After listening to Liang Zichen's words, Wang Shen nodded and then asked, "Tell me more specifically, what exactly is the change?"
"Besides two novels, all of Lin Su's other novels have fallen out of the top ten on the novel charts. Moreover, those two novels were among the top five. The sales of Lin Su's two latest novels are really dismal." After analyzing the data, Liang Zichen shook his head, seemingly feeling sorry for Lin Su.
After listening to Liang Zichen's data analysis, Wang Shen thought for a while and then asked, "Is Xu Xiaolin's novel currently the most popular on the list?"
Liang Zichen glanced at the novel rankings and authors again. "That's right, Captain Wang, you guessed perfectly. In the current suspense novel rankings, Xu Xiaolin has three novels in the top ten, and they are ranked first, second, and fifth respectively."
After listening to Liang Zichen's words, Wang Shen fell into deep thought. The car sped towards the city, and seeing Wang Shen's expression, Liang Zichen didn't disturb him further. The only sound in the car was the whistling of the wind.
This state lasted for more than ten minutes. Liang Zichen glanced at Wang Shen again, who still had his brows furrowed. After thinking for a moment, Liang Zichen finally asked, "Captain Wang, why do you guess that Xu Xiaolin's novel is currently the biggest winner on the suspense novel charts?"
Wang Shen was silent for a moment before replying, "Xu Xiaolin is an excellent novelist, and in the past two years, her fame has been no less than Lin Su's. Since the reopening of the Han Mo case, I have occasionally paid attention to the trends in suspense novels and found that Xu Xiaolin is gradually replacing Lin Su's position, both in terms of the quality of her novels and their sales volume. I have also bought Xu Xiaolin's novels, and to be honest, they are indeed very exciting."
As Wang Shen spoke, he was still thinking about something else. "So, the only person I can think of who can replace Lin Su is Xu Xiaolin. Also,..." Wang Shen paused here.
Seeing that Wang Shen had stopped narrating, Liang Zichen did not urge him, but waited quietly for Wang Shen to organize his thoughts.
"Besides, Xu Xiaolin and Lin Su are together now. I think there's something fishy about that." Finally, Wang Shen voiced his suspicions.
Upon hearing Wang Shen's words, Liang Zichen nodded in agreement and then added, "If there's anything suspicious about this matter, it's Lin Su's motive."
"A novelist's livelihood depends on his readership, and the basic element for maintaining a readership is the novel's appeal. In the past two years, Lin Su's novels have gradually declined in both quality and quantity. As a novelist, if he doesn't produce high-quality works for a long time, he will be gradually forgotten by readers. Such consequences are fatal. Given this situation, Lin Su will seek solutions."
"Find a solution?" Liang Zichen asked, puzzled. "So, what solution did Lin Su come up with?"
Wang Shen frowned slightly, then slowly said, "For ordinary people, there are essentially two solutions: either try to improve the quality of their novels, or gradually fade into obscurity and eventually disappear from the public eye. But don't forget our speculation about the source of Lin Su's five bestselling novels." After saying this, Wang Shen glanced at Liang Zichen.
Liang Zichen and Wang Shen exchanged a glance, then pondered for a moment, following Wang Shen's words. After a while, Liang Zichen spoke up: "If our guess is correct, then the original author of those five novels is indeed Han Mo, and Lin Su is a plagiarist. For a plagiarist, losing the source of the plagiarism is indeed a very difficult thing. So, the fastest way Lin Su could think of was to find the source of the plagiarism?" After saying that, Liang Zichen paused and glanced at Wang Shen's expression.
Wang Shen's expression did not change much; he still looked at the road ahead with a serious expression.
Liang Zichen withdrew his gaze and continued, "Now it seems that Lin Su has identified Xu Xiaolin as the source of the plagiarism. He may very well be trying to obtain some more plagiarism templates from Xu Xiaolin."
As Liang Zichen finished speaking, Wang Shen suddenly added, "However, Xu Xiaolin may not be willing to give up her well-conceived novel. Even if Xu Xiaolin were willing, Lin Su probably wouldn't ask."
"Captain Wang, what do you mean by that?" Liang Zichen looked at Wang Shen with a puzzled expression.
Wang Shen smiled and then explained, "Based on my brief interaction with Lin Su, I think Lin Su is a person with an exceptionally strong sense of self-esteem. There is a particularly terrifying type of person in this world: someone with an exceptionally strong sense of self-esteem but no ability. If someone has an exceptionally strong sense of self-esteem but lacks ability, they will resort to crooked means to obtain what they want without letting others know."
"So, you mean Lin Su does want Xu Xiaolin's novel idea, but doesn't want Xu Xiaolin to know about it?" Liang Zichen had already understood what Wang Shen meant.
Suddenly, Liang Zichen snapped his fingers, a look of sudden realization on his face. "Right now, Lin Su still presents himself as an excellent novelist in Xu Xiaolin's eyes. If your assessment of Lin Su is accurate, then Lin Su certainly wouldn't want to give up his image in Xu Xiaolin's mind. Lin Su might also have some concerns; he might worry that if Xu Xiaolin knew he actually lacked talent in novel writing, he might lose Xu Xiaolin's favor."
After listening to Liang Zichen's analysis, Wang Shen nodded heavily. "Lin Su won't ask Xu Xiaolin for novel ideas. Simply put, Lin Su will never let Xu Xiaolin discover that he lacks talent in novel writing. Because once the fact that Lin Su lacks talent in novel writing is exposed, it will trigger a series of problems. Don't forget Xu Xiaolin's identity."
"Xu Xiaolin's identity? Right, Xu Xiaolin is Han Mo's sister, and Xu Xiaolin herself has been investigating Han Mo's case. If Lin Su were really the murderer, he would never have revealed the slightest flaw in front of Xu Xiaolin. But..." At this point in his analysis, Liang Zichen frowned, seemingly unable to understand something.
"Captain Wang, we just analyzed that Lin Su's motive for approaching Xu Xiaolin was to obtain the ideas for his novel in order to maintain his position in the literary world. But Lin Su couldn't directly ask Xu Xiaolin for the novel, so he could only steal it?"
After hearing Liang Zichen's words, Wang Shen shook his head. "Stealing won't work either. Even if Lin Su steals Xu Xiaolin's novel, he has to put his own name on it when he publishes it, otherwise it's meaningless. But as long as Lin Su puts his own name on it, Xu Xiaolin will definitely find out. In that case, wouldn't 'stealing' be pointless?"
Hearing Wang Shen's words, Liang Zichen frowned even more. After glancing at Wang Shen, Liang Zichen said, "Then there's only one possibility left. Does Lin Su intend to repeat the same trick again? Wouldn't that put Xu Xiaolin in great danger?"
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