Qin Yunchu saw that their attention had been diverted and that the two of them could not overtake for the time being, so he felt a little relieved.
But she immediately became curious: "Is The Legend of the Condor Heroes also very famous?"
Gu Yuanzhen immediately chimed in, "It's more than just famous. This book is undoubtedly the flagship of the martial arts world."
He continued, “When I was 15, I first saw this book in a bookstore. I picked it up and took a look. I was immediately fascinated by it and read page after page.
"I stayed there from noon until dusk, and only left when the bookstore owner kicked me out. That was the first time in my life that I skipped class."
Qin Yunchu asked, "Did you skip class to read?"
Gu Yuanzhen rubbed her head and said, "I didn't want to skip class. I saw a lot of people reading in the bookstore when I was at school, so I took a look. Who knew I would be so engrossed in it."
After saying that, he complained again: "That day, I was scolded by the bookstore owner, then my homeroom teacher called me home, and then I was scolded by my mom, and then I was scolded by my dad. It was a mixed doubles match between husband and wife, but when I was being beaten, I was still thinking about the plot of The Legend of the Condor Heroes."
Qin Yunchu smiled: "Is it really that beautiful?"
"You can't imagine the impact that book had on a 15-year-old boy," Gu Yuanzhen said. "The Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, the Nine Yin Scriptures, the Quanzhen Sect, the Beggars' Sect, Guo Jing and Huang Rong... it was so novel and so magnificent."
"I've read The Legend of the Condor Heroes countless times, but I still want to go back to the time before I picked up the book at 15 and read it again in its original form."
Qin Yunchu nodded: "What you said makes me want to go home and watch The Legend of the Condor Heroes."
He Shiying frowned and said, "Yun Chu, don't let him lead you astray. Jin Yong's is not good-looking at all. Gu Long is the eternal god!"
Gu Yuanzhen waved her hand dismissively: "You are so ignorant, I won't bother with you."
Ho Sze Ying said: "Jin Yong is not good at writing about women. The female characters he writes are all like the male protagonist's subordinates. What about "The Deer and the Cauldron"? The protagonist married 8 wives at once! I am scared just thinking about it!"
Gu Yuanzhen said, "I want to correct you on two points. First, in The Deer and the Cauldron, Wei Xiaobao married seven wives, not eight. Second, Jin Yong's female characters are all perfect! Huang Rong, Xiaolongnu, Zhao Min, which one of them is not a memorable female character?"
He Shiying said, "It's not that being memorable doesn't necessarily mean it's good! Isn't Huang Rong just an external brain for Guo Jing? 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' is okay, and I like Xiaolongnu, but the female characters in 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber' are completely unreliable. What's so special about a cowardly man like Zhang Wuji that Zhao Min would like him?"
Gu Yuanzhen's face flushed red. "How is Zhang Wuji a coward? He possesses the Nine Yang Magic Skill, the Great Shift of the Universe, and Tai Chi. He's a top-tier protagonist. In martial arts novels, he's definitely the strongest!"
He Shiying sneered, "Haha, being strong in martial arts doesn't mean being strong as a person? He's fickle and indecisive, liking this and hating that. Later, he was sidelined by Zhu Yuanzhang, and he didn't say a word. Anyone dared to bully him. What else could he be but a coward?"
Gu Yuanzhen got angry when she heard this and shouted:
"You said Jin Yong's female characters were bad, but Gu Long is the one who's full of malice towards female characters! The female characters he writes are either perverts or crazy, and there are also green tea bitches. Occasionally there are one or two normal ones, but in the end they either die or become disabled."
He Shiying retorted, "What's wrong with being bold enough to love and hate? In Gulong novels, brotherhood is the key. Even if there are male and female couples, it's all true love, one-on-one. It's definitely better than Jin Yong's harem!"
Qin Yunchu was overwhelmed by the quarrel between the two people.
She quickly pulled He Shiying away and said, "I can tell. You two, whether it's Jin Yong or Gu Long, even if you don't like it, you've both read the book, right?"
Gu Yuanzhen and He Shiying were a little embarrassed: "How do you know?"
"You two seem to know everything about the story like the back of your hand, and you can keep up with whatever the other person says. You must be familiar with the plot," Qin Yunchu said. "If you don't like it, why do you want to watch it?"
Both of them blushed.
Gu Yuanzhen said: "Even though I don't like Gu Long as much as Jin Yong, his books are countless times better than others."
He Shiying also said shyly: "Except for the poor writing of female characters, Jin Yong is very good in other aspects, and the book is indeed interesting."
"Aren't other people's martial arts novels interesting?"
Gu Yuanzhen said, "To say there are no good-looking ones at all is a bit biased. But if you want to talk about good-looking ones, others are not much better."
He Shiying said: "To put it simply, Jin Yong and Gu Long are half of the martial arts world. The two halves combined have squeezed out everyone in between."
Gu Yuanzhen was amused by her analogy. "That's true. There was a writer who imitated Jin Yong and Gu Long. He once lamented that Jin Yong and Gu Long had already written all the best martial arts novels in the world, and everyone else could only pick up some scraps."
Qin Yunchu placed his finger on his chin and said, "So, you should read both Jin Yong and Gu Long's books."
After she finished speaking, she suddenly added, "We've been talking for so long that we've forgotten the real business. Aren't we here to look for Chen Ya's work?"
Gu Yuanzhen said lightly: "No need to look for it, the truth has already come out."
"What?"
"Chen Ya must be one of those martial arts writers who followed the lead of Jin Yong and Gu Long," he said. "If you don't believe me, look in the cabinet next to him. There must be some Jin Yong novels there too."
He opened another cabinet next to him and exclaimed, "Yoho!"
"I was wondering, right? Look, they're all Jin Yong's works."
Everyone gathered in front of another cabinet and saw that it was also full of books, just like the previous cabinet.
The three words "Written by Jin Yong" are written on all the book covers.
Qin Yunchu turned around and asked him, "How did you determine that?"
Gu Yuanzhen acted like a famous detective: "It's simple, reasoning."
"I just discovered something. There are a lot of duplicate books in that cabinet."
"There are three volumes of 'The Sentimental Swordsman', five volumes of 'The Twins', and two volumes of 'Happy Heroes'..."
Gu Yuanzhen took out all the books and placed them on the ground, a dazzling array of them.
Qin Yunchu shouted, "Really?"
Gu Yuanzhen pointed at the book on the ground and asked, "Do you see anything special about it?"
Qin Yunchu stared at the book for a while: "The covers are different?"
"To be precise, it's a different version," Gu Yuanzhen said. "I didn't buy the same book, but different versions."
"Look, this one is the first edition from 2005, this one is the second edition from 2006, and this one is the third edition from 2008." Gu Yuanzhen held up the books to show her, "Each one is a reprint from a different period."
Qin Yunchu nodded: "I see. But why do you think he's just following the trend because of this?"
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