Volume 45: Keeping An Author[1]

After Chu Shifang's case was over, Long'an City was quiet for a while. On the weekend of March 16th, Tao Yueyue hadn't returned home yet, so Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue enjoyed couple’s time together leisurely.

Chen Shi leaned on the sofa and Lin Dongxue was lying in his arms. Chen Shi grabbed the phone in his hand. "Let me show you a good thing. I’ve downloaded an app to watch videos on the phone. It has everything on it. Haii, it's so convenient."

"Are you even a modern person?" Lin Dongxue smiled and teased as she took a slice of cut apple from the plate and stuffed it into Chen Shi's mouth.

"What are you watching?" Chen Shi was still operating his phone. He opened a movie trailer and the two watched a funny little video together and laughed. It was not that the video was particularly funny, they just wanted to have a laugh.

When going through the videos, Chen Shi happened to see a small column called "Netizens Criticism" and opened it. The UP owner wearing glasses said, "Hello my friends, we meet again. Recently, an explosive detective novel appeared on a certain website, causing unprecedented heated discussion in major forums. The author of this novel is Xin Bai. This "The Detective of the Abyss" was serialized in March last year and has now reached hundreds of millions of views.

“What is this novel about? It's about a detective who was hit by a thunderbolt from the sky along with the criminal he was about to arrest. Friends who are familiar with online writing know that this opening lightning strike must mean something is about to happen. Indeed, the protagonist and the criminal have their bodies swapped. It was very intense from the moment the story began.”

“The protagonist found that the guns of his companions were all aimed at him and his heart was like that of a husky. His survival instinct caused him to escape, and the criminal who became the captain of the criminal police force used the resources of the police to continuously set up a net to chase the protagonist. The antagonist knew very well that he could only get away with being a policeman if the protagonist was killed. Thus, a continuous thrilling chase of the century began just like that.”

“Not only is the main plot of this novel exciting, but the side plots are also eye-opening. It’s entertaining, but it’s a pity, hehe. The author is an unscrupulous person. As soon as his work got some results, the writer started to drag it out. He didn’t update regularly, cut things short, and went on hiatus. He even released news that the finale was about to come more than once. The readers were shocked at first. There were a lot of unresolved matters, so how could the finale be coming up? Only after the fact did they realize the news was fake. The author didn’t want to write any more, but the editor wouldn’t let it go.”

“So, this unscrupulous author started to play tricks. For example, the style of writing changed after 400 chapters, and the protagonist became someone with supernatural powers as he fought with the antagonist using supernatural powers on the streets. He wrote a dozen chapters like this. Later, he forcefully explained that these were nightmares that the protagonist had after he was shot and had a fever. It’s unknown how many stab wounds[2] the author received that day. Another example is Chapter 476, where the protagonist and a supporting female character were suddenly described together for no reason for a few thousand words. Haha, the author intended to block his book. I really admire this kind of show-offing action. This chapter was blocked by the website. Many readers had to go to forums or pirated websites to find this mysterious 476 Chapter to have a read.”

"The author's unwillingness to write is revealed between the lines. For example, in a recent case of his, one supporting role was called Yao Ziyou[3] and the other supporting role is called Qiu Xin[4]. In Chapter 505, the author drew a dividing line with '=' and '-'. If a reader who understands Morse Code actually read it, a sentence could be derived from it. ‘Hurry and come to save me’. Haha, this author really renders people speechless. However, writing has always been both painful and pleasant. The author's actions didn’t reduce his work’s popularity. On the contrary, its popularity increased and it has become more and more famous due to the criticism. It has become a topical masterpiece. Life is really unpredictable..."

"There’s actually this kind of book. I want to go and read it." Lin Dongxue laughed.

"I'm reading it!"

"This one?"

"Yes, it's very interesting. I feel like this author knows a lot of criminal knowledge. My greatest pleasure is to guess who the murderer is. Every time I can guess it right... We’ll stop watching. Let's eat!"

"Eat, eat, eat. You only know how to eat. It's only 4:00 in the afternoon."

"I'll take you to a restaurant where you can eat raw oysters. The oysters there are very fresh and can be eaten raw. I saw a way to eat them on the Internet. Drink the fresh oyster meat with sparkling wine... It’s said to be an aphrodisiac!" Chen Shi smirked.

"Let's go, let's go!" Lin Dongxue couldn't wait. Spring had just arrived and everything was recovering. It must be very enjoyable to eat oysters during this season.

She glanced at the small iron pot on the window sill. The plants in it had already grown out. It was the mysterious seed they found from Xu Fa last time. She said, "It’s grown out."

"Yeah, I don't know what it is. I'll know when it blooms in a bit."

After the two ate, someone in the team suddenly sent over a message. Lin Dongxue opened it and said, "There was a car accident on Shuli Road. This isn’t the main point though. A severed limb fell out of the car from the side of the crash. My brother and the others have rushed over to deal with it."

"This murderer is so unlucky. There was a car accident on the way to abandon the corpse. I’ve heard of someone who was even more unlucky. He cut himself and went to the hospital when he was dismembering the corpse and was directly arrested."

Another message came up on the group chat. Lin Dongxue's eyebrows raised slightly. She handed her phone to Chen Shi. The message read, "Fuck, guess who this person is? The online writer Xin Bai."

Chen Shi’s jaw hung open. "It only takes ten minutes to get to Shuli Road. Hurry up!"

The two immediately jumped into the car and set off towards the scene. After arriving, they saw several police cars surrounding the scene. Peng Sijue and his men were cleaning up the broken body parts found in the car. A middle-aged man wearing black-rimmed glasses was covered in a blanket and was handcuffed. His forehead was already wet with cold sweat and his expression was a little bit excited. He kept muttering nervously like he was reciting something.

Chen Shi had actually seen Xin Bai previously.[5] He hadn't read the book he wrote at the time. When he saw him again, he was excited. After all, he was the original author of the book he read every day.

"Xin Bai in the flesh. It was a worthwhile trip." Chen Shi was excited.

"Aiya, my brother is here, don't get an autograph or anything."

"Don't worry, why would I want an autograph... I want a signed photo!"

"Get lost!" Lin Dongxue smiled and punched him. She looked at Xin Bai. This uncle's appearance was very contradictory. He perfectly incorporated being handsome and creepy. "I feel like if he wasn’t a writer, he might have success in being a comedic actor."

"Thank you, thank you officers!" When the two approached and heard Xin Bai talking, he suddenly raised his hands and shouted while looking up into the sky. "This is great! No need to write tonight!"

Lin Qiupu was dumbfounded. What kind of person was this? He sneered, "You don't need to write anything ever again."

"Really? That’s awesome!" Xin Bai was sincerely excited. "Thank you, officers, for arresting me. You’re all good people!"

1. The word “keeping” used here is normally used when talking about keeping an animal.

2. Figuratively.

3. Directly translates to “Needs Freedom”

4. Prisoner’s heart.

5. If you guys recall, he met him in a taxi previously (in the early chapters where the brother of the victim was holding his girlfriend/sister-in-law’s current boyfriend hostage) and Xin Bai left him his business card.