Brian Bolton didn’t come to the playground to play, but because there was a podium there. The cement structure of the podium could be used as a desk to lean on.

Since school hadn’t started yet, all the classrooms were locked. Brian Bolton couldn’t find a single desk, and writing while lying down was just too uncomfortable, so he could only come here to write.

Moreover, right behind the podium were tile-roofed houses—the teachers’ family residences—so in the afternoon, there would be shade.

As for the morning, he’d just have to tough it out under the sun.

A bottle of mineral water, a ballpoint pen, and he spent most of the day writing away.

“Phew, I’ve finally sorted out most of the important information. Next, it’s time to organize the works.”

Chapter 008: The Four Great Constables Shake Up the Northeast

Since he had already decided to choose wuxia novels as his first pot of gold in life, Brian Bolton naturally needed to plan carefully, list out all the works he could remember, and then publish them in order of his personal rating, from lowest to highest.

The first debut work was an easy choice: Wen Rui’an’s “The Four Great Constables.”

Because “The Four Great Constables” was written quite early—Wen Rui’an started writing “The Four Great Constables Gather in the Capital” when he was in his twenties.

Wen Rui’an’s wuxia novels are basically all interconnected, with story backgrounds and characters linking together. The “Four Great Constables” series includes “The Four Great Constables Battle the General (Young Four Great Constables),” “The Four Great Constables Shake Up the Northeast,” “The Four Great Constables Gather in the Capital,” “The Four Great Constables and the Skull Painting,” “The Four Great Constables: Against the Cold Waters,” “The Four Great Constables: Walking the Dragon and Snake,” “The Four Great Constables Break the Divine Spear,” “The Four Great Constables Battle Zombies,” “The Four Great Constables Fight the Heavenly King,” and so on.

Not only did Wen Rui’an write many stories about the Four Great Constables, but a whole bunch of screenwriters also created even more stories, and many comic artists drew even more stories about them.

The entire Four Great Constables can be said to be just different stories set in the same background.

Brian Bolton planned to first write a few short stories from “The Four Great Constables” to earn a bit of money and fame. Once he made a name for himself, he would publish more classic works.

You have to build up your reputation bit by bit; otherwise, if you start off with a classic, it’s just too high-profile.

“What should I write first? Young Four Great Constables, or Gather in the Capital?”

There were many film and TV adaptations of the “Four Great Constables” series. First of all, the ones Brian Bolton was most familiar with were the “Four Great Constables 1, 2, 3” movies starring Liu Yifei and Deng Chao before his rebirth. These three films, directed by Gordon Chan, were indeed terrible—the character Lengxue was turned into a woman, which was really a twist—but they still had some reference value.

Then there were several Hong Kong and Taiwan TV series, as well as four mainland TV series: “The Four Great Constables Battle the General,” “The Famous Constables Shake Up the Northeast,” “The Four Great Constables Gather in the Capital,” and “Young Four Great Constables.”

“Better to write ‘Shake Up the Northeast’ first. After finishing that, I’ll write ‘Gather in the Capital.’ That way, the story background of the Four Great Constables will be established. The other stories are more independent and fragmented, so I can write them however I like.”

The original novel “The Four Great Constables Shake Up the Northeast” is divided into two parts: “Manhunt” and “On the Run.” Together, they’re about seventy to eighty thousand words, a medium-length novel, which is quite suitable for submitting to magazines.

The manuscript fees for “Legend of Jin and Gu” and “Hot Wind” are about one hundred yuan per thousand words. If the quality is excellent, it can go up to two or three hundred, and for famous authors, even a thousand per thousand words isn’t impossible.

“I’ll write thirty thousand words first and finish ‘Manhunt.’ If it gets accepted, at one hundred per thousand words, that’s three thousand yuan.”

With the plan set, Brian Bolton began drafting the background and outlining the structure.

……

As the sun slanted westward, Brian Bolton finally finished writing the background and outline.

When he returned to the dorm, it was already lively. All the boarding students had arrived. Dorm 103 had twelve people in total. Most of these people would go to the science class in the future; only Brian Bolton, Ethan Carter, and Julia Reed went to the liberal arts class, and unfortunately, they didn’t end up in the same class.

Because Brian Bolton bombed the class placement exam, he ended up in the slow class, while Ethan Carter and Julia Reed went to the fast class.

“Thinking about it now, it really is a sad story,” Brian Bolton thought as he greeted his old dormmates.

With twelve people in the dorm, there was never a shortage of topics.

“Brian Bolton, your haircut is pretty cool,” said David Lawson, one of the three Lus in the dorm.

Brian Bolton reached up and touched his head. The stubble was less than an inch long and felt especially prickly. “It’s a precision cut. Do you know Beckham, the captain of the England national team? This is his hairstyle.”

In 2001, Beckham was at his peak. He was a key player for Manchester United, the Premier League powerhouse, and the most handsome player. He had already achieved the European treble (league, cup, Champions League), three consecutive league titles, and was covered in honors. Even though only Serie A was broadcast in China at the time, Beckham’s name was still very well-known.

“Who’s Beckham? I don’t know,” David Lawson said with a squinty smile. He probably really didn’t know—he was hopeless at sports.

Ethan Carter chimed in, “You look a bit like you just got out of a labor camp.”

Brian Bolton replied noncommittally, “Actually, I really did just get out.”