Entertainment: I Create a Golden Age of Culture

Harsh sunlight slants through the basement window, cutting diamond-shaped patches of light across mold-streaked walls. Cheng Ran stares at the bank text message on his phone. The glaring red number burns into his retinas like a pair of red-hot iron tongs.

Your account balance: -327.64 yuan.

The landlord's plastic slippers slap along the hallway. Cheng Ran instinctively holds his breath. His phone suddenly vibrates in his palm. Sister Wang, his agent, is calling. His finger hovers over the hang-up button for three seconds before finally sliding to answer.

“Xiao Cheng,” Sister Wang says, her smoky voice tinged with mockery. “Mr. Zhang asked me to ask you about that 300,000 yuan breach-of-contract fee...”

With a clatter, the old Nokia slips from between his fingers and smashes into two pieces on the concrete floor. Cheng Ran is just about to bend down when a stabbing pain shoots through his temple. Countless words surge into his mind like a flood. He staggers and braces himself against the damp wall, staring at his warped reflection in the shattered screen on the floor...

Battle Through the Heavens, Lord of the Mysteries, Joy of Life... tens of thousands of novels

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.