After spending a bit more time shopping with his sister-in-law, Li Bin couldn't resist Wen Lan's nagging and let her buy him two casual outfits and a fresh pair of Adidas kicks. Only then, totally wiped out, did they head home.
Spending more time together, Li Bin figured out Wen Lan wasn't as untouchable as he'd thought. Once she warmed up to him, she was open as hell—even a little clingy.
Even in the mall, Wen Lan stuck close, latching onto Li Bin's arm. Sometimes when he grabbed her hand straight up, she'd just blush and flash a sweet smile, no signs of pushing back or getting weirded out.
Plus, under Li Bin's emotional and cash-fueled onslaught, Wen Lan started talking to him real open, no filter.
Their vibe heated up fast—by the time they left the mall, they were acting like tight siblings.
Wen Lan, who seemed cold and proud on the outside, was actually kinda lonely deep down, and with Li Bin's genuine care and attention, she leaned on him more and more, like a little bird finding a safe spot.
"Brother-in-law, I wish you weren't my brother-in-law~~" Back home, climbing the stairs with giggles, Wen Lan suddenly dropped that line with a melancholic edge.
Li Bin froze for a sec, picking up a weird vibe in her words, and teased, "If I wasn't your brother-in-law, what'd I be? If I wasn't, we probably wouldn't even know each other, you goof."
"Being my real brother would be even better, hehe~~" Wen Lan stuck her tongue out at Li Bin, though her smile looked forced as fuck.
"Being your brother-in-law's the same deal—from now on, you're my real sister, treat me like your actual brother." Li Bin grinned, eyeing his cuñada's cute, playful face, his heart pounding harder.
"Ugh, I'm beat and sweaty from shopping! I'm hitting the shower." Wen Lan flashed him a sweet smile and bounced off to her room.
Li Bin checked the time—past three in the afternoon. In a little over an hour, his in-laws and wife would be back, so no chance for any romantic shit with Wen Lan. So he went to his room, fired up the computer, and casually popped into the authors' group to scope the chatter.
Kong Kong: They announced the recs today—I made it through! This time the new book picks are stacked with big shots, it's brutal.
Doghead Man: Holy shit, Kong Kong, making it to the new book selection is huge!
Little Fat House: Kong's the man, this book's gonna take you legendary!
...
Li Bin watched the newbies in the group kiss ass to an author who'd hit the third round of test recs, feeling a twinge of jealousy.
Qifei Chinese Network's recs run on a promotion system.
Around 50,000 to 100,000 words, you get your first rec slot.
But there's a massive gap. Authors and books the editors vibe with get prime spots with cover images, jacking up exposure big time.
Meanwhile, books the editors don't give a shit about get stuck in some low-key text slot, just the title showing.
In that setup, like twenty books duke it out.
Rankings come down to reader collections and reading time.
The top dogs move up to the next, better rec round.
This "New Book Selection" is the third tier.
Li Bin, after two years of writing, had never cracked that rec.
For him, that slot was a pipe dream.
Even with the book that got him some buzz last year and made him a few tens of thousands, he only hit the second round of image-text recs before getting axed.
If he hadn't kept grinding to 500,000 or 600,000 words, slowly building a reader base, Li Bin would've thought his book was trash no one touched.
But facts proved his book was the best in its batch, pulling the top results.
Too bad, after hitting strict censorship, when it had barely cracked a million words, it got wiped out completely.
Li Bin, pissed as hell, demanded answers from his editor about why it got banned, and the dude just shrugged it off: "All books in this category are getting canned—not just you, what's the big deal? National policy, go argue with the government if you've got the balls."
The editor's words left Li Bin speechless. After half a year of busting his ass, just as his book was taking off, it got trashed, leaving him with nothing, back to square one.
In a rage, Li Bin posted a rant on the forum, laying out evidence to defend himself, but not only did it not get his book unbanned, it pissed off the editor—who now wouldn't even sign his new contract.
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