Zhou Yuwen had been writing the novel "I Don't Want to Rebirth" for four months. Its performance had always been quite good, bringing him an extra inco of over a hundred thousand yuan every month. However, in December, the novel suddenly exploded in popularity. This was especially true on university campuses, where both male and female students read it with imnse relish.
The two female leads even beca the standard for modern male university students looking for a partner. So liked the childhood sweetheart with a ponytail. Although she was a bit willful, every frown and smile described in the text completely captivated the readers.
anwhile, another group of people preferred the girl from Sichuan and Chongqing, who silently endured whatever grievances ca her way.
As the saying goes, when the ti is right, heaven and earth work together; when luck is gone, even heroes are not free. This statent could not be more accurate.
Everything that happened seed like an accident, yet everything also felt inevitable.
In short, during the last month of 2013, boys were whispering to each other, all discussing the sa novel. Whether they were cursing it or praising it, they simply could not stop reading.
Jiang Chao, the sports committee mber of Zhou Yuwen's class, sat in the back during every lecture, stealing glances at Gu Yaoyao with a silly grin. He told his roommates, "Yaoyao is my Xiao Yu'er."
Li Qiang, who happened to be walking by, heard this and could not help but let out a scoffing laugh. "Co on, Chao, what kind of joke is that? Gu Yaoyao's personality is exactly the sa as that kept woman from high school. How can you even associate her with Xiao Yu'er?"
"What the hell kind of nonsense are you spouting? How can my Yaoyao be compared to that promiscuous woman?" Jiang Chao was imdiately displeased.
Jiang Chao quite liked the other aspects of "I Don't Want to Rebirth," but he just could not understand why the author gave a delinquent girl so much plot relevance. Damn it, the protagonist was reborn and rich; why was he still entangled with a delinquent girl?
Most of the classmates who read the novel along with Jiang Chao felt that this plotline was unreasonable.
Furthermore, the male lead introducing the female lead's bestie to his best friend was another point of harsh criticism.
Listening to Jiang Chao and a few others at the back of the classroom verbally crucifying Shang Qianqian, one of the female leads, Chang Hao could not stand it anymore. "She just made a little mistake in high school. Who hasn't made mistakes when they were young? Anyway, I really like this character. I think she is exceptionally realistic," he argued.
Hearing Chang Hao's words, the group could not help but freeze in surprise.
"Wait, Brother Hao, people from Jingcheng read web novels too?" Li Qiang asked.
Chang Hao was a bit annoyed. "What do you an by that? Are Jingcheng locals not allowed to read novels?"
"No, no, I'm just pretty shocked. I thought only us losers read these kind of fantasy fulfillnt novels," Li Qiang grinned.
Li Qiang's words imdiately offended the surrounding classmates.
"Hey, if you want to call yourself a loser, don't drag us down with you, okay?"
"This novel is different from the others."
Among these few guys, Chang Hao was actually the one reading it the most seriously. Most other students had only skimd a couple of chapters because it received so many recomndations this month. The mont they encountered a part they disliked, they would simply stop reading.
But Chang Hao had genuinely read through the entire novel twice from start to finish. Sotis, frustrated by the slow updates, he even tipped the author with real money.
He had also left a comnt for the author, saying how much he loved the book and hoping they would keep writing.
"I don't have much financial ability right now, but once I start working, I'm going to tip the author a Grandmaster rank. I hope the author writes Shang Qianqian well. She is a good girl."
Chang Hao said that he could not get into other novels, but with this one, you could just flip to a random page and the prose alone was enough to draw you in.
"I still rember the first few chapters, where the protagonist went back to his hotown to harvest wheat. His grandmother didn't recognize anyone else, but she recognized the protagonist as her grandson, and she even secretly stuffed money into his hands."
"When I read that part, I actually cried. Really, the author writes so well. He wrote her exactly like my own grandmother. My grandma was just like that, always giving
all the good stuff since I was little."
Chang Hao grew more emotional as he spoke. He originally thought he was the only one reading this book, only to find out today that everyone was reading it.
The crowd watched Chang Hao's earnest expression.
"Brother Hao, you... you actually cried?" Li Qiang asked.
Chang Hao realized he had shared a bit too much, and his face reddened slightly. Yet, he still retorted, "Shouldn't I? The author truly writes incredibly well. I heard his manuscript fee for this single month has already surpassed one million yuan."
"Oh, oh, I heard about that too! I also heard that the boss of so listed company directly tipped him two million yuan! Writing novels is so profitable. If I had that kind of literary talent, I would just write a novel and achieve financial freedom!" Li Qiang said, his face full of envy.
Chang Hao scoffed, "Don't even think about it. With your garbage writing skills, even an eight-hundred-word essay is a struggle, let alone a novel!"
"Hehe, true enough. The author is a professional. I reckon they couldn't write sothing like this without over a decade of solid foundational skill."
"More than a decade! I feel like the author must be a professional working in this specific industry," Jiang Chao added, discussing it with a few of his roommates.
Soone piped up, ntioning a rumor that the author was only eighteen years old.
"Really? Is that true?"
"Impossible. Just looking at the life experience in the writing, there's no way they're eighteen."
"Yeah, exactly."
"The website said they're hosting an exclusive interview with the author tonight at eight o'clock," one of Jiang Chao's roommates noted.
"Then won't we know how old the author is by then?"
Ordinarily, no one would care about the age of the author of a novel they were reading. But this particular author had far too many legends surrounding them. One mont they were eighteen, the next they were forty, and so even claid the author was a woman. This greatly piqued everyone's curiosity.
While the boys in the back row were chatting heatedly, the girls in the front row were listening in a daze, slightly confused.
Mostly, it was because they vaguely caught the na Gu Yaoyao.
"Yaoyao, it sounds like they're talking about you," Li Jing whispered.
"I heard it too. It seems like they're comparing Yaoyao to the female lead in a novel," Ma Tian added.
"What novel?" Gu Yaoyao asked curiously.
"I think it's called 'I Don't Want to Rebirth'?"
"It is called 'I Don't Want to Rebirth'. It's super popular. I heard it made a million yuan last month!"
"Are you serious?" Hearing it made over a million, Liu Yue instantly beca interested, especially when Ma Tian ntioned the author was around their age.
Liu Yue could not help but ask, "I wonder if he's handso?"
"If he's handso, I'll have him teach
how to write novels," Liu Yue said with a cheeky smile.
Ma Tian rolled her eyes. "If he's that good at making money and handso to boot, do you really think he'd fancy you?"
Liu Yue was just joking, naturally. She acted as the codian in their dormitory; even when the other girls made fun of her, she did not mind and would often make self-deprecating jokes.
Ma Tian had heard about it from a boy she was good friends with, who also ntioned the exclusive interview at eight o'clock tonight. Liu Yue imdiately suggested they check it out.
Fueled by the novel platform's promotions, the book's exposure had indeed skyrocketed. December was only half over, but Zhou Yuwen's royalty earnings for the month had already broken past one million yuan. It was estimated that, even excluding a million in tips, his royalties alone for this single month would exceed three million yuan.
Almost all the boys in the university were discussing it. Even those who had not read the novel began using its characters to describe girls.
For instance, if a girl was particularly gentle and obedient, the boys would call her Shen Xiao Yu.
Yes, she was practically the real-life Shen Xiao Yu!
The girls found this nickna very strange and went online to search for it, only then discovering that it referred to a female lead in a novel.
Take Shen Yu, for example. Today, while rehearsing for the New Year's gala in the auditorium, she was inexplicably confessed to by a sophomore senior male student.
For a beautiful and exceptionally well-bred girl like Shen Yu, receiving confessions from smitten boys was a normal occurrence. The guy rushed up to her out of nowhere with a bouquet of roses and loudly declared, "Shen Yu, please give
a chance!"
Shen Yu was initially stunned but quickly recovered. "First of all, thank you for liking . However, I am very sorry, I truly have no plans to date during university."
The boy looked visibly disappointed but refused to give up. "Can't we even be friends?"
"I don't make friends with the opposite sex, sorry," Shen Yu said with a polite, friendly smile.
His confession had caused quite a stir. He had even organized a lot of students to cheer and jeer, claiming Shen Yu was his white moonlight and that she felt just like Shen Xiao Yu from the novel.
Shen Yu was very puzzled. 'Who on earth is Shen Xiao Yu?'
"It's a very popular male-oriented novel lately," explained a female classmate who worked with Shen Yu in the Student Union.
The boy who confessed to Shen Yu was also an outstanding Student Union officer. Barring any accidents, he was slated to temporarily take over as head of the Organization Departnt next sester.
In the eyes of the other students, his confession ant he and Shen Yu were a match made in heaven.
They could not understand why Shen Yu would reject him.
Shen Yu's given reason was that he failed to give her a sense of reliability and groundedness.
"I just don't know how to describe this feeling," Shen Yu told her roommates after returning to her dorm.
A few girls from the neighboring dorm, who had undoubtedly accepted so sort of bribe from the boy, spared no effort in speaking up for him, even following Shen Yu into her room.
They pleaded, "Oh, co on, Shen Yu! We're only seventeen or eighteen. This grounded feeling you're talking about is way too far removed from us right now. If Minister Liu isn't reliable, then who in our entire university do you think is?"
Hearing this, Shen Yu rely smiled without saying a word, reiterating that she simply hadn't thought it through and genuinely had no intentions of dating during college.
However, out of respect for him, Shen Yu still searched Baidu for that female lead.
Her conclusion was: "You see, he doesn't actually understand
at all. Baidu says this female lead is sowhat socially anxious and timid. Clearly, he has just idealized
far too much."
The other girls joined Shen Yu in reading the summary. Shen Yu had opened a Baidu Baike page that featured the profiles of several female leads. After reading them, everyone burst into laughter, remarking that it was indeed a male-oriented novel—it was written with far too much wishful thinking.
"There's no way girls like this exist."
"Exactly. Constantly putting the male lead first and considering him wholeheartedly—it's way too chauvinistic."
The girls chattered back and forth, heavily criticizing the female characters in the novel. Their final conclusion was that the boys were just fantasizing too much.
How could several girls all revolve around one guy?
"I heard the author of this novel made several million in one month?"
"Are you serious? Are web novels really that profitable nowadays?"
"I honestly feel like if I tried to write one, I could do it too."
Shen Yu, who was browsing through information about the novel, paid little mind to the girls' confident claims. As she searched for the book, nurous Baidu entries popped up, such as: "Novel's single-month manuscript fee breaks past two million last month!"
Or the news that had just broken yesterday:
"Boss of a listed company lavishly throws two million for a novel."
There was even an article claiming that the author of this novel was only eighteen! One news piece after another left the girls sowhat astounded.
Shen Yu felt that if the author could get this popular, they must undoubtedly possess so extraordinary talent.
The three girls from the neighboring dorm huddled around Shen Yu, reading the novel's information alongside her and discussing it fervently.
Su Qing was sitting at her own desk drawing. She found this group of girls rather noisy and annoying.
Right after her rebirth, Su Qing had constantly wanted Zhou Yuwen to write novels to recreate the brilliance she had missed out on in her past life.
But later, upon learning that Zhou Yuwen was already making money through business, that desire had faded significantly.
Now, all she wanted was to help Zhou Yuwen expand his enterprise and achieve even greater glory.
As for things like novels...
Hmph. Listening to their discussion, Su Qing was highly disdainful.
'If my hubby wrote a novel, it would definitely be much better than the one you're all talking about,' Su Qing thought to herself.
"Hey, they say there's an exclusive interview with the author at eight o'clock today. Isn't it about to start?" Shen Yu asked.
"You're right! Where's the interview? Let's check it out and see if he's handso."
"Geez, is whether he's handso all you care about?"
"Giggle... he definitely isn't handso. How could a handso guy have the ti to write web novels? I heard that male-oriented novel authors are all fat, balding guys with receding hairlines who pick at their feet while typing."
"Are you serious? Open it up and let's see."
'You guys are so vulgar,' Su Qing thought.
Not all authors are balding, foot-picking slobs, okay?
At the very least, my hubby isn't.
Just as they were talking, the website's interview broadcast began playing on the computer. It started with a female host dressed in an office lady suit, wearing black pantyhose and high heels beneath her skirt.
It was the exact sa formula used for esports comntary: the black-pantyhosed female host was a staple, and even her sitting posture was identical.
She ca on screen, waving both hands and greeting the audience, "Hello, everyone! Welco to this episode of our exclusive author interview."
"Today, we have invited the newly crowned god of urban novels, the author of 'I Don't Want to Rebirth.' So, Mr. Author, please introduce yourself." The host turned to the side with a beaming smile.
The cara followed her gaze, revealing Zhou Yuwen's true face. He smiled gently and said, "Hello, everyone. I am the author of 'I Don't Want to Rebirth,' Zhou Yuwen."
"Snap!"
The pencil in Su Qing's hand snapped in half.
"T-this guy... isn't this Zheng Yanyan's boyfriend!?"
"Yes! Yes, he is Yanyan's boyfriend! I rember now! I was wondering why he looked so familiar!"
"This guy is from our university!???"
The girls, who had initially just been watching for the fun of it, instantly exploded in shock.
Soone they actually knew in real life had suddenly appeared on their computer screen.
And he was doing an exclusive interview!???
Earning several million in a single month!?
"Ah! Su Qing, why are you pushing !?"
Su Qing shoved her way through the group, staring at the incredibly handso and distinguished Zhou Yuwen sitting on the sofa.
She beca overwhelmingly excited in an instant.
"My... my hubby! It's my hubby!" Su Qing stomped her feet in sheer thrill.
"???"
Plenty of people read web novels in 2013, but an eighteen-year-old author would absolutely not beco a household na. At most, he would garner the attention of a few tens of thousands of readers.
Dispersed across the entire country, those tens of thousands of people wouldn't even make a splash.
However, for Zhou Yuwen's own university...
It was absolutely explosive news.
At that very mont, Zheng Yanyan was doing yoga with Lu Lin in the school's yoga studio.
Going through a breakup was very painful.
But what could she do about her sadness?
She could only hope that Zhou Yuwen would change his mind.
Right now, Zheng Yanyan had set up a specific friend group on her WeChat Monts exclusively for Zhou Yuwen. These past few days, she had been posting sexy photos in this group every single day, just hoping Zhou Yuwen would see them. Even if it rely attracted his sexual interest and made him want to sleep with her, Zheng Yanyan would be happy.
But for so unknown reason, after posting for two or three days straight, Zhou Yuwen had not even left a single "Like."
This inevitably left Zheng Yanyan feeling quite disappointed.
'Is Zhou Yuwen really going to break up with ?' Zheng Yanyan wondered.
As a girl with a dance background, Zheng Yanyan's figure was genuinely top-tier. Wearing yoga pants, she struck various alluring poses in front of the large mirror, snapping pictures of herself.
Then, she edited the photos and set the visibility group so they were only visible to Zhou Yuwen.
She not only showed off her thighs to Zhou Yuwen but flaunted her curves as well.
Yet, after a dozen minutes had passed, Zhou Yuwen still hadn't liked the post.
'What is Zhou Yuwen doing?'
Zheng Yanyan felt intensely curious.
Right then, one of Zheng Yanyan's high school classmates suddenly sent her a ssage.
"Ding-dong!"
It was a website link.
The second ssage read:
"Yanyan, take a look, is this your boyfriend? Your boyfriend is on TV!"
?
Zhou Yuwen?
Stunned, Zheng Yanyan quickly clicked the link.
As soon as she opened it, she saw the female host in black pantyhose laughing and saying, "Yes, um, I heard that your manuscript fee for this single month has already surpassed three million yuan. Is that true?"
Zhou Yuwen responded in a totally serious manner, "Yes, if you count the tips, my royalties for this single month have indeed broken past three million yuan."
"Wow~" The host looked visibly amazed.
"Well then, big boss, do you have a girlfriend?" the female host blinked and asked.
anwhile, the boys' dormitories were exploding even more violently.
Basically, there were people shouting down the hallways.
"Holy shit! The author of 'I Don't Want to Rebirth' is Zhou Yuwen from Garden Engineering Class 2!?"
"Fuck , the author of 'I Don't Want to Rebirth' is Zhou Yuwen from the 2013 cohort of our university!?"
"Zhou Yuwen made three million in a single month!"
Liu Shuo was currently in a rented apartnt, working hard as he plowed away on top of Lü Hui.
But then, his phone started ringing incessantly.
Highly irritated, Liu Shuo answered the call.
"If you're going to answer the phone, then answer it properly! Pull out first," Lü Hui snapped.
"It won't get in the way," Liu Shuo replied.
"Hello?" So, Liu Shuo stayed exactly where he was and took the call.
"Boss! Boss! Brother Zhou! Brother Zhou!"
"What's wrong with my brother!?" The mont Liu Shuo heard it was about Zhou Yuwen, he instantly got worked up.
"Brother Zhou is on TV! Brother Zhou is so freaking aweso!"
"???"
Just as they were talking, another call ca through.
"Brother Shuo! Brother Zhou is on TV!"
"Brother Shuo, Brother Zhou is on TV!"
With one ssage after another flooding in, Liu Shuo was completely dumbfounded. He followed the website link and clicked in.
"It should be around three million this month."
Three million!?
Three million!!!
Seeing the interview alongside Liu Shuo, Lü Hui's mouth dropped wide open, completely unable to close.
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