Chapter 11: I Want It All

Chen Fan’s most prominent trait was his honesty.

After enjoying the perks, he spent the afternoon teaching Li Miaoyi basic novel-writing techniques and also organized the outline for the first story arc.

Once Li Miaoyi finished taking notes, Chen Fan led her straight to the internet cafe.

There was no internet at home, so to register an author account they had to go online outside.

Wolong County did not have many internet cafes, and the most famous one was the Red Leaf Internet Cafe, where Zhang Wanrou was taking a class.

They walked for less than ten minutes and the destination was within sight, with the lively scene already visible from the outside.

Chen Fan could not help but reminisce a little.

After he slacked off in his senior year, he became a regular at internet cafes, transforming from a model student into an internet-addicted youth.

But no matter what, this place contained his youth.

“Brother Fan, why aren’t you leaving?”

Having gone through the afternoon’s couple-photo session, Li Miaoyi was no longer bothered by the degree of physical contact such as holding hands.

She let Chen Fan hold her hand and craned her small head curiously to peer into the internet cafe.

They had always heard that internet cafes were smoke-filled and chaotic, but this one actually looked quite clean.

Chen Fan stopped reminiscing, took his girlfriend by the hand, and pushed open the shop door.

The shop was indeed very clean; unusually it even had separate non-smoking and smoking areas, and the computer setups were quite good.

More importantly, the internet cafe’s front desk was staffed by pretty young women.

For example, Zhang Wanrou, who was currently in class, dressed plainly and kept a modest posture, but her looks were undeniable and she was very popular.

“Chen Fan, long time no see; are you getting used to classes… who is this?”

The cafe attendant Huang Mao was the first to notice Chen Fan and, midway through an enthusiastic greeting, froze when he saw Chen Fan holding hands with the pretty girl and inexplicably glanced at Zhang Wanrou behind the counter.

“Brother Qiang, let me introduce you; this is my girlfriend, Li Miaoyi.”

The boy nicknamed Huang Mao was actually called Lin Qiang; he was very loyal and was one of Chen Fan’s few friends outside of school.

After greeting Lin Qiang, Chen Fan walked over to the suddenly downcast Zhang Wanrou and said, “Sister Wanrou, good afternoon.”

“Y-you… hello… are you here to go online? There’s still an available machine.”

Why was she so formal and stiff?

Chen Fan frowned, and before he could probe further he heard Li Miaoyi awkwardly say, “Hello, Brother Qiang, hello, Sister Wanrou.”

She actually took the initiative to talk to his friend; was she really acting like his girlfriend?

“Hello, hello…”

Lin Qiang could not have guessed that this girlfriend had a suspicious background, and after scratching his messy hair in response he sighed inwardly.

Chen Fan’s new girlfriend looked excellent in every way, so even if Zhang Wanrou took the initiative she probably would have no chance.

Zhang Wanrou forced a smile and uttered “Mm,” then took their ID cards and silently activated the machines.

Not wanting to disturb Zhang Wanrou at work, Chen Fan took back the ID cards, nodded, and went with Li Miaoyi to the non-smoking area.

Only Zhang Wanrou remained, staring blankly at their retreating figures.

Summer vacation had not officially started yet, but many students were already online, including Zheng Xingtao and his group, who had only split up at noon.

“Brother Tao, what a coincidence.”

Zheng Xingtao was playing CF’s biochemical mode, and it was obvious he was a novice, panicking as zombies chased him around.

Chen Fan’s interruption caused him to be directly infected by the zombies.

“Li Miaoyi… Chen Fan, you’re also here to use the internet… ah.”

Zheng Xingtao turned his head in surprise, but when he saw Chen Fan there holding his goddess’s hand his smile immediately disappeared.

Only then did he remember that his goddess and his good friend Chen Fan were already together, and Chen Fan was the one most responsible for that.

That hurt!

Chen Fan had no interest in deliberately showing off affection in front of Zheng Xingtao, so after chatting a bit he and Li Miaoyi found a quiet corner.

“Brother Fan, which website should we upload our novel to?”

Whether it was the excitement of being in the internet cafe or the thrill of about to become a novelist, Li Miaoyi’s cheeks flushed and her expression brightened considerably.

Chen Fan said without hesitation, “I’m going to have you publish on Jinjiang Literature Network.”

By 2010, Jinjiang’s female-oriented novel site had already developed well and, before Tomato Novel emerged, it had always been the industry’s leading platform.

Moreover, Jinjiang had advantages in copyright operations, which helped to raise an author’s influence.

Li Miaoyi did not understand these details well, so she simply followed Chen Fan’s lead and began registering her information.

But she ran into difficulty at the first step of choosing a pen name, and asked, “Brother Fan, what name should I choose?”

“It is best to include an animal, fruit, or food in the name; for example, I plan to call myself Irritable Snail.”

According to some unreliable tabloids from his previous life, authors who took such strange pen names had a much higher chance of success.

For example, Tian Can Tu Dou, I Eat Tomatoes, and A Squid Who Loves Diving, among others.

So he figured it was better to be safe than sorry and, come what may, he chose a name first and worried about it later.

Li Miaoyi, puzzled, pressed her lips, thought for a few seconds, and then secretly typed in her answer.

“Quiet Hedgehog!”

Hm? Why did it feel like a couple’s username?

Just as Chen Fan was about to tease her, Li Miaoyi, in an awkward denial, hurriedly said, “I just think this screen name is cute and has a charming contrast…”

Chen Fan pretended to believe her, as long as she did not call herself Guyu丨Patient it would be fine.

After registration was complete and he had arranged for Li Miaoyi to try writing the novel, Chen Fan began searching for a website to publish it.

This time he did not plan to go to Qidian, the leading site for male-oriented novels.

Qidian’s recommendation process was too long and did not match his goal of making quick money.

Moreover, his novel was a bit too risqué and on a large platform it could easily be targeted by moral guardians.

After weighing options, he finally chose a site that would later gain some reputation but was still a small platform at the time.

Although this site’s ceiling was not especially high, it had the advantages of quick listing and early pay, which allowed him to get money the fastest.

Once he had decided on the target, Chen Fan did not hesitate and immediately found the editor’s email and sent the first few chapters of My Master’s Wife and 9 Senior Sisters Are Stunningly Beautiful.

All that was left was to wait.

Confident in his work, Chen Fan calmed himself and began searching for information about the current era.

In 2010 there was no food delivery, no bike-sharing, no Xiaomi Aochuang… even the epoch-making iPhone 4 had only just landed two days earlier.

It seemed like gold was everywhere.

Unfortunately, to get involved in these fields required not only ability but also networks and capital, all of which Chen Fan lacked for the time being.

But there was one thing Chen Fan could do immediately: buy Bitcoins!

He discovered that Bitcoins were then worth only a few cents, and many people even treated them as game tokens to be handed out for free.

Chen Fan’s eyes widened and he had only one thought.

He was going to get rich!

After calming his racing heart and reminding himself to quietly buy in a few days, Chen Fan proceeded with the plan and continued with his real work.

Buy a house in Modou!

Through Tieba he found a real estate agency near the demolition and relocation area and explained his requirements for buying a house.

He did not immediately head straight to the demolition and relocation neighborhood to avoid arousing suspicion.

He simply said he was an outsider who wanted to settle in Modou and asked the agent to first gather nearby housing information for him.

After smoothly completing all of this, Chen Fan exhaled a long breath.

Bitcoins would have to be held for several years before being sold for profit, whereas once a house was bought the asset value could surge within a few months.

He wanted everything, from watermelons to sesame!

Beside him, Li Miaoyi was also full of hope for the future; seeing that Chen Fan had finally finished, she hurried over anxiously and asked expectantly:

“Brother Fan, I’ve written an opening; what do you think?”