173: Chapter 173 of Journey to the West breaks historical records for first release!

Midnight sharp.

The Zhongdian Literature app homepage popped up a full-screen recommendation slot.

The background was gold.

A Golden Cudgel spanned across the screen, with a few large characters engraved on the staff—journey to the west》.

The author column read: Jiang Fan.

The comment section was instantly flooded the second the pop-up appeared.

"Holy crap? That Jiang Fan who wrote blue and white porcelain?? Why is he writing a novel again?"

"A singer crossing over to write a book, I bet fifty cents it flops."

"Let's read it first, you never know."

"Joining the crowd +1, let's see how bad a singer's writing can be."

The first seven chapters, nearly fifty thousand words.

Zhongdian Literature released them all at once.

Ten minutes later.

The tone of the comment section shifted abruptly.

"Holy shit."

"...Brothers, I take back what I just said."

"Can someone explain to me how a songwriter can write a novel like this?"

"I finished reading the Havoc in Heaven arc, it was so satisfying. When that monkey was locked in the alchemy furnace, my heart was in my throat."

"To be honest, I've been reading web novels for ten years. I've flipped through at least three hundred Xianxia and fantasy books. Now that this journey to the west is out, the others are all just little brothers."

"Why is it over? Damn it, what about the rest??"

1:00 AM.

There were over seven thousand book reviews piled up.

On the data monitoring dashboard of the Zhongdian Literature backend, the collection count for journey to the west》 jumped wildly every time it refreshed.

Song Siyi sat in front of the computer.

She was wearing pajamas, knees tucked up on the chair, holding coffee in her left hand while her right hand kept refreshing the backend.

One hour after release, the collection count broke eighty thousand.

Placed in the history of Zhongdian Literature, this number ranked first.

Not first for the month, not first for the year.

It was first since the site was founded.

Song Siyi set down her coffee cup and took a screenshot of the backend page.

She opened WeChat and sent a message to Jiang Fan.

"Song Siyi: We broke the record. It's the number one first-hour collection count since Zhongdian Literature was founded."

There was no reply from the other side.

He was probably asleep.

3:00 AM.

The collection count passed one hundred and fifty thousand.

Song Siyi stared at the screen, having already refilled her coffee for the third time.

Every time the comment section refreshed, hundreds more appeared, all urging for more updates.

She covered her face with both hands and laughed into her palms for quite a while.

"Hahaha, you little brat, you're really something."

— —

The next morning at 7:00 AM.

Jiang Fan was woken up by his alarm, reached for his phone, and took a look.

Song Siyi had sent over a dozen messages on WeChat.

They had been sent continuously from 1:00 AM until 6:30 AM.

"Song Siyi: The collection count has broken three hundred thousand."

"Song Siyi: journey to the west is trending on Weibo in three spots."

"Song Siyi: Jiang Fan, are you awake??"

"Song Siyi: ?"

"Song Siyi: Are you dead??"

Jiang Fan replied with one message.

"Jiang Fan: You didn't sleep all night?"

A second reply.

"Song Siyi: Guess?"

"Song Siyi: Did you check the Weibo trending list?"

Jiang Fan opened Weibo.

Trending #4: #Jiang Fan changed careers to write novels#

Trending #8: #journey to the west The Monkey King#

Trending #12: #Zhongdian Literature journey to the west#

Scrolling down two screens, the topic's view count had already exceeded two hundred million.

The comment section was severely polarized.

One side was passersby and readers, wildly recommending it.

"Begging you all to go read journey to the west, if it's not good after you finish, I'll twist my head off and kick it like a ball."

"What kind of background does this Jiang Fan have? He's a genius at writing songs, and he's a genius at writing novels too??"

"I seriously suspect this guy isn't from Blue Star."

The other side was skeptical.

"A singer writing a novel? Just hype, right? There must be a ghostwriter behind it."

"Heh, everyone wants to cross over and be a writer. Nine out of ten things they write are trash."

"Did Zhongdian Literature pay for the trending spots? Who would believe such exaggerated first-day data for a new book."

Jiang Fan glanced at it for a moment and closed Weibo directly.

He washed his face, changed clothes, and went downstairs.

In the hotel breakfast hall, most of the crew had already arrived.

Shen Feng was sitting in a corner with a plate.

He had half a tea egg stuffed in his mouth, while his other hand held his phone, scrolling incessantly.

"Brother Fan!" Shen Feng shouted from far away, "Do you know you're on the trending list?"

Sister Yue was sitting opposite him, poking a yogurt box with a straw.

"Brother Feng, stop shouting, the whole building knows now."

Shen Feng shoved the phone screen in front of Jiang Fan.

"Look at this comment section, some people say you're a god descended to earth, others say you have a team ghostwriting for you."

"Ghostwriter?" Jiang Fan took a bite of a bun, chewed twice, "If they can find the ghostwriter, I'll treat them to a meal."

Shen Feng chuckled twice, his fingers swiping fiercely on the screen.

"I read two chapters just now, it's written so thrillingly! That part where the monkey causes havoc in heaven—"

Sister Yue finally lifted her head.

"Brother Feng, can you please go over today's lines first? You have several scenes today."

"It doesn't conflict, it doesn't conflict." Shen Feng shoved his phone into his pocket and reached out to grab a fried dough stick from his plate.

Jiang Fan's phone vibrated again.

It was Song Siyi again.

"Song Siyi: Starting at ten, the chapters released after that will be paid."

"Song Siyi: For now, update two chapters every day, I'll give you the subscription data in the evening."

Jiang Fan typed a line and sent it back.

"Jiang Fan: Go get some sleep, don't die of overwork at your desk."

"Song Siyi: Get lost."

Jiang Fan put away his phone, stuffed the last bite of the bun into his mouth, and walked out of the restaurant with his milk cup.

He ran into Lu Wanqing in the hallway.

She had changed into a white T-shirt and jeans, her hair tied in a ponytail, clutching a script in her hand.

Seeing Jiang Fan, she paused.

"General Manager Jiang, good morning."

"Are you ready?"

Lu Wanqing nodded, her voice much clearer than yesterday.

"I went over the lines a few more times last night, it should be no problem today."

Jiang Fan looked at her.

There was a faint dark shade under her eyes; she probably didn't sleep well last night.

But her overall state was much more relaxed than yesterday, her shoulders weren't as tense.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just act in a relaxed way."

Jiang Fan nodded at her and walked straight toward the set with his cup.

Lu Wanqing stood in place, her gaze following that retreating figure for two seconds longer.

Agent Zhou appeared behind her at some point, carrying two cups of coffee in her hand.

"What are you spacing out for? Let's go, time for makeup."

"Oh. Coming."

Lu Wanqing followed, opened the script, and looked down at today's lines again.

Her lips moved twice, reciting them silently once.

Today, it must pass.

— —

9:00 AM, the set.

Director Ning Yuan sat behind the monitor, holding a walkie-talkie.

"Is Lu Wanqing ready?"

Agent Zhou's voice came from the dressing room: "Ready, coming over right away."

Three minutes later, Lu Wanqing walked over from the end of the hallway wearing a wedding dress.

Her steps were steady, her eyes looking straight ahead, not glancing around.

When she walked over yesterday, it was like stepping on cotton.

Today, she felt every step was solid.

Director Ning Yuan noticed, didn't say anything, and tossed the walkie-talkie on the table.

"All departments, take your positions."

Shen Feng was already standing on the set.

Wearing a tacky suit, holding a beer bottle.

He glanced toward Lu Wanqing and gave a thumbs up.

Lu Wanqing smiled at him and walked to her starting position.

"Scene 4, Take 2, reshoot. Action!"

The clapperboard snapped shut.

Shen Feng walked over with a swaying gait, his eyes full of that infatuation.

He stood one meter away from Lu Wanqing, put the beer bottle behind his back, and his mouth moved twice.

"Qiu Ya, I prepared a song for you..."

Lu Wanqing turned around.

She looked into Shen Feng's eyes.

Looking at this man in front of her wearing an ill-fitting suit.

The corners of her mouth curved slightly, carrying a bit of politeness and a bit of detachment.

"Xia Luo, you've had too much to drink."

Director Ning Yuan stared at the image on the monitor.

Lu Wanqing's expression was relaxed and natural, her eyes clear, without anything extra.

"Cut. That's a wrap."

Director Ning Yuan's voice wasn't loud.

The set was quiet for a moment, then burst into applause.

Sister Yue breathed a sigh of relief on the sidelines: "Finally passed."

Shen Feng grinned and gave Lu Wanqing an OK sign.

Agent Zhou stood outside the set, her clenched fist also relaxing.

Director Ning Yuan gave an 'hm', put his headset back on, and picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Continue. Next scene, the part where Xia Luo is hunched over the toilet. Shen Feng, get ready."

Shen Feng responded, stretched his neck, and walked toward the middle of the set.

When passing by Lu Wanqing, he turned his head and whispered: "See, I told you it would be fine."

Lu Wanqing nodded, her voice very quiet: "Thank you, Brother Feng."

"What's there to be polite about." Shen Feng patted his own face, "Alright, I'm going to go hunch over the toilet. The number of times I've hunched over a toilet in my whole life doesn't add up to as many as these past two days."

Sister Yue shouted from a distance: "You're just suited for hunching over that!"

"Sister Yue, can you watch your mouth!"

Laughter spread across the set.

The lighting, crew, and prop departments busied themselves again.