Chapter 273: Smoke and Rain Take Flight
As the end of the year approached, another year was about to pass. It had been almost a year since Yu Linna became a novelist. In this year, she had accomplished many things. What she had wanted to achieve, what she had wanted to do in the past, she had basically realized. She had been struggling since she was 17, struggling for her dream. After this year, she would soon be 19. Her life was about to enter a new chapter.
She had promised her readers that she would update two volumes of her novels every month, unless special circumstances arose. And she had written more and more novels. Ballad of the Enchantress had accumulated 6 serialized volumes, and Zixuan and the Paper Airplane had accumulated 5 serialized volumes. All her novels added up to more than ten volumes. This was just her output for one year. This didn’t even count the scripts she had written, or the illustrations she was responsible for.
This year, Wenqing had awarded her a series of titles, including “Best Model Worker of the Year,” “Most Valuable Author of the Year,” “Star of Wenqing,” “Supernova,” and “Number One Author in Weibo Voting.” This also officially announced that from now on, Shion-sensei’s status was stable, ranked above Air-sensei, and she was only one step away from becoming a supreme god. And in the future, she would surely be the focus of Wenqing.
One had to know that even Air-sensei hadn’t received as many titles as her. She had only received the titles “Star of Wenqing” and “Best Author.” In comparison, everyone knew who Wenqing favored the most.
Yu Linna was getting more and more amazing, and her work was also increasing. Putting aside her novel work for a moment, companies would call her every day to ask if she could find time to write a script. She received many such calls. Everyone had discovered that this Shion-sensei could not only write novels, but also be a screenwriter. With a little writing, she might even be a future great screenwriter in the entertainment industry.
The more halos she had, the better her works had to be, and no mistakes were allowed. Because she had been deified, her fans all felt that Shion-sensei was omnipotent, that she would succeed in everything she did, that it was absolutely impossible for her to fail.
During this busy work period, Xiao Yanhan had come to her to ask for advice on how to write an outline. Yu Linna could only bite the bullet and teach her. Because she was busy day and night, she could only talk to her about outlines while eating.
“First, the style of the story must be determined, and the personality traits of the characters must be clear. In addition, if you want to write a fighting theme, the combat power must be clearly defined. It’s best to set a ceiling for the combat power, otherwise the combat power in the later stages will collapse.”
“Mmm.”
“And another thing, the plot. The plot is the most crucial point. The connection and arrangement of each plot must be appropriate.”
“Mmm!”
When the four of them in the dorm went out to eat, Lan Ranyan and Fang Jiangning could both see the two of them sitting together, discussing how to write an outline. Although it was Yu Linna who was teaching her, Lan Ranyan felt that this kind of scene was really rare. Xiao Yanhan was a lazy person; it was rare to see her so diligent.
Her having this kind of performance showed that she really wanted to do something well, to seriously move forward on the path of becoming a manga artist. Although this path was quite difficult.
And Xiao Yanhan was indeed working hard enough. Besides this matter, she had also accepted Fang Jiangning’s invitation to stream together, appearing in front of the audience in the stream room for the first time. Fang Jiangning already had experience and was at ease in front of the camera, but Xiao Yanhan was obviously a little nervous.
“Hello, I’m Little Angel. Today I’ve brought a friend for you all, and that is my roommate. As you all know, I’m a university student, still in school. Let me introduce to you my beautiful and fair-skinned roommate, Yan. Come and say hello.”
“Hello everyone, I’m Yan Yu. Nice to meet you all.”
“She’s nervous. Don’t mind her.”
In front of the camera, Xiao Yanhan was very nervous at first. With Fang Jiangning’s encouragement, she slowly adapted and was able to chat with the audience and interact with them.
“My favorite idol? It’s Shion-sensei.”
“Am I in a relationship? No, I’m still single.”
“Haha, my academic performance is very good.”
“Emmmm, I’m considering whether to become a big star. That would be pretty cool.”
After the stream, Fang Jiangning told her that the response was particularly good. Many viewers liked her appearance, and many people in the comments section were asking when she would come again. At the same time, some people were also asking Fang Jiangning when Little Nana would come out.
Seeing so many viewer comments, and the people who had become her fans, Xiao Yanhan was moved. She finally experienced what it felt like to be noticed, to be loved by fans. This made her feel that the road to becoming a manga artist was not very far away. As long as she succeeded, there would surely be readers who would follow her.
As long as I keep working hard…
“Are you planning to submit?”
Yu Linna was typing that day when she was shaken by Xiao Yanhan. Hearing her say this, she couldn’t help but show a surprised expression.
“Yes. I’ve learned something from you, and I’ve decided to draw another one and submit it. This time, with Shion-sensei’s help, I think I will definitely succeed.”
Xiao Yanhan had been working very hard these days. Her learning of the outline was there for all to see. Yu Linna had taught her a lot, and she had also studied very humbly. Although Yu Linna was very busy, she still found time to help her and teach her the outline. Xiao Yanhan’s plot arrangement ability was too weak, especially the outline, which always felt very lacking. If her drawing skills were very strong, it would be fine, but her drawing skills were not particularly stunning either. It could only be said to be standard. Plus, her drawings didn’t sell on sex appeal or BL, but followed a moe art style, and she didn’t even draw panties. This made her manga unable to stand out in the numerous competitions.
What she had to change was her screenwriting ability. Only then could she be one step closer to debuting.
“Then keep it up.”
Yu Linna said this and then turned her head away. Her eyes were on the laptop screen, her fingers flying across the keyboard, creating a rhythmic sound. She was wearing cute raccoon pajamas, her hood covering her hair, headphones hanging around her neck, a few strands of hair peeking out from under the headphones. Seeing her working was like being there in person, entering a world that no one else could disturb. In this world, the only thing Yu Linna saw was the world she had created.
Xiao Yanhan looked at Yu Linna like this and thought, Shion-sensei is really so moe and cute.
Her idol was working, working hard. Then she couldn’t admit defeat either.
And so, in the following days, Xiao Yanhan worked even harder, staying up all night to draw her manuscripts, constantly thinking about how to make the story more reasonable, how to make the plot logic work. And the characters’ personalities, their role in the plot, she considered them all. To get her manuscript to pass smoothly, she really worked very hard.
During this period, Yu Linna let her be completely free, letting her develop freely.
This time, Xiao Yanhan chose a school gambling theme, telling a story about underground gambling in a school, a contest of underground gambling and money. The male protagonist of the story was an ordinary high school student who accidentally stumbled into a casino. Because he had come into contact with underground gambling once, and the temptation of doubling his money, his gambling talent was stimulated, making his desire for money deeper and deeper. From then on, the gambling contest officially began.
Just from the theme, it was unexpectedly not bad. And Xiao Yanhan had also borrowed some parts from Air-sensei’s The Rich Man’s Game. But from the summary, she was also intentionally imitating the dark and deep parts of Shion-sensei. Although it wasn’t very good to say so, Shion-sensei’s stories were still very sunny, but some parts were indeed a bit dark and deep.
Xiao Yanhan named this manga Gambling Boy. In terms of theme and audience, she defined it as a hot-blooded school manga. She hadn’t planned to draw the female protagonist yet. For her pen name, she chose “Yan Yu,” the same as her QQ name. At the same time, she also wanted to show that she was still a loyal fan of Shion-sensei.
“Are you planning to draw a gambling manga?”
Lan Ranyan looked at her manga draft and said faintly. She was already used to Xiao Yanhan drawing manga. In the entire dorm, everyone was not an ordinary person. Lan Ranyan was not surprised. In fact, if she were to stay in an ordinary dorm, she really wouldn’t be used to it.
“Are you going to be a great manga artist in the future? Tsk tsk, not bad. You have ideals.”
Fang Jiangning had seen her draft. Although the dialogue and scenes hadn’t been added yet, the effect was alright. After all, she wasn’t a professional manga artist and couldn’t comment. She and Lan Ranyan were both the type who were happy just looking at it and weren’t picky about manga to a professional level.
“Hmph hmph, I’m going to be a great manga artist. In the future, when I become famous, I’ll give you my autograph.”
Xiao Yanhan was very confident. The manga she drew this time was better than any manga she had ever drawn before. It could be said to be her best performance in recent years. Because Shion-sensei was teaching her how to write an outline and had also guided her in drawing manga, she believed she would definitely succeed this time.
“As for the autograph, that’s not necessary. We have two big celebrities in our dorm. But you, Yan, you should just draw the manga well first.”
Lan Ranyan mercilessly cut her down.
In any case, it was a good thing that Xiao Yanhan had a goal and a clear path. At least she was no longer like a child who couldn’t find her way, wandering under the moonlight. This time, her path was illuminated by a bright light.
And Yu Linna just glanced at her faintly and then returned to her work station to type. To her, her own work was more important. She had to rush her manuscripts. The animation for Ballad of the Enchantress was about to be broadcast soon. She had to write more, promote the work’s popularity more, so that her work could attract more attention. And she also had to promote her work on Weibo to increase its popularity when the animation was broadcast.
She was a professional writer. She couldn’t fail.
And Xiao Yanhan was still immersed in joy, seemingly seeing victory.
…
The great popularity of this person, Shion, still had an impact in the circle. For example, the Qidian author Lan Shao had once liked Shion-sensei’s Weibo post, which showed that he also recognized this young writer. But some people still felt that he was openly challenging this junior, telling her the authority of a senior.
Nangong Ying would look at Shion’s Weibo almost every day, occasionally liking a post, and even set her Weibo as a pinned post. She wanted to see more of Yu Linna here, to see this person she liked the most. She couldn’t change the past, nor could she change the future, but she still wanted to see her, even if it was just a virtual account. As long as there was an account, at least she knew what she was doing.
“Are you scrolling through Weibo again? It’s time to work.”
“Mmm, coming.”
Nangong Ying put down her phone, the screen went dark. She had to go back to filming. The next scene she had to film was a fight with someone. This was a very important scene.
