I Became an All-round Artist

This was just the beginning.

After the shelves in the front of the store were fully restocked, less than two hours later, Zhu Xian sold out again!

"Restock!"

Pei Du practically shouted.

The bookstore employees were in shock. No one had expected that Zhu Xian, a book that the market had little faith in, would explode in sales on its release day.

"Hasn't it only been three hours?"

The employee in charge of restocking had a puzzled expression.

Restocking twice in under three hours? That’s something reserved for bestsellers. Weren’t there people saying Zhu Xian wouldn't do well?

If this is what "not doing well" looks like, then show me what "doing well" is!

Just as the shelves were restocked with more copies of Zhu Xian, a figure dashed into the store, almost sprinting to Pei Du’s side, speaking urgently, "Manager, why haven’t you been answering your phone?"

It was Pei Du’s assistant.

Pei Du had been so focused on Zhu Xian that he hadn't even noticed his phone ringing. "I didn’t hear it. What’s up?"

"It's on fire!"

The assistant exclaimed with excitement. "Zhu Xian is a massive hit! All of our other branches in Su City are also seeing a sales frenzy. Thankfully, you ordered seventy thousand copies, or else they’d be out of stock by now!"

"The other branches too…"

Pei Du's voice trembled slightly. Based on what was happening at this store, he had already guessed that the other branches were experiencing the same situation, but hearing it confirmed was still exhilarating.

He had won the gamble!

The assistant, picking up on Pei Du's mention of "too," glanced around and saw several customers at the register, each holding a copy of Zhu Xian.

All branches were selling out!

This was even bigger than Prince of Tennis!

Suddenly, the assistant, feeling a surge of excitement, gave Pei Du a huge thumbs-up, showering him with praise, "Manager, your foresight is unmatched! You’ve always had a keen eye for this. There’s no one who understands Zhu Xian better than you!"

"You weren’t saying that yesterday," Pei Du replied.

The assistant paused, then chuckled awkwardly, "That’s why I’m just an assistant, and you’re the General Manager of Jing’an. Our whole company owes you an apology. We were blind, unable to recognize your grand vision!"

Pei Du instinctively straightened his posture. He felt a wave of satisfaction wash over him, as if he had just enjoyed a refreshing iced watermelon on a hot summer day. The exhaustion from the sleepless night vanished in an instant. Tonight, he knew he would sleep well.

Company losses? Seventy thousand in unsold stock? Burying my career?

Sorry, but these seventy thousand copies of Zhu Xian are my ladder to success. By next year, no one will be able to challenge my position as General Manager. If the higher-ups don’t double my year-end bonus, they better watch out for my wrath!

As he thought about this, Pei Du recalled a phrase from his earlier conversation with Lü Bei: "Those who trust Silver Blue Publishing will rule the world; those who trust Chu Kuang will gain immortality!"

That was a good line, but now it was his.

He patted his assistant on the shoulder and said with a calm yet triumphant tone, "Those who trust Chu Kuang will rule the world; those who trust me, Pei Du, will gain immortality!"

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" The assistant looked at him in awe.

Ignoring the flattery, Pei Du couldn’t help but wonder how the other bookstores in Qinzhou were doing. They had only ordered a small number of copies—would it be enough?

…

The beginning of the month is the busiest time for bookstores, so major booksellers were prepared for a big day of sales. But soon, they realized something was off.

Something was very off.

It seemed that more than half of the customers, after browsing the new releases, were gravitating towards Zhu Xian.

"Why?"

The booksellers were baffled by this.

Wasn’t Zhu Xian supposed to be a hard sell? Wasn’t Chu Kuang’s new book supposed to flop?

If a book that sells like this is considered a flop, then what’s a success?

Of course, high sales are always welcome. After all, the goal of a bookstore is to make money, and it doesn’t really matter what customers buy.

But the problem was…

There wasn’t much Zhu Xian left in stock!

What do you do when customers still have money to spend, but the book is sold out?

Crash!

At some point, bookstores across the city erupted in chaos.

"This book… it’s selling too fast."

"We’re out of Zhu Xian!"

"We’ve restocked three times, and it’s still sold out!"

"Boss, we need more copies of Zhu Xian!"

"Why did we only order ten thousand copies of this?"

"We’ve already sold forty thousand out of fifty thousand, and it’s just the morning! What are we going to do this afternoon?"

"How is it selling so fast?"

All the bookstores outside of Jing’an were in shock.

Without stock, there’s nothing they can do!

For these booksellers, the worst thing in the world is ordering too many books and not being able to sell them.

But an even worse situation is what they were facing now: customers with money but no books to buy!

"Don’t worry, everyone’s out of stock."

Some managers tried to reassure their staff.

This was usually comforting. Booksellers often miscalculate a book’s demand, and the race to restock quickly begins.

But then a bookstore manager reminded his boss, "Jing’an Bookstore ordered seventy thousand copies of Zhu Xian. We’re out of stock, but they’ve got plenty."

Boss: "…"

It was a harsh reminder to the bookselling community: the issue wasn’t just Zhu Xian’s popularity—it was that they hadn’t ordered enough stock!

Seriously, who needed a reminder?

Everyone knew Jing’an had gone overboard by ordering seventy thousand copies. They had just been mocking their manager last night!

At this moment, the entire Qinzhou bookselling industry was in distress.

One angry bookseller shouted, "Who was it that said Zhu Xian was a doomed xianxia book? I promise I won’t kill you if you step forward!"

"I only ordered fifty thousand copies!"

"I only ordered thirty thousand!"

"Should I just smash my head against the wall? I only ordered ten thousand!"

"I ordered five thousand…"

"Ha-ha-ha… You’re in worse shape than me! I’m so old… How did laughing turn into crying?"

…

In the book industry chat group, a pity party was in full swing.

Suddenly, Pei Du, with the Jing’an Bookstore icon, entered the chat: "We only ordered seventy thousand copies of Zhu Xian, and I’m not sure if that’ll be enough."

Yes, he was bragging.

Pei Du eagerly watched his phone screen, waiting for the reactions. Then, a system message popped up:

"You have been removed from the group chat."

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