You can read ahead up to 60 chapters on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
A gentle spring breeze swayed the willows, and the air was thick with the intoxicating scent of blooming flowers. It was the season of radiant spring in the southern lands.
On West Gate Street in Fuzhou Prefecture, the slate-paved road stretched straight ahead toward the city gate.
In front of a grand mansion stood two stone pedestals, each supporting a flagpole more than two zhang tall. A pair of blue banners fluttered at the top, on the right-hand one, a fierce yellow-embroidered lion bared its fangs and claws, so lifelike it almost seemed to leap from the fabric as the wind rippled through it.
Wang Pu lit a cigarette out of habit, his eyes sweeping across the words on the screen line by line.
Unlike many online readers who skimmed through dozens of lines in a single glance, Wang Pu was a careful reader, especially when it came to new books. He always read the opening chapters attentively.
He believed that a story's opening revealed an author's true skill. If the beginning was good enough, he could feel confident about following it all the way through. But if the start was a confusing mess, it wasn't worth wasting his time.
That, too, was part of the tragedy of being an Old Bai, a veteran reader. Newbies, or Little Bai, weren't picky; they could devour anything and still feel satisfied.
But unlike many snobbish "Old Bai" readers, Wang Pu didn't mock or look down on Little Bai types. After all, every Old Bai had once been a Little Bai. If anything, he envied them; they still had so many books they could enjoy without complaint.
And frankly, without the support of countless Little Bai readers, web novels would never have grown into the massive industry they are today.
The opening of "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" gave Wang Pu a surprisingly good impression. It didn't rely on the overused tropes of "world-destroying battles," "reincarnation cheats," or "golden fingers," nor did it read like one of those overly traditional, archaic martial arts tales. The prose was refined, the tone immersive, and most importantly, there were almost no typos.
That alone made reading it a pleasure. Wang Pu felt comfortable and had every reason to keep going.
As he read further, he realized that the jianghu described in the story felt refreshingly new. It didn't tie itself to any specific dynasty or empire, unlike the fantasy worlds that dominated most xuanhuan novels. Instead, it had the charm of an old historical vernacular tale, grounded, realistic, and yet full of life.
Before he knew it, Wang Pu was completely drawn in, his emotions rising and falling with the experiences of the protagonist, Lin Pingzhi, until a young nun named Yilin mentioned someone called "Linghu Big Brother."
Wait a second, that wasn't the same tone!
The long narrative that followed vividly portrayed a gallant hero of both courage and wit. The depiction was gripping, even exhilarating, the kind that made readers unconsciously slap their desks in admiration. It was, unmistakably, the aura of a true protagonist.
By comparison, the earlier hero Lin Pingzhi suddenly felt… flat.
When a side character outshines the main one, that's usually a fatal flaw!
Wang Pu couldn't help worrying about where the story was heading. But just as things were getting interesting, The text stopped.
Stopped?!
How could it stop here?!
It wasn't finished, the next chapter just hadn't been updated yet.
"Damn it!"
Wang Pu cursed out loud, and the cigarette dangling from his lips tumbled down, scattering a long trail of ash onto his pants.
"Fck! Fck!"
He frantically patted his legs. Luckily, the butt had already gone out, no burns.
"What are you reading that's got you so worked up?"
The guy sitting next to him, known around the internet café as "Deity", craned his neck curiously. Wang Pu brushed the ash off his pants and grinned. "A real 'Deity' wrote this one. You wanna check it out?"
Deity just shrugged, utterly uninterested, he only cared about gaming.
"Novels are boring," he said lazily. "Come play Immortal vs. Demon with me instead. It's awesome, I'll carry you!"
Wang Pu shot a disdainful glance at his screen. "Another one of those so-called 'free-to-play' games that just scam you out of money? No thanks. I'm not falling for that crap again."
He'd played a few of those online games before, all "free" in name only. If you didn't spend money, you couldn't get anywhere. Unlike Deity, who actually made money playing games, Wang Pu had neither the time nor the patience to torture himself like that.
Wang Pu ignored "Deity" and turned his attention back to the new book. He left a comment in the review section:
"Great book! Keep it up and keep updating, once it's up for sale, I'll definitely subscribe to the full version!"
After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and sent a 588 reading-coin reward.
It wasn't much money, but for an Old Bai reader like Wang Pu, it was quite a gesture. He didn't come from a wealthy family, just an ordinary working man in Jiangcheng who had to send money home every month.
Buying legitimate copies and subscribing to all paid chapters was already his biggest show of support for an author. He rarely gave out rewards unless he really liked the work.
And this novel, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, had deeply hooked him within its first few tens of thousands of words.
Besides leaving a comment and a tip, Wang Pu also went to his readers' group chat to promote it: "Old bookworm's recommendation, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer is really good! Solid personal rating: 'private stash' quality, highly recommended!"
The replies came in quickly:
"Drop the link! If it sucks, I'm coming back to beat you up, Old Wang!"
"I just checked it out, not bad at all. The writing style feels a lot like something you'd see in print publishing."
"Not my kind of story. Read a bit and dropped it."
"Such a Little Bai thing to say! It's too traditional for me too, not my taste."
"I think this one's got potential. The author's got real skill!"
"Seconded, recommending as well!"
Quite a few group members had already read The Smiling, Proud Wanderer thanks to Wang Pu's earlier mention. Some liked it, some didn't, but overall, the positive comments clearly outweighed the negative ones.
And for a group full of picky Old Bai readers, that was already a rare achievement.
But Wang Pu still wasn't satisfied. He felt the book deserved stronger support, so he went on to recommend it in other reader groups and on online book forums, spreading the word wherever he could.
At that time, the novel's stats on Langchao Reading (a web novel platform) were dismal. Even after sixty to seventy thousand words, it hadn't been signed by an editor. Clearly, someone in editorial had missed the mark.
Wang Pu couldn't bear to see a good novel buried like that.
Many talented authors had given up after poor early stats crushed their confidence, and Wang Pu didn't want to see the author, who went by the pen name Recalling Ancient Times, suffer the same fate.
He even considered suggesting the author switch to another platform, "If the east doesn't shine, the west might!"
Thanks to Wang Pu's persistent promotion, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer's data on Langchao Reading began to improve noticeably. Clicks, recommendations, and bookmarks all started climbing. Bookmarks, especially, from just a few dozen to over two hundred in a short time.
At the same time, the comment section became livelier, with more readers leaving messages, and several even tipping the author.
Compared to the site's trending new releases, these numbers were still tiny, but after such a bleak start, this sudden growth carried a real sense of bittersweet triumph.
Only, at that very moment, Lu Chen hadn't yet felt any of that sweetness.
He was sneaking into a local theater in Jinling with Chen Fei'er, to secretly watch his first-ever movie appearance.
The film's title was "Big Man Wudi."
(End of Chapter)