164: Chapter 164 The Birth of Journey to the West

At Pudong Airport, Tang Yingxue walked into the VIP lounge wearing sunglasses.

Her assistant, Little Zhao, pushed the suitcase behind her, eyes constantly darting toward her face.

"Sister Xue, your skin condition today is just too exaggerated."

Tang Yingxue took off her sunglasses and glanced at her.

"Don't ask what you shouldn't."

Little Zhao stuck out her tongue and wisely shut her mouth.

— —

At ten in the morning, Jiang Fan arrived at the company.

Li Cheng was squatting at the front desk, fighting Zhou Yutong over a bag of potato chips. Seeing Jiang Fan enter, he quickly shoved the chips back into Zhou Yutong's arms and straightened up.

"Brother Fan, morning."

"Hmm." Jiang Fan walked inside. "Watch your image. How is Director Ning Yuan doing?"

Li Cheng followed behind to report: "The venue contract is signed, and the extras have been sourced from the local art school students. The props team is collecting old items from the nineties—old desks, twenty-eight-inch roadster bicycles, enamel mugs—they've gathered quite a lot."

"Is the budget over?"

"No. Director Ning is very stingy; he stretches every penny."

Jiang Fan nodded. Director Ning Yuan had a foul temper, but his work was solid.

"What about Shen Nian?"

"The Gucci makeup photos came out yesterday, and the brand is very satisfied. They said they'll arrange the commercial shoot next week. The Vio phone endorsement is also signed, and the deposit has reached the company's account."

"Alright, you keep an eye on it, don't let anything go wrong."

Jiang Fan pushed open his office door and threw his jacket onto the back of the chair.

Li Cheng poked half his head into the doorway: "Brother Fan, want to eat together at noon?"

"No. I have things to do, help me pack a meal and bring it up."

"Got it."

The door closed.

Jiang Fan sat down in his chair and closed his eyes.

The system panel lit up.

[Current Lifespan Value: 62,100 points]

[Remaining Lifespan: 117 days]

The Deep Compatibility with Tang Yingxue over the past few days had caused the Lifespan Value to increase quite considerably.

Jiang Fan first topped up the quota to maintain his life—redeeming 100 days of lifespan.

10,000 points were deducted, and his remaining lifespan jumped to 217 days.

Finally, he didn't have to count the days on his fingers anymore.

The only uncertainty was whether there was an upper limit to the lifespan he could redeem from the system—

He clicked on the mall and switched to the "Literary Works" category.

He typed three characters into the search box—journey to the west.

The page jumped, and a book icon with a bronze luster appeared in the center.

["journey to the west" Complete Edition]

[Redemption Price: 10,000 Lifespan Value]

Ten thousand points, a hundred days of life.

Jiang Fan stared at that number.

It was expensive, indeed. But this wasn't just about a novel.

Blue Star didn't have this IP, which meant the entire industrial chain was a blank slate.

With journey to the west, later works like "A Chinese Odyssey," "Monkey King: Hero is Back," and "Ne Zha" could be released.

Ten thousand points of Lifespan Value in exchange for a cultural gold mine that could be mined repeatedly for over a decade.

No matter how you calculate it, it wasn't a loss.

He pressed redeem.

[Deducted 10,000 Lifespan Value points]

A massive stream of information flooded into his mind.

From Pangu creating the world to the birth of the Stone Monkey, from the havoc in Heaven to the five hundred years under the Five Elements Mountain, and finally to the eighty-one tribulations to achieve enlightenment—

Every detail, every line of dialogue, was clearly etched deep in his memory.

One hundred chapters, over eight hundred thousand words, all in his head.

Jiang Fan opened his eyes and rubbed his temples; the sheer volume of information was too much, making his head feel a bit swollen.

After resting for two minutes, he opened his computer and created a new Word document.

File name: "journey to the west".

The sound of typing on the keyboard rang out in the quiet office.

No need to brainstorm, no need to check references.

He was like a heartless typewriter, moving the contents of his mind onto the screen exactly as they were.

Chapter One: The Spiritual Root Bears Fruit, the Source Flows Out; Cultivating the Mind and Nature, the Great Way Is Born.

"Overseas, there is a country named Aolai. The country is near the sea, and in the sea, there is a famous mountain called Flower-Fruit Mountain..."

Writing until noon, Li Cheng brought in the packed meal.

Jiang Fan didn't even look up: "Put it on the desk."

Li Cheng set down the takeout and glanced at the computer screen out of the corner of his eye—it was densely packed with characters.

"Brother Fan, what are you writing? A new script?"

"A novel."

"A novel?" Li Cheng blinked twice. "You write novels too?"

"Just passing the time."

Li Cheng opened his mouth, then swallowed the words "where are you idle" back down.

He backed out and closed the door.

The entire afternoon, Jiang Fan locked himself in the office.

The Stone Monkey became a disciple of Patriarch Bodhi, learning the Seventy-Two Transformations and the Somersault Cloud.

He took the Sea-Stabilizing Needle from the Dragon Palace and struck his name from the Book of Life and Death in the Underworld.

A hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals couldn't capture him; in the end, it took the Buddha himself to personally intervene, slapping down the Five Elements Mountain with one palm.

Jiang Fan didn't even notice his wrists were sore from typing.

This feeling of recreating a classic from his past life in another world was more intoxicating than making money.

At eight in the evening, Jiang Fan saved the file.

Today, he had written a full fifty thousand words; the first seven chapters were finished.

He leaned back against the chair and stared at the ceiling.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Song Siyi.

[Jiang Fan: The first seven chapters of journey to the west are done. I'll email them to you tomorrow.]

A minute later, five messages popped up in succession from her—

[Song Siyi: ???]

[Song Siyi: Are you serious?]

[Song Siyi: Jiang Fan, don't lie to me.]

[Song Siyi: I want to read it now!!!]

[Song Siyi: Send it to me!! Right now, immediately!!!]

Jiang Fan's mouth twitched; this reaction was even bigger than he had anticipated.

He didn't rush to reply, instead opening his lunch box—he hadn't touched a bite of the takeout at noon, and it was ice cold.

He shoveled in a few mouthfuls of cold rice, then went to the breakroom to brew a cup of coffee.

By the time he strolled back, there were three more messages on his phone.

[Song Siyi: Jiang Fan?]

[Song Siyi: Where are you??]

[Song Siyi: Are you messing with me?? I'm telling you, if you're lying to me—]

Jiang Fan typed a reply.

[Jiang Fan: What's the rush? I'll email it to you before ten tomorrow.]

[Song Siyi: Why can't it be now??]

[Song Siyi: Jiang Fan, do you know what this behavior of yours is called in the publishing industry?]

[Jiang Fan: What is it called?]

[Song Siyi: It's called keeping the editor in suspense. You'll get beaten up for this.]

[Jiang Fan: Then come and beat me.]

[Song Siyi: Just you wait.]

Jiang Fan locked his phone screen and threw it on the desk.

He leaned back against the chair, looking at the fifty-thousand-word document on the computer screen.

Once journey to the west started serializing, the commotion wouldn't be small.

The weight of this book in Chinese culture from his past life didn't need much explanation.

Jiang Fan finished his coffee in one gulp and shut down the computer.

He picked up his phone to check, and Song Siyi had sent two more messages.

[Song Siyi: Jiang Fan, answer me.]

[Song Siyi: Jiang Fan, believe it or not, I'll post about you wetting the bed when you were eight on Weibo right now.]

Jiang Fan froze.

How does this woman remember everything?

[Jiang Fan: You wouldn't dare.]

[Song Siyi: Not only do I dare, I have photos. The one Mother Fang took back then, of you crying while hugging the wet blanket.]

Jiang Fan's finger hovered over the screen, unable to tap down for a long time.

The original host wet the bed at eight and Mother Fang took a photo of it?

He actually had an impression of this in his mind.

If that photo got out—

Over twenty million fans seeing their "Husband Jiang Fan" crying while hugging a wet blanket when he was a kid...

[Jiang Fan: Song Siyi, you're an editor-in-chief of a listed company; isn't it embarrassing to do things like this?]

[Song Siyi: Cut the crap. Just tell me, when will you let me see the manuscript?]

[Jiang Fan: Tomorrow. I said tomorrow, so it's tomorrow.]

[Song Siyi: What time?]

[Jiang Fan: I'll email it to you before ten, alright?]

[Song Siyi: Fine. Remember that. One minute past ten, and I'll see you on Weibo.]

[Jiang Fan: ...With your personality, it's no wonder you're still single at thirty.]

When he sent this, Jiang Fan knew he had poked a hornet's nest.

Sure enough—

[Song Siyi: I'm twenty-three!!! Not thirty!!!]

[Jiang Fan: Oh, oh. Well, there aren't many years left then, better hurry up.]

[Song Siyi: Jiang Fan, I'm telling you, if you say one more word, I'll write a long article right now about how you chased me around when you were a kid, shouting that you wanted to marry me. Won't your female fans go crazy when they see that?]

This time, Jiang Fan really didn't dare to continue.

[Jiang Fan: Good night, Sister Siyi. I'll send it to you on time tomorrow.]

He flipped his phone face down on the desk.

Leaning back in his chair, the corners of his mouth tugged upward.

Song Siyi was a person who did things in a rush and had a sharp tongue.

But the kindness she had shown the original host from childhood to adulthood was real and solid in his memories.

This debt of gratitude, it had to be repaid.