Chapter 44

On the way to school, Zhai Da held a metal playing card, trying to bend and flick it with one hand, then using his forward movement to catch it back in his hand.

But in his heart, he was thinking about yesterday's tutoring session.

It's hard to say what he actually learned...

He just remembered that Lu Wei's hands were beautiful and she smelled so good...

His mind was absent-minded, so the cards in his hand naturally had no accuracy; out of ten flicks, he had to bend down to pick them up seven or eight times.

He had already memorized the principles in the magic book, but he was still a long way from being proficient.

Even though the special effect "Spotlight" of the 【Joker Poker】 hadn't been unsealed yet, Zhai Da's actions could still attract the attention of passersby, and many people looked over, including some students from Maofang Middle School.

However, Zhai Da didn't care; he just treated it as building a persona, which would make it easier to have a foundation for doing unsealing tasks later.

He had already prepared a few simple card tricks and planned to try finding someone to perform for once he practiced enough.

The system only said ten close-up magic tricks without being exposed; he didn't know if the same person would count.

Because of the special material, the card in his hand made a slight "hum" and flew upward; this time it was very successful, the card flew back spinning, and Zhai Da caught it smoothly, looking up just in time to see the literary girl waiting for him on the pedestrian bridge.

Lu Siwen was still in that obedient manner, leaning against the railing and looking forward, surprised to see Zhai Da's card-flicking action.

"Classmate Zhai! Good morning! What is that?"

Zhai Da briefly waved the 【Joker Poker】 in front of Lu Siwen: "Poker, magic poker."

Lu Siwen said in surprise, "Classmate Zhai knows magic too?"

Zhai Da thought for a moment, pulled out a card, and waved it in front of Lu Siwen.

Test his skills.

Special effect "Spotlight" unsealing task: perform ten "close-up magic" shows without being exposed.

"Watch closely, this is an Ace of Spades."

Lu Siwen nodded with full expectation.

He flicked his right hand quickly, letting Lu Siwen only see a blur, then stopped suddenly.

"Now it's an Ace of Spades and an Ace of Hearts, magic over."

Lu Siwen's expectant expression froze on her face, but after a moment of stunned silence, she still clapped her little hands very supportively.

"Really amazing! That's great!"

Zhai Da looked at the system interface, where there was no reaction, and a doubt arose in his heart...

Does Lu Siwen not count as a person?

Why doesn't it count as my success?

"I have good news to tell Classmate Zhai today."

"Oh? You gave me the fountain pen completely?"

Lu Siwen was in a difficult position: "Uh... that really won't work, that pen has special significance to me..."

Adjusting the rhythm that had been disrupted, Lu Siwen said again: "The micro-fiction contest results are out! Congratulations to Classmate Zhai, you took first place without any surprises!"

Zhai Da was uninterested: "Oh... this..."

He wasn't interested at all; it was just something he did on the side to get close to Lu Siwen. He had a lot of things to do recently: his studies were on the right track, he had obtained fun new 【equipment】, and he had gained an eighteen-year-old female roommate, and last night he even got an eighteen-year-old female tutor.

Compared to that, things like the micro-fiction contest had long been thrown to the back of his mind.

So what if it's first place, does it add points to the college entrance exam?

With more than a decade of accumulated copywriting experience, it's not surprising to take first place in a bush-league contest; that micro-fiction piece mixed at least three top-tier copy styles, far beyond what the "micro-fiction" of the current era, dominated by amateur enthusiasts, could compare to.

"Is Classmate Zhai not happy? This is the Star Wave Blog contest, thousands of people across the country participated!"

Zhai Da thought to himself, so it was a blog... the predecessor of Weibo; although it would completely cool down in later generations, in this era, it belonged to the main battlefield of the internet, and many celebrities and famous people were playing with it.

He thought it was held by some newspaper office.

Even his submission was done by Lu Siwen on his behalf, and he didn't have the habit of browsing blogs on weekdays, so naturally, he had no news from beginning to end.

Thousands of people... the internet era hasn't fully arrived yet, what can this many people do...

"Yeah, that's great, I'm very happy."

Lu Siwen: "First place has a 30,000 yuan reward!"

Zhai Da's tone rose by several octaves out of thin air.

"Hmm? I'm very happy! How do I collect it?"

According to Lu Siwen, this contest was held for the first time, and at this point in time, micro-fiction was still a relatively novel thing.

Participants entered the contest directly by posting on blogs, which was also relatively simple.

Interestingly, for an online activity, the judging wasn't purely based on the number of likes from netizens; clearly, "Star Wave" hadn't figured out traffic yet, and people in this era hadn't fully embraced the internet either.

Even the internet companies themselves.

They actually found 200 public judges and 30 professional judges...

The public judges were 200 college students, and the professional judges were some teachers from the Chinese department.

How should he put it, every aspect revealed the sloppiness of the era, and also represented a probe into moving toward the internet age.

But this reward was really substantial!

"Where do I collect the 30,000 yuan? Do I need a card number? Is it tax-inclusive?"

Three questions in a row, pointing directly to the core of the problem.

Lu Siwen was a very responsible little girl and had been prepared for a long time.

"Star Wave staff left me a message, I indicated that I only submitted it on behalf of someone else and was not the author myself, but he explained it in detail."

As she spoke, she took out a small notebook, which recorded quite a few things.

The result of the first item left Zhai Da quite speechless...

"First, Classmate Zhai needs to interact with the official account on the blog, post a blog expressing his acceptance speech, and then promise to become an active user. I asked what counts as active, and he said one blog post a week is fine, regardless of length... at least support their work for the first few months, and then it won't matter."

Zhai Da's originally surprised expression was rapidly transitioning toward that of an old man on the subway.

"Secondly, they will conduct a telephone interview... Classmate Zhai needs to provide a life photo of himself, which will be made into a short news piece and placed on the website."

It was probably in some corner area, indicating that the activity was a "complete success."

"Once these two are done, they can transfer the money, but he didn't seem to mention the tax issue..."

Zhai Da thought to himself, trouble's mother burning paper for trouble, what a pain!

But... 30,000 yuan... he still had to take it.

Now his main focus was on his studies, and he couldn't let go of opportunities to earn extra money; 30,000 yuan...

Lu Wei's salary would take two and a half years to earn...

Very suddenly, for no reason, he thought of that question from Teacher Shen Rui again...

"Classmate Zhai? Classmate Zhai?"

A fair, small hand waved in front of Zhai Da, bringing him back to his senses.

"Oh, sorry, I was distracted... If I remember correctly, you must have a computer to play on a blog, right? There shouldn't be a mobile version."

Lu Siwen nodded.

"That's a bit troublesome, I don't have a computer at home, can you help me post things? I'll give you some content every week, and you just help me click post on the computer."

Lu Siwen's lively big eyes rolled.

She had long guessed that Zhai Da didn't have a computer, so she was prepared to take the initiative to provide a laptop...

Anyway, there were several at home.

But according to Zhai Da's statement... wouldn't that mean there would be many opportunities to communicate with Classmate Zhai?

So, with a bit of guilt, she chose the new plan: "Okay, you can tell me anytime, posting things is very simple."

As for that telephone interview, Zhai Da held his nose and accepted it; it was probably just some harmless, repetitive talk.

As for the time, Lu Siwen just needed to give him a heads-up in advance.

On the way, Zhai Da and Lu Siwen discussed the content to be posted on the "blog."

There was nothing to say about the first blog post: thank the contest organizers, thank Star Wave, thank the judges, thank Cang Jie.

As for the content once a week afterward, he would think about it and send it to Lu Siwen for her to post on his behalf.

On the third-year high school floor of the teaching building, just as the two were about to separate, Lu Siwen asked hesitantly: "Classmate Zhai, how is the long story you mentioned before coming along?"

This girl was in a hurry for her public grain.

Zhai Da, who had been prepared for a long time, threw out a notebook and walked gracefully into Class 8, Grade 3.

After Lu Siwen took it, she saw four characters written on it: "Long Journey of Lu Tu."

"Lu Tu... is that the protagonist's name? Looking at the name, it seems to be a travelogue?"