All-rounder Artist

But strangely also here…

This clearly simplistic story, full of ‘chicken soup for the soul’ vibes, has made Shen Jiarui cry unexpectedly. He hadn’t anticipated this, even forgetting during the reading process that this was part of a competition.

Why did this happen?

Shen Jiarui doesn’t think that it’s the simple warmth that moved him, as he has read thousands of similar stories, even to the point that he is reluctant to write such stories. This novel must have something unique.

Shen Jiarui scrolled through the comments.

Shen Jiarui won’t be the first reader of “A Bowl of Spring Noodles”, nor will he be the last. At this point, many people have finished reading this story, so the comments section is quite lively.

“Feels pretty average.”

“Chu Kuang is below standard.”

“‘Chicken soup for the soul’ style melodrama.”

These were some of the negative comments Shen Jiarui saw, which should have made him ecstatic, but instead, he didn’t feel the joy he had expected. He felt a kind of indescribable heaviness. Shortly after, Shen Jiarui saw a trending comment: “As a business, a few bowls of noodles are nothing. But the human care, trust, and support moved people. Economically, it doesn’t make sense for the mother and her two children to show up, but comforting the desperate and warming those in need are valuable aspects of a society.”

Shen Jiarui suddenly felt a little enlightened.

Indeed, people aren’t just living to eat, but there is something very powerful in this world that seems useless but can create greater value in the future. This is the meaning of this story.

This trending comment got many likes.

It’s imaginable that for Chu Kuang, the reviews for this short story must be polarized. Some people will find the story melodramatic and feel that Chu Kuang’s latest writing doesn’t meet the standard, lacking the amazing plot twist that used to be in his works.

But many others will agree with it.

The latter group is likely those who have experienced kindness from strangers, in gestures or even just a glance. But their power is no less than the simple phrase “A Bowl of Spring Noodles” in the story.

Let’s look at the ranking again.

My short story is called “The Killer”, a detective thriller type story with an ending readers could never have imagined: the final killer is a brown horse. It’s currently ranked first in the March short stories, receiving very good reviews, while Chu Kuang, who was highly rated by many people, is in second place. It seems not everyone bought into his latest work.

“My rank is pretty good…”

It would be hypocritical to say Shen Jiarui is not at all pleased. After all, securing first place would earn him quite a sum. However, inside, he felt that Chu Kuang’s latest short story was quite powerful but not suitable for ranking-oriented competitions like this.

If described with music:

It’s like I used rock.

But he sang a sentimental ballad.

The former can ignite the atmosphere on stage while the latter is heartfelt. Being heartfelt is not suitable for competition. So, assuming there aren’t any surprises, it looks like I might keep this first-place rank until the end?

…

Chu Kuang hasn’t written a short story in quite a long time. Naturally, his latest release published in Tribe Literature in March has attracted attention from the industry. But when they saw the novel was ranked second, many were taken aback:

“It’s only second?”

“Is this an upset?”

“Shen Jiarui is something.”

“Chu Kuang’s last story was even able to compete with one of the Big Three in Qin Province. I didn’t expect this new one would only rank second, especially without any strong competitors this time. Shen Jiarui couldn’t pose much of a threat to Chu Kuang.”

“This indeed is an upset.”

“I’ve read both stories. Shen Jiarui’s story is superb while Chu Kuang seems to have made some adjustments to his personal style. Those changes seemed not very successful. One progressed, and one regressed, hence the result.”

…

Since his debut, Chu Kuang has been invincible!

Even when people were doubting him, Chu Kuang was capable of creating miracles, turning the tide!

But unexpectedly, when people had high hopes for him this time, Chu Kuang messed up!

This created a lot of controversy in the industry.

And because of Chu Kuang’s defeat…

The controversy has started to escalate, even leading to some comments claiming a decline in Chu Kuang’s writing level. Some people spoke as if they had insider knowledge:

“If Chu Kuang is not running out of new stories, why hasn’t he published a new short story for such a long time?”

Some people thought about it, and it made sense.

Chu Kuang used to publish short stories frequently before. With just four of his works, he secured his position in the short story arena.

However, after those four works, it took him so long to publish his fifth one…

Why?

People didn’ think too much about it before, but now they feel that it’s very likely because Chu Kuang can’t come up with new good stories, that’s why he hasn’t published any new short story.

Even if his ranking decreased, he didn’t take any measures in time.

If that were not the case, why did his new short story “A Bowl of Spring Noodles” that was published after such a long time failed to take off, and didn’t even manage to beat Shen Jiarui, a short story writer much lower in the ranks?

Logically, after not having published any new short story for such a long time, shouldn’t he have been brewing a staggering masterpiece that would blow everyone’s mind?

The new short story he took so long to produce… Is this it?

“Has he run out of creativity?”

Some voices speculated.

Indeed, some extraordinarily brilliant writers during their peak period gradually became ordinary after publishing several astonishing works. But nobody thought that this would happen to Chu Kuang, especially after he had just completed a highly popular long novel.

Nevertheless, there were also many voices refuting this claim.

“There are always some people with ulterior motives, who scrutinize every move of writers like Chu Kuang with a magnifying glass, and seize on any minor mistake. Just because Chu Kuang came in second, they couldn’t wait to jump out…”

Turns out this was the mainstream voice.

The public was mostly willing to give people like “Chu Kuang” some space.

The use of “them” here is due to the similar rhythms seen online over and over.

Rival peers have never been too amicable in the literary circle and the traditions of this circle are filled with arrogance and disdain among writers. It is a particularly high-pressure zone, full of infighting.

So over the years, whenever a writer’s performance failed to meet a perfect standard, they received similar treatment.

Such a phenomenon, in the eyes of some literati, had become a cancer.

They aimed not just at Chu Kuang, but at everyone who achieved success, but couldn’t maintain a perfect performance afterward.

What nobody expected, though, was…

While the outside world was debating whether the quality of Chu Kuang’s latest short story had declined, the ranking of “A Bowl of Spring Noodles” unexpectedly, and unexplainably surged to the top at 9 a.m. the next day!

Everyone watched in real-time as the votes for “A Bowl of Spring Noodles” continuously soared!

And by two o’clock in the afternoon, “A Bowl of Spring Noodles” had already claimed the champion’s throne!

“What the hell is going on?”

Vote manipulation is strictly forbidden on Blue Star; the platform has zero tolerance for such actions!

Whoever dares to manipulate votes will instantly earn a horrible reputation!

Besides, isn’t the technical department of the Tribe too capable to allow such blatant manipulation?

Everyone was flabbergasted.

If it wasn’t vote manipulation, why did “A Bowl of Spring Noodles” surge ahead so dramatically, completely overtaking Shen Jiarui?

“Take a look!”

Amid the confusion and bewilderment, someone prompted, “Turn on this morning’s news from Zhongzhou Station, Chu Kuang’s new short story got reported by official media!”

Swoosh!

Everyone instantly searched for the news from Zhongzhou Station, only to find this headline: [A One-Man Train Station!]

The subheading read:

The real-life version of the story “A Bowl of Spring Noodles”!

Zhongzhou Station holds a comparable status to that of CCTV in Blue Star. It’s a television station that can’t be isolated by the cultural wall. However, no one in the industry could have imagined that Chu Kuang’s new short story would be endorsed by Blue Star’s biggest official media!

Everyone clicked on the news…