Pursuing Her Best Friend after Confession Failed-Chapter 113 - 92: Identity Revealed, My Roommate is the Great Writer? (Two-in-One, Please Subscribe)_2
Xu Ziqiang, hearing Li Yuan and Liu Jia discussing "Battle Starry Sky," also grew interested and interjected, "You must be talking about ’Battle Starry Sky’ from Yuandian Web, right?"
Liu Jia nodded and asked curiously, "Old Xu, you’ve read it too?"
Xu Ziqiang nodded. "I’ve always loved reading. I got into it starting with ’Bad Guys,’ then moved on to the martial arts novels of Gu Long and Jin Yong. Recently, I’ve really taken a liking to Eastern Fantasy. I saw ’Battle Starry Sky’ on the rankings a few days ago and have been binge-reading it ever since. The author updates very fast..."
Liu Jia exclaimed excitedly, "There are so many good novels out right now! I’m reading two at the moment: Dong’s ’God’s Tomb’ and God Xia Hua’s ’Battle Starry Sky.’
"It’s just that Dong updates a bit slowly—only two Chapters totaling a little over 5,000 words a day. I finish them in minutes. God Xia Hua is the real deal, though, consistently dropping over 10,000 words daily. A while back, he was even doing 20,000 a day. He’s a total beast..."
Li Yuan saw the reading apps they were using and was rendered speechless. They were all pirate sites; not a single one was legitimate.
Damn, these two ingrates. That’s all my money they’re stealing.
Li Yuan asked, "Why don’t you read on the official sites? That way, the author can earn some subscription revenue and have more motivation to write. Writing a book is really tough. It consumes a huge amount of time every day, and you even have to give up your hobbies."
Liu Jia answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Who in their right mind reads the official version? You can find tons of pirated copies online with a simple search. The only problem is those sleazy pop-up ads that are super embarrassing. The official version on Yuandian Web is way more comfortable to read, but I’m a college student. Where would I get the money to support the author?"
Hearing this, Xu Ziqiang chuckled and shook his phone. "You can read it directly, you just can’t interact with other readers or leave comments."
Li Yuan was utterly speechless. Damn it, these two ingrates! Stealing the fruits of my labor and acting so self-righteous about it. Couldn’t you at least feel a little bit guilty?
He said in a heartfelt, guiding tone, "Liu Jia, Old Xu, it’s really not easy for an author to write. The money you spend on an ice cream bar or a cup of milk tea is enough to pay for several days of reading."
Liu Jia looked at Li Yuan skeptically. "Yuan, you’re acting a little weird today."
A jolt went through Li Yuan. Don’t tell me this ingrate knows I’m the one who wrote this book.
"I’m just giving you a friendly reminder," Li Yuan said. "As modern college students, you should have some awareness of copyright. It’s up to you whether you listen or not. Damn, I’ve been busy all day. I’m tired. Going to take a shower."
Li Yuan didn’t bother saying anything else. These two ingrates, pirating like there was no tomorrow, already owed him dozens of dollars.
As Li Yuan stepped into the bathroom, Liu Jia was still muttering, "There’s something off about Yuan today. I have this nagging feeling that I’m forgetting something important."
Xu Ziqiang felt it too. As high-achieving students from a prestigious university, their minds were undoubtedly sharp. "Liu Jia, I get the same feeling. I didn’t think anything of it before, but after he brought that up, the strange feeling got even stronger. Li Yuan doesn’t even seem to read novels, so why would he care so much about official versus pirated versions?"
Liu Jia pondered for a long while before a flash of insight struck him. He quickly asked, "Old Xu, what’s the author’s name for ’Battle Starry Sky’?"
Xu Ziqiang blurted out, "God Xia Hua. Who doesn’t know that?"
"And God Xia Hua’s full pen name?" Liu Jia pressed.
Xu Ziqiang thought for a moment. "God Xia Hua’s full pen name is Life Like Summer Flowers."
"Life Like Summer Flowers?" Liu Jia murmured to himself. His eyes lit up as a possibility clicked into place. He quickly opened QQ, found Li Yuan’s profile, and checked his nickname. It was, indeed, "Life Like Summer Flowers."
Feeling like Columbus discovering the New World, Liu Jia swore out loud, "Holy crap, no way! Yuan’s screen name is ’Life Like Summer Flowers,’ exactly the same as the author of ’Battle Starry Sky’!"
Xu Ziqiang was floored. "You mean... Yuan is the author of ’Battle Starry Sky’? The hottest Great Writer on the entire internet is my roommate?" As soon as he said it, Xu Ziqiang shook his head, questioning the insane idea. "But that’s impossible, right? I’ve never even seen Yuan write. And ’Battle Starry Sky’ gets updated with more than ten thousand words a day."
Liu Jia raised a possibility. "Could it be that Yuan’s screen name and the Great Writer’s are just a coincidence?"
Xu Ziqiang found that plausible, feeling he was overthinking things. Because of ’Battle Starry Sky,’ God Xia Hua was insanely popular—a rising star in the writing world and a true Great Writer. How could someone like that possibly be his roommate? "There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of people online called ’Life Like Summer Flowers.’ It’s way too common for people to have the same screen name. Besides, Yuandian Web and QQ are two completely different platforms. They have absolutely nothing to do with each other."
Still, Liu Jia remained skeptical. Li Yuan’s behavior was just too strange. If it had nothing to do with him, why would he say all that? Was he really just standing up for authors’ rights? The guy didn’t even read novels. Besides, it was such a trivial matter. There were plenty of greater injustices in the world.
"Old Xu, is there any way to check the real identity of the author of ’Battle Starry Sky’?" Liu Jia asked.
Xu Ziqiang replied, puzzled, "Why don’t we just ask Yuan directly? It’s something to be proud of; he shouldn’t have any reason to hide it, right?" He continued, "Considering how incredibly popular ’Battle Starry Sky’ is right now, it shouldn’t be a problem for God Xia Hua to be earning hundreds of thousands, maybe even over a million, each month."
