128 This Is a War

"The eyes of the netizens are sharp."

When netizens saw this statement from Li Daniu, they immediately flooded his post with countless likes.

Truth be told, while Li Daniu had spearheaded the discussion regarding discrimination against immigrants, the reason it drew such a massive response wasn't solely due to Chinese netizens jumping over the Great Firewall to stir the pot. It had deep roots in American history. In the United States, there has always been a faction holding onto white supremacist ideologies, harboring discriminatory attitudes toward Black and Asian people, and frequently triggering incidents of prejudice.

These victims of discrimination are often immigrants or descendants of immigrants. They come to the United States chasing the so-called "American Dream," only to toil away without receiving the respect they deserve, naturally leading to deep-seated resentment. By leveraging the words of a celebrity like Li Daniu, these aggrieved individuals voiced their experiences with discrimination, causing the impact of the entire affair to spread continuously. When combined with the online attacks from Americans who already harbored discriminatory views, the situation became the focal point of the entire nation.

In fact, there was no shortage of media outlets and public figures who felt that Li Daniu’s criticism of the *Hollywood Daily* was making a mountain out of a molehill. After all, their original claim was merely that choosing a Chinese name would impact the sales of his work in the United States. This statement could be interpreted in many ways, especially by those capable of calling black white, who could argue in various ways that the statement itself carried no discriminatory intent. For instance, they might claim that a Chinese name would simply leave American readers or moviegoers unaware that it was a work by Li Daniu.

This line of reasoning also had no shortage of support online; the internet is full of people who always want to voice unconventional opinions. But when Li Daniu said that the eyes of the netizens were sharp, this bit of flattery caused most people to feel a sense of affinity toward him. Who doesn't like being flattered?

As for the *Hollywood Daily*, they only cared about one point in Li Daniu’s latest post: his claim that his new book would find readers who loved it. Could there be a more perfect topic to shift the focus?

Consequently, the *Hollywood Daily* published a post and tagged Li Daniu: "As you said, the eyes of the netizens are sharp. Well, the eyes of readers are equally sharp. Almost all loyal fans of *The Lord of the Rings* are disappointed by the worldview and petty plot of *Harry Potter*. So, even if a book destined for failure finds readers who like it, how many could there be? It is said that the print run in the United States is 500,000 copies. May I ask, can you sell them all in a year? Or is it because you bragged that you would let fans guess the sales figures, only to find you couldn't afford the reward, so you deliberately produced a piece of trash to make everyone guess wrong?"

What the hell? If J.K. Rowling heard you describe her book this way, would she slap her billion-dollar net worth certificate in your face?

And "can you sell 500,000 copies in a year?" When her sales were at their peak, she sold more than that globally in a single day, alright?

Although Li Daniu knew that his book’s reputation at the start of its release in this world wasn't great, the reasons were easy to analyze. The scope of the book’s opening, compared to the fans who loved *The Lord of the Rings*, was indeed too small. Even the plot lacked originality: a discriminated-against orphan receives an acceptance letter to a magic school, discovers his incredible lineage upon arrival, levels up continuously, and finally defeats the big bad villain. This formula is hardly fresh. Therefore, adults who prefer the grand scope of works like *The Lord of the Rings* would certainly not have a favorable impression.

Just like in his previous life, regardless of how many adults also loved reading the book or were loyal fans, the book's core demographic was actually children aged 6 to 15. In Li Daniu’s view, the main reason the book hadn't sold well in its first few weeks was that his own fame was simply too great. Yes, the fame he gained from *The Lord of the Rings* was just too immense. Consequently, many of his fans expected his new book to be an epic masterpiece. With such expectations, they naturally wouldn't give good reviews to a book with the scope of *Harry Potter*.

It was like downloading a file for days and nights with great anticipation, only to find it was a children’s cartoon. Are cartoons fun? For children, and even for many adults, they are very interesting. But for someone who had already pulled down their pants and grabbed the tissues, you’ve got to be kidding me! Naturally, the reviews were filled with disappointment, which deterred many potential buyers.

However, a classic is a classic. Unlike the *Hollywood Daily*, which only looked at big data, Li Daniu had already noticed from the feedback of some readers online that the charm of the book had been discovered and was about to spread. With this spark, why fear it wouldn't start a prairie fire?

"If those 500,000 copies don't sell out this month, I will never write another book. If the sales this month exceed 500,000 copies, what are you, or all of you, prepared to do? As for not being able to afford the reward, I really want to say that even if the person who guessed the highest number became the ultimate answer, I could afford it—and the profit from just one movie would be enough."

Not long after Li Daniu’s post went live, the *Hollywood Daily* reposted it and commented: "As long as you don't spend your own money to hire people to buy them, all of us at the *Hollywood Daily* will go streaking on the Hollywood Walk of Fame."

The *Hollywood Daily* dared to make such a large bet because, as of now, the book had been on the shelves for three weeks and had only sold 150,000 copies, with only 20,000 sold in the last week. Selling 350,000 copies in the remaining week-plus was simply impossible. Moreover, in their view, Li Daniu was a foreigner after all; no matter how much the American public disliked them, they wouldn't help Li Daniu take them down.

Just like when Yao Ming first arrived in the NBA, someone boasted that he couldn't score 19 points and claimed they would kiss a donkey’s behind if he did. Even though there were many in the NBA who disliked the person making the claim, and many who were looking forward to seeing him kiss a donkey, nobody threw the game to help Yao Ming score.

Selling 350,000 copies in a week was only possible for *The Lord of the Rings* at its absolute peak. As for *Harry Potter*, which was more complex than a fairy tale but far simpler than adult literature, how could that be possible? Besides, even if the copies really did sell out, they would absolutely deny it, claiming Li Daniu paid people to buy the books. As for evidence? Do you have proof that Li Daniu didn't pay people to buy them? The tongues of media people have always been slick.

When Li Daniu saw the other side accept the challenge, he immediately stepped up. Even if he failed, at most he would stop writing books; he could still push his works from his previous life by finding suitable agents. He just needed to make money. Furthermore, could Li Daniu possibly fail? Thinking about the discussions about the book on certain middle school forums, Li Daniu believed that as long as he gave it a little push, the remaining 350,000 copies would be no concern at all.

Some people simply didn't understand where the true target audience for this book lay. Of course, for adults, the opinions of middle school students could basically be ignored—even in the United States, which prides itself on letting children be independent, it was the same.

With the *Hollywood Daily*’s apology for their previous remarks and the establishment of this wager, most netizens' attention was shifted here. After all, nobody likes arguments that can never reach a conclusion. Coupled with the intentional guidance of certain hidden forces—such as the U.S. government manipulating public opinion—the impact of this sudden immigration discrimination issue diminished. However, this incident was not without its benefits; at the very least, Americans would not dare to openly commit acts of discrimination for some time to come. Being in the spotlight for that was a surefire way to invite bad luck.

At Li Daniu’s request, the *Hollywood Daily* published a post featuring a signed confirmation of the wager from all their current staff, including the signature of the *Hollywood Daily*’s owner. For the owner of the *Hollywood Daily*, as long as the most detrimental impact of this incident could be eliminated, he was willing to streak even if he didn't lose the bet. For shameless people who make money from fabricated gossip, money is everything.

While Li Daniu and Lewis from Sunshine Publishing discussed plans to boost sales, back on the other side of the ocean in China, a trend of traveling abroad and purchasing goods through agents took off. Unlike the usual preference for cosmetics, luxury goods, or digital products, this time, what they wanted was a book called *Harry Potter*.

An agent asked if they could even understand the English version.

"Damn it, who wants to read the book? I’m here to support our international friend Li Daniu, alright? Even if the exchange rate from Chinese Yuan to US Dollars isn't great, how much could one book cost? If Li Daniu loses, which foreign celebrity will be willing to adopt a Chinese name in the future? How will the Chinese language move toward the world?"

The effect of celebrity influence was much better than opening loss-making Confucius Institutes everywhere. Therefore, this was a war!