For one reason or another, many of my friends didn't join the group, so I'm opening a separate post here to chat with everyone.
First and foremost, I want to thank all of you for your support. Even though some have been critical due to certain plotlines, my subscriptions have never dropped, so thank you, I'm incredibly grateful. Moreover, these results, in the medical genre, while not quite up to par with the top novels, are already very satisfying for me. I'll strive for less criticism in my next book.
Of course, I'm open to criticism about unsatisfying plotlines or anything about my writing that you find displeasing or irrational. Furthermore, I'm willing to accept your constructive suggestions and make improvements, as I believe many of you have already seen.
However, I cannot accept criticism from those who attack merely for the sake of attacking or for other ulterior motives. I tend to treat such instances as a joke.
What angers me more is that someone even joined the group, spewed utter filth, and accused me of being a stat-padder! I only regret that the admins acted too quickly, so I didn't get a chance to confront them. (Thanks to the admins in the group.)
As for those who mindlessly insult and try to defame me, I don't want to trade insults with them; that would be an insult to my own intelligence.
Here, I just want to ask these people: what stats did I inflate?
Did I ever have a Golden Alliance, a Silver Alliance, or an Alliance Leader?
Without a single operational campaign, what the hell stats did I inflate?
Did I inflate my stats just to rank 400th in the monthly votes?
Are you not thinking clearly?
Does getting over a thousand monthly votes already shatter your composure? If you saw those top authors getting thousands, or even tens of thousands, of monthly votes, wouldn't you feel like jumping into a river?
(I lost my composure there.)
Next time you come to flame, please bring your brain online. It's truly embarrassing for you.
Using such tactics to disgust people and mess with their minds—are you overestimating yourselves or underestimating me?
Some friends suggested I clean up the reader comments section, removing all the disgusting obscenities from these troublemakers.
Initially, I considered it, but then I thought, why bother?
Mainly, the comments these people leave are just so crude. Anyone with discernment can see they're purely out to stir up trouble.
So, if they're not afraid of others laughing at their lack of intelligence, why should I delete their comments?
Let them stay. The fact that some people can't stand to see me doing well also indicates that my writing must be decent and that I'm doing right by my readers.
Alright, let's start a new topic and stop talking about them; it's just vexing.
Some friends said I lack an outline and that my writing is erratic, which made me blush for a good while.
Indeed, my outline, at just over 5,000 words, can't compare to others that are tens or even hundreds of thousands of words long. Mine is just a rough sketch, a general development path.
And during the writing process, I also make adjustments based on pertinent suggestions from you, my friends.
But I have to say, folks, my overall direction hasn't gone off track.
Of course, because it's only a rough outline, the writing can sometimes be rather stiff. I apologize for that and am already working on improving it.
Since I'm new to the online fiction scene, I'm not familiar with many of the common tropes and pacing. What I can do for now is ensure my logic is consistent and avoid plot points that would insult your intelligence, my friends. As for the rest, I'll learn as I go, and I hope you'll all continue to read patiently.
Some of you know that I'm a tutor. So, during May and early June, my update schedule wasn't very consistent. Often, I couldn't even meet the guaranteed 8,000-word count, let alone 7,000 or 6,000 words.
During that period, I dedicated most of my energy to my students preparing for the college entrance examination and the middle school entrance examination.
And these students I tutored weren't top-tier, not even upper-mid level, so they required significantly more of my energy.
The students I tutored were initially scoring only forty or fifty points. While exhausting, I could endure it. But more often, it was enough to make me break down.
A student in senior third grade, with the exam just around the corner, told me he still didn't understand the ten-character concept of "Odd functions change sign, even functions do not change signs, and signs depend on the quadrant." I had already explained it to him no less than twenty times. Every time we encountered a question involving trigonometric functions, I would reiterate this concept.
But, but, he'd forget it almost instantly. The next time he encountered it, he still wouldn't know.
Even if he couldn't understand it, couldn't he just memorize the formula and apply it?
Sigh, he would memorize it, but then he'd forget it right after.
And for me, it wasn't just one student like this; it was all of them, all of them.
What's the limit of a mental breakdown?
It's when my mind goes blank, my hands and feet tremble uncontrollably, yet I can clearly feel my temples pounding—POUND, POUND, POUND—so hard that my eyeballs start to quiver.
But since I'd accepted their money, I had to be responsible for their children. No matter how broken I felt, I had to teach them.
So, I really admire myself for managing to keep updating before the exams.
After the exams, but before the results were out, I was even more nervous than when I was teaching.
I was afraid the children wouldn't do well.
If they didn't do well, I'd have to compensate them, my reputation would be ruined, and I was even more terrified that the children wouldn't get into a school, wasting time and money, or potentially developing psychological issues.
Because I know how much effort these children put in.
Fortunately, the results came out in the last few days. Although none of them were high scores, it's a relief that all of them essentially passed.
However, starting this summer vacation, I don't plan to tutor anymore. I just can't take the strain any longer.
I've always tutored students scoring in the forties or fifties. Later, after I gained a bit of a reputation, high-scoring students didn't seek me out. The ones who came were still those scoring in the forties or fifties. I even had a student who came to me in senior second grade after scoring only thirty-two points.
After all these years, my body just can't take it anymore.
Just a couple of days ago, I wanted to really focus on writing, but my head felt constantly dizzy and somewhat numb, so I checked my blood pressure.
First reading: 187/125.
I nearly died of fright on the spot when I saw that number; my heart was pounding like crazy. I decided right then and there: no more tutoring, no more meat, early to bed and early to rise. And I bought some specific medicine.
Yesterday: 180/121.
This morning: 165/116.
So, everyone, I won't be updating late at night or in the wee hours anymore. I'll guarantee a minimum of two chapters during the day and aim for three.
I need to go to bed early and wake up early. I need to exercise.
Let me emphasize: please don't ask me about the medicine. I'll try it out myself first and see.