Chapter 2: Not a Leaf Clings to His Body

“Cut! Perfect! Keep rolling!”

Director Li stared at the monitor, watching the exquisitely tender kiss between Jin Xi and Bai Xiuzhu, their tear-filled, deeply affectionate gazes locked. From their lines to their tones and expressions, the performance was impeccably on point, leaving him almost incredulous.

When did Liu Feifei’s acting suddenly improve so dramatically?

For that scene, multiple dolly tracks had been deployed to capture every angle without obstruction, fully enhancing the atmosphere. Initially, there had been doubts about whether Liu Feifei could hold her own, but she had delivered flawlessly.

In the girl’s autumn-clear eyes, overflowing with deep affection, there was a feeling only a truly enamored woman could possess.

Interestingly, Gu Cheng, whose acting had long overshadowed Liu Feifei’s, had recently been somewhat outshone in several scenes.

The most beautiful parts featuring Bai Xiuzhu and Jin Xi had been breezed through with effortless grace. What once seemed unsatisfactory and in need of reshoots had, after revisions, clearly risen to a higher level, even the once petulant temper now showing nuanced layers.

Everyone welcomed this transformation without seeing any danger.

Only Gu Cheng himself began to worry—should he put the brakes on this misunderstanding?

1. If you are reading this passage, it means you are viewing a pirated version. Or perhaps you woke up too early and accidentally accessed it. If it’s the latter, the author sincerely apologizes. Generally, reading these chapters after 7 a.m. ensures a proper version.

2. If you stumble upon a piracy-protected chapter, please try reopening it after 7 a.m. The app has been upgraded to automatically alert readers when a chapter has been revised. In rare cases where a chapter is stuck and cannot be fixed automatically, you can delete and redownload it. Subscribers will not be charged again upon redownloading.

3. The author has worked hard to prevent piracy, often waking up at five or six in the morning during winter, and even earlier in summer. Imagine rising two hours before most people, 365 days a year, regardless of weather. Even Luo Pangzi, known for his logical thinking, boasts about recording a 60-second voice message every morning at 6:30 a.m. for years—yet he’s at the very top of the content creator food chain and living the dream.

4. I also wish to write better and more focused works, dreaming of someday supporting myself fully through writing, settling into a stable routine of daily updates of ten thousand words for my readers. But life goes on. If my earnings remain at the level of my previous book, I couldn’t even support my wife solely from writing income. Full-time dedication is impossible, let alone guaranteeing daily updates of such volume.

Hangzhou’s cost of living is truly suffocating. My material desires aren’t extravagant—I never expected to become wealthy from writing. If I were still unmarried, I might consider moving to a small coastal city in Guangxi with a low cost of living like Qinzhou, Beihai, or Fangchenggang, and retreating to a modest seaside home to write in seclusion.

I won’t dwell on self-pity here—writers on this platform have far more experience in hardship competitions, and I honestly don’t consider myself the worst off.

...

Here, I’ll take the opportunity to share some sincere thoughts upon launching this new book—aside from the usual pleas for votes. Some readers of my previous work may already be familiar with these views, so I won’t include them in the main chapters. Those who have not read my last book might find the next thousand words worth a glance.

I once cited Kevin Ashton, the father of the Internet of Things, who conducted market research for Dior Cosmetics in the early 1990s. Among Dior’s European subsidiaries, the UK branch showed the fastest sales growth, which was attributed to their emphasis on market research and rapid response to market feedback. They produced and sold exactly what the market demanded, resulting in steadily climbing sales.

However, while all product lines in the UK branch flourished, the lipstick department was in serious decline. The more they tried to cater to the market, the more sales dropped. After in-depth tracking, Ashton uncovered the root cause:

Lipstick is an exceptionally subdivided category. Many consumers need to compare at least fifty shades on a color chart before choosing; it cannot be described succinctly with a few words or model numbers.

At the time, weekly market research suggested that magenta shade A was a best-seller, while bright red B and pink C were unpopular. Dior UK initially reduced production of B and C, increasing that of A, which would always sell out. Yet total lipstick sales kept falling.

The truth was that most women did not actually prefer magenta A. It was simply a compromise when their favorite colors were unavailable. For instance, in affluent neighborhoods where bright red B would quickly sell out, white-collar women unable to find B would settle for A. In student communities, where pink C was snapped up fast, female students unable to get C would also compromise with A.

If we rated customer satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 10—10 being perfect satisfaction and 8 barely enough to justify purchase—magenta A scored a mere “barely adequate 8” across all user groups. Its broad compatibility made it a short-term safe bet to avoid unsold inventory, but in the long run, it bred consumer resentment toward Dior’s brand because few women wanted to constantly miss out on their favorite shades and settle for second best.

This value theory could also be applied in future commercial literature.

5. If you see this passage, you are likely reading a pirated version or woke up too early and were accidentally exposed to it. The author sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience. Reading after 7 a.m. usually guarantees the correct version.

6. If you encounter piracy-protected chapters, reopen them after 7 a.m. The app now alerts readers when chapters have been updated. If a chapter is stuck and cannot be fixed automatically, delete and redownload it. Subscribers will not be charged again.

7. The author works tirelessly to prevent piracy, waking early year-round. Imagine rising two hours before most people every day, regardless of weather. Even Luo Pangzi, known for his logic, brags about recording one-minute voice messages at 6:30 a.m. daily for years—yet he’s top-tier content creator living large.

8. I want to write better and focus more, dreaming of supporting myself full-time through writing, producing stable daily updates of ten thousand words for readers. But life goes on. At my current level, I couldn’t even support my wife solely on book income. Full-time writing and consistent daily output remain out of reach.

...

As is well known, a famous senior editor on this platform once gave this advice to writers:

In historical fiction—aside from Japanese Sengoku time travel stories—it’s best not to mention the phrase “Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain” or “Swift as the wind, quiet as the forest, aggressive as fire, immovable as a mountain” when depicting military strategy.

Though this concept originates from Sun Tzu’s Art of War, many novice readers don’t read serious texts. They’ve often played games like “Nobunaga’s Ambition” or “Taiko Risshiden” and mistakenly believe these terms were invented by Takeda Shingen.

Even if an author tries to explain or correct this misconception, readers would bitterly realize they were wrong and might abandon the book. Authors know the greatest taboo is arguing with readers—even if the information is correct, they don’t want to see it.

Perhaps unknown to many, current AI technology combined with literary website display tech can now encrypt texts. Some sites use this method for anti-piracy: upon uploading a chapter, dozens of minor variations are automatically inserted that do not affect reading experience or meaning, creating a textual “fingerprint.” This ensures every user sees a slightly different version, so when pirated content appears online, it’s possible to trace the source account and shut it down, raising piracy’s cost.

But in my view, this technology is an overqualified solution.

If, in the future, big data on user preferences and habits becomes more precise, websites could predict whether a user is a novice or a knowledgeable reader.

For example, by analyzing behavior, the system could know if a user recognizes “Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain” as from Sun Tzu or mistakenly attributes it to Takeda Shingen. If the former, they see the original text. If the latter, to prevent discomfort, the software automatically “harmonizes” or censors those terms for that user, keeping them in ignorance, only seeing what they want to see forever.

Like what Zhang Yiming does on today’s popular platform. Though this further fragments the world and cognition, many people are simply beyond reason. Spoiled as they are, let them enjoy their bubble.

Once such technology is realized, authors need not constantly revise their text to be “magenta A”—never perfect in anyone’s eyes.

I believe future technology will save the world, so I refuse to waste time learning how to compromise my writing to avoid “Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain” pitfalls—skills that will be obsolete in two or three years. A person with ideas should not spend time on fleeting tricks.