Zhou Lin didn't know very well what was going on over there in "The Strongest Singer-Songwriter", and he didn't even know that the Tai Chi Band would have to go through a round of screening before they could enter the final competition list.

It's been too thunderous for a while, and after sending out the sample of "Ten Thousand Towns", Zhou Lin slept hard, and when he woke up the next morning, he felt that the world was still beautiful.

Monday, 1 November 1999.

There are many lists refreshed every Monday, and Zhou Lin doesn't need to pay special attention, naturally someone will tell him the ranking.

In the afternoon, Zhou Lin was in class when he received a text message on his mobile phone.

"Brother, what are you doing, I saw a report in the newspaper, it's too unusual!"

It was Zhou Ming who sent the text message, this kid has recently made the Singularity Literature Forum impressive, and the number of authors and works has reached a new height, which makes Zhou Lin marvel at his management skills.

Probably because of the process of managing the website, he learned a lot of knowledge about how to deal with people, and Zhou Ming's temperament was also much calmer, and he rarely made the messy moths before, but this time the text message was full of annoyance and anger, which made Zhou Lin feel very strange.

After class, Zhou Lin dialed Zhou Ming's phone.

As soon as the phone rang, Zhou Ming's resentful voice rang.

"It's too unusual, brother, you must fight back against them fiercely!"

"Those guys dare to talk nonsense if they don't understand anything, if I see them on the road, they will definitely be slapped to death by a big-eared scraper!"

"The most hateful thing is that Qin Feng, what kind of thing is he, didn't he just write a romance novel chirping for girls, I thought it was amazing!"

Zhou Lin was confused when he heard this, and hurriedly said, "Zhou Ming, calm down, what happened?"

"Brother. You haven't read the report yet?" Zhou Ming was stunned.

"No...... What's the report?" Zhou Lin asked.

Zhou Mingdao: "You hurry up and buy a copy of "Weekly Reading Guide", there is an article in the B2 version, questioning the sales of "Zhu Xian". ”

"Oh?" Zhou Lin nodded, "Okay, I'll take a look first." ”

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Lin found a nearby newsstand. Bought a copy of the Weekly Reading Guide.

This is a newspaper with a small circulation, and its main content is to introduce and recommend various books, which is a good reference in the minds of book lovers.

Zhou Lin went directly to the B2 version, and saw a huge red title, which was very sensational.

The sales of "Zhu Xian" are suspicious, and Tianhua Bookstore is fake?

Zhou Lin frowned.

The first volume of "Zhu Xian" has been selling very well since its release, and it has been at the top of the sales list of Tianhua Bookstore for two weeks, and the recommendation list has been high.

The first printing of 40,000 copies of "Zhu Xian" has long been sold out, and nearly half of the 30,000 copies of the second batch of printing have been sold. The third printing and the publication of the second volume of "Zhu Xian" are in intense preparation, but such a report has emerged, what is going on?

Zhou Lin sat on a bench beside the road and read carefully line by line.

Recently, a Xianxia novel called "Zhu Xian" has been selling well, and it has been on the best-selling list of Tianhua Bookstore, becoming a phenomenal work, attracting the attention of our reporters. ”

The reporter asked some friends around him, but no one had heard of the book "Zhu Xian". So does "Zhu Xian" really have such a high sales volume? The reporter made an unannounced visit to this. ”

In Tianhua Bookstore, "Zhu Xian" is placed in the most conspicuous position. It can be said that it occupies the core promotion position in the store. But in the one-hour period of the reporter's unannounced visit, there were almost no customers who bought "Zhu Xian" ......"

"The reporter learned through industry insiders that the content of "Zhu Xian" is not as good as imagined, and such a high sales volume may involve some black-box operations......"

The reporter interviewed Qin Feng, a cutting-edge author who ranked third on the best-selling list of Tianhua Bookstore with his romance novel "I Am a Handful of Winter Snow". Qin Feng said frankly: At present, there is chaos in the publishing market, and many publishing companies and authors will use the means of false reimbursement to gain attention, and he called on the whole society to supervise this kind of fraudulent behavior......"

Zhou Lin read it carefully. Throwing the newspaper aside, he sneered.

Here it comes!

A while ago, Zhu Zifeng called him and said that several competitors seemed to be making small moves, and wanted to make some articles with "Zhu Xian", so that Zhou Lin should be careful.

Zhou Lin didn't take it seriously. Because he is not afraid of shadows, since he has not done bad things, why should he be afraid of people making small moves.

I didn't expect that someone could really make something out of nothing, the sales of "Zhu Xian" were obviously not mixed with any water, but under the pen of the reporter of "Weekly Reading Herald", almost every sentence was accusing "Zhu Xian" of cheating in sales.

What's even more ridiculous is that the author named Qin Feng actually jumped out to accuse "Zhu Xian", could it be that he thought that if the sales of "Zhu Xian" fell, he would be able to take the opportunity to take the position?

Zhou Lin thought about it and called Zhu Zifeng.

The phone rang several times before Zhu Zifeng connected.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Chai , I was just talking to a media friend. Zhu Zifeng answered the phone and said, "Do you have something?"

"I just read the Weekly Reading Herald. Zhou Lin said.

Zhu Zifeng was silent for a few seconds: "You saw it...... I'm still wondering if to inform you, I'm afraid you'll be hesitant to get angry after reading the report. ”

"There's nothing to be angry about this kind of thing, we didn't do it, and we're not afraid of them spreading rumors. Zhou Lin said.

Zhu Zifeng said: "The problem is that this matter has become a big problem, and today I have received calls from seven or eight media reporters, asking if there is any cheating in the sales of "Zhu Xian". I heard that Tianhua Bookstore is also anxious, and some leaders even ask if it is boring for Tianhua Bookstore to order so many goods in one go!"

After a pause, Zhu Zifeng continued: "There are still many readers who call to insult the company, and some posts have also appeared on the Internet, called exposing the inside story of the publishing industry, but in fact, the spearhead is directly pointed at "Zhu Xian" and our publishing house. We are in communication with all parties to minimize the impact of the situation. ”

"......" Zhou Lin was speechless, he didn't expect a rumor-mongering report to be so lethal.

After thinking about it, Zhou Lin said: "Can you sue the "Weekly Reading Herald" for spreading rumors through legal channels?"

Zhu Zifeng sighed and said: "Why don't we want to, but that report only prompts readers openly and secretly, and does not give a conclusion." Our boss has consulted with a lawyer, even if this kind of lawsuit can be won, it will take a long time, and when the results are out, I am afraid that the eighth volume of "Zhu Xian" will be finished......"

"Is that all? We haven't done anything wrong, so why should we suffer from this. Zhou Lin was a little annoyed.

Zhu Zifeng smiled bitterly: "We can't help it, sometimes we can only endure it......"

"You can bear it, but I can't. Zhou Lin snorted and hung up the phone.

That night, a post appeared on the Singularity Literature Forum known as "Flying in the Clouds".

The post is titled "Fools, I'm Flying by the Clouds" (to be continued. )