It was June, three months after the initial publication of Fiction and Fact, when Kevin put through a conference call to let me know that Andi and I were needed for a meeting with President Gu.   “We have our graduation ceremony coming up,” Andi said. “My whole family is coming up, and I’m not missing it for the world.”   “My dad’s already booked a whole room at a restaurant to celebrate,” I agreed. “I can’t miss it.”   “That’s not a problem,” Kevin replied. “President Gu is in Beijing in two weeks on business and she will meet with you then. She also wants to meet your parents, Yejing.”   “Uh….I don’t know if…”   “Believe me, she can handle them,” Kevin chuckled. “Don’t worry. Tell them that President Gu would like to take your family out dinner after the meeting.”   Graduation was a lot of fun. Andi’s family came up from Dalian, and it seemed as if all of my relatives, second cousins and all, were in attendance at the celebratory dinner.   “I think being a Qinghua graduation is the highest achievement in your lives,” one of Andi’s uncles said, across the table.   Andi and I just grinned at each other. I personally thought that being a best-selling author at just 20 years old was a bigger accomplishment, but, you know, to each their own.           Two days later, I was herded into the Beijing office of Changjiang Publishing House by Kevin.   “What are you smirking about?” I asked, giving him a suspicious look.   “Yeah, why do you look so happy today?” Andi added.   Kevin just laughed. “You’ll find out from the President.”   President Gu, of course, wasted little time.   “Your book has outperformed all of my expectations in these past few months, both in China and Hongkong, and overseas in Taiwan,” she said, offering me a rare smile. “I have recently received interest about possible release of English translations of a limited edition version in Europe and North America.”   “That’s great,” I answered, wondering why she couldn’t have told me all of that over the phone.   “I would like to extend your contract with Changjiang Publishing House for a follow up sequel to Fiction and Fact. My sources in the literary critic circle informed me that there seems to be a genuine interest in the fictional world you have built around Han Yiru. They seem to agree, as do I, that his story is not over. I would like to propose a sequel to Fiction and Fact.”   “I…ah…I’m not sure that it’s the best idea,” I muttered, furrowing my eyebrows. “I could definitely write more about Yiru, but I’m not inspired right now. I have no muse.”   “That could be fixed,” Andi muttered next to me.   I elbowed her, and gave her a death glare.    No one, except her, knew that the debut of a certain celebrity had been what pushed me into finishing the book. In fact, I had been working on Fiction and Fact for quite some time, but when I first started the novel, Yiru was a slightly tanned boy with wire frame glasses, and had very little personality. That Yiru would have never made it to the publishers. Because of an idol, he ended up blond, with intelligent eyes and a soft smile; more importantly, he became dynamic and real.   “We won’t give you any deadlines,” President Gu added. “You just work on it at your own pace, and we’ll check in on you once in a while. No pressure, at all, Yejing; take another three years if you need to. If you are working on another novel and finish that before, we’d be happy to consider it.”   “That seems reasonable,” I agreed, nodding.   “So this is what Kevin was grinning about?” Andi said, rolling her eyes. “Because he gets a more permanent job?”   “Actually, there is one more thing,” President Gu continued, giving me a mysterious look. “There’s…someone that I want you to meet. Here.”   She pressed a button on her clicker, and booted up the intelligent board mounted on the wall that projected her computer screen. A videochat opened on screen, displaying a tan man in his late 40s, hair gelled back. Behind him were two more