Upon hearing there were dumplings to eat, the students were not at all shy, clamoring as they scrambled to get some.
Zhou Ziang also got a few dumplings with celery and pork filling. Due to the cold weather, the over a hundred dumplings packed for the school had already turned cold, with the skins so stiff that they curled up at the ends. But none of the international students, sick of hamburgers and hot dogs, complained; everyone savored the dumplings with gusto, for in a foreign land, the food from one’s homeland carries a special meaning.
As the night grew deeper, a few candles were lit on the lawn, and several students who had drunk too much huddled together, singing the national anthem. As they sang, some began to choke up with emotion.
Yao Feng, seeing this, suggested everyone go to the graduate dorms, where the apartments had better amenities than the undergraduate housing, including satellite TV through which one could watch domestic broadcasts. At that time, satellite networking was not as developed as it is now. New Year’s in China was already over, and the Spring Festival Gala had long ended, but for the students in the United States, this New Year’s Eve had just begun.
Zhou Ziang did not follow the crowd to the dorms. The former "Zhou Ziang" was a typical electronics enthusiast, which is why, on a thunderstorm night, he and his computer were both struck by lightning.
Seeing that he didn’t want to go, Yao Feng did not insist.
A group of people marched grandly toward the graduate apartments. Zhou Ziang, however, walked to the other side of the school’s field.
On the other side of the school, there might have been another group of Chinese international students celebrating the New Year, as dazzling fireworks burst forth from the ground into the sky—first as a cluster, then scattering wide, like stardust spreading across the heavens. The air was tinged with an almost imperceptible scent of gunpowder.
(I’m late in updating, my apologies.
The following message from Fu Zi has been kept concise, so as not to increase everyone’s subscription cost. Please take a look. This afternoon I felt downhearted after being informed by the editor that only with third watch can I possibly get a better recommendation.
Because my subscription numbers are not very promising. It’s quite helpless, actually. The number of collections for my new book is much better than my first book, yet the subscriptions are disappointing. Those who have paid attention to the comments section would know. At Qidian, I don’t habitually "visit" or get to know other authors, the reasons of which I’ve already explained in the sentiments upon launching this book—there are no issues with mutual support here.
As a commercial website, Qidian ranks recommendations based on subscription success and updates. To get a good recommendation, there must be subscriptions and updates.
I admit that for various reasons, I am concurrently writing two other books. Regardless of the outcome, I must ensure they are completed, as the integrity of my work is quite important to me, even though my readership is not extensive.
I write as a part-time author, and one cannot make a living purely from writing, hence I aspire to move towards full-time writing. So, no matter how my job goes, I constantly demand myself to write a certain word count every day, much like keeping up with a sport. Then, to prevent my body from breaking down, I make sure to run daily.
The performances of my first two books were not great, but I plan to give my all to this one. When I received the news, my heart felt sour, for without effort there would be no opportunity.
Dear readers, to you this might be good news—I will strive to update thrice nightly moving forward. From now on, I will check and reply to comments once a day. The pressure of word count updates, I can only manage by squeezing out time.
Finally, to the patient readers who have gotten this far: If you tend to subscribe to the full series, please consider automating your subscription. I know many prefer to build a backlog to read, though it seems the same, it’s different to the site. Your automated subscription is very important to me. If one day you find you can’t continue, you can always cancel the automated subscription.
If you tend to skip subscriptions, I hope you can do it less frequently, as every Chapter of the story is connected.
To those who read pirated versions, I hope you can turn back and support Fu Zi.
And to those responsible for the piracy, I kindly implore you to delay it, not for anything else, but to give readers who are hesitant about supporting me a little more time to consider.
A dike is destroyed by an anthill just as water drops will eventually penetrate stone. Every bit of your support is recorded in my heart, and I will reciprocate with tangible actions, thank you.) (To be continued. If you work, welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)