Chapter 5

Lin Nanzhi kept thinking about how to make money, but no matter how much she thought about it, nothing seemed realistic.

Although Wumeng was developing, making it possible to earn a fortune in various ways, she was still too young, making most options unsuitable.

Even if she wanted to buy lottery tickets, she had never paid attention to them before and didn’t know the winning numbers. If she had known she would be reborn, she would have memorized the numbers and bought a ticket. Now, the only option was scratch-off tickets, with a maximum prize of 10,000 yuan at best. Besides, she didn’t believe her luck would be that good.

Before long, Lin Nanzhi thought of her past life’s side job.

—-

In her previous life, she had little education and could only take on regular jobs, like working in factories. However, she didn’t want to work in a factory. She had a body prone to overheating—winter was fine, but in summer, she easily suffered from heatstroke. So, she always looked for jobs in malls, restaurants, or supermarkets, working as a cashier where she could enjoy air conditioning.

Aside from the first two years spent in another city, she had spent the rest of her time in Wumeng City.

Even though Wumeng developed over time, by 2023, it was still a third-tier city. Her job provided food and accommodation, with a base salary of 2,600 yuan, a 200-yuan attendance bonus, and commissions from beverage sales, bringing her earnings to about 3,000 yuan.

Even though she wasn’t particularly into fashion or spending, money always seemed to disappear. Saving up from a 3,000-yuan salary wasn’t easy, especially since her parents divorced and she left with her mother, who had no assets.

Before her younger brother got married, things were fine, but after his marriage, living together became inconvenient. Lin’s mother also wanted to find a new partner and changed boyfriends frequently. Lin Nanzhi didn’t want to move into her mother’s boyfriend’s house, so she planned to save up for her own home.

But with only 3,000 yuan a month, saving even 1,000 was a struggle.

To save more money, she started a side job—writing online novels.

However, online literature evolved rapidly, with countless genres emerging. Readers wouldn’t necessarily notice her books. She had been writing for years but remained an unknown author. Fortunately, the money she made from writing helped cover living expenses, allowing her to save a bit more.

Even though it was just a drop in the ocean.

—-

Online novels first appeared in 1911 in China, gradually evolving. By 1988, wuxia stories dominated, influenced by Jin Yong and Gu Long. In 2002, original web novels surged in popularity, giving online literature a temporary golden age.

From 2005 to 2013, fantasy and Mary Sue novels became mainstream, making online literature explode in popularity. Back then, as long as a story had a fresh concept, it could go viral. If the writing was good, success was almost guaranteed.

It wasn’t like the later years when online literature peaked, attracting an influx of new writers. With numerous web novel apps available, anyone could start writing, leading to an abundance of amateurish, unreadable stories.

It was incomparable to the past, where even casual works were considered high-quality.

At this moment, it was still 2012. Lin Nanzhi believed her writing skills were decent, so she shouldn’t do too badly.

Moreover, unlike in the future, where top-tier platforms required facial recognition, at this time, all she needed was an ID card.

—-

So, on Sunday, she asked her father for his ID card, took two photos, and used her allowance for the week to head to Qingya Town.

Since the Education Bureau wouldn’t come after their previous visit and weekends were for rest, she decided to skip school.

There was an internet café in Qingya Town, and she went straight there.

At this time, internet cafés were at their peak, making money primarily from students. They didn’t care about age restrictions—as long as you had money, you could get in.

Qingya Middle School had lax discipline, and the teachers were unmotivated. Many students leaned toward delinquency, skipping classes to either fight or play online games, so the internet café was never empty.

Some people even stayed in the café for days just to play games.

This reminded her that ten years later, this café would get into trouble due to the school’s lack of discipline. After strict regulations were imposed, it lost its customers and shut down.

She paid five yuan for a computer, which allowed her to use it for several hours.

After sitting down, Lin Nanzhi realized she didn’t know the website address. So, she downloaded the mobile version on her phone, found the desktop client link on the homepage, copied it to QQ, sent it to her alt account, and then logged into QQ on the computer to open the link.

After registering an account and logging in, she thought about what kind of story to write.

The most popular genre at the moment was Mary Sue, but she didn’t want to write one—she was afraid that if she did, she’d regret it within ten years, unable to delete it.

Fantasy novels were also extremely popular, but there were already many outstanding ones. If she wrote one, it might not stand out. Instead, she decided to try a different genre to distinguish herself. Though it was risky, the platform offered guaranteed earnings, so even if her novel didn’t become a hit, she would still make money.

That was the advantage of writing in the early days—any readership meant income!

Lin Nanzhi decided to write a time-travel novel, riding the wave of popular time-travel dramas. However, since most fantasy stories were already about transmigration, she decided to reverse the trope—writing about someone from ancient times traveling to the modern era.

With her concept settled, she quickly created the project, wrote an outline, and even designed an exquisite book cover for it.

Her ability to make book covers came from her love of photography. She had worked at a bridal studio for a year—not learning much about photography, but becoming proficient in digital editing.

After changing the cover, she started writing.

She typed quickly, her thoughts flowing like a fountain. From 9 AM, she wrote continuously until noon, had a quick meal, and kept going. She only paused at 5 PM after refilling her time once.

Stretching her sore shoulders and fingers, she reviewed her day’s work.

Because of her fast typing speed, she often made typos, so she had to proofread each chapter twice. By the end of the day, she had written 15,000 words.

Each chapter was about 3,000 words, totaling five chapters.

She submitted two chapters, then logged off.

Having only eaten a cup of instant noodles at noon, she treated herself to a bowl of rice noodles and a side of potatoes for dinner.

—-

As students got out of school, many went out for dinner. Lin Nanzhi ran into her roommates, who dragged her back to the dormitory with them—which worked out since she wasn’t sure what to do next.

She always wore a mask, and for meals, she had her roommates bring food from the cafeteria. Otherwise, she spent all her time in the internet café writing novels. As for attending classes, she skipped them—since they were just review sessions anyway.

—–

On Friday, the Education Bureau arrived and held a student assembly, with parents and the police also attending.

Lin Nanzhi then realized that the bureau had previously visited in secret, privately interviewing students from each grade. They found that the students’ responses were consistent—many teachers were negligent.

As a result, they organized this meeting.

Every class’s parents attended—three grades, each with six classes. Parents sat on benches on the lawn while students stood behind them.

Naturally, Lin Nanzhi had to attend as well. Standing in the crowd, she looked up at the stage, listening to the loudspeaker crackle to life.