312: Chapter 312 The Line Between Life and Death for 20,000 Volumes

A soft female voice announced over the train's intercom that they would soon be arriving at the final station.

Lin Que opened his eyes and slipped his phone into his trouser pocket.

Outside the window was the bustling steel jungle of the Magic City.

Intricate city overpasses wove through the gaps between skyscrapers like gray dragons.

The glass curtain walls reflected the piercing autumn sunlight, vividly showcasing the city's fast pace and sense of oppression.

The high-speed train slowed down gradually, finally coming to a steady stop at the platform.

Lin Que stood up, slung his backpack over one shoulder, and joined the crowded stream of people exiting the carriage.

The autumn wind blowing against him carried a hint of salty moisture—the unique scent of this major city by the East China Sea, where culture and capital intertwined.

Following the signs, he made his way to the high-speed rail exit.

Beyond the turnstiles, a crowd of people waiting to pick up passengers was packed in a line. Lin Que's gaze swept over them and quickly locked onto the area directly ahead.

Ten meters away, three people were standing.

In the middle was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a well-fitted deep blue shirt and crisply ironed trousers, with a pair of wood-colored glasses resting on the bridge of his nose.

A young officer stood on each of his sides, one of whom held up a red welcome sign with yellow lettering.

Two lines of large characters were printed on it.

“A Warm Welcome to Student Lin Que!”

“Shanghai Writers Association Reception Point”

The font was so large it was a bit eyesore, exuding a strong aesthetic typical of the establishment.

With the exit teeming with people, this red and yellow sign was incredibly conspicuous.

Passing travelers stopped one after another, whispering in surprise:

“Shanghai Writers Association? People from the Writers Association actually came to the station to pick up a student?”

“Lin Que... that name sounds familiar. Holy crap, isn't he that genius high schooler who won the national championship of Fu Zhi Yao Competition recently?”

Amidst the awe-struck and gossiping gazes of the crowd,

Lin Que, dressed in a tracksuit and carrying a single-strap bag, walked straight toward the sign with a relaxed, steady gait.

“Hello, I am Lin Que.”

He came to a stop in front of the three of them, his tone calm.

The young officer holding the sign was taken aback, his gaze instinctively scanning Lin Que's excessively young face before glancing at the ordinary backpack slung over his shoulder.

The middle-aged man, however, reacted extremely quickly.

A flash of surprise crossed his eyes, but it was instantly replaced by a warm smile.

He strode forward and reached out with both hands, firmly grasping Lin Que's right hand.

“Student Lin Que! We've finally been looking forward to your arrival!”

The man's grip was firm, and his smile was beyond reproach.

“I'm Hu Yizhao from the Publicity Office of the Shanghai Writers Association. On behalf of the Writers Association and the launch task force, welcome to the Magic City.”

As soon as Hu Yizhao finished speaking, the young officer on the left holding the sign hurried forward to add:

“When Director Hu heard Student Lin was coming, he called us over to wait early on.”

Lin Que nodded slightly, replying neither humbly nor arrogantly:

“Director Hu is too kind. Thank you for making a special trip.”

Hu Yizhao sized Lin Que up, unable to help but sigh with emotion.

“Seeing you in person is better than hearing about you a hundred times. That piece 'fan jin passes the imperial examination' you wrote in the preliminaries, and then 'the metamorphosis' in the Semifinals—we've circulated them within the Writers Association several times.”

He patted the back of Lin Que's hand, his tone filled with unstinting praise.

“Chairman Gu was right; the youth are indeed to be feared! The National Writers Association is promoting you as their top seed this time.”

These words were not just polite pleasantries; they were a subtle indication of the extreme importance the authorities placed on Lin Que.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hu Yizhao kept observing Lin Que, trying to find a trace of being overwhelmed or uneasy on the seventeen-year-old boy's face.

He knew all too well the weight of the titles “Provincial Writers Association Chairman” and “National Writers Association.”

Any ordinary high school student would probably not even know where to put their hands by now.

But what about Lin Que?

He merely raised his eyelids slightly, his lips curling into a faint smile.

“The seniors are truly overpraising me. I still have much to learn.”

Hu Yizhao was secretly amazed.

Having spent so many years welcoming and seeing people off within the establishment, what kind of genius hadn't he seen?

But this youth before him, with a composure and relaxation that seemed to come from his very bones, was like a veteran who had tumbled through the world of fame and fortune for years.

“Let's go, the car is waiting outside.”

Hu Yizhao stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation. The two young officers immediately led the way.

The group walked out of the station and got into a black business van parked in the VIP lane.

The door closed, shutting out the hustle and bustle outside.

Hu Yizhao sat next to Lin Que, took a bottle of mineral water from the car's refrigerator, and handed it over.

“It's been a long journey. Have some water first, and I'll go over tomorrow's schedule with you.”

Lin Que took the water, unscrewed it, took a sip, and assumed an attentive posture.

Hu Yizhao set aside his purely warm demeanor and adopted a businesslike, rigorous tone.

“Lin Que, you should have heard about the publication specifications for Fu Zhi Yao Competition collection. It was jointly reviewed and approved by the National Writers Association and the Ministry of Education, with a simultaneous launch in four cities.”

“But there are some bottom-line realities I need to be upfront with you about.”

Hu Yizhao paused, his gaze fixed on Lin Que's eyes.

“Although the authorities have given a very high endorsement, in the publication and distribution phase, we must follow pure commercial logic.”

“In this collection, the top fifty articles are each bound as separate volumes.

This means fifty ISBNs, fifty sets of typesetting and printing. The costs are extremely high.”

Lin Que nodded, signaling him to continue.

“Therefore, the initial print run is very conservative.”

Hu Yizhao held up two fingers.

“For each person, only twenty thousand copies. And these twenty thousand copies have to be distributed among the core book cities in the four major competition regions across the country.”

Twenty thousand copies.

Distributed across four first-tier cities, that's at most five thousand copies per city.

Further distributed to major bookstores, the inventory each store gets is pitifully small.

Lin Que was not at all surprised by this number.

This was the reality of the publishing market. Sentiment and official endorsements don't put food on the table, and publishing houses aren't charities.

“I understand,” Lin Que said steadily. “Twenty thousand copies is just testing the waters. Future reprints will depend entirely on tomorrow's actual sales.”

A hint of admiration flashed in Hu Yizhao's eyes.

He had originally worried the boy might be young and impetuous, feeling that an initial print run of twenty thousand copies was beneath his status as national champion, and had prepared a whole speech to console him.

Now it seemed he could save his breath.

“You're a smart person; you get it immediately.”

Hu Yizhao leaned back against the seat, his tone becoming somewhat grave.

“Exactly. Subsequent reorders will be strictly determined by the actual sales on the first day and during the first week.

If it sells well, we'll print more overnight and distribute through all channels. If it doesn't sell...”

He didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear.

If it doesn't sell, these twenty thousand copies will be the only edition.

Hu Yizhao's voice was as heavy as iron:

“Particularly tomorrow, Xinchao Publishing House is coming on strong with the purchasing power of over ten million fans crashing down...

If we can't withstand this wave of impact on the first day, the bookstores' profit-driven nature will make them pull Fu Zhi Yao Competition's displays the next day and replace them with better-selling books.

This is the cruelty of physical publishing; official branding can't hold out for long against cold hard cash.”

“Rest assured, Director Hu.” Lin Que smiled.

“True gold fears no fire. Since it's on the market, we'll play by the market's rules.”

Looking at Lin Que's fearless face, Hu Yizhao felt a mix of emotions.

Does this kid not know what he has to face tomorrow?

Xinchao Publishing House has already talked tough, saying Jian Shen's ordinary world will absolutely not be rescheduled.

Both sides are going to clash head-on on the same day and at the same time.

No matter how great the official resources are, they can't outweigh the spontaneous purchasing power of tens of millions of readers.

Hu Yizhao sighed in his heart. The Writers Association was actually very dissatisfied with New Tide's “ruthless” approach,

But Bureau Chief Wei had suppressed it, so no one dared to act rashly.

He pulled his thoughts back to the matter at hand.

“A total of nine students are participating in the launch promotion in the Magic City region this time.

Besides you, the other eight are also high school students from the East China Region.”

Hu Yizhao glanced at his watch.

“Because you're in Jiangcheng, the journey was the longest, and you're the last to arrive.

The other eight students arrived in the Magic City yesterday, and we've already arranged for them to visit the venue.”

Lin Que nodded. Nine people doing a book signing together was indeed a significant event.

“Since you only arrived today, you still have plenty of time this afternoon.”

Hu Yizhao turned to look at the driver in the front seat.

“Old Li, go straight to Century Book City.”

After giving the instruction, he turned to explain to Lin Que.

“Century Book City is the largest physical bookstore in the Magic City and will be the main venue for the Magic City region tomorrow.

I'll take you there personally to walk through the process and get familiar with the place.

There will be a lot of people tomorrow, so getting familiar with the venue in advance will give you some peace of mind.”

“Thank you for the trouble, Director Hu.”

Lin Que said politely.

The business van drove smoothly along the Magic City's overpasses, and half an hour later, it entered a bustling commercial district.

The vehicle slowed down and eventually stopped in front of a massive architectural plaza.

“We're here.”

Hu Yizhao pushed open the car door and got out first.

Lin Que followed closely behind.

He looked up at the massive, modern building before him.

The four gold-embossed characters for “Century Book City” were embedded above the glass curtain wall, shining brightly in the sun.

As a cultural landmark of the Magic City, the daily foot traffic here was a staggering number.

People were coming and going in the plaza, and many young people were taking photos for social media.

“Let's go.” Hu Yizhao took a deep breath.

“Let's go in and see tomorrow's battlefield!”

...