She examined the material from left to right, top to bottom, but couldn’t find a single thing wrong with it. After much deliberation, she decided to contact Huo Wuchen.
Meanwhile, Huo Wuchen was clutching his stomach, squatting by the roadside. He stared expressionlessly at the auntie making jianbing guozi. Her hands moved with incredible agility as she flipped the crepe a few times, and it was cooked in no time.
There was no sausage or egg inside, just the plain outer layer.
The auntie handed the crepe to Huo Wuchen, who took a bite, his face a mask of indifference. As the hot food traveled down his esophagus and into his stomach, a slight burning sensation flared up. His body wasn’t used to it; he hadn’t eaten a proper meal in a long time. Yet, he remained expressionless, a cold, bitter smile playing on his lips.
He never imagined he would find himself in such a pathetic predicament. His once-promising future was entirely gone. From a celebrated online novelist to a branded plagiarist, he never thought his name would be dragged through the mud like this.
Plagiarism was undoubtedly the ultimate insult to any creator.
At first, he hadn’t taken the accusations seriously, dismissing them as just another orchestrated internet drama. However, as the situation escalated, the accusing author released their entire story outline. When Huo Wuchen reviewed it, he was horrified to find that it was identical to the main plot of his own outline.
It was utterly mind-boggling.
It was precisely because of this that even the readers who had initially stood by him began to doubt his integrity. Soon after, marketing accounts across the internet caught wind of the scandal, reporting on it extensively, and almost all of them took the other party’s side. His reputation deteriorated day by day until finally, even his most loyal fans abandoned him.
He had given the bulk of his past royalties to Huo Wuxi. Between those transfers and his own daily living expenses, he had virtually nothing left. Just yesterday, every major platform besides Green Jiang had issued statements condemning him. He had been effectively blacklisted from the online literature community. His future earning potential was functionally zero.
Yet, Wuxi loved to show off and always wanted to be the center of attention. He still needed to save enough money to send her a little something every month so she wouldn’t starve out there on her own.
He immersed himself in these bleak thoughts, his face remaining entirely blank.
“Son, how can a big young man like you eat so little?” The jianbing auntie looked at him disapprovingly, her tone laced with genuine maternal concern. “Tell you what, Auntie will treat you to a ‘Family Reunion‘ deluxe crepe. Everyone hits a rough patch now and then. When you make it big in the future, just remember to come back and support my business!”
Huo Wuchen shook his head, firmly declining her kindness. “Thank you, Auntie, but there’s no need.”
I won’t starve to death anyway, he thought to himself. Why waste Auntie’s food?
Right then, his phone began to ring. He hung up immediately. It rang again; he hung up again. It rang a third time, and he cut it off once more. Finally, losing his patience, he snapped up the call, his voice dripping with a deathly chill:
“I don’t need funeral home services, I don’t need a direct cremation, and I don’t need you to send wreaths. If you’re that eager, I can make a reservation for you, but you’ll have to foot the bill yourself.”
On the other end of the line, Gui Mei double-checked the phone number. It was definitely Huo Wuchen. What kind of nonsense was he spouting?
“Hello, Wuchen. This is Gui Mei, the copyright editor from Green Jiang. A production company is willing to offer ten million yuan for the adaptation rights of High Above. You can find the contract details in your site messages.”
Huo Wuchen’s mouth fell open. Subconsciously, he blurted out, “Are you anti-fans getting this good at method acting now?”
Then, he promptly hung up.
He wouldn’t have even turned his phone on today if he hadn’t been driven out by hunger to buy a cheap crepe. Just as he was about to shut the device down completely, he felt a strange whim and opened the author backend dashboard.
There was a glowing red dot in the system messages notification.
As if sensing something monumental, his heart began to pound against his ribs. His fingertips trembled violently as he tapped the notification. His pupils contracted instantly as he devoured the words on the screen.
A moment later, he lowered the phone. His eyes glistened with unshed tears as he stuffed the rest of the plain, dry crepe into his mouth.
Suddenly, he turned to the vendor, his tone bursting with sheer, ecstatic joy: “Auntie! Give me a ‘Family Reunion’ crepe! No, make it two! I’m rich!”
With ten million yuan, he would never have to worry about Wuxi starving to death again!
[Ding! Progress in rescuing the villainous cannon fodder +20%. Reward to the host: 100,000,000 yuan in cash.]
Huo Wuxi, who was currently up to her elbows in soapy water washing dishes, smiled faintly. Great, now I have money!
Standing right next to her, Liao Ling curled her lip in utter disdain. “Didn’t you brag about speaking eighteen languages? How come you couldn’t even understand a customer asking for directions in a West African dialect?”