So Qiushui turned out to be a retired professor.
Scared me for a second.
I really thought a middle schooler had written something like 'The Way of Great Learning'.
But now the truth's out.
Still, even so, retired professor or not, writing an article as profound as 'The Way of Great Learning' is a major literary event. One thing's odd, though: why would a retired professor be publishing in Youth Daily? And not just that, he'd also written 'A Classroom Anecdote' before. Back when I read that piece, I genuinely thought it was written by a middle schooler. But now, thinking back, it was probably just a memoir from this old gentleman.
After thinking it over, Sun Zaian felt he could understand. These days, intellectuals have all sorts of quirky habits. Some write in their son's name, others change their identity, and some use pseudonyms just to kill time writing strange stories. This old man Qiushui probably did the same, picked a pen name, and jotted down a few memoirs. Then, when someone attacked him, he fired back with 'The Way of Great Learning'.
Well, regardless of what Mr. Qiushui was thinking, this literary titan definitely deserved a visit.
With that settled, Sun Zaian logged into TT and sent a message to Huang Yifan, who was still online.
"Mr. Fanchen, your piece 'The Way of Great Learning' has been immensely enlightening for us students."
At that moment, Huang Yifan, still online, nearly jumped out of his seat.
"Mr.?"
When did I become Mr.?
He remembered that Sun Zaian had called him "sir" before. But it had only been a few days; how had "sir" suddenly become "old sir"?
Am I really that old?
In that moment, Huang Yifan recalled what he had written in 'The Way of Great Learning'.
Thinking back, maybe he had gone a little too far. Just to prove a point and push back against the so-called "experts," he'd dropped one of the Four Books from his past life, 'The Great Learning'. With its doctrine of moral cultivation, he'd knocked all his critics flat. But after writing it, he couldn't help but feel a bit of regret.
The Great Learning was one of the Four Confucian Classics, alongside The Analects, Mencius, and The Doctrine of the Mean.
Even the unfinished version of 'The Way of Great Learning' radiated philosophical brilliance.
This kind of Confucian classic could crush just about anyone anywhere. But that wasn't the point. The real issue was that once it got published, dozens of heavyweight newspapers began paying attention. Like 'Youth Literary Arts', the youth-oriented cultural magazine published by the Youth League, is highly authoritative and academically rigorous. Not to mention the 'People's Daily', 'Xinhua Daily', the mouthpieces of the state. People always joked that no one could understand those papers, but one thing was for sure: if your article appeared in one of them, you were literally representing the voice of the nation.
Even if most people didn't read them, once your work was published there, it was on a whole different level.
Just like now, on the literature section of the online forum Bian Forum, 'The Way of Great Learning' was being hotly debated. Scholars, professors, and education experts were all wondering: Who is this mysterious Qiushui? Some were even saying, "If we ever get the chance, we have to invite Mr. Qiushui to give a lecture at our university."
If it were anyone else, that'd just be wild speculation.
But Huang Yifan? At his age and with his current status, there was no way he could show his face.
"Uh… Editor-in-Chief Sun, did you need something?"
After a moment, Huang Yifan accepted the title of "old sir." Honestly, being "old sir" sounded a lot better than being who he really was.
And it didn't raise suspicion.
It was just a pseudonym after all. Just a smurf account to level up with, no intention of revealing his identity. People could think whatever they wanted.
"Oh, it's like this. I wanted to let you know, your pen name Qiushui has been upgraded to 3 stars."
"So soon? But I've only published a few articles. And weren't magazine-published works excluded from the upgrade system?"
He had posted more than ten 'Strange Tales' on Midnight Talk, and his pen name still hadn't gone past 1 star.
This made Huang Yifan genuinely confused. How did the writer ranking system work?
"Haha, looks like Mr. Fanchen isn't too familiar with Huaguo's author ranking system. Let me explain. The 10-star author rating in Huaguo has two visible requirements: one is membership in county, city, or provincial writers' associations, and the other is publication sales. But for academic-type masters, if you go purely by sales, they'll lag behind commercial authors. So, our system uses an internal formula that factors in literary value and impact. The higher the value and the greater the influence, the higher the author level."
"To be honest, your 'The Way of Great Learning'? Forget 3 stars, even 4, 5, 6, or 7 stars would be justified. It's just that the Qiushui pen name is still new and has limited exposure. One article alone has its limits. But I believe, as the value of 'The Way of Great Learning' is gradually recognized by the public, your author rating will continue to rise…"
"I see. But then why didn't the pieces I published in other magazines boost my rank?"
"Which magazines did you publish in?"
"Some smaller ones, with low circulation."
"Mr. Fanchen, those types of magazines aren't counted toward the literary value index. That's not to say your earlier work lacked value, but there are too many tiny, obscure magazines out there with no real reach. Articles published in them usually won't raise your level. Unless, of course, you write something on par with 'The Way of Great Learning' that gets recognized by major institutions."
"Oh, I get it now."
Only then did Huang Yifan understand.
No wonder those 'Strange Tales' on Midnight Talk didn't help him level up; they didn't have enough impact.
And clearly, most people didn't understand how this ranking system worked either.
Only experts and industry insiders knew the rules.
Nodding to himself, he felt like all his hard work these past few days had finally paid off.
Even if he'd acted a bit foolish, at least he'd jumped up 3 levels. More importantly, judging from what Sun Zaian said, the more people recognized the value of 'The Way of Great Learning', the more his rating would climb.
It was practically leveling up on autopilot.
Huang Yifan suddenly thought of how characters in games level up just by staying online.
But even as he joked about it, he could sense the looming danger.
This cheat code he'd activated was a bit too powerful. Sure, it brought him huge benefits, but if he couldn't keep up down the road, he might find himself completely exposed.
Just like 'The Way of Great Learning', such a philosophical classic. If he didn't have real knowledge and depth, and someone unmasked him one day, the humiliation would be unbearable. Of course, Huang Yifan had no intention of revealing his identity as Qiushui. But who could predict the future? Even if he never showed his face, he'd still need the substance to back up his work if someone challenged it.
And that substance had to come from a deep understanding of Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, and all the Hundred Schools of Thought.
The Hundred Schools of Thought!!!
Suddenly, Huang Yifan's scalp tingled.
"This act… might be a bit much."
Looks like the future's going to be busy. Forget mastering all the schools, even just one could take him years.
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