304: Chapter 304 Same Day, Same Time

Lin Que’s hand holding the water glass almost wobbled.

Dad wants to go to Shanghai too?

Normally, taking Comrade Old Lin out for a stroll to show some filial piety wouldn't be an issue.

But for next Saturday's trip to Shanghai, he had to attend the debut book signing as the "Fu Zhi Yao National Champion." This was a crucial step for him to appear in the mainstream literary world under his real identity, "Lin Que."

People from the National Publishing House, leaders from the Writers Association, and media reporters—a whole crowd would be watching.

He had to maintain the persona of a seventeen-year-old high school student, dealing with those old foxes with just the right amount of humility and youthful edge.

That was already brain-draining enough.

And now he had to bring Comrade Lin Jianguo along?

Lin Que knew him too well.

Old Lin was truly enthusiastic, but he also truly had a problem with keeping his mouth shut in public.

Last time at the community chess and card room, just because he’d had a couple extra cups of tea,

He spent the whole afternoon embellishing the "behind-the-scenes tidbits" of his son's participation in Fu Zhi Yao.

If he went to a formal occasion in Shanghai and some reporter baited him into talking,

Old Lin would probably spill everything, right down to the history of his son wetting the bed as a kid.

The mental image was too much; he didn't dare think about it.

Lin Que put down the water glass, turned naturally to Lin Jianguo, and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“Dad.” Lin Que put down the water glass, his tone sincere.

"It’s really not that I don’t want you to go. Let me give you an analogy."

"It’s like back when you were an apprentice at the machinery plant, and your master took you to a technical competition,"

"But Grandma insisted on following you, wiping your sweat with a towel right there while a row of judges and the factory director sat below.

Just imagine that scene..."

Lin Jianguo’s mouth opened and closed.

This analogy was too biting.

He remembered the scene from back then clearly; his mother really had done something similar.

She had brought him a lunch box of braised pork at the technical competition site,

Opening the lid in front of the entire workshop director and shoving it into his arms while it was still steaming.

That day, he’d wished he could weld himself into the lathe.

Lin Jianguo’s expression froze for half a second.

He opened his mouth, his finger already raised, clearly brewing a rebuttal.

“I’m going to support my son, it’s only natural! Besides, I’m not going there to cause trouble. I’ll just be quiet on the side...”

“Quiet?”

Wang Xiulian walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of sliced apples, set the chopsticks by the fruit plate, and glanced at Lin Jianguo.

That glance wasn't heavy, but it was precise.

“When have you ever been quiet?

Last time at the neighborhood property meeting, you were banging on the table and arguing with the security captain for twenty minutes,

Just because the flower bed at the unit entrance blocked you from parking your electric scooter.”

“That’s because he was being unreasonable!”

“Enough. Our son is going for serious business; there will definitely be a lot of leaders present.”

Wang Xiulian placed the fruit plate steadily on the coffee table.

“What are you doing meddling? If you say the wrong thing and smear our son's reputation, it’ll be Little Que who loses face!”

As soon as those words came out, Lin Jianguo’s raised finger slowly retracted.

Seeing Wang Xiulian’s sharp gaze, his mouth moved a couple of times, but no sound came out.

Lin Que watched this scene from the side, filled with emotion.

The power of the family food chain was comparable to a precision strike of nuclear weapon proportions.

No matter how assertive his dad was outside, once he returned to this house and encountered a single sentence from Wang Xiulian, he immediately backed down.

Lin Jianguo sat back on the sofa dejectedly, picked up his tablet, and swiped hard on the screen with his thumb as if in a huff.

He muttered unclearly under his breath:

"Fine, fine, fine. If I'm not going, I'm not going."

Lin Que walked over and patted his father’s shoulder.

“Dad, when the book comes out, I’ll send you ten signed copies.

When you display them at the community service center, it’ll be much more prestigious than you going to Shanghai yourself.”

Lin Jianguo’s eyes shifted.

Ten signed copies.

Displayed at the community service center.

The expressions on those guys like Old Zhang and Old Li...

“Alright then.”

Lin Jianguo’s face was still tense, but his hand already reached out to take a piece of apple.

Lin Que picked up his water glass and was about to head back to his room when the phone in his pocket suddenly chimed.

It wasn't WeChat.

It was the exclusive notification sound bound to his private email.

Lin Que glanced down at the screen, saw a name pop up in the sender column, and without any change in expression, set the water glass back on the coffee table.

“Dad, Mom, I’m going to the studio for a bit. I have something to handle.”

“This late?” Wang Xiulian frowned.

“Yeah, I won’t be back too late.”

Lin Jianguo poked half his head out from behind the tablet, about to ask something, but was pressed back by a look from Wang Xiulian.

“Attention safety, don’t stay up too late.”

“Okay.”

Lin Que changed his shoes and headed out.

Night had fallen over Jiangcheng in September, and the summer heat had finally yielded.

The plane trees on the street were illuminated with a thin golden edge by the streetlights, and the evening breeze carried the faint, lingering sweetness of osmanthus.

Ten minutes later.

SOHO Future City, the studio.

The air conditioner started automatically, and a cold breeze blew in his face.

Lin Que didn't turn on the main lights, only switching on the desk lamp.

He sat down, inserted the encrypted USB key, and went through the fingerprint, password, and secondary verification.

The email interface finished loading.

One unread email.

Sender: Wang De'an.

Timestamp: 7:17 PM tonight.

Lin Que double-clicked to open it.

The body of the email was quite long. Wang De'an’s wording was as appropriate and thorough as ever, but the excitement he couldn't hide between the lines was practically overflowing from the screen.

“Teacher Jian Shen, I have some good news to report.”

“The publication number for the first volume of the physical book of ordinary world was officially approved today!

From submitting the materials to getting the permit, it only took eleven working days in total. This speed is extremely rare in the industry.

According to sources from the Press and Publication Administration, the comment given by the review group during the internal evaluation was 'a masterpiece of realism with the greatest social value in recent years'.”

Lin Que scrolled down.

“The first batch of books entered the printing house yesterday. Currently, three production lines are operating simultaneously, working twenty-four hours a day to rush production.

The initial print run is tentatively set at 800,000 copies. If the pre-sale data is ideal, we will immediately add more.”

An initial print run of 800,000 copies.

In this world with such barren cultural soil, this number was crazy enough.

The last serious literary work to get such an initial print run was a prize-winning novel by some academic big shot eight years ago, and that book relied on the support of being a Ministry of Education recommended reading list item, eventually even being selected for high school textbooks.

What did ordinary world rely on?

It relied on the word-of-mouth generated by tens of millions of readers on the New Tide APP with their hard-earned money.

He continued reading.

“Teacher Jian Shen, following your suggestion from last time, the exclusive postcards and exquisite merchandise redeemable with a New Tide APP genuine purchase ID have all been prepared and will be distributed in advance to major core bookstores nationwide.

The postcards are printed on special paper, each with a unique 'Jian Shen Fellow Traveler' number for the reader.

As for the merchandise, the samples for the bookmarks and canvas bags have been approved. I personally checked the quality; it's definitely full of sincerity this time!”

The corners of Lin Que’s mouth curled up slightly.

The move of the “Jian Shen Fellow Traveler” numbering seemed to be the right one now.

When this mechanism was first launched on the APP, the intention was to enhance the sense of belonging for genuine readers.

Unexpectedly, this numbering later evolved into a status symbol on social media platforms,

Readers with lower numbers felt more superior, and some people even bought screenshots of early numbers at high prices on second-hand platforms.

Now, extending this mechanism to the merchandise redemption for physical books was equivalent to seamlessly grafting online loyalty onto offline consumption.

It was a complete closed loop.

The email wasn't over.

Wang De'an immediately sent a second one, with an attachment containing the preview copy and activity details that the New Tide official Weibo and official website prepared to release tomorrow.

“Teacher Jian Shen, the following is the preview plan drafted by the promotion team. Please review and decide.

If there is anything that needs adjustment, we will modify it immediately.”

Lin Que clicked through the attachments one by one.

The preview copy was written with restraint, continuing the extremely clean and simple style from when ordinary world was first launched.

No flashy marketing jargon, no overwhelming exclamation marks.

The entire piece had only one core line of copy:

“The story of them standing up from the soil is worth being held in the palm of your hand.”

The accompanying image was a real photo of the physical book.

The cover design was minimalist, with an earthy yellow background and the book title printed in the center in the simplest black Songti font.

No book band, no blurbs, no nonsense like “Recommended with tears by millions of readers.”

Lin Que nodded; these people had gotten smarter.

He scrolled down to the activity details.

The list of cities for the debut signing, the list of partner bookstores, the opening time for online pre-sale channels, the media invitation list...

He scanned through them one by one; there were no issues.

Until his gaze landed on the “National Debut Time” column.

His hand holding the cola stopped in mid-air.

He stared at the line of bold red text on the screen, read it once, and then read it again.

Next Saturday.

10:00 AM.

Lin Que slowly put down the cola can and leaned back in his chair.

Next Saturday morning, the "Fu Zhi Yao" award-winning collection would debut in four cities across China, and he had to be there for the signing as "Lin Que."

Next Saturday morning, the physical book of ordinary world would have its national debut, and the name "Jian Shen" would cover the windows of every core bookstore.

The same day.

The same time slot.

Lin Que’s fingers tapped lightly on the desk twice, and his eyes narrowed.

...