307: Chapter 307 is too cruel.

The classroom remained silent for a long time.

When Shen Qingqiu opened her lesson plan on the podium, the entire Grade 12 Class 3 was uncharacteristically quiet, with not a single person whispering.

That silence wasn't forced by class rules, but was a silence that came from the heart.

"Not rivals, but peers."

These words were like a great bell; even after the tolling stopped, the aftershocks continued to ring in everyone's heads.

Wu Di sat in the front row, his back held very straight.

He gripped his pen, his gaze drifting toward the corner from time to time.

That look was completely different from half an hour ago.

Half an hour ago, the way he looked at Lin Que was like saying, "Farewell, brave warrior."

Now, there was something more in his eyes.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it made him hesitant to speak to Lin Que in that carefree tone again.

It was as if he suddenly realized that his deskmate wasn't some fragile flower that needed the whole class to pool their pocket money to protect.

Three rows away, Li Bowen sat with his head down, the cap of a highlighter clenched between his teeth.

The front of his scratch paper was covered in math formulas, but the back held only seven words.

He wrote them once, crossed them out, and wrote them again.

Li Bowen stared at those seven words on the paper, his pen tip hovering.

The logical analysis he took so much pride in shattered instantly in the face of such a grand perspective.

He pushed up his glasses, suddenly understanding,

why this kid was able to take the national championship.

On the podium, Shen Qingqiu turned to the reading comprehension page and began deconstructing the text structure paragraph by paragraph.

Her voice was as cool and crisp as ever, her rhythm precise, with every key point appearing exactly where it should.

But her gaze would occasionally drift toward the back row of the classroom.

Lin Que was slumped over.

His arms were folded, his head buried in them, his breathing steady.

He was asleep.

Shen Qingqiu didn't wake him.

The chalk wrote the words "Extracting Core Arguments in Argumentative Essays" on the blackboard.

In the brief moment she turned to face the class, her eyes swept over that slumped back once more.

Her expression remained unchanged, but something was stirring in the depths of her eyes.

She had been teaching for eleven years.

She had seen many smart students.

Those who could get perfect scores on exams, those who could make opponents cry in debates, those whose essays were circulated among the entire grading committee—she had seen them all.

But this kind of student was a first for her.

Facing a release date clash with the greatest titan of the contemporary literary world, while the whole class was so worried they were ready to sell everything they owned to help him, he was perfectly fine.

With a single sentence—"Not rivals, but peers"—he was neither submissive nor overbearing, neither anxious nor impatient.

That relaxation and certainty emanating from his very bones wasn't the arrogance of youth.

It was the confidence that only someone who had truly seen the world could possess.

Shen Qingqiu withdrew her gaze and continued her lecture.

She didn't call out to remind Lin Que to sit up.

Some students don't need you to teach them how to walk.

You just need to ensure that when he takes flight, you don't grab his ankles.

...

The bell rang for the end of the morning classes.

"Brother Que! Let's go to the cafeteria! It's Tuesday, they have sweet and sour pork ribs!" Wu Di packed his bag and dashed to Lin Que's desk in a single stride.

Lin Que raised his head from his nap and rubbed the corners of his eyes.

"You guys go ahead. I have something to do this afternoon, so I'm heading out for a bit."

"What is it?" Wu Di asked suspiciously.

"Going back to look up some information." Lin Que picked up his bag and patted Wu Di on the shoulder. "Enjoy the ribs."

Wu Di wanted to press further, but Lin Que had already sidestepped him and walked out the back door with a light step.

The moment he stepped out of the school gates, Lin Que's pace noticeably quickened.

In fact, as early as the third period math class, the backup phone in his pocket had started vibrating frantically.

That was the notification sound he had specifically set for the encrypted email account linked to his " Deep insight" persona.

Over the course of one class, the phone had vibrated no less than fifteen times.

Anything that could make Wang De'an send so many emails during working hours wouldn't be a small matter.

Twelve minutes later.

SOHO Future City, Studio.

Lin Que locked the door behind him and pressed the air conditioning remote, sending a gust of cold air rushing in.

He didn't turn on the main lights, only switching on the desk lamp. He retrieved a black encrypted USB key from the back of a drawer and plugged it in.

Fingerprint pressed. Password entered. Two-factor authentication code.

The moment the email interface popped open, the email at the very top of the inbox had three exclamation marks in the subject line that were an eyesore.

Sender: Wang De'an.

Subject: [Urgent message for Teacher Jian Shen!!!]

Lin Que double-clicked to open it.

The body was not short, but it was completely different from Wang De'an's usual airtight writing style.

The wording of this email carried an urgency that couldn't be hidden.

"Teacher Jian Shen:

My apologies for the repeated interruptions during working hours, but the situation is urgent, and I must report to you immediately.

Over the past half month, the New Tide promotional team has been operating in a closed environment to distribute the physical copies of 'ordinary world'.

From printing schedules to negotiating booth space in bookstores nationwide, everyone has been focused on execution,

including myself, we surprisingly ended up with a serious information blind spot regarding external news.

At ten o'clock this morning, just after I posted the official announcement for the 'ordinary world' physical book on the Microblogging platform,

I simultaneously saw the official announcement from Huaxia Publishing House, setting the release date for the 'Fu Zhi Yao Competition' national finals winning works collection.

Next Saturday.

10:00 AM.

Simultaneous release in the four major first-tier cities.

Exactly the same time as us."

The corner of Lin Que's mouth twitched slightly.

He continued scrolling down.

"Teacher Jian Shen, I must be frank with you about the current situation.

New Tide has an initial print run of 800,000 copies, and the entire promotional budget has already been spent.

We've not only secured the top booth spaces in core bookstores across the four major cities, but we've also locked them down with exclusivity agreements.

Prime locations, entrance displays, checkout counter recommendations—we've grabbed everything we could.

Coupled with the 'Jian Shen Fellow Traveler' exchange event on the app, the momentum from the online-offline synergy has already reached a critical point.

To be blunt, as long as New Tide opens the floodgates at 10:00 AM next Saturday,

the siphon effect will drain all foot traffic during that same period within half an hour.

As for the 'Fu Zhi Yao Competition' series... although it has the joint endorsement of the National Writers Association and the Ministry of Education, and its prestige is undeniably high, in essence...

it's still something written by a group of inexperienced high school students.

To put it bluntly.

Once they go on sale at the same time, that officially lauded genius champion, the kid named Lin Que—his book signing table will become a deserted island."

Lin Que leaned back in his chair, tapping the desk twice with his right index finger.

Wang De'an's judgment was exactly the same as Li Bowen's analysis from this afternoon.

It was just that one was a high school student deducing with economic principles, while the other was a publishing industry veteran reviewing with practical experience.

Different paths leading to the same result.

The conclusion was the same: Lin Que was doomed.

He continued reading.

"But things are not that simple.

First, 'Fu Zhi Yao Competition' has the backing of the National Writers Association and the Ministry of Education. You know the weight of those two names better than I do.

If New Tide crushes the officially promoted literary sprout on the same day, the nature of the situation changes.

That wouldn't be commercial competition; it would be slapping the Ministry of Education in the face in front of the entire nation.

Second, I have some personal selfishness."

Lin Que raised an eyebrow.

"I watched the national live broadcast of the 'Fu Zhi Yao Competition' finals.

That boy named Lin Que—I also read the excerpts of 'fan jin passes the imperial examination' and 'the metamorphosis' that he wrote during the competition.

Seventeen years old.

Someone who can write such things at seventeen has a limitless future.

I'm a publisher; I've dealt with words my whole life.

I really can't bear to watch such a promising talent be ruthlessly crushed by us on the brightest day of his life.

For him, it would be too cruel."

Lin Que stared at the words "too cruel" for three seconds.

Then, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The laughter wasn't loud, sounding a bit hollow in the empty studio.

Wang De'an couldn't bear to crush Lin Que.

But he didn't know that the "promising talent" he wanted to protect and the "Teacher Jian Shen" he wanted to protect were the same person.

The left hand pitying the right.

This sense of absurdity was likely something only he could appreciate.

Lin Que stopped laughing and continued reading the final paragraph of the email.

Based on the above considerations, I embolden myself to propose a plan.

Teacher Jian Shen, could we postpone the physical book release by one week?

This would not only leave a path for that young talent but also earn us a massive favor from the National Writers Association and the Ministry of Education.

Proactively making way for an officially promoted literary star

would allow you and New Tide to accumulate immeasurable political capital within the mainstream literary world.

Of course, all of this requires your decision.

Sincerely, Wang De'an"

...