Lu Fan sighed as he saw Li Lin off. This girl drained too much of his mental energy.
There was nothing wrong with her per se, but Lu Fan just didn't feel comfortable letting his guard down in front of her. She had too many tricks up her sleeve and if he slipped up a little…
That aside, he could also feel her… kindness. She had this innocent side that Lu Fan could not ignore. He could only attribute her twisted personality to her environment when she was growing up.
He had heard of many stories where kids grew up to become abominations just because their parents were busy making money to raise them properly. Hell, some parents also had the same kind of upbringing. From whence were they supposed to learn how to raise their kids?
Chasing away those thoughts, Lu Fan made his way to the kitchen to talk to Chen Lu about this peculiar guest. Lu Fan did not want her to misunderstand the relationship between him and Li Lin.
He also wanted to use this chance to ease Chen Lu into accepting his newfound wealth.
He had made millions of dollars in the stock market but they were still floating there. He did not have anything to do with all that money at the moment except to continue trading. But that was bound to change soon.
He had to at least let Chen Lu know that his money did not come from shady places. That was also the reason he decided to have the Literary Studio just a block away.
Chen Lu was likely to believe that he made more money writing books than trading. She might not even understand what the stock market is.
"Has the guest left?"
"Yes, mom. She came to talk to me about the book I've been writing. I plan to open a studio soon to sell my books."
"Eh, how does that even work? Do you need any money? I can borrow a loan from Cang Zi."
"No, I don't need money…"
Lu Fan then explained the concepts of opening a studio and how they made money.
Literature, especially the kind that Lu Fan was currently involved in did not have that much money for a private firm like the one that he wanted to open. It was still 2009 and the market for Light Novels was still in its early development and classical writing was more stable.
But that was only temporary.
Lu Fan was honestly burning money by starting with a big framework like the one that he had discussed with Li Lin, but that did not matter. He had already planned to invest in this field early on so that he could swallow the larger percentage of the market before everybody else was any wiser.
His plan was simple really. It was to make it free.
The first thing he did was explain the concept of using the internet instead of printing to distribute the books. There were websites already doing this, but there were no quality works to speak of.
His idea was to buy the copyrights for completed works and post them for free on his website.
When Li Lin heard his idea, she looked at him like he was the father of all idiots. The books that he wanted to buy were all best sellers that could generate millions but here he was making them public!? Template: IDIOT successfully equipped.
Lu Fan did not care about what she thought and readily laid out similar plans that made her question her own logic.
Who in their right mind pays someone hundreds of thousands of yuan to write short stories with no particular plot? Lu Fan just made a couple of outlines on the spot and had her look for authors to write whatever.
Did he have too much money or what? Li Lin did not understand his thinking. She even started reconsidering her choices.
Lu Fan only gave instructions and did not explain himself. There were too many advanced concepts and he was not going to enlighten this genius at this time. She was bound to catch on quickly when every cog started working together.
Of the five floors he got from Li Lin, Lu Fan had her make the first floor into a bookstore. The culture of ACG was strong and Lu Fan wanted to bring it close to him. It was his source of wealth after all.
The second floor was going to be a pro-gaming center and an internet café at the side. Technological advancements were going to happen one after another and few in the gaming community could afford to change hardware every now and then. He planned to get the hardware and charge these game addicts for it.
The third was going to be a Library. Libraries were slowly being phased out and those that would manage to survive had strong backing. Lu Fan did not have any grand ambitions for the library, but he wanted to collect as many books as possible. There was also the aspect of digitizing books.
Lu Fan was just giving people like Xu Ling'er a means to make money as he built his online library. It was also a good way to train aspiring writers and editors. Somehow, this philanthropic idea had become awfully capitalistic.
The fourth floor was to be the Studio. A literary studio was mainly for connecting writers to the market but Lu Fan wanted more.
He wanted to turn his studio into a brand, a religion. That was why he was so crazy about the benefits he was giving to writers. Li Lin and many other might think that he was pouring money down the drain, but so what?
Making money was no longer an issue, what he need now was wealth that money could not buy. If he did it well, he would be a power in the film and entertainment industry.
Lu Fan had Li Lin prepare everything that else and decided to take care of the website himself. All he needed was to watch a few YouTube videos, write a couple 'Hello World', and buy attributes to bring everything together.
As for the fifth floor, Lu Fan had initially decided to make it a dorm for his workers, but Li Lin was very adamant about her privacy. Her strong refusal surprised Lu Fan but he easily accepted it.
The building was hers to begin with, it was better to avoid any complication. He decided to make it his office.
His trading skills were out of this world and the amount of money he was dealing with at the moment was already enough to give normal people a heart attack. He did not want to continue doing it casually on a small computer.
His skills were also ungodly, it was better to have his private space where he did not have to hide from anyone. As for Li Lin causing mischief, Lu Fan did not worry too much. She was a smart girl. Troublesome as she might be, she knew where to stop. At least that was what he hoped.