It's been a while since I've written something outside of the actual story. I remember the last "routine fortune-telling" was in early January, right before the "Sword God's Smile" chapter began.

At that time, it was close to the New Year, and there were many things to do, so the Sword God's smile took a full two months to complete.

Because I was writing the same script for those two months, I didn't think it was necessary to write any previews. If I were to write one, it would just be something like "The Sword God is still smiling this month."

After the Sword God script ended, I originally wanted to write something, but after thinking about it, does "Thirty-Three Chapter Detective" need a preview? The title is already a kind of preview, so it would be redundant.

So, all in all, it's been four months since I wrote a single chapter.

Actually... it feels pretty good.

It's like going back to the days when I was serializing *Ghostly Howls and Ghastly Screams* and *Trafficker of Souls*. Aside from the main text, it's good to say less of this and that.

However, having written this far, it's indeed necessary to write a piece like this. Therefore, today I'll talk about some things that have been accumulating for a long time all at once.

First, let's talk about the novel's progress, which everyone is more interested in.

I went back and reviewed my previous single chapters. The first time I mentioned the ending was in October 2015, when I said - "Maybe by the end of next year, *Thriller Paradise* will be in its final stages."

Please pay attention to the two key points in this sentence. First, it's "final stages," not "completion"; second, it's "maybe," not "definitely."

Later, in the preview in December 2015, I seemed to mention this matter once, and of course, the clever me also used words like "as much as possible" and "strive for."

Then, at the beginning of 2016, I started the full attendance game, but later in September, I took on some film and television work and stopped.

At that time, I felt a little disheartened by some readers' comments, and coupled with more and more extra work and poor health, I gradually wrote fewer single chapters, and the updates for *Thriller Paradise* could only be "done as much as possible."

Looking back now, I was indeed overly optimistic in 2015. How could it be possible to finish by the end of 2016 (laughs).

Even if I hadn't stopped my full attendance in late September last year and had persisted until the end of the year, I definitely wouldn't have been able to finish it.

In fact, I'm very busy now. I was determined to finish the book in the first half of this year a month or two ago, but after thinking about it carefully... do you think I can write the entire "s3" in two months from today?

This is obviously impossible, so... the completion of *Thriller Paradise* will have to wait a little longer (be delayed a little longer).

There can also be scripts in the s3 competition, and it's only natural for the farewell performance to be a little longer. Let's set a small goal for ourselves first and aim for 5 million words to complete it.

Okay, now that I've talked about the progress, I believe everyone's emotions (anger) have been stirred up, so let's talk about something else...

Today, Qidian started some kind of fan festival, which is just various rankings and so on. As my friends know, I don't really like these shenanigans.

But one thing I'm very happy about is that I can see a lot of readers' attention and love for me from such activities.

In this day and age, it's not easy for someone to be willing to give you something unconditionally. Seriously, I'm very touched, so touched that I might not be able to update today (said with a straight face).

In any case, thank you all, but don't think I'm campaigning for votes or anything.

I still say the same thing, all those rankings, lists, and these votes and that vote, I don't need them at the moment, and I'll say when I need them; please give these data to those who need them and are diligent authors.

What a detective can do is find the truth, and what I can do is to write every chapter, every section, every sentence, every word with my heart... to be worthy of everyone's subscriptions and support, and to be worthy of my own understanding and persistence in writing.

As for whether you support me by voting, buying physical books, or sending blades, we're all so familiar, so do whatever you want...

Hmm... Next, let's talk about some painful topics.

Before, there were some problems with the copyright contract for *Trafficker of Souls*, and the main responsibility lies with me; now, after the efforts of all parties, it has basically been negotiated. Of course, it's called negotiation, but I don't really have any say, I'm just the responsible party (a face with no will to live).

This matter should be resolved soon, but resolving it will naturally require money.

I don't know why, but it seems that everyone thinks I'm quite rich. I don't know what the situation is for other writers, but anyway, the ultimate goal of my writing for so many years has never been money, and I really don't have much money.

I don't live in a villa and drive a luxury car like some classmates imagine, eating and drinking and playing games every day; in fact, I only managed to buy a small second-hand apartment of fifty-odd square meters at the end of last year, and it hasn't been renovated yet, and my wife and I are still renting.

In a few months, I'm going to be upgraded to a father, and there will only be more places to spend money. I estimate that after this contract is settled, I'll still owe the bank hundreds of thousands.

In short... my life is not easy.

However, please rest assured... as a person with such professionalism and professional ethics, based on a responsible attitude towards my works, I will definitely not deliberately speed up the updating of novels due to personal economic pressure.

Okay... I've said a lot of messy things, so let's preview the plot again at the end.

I'm still thinking about the rules of s3...

The endings of each character also need to be determined one by one before writing. I actually thought about the fate of most of the main characters a long time ago, and now it depends on whether I need to fine-tune them according to the plot.

As the final chapter of *Thriller Paradise*, a "long (unwilling) epic (unwilling) masterpiece (indisputable)," s3 must be an epic existence. In May, we'll start, get used to this strong writing (delay) style (update) - starting with announcing the rules and introducing the main characters.

So, that's all for today. I wish everyone who has finished their short holiday a happy study and work life (cut... how can such a thing be happy).