Global Flood: I Survive on Duckweed

My editor informed me that the book is ready to go premium. I’m thrilled, but also a little nervous. I don’t know how well this book will perform, but no matter what, I’m going to keep writing it. I hope all of you will continue to support me.

Since the book is going premium, it’s time for the obligatory announcement.

I want to thank my editor, Canaan. If he hadn’t saved this book from the slush pile, it probably would have been dead on arrival.

Thank you to all the readers who have added this book to their libraries and kept up with the Chapters. Your support got me through four rounds of features. The number of library adds might not compare to other authors, but I’m already very satisfied!

Finally, I want to thank my family for their support, and also my two dogs who demand to be walked three times a day!

That’s it for the official announcement. Now, I’ll just ramble a bit about whatever comes to mind. It might get a little disorganized, so just read casually!

I saw a comment in the review section from a reader who was hesitant to add this book to their library and follow it because I dropped my previous book. There’s really no need to worry. I already replied to them in the comments, but I’ll state it again here: I will not drop this book!

As a struggling web author, I’ve written, by a rough estimate, over twelve million characters on other platforms, all of which have pretty much flopped. My longest book was over seven million characters, almost eight million, and I’ve always written in the apocalypse and survival genres.

The book I dropped was an attempt to change things up. I tried writing an urban-entertainment-industry story and was lucky enough to get a contract with QQ Reading for it. However, I struggled with the plot progression for the new genre, and I was also writing two books at once at the time. My focus was on the other book, so I ended up dropping that one.

But things are different this time. Right now, this book on Qidian is the only one I’m working on, and it’s in a genre I’m very familiar with. So, let me repeat it one more time: This book will not be dropped! It will not be dropped! It will not be dropped!

I used to write for smaller websites where you almost never see any reader feedback. I could just put my head down and write. But it’s different now that I’m on Qidian.

Reader comments are pushed to my author dashboard instantly. When I see a positive review, I’m overjoyed. When I see a negative one, I lose all motivation to write.

It’s an emotional roller coaster.

I used to just be able to plow ahead blindly when I wrote, but now I understand what it means to be walking on thin ice.

I’ll finish a Chapter and feel like something is off. I’ll delete and revise, and after a whole day of struggling to squeeze out four thousand characters, it still doesn’t feel right.

Looking back, it seems all that effort just made the Chapter a little smoother to read, without any major improvements. My ability is limited, I know. It might have been better to just write more recklessly and give everyone a few more Chapters to read.

But at the same time, I don’t dare to just let loose and write whatever random crap comes to mind. It’s such a struggle!

And while I’m afraid to just write any old crap, this book really was born from a completely random idea!

Sometimes, I look up at the starry night sky and wonder, what exactly is this Cosmos? And what role do we play in it?

Okay, hold on. That’s enough of the deep thoughts. I can’t keep making this stuff up!

No wonder they say, ”Man plans, and God laughs”! I’m even laughing at myself!

This book is a fictional world born from those questions. Please don’t compare it to the real world.

The world-building for the entire book has its share of flaws (bugs), but it’s more or less complete.

Many things might seem implausible at first, but they will be explained later in the story, such as where all the water came from.

Most of the information about plants is sourced from the internet, so there may be errors. Please don’t take it as fact.

In short, any inconsistencies are part of the world’s established setting, so please don’t get too hung up on them.

If you can’t help but get hung up on them, just leave your brain here for safekeeping. You can pick it up after you finish the book.

[Brain Depository Here]

Really, reading a novel is all about exploring a fictional world that someone else has imagined. If everyone thought the same way, things would be pretty boring, wouldn’t they?

I’d also like to respond to a few reader questions here. I’ll focus on writing after this and won’t do these long-form responses again, as I’m worried it might disrupt the reading experience for everyone.

A reader said: The System being able to talk and interact with the main character is a huge turn-off!

The System is just his ’golden finger’—his cheat ability. Just think of it as the cliché wise old master in a magic ring. Why get so hung up on it?

A reader said: A survival story should just be about one person. He doesn’t need teammates.

My novel’s title is *Building a Peach Blossom Spring on Duckweed*. The kind of ”Peach Blossom Spring” I’m writing about is a bustling community, where ”paths crisscross the fields, and the sounds of chickens and dogs are heard from all around... and everyone, from the elderly to the young, is happy and content.” It’s not a lonely Peach Blossom Spring inhabited by a single person.

A reader said: Other people can evolve too? The protagonist isn’t the only special one? Dropped!

I... I don’t know how to respond to that one...

A reader said: The author is too naive and has no life experience!

As an uncle who is pushing forty, has a son in the second grade, and has been in the workforce for over a decade... thanks for saying I have a youthful mindset!

A reader said: There isn’t enough internal conflict, so you’re just using external conflict as filler. Get rid of the Lvzhi Country plotline...

It’s not that there isn’t enough internal conflict—there’s a ton of it, with plenty of material to write. (Please, trust a struggling author who has written ten million characters in the apocalyptic survival genre; I really don’t need to use filler. There’s material everywhere. Setting aside whether it’s written well or not, I’m truly not lacking for plot.) The point of this arc was to give the protagonist an opportunity. At this point in the timeline, I can still use a plotline like this to move the story forward; a few months later in the story, it won’t be possible. Am I supposed to have the protagonist fish land animals out of the water, or just have someone deliver them to him? After a while, when food can’t be grown, these resources will become even scarcer. At the same time, their appearance is also a way for the protagonist to understand the current state of the world, serving as a form of exposition...

A reader said: When the protagonist was trading with the aircraft carrier fleet, why didn’t he get ducks? Ducks can swim, can’t they?

The protagonist was focused on livestock, since they provide more meat. Besides, I happened to look it up online and found this piece of information: ducks can actually drown!

”When a duck swims, its body floats on the water and it paddles with its webbed feet. A duck’s feathers have a layer of oil that keeps them from getting soaked, which increases buoyancy. During a heavy downpour, the excessive rain can wash this oil off. The duck is then unable to float and will naturally drown. The same goes for geese...” The above is a quote from an online source.

Since that’s the case, it doesn’t matter which he chose, does it!

Okay, I’ll stop my rambling here!

Thank you to Pangu Zhuanshi, 1151112, Siyuan Sini, Hunyuan Wuji Daluo Jinxian, Xiao Dao Fo Ru, BookFriend20240712111835113, BookFriend20170724111607015, and The Place Promised in Our Early Days for your donations!

Thank you to all of my wonderful readers for your votes!

Finally, I humbly ask all of you to please support the novel by subscribing to the first paid Chapter. That initial subscription data is incredibly important for a book. This old uncle bows in gratitude!