In a bookstore in Jiang City.
A female student entered, looking at the most conspicuous spot.
"Oh, the latest version of Story Session is out."
She picked it up to take a look.
She was a loyal reader of Story Session, very picky with her choices.
Typical articles no longer caught her interest now.
She casually picked it up and was immediately captivated by a new story.
"Those Miserable Years of Youth."
After reading the beginning, she fell in love with the story.
So, when paying, she ticked the box.
Customers who buy Story Session were asked to tick the box for the story that made them purchase it.
You could choose up to three.
This was also used to record the performance of each article.
From yesterday's sales to now.
In this one bookstore, the sales data of "Those Miserable Years of Youth" was far ahead of other articles.
The female student walked while reading.
She accidentally bumped into an electric pole.
She held her head, her eyes red.
But her gaze was still focused on the Story Session in her hand.
"Sob sob sob, such a romantic boy, why can't I meet one? I'm going to follow this story to the end."
"Those Miserable Years of Youth" went viral!
Whether it was the title or the content, it hit where it hurt for most girls.
And, as they shared it with each other, its reputation grew bigger and bigger.
...
Story Session, sales department.
Lin Nan rushed over first thing in the morning.
Apart from her, two other deputy editors also came.
They all wanted to know how their contracted authors did.
The deputy editors all greeted with friendly smiles, but there was hostility brewing beneath the surface.
They were all eying the position of the chief editor.
"How is it, are the results out?" Liu Yue, the deputy editor with glasses, asked.
The sales department director asked them to wait.
Then he operated on the computer for a while and printed out a form.
The deputy editors quickly huddled over.
At a glance, Lin Nan immediately burst into laughter.
Ranked first was "Those Miserable Years of Youth," the story she had signed!
The popularity score was fifty-eight thousand!
Each tick made by a customer equated to one popularity point.
Meaning, in the few days since this latest version of Story Session went online.
Nearly sixty thousand people bought it due to "Those Miserable Years of Youth."
The second place only had a popularity score slightly over ten thousand.
And it was from a level five writer.
There was an internal writer leaderboard in Story Session.
It was ranked according to the past sales of their works.
Level one was the lowest, with ten being the highest.
But there was only one level six writer within Story Session.
"Oh, I accidentally ended up first. I'm really sorry."
Even though she said this, the smile on Lin Nan's mouth was harder to suppress than an AK47.
She had gotten one step closer to the position of the chief editor.
The other deputy editors' faces were more miserable than if they had eaten a fly.
"Ah, Anping, you gave me a huge surprise."
Lin Nan was in an excellent mood.
She swiftly returned to her office.
She wanted to strike while the iron was hot and hurry to update the following chapters to the next edition.
...
"Jiang Xu, have you read 'Those Miserable Years of My Youth'?"
After class, Fu Yanjie came over.
"No, what's up?"
"You don't know, this novel became popular, all the classes are discussing it.
Even though I'm a big guy, I sobbed when I read it.
The male lead is too emotional, too touching."
Jiang Xu hehe chuckled, "I wrote it."
"Pfft!" Fu Yanjie scorned, "Stop bragging, you don't have even a slice of talent."
Jiang Xu seriously said, "I really wrote it."
Fu Yanjie rolled his eyes, outright not believing, "If you wrote this novel, I'll call you dad."
Jiang Xu: "Really, man."
Was it really okay to have an extra son out of nowhere?
"Why are you so happy?"
The moment Jiang Xu saw An Nuonuo return from the restroom, there was a subtle smile on his lips.
"I ran into Brother Jun Yue." After the young girl sat down, she excitedly said,
"I saw him just now on the first floor.
I didn't realize he was at this school, I never noticed before.
It's been many years since we last met, he's changed so much.
He has become taller and more handsome, and his voice is very gentle."
"Jun Yue?" Jiang Xu furrowed his brows, "Who? Why haven't I heard you talk about him before?"
Instinctively, Jiang Xu felt a sense of alertness.
This better not be some childhood sweetheart story, right?
An Nuonuo said, "He was the big brother in the village back in the day."
Jiang Xu recalled An Nuonuo telling him that when she was younger, her family lived in the country.
"Brother Junyue was very kind. When we were kids, he would often play with me, he always defended me when someone bullied me..."
The young girl's spirits today were especially high.
Jiang Xu felt a bit jealous.
He still had a long way to go before he could have his beauty in his arms.
And suddenly, Brother Junyue pops up.
Judging from the girl's tone and expression.
There definitely couldn't be any romantic feelings towards this brother.
But.
This kind of friendship established in childhood, during the most pure and naïve period of time.
If there were any external influences, there was a high chance it could develop into love.
Fu Yanjie subtly winked at Jiang Xu at a high frequency.
Transmitting a silent telegraph: is this your romantic rival?
Jiang Xu replied: hehe, it's small potatoes, I'm not worried.
The bell for class rang.
Fu Yanjie ran back to his seat.
Jiang Xu said to An Nuonuo, "Tomorrow morning, I'll take you somewhere."
"Oh..." An Nuonuo looked hesitant, "But Brother Junyue just asked me.
He asked me to go help in his apple orchard tomorrow.
He really helped me a lot when we were kids.
He would often give me delicious food to eat.
So I can't refuse, can we go the day after tomorrow?"
Jiang Xu raised an eyebrow, "Just the two of you?"
"No, his sister and another girl from our village will be there."
Relieved, as long as they weren't alone together, it was fine.
Jiang Xu was not the type to be overly possessive.
If he had to make sure An Nuonuo was by his side 24/7.
Not letting her get to know other people.
It would not only be impossible, but also overly narrow-minded.
Moreover.
She's not even his girlfriend yet.
If he showed any excessive behavior, he could likely scare An Nuonuo away.
So he nodded, "Alright, the day after tomorrow."
They had another mock exam in the afternoon.
Not surprisingly, Jiang Xu remained first place.
What was surprising though, was An Nuonuo's significant improvement.
She had jumped from being in 20-30th place in class, to the top fifteen.
This speed of improvement was alarming.
Apart from Jiang Xu's supervision.
More importantly, her own talent seemed to show.
This woman from his past life seemed to be getting plump these days.
After school.
Fu Yanjie ran over.
Quietly he said to Jiang Xu, "About your romantic rival, Brother Jun Yue,
I found a very important clue!"