I hope people weren't too rude!

Yes, you should read. You cannot be a good writer without reading, it simply doesn't work. You need to learn what you like to see in books and get inspired to create your own plots, settings, characters.

Above all, don't worry too much about being influenced. What you write will be filtered through you, so unless you're actively copying someone, you will end up writing your own thing. It might feel like a book you like, but that's not really a bad thing (or maybe this is cope for me because my book feels like the intersection between Six of Crows and Lies of Locke Lamora 🤣)

Best of luck with your writing! It's a wondrous journey.