Chapter 15: You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Before Jiang Zheng could reply, the editor sent another message.

"Your book has the potential to become popular, so you can slow down your update rate a little. Try to make the most of all the available recommendations."

Jiang Zheng knew this was well-intentioned advice. But he had his own concerns. The system’s task deadline was three months, and there was already less than that remaining. Writing a whole novel in three months meant his time was tight.

He didn’t know what the system’s criteria were—would an unfinished book count? To be safe, Jiang Zheng decided to finish the novel within three months.

He took this task very seriously. For the previous tasks—his first, the singing challenge, and participating in "Boys and Girls Move Forward"—he’d only received two temporary skills. But this writing task came with four temporary skills.

Jiang Zheng was curious to see whether, upon completion, he’d get to choose one out of four rewards, or two out of four.

"Editor, I’ve thought it over carefully and decided to maintain my current update rate," Jiang Zheng replied.

"Why? At this pace, you’ll finish the new book period very quickly," the editor responded.

Jiang Zheng replied, "I’ll try not to add any extra chapters, but I can’t change the daily ten thousand words update. I’ve been updating at this rate, and if I suddenly reduce it, I’ll lose a lot of readers. Besides, as a newcomer, I need something to set me apart, and frequent updates are one thing I can offer."

That was the reason he’d prepared, though of course, the real reason was something else. He was pressed for time and only had three months. He knew not to update too much during the new book period, so he limited himself to ten thousand words a day. As for finishing the new book period quickly, that couldn’t be helped.

The editor was a little speechless. He understood Jiang Zheng’s point, but even if some readers were lost, it was still worthwhile. The recommended slots during the new book period were crucial for a newcomer like him. If Jiang Zheng were an established writer, the editor wouldn’t insist—ten thousand words a day would be fine, since big names brought their own traffic and only needed the key recommendations. But for newcomers, every recommendation was precious.

"Are you sure about this?" the editor asked.

Jiang Zheng replied, "I’ve made up my mind. You can’t have your cake and eat it too; there’s never a perfect solution."

The editor was silent for a moment, then replied, "All right, if that’s your decision, do as you wish."

They were both adults; the editor could only advise so much. Since Jiang Zheng insisted, there was nothing more to say.

With no further messages from the editor, Jiang Zheng exhaled slowly. He stopped thinking about it—just as he’d told the editor, you can’t have it both ways, and some trade-offs are inevitable.

He set his thoughts aside and began writing. He’d updated an extra ten thousand words today and had to make up for it. Tomorrow was the weekend, so he didn’t have to worry about classes and could stay up late to write.

He only stopped when his hands started to ache. Glancing around the dorm, he saw that some people were still awake. Zhou Quanyi was sitting below, playing games with headphones on, having switched to a silent keyboard for the sake of quiet. Yang Po was lying on his bed, chatting with someone, his face beaming with happiness.

Just then, Jiang Zheng’s phone buzzed with a new message. It was from an acquaintance named Du Yu.

Du Yu wasn’t a classmate of Jiang Zheng’s. In university, many friends weren’t from the same class. The concept of class was much stronger in high school, where classmates were usually your closest friends. In college, the bonds were looser.

Jiang Zheng had met Du Yu while working a part-time job; they’d worked together at the same place, were fellow students, and got along well. Du Yu was the leader of a campus part-time job group—there were many such groups, and he was just one of many group leaders.

It was a little surprising to get a message from Du Yu out of the blue, but Jiang Zheng opened it.

"Jiang, there’s a part-time gig tomorrow, are you interested?"

Jiang Zheng typed, "What kind of job?"

He was interested. That afternoon, the boss from his previous mall job had messaged him, asking if he wanted to work again the next day.

Jiang Zheng politely declined. He didn’t plan to return to that job—not tomorrow, nor in the future.

After the video of him stopping a criminal at the mall went viral, Jiang Zheng had managed to remain anonymous, so it hadn’t affected him. He didn’t know whether the police had tracked him down, but he had no intention of going back. It was always better to be cautious.

Without that mall job, Jiang Zheng had no part-time work lined up. It wasn’t easy for college students to find such jobs. Many long-term gigs were already filled, and it was impossible to join at the last minute. Short-term jobs weren’t that common either; you couldn’t just do them whenever you liked. Most short-term jobs involved handing out flyers.

So, naturally, Jiang Zheng was curious about Du Yu’s message. Still, no matter how much he needed a job, he would check the details first. If it wasn’t suitable, he wouldn’t take it—even if he was desperate.

The reply came quickly.

"A hotel is holding an event and needs extra security staff to maintain order. They’re hiring some college students as temporary security guards. The work is simple—mainly keeping order and standing on duty. It pays two hundred for the day, and lunch is provided."

Jiang Zheng considered the offer. It wasn’t bad—relatively easy work, decent pay, and a meal included. The fact that lunch was provided suggested the shift might be long.

He asked, "What time does it finish? If it’s too late, I might not be able to make it."

Du Yu replied, "We finish at 7 p.m. Does that work for you?"

Seven o’clock was acceptable. Jiang Zheng had plenty of drafts for his novel, so he didn’t need to worry about writing—he could always write at night. The main thing was making sure he had time to go running; as long as he could fit that in, he was fine.

"No problem," Jiang Zheng replied.

"Great, let’s meet at the campus gate at 8 a.m., and we’ll head out together," Du Yu said.

"Okay," Jiang Zheng replied.

With no further messages from Du Yu, Jiang Zheng put away his phone. He had a job tomorrow—a full day—so he needed to get to bed early. He had originally planned to stay up late, thinking he had nothing to do the next day.