OMG! Someone actually sent a gift to Ye Zhou on his webnovel author dashboard.
He held his breath, his eyes unblinking as he counted the digits. There were exactly three zeros.
As a struggling author who had been a flop for who knows how long, this was the first time in history he had received a gift from a reader — and it was a full 1,000 Dayang!
Normally, this was something he wouldn’t even dare to imagine. No, he wouldn’t even dare to dream it.
Ye Zhou immediately covered his mouth, his eyes welling up with tears of emotion. He swore he would write a heartfelt, empathetic essay to properly thank this kind-hearted, anonymous reader.
‘Hmm, dear reader Lin Shulan, with a name like that, you must be a very beautiful woman, right? You must be very nice in real life too…’
Ye Zhou held his phone with both hands. He was halfway through editing the message when he suddenly felt that something was very likely wrong.
He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He wiped them with a tissue and looked again, then his gaze instinctively shifted to the person sitting across from him. Lin Shulan had already finished every last bit of her breakfast.
As if she had guessed Ye Zhou’s thoughts, Lin Shulan turned her phone screen toward him, meeting his questioning gaze.
“This should be the novel you’re writing, right? If it is, then you don’t need to write a heartfelt essay to thank me.”
“Because I don’t want to cringe so hard my toes dig a three-bedroom apartment.”
Ye Zhou froze, then slowly nodded.
“Well, all right then. But why is Senior Lin reading the book I’m writing? It’s such a coincidence. It’s almost exactly like what Senior Chen told you.”
“It can only be a coincidence. After all, that idiot Chen Yuhe probably hasn’t even found which platform you’re writing on yet.”
Lin Shulan spoke dismissively, insulting Chen Yuhe without any hesitation.
***
Elsewhere, in a classroom, Chen Yuhe suddenly sneezed. She gently blew her nose with a tissue and muttered, “Who’s talking behind my back? It has to be that hateful Lin Shulan…”
At the front of the room, a female teacher wearing glasses clapped her hands, her lips curling into a smile that revealed a pair of shallow dimples.
“In that case, let’s have Chen Yuhe answer this question.”
“Oh!”
Chen Yuhe raised her hand, her words enough to make anyone else feel embarrassed on her behalf. “But Teacher Xia, even though your explanation was incredibly detailed, I still don’t get it at all!”
Teacher Xia frowned slightly. “Don’t you usually sit in the back row? Why did you decide to sit in the front today? And you seemed to be listening so intently.”
Chen Yuhe’s almond-shaped eyes curved into a smile as she explained honestly:
“That’s because I was late today, so I could only sit in the front row.”
“As for being focused, that’s because I left my phone at home.”
“But I did try to negotiate with my brain. Unfortunately, the negotiations failed very quickly, so I could only let my mind wander to the heavens.”
The classroom erupted in laughter at her words.
Teacher Xia couldn’t help but press a hand to her forehead. “Chen Yuhe, honesty is a virtue of yours, but it’s also what hurts people the most.”
***
“Senior Lin, I’ll thank you first then. So, your Green Bubble name should also be your full name, right?”
“Yes, but what are you planning to do?”
Ye Zhou grinned. “The breakfast only cost a little. I definitely have to refund the remaining money to you.”
“There’s no need, Little Brother. The platform takes half anyway. Don’t you only get 500?”
After eating and drinking her fill, Lin Shulan was starting to feel the effects of a carb coma.
She lay back on the sofa, thinking that as soon as she finished watching this short video, she would definitely put her phone down and catch up on some sleep.
Ye Zhou’s thumb paused over his phone screen. She was so nonchalant about it; Senior Lin was likely a hidden rich woman in the Drama Club.
“500 is still a lot. Some things should be handled professionally. I’m not the type of person who likes to take advantage of others, even if it’s what you consider a small favor.”
Lin Shulan asked in return, “Then why don’t you believe that, after deducting the breakfast money, the rest was a tip I gave to the author ‘Yiye Guzhou’ from the bottom of my heart?”
“Of course, if those are Senior Lin’s original words, I think the author would be very happy to accept it,” Ye Zhou said with a slight smile after a pause.
Lin Shulan added, “It’s just that the content of your writing contrasts sharply with your image. It’s a bit of a surprise.”
Ye Zhou felt awkward and coughed lightly.
“Actually, there’s a lot you don’t know. In today’s society, it’s incredibly hard to earn money, and just as hard to swallow your pride.”
He thought for a moment, then continued:
“But then again, seeing how sleepy you are, Senior Lin… you didn’t stay up all night reading it, did you?”
Lin Shulan put her phone down halfway through the next video and turned toward the back of the sofa.
“I’m sleeping. Suit yourself.”
***
In the end, Lin Shulan tossed and turned on the sofa, unable to fall asleep. She decided to head home to rest properly.
However, a second before she closed her eyes, she sent a private message to Yiye Guzhou:
‘It’s not nearly enough to read. Even if you didn’t set an update rule, at 100 per update, you’d owe me ten extra chapters, wouldn’t you? I hope to see them when I wake up tomorrow morning.’
Back at the table, Ye Zhou caught a glimpse of the message at the top of his screen, and his expression instantly turned stiff.
This was bad. It seemed Senior Lin really was starting to handle things professionally.
Ten extra chapters at 2,000 words each — that was a total of 20,000 words! And she had to see them the moment she opened her eyes tomorrow morning. With his “18-year-old single man” snail-like typing speed, wouldn’t he have to pull an all-nighter to pull this off?
This had to be revenge for him mentioning that she stayed up all night, right?
It definitely was!
He had a bad premonition and began to worry about his future leisure time.
As a college student who hadn’t even entered society yet, was he already going to experience the life of a beast of burden?
Oh, no!
***
Half an hour passed as agreed, and Ye Zhou put away his phone.
He gently knocked on the door of the President’s Office three times.
He waited until a neutral “Come in” came from inside.
Ye Zhou slowly pushed the door open and got straight to the point.
“President Jiang, did you need me for something?”
Jiang Yingxue rolled her eyes and closed her laptop.
“Can’t I look for you even if there’s nothing special? Try on that folded white hooded jacket on the stool and see if it fits.”
Ye Zhou looked toward the sound. It was the jacket Jiang Yingxue had taken home to wash and brought back.
He gave an affirmative sound, but when he picked it up, he noticed it still had tags on it.
“This isn’t my original one, is it?”
“Ugh, don’t mention it. I accidentally ruined it in the wash, so I bought you a new one as compensation.”
Jiang Yingxue sighed. “I had to check so many online shops and physical stores to find it. I don’t know if the size is right, and you don’t look like you like it very much?”
“It’s a small brand; that’s bound to happen.”
Ye Zhou gave an awkward smile, put it on, and adjusted it. It fit perfectly. “How could I not like it? Out with the old, in with the new. Besides, this is a serious matter concerning my fashion taste.”
“Hmm, chest out, head up.”
Jiang Yingxue walked straight over, her beautiful eyes carefully scanning Ye Zhou before she personally reached out to help him pull up the zipper.
“The clothes are a bit ugly, but luckily, the person wearing them pulls it off.”
Ye Zhou was slightly stunned.
“Unexpected. Usually, people say the clothes make the man. Can I go now?”
“Go? I definitely have other things for you since I called you here.”
A playful smile played on Jiang Yingxue’s red lips. “I just finished my homework. Accompany me to the Prop Room to organize a new batch of stage props.”
Ye Zhou put his hands to his head. This was a nightmare.
“Seriously? You guys can’t keep playing me like this!”