Chapter 10: Adding a WeChat Contact

"Jiang Zheng."

Hearing someone call his name, Jiang Zheng quickened his steps and hurried away.

Right now, he couldn't speak, and he didn't want to bump into anyone he knew—explaining things would be too troublesome.

He simply pretended not to hear, reasoning that less trouble was better than more.

After a while, a faint, pleasant fragrance drifted to his nose, and a melodious voice rang out by his ear once more.

"Jiang Zheng, why are you running so fast?"

Jiang Zheng turned his head; Jiang Qianyue was regarding him with a look of confusion.

He remained silent.

Jiang Qianyue frowned slightly. She had come over to greet him when she spotted him on the track.

She had a pretty good impression of Jiang Zheng. She had just wanted to say hello, but he was ignoring her. Yesterday, they'd had such a lively conversation—why did he seem like a different person today?

Had she somehow offended him?

She couldn't make sense of it.

Jiang Zheng still said nothing, and Jiang Qianyue began to feel a little annoyed.

"Sorry to bother you," she said, her tone growing colder, and turned to leave.

After a moment's thought, Jiang Zheng pointed at his own throat and then waved his hand.

He felt he should at least explain; it was rude to ignore people entirely.

Jiang Qianyue paused, frowned in thought, and then seemed to understand.

"You can't speak?" she asked.

Jiang Zheng nodded.

"What happened? Do you want to see a doctor? I know an excellent specialist—I can introduce you if you'd like."

Jiang Zheng shook his head firmly, then gradually slowed to a stop.

Jiang Qianyue stopped as well, watching as Jiang Zheng took out his phone and began to type.

"No need, maybe I ate something too spicy yesterday and had some alcohol. It should be fine by tomorrow," he wrote.

Jiang Qianyue glanced at the message and replied, "Still, you should get it checked. If your throat is damaged, it could affect your singing in the future."

She paused for a moment, then said, "How about this? Add me on WeChat and I'll send you the doctor's contact. You can reach out and ask for his advice."

"It's really fine, but thank you for your kindness," Jiang Zheng replied.

"It doesn't cost anything to ask. Give me your phone, I'll add myself," she said, taking his phone before he could protest.

Jiang Zheng opened his mouth, but it was too awkward to snatch it back.

He understood his own situation and didn't need to see a doctor. Even if his vocal cords were damaged, he should at least be able to make some sound. But now he couldn't utter a single word, as though he didn't have vocal cords at all.

This was abnormal.

Aside from the system's influence, he couldn't think of any other reason.

Since it was the system's doing, his voice would surely recover in time—it was just a matter of waiting.

Some things were too difficult to explain, just like when he subdued that criminal before. It was better to keep his abilities hidden.

Soon, Jiang Qianyue handed back his phone. "I'll send you the doctor's WeChat later. Remember to add him—just say I introduced you."

Jiang Zheng glanced at his phone and saw a new contact on WeChat, nodding in acknowledgment.

If nothing else, he could always choose not to add the contact later.

"Alright, I'll head off now. Bye-bye," Jiang Qianyue said with a smile and left the track.

Jiang Zheng slipped his phone back in his pocket and continued running. He completed three laps, yet didn't feel tired.

Today, he wanted to test his limits. In the past, his maximum was six laps.

On a 400-meter track, six laps was 2,400 meters.

Usually, he would just run four laps and call it a day.

His stamina wasn't great, but not the worst either.

Fourth lap, fifth lap... He kept going until the tenth lap, when he finally couldn't run any farther.

"So it seems ten laps is my current limit," he thought.

He wasn't disappointed—he was actually delighted.

Previously, his limit was six laps; after just two days of training, it had increased to ten. That was a significant improvement.

Dragging his tired body, Jiang Zheng made his way slowly back to the dormitory, feeling rather pleased.

The system's reward process was a bit tricky, but its effects were undeniable. Even if it was a hassle, he didn't mind.

Back at the dorm, Jiang Zheng showered, then sat on his bed with his laptop and began writing.

He used a notebook computer.

As soon as he started, inspiration bubbled up like water, flowing endlessly.

With inspiration, his writing was smooth and coherent, an absolute pleasure.

His fingers flew across the keyboard so quickly that they almost left afterimages.

Even at this speed, the quality of his chapters remained high. His choice of words and sentence structure was elegant, every chapter packed with substance, not a trace of filler.

Soon, he had written another ten thousand words. Stretching, he decided to stop for now.

His fingers were weary, even trembling slightly.

The system's skill was impressive, but not without cost. Speedy writing led to finger fatigue.

If he overdid it, he would risk tendonitis.

So Jiang Zheng regulated his writing sessions, not wanting to push himself too hard at once. Developing tendonitis would be disastrous.

With more than twenty thousand words in reserve, he stroked his chin, considering whether he should update more each day.

Compared to the big-name authors, he had no advantage. If he wanted his book to gain traction, he needed something others didn’t have.

He quickly made up his mind. Starting tomorrow, he would publish ten thousand words a day, leaving his competitors in the dust.

After all, the book was still in its early stages—not charging for chapters yet.

He didn’t care. Once it was up for sale, he could update even more; it wouldn’t take much more time.

As for whether updating too fast would be a problem, speed was exactly what he wanted.

He had only three months and no time to waste.

Faster—faster was better.

He closed his laptop, reached for his phone, and scrolled a bit before bed.

Just then, a WeChat message arrived. It was from Jiang Qianyue.

She’d sent him the contact information for the doctor.

Jiang Zheng knew this was the same doctor she’d mentioned earlier.

He hesitated and didn’t add the contact immediately.

It was a bit impolite, but he had no other choice; he didn’t want to have to explain himself.

He played with his phone for a while. Someone in the dorm started a conversation, and soon everyone was chatting.

After a while, they all went to sleep.

Jiang Zheng turned off his phone and lay in bed, drifting off quickly.

He didn’t notice that his new novel’s bookmark count was steadily rising.

The night passed. Jiang Zheng was awoken by his alarm.

He checked the time, got up to wash, and on his way down slipped accidentally.

“Damn!”

He exclaimed in surprise, then froze.