House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 403: New Book Pre-Sale

With Mu Yucheng’s personality, he had never been fond of shopping. Now that he had become a department manager, his workload had increased significantly, leaving him even less time to go out. Even when he completed a project and could take a few days off, Mu Yucheng would rather stay at home and sleep.

Fortunately, online shopping websites were becoming increasingly popular, allowing him to buy most things directly online. This gave Mu Yucheng even more reason to stay home.

For example, today Mu Yucheng noticed that his slippers were worn out. Although they were still wearable, they were leaking a bit and uncomfortable to wear. If this had happened last year, he would have gone downstairs to the nearby supermarket to buy a new pair. But now, Mu Yucheng instinctively opened his computer and prepared to place an order on the Sahara Online Mall.

This year, online shopping platforms had become extremely popular. With the support of venture capital, various shopping websites had sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and TV advertisements had been bombarding viewers non-stop. However, when it came to online shopping, Mu Yucheng only trusted Sahara Online Mall.

As a seasoned expert in the IT industry, Mu Yucheng, out of curiosity, had also researched other shopping websites. However, those platforms were of varying quality, with confusing user interfaces and service levels that were hard to compare with Sahara’s.

When it came to online shopping, aside from people like Mu Yucheng who preferred staying at home, most people were still primarily looking for low prices. So, in order to compete with Sahara, most shopping websites had to focus their efforts on price wars, to the extent that they didn’t have the time or funds to establish a proper customer service team. Many sites didn’t even have staff available to answer inquiries at night.

However, even price wars required capital support. Websites with venture capital might have been able to sustain themselves for a while, but those without venture capital could only walk a tightrope, resorting to shady tactics.

As a result, Mu Yucheng observed that many smaller, off-brand shopping sites offered lower prices, but their product quality was unreliable. Many customers in the reviews even suspected that the sites were selling counterfeit goods!

Sahara was still the best! It was a well-established brand, offering good quality at reasonable prices, and most importantly, it was trustworthy. Moreover, Mu Yucheng greatly appreciated Sahara’s logistics services. Living in Guangzhou, he could receive items from nearby warehouses by the next day, while those from farther locations would arrive within two or three days. By investing in improving the user experience, Mu Yucheng had believed Sahara had taken the right approach.

However, when Mu Yucheng logged into Sahara Online Mall today, a newly updated banner ad caught his attention.

The ad was simple: “Yang Yi’s New Book Is Now Available for Pre-Sale!”

Just seeing the name “Yang Yi” was enough for Mu Yucheng to click on the ad. As a die-hard fan of Yang Yi, Mu Yucheng had been painstakingly following the daily updates of “Prison Break” and “Yu Zui.” Now, seeing that Yang Yi had a new book coming out, how could he not check it out?

Sure enough, it was Yang Yi. The new page provided a full introduction to the author.

“Yang Yi, a rising author, has published multiple works in just one year, including ‘Drawing Sword,’ ‘Soldiers Sortie,’ ‘Yu Zui,’ ‘Prison Break,’ and Xixi’s Bedtime Stories. His works span multiple genres such as military, crime, and fairy tales. He excels in character development and plot construction, and his imaginative and captivating stories always leave readers wanting more…”

Mu Yucheng didn’t even need to read these introductions—he already knew them by heart. He had collected almost all of Yang Yi’s books, and even the recently released first and second volumes of the physical edition of Prison Break were already neatly placed on his bookshelf.

What he was really curious about was Yang Yi’s new book.

It was still in the pre-sale stage, but the title had already been revealed.

Journey Under the Midnight Sun!

What kind of title was that?

Mu Yucheng was puzzled. Midnight was supposed to be dark, so how could there be a sun? What does “Journey Under the Midnight Sun” even mean?

Was it the name of a person?1. Similar to “Yu Zui”, where Yang Yi used the protagonist’s name to create a meaningful title?

However, he soon found the answer in the two images provided on the pre-sale page.

The pre-sale page included both the front and back covers of “Journey Under the Midnight Sun”. The cover was simple—just two black silhouettes of a boy and a girl. Behind them, as if cast by a light source, were two larger, grayish shadows.

The back cover was equally minimalistic, featuring pricing details, barcodes, the publisher’s logo, and a smaller version of the gray projection. There was also a brief text:

“In my sky, there is no sun, only perpetual night. Yet it is not dark because something has replaced the sun. Though not as bright as the sun, it is enough for me. Relying on this light, I can treat the night as day. I have never had the sun, so I am not afraid of losing it.”

These words seemed warm at first glance, but as Mu Yucheng read them, he couldn’t help but get goosebumps.

It was somewhat spine-chilling!

For some reason, Mu Yucheng had this feeling!

This work seemed completely different from Yang Yi’s previous books. Even when dealing with themes of crime, Yang Yi’s earlier works always carried some warmth and joy. But this one, just from this single sentence, didn’t give Mu Yucheng that same warmth!

What kind of book was this?

Mu Yucheng scrolled down and saw the Editor’s Note:

“Yang Yi is an author brimming with imagination and creativity, never confined to a single genre. Now, he has once again ventured into a new field with his first suspense novel. Unlike his previous works, ‘Journey Under the Midnight Sun’ delves deep into the darkness of human nature and the controversial morality at the other end of crime. Just as the title suggests, the protagonist searches for light in the depths of darkness. A web of seemingly unrelated events intertwines into a suffocating narrative, pushing the suspense genre to its limits. Perhaps this book is as cold and dark as the night—but let me tell you, this is a novel about love. Love is the only warmth, the only light!”

So mysterious?

It presented two extreme emotions, but like horror movies, the more terrifying it was, the more captivating it became! Moreover, the editor’s note mentioned the exploration of human nature, which was something Mu Yucheng was particularly interested in. He felt that this book had become more and more intriguing, and he was eager to read it.

“Buy it! What’s there to hesitate about? It’s rare for Yang Yi to release a novel that doesn’t require painfully waiting for updates!” Like many other fans who had just learned the news, Mu Yucheng excitedly clicked “Buy Now” and eagerly completed his payment.

The book wouldn’t be available until March, but Mu Yucheng was already looking forward to it.

……

Mo Fei had gone to Beijing early to prepare for her first concert. Meanwhile, on this day, Yang Yi received a text from his daughter’s kindergarten teacher, informing him that the kindergarten was organizing a parent-child spring outing on the weekend and hoped that all parents would participate.

Yang Yi naturally planned to attend. Although it was just a small hike up the not-so-tall Tingshan Mountain, he thought that participating in the event with his daughter would be a lot of fun.

At nearly the same time, Niu Meiling’s office door was knocked open by Jian Chao, who had a strange expression on her face as she said to Niu Meiling, “Sister Ling, I received another email from that person. It’s quite troublesome. Do you want to take a look?”

“Which person?” Niu Meiling asked, puzzled.

“The paparazzi who took those photos of Zhenzhen causing a scene while drunk. He goes by the alias ‘Teacher Kou’.” Jian Chao reminded her, using the example of their artist, her expression somewhat conflicted.

Niu Meiling furrowed her brows. “Did Zhenzhen cause trouble again? Didn’t I tell you to make her behave and stop making the company clean up her mess all the time?”

“This time, it’s really not Zhenzhen’s fault! What they’re trying to sell isn’t about her,” Jian Chuo said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

“Then who is it?”

TN: Journey Under the Midnight Sun is a Japanese novel by Keigo Higashino, first published in 1999