[Scum Villain Fanfic] The Writing Adventures Of Liu Su Mian Hua

#14: The journey

There was complete silence after Mingyan's statement. "Shijie... that's not really possible..." said Xiuying. "I know, it's not possible for me alone." said Mingyan. "But if all of you can help me out, we can change people's perception." she looked at the girls expectantly. "We can reduce the inhumane treatment that Binghe is getting right now. We can even clear Peak Lord Shen's name." The girls were still unsure. "It's a very lofty aspiration, Shijie, but there's no guarantee that it will work as we planned." said Qiaohui. "We can also get in trouble for siding with the Demons." "I can use a pen-name like all the other authors we have read." Mingyan was not ready to let go. "And I'll take full responsibility if anything goes wrong. You all won't be affected, I assure you that."

"What exactly do you want to write?" asked a disciple. "I want to write a love story with Peak Lord Shen and his disciple Luo Binghe as the main characters." Mingyan replied, full of determination. "I'll write how they fell in love, how their love blossomed in secrecy, and how they ended together inspite of all the obstacles. I'll write all the tender feelings that they could not express to each other in this world. So that at least in a story, they will have a happy ending." Mingyan waited for their reply. "Er... will there be any... er... steamy scenes?" another disciple asked with a pink face. "I don't know.." said Mingyan. "I'm not very confident about writing those scenes." "We can help you with it." Xiuying's face lit up. "I can find you books that provide details for writers of steamy content. You can refer to them and practice writing." "I don't think adding such scenes will be a good idea." said Qiaohui and managed to annoy everyone. "Even if it is a story, Peak Lord Shen and Luo Binghe are real people. Writing them in compromising situations can actually damage their reputation." "It's a story Qiaohui." said Xiuying. "People will understand."  "Writing steamy scenes will ensure more readership." said the disciple who had inquired about these scenes. "If more people read the story, it'll be much easier to change their perception. If a lot of people state the same thing, it eventually gets regarded as the truth. This will work in our favour." A majority of the girls seconded this opinion.

"Okay then, I'll try to make it a steamy story." said Mingyan. "I'll start looking for the books right away!" Xiuying was ecstatic. "I'll also inquire about the supply of paper, inkstone, colours and other stationery. We'll need lots and we can't ask An Ding Peak to get for it for us." "I hadn't thought about that!" said Mingyan. "Thanks a lot!" She turned to the other girls. "Thank you very much for your support. I really hope we all can bring some change in this world through this story. I'll need a lot of copywriters and illustrators and I am looking forward to working with you all on my very first publication." she bowed before them. "I'm excited too!" Chuntao exclaimed. "Mingyan Shijie will be a published author! And we all get to work on her book! People will read what we have written. It's so exciting! Aren't you excited Shijie?" she turned to look at Qiaohui. Qiaohui smiled and patted her head. "Of course I am." she replied. "I'm excited to read my pretty Shimei's beautiful calligraphy."

The next day, Mingyan and Xiuying went to Shuang Hu city to visit Chen MeiRong. "Long time no see!" JiaYi greeted the two. "What do these lovely Misses wish to buy today?" "We want to see all the face powders you have." said Mingyan and casually raised her right hand wiggling the index finger three times. JiaYi noticed it and said, "Of course! This way." and directed them to folding screen.

Behind the folding screen was the room that served as Chen MeiRong's office. "I see we have veteran readers visiting us today." Chen MeiRong joined her hands and bowed before the two and they returned the gesture. "How can I serve you?" "Do you have any books about writing erotic Damnei scenes?" Xiuying cut straight to the point. "Which one of you is trying their hand at writing?" MeiRong asked with a smirk. Xiuying pointed at Mingyan. "I'll go and check in the store room." MeiRong stood up from her seat and went to the trapdoor leading to the underground store room. She soon came back with 3 books. "Here you go!" She handed the books to Mingyan. "Let me know when you write something. I'd love to read." "Of course!" said Mingyan. "We will look forward to your assistance in the distribution of the books as well." MeiRong froze in her spot. "You... are you planning to publish something?" she asked with hesitation. "Yes, we have a mission to accomplish." Mingyan replied with determination. "What are the procedures we need to follow if we want you to distribute the books on our behalf?" MeiRong got over her shock and spoke in a firm tone, "To have your books sold at our store you will have to go through a quality check. I will be personally reading the book to gauge if it will sell and for what price. Authors can negotiate it. I keep a thirty percent of the sales profit, the author keeps the rest. If I think the book can be in our store, I will initially require seventy copies of it. More copies will be requested based on the response and demand.

"That's... quite a procedure..." Xiuying sighed. "Do all authors have to go through this?" "Yes." MeiRong smiled. "All authors whose books we have here have gone through this procedure. Some shops don't have any procedure and the books they keep are of subpar standards. I am particular about the quality of books, which is why I have a process. I make money from these books. If they don't sell, I won't make any." "I'll write a story that will be up to your standards." Mingyan let out a determined sigh. "I wish you good luck." said MeiRong "I'll be waiting to read your book."