Chapter 11: This Is a Divine Herb

He could speak again.

Though only twenty-four hours had passed, Jiang Zheng felt as if he had lived through an eternity. The sensation of being unable to speak was utterly unbearable.

“What’s wrong, Fourth?” Yang Bo, awakened by Jiang Zheng’s voice, couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s nothing, I just slipped a bit,” Jiang Zheng replied.

Yang Bo nodded, then looked surprised. “Fourth, you can talk again?”

“Yeah, after a day I feel much better. I can speak now,” Jiang Zheng answered.

He listened to his own voice, finding it unchanged—still the same as before. Yet Jiang Zheng knew the system’s reward wouldn’t be so simple; there must be some change, perhaps only noticeable when he sang.

“As long as you’re better,” Yang Bo said. “I was thinking, if you still couldn’t talk today, I’d take you to the hospital.”

“No need, it’s just a minor issue. No reason to bother with a hospital,” Jiang Zheng replied.

Yang Bo nodded, and together they roused the others.

Their schedule was packed, with classes all morning and afternoon, leaving little time for rest. The school day passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, it was noon.

Jiang Zheng and the others headed to the cafeteria, each lining up at their preferred window. After getting their food, they sat together, chatting as they ate. When lunch was done, everyone returned to the dormitory to rest.

On the way, Jiang Zheng asked, “Third, where did you watch ‘Legend of the Seven Swords: Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit’? Do you still have the files?”

Liu Hua asked, “You want to watch it?”

Jiang Zheng nodded. “Yeah. I never finished it as a kid, and now I want to revisit it.”

Liu Hua grinned. “Alright, I’ll send you the files when we get back.”

Jiang Zheng agreed.

He had indeed never finished watching ‘Legend of the Seven Swords: Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit’—he used to catch it on TV, day after day. Like many children, Jiang Zheng would sit glued to the screen at the appointed hour. Yet sometimes, for one reason or another, he’d miss an episode. As he grew older, the show was reported and taken off the air, and he lost all chance to finish it.

Now that he was writing about this anime, he needed a thorough understanding of its plot. Though he had moved his story’s timeline far ahead of the original, with plenty of time before the main events began, he knew the plot would eventually kick in. To lay proper foreshadowing, he needed to be familiar with every detail.

Back at the dormitory, Jiang Zheng turned on his computer. Suddenly, a notification popped up in the background.

“Dear Author, your work ‘Transmigrating into Chinese Animation: I Became the Most Cautious Villain’ has passed review and meets the requirements for a contract. Please await further instructions regarding the signing process...”

Jiang Zheng was taken aback—was this the legendary site message?

A surge of excitement welled up in his heart. For a new author like him, news of a contract was a tremendous joy. Though signing a contract was often said to be the first step toward obscurity, it was still something many people dreamed of achieving.

After adding the editor, Jiang Zheng split his ten-thousand-word chapter into five parts and posted them all at once.

“I’ve sent you the files,” Liu Hua said just then.

“Thanks, Third,” Jiang Zheng replied.

“No problem,” Liu Hua answered.

Jiang Zheng didn’t plan to write during lunch. Instead, he decided to rewatch the anime, to refresh his memory of the story before writing further.

...

In a sharing group, someone posted a screenshot and said to the chat:

“Brothers, I’ve found a gem of a new novel. You should check it out.”

This group was formed by veteran readers, all brought together by their shared love of web novels. The group’s purpose was simple—sharing good finds.

For seasoned readers, the greatest pain was a lack of books to read. Searching the vast sea of novels alone was time-consuming, so they created this group to recommend worthwhile reads to each other.

“From the title, it’s about Chinese animation, but that name is a bit off-putting,” someone said.

“I’ll test the waters for you guys. If I don’t come back in ten minutes, remember to pull me out,” another joked.

“I’ll come too. My resistance to bad writing is pretty high,” said another.

A number of people chimed in, but the conversation soon quieted down. It wasn’t the group’s usual active time, and the more talkative members were silent.

Ten minutes passed quickly.

“Did the guy who went to test the waters come back?” someone asked.

No one replied at first. A few minutes later, a message popped up: “It’s really a gem, confirmed.”

“It’s genuinely good—it’s about ‘Legend of the Seven Swords: Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit,’ with Black Tiger as the protagonist. The writing is polished, the content rich, and the chapter quality is top notch,” someone commented.

“I checked it out too—it’s excellently written. Even though this genre isn’t my favorite, credit where it’s due: this is a real gem. Honestly, it doesn’t read like a beginner’s work; feels more like an established author’s side project.”

“It’s a shame the book hasn’t been contracted yet. Otherwise, I’d definitely throw some tips its way.”

“With this level of quality, a contract is guaranteed.”

“Is it really that good, guys?”

“See for yourself.”

“I’m off to check it out then.”

...

While Jiang Zheng was in class, he had no idea that his new novel’s collection numbers were skyrocketing at an astonishing rate. The comments section was also filling up with high praise.

After classes in the afternoon, it was time for dinner. Once they’d eaten, Yang Bo went to meet his girlfriend, Yu Qingkui headed for the library, and Zhou Quanyi invited everyone to play games together.

Jiang Zheng planned to write, while Liu Hua grabbed a basketball and headed out to play.

Focusing on his work, Jiang Zheng began typing rapidly, advancing the plot step by step.

He wrote of Black Tiger overcoming a crisis and realizing just how dangerous his situation was, prompting him to lay low and focus on growing stronger.

Originally, Black Tiger had resources and great talent, but met a tragic end—all because he acted like a lovesick fool. To avoid this fate, Black Tiger decided not to go out or seek out Blue Rabbit.

As Jiang Zheng developed the plot, he planted plenty of foreshadowing—details that would become crucial later on, and serve as turning points for the story’s evolution. This sort of fan creation required a certain degree of deviation from the source material; otherwise, there would be little point in writing it at all.

By the time he finished writing this section, it was already late and those who had gone out—whether for basketball, dates, or the library—had all returned.

Jiang Zheng left his computer open and continued watching ‘Legend of the Seven Swords: Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit.’ What once seemed endless now breezed by; he found himself watching episode after episode in far less time than he’d expected.

It wouldn’t be long before he finished the whole series—and by then, his own story would be ready to enter the main plot as well.