Chapter 12: Even If He’s a Boyfriend, He Can’t Be Like This.

The Red Leaf Internet Cafe was buzzing, with the clatter of keyboards and the sounds of games rising and falling.

Chen Fan and Li Miaoyi looked different from everyone else, because their screens showed word-processing interfaces.

Chen Fan leaned over to glance at what Li Miaoyi had written, and under his girlfriend’s intent gaze he said calmly, “Go buy me a bottle of water first; I’ll tell you after you’ve bought it.”

“…Oh.” Li Miaoyi felt an urge to hit Chen Fan but did not dare to, and she reluctantly moved to comply.

However, the feeling was rather strange because previously everyone had always fawned over her, and this was the first time she had gone out of her way to flatter someone else.

She walked up to the service counter and, seeing again the pretty girl Chen Fan called Sister Wanrou, Li Miaoyi asked sweetly:

“Sister Wanrou, I want to buy a bottle of water… um… Sister Wanrou, do you know what Brother Fan usually drinks?”

“He likes to drink iced Coca-Cola.”

Zhang Wanrou’s smile was a little forced, and without meeting Li Miaoyi’s eyes for long she skillfully took a Coke from the fridge and then turned to ask, “Li… Li, what would you like to drink?”

“Just call me Miaoyi, Sister Wanrou; all my friends call me that.”

Li Miaoyi waved her hand and took out her wallet to pay.

Zhang Wanrou quickly stopped her and said, “No need; Chen Fan is my younger brother, I can’t accept money.”

Li Miaoyi insisted on handing the money over and said, “Sister Wanrou, I’m the one buying it this time, not Brother Fan; I can’t take advantage of you.”

“All right…”

Unable to refuse, Zhang Wanrou took the money, and as she watched Li Miaoyi’s quickly receding figure her expression instantly dimmed.

The days when Chen Fan could freeload cola were probably gone for good.

When Chen Fan took the iced Coke Li Miaoyi handed him, a long-buried memory suddenly surfaced in his mind.

It seemed that when he had come to this internet cafe in his senior year of high school, he had never paid for drinks.

Not paying seemed normal to him because he had long assumed Zhang Wanrou to be family, and there was no need to be so particular.

Glancing sideways and seeing Li Miaoyi still looking at him expectantly, Chen Fan put his thoughts aside and handed her the Coke, asking, “Do you want to drink it?”

Before Li Miaoyi could refuse, her hand had already instinctively taken the Coke, and she murmured, “…”

Since that was the case, she had no choice but to drink it.

Forcing herself not to think that this was something Chen Fan had already drunk, Li Miaoyi took a sip across the distance.

It felt so cold and so refreshing.

“Don’t finish it off!”

Seeing her drink nonstop, Chen Fan’s face darkened, because if she liked it so much, why hadn’t she bought it herself earlier?

Li Miaoyi was too embarrassed to raise her head; she had never thought cola tasted this good before.

Back to the point, the tutoring session officially began.

Chen Fan began by praising Li Miaoyi’s prose as good, full of detail and vivid imagery, and said she could well become a famous writer in the future.

Then came an unrelenting scolding: “You don’t actually think your writing is very good, do you?”

“I told you to get into the plot quickly, but you keep rambling, spending whole paragraphs on a single chair… who the hell cares what material the chair is made of?”

“And why didn’t you follow my outline? Look at the garbage you’ve written; so many characters appear in chapter one… do you expect to remember who’s who?”

“I…”

“Why are you still not convinced? Do you think that as a newcomer your article is the most perfect thing in the world?”

“I didn’t…”

Li Miaoyi was scolded to the point of tears, and the shy sweetness in her heart instantly evaporated.

Was her writing really that bad?

Chen Fan admitted that it really was poor.

New writers all tended to make the same mistake: they liked to open with long, meaningless descriptions of the environment and tried to dump the entire setting all at once.

His time was limited, and to get Li Miaoyi on the right track as quickly as possible, he had to be harsh.

Not far away, Zheng Xingtao, who was playing a game, faintly heard Chen Fan’s scolding and couldn’t help turning around to see what was happening.

The sight made him furious.

Chen Fan was openly insulting the girl he worshiped, who usually didn’t even dare to speak loudly.

(Even if he’s her boyfriend, he still can’t be like that… sob sob.)

Chen Fan was not going to indulge her; after scolding her he told Li Miaoyi to study the openings of popular books on the site, then opened a document himself and began writing quickly.

Because he had written this material before, reproducing it came naturally and quickly, and in a flurry he produced 10,000 characters in two hours.

Beside him, Li Miaoyi watched in amazement because she had only managed to produce 1,000 characters after racking her brains.

Was this the gap between a novice and a master?

Before he knew it, it was dusk; Chen Fan saved the document and was about to log off when a new message popped up in his inbox.

He opened it and, sure enough, it was a notification that his signing had been approved.

The signing editor was named Orange Cat and came across as very enthusiastic.

“Snail Giant, your opening is so good; is this an alt account of some big-name author?”

“Our site is currently launching new perks; established authors with a proven track record will be offered very generous minimum guarantees!”

“Snail Giant, are you interested? I can apply for it for you right now!”

“Snail Giant, why aren’t you replying?”

Apparently, they needed him to actually say something before they could proceed.

Chen Fan had no energy to retort; the editor was clearly a chatterbox who just wouldn’t stop talking.

But enthusiasm was always better than aloofness.

Chen Fan answered frankly, “I’m not a top author; I’m just a newcomer.”

“Oh? I see, then you might not be able to get a high guarantee. But it’s okay; I really believe in your novel and think it has a good chance to take off, so whether there’s a guarantee or not is the same.”

“Don’t worry, Snail Giant; I’ll follow the whole process, and if you’re unsure about handling the plot you can contact me anytime.”

“I’ll tell you a secret: I used to be a Qidian boutique author; my skills are top-notch!”

“Then thanks, Orange Cat.”

Chen Fan didn’t argue and closed the chat window, then met Li Miaoyi’s curious, envious gaze.

“What are you staring at, did you finish fixing the opening?”

“It’s done…”

Li Miaoyi trembled and shyly took out the fifth version of the opening she had revised.

Chen Fan read it carefully and looked astonished.

This version represented a qualitative leap from before, with smooth pacing, a strong sense of anticipation, and the basic traits of a potential hit novel.

“Well written; from now on, write to this standard.”

“Okay!”

Li Miaoyi clenched her small fists and nearly jumped with excitement as she began to imagine making big money from her writing.

Chen Fan promptly poured cold water on her excitement and warned, “Don’t get too excited yet; let’s get through the contract stage first.”

“Also, writing online fiction isn’t as easy as you imagine; you have to guarantee at least 4,000 characters of updates every day…”

“I’ll work hard!”

Li Miaoyi subdued her emotions a little, but her eyes still shone.

She felt as if she had finally found something she truly loved to do.

After paying and logging off, the sky outside was full of the evening glow.

Chen Fan hurriedly escorted Li Miaoyi to the bus station and they caught the last bus back to her hometown.

“Brother Fan… I’m leaving now.”

Li Miaoyi waved her hand and a touch of reluctance appeared in her eyes.

The past two tumultuous days had completely broken her previous routine, and she truly wished she could stay a bit longer.

Chen Fan granted her wish; while the bus was still waiting for passengers, he stepped forward and hugged his fragrant girlfriend to his chest.

“Be careful on the road, and send me a message when you get home.”

“Mm…”

Li Miaoyi instantly tensed, her heart pounding like a drum.

She reckoned there could very well be people here who knew her, and she worried they might tell her family about what had just happened.

Then she thought of how her family had always been indifferent toward her.

Li Miaoyi pressed her lips together and instead pulled Chen Fan’s waist tighter, her flushed cheeks more beautiful than the sunset.