12 Stories In, and a Journalist Came to Interview Me

36 Stratagems Series · Arc 2 (Against Enemy, #7-#12) Wrap-Up This article has 7 sections: I. The Stranger at the Door II. Full Interview Transcript III. The Reveal IV. Data · Character Map · Four Insights V. A Note VI. Arc 3 (#13-#18) Preview VII. Acknowledgments I. The Stranger at the Door On the evening of July 12th, I was staring blankly at the page for #12, Borrow Corpse, Return Soul . Twelve stories done. The 36 Stratagems series had reached the one-third mark, and Arc 2 (#7-#12) had just wrapped. Outside the window, a typhoon was passing through — howling wind, torrential rain. I didn't look outside. My phone buzzed. Not a message — a meeting invitation. The sender was "Ke Yuan," and the invitation note read: Interview invitation from Deep Lane Weekly , 15 minutes. I paused. I didn't remember scheduling any interview. But the tone, the phrasing — it didn't feel like a prank. I clicked "Accept." Three seconds later, an unfamiliar voice came through the speaker: "Hello, Xu Lingfeng. I'm Ke Yuan, a reporter from Deep Lane Weekly . Recently, a reader recommended your 36 Stratagems series to our editorial team — we read through it and found it really interesting. I'd love to talk with you about how this series came together." Before I could respond — the meeting had already begun. II. Full Interview Transcript What follows is the raw chat log pulled from that meeting. Nothing has been altered except formatting. Reporter: Xu Lingfeng, you've just finished the second arc of the 36 Stratagems series — #7 through #12, six stories in six days, posted back to back. Before we talk numbers, let me ask you something simple: over those six days, was there ever a moment you felt like stopping? Xu: Honestly, no — sometimes I even thought about posting two a day, since I do have a backlog. But I worried they'd cannibalize each other's numbers, so I stuck to one a day. Reporter: You've even considered posting two a day — so you actually do have a backlog. Let me rephrase: instea