Ren He turned and smiled, "What a coincidence, meeting again." He recalled the time when he left, he had checked his watch; it was already 11 p.m. Was the other person still coming out for a night run?
"You're running this late?" Duan Xiaolou smiled as she sized up Ren He, noticing that the boy seemed to change a little every time she saw him.
"I got held up by some things and was busy until now, but I just can't feel good without running for a day, so I dressed and came out," Ren He explained. After all, the performance of the "divine book" was more important now, and updating is the most basic condition for a new book to come to prominence; and updating takes time.
"Yeah, I got held up too, just like you. So, how about we run together?" Duan Xiaolou said with a laugh. She asked very naturally, as if she wasn't afraid of being rejected, because few people ever turned her down.
"Sure," Ren He didn't refuse. Running together didn't seem like a big deal.
As they were running, Duan Xiaolou suddenly asked, "I never saw you run before, so why did you suddenly start running?"
Ren He had only started running half a month ago.
"Would you believe me if I said I run for my life?" Ren He joked half-seriously.
No shit, of course she wouldn't believe that, Duan Xiaolou didn't take the bait but glanced at him and asked, "I heard that our group is going out for a trip, and you're not planning to go?"
"Yeah, I'm broke, can't afford it," Ren He answered frankly.
Duan Xiaolou was stunned for a moment; she thought he would come up with some other excuse, like being busy or not being allowed by his family, considering how much teenagers value face. At the age of fourteen or fifteen, if someone hurt their pride, it could lead to a fight.
14-years-old, the age when one looks back at the playground with its long grass and singsong birds like a sea of light, a time when everyone is still in their youthful prime.
At this point, having a 26-year-old "uncle" pop into Duan Xiaolou's life was something she found herself unaccustomed to.
Duan Xiaolou hesitated; it seemed like she wanted to offer to lend Ren He some money, but she knew that could hurt his pride even more.
However, Ren He's mind wasn't as complicated as she imagined; having been reborn, with experiences of his twenties from his previous life and having struggled in society, he knew that face didn't matter at all.
Besides, his so-called lack of money was only temporary. Soon, he would have money, a lot of money—more than his classmates could ever imagine. Enough to buy ice cream, one to eat and one to toss, how posh!
He had to admit, facing his middle school peers again, he couldn't help feeling a sense of superiority. He didn't feel that talking this way would lose him any face.
Duan Xiaolou smiled wryly, "Alright then." For some reason, she was beginning to think that Ren He was quite different from his peers.
…
The next afternoon during class, when Ren He opened the Shengshi Chinese website's mobile app, he felt something was off, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.
No, that's not right. He closed the app and reopened it, only to find that the startup cover had changed to his own book's cover! Below it was a line: "New Literary Trend!"
Holy shit, is my novel considered the new literary trend now?!
When he opened the app, Ren He was utterly floored.
New Book Strong Push: Divine Book!
Xuanhuan Masterpiece: Divine Book!
Famous Authors' Work: Divine Book!
Editor's Top Recommendation: Divine Book!
He never imagined that in one day, "Divine Book" would get four recommendations all at once; Ren He felt like his book was literally spamming him!
He hadn't expected that when Dongfang Mobai told him not to worry, this was what he meant!
Others get one recommendation per week, yet he got four in just one day. He did update faster than others, but now it seemed that the editors planned to shorten the new book's cycle and use a barrage of recommendations to forcefully push it to the shelves!
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Others may need a 4 to 6-week period for new book recommendations, but he might get it done in just two weeks!
Ren He hurriedly opened the messaging app to find Dongfang Mobai, "Editor big shot Geili, editor big shot is awesome!"
"Enough with the brown-nosing. Primarily promoting you is also the chief editor's idea, and it's because of your own good performance."
Ren He said cheerfully, "When I go to Shanghai, I must treat Brother Mobai to a good time, hehehe, hahaha."
"Get lost..."
Ren He closed the messaging app and thought for a while: It seems that my book has already gained the attention of the prosperous Chinese web, and the path I have carved out is reliable.
The author group exploded once more, "Did you guys see that?! Just yesterday they were saying that his book might not even hit 500,000 words by the time it's launched, but today they just cranked out four recommendations in one go! They're pushing hard to launch it earlier than planned!"
"And all of them are good recommendations too, quick, check out his stats!"
Watching as the book's collection numbers soared by more than ten thousand in just a few hours, rivaling the results of others after weeks of recommendations! And this was far from over, as these recommendations lasted for 24 hours, and only a few had passed so far; the crazy growth was just beginning!
By now, the book had started to attract more spontaneous donations from readers, and the comments were filled with exclamations of how thrilling it was to read.
The author group fell silent, then someone suggested, "Let's invite him into the group, shall we? For future leg-hugging, you know?" If someone in the group became a deity, just a casual recommendation at the end of a chapter would be as effective as a promotional spot. Even if they found his book too simplistic for their taste, there was no need to show it openly, right? After all, they were all adults, why act so childish.
"Let's invite him..."
"Invite my ass! How do we invite him! He hasn't even left any contact information!"
Indeed, they suddenly realized that Ren He never once left his contact information for the messaging app; it seemed he never intended to integrate into the online literary community. He was solely focused on making money, he had such a clear and decisive goal...
Some authors sent him private messages with the group number, but, predictably, they went ignored since Ren He never checked his private messages.
To these second and third-tier authors, the writer of the book seemed like a hermit, aloofly observing the noisy world of web literature from the outside.
They couldn't possibly imagine that the writer of this potentially legendary book was just a junior high student who had just entered the ninth grade.
Ren He looked at his phone and let out a gentle sigh of relief; the big weight in his heart finally lifted. With the prosperous Chinese web positioning him as a standard-bearer, even a pig would be pushed to the top, let alone "The New Direction of Literature"?
...
During class, he suddenly heard some soft chatter from the row in front, "Did you hear? Ren He doesn't even have money to go out and play, I heard it with my own ears sitting in front of him yesterday. I was wondering why Ren He suddenly started getting into sports. His family has no money and his grades aren't good; without sports, he really has no other prospects."
Ni Ma, Ren He's face darkened. Damn middle schoolers already judging each other based on family wealth, would you guys turn out any better when grown up? Could socialism really entrust its future to such snobs? Just wait till I get my manuscript fees, I'll make your faces swell!
Little Fatty, his desk mate, also heard the discussion and turned his head to look at Ren He with concern, "Why don't I lend you some money? You don't have to rush to pay me back, just whenever you have the money."
Huh, Ren He suddenly saw Little Fatty in a new light. In the memories of Ren He's current body, he and Little Fatty had always been close friends, which is why they colluded to sit in the last row together. It seemed that the money for internet cafes and skewers had always been on Little Fatty.
Little Fatty's name was Xu Nuo, an in-and-out otaku, coddled from childhood, with his family running a business and providing him a very comfortable life, which was why he could afford to be so plump.
Ren He pondered for a moment, "No need, buddy has money, will have money in a few days, but even when I have money, I can't be bothered to participate in those kinds of activities, you know."
Xu Nuo, Little Fatty, nodded, taking Ren He's words as his excuse. The two were best friends—how could they not understand each other? If Ren He had more than fifty cents in his pocket now, Xu Nuo would livestream smashing eggs on his head!
When school was over, Ren He received a call from Elder Zhou, "Hello, Elder Zhou, have you arrived?"
There came the cheerful laughter from the other end of the phone, "I didn't want to disturb your studies, so I waited until the school bell rang to call you. I'm already at the entrance, waiting for you there."
"Got it!" Ren He beamed as he hung up the phone and patted Xu Nuo's shoulder, "The guy bringing money for me has arrived!"
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