The following days passed much the same. In the morning, Wen Zhihao would wave to Sun Fuyu who headed off to work, and every evening he would welcome Sun Fuyu back home.
Wen Zhihao soon obtained his custom-ordered wooden cart. With padded blankets on the floor of the cart, levitating charms stuck mostly symmetrically on the wood, and ropes haphazardly tied to his flying sword, he took the children and teenagers to the nearby town to enrol them in the free school that Old Third, the brush maker, had set up.
From then on, after breakfast, he would take them to class, and at lunchtime, he’d take them home to eat and have afternoon naps.
One such morning, Wen Zhihao was returning to Liu Zhongmin’s courtyards after the morning school run when Cultivator Hu Jingyan waved him over.
“Disciple Wen, Cultivator Cheng Yahui has been looking for you. They’re currently having tea with Cultivator Huang Jialing by the enclosures,” she said, her brows rising slightly at the cart-and-sword contraption. She had been away the last few days, so this was the first time she had seen it. Poor sword! Her own sword vibrated slightly in agreement.
“Thank you for informing me, Senior Hu,” Wen Zhihao replied. Since it was inconvenient for him to frequently tie and untie his flying sword from the cart, he simply stood on the sword and flew to the demonic beasts’ enclosure with the cart pulled along behind him.
From the air, Wen Zhihao spotted Huang Jialing and Cheng Yahui having tea out in one of the building’s courtyards. The two of them were seated around a square stone table.
They, being of higher cultivation, also spotted him.
“Come down,” Huang Jialing motioned.
So Wen Zhihao had to carefully navigate down and land his vehicle on the widest patch of pavement. He had the feeling of a suburban parent driving a large four-wheel drive down narrow city streets.
“Senior Huang, Senior Cheng,” he greeted them.
“Take a seat,” Huang Jialing motioned to the stone chair next to her.
Wen Zhihao sat down politely.
“Almost a senior yourself,” Cheng Yahui said, a tone of amusement in their voice.
“Thank you,” Wen Zhihao said politely, albeit confusedly. Wasn’t he just still at Late-Stage Golden Core? (He wasn’t.) He was still two whole stages away from Nascent Soul (he wasn’t), and everyone knew it became exponentially more difficult to level up, just like in online MMORPGs.
Pushing that confusion aside, Wen Zhihao asked, “How can I help you?”
Huang Jialing turned to Cheng Yahui.
Cheng Yahui sipped their tea. “I would like to purchase another heart-soothing treasure—I mean, a calming stone.”
“No need to purchase,” Wen Zhihao immediately said. He pulled out the random things he had in his spatial ring: “Here, you can have a few more calming stones. You really paid too much last time. Do you want some talismans too?”
“Disciple Wen, you should not underprice yourself,” Cheng Yahui said seriously.
“However, the materials are free,” Wen Zhihao said truthfully. “The stones are from the forest and the qi is from the sun.” While he knew that most workers were underpaid in major economic systems, in this matter, it was no problem for him to give these things away to Cheng Yahui. “Not to mention all your help in the past few weeks, I really can’t thank you enough,” he added.
“Don’t you have a Dao Companion?” Huang Jialing asked mildly. “Disciple Sun’s sword is only suitable for Early-Stage Golden Core cultivators at most. While I am not a sword-cultivator myself, I understand that sword enhancements can be quite expensive, let alone the purchase of an entirely new magical weapon.”
Wen Zhihao’s eyes widened slightly. Saving money for Sun Fuyu was a great idea! And Sun Fuyu must have spent a lot of spiritual stones to buy Wen Zhihao his new spatial ring. Wouldn’t it be nice if Wen Zhihao could give him a gift in return?
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
But then he narrowed his eyes slightly at Huang Jialing. Her words were too obvious. “You don’t have a friend who upgrades swords, do you?”
“P’w wfgfis gfqjslcu atf ojnbeg joafg sbe reuufrafv P ub rklwwlcu klat ws ulgioglfcv, vbc’a atlcx abb tjgv, Glrmlqif Qfc,” Lejcu Aljilcu gfqilfv vglis.
“Ktfc atjcx sbe obg atf reuufralbc.” Qfc Itltjb aegcfv ab Jtfcu Tjtel. “Ktfc, lo sbe gfjiis kjca ab qjs, tbk jybea bcf ibk-ugjvf rqlglaeji rabcf?”
Huang Jialing sighed with exasperation, while Cheng Yahui laughed.
“Accept the payment and don’t return it,” Cheng Yahui said, handing over a high-grade spiritual stone. While they could see that the final process of infusing the heart-soothing qi was simple for Wen Zhihao, that was only possible because Wen Zhihao had somehow crafted his own aura to be heart-soothing.
“No, this is too much,” Wen Zhihao resisted.
“Don’t be polite, accept it,” Cheng Yahui said. “Aiya, if I weren’t having tea with Huang Jialing, I would leave the payment here and walk away.”
“Like you did last time?”
Cheng Yahui’s eyes curved. “En, like last time.”
“Okay, then I’ll accept it,” Wen Zhihao said helplessly, putting away the high-grade spiritual stone. “But you have to take some more calming stones then, don’t be polite.” He moved the pile of stones and stack of talismans towards Cheng Yahui.
And then he stood up and took a step back from the table. “And now I’ll walk away so you have to accept it.”
Cheng Yahui laughed. “We’ll see about this next time,” they said with a twinkle in their eye.
Wen Zhihao bowed. “Have a good day, Seniors.” He jumped onto his patiently hovering sword and he and the cart lifted up and out of the courtyard.
Cheng Yahui’s voice drifted up. “Oh, these are even more powerful than before! Aiya, I should have given him more high-grade spiritual stones…Jialing, these talismans look like the ones you showed me before with the unusual handwriting…”
“Unusual is an interesting way to describe it…”
But Wen Zhihao wasn’t listening to their conversation, because he had noticed something familiar again.
That Lin Yijun-shaped hole in the qi fabric of his surroundings.
Still following him. Would he not go away until he saw Zhou Sheng again?
Right now, Wen Zhihao didn’t have Sun Fuyu around. He didn’t have children to look after. It was time for him to stop procrastinating and drag Lin Yijun into the 100% effective cat therapy.
Wen Zhihao flew towards a rooftop overlooking the demonic cats’ enclosures where Lin Yijun was standing. He couldn’t actually see Lin Yijun, but he was still able to move the sword and cart to hover in front of him.
What was the best way to entice Lin Yijun…
“Respectfully speaking, if Senior Cultivator Lin wants to speak to Zhou Sheng, come with me first.”
Then he looked at where Lin Yijun’s eyes should be.
After a long moment, the invisibility over Lin Yijun faded away, leaving behind a scowling face.
“Disciple Wen, what do you want?” Lin Yijun glared at him with red angry eyes and curled fists.
Wen Zhihao’s eyes softened towards this tempestuous young cultivator. “Senior Lin, you are approaching qi deviation.” His own qi spread out, brushing over Lin Yijun’s sharp and jagged qi. “Senior Lin, take a deep breath, now hold, now release it…”
Lin Yijun’s fists tightened as he felt Wen Zhihao trying to suppress him.
“Take a deep breath, release it…Feel the warm sun, listen to the rustling of the leaves…”
Lin Yijun didn’t want to listen. As a Nascent Soul cultivator, he could block the lesser qi. The annoying thing though was that he, as a Nascent Soul cultivator, was constantly absorbing ambient qi, but a lot of the ambient qi had a touch of Wen Zhihao’s aura! And the fringes of his qi aura started to copy Wen Zhihao! Lin Yijun clamped down on the misbehaving qi, hard. He didn’t realise that it made his qi even more rebellious.
Wen Zhihao’s lips pursed. Aiya, how to deal with this kind of protagonist? He certainly didn’t want to get into a fight. And while shouting at children felt good, it wasn’t actually productive towards their upbringing.
So Wen Zhihao’s voice softened. “Lin-shixiong, are you alright? Is there anything you want to talk about? Tell me what is wrong. I will listen.”
Something unfamiliar got stuck in Lin Yijun’s throat. “Don’t ask such meaningless things!”
“Lin-shixiong, it is natural for one to worry about others,” Wen Zhihao said. “It’s not meaningless to ask. Lin-shixiong, your qi is clearly not well. Come here, I can give you something to eat. It’s also very soft to sit in the cart.”
Lin Yijun looked away. Stop it! Stop that!
“Oh, I have this food box,” Wen Zhihao added, taking out a food box. “It’s filled with some of Zhou Sheng’s favourite foods. Maybe you’ll like to try them out too? This way, perhaps you can understand Zhou Sheng better…”
Lin Yijun tensed. He looked sidelong at Wen Zhihao. “…Give me that.”
“You can only eat it while on the cart.”
Teeth gritted. Lin Yijun exhaled shortly. “Will I get to see Zhou Sheng?”
“Yes,” Wen Zhihao said naturally.
“…I’m not getting into your contraption. I’ll follow you on my own sword,” Lin Yijun said.
“I understand that your own sword feels safer,” Wen Zhihao agreed. He slowly moved away from the rooftop and down towards the demonic cats’ enclosure, holding the food box in his hand.
Lin Yijun followed grudgingly. Tch, this is all so that I can figure out why Zhou Sheng likes him more than me…
Wen Zhihao landed outside, put his sword and cart into his spatial ring, and opened the gate to the enclosure for the big cats.
“Don’t be afraid, Lin-shixiong, even the mortal children can play with them.”
Lin Yijun snorted. He lifted his chin and walked in first.
Wen Zhihao followed him in. A large furry white cat immediately padded over, rubbing against Wen Zhihao. The cat purred happily as Wen Zhihao stroked her.
“After you put away your sword and hug this lovely cat, I’ll give you this food box with Zhou Sheng’s favourite foods.”
Easy, Lin Yijun thought. Under Wen Zhihao’s instruction, the demonic beast approached him and waited obediently. Lin Yijun reached out and copied Wen Zhihao’s previous action. The fur was surprisingly soft, not like the stiff fur of other beasts—
“—Achoo!”
Lin Yjiun gritted his teeth in embarrassment. He slowed his breathing, but his body still betrayed him, “Achoo achoo achoo!!”
Wen Zhihao was dumbfounded. Lin Yijun was…allergic to cats?!!!
This chapter is a little longer compared to the previous one, but I wanted to show you all that last line 🤭🤭🤭🤭 I’ve been sitting on it for a while…
Link: Raising kids without yelling at them. Actually, I wasn’t thinking about this article when I wrote this, but I remembered the article in retrospect.
Fanart time! 🥰🥰
From minniemousez, we have
And from VIS we have A nice day to go on a date and pet a cat
💡I should make a fanart page or something 🤔
Also, questions for my lovely readers~
- Do you have original English BL webnovel recommendations? No promises whether I’ll read them or not, but I’m interested in seeing whether there are some great authors that I’ve missed due to my selective reading conditions (basically, fluff 🙈)
- What makes you read original English BL? (Or, what stops you from reading other original English BL?)
I and some fellow original English BL writers would like to know how to make you like our stuff more how to improve the state of original BL novels 🥺👉👈
Allergic to cats!!???
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ಥ_ಥ
It’s okay there’s still a dog!! XD
😂😂😂 that was my thought as well!
“Here, hug/pet this puppy instead.”
😏😏😏
😏😏😏😏
🤭🤭🤭 isn’t author-san so evil? 🤭🤭🤭🤭
That poor baby 😭
Little allergic vinegar jar. My guess he is actually not allergic to cats. He is allergic TO FUN.
(Give the children away to all of the lqbt couples out there…)
HAHAHAHAHAH.
Ohhh, giving away children to other couples is an interesting idea~
Hm, i don’t read much English BL because I usually look for novels on Novel Updates but I love when it’s original! English writing can’t be a copy of Chinese because it just, doesn’t work well, I like it when it’s unusual or fascinating, maybe inspired by Chinese works but essentially different. It depends on how writers like to write, of course, that’s just my preference
+1
(Me leíste la mente! That is exactly what I was going to say)
Ooohhh, interesting! takes notes Thanks for answering!
🙈 now I wonder if my writing feels like a copy of Chinese or not 🙈🙈
I think it’s wonderfully done!! It has this cultivation background but I’ve never seen a cultivation novel so…down to earth and relaxed! And there are so many unique details, such as calming qi and demonic kittens that make this novel a completely new experience dhhdh
🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗 Thank you! I didn’t realise how much those details stand out 🤗🤗
” Lin Yijun was…allergic to cats?!!” The world is truly against Lin Yijun, XD. Aigoo, he’s way too tense and also a stalker but we ain’t gonna talk about that… Forgot to comment last chapter but thanks for the chapter~~*
Also, I’m making Lin Yijun suffer a bit more 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭
No need to comment on every chapter, thank you for reading!!!
Cat therapy ❌
Thank you for the chapter!
🤭
Thanks for reading!
Lin yujin: I will pet the kitty * hugs cat* Ahchoo
Kitty: * maniacal laughter* Our revenge plan has worked that is what you get for trying to hurt our pet.
Magical hot spring: Come to me I cure all ills even allergies.
MC: sigh now i have to find another therapy method maybe art therapy.
Everyone cats included: imagines Lin yujin knitting.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
the cats are so evil!
I love the way that everyone inadvertently loves Wen Zhihao lmao, he literally just naps and everyone is like, “I will now die for you.”
Anyway, as for your questions at the end, Original Works are always a little tricky, see, gotta do all the heavy lifting yourself and still hold the audience’s attention. One of the things I look for in Original BL is sympathetic main characters; if I cannot relate to the characters or empathize with them, I will lose all interest. One of the most popular BL novels (I think? I’m fairly new on this site xD), Rebirth of the Supreme Celestial Being, I simply cannot stand because, over time, I began to hate the main character. That, and, obviously, quite a few other glaring issues. Other things that hold my interest are ‘balanced relationships’ (i.e., there isn’t a power imbalance between the pairing), trope subversion or avoidance (I, being a gay man, find that I cannot stand reading many BL Originals because they fall too easily into very common and worrying tropes like abusive LIs, actually troubling social behavior being treated like jokes, that sort of thing), and natural progression of relationships.
And you did all of these! I have rarely loved characters as I have loved yours, the premise behind the story is fantastic, Sun Fuyu and Wen Zhihao have so much chemistry and they feel like they balance each other out, you actually delve into worldbuilding and social issues rather than handwaving them away, the side characters are absolutely fantastic, I love reading what Wen Zhihao thinks about things and, like I said earlier, I sympathize with him! Whatever you’re doing, I encourage you to keep doing it, because you are doing great!
PS – Lin Yijun being allergic to cats is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen lmao
PPS – By the way, I dunno if I should bring this up, but I accidentally found you on AO3 the other day while reading one of the first fics I ever read; it turns out you wrote it! You have been one of my favorite authors for many years and I didn’t even realize it 😎
Agree with everything you said about balanced relationships, subverting troubling tropes, and author-san doing great! 💖
🤗🤗🤗🤗 thank you~
Everything that Kebos said. (Except I’m bi, non binary)
Something I’ve quite enjoyed in this novel is the lack of those gender stereotypes which keep the characters from becoming fully fleshed out.
hello fellow friend~~
I’m glad you feel that the characters are getting fully fleshed out 🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣 gotta protect the shixiong/ge/sleepy-qi-human 🤣🤣🤣🤣
writes notes 😍😍😍😍😍 relatable characters, balanced relationships, you and I like the same thing 🤭🤭🤭🤭
I’m actually surprised you feel like I delve into world building, since my actual description of the world is very minimal and cough partly assumes that readers have read xianxia before 🤣🤣 It’s basically like fanfic/parody-ish of xianxia BL 🙈🙈
Thank you for answering!
🤭🤭🤭 I’m glad you like Lin Yijun being allergic, I decided to be mean to him 🤭🤭🤭 🤭🤭🤭
And OMG you found me on AO3 on accident? 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗 Such a small world!!!!
I recommend Learning to live as a cultivator on Wattpad and its continuation Still learning to live as a cultivator. Top and tail is also a good book on Wattpad. The reincarnated young master’s guide to happiness is being uploaded to chrysanthemum garden but can also be found on Wattpad (unless they took it down)
+1 Learning to Live as a Cultivator is a great read!
Thanks for the recommendation! I added it to my “to read list”
👀 thanks for the recommendation, it sounds relaxing! And ohh maybe I should give the reincarnated young master another try 🙈🙈
Reincarnated villainous young master has become very exciting and heartwarming from ch13 onwards, now that MC is finally interacting with his siblings and friends💕
That is just plain sad, an allergy to cutie kittens!
very sad, author very evil 🤭🤭🤭🤭
Me cagué de risa justo al final! 😂 I wasn’t prepared for that last line hahaha poor Lin Yijun, he’s a prota with an awful luck
The more I read, the more I like him~
I hope Wen Zhihao can give him a hand, ZhouLin need some 🍬 already
That aside, I had an epiphany. Is Wen Zhihao’s last name 温 ? I hope it is, it suits him like a glove.
Hehehehe I’m glad you liked that end part~~~ Yes, because he has me as a writer 🤭🤭🤭🤭
It’s nice that you’re slowly liking him 🤭🤭🤭
Umm for Wen Zhihao’s name, the Zhihao is meant to come from 志豪, hopefully a name that is filled with ambition and heroism lol 🙈🙈 Of course, I realised in retrospect I could have swapped his name with Fuyu, so that he’d have ‘Yu’ (fish) in his name 🤣🤣🤣
Surprise!!!
thanks for the chapter~
wow, you changed you avatar!
Thanks for reading!
(*/ω＼)
The ones I’m currently loving on CG are Salted Fish, Our Sweet Days, The Reincarnated Villainous Young Master, and Living Selfishly.
I completely agree with everything you had to say here; too many times, I’ve gotten excited at the premise behind a BL story and realize a chapter in, “Oh wait, 90% of this is nsfw/genuinely concerning tropes.” I guess I’m biased, but I always prefer the sweet fluffy stories over any other, and ones that develop the dynamics between the characters are the ones that I find to be best!
That explains why you’re reading this extra fluffy novel 🤗🤗🤗
Thank you for answering! I’m not surprised that you like fluff, since you’re here! 😆😆😆😆
Hmm, technically Salted Fish won’t be a 200k blockbuster kind of story either 😆😆 but it’s actually the longest original fic I’ve written! I like to “build up” to writing longer and longer stories, I wonder if that’s the same with some other authors…
Thank you for the recs 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
Thank you for this lovely long chapter ❤
😁😁😁 Thank you for reading!
Lin Yijun being unfortunate as always. I mean allergic to cat? That’s too much! Is this heavenly retribution? (Zhou Sheng’s gonna laugh at his misfortune lol)
I can’t wait to see how Wen Zhihao can remedy the situation of the Big child xD
Thanks for the chapter o(≧ں≦)o
Zhou Sheng laughing at him, you say? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 It’s called the author being mean to him hahahah
🤣 I also have to figure out how Wen Zhihao will remedy the situation 🤣
Thank you for reading!!
The cross over of a loving wife is a good original novel. But it has not been updated for quite a while
Oh and it’s mpreg so if it’s not your thing 🤗
how many chs?? wats the genre?? mcs shou or gong??
MCS Shou and it has 22 chapters. It is historical and ger
ooo~ will check it out.. in cg ryt?
It’s in foxaholic not on cg
😊👍🏼
Thanks for the rec!
The mighty shixiong is allergic to cats 🤣
Thank you💕
Hehehe, who could have predicted?? 🤭
I recommend Josh Lanyon’s any series she wrote, and Jordan Castillo Price’s Psycop series and other series,
I also ❤️ these and second the recs, but I assumed they were asking about original English webnovel type BLs that are free to read online like DSF.🤷
Thanks for the recs!
I didn’t see that coming… oh, dear. Thanks for the chapter!
😏😏😏😏😏 author has been evil~~
Now I really feel bad for Lin Yijun 😂
Tbh the only original bl I have read is on this site. I usually look for stuff on Novelupdates so originals are hard to find.
😏😏😏😏 maybe Zhou Sheng would feel bad for him too after laughing 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for reading this little original BL then! After all, NU is for original Asian novels~
You’ve probably already read it, but BTBAB is really good
I haven’t read that yet, thanks for the rec!
Ha ha haha
Thank you for the chapter
😏😏😏 we can laugh over Lin Yijun’s misfortune together~
Wasn’t he just still at Late-Stage Golden Core? (He wasn’t.) He was still two whole stages away from Nascent Soul (he wasn’t)
😂😂😂😂😂😂noooooooo kitten therapy wont worrrkkkkkk
thank you for the chapter 💕
Just making sure the readers realise that Wen Zhihao is wrong 🤣🤣🤣
Hmm, or can Wen Zhihao make kitten therapy work?
Thank you for reading!
Ohhhh I see. I’m guilty of a rushed ending in a different novel, because I had just wanted to finish it ASAP 🙈
I’m glad this Salted Fish novel is healing~~
Thank you for your answer!! I definitely made notes~
Protagonist has cat allergies!!! XD This is great! No, it’s terrible, absolutely terrible. Now Wen Zhihao has to work on another therapy method. Hmmm….
Very unlucky!! 🤭🤭🤭 Yeah, it’s not just bad for Lin Yijun, but also for Wen Zhihao 🙈
And t’was then that Haohao decided to introduce… floofer fun time!!
Unless the all mighty protag turns out to be allergic to fur altogether 😂😂 then in which, arts and craft, to which I second @rashka19’s idea of Lin Shixiong knitting kekeke he can make a scarf to apologise to Shengsheng hehe
I can imagine him just blushing like a confessing anime girl and doing the whole 👉👈 notice me senpai thing lol
We’ll see how mean author-san can be 😏😏😏
Knitting sounds so gap moe, so cute! 😆😆😆
(Even though technically Lin Yijun is the senpai? 😂😂 )
Allergic!? Blasphemy!
Thanks for the chapter!
(Hmm as for original works 🤔 … if the english is too wonky or the plot feels too rushed/under-developed I usually drop them. Altho if the characters are good enough I might just grit my teeth and continue reading.)
Poor Lin Yijun 🤭🤭🤭
Thank you for answering! Interesting 🤔🤔🤔
OHHHH NOOOOOO dude!!!! How unlucky can u get!?
🤭🤭🤭 the heavens made him a genius, gotta balance it out with flaws, right? 😂
Lin Yijun was so cute being lured by mentioning Zhou Sheng. It almost felt like Wen Zhihao was luring a kid with candy XDD
It was super lovely seeing him being interested in making money only so he could buy a sword to Sun Fuyu! So lovey-dovey 🥰
Ah, this little reader is a bit slow. Is Wen Xhihao at nascent soul now??? He really didn’t feel any different???? I’m slightly worried of how he perceives the ones around him and how he would act in a fight… I hope Sun Fuyu can protect this salted fish 😅
Author-san, thanks for the chapter 💕
😏😏😏 A problem for Wen Zhihao (and me) to figure out~~
I mean, to Wen Zhihao, it might well be like luring a kid with candy 😂😂😂
T’is the upgraded version of him selling those glowing flowers to make food-money for Sun Fuyu~ I’m glad you like it!
No, he’s not at Nascent Soul yet! Reader is not slow, reader is lovely! Wen Zhihao is now at Peak Golden Core. The next level up is Nascent Soul. I’m glad you’re worried, because Sun Fuyu is worried too 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
BWAHAHA 🤣 OMG I’m dying! As someone deathly allergic to cats, this hit me in a sensory way 🤧
Looks like Wen Zhihao needs to explore non-cat related options…dogs? baby sitting/snuggles? gardening?!
Thanks for the chapter!
As for reading original BLs, I usually just read whatever summary sounds good. I stumbled upon your story while searching for a cultivation story here on CG. If you know other good places to look for original stories, then please let me know. It would be cool if there was something like novelupdates, so I could look up things like tags like I did here on CG.
I’m glad….Lin Yijun is relatable to people who are allergic to cats then 🤣🤣🤣
omg baby sitting 🤣🤣 I guess as long as Wen Zhihao is there any kids would also be calm 🤣🤣
😊 I’m glad this summary sounded good! Hmm, the original novels on CG are pretty good, since they all go through minimum quality checks (of the first few chapters). Aside from that, there are places like tapas, scribble hub, AO3, wattpad, and webnovel but you have to search more IMO since there are so many novels to sort through… 😅
Allergic to cats..wtheck it comes from😂😂😂😂
heheheh, glad you like that he’s allergic? 😏
Hearing all the arguments with raised voices between my parents and my brother didn’t make me “obedient” or “responsible”, I just learned avoid conflict (and strong emotions) like the plague even when I know objectively it’ll only male things worse for me.
That’s me now, in my twenties and relearning how to speak up for myself and not shy away from human connection. It’s a work in progress but I wonder what the future could be like if most parends actually were advised on parenting and didn’t just mindlessly perpetuate behaviours that don’t work– I always feel very uncomfortable when I see parents getting angry at their kids in public and just tell them to “behave”, no example or explanation of why.
…this probably isn’t the place for this essay but I had a burst of energy from my afternoon coffee and my fingers were typing out paragraphs before I realised 😅
I’m glad you like the article!! I think it offers such a good guidance on more productive upbringing. I agree, I also get uncomfortable at parents getting angry at their kids in public.
Good luck and all the best~
Poor Lin Yijun he’s allergic to cats 😩
quite pitiful~~ (thanks for reading!)
Honestly don’t like most original BL, such as the stuff on scribble hub because its got the same feel as like, Wattpad self insert fanfiction. Also the combination of webnovel tropes with American/English turnaphrase is mostly done poorly. Comparatively we get a more filtered library because translators have to choose which they want to translate, while all the English BL is mostly out there. When I started reading this I thought it was a translation, not an original work. The English/webnovel tropes fusion is done very well and the plot/characters don’t feel too Mary sueish 👍
I see!! Thank you for your reply!!
Right now, me and others are trying to make a curated aka filtered list of original BL, hopefully that would help!
I actually started to read English BL novel by sheer desperation for a good novel because I ran out of reading materials in my native language, which is Vietnamese :))). This novel is my first time reading an original English BL and I’m throughly enjoying it.
Having another POV of the xianxia setting like this is such a breath of fresh air for me. Most of the original Chinese BLs usually have a rather narrow outlook of the xianxia world and character development (if it make sense (¯∇¯٥)). This novel have open my eyes quite a lot to some of the morally ambiguous plotline in some Chinese BLs.
Your writing style is such a delight. You are able to transfer all of the special aspect of xianxia setting without losing its quality, which I find hard to get right especially for English work because of the language barrier.
I hope this doesn’t come of as rude or anything (ó﹏ò｡). I just want you to know that you’re a really great writer (?) and I like your work a lot ٩(●ᴗ●)۶
Thank you so much for your comment! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 I’m glad you’re enjoying this!! 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
Where do you read vietnamese BL novels, by the way? 👀
Mostly Wattpad and WordPress (๑¯◡¯๑)
👀 ohhh I see~
😍😍😍😍 thank you so much for your reply! takes notes Many, many people thought this was a translation 🙈 YES, I agree that a hook is so important! And I’m glad there have been no larrggee inconsistences XD
Didn’t see that coming … I was completely ready for the 100 % effective cat therapy 😅
hehehehehe sometimes I just like making Lin Yijun suffer a bit!
About you questions:1) One of the things that “scares” me about original novels is the probability of them not being finished. That can also happen with regular translations but in in their case there is a chance of someone else picking it up to finish them. This is also why I have a few translators that I absolutely trust above others.2) Of the original novels I have found and skimmed over, many seem to give too much importance to NSFW content regardless of the flow of the story. I’m not against NSFW, I just feel it should be a natural part of the story, not something done just for the sake of it. 3) The female cliches…. don’t get me started, why is that all female are idiots, evil queens or worse? Is that really necessary? One of the things I,like about our little Salted Fish is that female characters are balanced, not all are bad, not all are good.4) Flow and consistency…. Very important (in your case a big 100% so far)5) Relatable characters… Our little Fish (yes I have adopted him) 100%6) Protagonist that ACTUALLY TRUST EACH OTHER. I absolutely hate when one ML/MC declares love one moment and the next second believes some story and then just doesn’t trust the ML/MC because of it. There can be misunderstandings but not lack of trust just for the sake of it.7) I like justice to be served in a timely manner… sometimes we don’t get that in real life, so is nice to have it in a book at least.8) MUST BE A HAPPY ENDING… yes all in caps, because there should be more HE in the world.That’s all I can think about now. FYI, I have read fluffy, revenge, gaming, ABO, funny stories. The best ones all have these in common: good characters over all, consistent flow and characters, no cliches or very little, balance between humor-sad times etc.You are doing well and I have you in my list of good ones… best of luck in all you endeavors and looking forward for what’s to come ☺️
🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 thank you so much for your comment!
Yeah, it’s sad when novels don’t finish :(((( and as for the other points, thank you!!!!
One of my favourites is Real Life Dating System. It is funny and fluffy.
I don’t really care about the world setting, but it has to be funny and unique. Also a major turn down if the grammar is horrible, then I drop it, because it drives me nuts.
Your story is original, and funny and fluffy and relaxing. I was putting it on hold for a while, honestly I don’t even remember why, but it is a nice change from other novels.
There was another foodie novel, when the ML transmigrated from ancient China to modern days and he opened a restaurant, I would have to dig up the name for that though.
Ohhh thank you for answering!!!! Good grammar is pretty important XD
🤗 🤗 🤗 🤗 🤗 🤗
As for my opinions on how to make a good imitation; the thing that irritated me the most when I read fanfiction about anime was when it became too “western” that it broke the illusion that this is supposed to be a story about something that is in an asian culture. But, I feel like your story does a really good job of doing what I normally see in Chinese novels, my only thoughts while reading this was “wow this author is pretty progressive”. So I don’t think you have to worry about that.
The only thing I have to say is that it feels like the characters advance in cultivation levels a bit too quickly. Though, from my understanding, cultivation doesn’t have any really hard rules and are mostly up to the author to decide (sort of like a magic system in that way).
Other gay couples hahahaha
and cough yes, the characters do have a pretty smooth advancement, but that’s because this story isn’t really about cultivation at all, it’s about sleeping 😂
Thank you so much for answering!!!
I usually read Chinese stuff so I’m were used to and like Chinese plots, also I don’t hate nor dislike English names but I prefer Chinese names.
I’ve also gotten to the point where I’m more used to Chinese names hahahaha
In answer to your question: while my favourite Danmei author is MXTX (MDZS, SVSSS, and TGCF are all my favourite stories), I also love stories like The Legendary Master’s Wife; where there’s a ton of cultivation stuff and world-building that’s really interesting! I like interesting plots and engaging characters with a variety of personalities; though I prefer characters who are good people at heart. I have a weakness for stories where neither of the couple have had any previous relationships or flings; mutual first kisses and crushes are always so sweet!!! Happy endings are also important; as are clearly labelled trigger warnings. I also adore cultivation – especially alternate forms of cultivation; either instead of or in addition to sword cultivation – and wuxia settings or fantasy elements.
Those are the kind of stories I’m interested in reading more of – this one is right up my alley!
For things that I often see in online fiction that are a major turn-off to read – other than an author not bothering to add appropriate trigger warnings – there’s really only one big thing for me. And that’s the misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the “tsundere” character archetype that’s becoming more and more common in online culture.
(This is a bit on the long side; but it explains exactly what a “tsundere” is and isn’t, why the more recent common portrayals of them affect me and others so strongly, and suggestions for how best to handle these sorts of characters. (As well as a brief aside on why I don’t have an issue with the labelling of any characters as tsunderes in this fic!) Please note that this is NOT an issue with this fic – you asked what kinds of things you and other writers should know to write fics more of us will want to read; so I’m answering that question by bringing up a problem that’s becoming more and more commonplace online these days.
I don’t really care for a lot of the more so-called “tsundere” personalities you see in fiction lately – I don’t believe that it’s possible for someone who is always angry and spews verbal abuse at others to be a good person. Being grumpy and reluctant to admit to having a softer or more affectionate side is not an issue. And having anger issues or anger management problems is one thing; abusing others – even if only verbally – means you need professional help and you don’t have the right to expect anyone else to put up with it. Abuse is never okay; is never excusable. Regardless of the reasons or motivations behind it; even when the cause is understandable, that’s just an reasonable explanation of the source of the problem – not an excuse that justifies or makes up for it. And certainly not an excuse that means it’s okay to go on acting that way.
As a survivor of abuse, I and others like me are more sensitive to such things. We find a lot of characters who get labelled as “tsunderes” in fiction are really just abusive; the tsundere label simply gives them a pass to behave as terribly as they want without consequences, and anyone who refuses to lie down and take it is being unreasonable for not understanding or accepting that “it’s just the way they are”. It often feels like gaslighting for us to read these characters described as tsunderes and portrayed as not needing to change their attitudes and behaviour; or anyone who refuses to accept them without them needing to change as being unreasonable or intolerant, rather than being people who aren’t willing to deal with or accept abuse.
Actual tsunderes are grumpy with a heart of gold – those who are too embarrassed or insecure to admit to kindness or caring; who try to cover it up with a tough, uncaring facade. Not people carrying around massive chips on their shoulders and possessing an uncontrollable urge to make everyone else around them as miserable as they are, or to take all of their negative feelings out on other people. They have “breaks” in their character – IE: moments where the front they put on doesn’t match up with the things they do or say. They then bluster to cover it up; but the important thing is that you can tell that it’s not actually what they mean or feel. And their words are only actually cruel to people they dislike. They don’t insult others so much as simply saying things like, “as if I care”, or “whatever; it doesn’t matter to me“; “think what you want”, or “if you want to be an idiot, then”, etc. Actual insults are only to people they genuinely don’t care about; otherwise they come out half-hearted, grumbling, defensively; basically in ways that make it obvious to anyone who knows them – as well as the reader – that it’s not actually what they think. They don’t treat the people they care about badly.
Abusive behaviour shouldn’t be portrayed as acceptable. If a character is abusive – and isn’t meant to be a villain (such as Jiang Cheng and Madam Yu in MDZS; the author herself has stated that they are antagonists; while the fall of Lotus Pier and the Sunshot Campaign, Nightless City and the Seige of the Burial Mounds are all part of Wei Wuxian’s hero origin story, they are also part of Jiang Cheng’s villain origin story) – then their behaviour needs to be addressed. Even if the MC is conditioned to believe that there’s nothing wrong with it, sooner or later they should be able to recognise that they don’t deserve to be treated that way, and that they don’t need to accept it. And the so-called “tsundere” needs to experience character growth and redeem themselves. After becoming a better person, they might be a good candidate for a tsundere. But they won’t be abusive anymore.
(For this fic, the reasons I have no issue with the MC calling his bully a tsundere is that 1) it’s not portrayed as acceptable behaviour or regarded that way by the MC; 2) other people (who aren’t involved in perpetuating that behaviour) don’t consider it acceptable either; 3) the MC is actively trying to help his bully deal with his issues and become a better, happier person; and 4) he’s probably somewhat influenced by modern internet culture to think of that behaviour as making someone a tsundere. Plus, he’s not really negatively affected by it; it just makes him think about (and worry over) all the underlying issues causing that behaviour and how to resolve them. So honestly – very well done!)
that’s so great to hear that you’ve been binge reading this story !!!!! 😍😍😍😍
Happy endings and cultivation, I see why you’re here XD
And oh!! Thank you for the explaination of tsundere characters! There is an added component when it comes to characters that are tsundere-like, as opposed to real people: with characters, you can really know their inner thoughts and trust that information is correct, which is not the same with people. But you’re right, regardless of motivation, abuse is never okay. Moving onwards, I’ll keep this in mind!
Thank you again!!!
For me reading original Bl is a question of where and what Typ if quality it will has to it for example when I read here I know I should be professional and like a Chinese novel but when I read on Wattpad for example it reall can be anything ( from very good to wtf) and it’s easier to find translated Stories via Novel Update bc I can put filters and Tags and have the opportunity to exactly get what I want also with the where I don’t know websites were there are special original English Bl novels
Hope the feedback/answers was some what useful bb ima go enjoy the fluff
Yess Novel Updates does have a really good filter! Wattpad, not so much… For other sites with good filters, there’s AO3 and Scribble Hub I think. Tapas has a lot of BL novels, but the filters is not that great…
Thank you for the feedback! I’m glad you’re enjoying the fluff!!
KKKKKK Lin is a lost cause, he’s allergic. There’s no salvation for him.
Wen Zhihao wouldn’t give up on him 😂
What a poor unfortunate soul. My little brother is too. He’d get itchy and cough a bunch when we visited our brother and his cat. Rip Oreo he was a very odd cat but so sweet.
Awwww that sucks for your little brother!
Time to invent ✨dog therapy✨ 😄😄😄
For the dog people out there 😆
🤣 his giant floating cart might also be why they could easily see him
Thank you for the chapter!
HAHAHA well a big cart is not hard to spot 🤭
Oh, our poor little protagonist! How will he advance without cat therapy.
Is there a talisman for allergies?
Thank you for the chapter!
He can’t be allergic to all animals, right???? 🤣🤣