The vigor of youth truly felt different. Chen Yuchen had been sitting in front of his computer for three or four hours straight, typing away, yet his shoulders felt no trace of soreness. He looked at the over 10,000 words on his screen and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. Back when he was thirty, sitting for a few hours would leave his back aching, and his eyes dry and irritated. But now, at eighteen again, it seemed like all that fatigue had been left behind in another lifetime.
One issue he did realize with writing novels, though, was the craving for cigarettes. In the past, whenever he hit a mental block, Chen Yuchen would light up, taking a break as the nicotine eased his stress. Now, standing in front of the convenience store, he hesitated for a long while before deciding not to buy any. Quitting smoking was his first health goal after being reborn. In his previous life, the bad habits caught up with him as he aged, bringing constant ailments like stomach pain and insomnia. It was pure misery.
"Being young again feels so good," he muttered to himself after returning home, marveling at his current state. He felt even better than he remembered at eighteen. His senses were sharper, his memory clearer. Many things that had once been fuzzy were now easily recalled with just a small trigger, like unraveling a thread.
At 2 PM, Chen Yuchen sat back down at his computer and continued writing. By 6 PM, he headed to the sports stadium for a run. He figured he'd last about a kilometer before tiring out, given that he hadn't exercised much in years. To his surprise, he ended up running five kilometers without breaking a sweat, leaving the people around him dumbfounded.
"Young man, are you fresh out of the army?" a middle-aged man asked, catching up to him.
Chen Yuchen chuckled. "Close enough—just returned from the frontlines of another dimension."
The man was baffled by his response, but Chen Yuchen found it amusing. Clearly, his rebirth hadn't just brought psychological advantages but also enhanced his physical capabilities.
The days after the college entrance exams were simple and structured. Chen Yuchen balanced his time between writing novels and maintaining a regular exercise routine. His life became so fulfilling that even he was surprised. As for his future, he had already made up his mind—he wouldn't agonize over whether to attend a first-tier or third-tier university. College was just one phase of life; true success would depend on what he did afterward.
When his mother found out that he'd decided to attend a third-tier university, she didn't argue. She simply said with a gentle smile, "As long as you're happy." Though she was reluctant, seeing her son grow more mature filled her with pride and relief.
As for Chen Yuchen himself, the thirty-year-old version of him no longer cared about the emotional entanglements of his youth. His feelings for Lin Siyen, in particular, had long faded. Thinking back to how much effort he'd put into chasing her, he could only laugh now. Love, he realized, often held much less significance in the adult world—it could even seem absurd.
The summer heat buzzed, and the old air conditioner hummed loudly in his room. Chen Yuchen basked in the cool air, his fingers flying across the keyboard. He wrote 20,000 words a day, easily climbing to the top of the sales charts on a small web novel platform. The initial earnings were modest, around 20,000 yuan, but to Chen Yuchen, it was just the beginning.
However, writing "edgy" novels wasn't as lucrative as he hoped. He began to feel that relying on this genre for income wasn't a long-term plan. Worse, it could even bring trouble down the line. So, he started looking for quicker ways to make money.
One day, while lurking in a writers' chat group, he overheard a lively discussion among other authors about different writing markets.
"Writing for male readers doesn't pay as well. It's the female readership that brings in the real money!" one author complained.
"Yeah, you can get a book on the shelf with just 50,000 words in the female market, and subscriptions there cost twice as much as in the male market!"
"Not to mention, female readers are more generous with rewards. They'll send gifts worth tens of thousands!"
"And they have better chances for physical book deals too. Us male-market writers get nothing like that."
Hearing this, Chen Yuchen perked up. Writing for female readers is this profitable? He thought it over and realized he could definitely give it a shot. After all, the kind of work he was writing now wasn't exactly highbrow, and the female market not only offered higher returns but also opportunities for publishing. It seemed like a promising new direction.
He immediately began brainstorming. What's so hard about writing for female readers? Isn't it just one female protagonist surrounded by a bunch of guys? A cold and aloof CEO, a gentle next-door neighbor, a sweet, puppy-like younger man… Throw in some emotional twists and turns, and that's exactly the kind of drama readers loved.
With inspiration flowing, Chen Yuchen sketched out a plot. The female lead would be an ordinary girl from a poor family. Her father had remarried, and her selfish, conniving stepmother favored her own biological daughter. At a lavish party, the stepmother planned to introduce the daughter to a wealthy second-generation heir, but fate had other ideas—the rich heir ended up falling for the female lead instead. Enter the domineering CEO, who suddenly appears, traps the female lead against the wall, and with a devilish smile, declares, "You belong to me!"
Chen Yuchen's excitement grew as he wrote. Writing for female readers was actually easier than writing for men! Male-market stories required research, world-building, and complex fight scenes, whereas female-market stories thrived on emotional drama and catfights. He laughed to himself, thoroughly enjoying the process.
Soon enough, with just 30,000 words published, an editor approached him for a contract. By the time he reached 60,000 words, the novel was already on the platform's bestseller list, quickly becoming a dark horse in the female fiction market.
"See? In this world, you've got to use your brain to make money," Chen Yuchen thought smugly. He even gave himself a stylish new pen name—Mr. Chen.