Chapter 20

A few days after watching the movie, Xu Ying officially finished writing "Back to High School".

This novel has been serialized for more than two months since it started, and with nearly thirty chapters saved in the manuscript box, it will be finished in about another month.

Xu Ying had considered releasing all the drafts at once to give readers a good treat, but since the theme of her next book had not yet been decided, she felt that updating slowly was also a good idea, as it would give her some buffer time to think things through.

At this moment, free from the pressure of writing, Xu Ying was nestled in a recliner with her eyes closed, seemingly contemplating inspiration, but in reality, she had already been asleep for a while.

When she snapped out of her daze, an hour and a half had already passed.

She staggered to her feet, washed her face at the sink, and returned to her bedroom to sit in front of the computer, staring blankly at a blank document.

There's actually a lot that could be written about; her protagonist could become an official through the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty, or she could be involved in palace intrigue in the Qing Dynasty...

She's currently somewhat indecisive, unsure which one to write first.

Indeed, sometimes having too many choices isn't necessarily a good thing.

Xu Ying sighed, picked up her phone and started scrolling through short videos. But after only a few minutes, the platform pushed a video to her about Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan'er.

Xu Ying: "......"

The blogger was just talking, nothing much, she was just telling the story of Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan'er, how did she suddenly bring up her and start praising her so much?

"The author of 'February Sky' is remarkable; the character development is superb..."

The blogger's excessive praise made Xu Ying so angry she wanted to dig her toes into the ground. She dared not look anymore and immediately swiped away to watch other videos.

Despite the embarrassment, the video did serve as a wake-up call for Xu Ying.

Yes, since she has already mentioned the Tang Dynasty, Princess Taiping, and Shangguan Wan'er in "Back to High School," she could strike while the iron is hot and set the story of her next novel in the Tang Dynasty.

When Xu Ying mentions the Tang Dynasty, she thinks of Li Shimin and Wu Zetian, the twenty-four meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion and Di Renjie... So many famous figures, which one doesn't deserve to be written about in detail?

However, Xu Ying did not intend to make them the main characters; she had a more brilliant idea in mind.

She decided to write the story of a female painter.

In the seventeenth year of the Zhenguan era, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, ordered the painter Yan Liben to create paintings of twenty-four meritorious officials, which were then hung in the Lingyan Pavilion for posterity to admire. Xu Ying's inspiration came from this.

She wants to create a fictional female painter character.

The female protagonist is ordered by the emperor to paint portraits of meritorious officials. Since she is to paint, she naturally needs to understand the achievements and personalities of these officials in order to fully capture their charm.

In this way, as the female protagonist's main quest progresses, the veil of the Tang Dynasty will gradually be lifted for the readers.

......

With an idea in mind, Xu Ying raised her hand and typed five words on the computer document: "The Female Painter of the Tang Dynasty".

Since the story of "The Great Tang Female Painter" takes place during the Zhenguan era, she inevitably has to give up Wu Zetian and Di Renjie, both of whom are very famous figures. Xu Ying is a little reluctant to part with them.

However, there are gains and losses.

She can't write now, but she can continue writing when she wants to later.

Moreover, she doesn't actually need to continue writing the story of Di Renjie. The detective stories are more atmospheric when filmed as TV series, and she can wait until she has the money to film them directly in the future.

Since there's no original story, it'll be a good opportunity for readers to guess who the real culprit is.

After calming herself down, Xu Ying began to list out the outline.

The twenty-four meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion, each with their name, achievements, family background, personality... all of these had to be written down. Fortunately, she graduated with a degree in literature in her previous life, otherwise she really wouldn't have been able to remember so many people.

Xu Ying was busy conceiving her new novel, completely unaware that Lin Zhongxu next door was hanging his head, listening to Grandma Wang and Grandpa Li's earnest teachings.

"You should also be more understanding of your parents. Making movies isn't easy, and do we have any connections in that field...?"

Lin Zhongxu was impatient to listen to this, so he lowered his head and remained silent.

It wasn't that he didn't want to argue, but the old lady was too old, and he was worried that if he spoke up, he might really upset her and cause her harm!

"Your mom called me yesterday and said that if things don't work out, I should apply to a school abroad next year. It sounds like a pretty good idea..."

Not bad my ass!

Lin Zhongxu held his breath and didn't make a sound.

He couldn't stay at home any longer, so he stood up, made up an excuse, and left.

"This child..."

Shutting out the old woman's nagging from inside the door, Lin Zhongxu walked straight towards Liuxia, but he turned back as soon as he reached the entrance of the community. It was too hot, and he had no money. Where could he go?

After going upstairs, he hesitated in front of his own door for a while, but finally decided to turn around and knock on the door next door, which was Xu Ying's house.

Upon hearing the sound, Xu Ying opened the door and saw Lin Zhongxu, whose face looked slightly depressed.

"What's wrong? Shall we come in?"

"Is it okay?" Lin Zhongxu said, stepping inside. "Sister Xiaoying, you go about your business. I just wanted to sit at your place for a while."

Lin Zhongxu sat down in the living room.

Looking at his expression, Xu Ying had already guessed the reason.

She didn't ask any more questions.

However, there was no air conditioning in the living room, and it was hot sitting there. She had just been working on the outline of "The Great Tang Female Painter" in the bedroom. She pointed to the bedroom and asked, "Do you want to come in? There's air conditioning in there."

She always treated Lin Zhongxu like a child. No matter how tall and strong he was, he was still a child in her eyes, someone who needed to be taken care of.

"Okay," Lin Zhongxu simply got up and went to the bedroom.

Xu Ying: ......

So that's what I was waiting for her to say.

There was a small stool in the bedroom. Sometimes Xu Ying didn't want to sit on the bed, so she would sit on the stool and play on her phone, which made things convenient for Lin Zhongxu.

After he came in, he consciously settled down on the small stool.

Xu Ying looked at him curled up in a ball and went to the refrigerator in the kitchen to get him a drink.

"Thanks."

Lin Zhongxu accepted the drink and said, "Sister, don't worry about me, go ahead and do your thing."

"Hmm," Xu Ying sat back down at the computer and continued writing the outline.

Having been used to writing online novels, she unknowingly developed a very fast typing speed, which seemed unremarkable to her, but to outsiders it looked very professional.

Lin Zhongxu was looking down at his phone, but after the room quieted down, the sound of Xu Ying typing on the keyboard became particularly noticeable, and the keyboard sounds were very fast to him.

He couldn't help but look up in this direction.

"Sis, what are you doing?"

Lin Zhongxu had heard from his grandmother that Sister Xiaoying didn't have a job, but seeing her typing so seriously on the computer, it didn't seem like she was just doing it for fun.

“Oh, didn’t Grandma tell you? I write novels,” Xu Ying replied while typing, her eyes still glued to the screen.

"Writing novels?" Lin Zhongxu was somewhat surprised, yet very interested. He adjusted his posture to face Xu Ying directly. "Why didn't Grandma mention this to me at all?"

"Perhaps in their eyes, not going to work is the same as not having a job."

The older generation believes that working is defined as leaving early and returning late.

"That's true. My grandma just advised me not to study directing and to apply to a school abroad instead."

No one in his family approves of his directing major.

Do you think I'm being too willful?

His family members took turns trying to persuade him, and even with his confidence, he couldn't help but feel discouraged at this point.

Xu Ying didn't answer his question, but instead asked a completely unrelated question: "Why aren't you going fishing?"

Lin Zhongxu was silent for a moment, then finally gave up and said, "...Fine, to tell you the truth, I don't like fishing at all. I just didn't want to listen to Grandma's nagging and I didn't want to argue with her, so I just found something to do and went out."

I figured it out a long time ago.

"Don't you also think I'm ungrateful, abandoning the family business to pursue some vague ideal?"

His family works in the traditional machinery manufacturing industry, which has absolutely nothing to do with the entertainment industry.

Xu Ying knew that he wasn't saying these things because he had any intention of giving up, but because he hoped someone could affirm and encourage him.

“Although we haven’t known each other for very long, I think you have a real talent for directing.”

From what he said during the movie that day, you could tell he was a person with learning ability and action, not just someone who talks a big game. She supported him in pursuing his ideals.

"Really? You think I have talent?"

Lin Zhongxu's lips curled up by a single pixel.

"Sis, aren't you writing a novel? What's it called? I'll search for it and show my support."

"Back to High School," Xu Ying joked, "Support it? Do you have the money to support it now?"

Aren't I penniless now?

"Even if I don't have much money, it's enough to subscribe to a novel, but I just can't give you a tip," Lin Zhongxu said as he downloaded Feihong Novel Network.

Feihong Novel Network is a female-oriented novel website, which he had never really paid much attention to before.

After downloading the Feihong APP and registering an account, Lin Zhongxu finally started searching for "Back to High School".

? !

Lin Zhongxu clicked into the novel's homepage and was somewhat shocked: "Sis, you have so many novels in your collection?!"

A collection of over 100,000 items...

Lin Zhongxu clicked into the author's homepage again and saw that there was only one novel on the page, "Returning to High School Days". This meant that Sister Xiaoying's first novel had become a hit.

Lin Zhongxu shook his head and sighed, "Compared to you, what am I? You're the one who's truly talented, you're amazing!"

I never expected that Sister Xiaoying, who is usually so quiet, is actually a big author online.

Xu Ying smiled: "After all, I'm four years older than you."

Lin Zhongxu felt that he and Xu Ying were both oddballs in the eyes of their elders, and seeing Xu Ying achieve such good results, he couldn't help but feel inspired.

"Sis, do you think I should edit some videos and post them online?"

"all right."

Since I'm just idling around anyway, it's not a bad idea to do something related to my major.

A note from the author: