write another one? Plus, so many new books are imitating you now. If we don’t act quickly, they might be written out by others!]
Shax couldn’t believe how calm and composed Yu Mian was. Didn’t he realize the massive wave of popularity “Contract Marriage” had created?
Many newly launched novels at Huanyu had boldly started mimicking the style of “Contract Marriage” and giving their protagonists various instruments to play.
With this genre’s market now open, many readers were turning to these new books while waiting for updates from “Contract Marriage”.
What annoyed Shax even more was the thought of the obnoxious editor Lei who had recently returned to the department. He had openly dismissed the book as a flop before, but now that it was a hit, he was deliberately pushing his authors to ride the trend.
This made it all the more urgent for his writer to start his second book quickly.
That guy was insufferable—he’d written it off as doomed to fail, yet now he was jumping on the bandwagon after seeing how popular it was.
There was no way Shax would let him take advantage of this success!
[Fish: Hmm… The main reason is that I don’t want to repeat the same subject matter.]
In response to Crispy Shark’s habitual line of thinking, Yu Mian lightly swished his fish tail.
Although Professor Peng’s invitation was well-intentioned and seemed like a good fit, it was, in fact, a trap.
The “chasing wife to the crematorium” trope followed an extremely formulaic structure that was easy to replicate. Once one book became popular, it was inevitable that others would follow suit.
If he were to take the same route and write another book where the protagonist played a different instrument in a similar “chasing wife” setup, such a formulaic approach would ultimately dilute the popularity he had built with his first book.
After all, readers would grow tired of the same routine after seeing it too many times.
Once readers started to feel like they were reading an assembly line production, even the initial sense of awe from the first book could wear thin.
Moreover, with more time to think and plan, Yu Mian intended for his second book to have a more complete and intricate concept.
Of course, the level of excitement and satisfaction had to be doubled!
However, for Shax, an editor who had never experienced the explosion of genres in 21st-century novels, it would be difficult to explain the idea through mere words. It would be easier to discuss once he had finalized the concept and completed a draft.
Hearing Yu Mian’s “very willful” words, Shax found himself speechless and almost even forgetting how to type.
[Crispy Shark: Ah… I’m really at a loss. But what about Professor Peng’s invitation? He’s such a big shot, and it’s rare for someone of his stature to lower himself to make a personal request. We can’t just ignore him, right? QAQ]
Unable to figure out how to persuade Yu Mian, Shax had no choice but to bring up the professor again.
Although Professor Peng seemed like an unassuming university professor specializing in a niche subject, with no real influence, his son was exceptionally powerful.
Offending someone like him could lead to endless trouble, especially since the professor had extended his goodwill voluntarily.
[Fish: Hmm… Let me think about it. Actually, this has given me some inspiration.]
Yu Mian understood Shax’s concern.
While he wasn’t willing to write an entire book tailored to this invitation, it did seem excessive to ignore it completely. After all, the professor had good intentions.
And after learning more about the situation, he understood that preserving the cultural heritage of musical instruments in the interstellar era was indeed a monumental challenge.
Faced with the mysterious and complex exploration of star regions and the frequent wars over resources, technological pragmatism and martial values dominated the mainstream interstellar ideology.
Only a small handful of scholars persisted in their attempts to preserve ancient Blue Star’s cultural traditions, often funding courses out of their own pockets when no grants were available.
Honestly, Yu Mian admired this kind of dedication.
Helping, even in a small way, was undoubtedly a good thing.
So a few minutes later, Yu Mian’s author account, which hadn’t posted anything since its creation, made its first StarBlog post.
[Reply to Peng V: Thank you so much for the invitation~ The violin is indeed an elegant and noble instrument. A very refined violinist will soon make an appearance in the story, so please look forward to it! Looks like Caesar might start to feel nervous =w=]
Though he had no intention of writing an entirely new book about instrument-playing protagonists, assigning certain instruments to other popular characters in the book wouldn’t seem out of place.
And in a domineering CEO novel, aside from the protagonists, who else captured the readers’ attention and hearts?
It was always the second, third, fourth and nth male supporting protagonists who could drive countless readers crazy and leave them feeling upset!
Furthermore, while Caesar had come to his senses recently, Gu Bai had been growing increasingly calm, even beginning preparations for the expiration of their marriage contract in a few months.
Gu Bai’s upcoming graduation performance would undoubtedly be the next major climax of the book.
Introducing supporting characters at this point to put real pressure on Caesar was bound to stir the readers into a frenzy.
Yu Mian carefully went through every message mentioning him and shared posts from various professors and accounts related to classical musical arts, ensuring they gained as much exposure as possible.
As soon as Yu Mian made his first StarBlog post, the account’s shares and likes skyrocketed as expected.
While classical instruments gained traffic and exposure among the readers, the details Yu Mian hinted at in his post left countless interstellar readers both excited and worried.
After all, although everyone joked about wanting Caesar to be immediately taken down, as the official male protagonist, his position in their hearts remained deeply special.
Describing it as a “love-hate relationship” couldn’t be more appropriate.
If the new character really brought a sense of crisis to Caesar, how intense would the plot become?
While Yu Mian continued typing away in the study, a sudden noise came from outside.
“Ugh, why is he suddenly back today?”
Almost instinctively, Yu Mian swiftly closed the light-brain device and leaped back into the aquarium.
With a splash, he perfectly disappeared beneath the water just before the door opened, his tail swaying as he hid inside the conch shell.
When Huo Ting entered the study, he was followed closely by Huo Yan, his ever-present little shadow.
“Cousin, can’t you just give me the little fish?”
Huo Yan had spent the past few days practically begging, yet not only had he failed to get the fish, but the study had been locked as well.
He hadn’t seen Yu Mian for days, and it was driving him crazy.
Even though his parents had bought him an entire tank of goldfish, he couldn’t muster the slightest interest. He was completely fixated on the one in his cousin’s study!
“…”
Huo Yan’s behavior made Huo Ting glance at him sideways, his eyes then settling on Yu Mian, now back in the aquarium.
If there was any living thing by his side that night, then this fish had to be the closest thing.
But it was just a fish.
If it were another creature in disguise or if it had a chip implanted in it, Huo Ting was certain that even Hals would have detected it by now.
“Cousin??”
Huo Yan grew nervous when he noticed his cousin staring at Yu Mian in the aquarium again.
Ah… if only he’d taken Yu Mian away earlier, this situation wouldn’t have happened.
“Let’s see how you perform.”
Recalling the conversation he’d had with Professor Mori about the state of his mental sea, Huo Ting responded to Huo Yan’s pleading.
“Perform? What do you mean by that?”
Huo Yan immediately got serious. “Become the top…among the top ten in the entrance exam?”
He initially wanted to say first place, but Huo Ting quickly realized that Huo Yan had been at the bottom of the rankings for a long time. So, he casually downgraded his expectation to the top ten.
“Ah… Top ten?! Cousin, if you don’t want to give me the fish, just say so!”
As expected, Huo Yan exploded the moment he heard those words.
“Young Master, please say less. Don’t forget, there’s also the parent-teacher meeting after the entrance exam.” After this reminder, Nanny Qiao Ni, who was standing outside the door, grabbed Huo Yan with an exasperated yet amused expression and dragged him out.
Every year, she had to beg Young Master Huo Ting to attend the parent-teacher meeting on Huo Yan’s behalf. How could Huo Yan still have the nerve to upset him at a time like this?
After all, who would have guessed that the highly intelligent Huo couple would give birth to a son who was a poor student in elementary school?
For the two of them to go to school and receive Huo Yan’s bottom-of-the-class report card would be nothing short of dark humor.
Meanwhile, Yu Mian watched wide-eyed as Huo Yan was dragged away with a dejected face.
“Do you think he noticed something strange? Why else wouldn’t he let Huo Yan into the study anymore?”
[Don’t worry. Theoretically, you’re just an ordinary little fish right now. There’s no issue!] The little system worked hard to analyze the situation to calm Yu Mian down.
Even during the last task, the world’s rules probably detected the anomaly in Huo Ting’s mental sea, which was an opportunity to complete the task easily.
The mental sea was the core of a person’s being. Forget targeted contamination attacks—any slight disturbance would cause normal people dizziness or even fainting on the spot.
That night, the fact that Huo Ting had managed to endure all the way back to the study was already astonishing.
However, neither Yu Mian nor the system realized that the 14-day deadline from the previous task was just about to expire.
[Ding—]
“Fuck!!”
[Hiss…]
Hearing the familiar notification sound, both Yu Mian and the system gasped in unison.
[Daily Task Issued]
[Requirement: The host must prepare a meal for the task target, which must be consumed completely to qualify as a success. Completion of this task will waive 30 days of rent and internet fees.]
[Deadline: 15 days]
“…”
“Is this task insane?!”
After several minutes of silence, Yu Mian felt like he was about to explode.
Just when he thought the last task was crazy enough, this one managed to be even more outrageous!
This was no different from outright revealing that someone was hiding in the room!
[I don’t know either! In the past, daily tasks for other hosts were incredibly simple—like sweeping the floor or tidying the room.]
[This is truly unexpected!]
Even the system was stunned by the extreme nature of Yu Mian’s daily tasks, they always turned out to be nightmares.
But there had to be a reason behind the world’s rules.
Thankfully, this time, the deadline wasn’t too tight.
“I really want to move out of here. Why can’t I go back to my own house?”
Yu Mian was desperate to pack up and leave.
Thanks to the explosive success of “Contract Marriage” , his royalties have been quite substantial lately.
[I’m not sure, but you can try? It seems like the world’s rules have identified that guy as the task target.]
[Besides, the quickest way to get back legs seems to be through his rare high level mental power.]
The system didn’t know how to respond to Yu Mian’s bold idea.
“The problem is, I don’t even have legs yet. How am I supposed to complete this task?”
Yu Mian sighed, completely lost.
[Or you could wait a bit. Your current popularity is skyrocketing. You could exchange that for mental power rewards. If you complete this task and get another reward, you might finally be able to transform legs!]
After hearing the system’s suggestion, Yu Mian seriously examined his own mental sea again.
The faint red-tainted mental power lingering there over the past two weeks had gradually been purified by his own mental power.
On top of that, the widespread success of “Contract Marriage” had allowed him to collect popularity points, which had converted into pure golden mental power.
As the powers merged, their glow became even more radiant.
Could he really transform legs soon?!
Thud—
But just as Yu Mian and the system were discussing, Huo Ting suddenly placed a thick stack of documents on his desk with an indescribable, subtly perplexed expression.
?
What was up with him?
It was rare to see Huo Ting looking like he couldn’t handle something.
Curious, Yu Mian swam to the middle of the aquarium and stuck himself to the glass, just enough to get a faint glimpse of the documents on the desk…
“What the hell!”
[Ah!?]
Both Yu Mian and the system gasped in shock as soon as they recognized the content, it was familiar to the bone.
Contract Marriage!
“Why is he holding my novel?”
This was beyond mortifying…
Yu Mian couldn’t begin to describe the feeling of his two-dimensional vest colliding with his real-world identity. This was no different from public execution!
What’s worse, he couldn’t believe Huo Ting would be a target audience for a romantic novel like “Contract Marriage”.
This was completely terrifying.
[I don’t believe it either. And he doesn’t look like the type. Surely it’s not because your novel was too unorthodox, and now the Federation wants to destroy it on the spot…]
Even the system’s database seemed to malfunction from the shock.
“Help! If they really trace the author’s IP address, won’t it just lead them straight to Huo Ting’s address?!”
Yu Mian imagined the scene and felt it was simply too beautiful.
[…]
Although it was somewhat inappropriate to laugh at such a time, the little system couldn’t help but think that if such a thing really happened, Huo Ting, who had unknowingly lent his personal light brain for novel writing, might want to call the police even more urgently than the host.
So what exactly was going on? How did Huo Ting even find out about this novel?
Meanwhile, in the Huanyu editorial office, Shaxs was unexpectedly called into the chief editor’s office, drawing curious gazes from the other editors.
Normally, the deputy chief editor handled the specific affairs of the Huanyu editorial department, while the chief editor focused on higher-level corporate matters.
As such, most ordinary editors rarely had the chance to meet the chief editor.
Now that the elusive chief editor had personally come to the editorial department and sought out Shaxs at this particular time, it was undoubtedly related to the recent explosion in popularity of “Contract Marriage”.
The question was—what kind of matter could it be?
Even Shaxs himself felt a bit uneasy, worried that some unexpected issue had arisen just as “Contract Marriage” was reaching its growth.
“Publishing!? You mean publishing it now? In physical form?”
But when Shaxs received the document in his hands and heard the chief editor’s instructions, he was stunned.
“But “Contract Marriage” isn’t even finished yet. Is it really okay to publish it now?”
“Why not? We can easily split it into two volumes and release the first volume first! Shaxs, you’re the youngest and supposedly sharpest mind in the department, so why are you thinking so slowly?”
The chubby deputy chief editor, who was standing beside them, quickly interjected and cut off Shaxs’ doubts.
‘Still, this was moving so fast…’
Shaxs scratched his head, looking dazed but delighted. He had never expected the skyrocketing success of “Contract Marriage” to lead to such smooth follow-up opportunities.
“Anyway, this decision comes directly from above. They’ve specifically requested that we expedite the release of the physical edition of “Contract Marriage”. So everyone needs to give it their all! Everything from the commissioned cover art to the various details must meet the highest standards!”
After assigning the tasks, the chief editor left, but not before offering a cryptic remark to encourage the team.
‘Huh?’
Shaxs immediately recalled the mysterious reader who had caused a late night call to the editorial office some time ago.
‘Wow, could it be that this big shot hadn’t abandoned the novel and had even been following its updates all this time?’
This was thrilling beyond words.
Meanwhile, within the Federation’s government, a strange story had been making the rounds.
The Bart Clan, which was invited to visit the Central Star for cooperation talks, was a strange and mysterious race in the universe.
They lived on a planet shrouded in eternal darkness, rejecting all interstellar technology and clinging to centuries-old traditions.
Pale-skinned and eerily drawn to the scent of blood, they were a clan everyone in the galaxy preferred to avoid.
Yet, the Bart Clan’s military prowess was unparalleled, and the star system they occupied held critical importance for interstellar navigation, controlling several major trade routes.
If forced to bypass their territory, transportation costs would skyrocket exponentially.
Thus, the Federation hoped this invitation would encourage the Bart Clan to integrate, even slightly, into the interstellar system—at the very least, to tolerate starships passing near their planet.
Of course, if they could accept to connect to the star network and even join the Federation’s joint development initiatives, it would be an added bonus.
Initially, negotiations had been extraordinarily difficult.
Communicating with the two Bart representatives was an uphill battle—they constantly wore icy expressions, seemingly uninterested in everything.
But a few days ago, when they were introduced to the star network that interconnects the federal galaxies for the first time and tried surfing for the first time in their long, ageless lives, everything suddenly changed.
“This book… updates… too slowly.”
One of the Bart Clan representatives, a petite girl who despite being much shorter than the Federation official, exuded an air of calm authority that made one feel she was much older than she looked.
Her wavy brown hair was exquisitely styled, her porcelain-white skin flawless, and her features resembled those of an elegant doll. However, her cold temperament added an air of mystery to her beauty.
“Updates? Miss Lilith, are you experiencing any issues with your light brain system?”
The Federation official was surprised to be addressed by the Bart representative’s little princess for the first time, and glanced at the light brain in her hand.
“Yes.”
Lilith nodded slightly in rare acknowledgment.
Wow, the Bart Clan “could” communicate normally—they had just chosen to ignore everyone earlier out of sheer arrogance.
The official, whose heart was broken in an instant, immediately bent down with a sense of resignation and indignation, trying to see what problems the Bart representative had encountered that made her condescend to come to them for help.
“Not the blonde.”
As the official approached, Lilith frowned and stepped back disdainfully.
The blonde-haired official: ???
‘What was wrong with blonde hair?’
“Allow me to assist you.”
His black-haired colleague on the other side didn’t know what was going on, but he immediately stepped forward to help the little ancestor with a weird temper.
But as he took a closer look…
“Uh, Miss, are you sure this isn’t a mistake? Isn’t this… a novel?”
As soon as the official saw the large interface of the Huanyu Reading Platform and the two big words “Contract Marriage” on the light brain, his eyes widened in disbelief.
No, who on earth taught the Bart Clan’s little princess to read novels just after she learned how to surf the Star Network?
This was not the right way to let them understand the social customs and culture of the Interstellar Federation!
