"Bro, do you know there's a guy called Sun Wukong in Journey to the West?"
"Nope."
"Then you must at least know Jin Yong's The Smiling, Proud Wanderer."
"The Smiling, Proud Wanderer… nice title, but who's Jin Yong?"
"Alright, let me ask you this then. Have you read Tudou's Battle Through the Heavens?"
"Battle Through the Heavens? Just from the name, it feels like some noob novel. Haven't read it."
After casually grabbing a passerby and asking several questions in a row, Huang Yifan finally confirmed it; he had transmigrated.
He had crossed into a parallel world that was almost the same as Earth, yet subtly different.
This world had no Journey to the West, no Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and no The Smiling, Proud Wanderer written by Jin Yong. As for web novels, they did exist, but there was no Tudou, and no Battle Through the Heavens either.
The moment he realized this, Huang Yifan's entire body started trembling slightly.
"Transmigration… rebirth… could it be that I've hit the jackpot?"
In his previous life, Huang Yifan had just been an ordinary post-80s guy on Earth, or rather, he was an utterly unknown web novel writer.
Yes, that kind of tragedy. He didn't even dare call himself an author, just a writer at best.
He didn't know what had possessed him back then. With so many professions in the world, he just had to fall in love with writing novels.
I mean, aren't novels something only geniuses and great literary masters are supposed to write?
Yet Huang Yifan had always been stubborn. He always persisted.
Dreams are beautiful; reality is cruel.
The few novels Huang Yifan wrote all flopped miserably.
Still, even after flopping, he never gave up.
One novel flopped, so he wrote the next one.
The next one flopped, so he wrote yet another.
Over and over again. After more than a dozen consecutive failures, Huang Yifan finally seemed to wake up.
He realized that writing blindly like this would probably mean he'd never sign a contract in his lifetime, let alone write anything popular.
To write better, to write a novel that people would actually read, Huang Yifan began studying all kinds of web novel genres.
Hard work paid off. After half a year of research, Huang Yifan came to a conclusion.
If you want a novel to be good, if you want readers, then you have to write it "simple."
As long as it's simple enough, your novel will definitely have readers.
Armed with this ultimate theory, Huang Yifan once again marched into the battlefield of web fiction.
Unfortunately, before this new novel could even see the light of day, he transmigrated to this world. And what's more, he was reborn into the body of a kid who was only in his third year of junior high, just fourteen years old. Coincidentally, this kid was also named Huang Yifan.
Even so, Huang Yifan felt no discomfort about transmigration at all. His previous life had been unbearably miserable; he'd been waiting for a chance like this to change his fate.
Wasn't that how web novels always went? Transmigration was the best way to change your life, the ultimate shortcut to reaching the peak of existence.
But when he calmed down and thought carefully, Huang Yifan found himself pondering.
After transmigrating, could he really reach the peak of life? Huang Yifan had his doubts. It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but in his previous life, he had been a shut-in.
For the sake of his dream, for his author fantasy, he practically stayed home every day writing. Yet the novels never brought him fame, and he was terrible at every other life skill. After transmigrating, Huang Yifan honestly had no idea what he could even do.
The internet? That sounded feasible; lots of rebirth novels had the protagonist jump straight into it. But looking at himself, Huang Yifan didn't know programming, nor did he have any real understanding of the internet. On top of that, this was a different world altogether; who knew if Earth's internet theories would even work here.
Stock trading? But what even were stocks? To this day, Huang Yifan still hasn't figured them out. Starting a business? That stumped him even more. Not only did he not know how to do business, but he also didn't have the capital.
One by one, Huang Yifan dismissed several options that seemed promising. In the end, he thought of web novels.
Web novels.
Yes, still web novels.
No matter how disastrous his past attempts had been, a dream was still a dream. Even after rebirth, Huang Yifan's pursuit of it hadn't changed.
What's more, just before transmigrating, he had suddenly achieved a major breakthrough in his understanding of writing, perfect timing to put it into practice in this world.
Besides, the owner of this body was only in his third year of junior high, just fourteen years old. Being so young, it would be hard to do much else. Writing web novels in secret was one of the few feasible options.
Most importantly, judging by the subtle differences between this world and Earth, Huang Yifan had a huge advantage in writing. Forget rewriting world-shaking classics like Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Journey to the West; even just transplanting a bunch of classic web novels from the future into this world would probably set him up for life.
Thinking of this, a faint sense of anticipation stirred in Huang Yifan's mind. After flopping for so long in his previous life, now that he had such a huge advantage, he couldn't wait to start writing those classic works immediately. Still, in the end, Huang Yifan forced himself to calm down.
Writing web novels was a given. But for now, shouldn't he focus on studying properly for a while?
In his previous life, why had every novel he wrote flopped?
Huang Yifan suddenly asked himself.
Before, he had thought it was because he only knew how to bury his head and write, without understanding commercial writing.
Later, after half a year of research, he finally grasped the theory of "simple" web novels.
But after transmigrating, Huang Yifan seemed to see things more clearly.
Simple novels might be the mainstream of future web fiction, but they weren't in this universe.
Many people who didn't write simple novels had still succeeded.
So why hadn't he succeeded back then?
The answer was obvious.
In his previous life, his writing skills had been average at best. No matter how persistent he was, he could never compare to those god-tier authors.
Even after grasping commercial, simple-style writing, he was still only at an entry level.
The true essence of web novel writing was far more than just "simple."
So now, shouldn't he spend some time seriously studying and improving himself?
The more he reasoned it out, the clearer it became. After transmigrating, Huang Yifan felt as though he was examining himself from an outsider's perspective.
Yes, he should take the time to study properly.
Otherwise, relying solely on that bit of simple-novel theory would at best keep him from starving. Becoming a famous author, a top-tier god, a super platinum writer? Don't even dream about it.
Even if, after transmigrating, he had countless classic works from Earth in his mind and could simply copy them, and even if he felt no moral burden doing so, what if one day the truth came out? Just like how someone with only a middle-school education suddenly writes a thesis that only a graduate student could produce, anyone would question it.
Maybe for a while, copying would let him thrive, and no one would trouble him. But what if he became famous? Truly famous? What if doubts suddenly arose then, what would he do? What could he do? There was only one answer: while copying, he continuously enriched himself.
Only when his own ability reached a certain level would he no longer fear any doubts, and by then, perhaps he wouldn't even need to copy anymore. He could write an inspiring classic on his own.
Thinking all this through, Huang Yifan nodded silently.
Given his current identity, he was still young, and many things weren't convenient to do. So why not take advantage of this age to better improve himself? Having made up his mind, Huang Yifan decided to go to the school library.
He wanted to study properly for a while.
"Xiaofan, where are you going? Off to the internet café to play games again?"
Just as he was about to head out, a middle-aged woman suddenly came out of a room.
From his memories, Huang Yifan knew that this woman was the mother of the body's original owner; her name was Li Shuhua.
Because the original Huang Yifan had been too mischievous and careless about studying, running straight to the internet café to play games whenever he had a break, Li Shuhua had worried about him endlessly as a mother.
"Mom, no. I'm going to the library."
Although the woman before him felt a bit unfamiliar, she was still his mother in name.
And having known the devotion of parents in his previous life, Huang Yifan treated her with respect.
"The library?"
Li Shuhua's tone clearly showed disbelief.
That left Huang Yifan feeling rather helpless.
Apparently, this body's owner had lied far too many times, beyond saving.
But now Huang Yifan was no longer the old Huang Yifan. Even if his mother didn't believe him, he still explained, "Mom, look! I even brought my library card. How could I be lying? Besides, the school library isn't far from home. I'll be there the whole time. If you're worried, you can come check anytime. If I lie this time, you never have to believe another word I say."
Huang Yifan took out his library card and spoke seriously.
"You're really going to the library?"
Seeing how earnest he was, Li Shuhua began to believe him a little.
"Really."
"Alright then. Read properly at the library."
"Mm, I'm heading out."
Seeing his mother agree, Huang Yifan nodded and walked toward the library.
After a few steps, he turned back again.
"What now, you little brat, changed your mind about the library again?"
Seeing Huang Yifan return, Li Shuhua couldn't help but scold him.
But after scolding him, she heard a sentence that made her happier than she had been in over a decade.
"Mom, your son has grown up. I know what I should do, and I know how to do it. From now on, you can rest easy. I'll study hard and make you proud."
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