Chapter 41: "The Release of Harry Potter"

June 1st, 1 a.m.

On Weibo, Fantasy Publishing House posted a message.

The first long-form fantasy literary series novel, “Harry Potter and the Magic Stone,” created by Zhou Ran, the famous singer and winner of “Who Is the King of Song,” will be released nationwide at eight o’clock on the morning of June 1st. Please look forward to it.

Originally, “Harry Potter and the Magic Stone” was meant to be published much earlier, but Zhou Ran’s participation in the “Who Is the King of Song” competition delayed the official announcement until after the contest ended.

In fact, Fantasy Publishing House’s move was a gamble. If Zhou Ran had failed to win the finals, his popularity would have diminished considerably. Fortunately, Fantasy Publishing House bet correctly—Zhou Ran took the championship.

The announcement from Fantasy Publishing House instantly caused a stir on Weibo, drawing countless fans’ attention.

Many fans initially thought Fantasy Publishing House had posted in error, wondering how a singer like Zhou Ran could suddenly write a novel.

But when they clicked on the tagged account, they realized it really was Zhou Ran—no mistake—it was indeed Zhou Ran of “Who Is the King of Song” fame who had written it.

Discussion about Zhou Ran’s venture into writing exploded across Weibo.

Xiaoyu Drizzle: “Go, Zhou Ran, go!”

Ran’s Family: “Looking forward to Zhou Ran’s novel. I believe it will bring us new surprises!”

White Velvet: “Does Zhou Ran really know how to write fantasy novels? Why doesn’t he just stick to being a singer instead of becoming a novelist?”

Chen Hao: “What on earth is this? You, a songwriter, coming into our literary circle to write books? Are you even qualified?”

---

Don’t Eat Cilantro: “Have you never read Zhou Ran’s lyrics? Have you not seen Zhou Ran’s ‘Green Jade Table: Lantern Festival’?”

King of Books: “He’s just here for laughs. Fantasy novel? As if Zhou Ran could actually pull it off.”

So far, online comments about Zhou Ran’s new book have fallen into two camps: those who support him and those who don’t.

The fact that some people online would curse Zhou Ran is something Li Xi had anticipated. The fantasy novel circle is small, and a newcomer means someone’s rice bowl is threatened—how could it not attract criticism?

Some of the insults stem from the fact that Zhou Ran’s talent in singing is beyond reproach, and now that he’s ventured into fantasy literature, the haters have found a new avenue to attack him.

This online battle was predicted by Li Xi long ago. It’s also part of her publicity plan, because as long as “Harry Potter and the Magic Stone” is of solid quality, the debate only serves to boost its popularity. Who wouldn’t want free publicity?

Regardless of the online commotion, Zhou Ran’s new book was set to be released at eight o’clock sharp in the morning. The bride must meet her in-laws, as the saying goes.

...

June 1st, 8 a.m.

Xia Yu Jie was a devoted fan of fantasy novels. He only liked to read works in the fantasy genre, and had no interest in anything else.

Recently, Xia Yu Jie had been troubled because he had already read every fantasy novel available, even the ones he used to consider trash.

He felt that fantasy novels had completely fallen out of favor and that no one wrote them anymore.

As was his habit, he went to the bookstore every morning to check if there were any new releases in the fantasy section.

Today, when Xia Yu Jie arrived, he saw a queue forming in the fantasy area. He rubbed his eyes, doubting what he was seeing. Why was the usually deserted fantasy section suddenly packed with people?

---

“Boss, what’s going on? Why are there so many people today?” Xia Yu Jie asked the bookstore owner, wanting to know what was happening.

“Oh, you mean the queue? Apparently, there’s a singer named Zhou Ran who just released a new book, so a huge crowd came to buy it!” The bookstore owner replied with a smile.

“Huh? Zhou Ran?” Xia Yu Jie was surprised to hear the name. He knew Zhou Ran, but wasn’t Zhou Ran a singer? Why was he writing novels? Xia Yu Jie felt bewildered and genuinely doubted Zhou Ran could produce anything of quality.

But, against his better judgment, Xia Yu Jie wanted to buy a Chinese edition of “Harry Potter,” planning to take it home and read it slowly. However, the bookstore owner, Old Wang, told him there were none left. If Xia Yu Jie wanted a copy, he’d have to wait a week. Old Wang was helpless—having Zhou Ran’s book meant money, and who wouldn’t want to earn? But the initial five hundred copies had sold out in one go. Who could have guessed it would sell so fiercely?

“Huh? Is Zhou Ran’s book really that popular?” Xia Yu Jie was dumbfounded. Even when a top fantasy author released a new book, it had never sold like this!

Unwilling to accept defeat, Xia Yu Jie was determined to get a copy of “Harry Potter and the Magic Stone”—he wanted to see for himself if a singer-turned-writer could really live up to the hype.

He drove around the city, visiting every bookstore, but every owner gave him the same answer: the book had sold out hours ago, and he’d have to wait until the following Monday.

Zhou Ran’s new book, just released, was selling out everywhere. Bookstores across the country had lines out the door. Store managers were frantically calling Fantasy Publishing House, demanding urgent restocks. Li Xi, meanwhile, was in both pain and ecstasy—she had thought fifty thousand copies of “Harry Potter and the Magic Stone” would suffice, but to her astonishment, they sold out within a few hours.

Now, she could only juggle the demands of distributors while urgently pressuring the printing factory to rush the next batch.

On a certain secondhand trading platform, Zhou Ran’s book was listed for an astronomical price of five hundred yuan, nearly ten times its original price. Even at that markup, demand was so high the supply couldn’t keep up.

The situation left many novelists green with envy—how could a singer’s novel sell so well, achieving such results before anyone had even read it? Criticism poured in from all sides.