Xu Lin looks at history not from the perspective of upper-class society, like scholars and nobility, but from the angle of ordinary people. When it comes to history, many people don't use their civilian perspective. For instance, it's widely understood that the Song Dynasty was culturally, intellectually, and economically developed. Many people imagine themselves as wealthy noblewomen or gentlemen, or poets and lyricists composing verses, forgetting what it would be like to be a commoner.

After the Liang and Jin Dynasties came the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and there are several history books about the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Seeing that it was almost eleven in the morning, Xu Lin decided not to read anymore.

The senior continued using her notebook, so Xu Lin simply opened his phone and chatted with Ranzhi.

The lyric-writing competition from before, a few days have passed, and it's moved from the original website to platforms for short videos, thanks to promotional efforts by the website.

Xu Lin's book is one of the site's key features, so spending money on traffic is worthwhile.

In an era of a stable market, growth relies on the site's marketing methods and its excellent works to retain users.

Xu Lin's current book, like it was meant to be, surpasses all other works and attracts significant attention, especially with traffic.

The lyric competition has also naturally expanded onto short video platforms and, after a day's fermentation, more people are becoming aware of it.

Even if it's just writing lyrics for a single song, the first prize is eight hundred thousand, second prize five hundred thousand, and third prize three hundred thousand.

That's a substantial amount, tempting many, leading to numerous lyricists joining in.

Indeed, for lyric writing alone, tens of thousands in prize money is quite astonishing, considering many song copyrights, including composition and lyrics, are only worth a few thousand, sometimes just a few hundred. Now, the top three prizes are only for lyrics, with no need for composing music.

How often does such an opportunity arise?

Seems like just this once.

Thus, the event has smoothly expanded, reaching more and more people.

Ranzhi shared this with Xu Lin, who casually learned about it.

"Mr. Xu, I listened to your piano piece last night; I didn't know you could play the piano!"

Ranzhi: "Sunglasses.jpg"

Xu Lin: "Basic skill, nothing to flaunt."

Ranzhi: "Grin.jpg My wife really likes it!"

Xu Lin: "The music is quite sad; can she handle listening to it?"

Ranzhi: "My wife loves sad music even more!"

Xu Lin: "Sweat.jpg"

Xu Lin: "Let's talk about something else. I have two apprentices with the most powerful new books recently; do you think they have a shot at winning a 'grandmaster' award this year?"

Ranzhi: "Mr. Xu, those are your apprentices' upgrade novels?"

Xu Lin: "Yes, along with Chengfeng and Toutuo, totaling four apprentices."

Ranzhi: "No way! Mr. Xu, you're amazing!"

Ranzhi: "Chengfeng and Toutuo are practically guaranteed 'grandmaster' status, and Asura and Shifang seem poised for success too, given the momentum of their new books. It mostly depends on post-launch results, but both are starting with a minimum of forty thousand subscriptions, and quickly reaching a hundred thousand in a month. They'll surely achieve 'grandmaster' status!"

"That's great!"

Xu Lin's goal is for all four of them to achieve 'grandmaster' status this year. The website selects grandmasters between late December and early January. Xu Lin's task had a one-year deadline, starting in June, and now, four months later, he is focused on the last chance at year-end selection, which is a six-month span.

Ranzhi: "Mr. Xu is too impressive, with such strong apprentices. By year's end, Chengfeng should quickly reach two hundred thousand and Toutuo is already over a hundred thousand. Shifang and Asura haven't launched yet, but their momentum won't lag and will start with a minimum of a hundred thousand subscriptions too!"

Ranzhi: "Of course, the most impressive is still you, Mr. Xu. By year-end, you'll likely surpass a million! The entire web literature community is overshadowed by you! Other grandmasters are nothing in comparison! Sunglasses.jpg Complete submission.jpg"

Xu Lin: "Stay calm."

Ranzhi: "Mr. Xu, I remember you mentioning that this book won't be too lengthy. Do you have any ideas for a new book? Grin.jpg"

"Haven't thought about it yet."

Actually, Xu Lin probably won't write a new book; he's not deeply engaged in this field.

Without the task offering rewards, he likely wouldn't have this current novel.

In the future, he's unsure whether there'll be further rewards or new fields to explore. The web novel world may just be a mildly impactful experience in his life.

Ranzhi: "Looking forward to more of your works, Mr. Xu! Grin.jpg"

Xu Lin chatted with him for a few more minutes, then switched accounts to answer Wu Chengfeng and the others' writing questions, which he usually does once every two or three days.

Time quickly reached noon.

Ning Yuhuan's computer screen went black at this moment due to a dead battery.

Xu Lin gave it a glance.

"Should we switch to a new computer?" Xu Lin asked.

Ning Yuhuan shook her head. "Charging will do; it's not broken."

Her notebook is quite old, from 2019, and Ning Yuhuan began university in 2024. She found it on a second-hand platform for over a thousand yuan. It's a bit laggy, and the battery drains quickly, which is typical for electronics after a few years unless it's a high-end item, like ones over ten thousand.

Xu Lin didn't say much. After leaving the city library, they went out for lunch together.

Time reached past one o'clock in the afternoon.

Xu Lin took her to a private cinema, handled the front desk procedures, and led her upstairs.

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