The Blazing Sun and the Fish

Originally titled Are You Always This Arrogant?

Gu Yuzhen had a secret crush on Li She ever since they started high school. No one knew.

He was reckless and wild, a natural-born winner who never lacked admirers and always did whatever he pleased.

When she approached him, he barely cared. Lazily, he told her, "Good students shouldn't hang out with bad people."

She knew someone like him would never fall for a well-behaved girl like her.

He treated his girlfriends well. He never turned nasty with any of them, and their breakups were never ugly, because there was always only one person in his heart: the girl he could never forget. He simply didn't care about anyone else.

Gu Yuzhen thought she was no different. But this time, their breakup turned ugly. So ugly that everyone came to beg him to let her go.

Li She fell silent for a long time. He took the cigarette from between his lips and stubbed it out in the ashtray, an air of careless menace about him. "She was the one who said she liked me. Now she's telling me we're strangers?"

Completed works:

If Trouble Can Find You: My sister says she doesn't love me, so why does she smile at me?

The Thirty-Second Love Letter: The central idea of your love letter is dangerous.

Weibo: @Danqing Shou-

Blurb screenshot saved on July 15, 2020

About what happened with the update schedule:

While the novel was being serialized, a family member was hospitalized and rushed into emergency care. At the time, I posted an update notice in the blurb saying only that I couldn't guarantee a regular schedule, and that I'd announce updates on Weibo. I asked readers not to wait for a specific time.

After my family member made it through the emergency, I resumed updating a few days later and posted another notice in the blurb, replacing the earlier one.

There was trouble at home, and I was emotionally unstable, so I didn't read comments or have the energy to keep up with what was happening online.

I always thought that since I'd posted a notice, everyone knew I couldn't update regularly. It didn't occur to me that most people who came later wouldn't see my first notice.

I had chapters in reserve, but the drafts were never set in stone. Most of the time, I scrapped them and started over. I spent the day at the hospital and revised at night, with no regular time to rest. Then controversy arose over the update schedule. Every day there were thousands of comments on Weibo and in the comment section about the updates, and I didn't know about them.

Everyone assumed I'd seen the complaints and simply refused to change anything, which led to even greater resentment. By the time I found out, the novel was almost finished, and it was too late. Some people seemed to coordinate their comments around Jinjiang's rating system. I explained the plot on Weibo, but people said, "I'm not interested in reading your novel. I just enjoy insulting you." Later, a reader told me she was in a group dedicated to attacking me. Every one of my posts was sent to the group immediately, then twisted and taken out of context. Eventually, they weren't following the novel anymore. They were enjoying attacking me and winning others over. Only then did I understand that, at this point, it wasn't really about the story. Most of the anger was about the update schedule. The book wasn't even very long, but it had been serialized for almost half a year, which meant only one or two thousand words a day. That really is a terrible reading experience. How could anyone not be angry?

I don't know what was right or wrong. Looking at it this way, neither side seems entirely at fault. I set that update schedule because all I could think about was caring for a sick family member. If I stopped updating, the novel wouldn't be finished for two years, and I didn't want to disappoint the readers who were following it. But I was immature. I'm very sorry, and I also failed to explain clearly why the updates were irregular or take every concern into account. To clarify, I didn't buy followers on Weibo, hire paid commenters to control the discussion, delete comments from the comment section, or remove ratings. I didn't change the tags either. The platform makes changes for ranking purposes, and settlement doesn't affect the ability to read comments. I didn't do any of the so-called manipulations. I don't know why people came up with those interpretations. Apart from serializing the novel, I did none of those things. Please stop reading into my words and actions. I'm just an author who writes stories. I don't have all these schemes and tricks. I've now accepted full responsibility. I caused this, and I've borne the consequences. I'm sorry I couldn't take care of everything. I hope everyone will always be happy. Written January 2023.

Theme: Everyone is a sun unlike any other.