"Ring, ring, ring…"
Right as he was in the middle of an intense writing session, the ringtone of the phone he had bought for high school suddenly broke Huang Yifan out of his focus.
He glanced at the name. Wuyue.
Why was a Lingdian editor calling him in the middle of the night?
Feeling puzzled, Huang Yifan answered the call.
"Editor Wuyue, calling me this late? Just so you know, I'm not into guys."
"Into guys, my ass. I was already asleep when your mess woke me up. Let me ask you, are you writing right now?"
"Uh, yeah. Why?"
"Then get your ass to sleep right now."
"Well… that wouldn't be great. I promised my readers I'd write through the night."
"Write through the night, my foot. Do you even know what your fans are doing right now? If you keep this up, your diehard readers are seriously going to take taxis to our Lingdian headquarters. And your body can't handle it either. Stop writing. Just maintain stable updates and maybe do occasional bursts. Don't joke around with your health."
"Huh? No way… what are they doing?"
"Log onto TT and see for yourself. And listen, no more writing. If you keep going, I'll call you all night and annoy you to death."
"Alright, I'll check TT first."
After hanging up, Huang Yifan logged onto TT. The moment he went online, notifications flooded in nonstop.
"Big White, why are you pulling an all-nighter writing? Your readers have gone to Feilong looking for you."
This was from the Writing Struggle Group No. 32.
"Holy crap, Big White, still writing? Stop, your fans are looking for you."
Fellow author Jiudao Guang had messaged him.
"Big White, stop, stop, don't pull an all-nighter."
Even his editor, Please Call Me Captain, had sent him a message.
But beyond all that, the most overwhelming messages came from the three thousand disciples of White Jade Hall.
"White Boss, are you trying to kill yourself?"
"White Boss, stop right now."
"White Boss, if you keep this up, I'm never reading your books again."
"White Boss, get online!"
Over three hundred private messages filled his inbox, making Huang Yifan's head spin.
Why are they reacting so strongly?
It's just an all-nighter.
Besides, ten alliance leaders tipped me, I should at least give something back.
But judging by this, his readers clearly didn't want him to keep writing.
Shaking his head, Huang Yifan entered the White Jade Hall TT group.
"Sorry everyone, I was writing just now and had TT closed."
The moment he showed up, the chat exploded.
"Holy crap, White Boss, you're alive! Stop, stop, stop writing."
"White Boss, why are you so stubborn? You did this last time, too."
"White Boss, didn't you promise us you wouldn't do this again?"
"White Boss, go to sleep right now. Or I'm calling the police."
"Yeah, call the cops and have them tie White Boss to his bed."
"White Boss, why aren't you responding? Did we scold you into stupidity?"
Seeing the overwhelming concern from his fans, Huang Yifan felt moved once again.
"I'm not stupid. A few more scoldings won't make me stupid either. Honestly, you guys don't need to worry so much. I'm in great health. It's just one all-nighter, I won't die."
"Won't die my ass. What if you do? Who's going to replace you with another identical White Boss?"
"Exactly. Big White, I seriously don't get why you suddenly decided to pull an all-nighter again."
"Uh… well… it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. Today was my new book release, and seeing so many of you support me, plus ten alliance leader rewards… I was really touched. I felt like I was just a small-time writer. You guys reward me, but I don't really have anything to give back. So I thought I'd repay everyone with more chapters."
"Oh my god, White Boss, how can you think like that? Even if we chase updates every day, we'd never want you to sacrifice your health for us. If you want to release more chapters, you can do it during the day. Or just write a few extra chapters. Honestly, even if you don't have time, fewer updates or just steady updates are fine."
"Yeah, White Boss. We always shout for more updates because your book is good. For us readers, even if you release three or four chapters, or even ten or twenty, it still won't feel like enough. How much can you really repay us? What, you're going to drop 30 chapters at once?"
"Well… that might be possible."
Huang Yifan replied weakly.
That answer made all the fans shudder. They remembered how last time he had actually written 30 chapters in 24 hours.
"No, no, White Boss, don't do that."
"Well…"
Seeing how firmly they opposed it, Huang Yifan started wavering. "I just feel like I owe everyone."
"Oh, I get it now. White Boss, is it because we support you with votes, favorites, comments, and especially rewards, so you feel touched and want to pull an all-nighter?"
"Yeah, exactly."
"Alright then, how about this? From now on, we stop supporting you. No more votes, no more comments, no more alliance leader rewards. How does that sound?"
"Wait, don't do that."
Now it was Huang Yifan's turn to panic.
"Hahaha, looks like White Boss loves money too."
"666, this works. White Boss, I regret rewarding you. Can I get my 100.000 Lingdian coins back?"
"I regret it too. White Boss, give me back my alliance leader money."
"I didn't give an alliance reward, but I donated 1 yuan. I want it back too."
"Same here, I gave 0.1 yuan. White Boss, pay up."
"Exactly. This is how you deal with someone like White Boss."
"You guys are brutal."
Huang Yifan was on the verge of tears. "Everyone, how can you do this? Rewards aren't refundable."
"Shut up. Who told you to be so stubborn?"
"But…"
"But nothing. Pay up."
"Well…"
"Big White, enough talking. Either you refund the money, or you go to sleep. Pick one."
"Alright… I choose to go to sleep."
This time, Huang Yifan was completely defeated.
Looks like he had no choice but to sleep. Pulling all-nighters wasn't just worrying his readers, it wasn't great for his health either.
Since his readers cared this much, he might as well rest.
Still, before going to bed, he quickly finished the chapter he was working on. After ten minutes, he uploaded it as the final update of the night. In the postscript, he added a small note:
"Alright, everyone, Whitey got a little carried away tonight and acted a bit silly. I won't pull all-nighters anymore. There will still be bursts of updates, but I'll manage my time properly so you won't have to worry. Thank you all for your support. I have nothing to repay you with, so I offer you my first kiss today."
After finishing, Huang Yifan collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep within minutes.
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