Chapter 196

3rd morning.

Zhao Rongjun lay on Li Luo's bed, sleeping soundly, when he vaguely felt the mattress shift.

He barely opened his eyes, glanced over, and saw Li Luo had already gotten up and was putting on clothes.

He looked again at the clock on the wall: 5:30.

"What the… why are you getting up so early?" Zhao Rongjun rubbed his eyes, thinking he'd misseen, "Aren't you going to sleep a bit longer?"

"I'm going for a morning run," Li Luo said, pulling on his clothes and grinning at Zhao Rongjun, "We must cultivate good exercise habits from a young age, so when we're older, our physical condition won't decline."

"But it doesn't mean you have to get up this early on New Year's Day vacation!" Zhao Rongjun clutched his head; Li Luo's energy stirred him to get up too, but his body and mind refused, pinning him back onto the bed.

"You coming with?"

"Nah…" Zhao Rongjun pulled the blanket over his head, deciding ignorance was bliss.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Li Luo asked, "I'll buy some with Yan Zhusheng."

"Yan Zhusheng?" Zhao Rongjun immediately seized on the key point, "She's going too?"

"Didn't you hear?" Li Luo blinked, "She came in just now and woke me up."

Zhao Rongjun: "... Huh?"

Just as he was about to complain further, the bathroom door opened and Yan Zhusheng's head poked out, making Zhao Rongjun jump.

"What the—?"

"Li Luo, ready?" Yan Zhusheng asked, a toothbrush dangling from her mouth, tilting her head toward Li Luo.

"Yeah, yeah, let me brush my teeth too," Li Luo pushed Yan Zhusheng into the bathroom and waved at Zhao Rongjun on the bed, "Keep sleeping, don't mind us."

Zhao Rongjun stared with a mournful expression as Li Luo walked into the bathroom and shut the door, utterly at a loss for words.

How the hell was he supposed to sleep now!

But Li Luo didn't care.

After a quick wash-up in the bathroom, he and Yan Zhusheng stepped out of the bedroom and put on the sneakers Yan Zhusheng had previously given him.

The two walked downstairs together, jogged slowly around the neighborhood for half an hour, then strolled leisurely to the breakfast shop at the gate.

After a simple breakfast, they bought a bit for the four people upstairs, then returned home together.

"Go wake them up for breakfast," Li Luo said, "I'll go wake Zhao Rongjun."

It was now 6:30 a. m.

If they hadn't stayed up late last night, they should've woken up by now.

The two woke the other four, had breakfast, then Ying Chanxi saw Qiao Xinyan off.

Zhao Rongjun also took his leave and returned to his grandfather's house.

Yan Zhusheng, however, showed no intention of leaving—since Yuan Wanqing had been busy lately and never came home, Yan Zhusheng's own house was empty anyway, so she might as well stay at Li Luo's.

So the cook received another call, saying she didn't need to come cook today.

After hanging up, the cook felt she had, theoretically, lost her job—but in practice, she was occasionally called back to cook a meal, stuck in a Schrödinger's unemployment state.

Originally, Yan Zhusheng had planned to drag Li Luo to the piano room for more lessons.

But after learning that the two had gone out for a morning run again, Ying Chanxi immediately pulled them both to the living room desk, and the four of them reviewed their lessons together.

Coincidentally, Ying Chanxi had previously drawn a complete set of the Wu San exercise books, and now she pulled them out to help everyone refresh their minds.

By midday, the three girls went together to the market to buy groceries, while Li Luo slipped back to his bedroom and logged onto his computer to check his author backend.

Today was the day the previous month's royalties were paid out; Li Luo opened the royalty income section and saw the total for December.

—45972.83

Over forty-five thousand in royalties.

This was only from December, with an average subscription of just over eight thousand.

In January, Li Luo not only quickly surpassed ten thousand subscriptions, but also published one hundred thousand words on the first day.

Plus, the massive traffic hadn't yet fully settled, and his average subscriptions kept rising.

Judging by this trend, January's main site royalties would likely break the hundred-thousand mark.

And this was only the main site's royalty income…要知道, at the start of this month, Li Luo's I Am Really Not a Star had already been同步 launched on all major distribution platforms.

If the distribution sales did well, the income might even surpass the main site's royalties by a wide margin.

One can't deny that, though online novels are mostly considered lowbrow, their earning potential isn't always bad.

Though among Reborns, Li Luo's income was pitifully small, for him right now, it was already extremely high.

High enough that if his parents found out, they'd be terrified.

Li Luo had no intention of hiding the royalty matter—he'd tell his parents after the final exams.

Otherwise, as his royalties kept growing, they'd struggle to process it all.

Besides, if he ever saved enough to buy a few storefronts near the subway entrance, he'd need his parents to handle it.

He was a minor—he couldn't even sign a property contract.

Thinking of this, Li Luo let out a long breath, feeling his life this time around was already smooth and comfortable enough.

He had no grand ambitions; just living quietly and comfortably his own little life was enough.

Now it seemed achieving this goal was already an easy prospect.

Just as he was reflecting on this, the QQ icon in the bottom-right corner of his computer flashed.

It was his editor's message.

【Qianzhou】: I've got one good piece of news and one bad piece of news— which do you want to hear first?

With his current stats, what bad news could there possibly be?

Thinking this, Li Luo typed a reply:

【Chongran】: What's the bad news?

【Qianzhou】: The bad news is that yesterday, the 2nd, Wenxue Group's annual meeting was held successfully, and they announced this year's Grand Master and Platinum author lists—your name wasn't on either.

【Chongran】: ……That's definitely bad news.

Li Luo couldn't help but smile wryly; he thought his current performance, by 2014 standards, stood a real chance of securing a Grand Master slot.

But the timeline was simply too short—the Grand Master list had already been finalized long ago, and there was no way they'd revise it just for him.

In fact, around 2014, if you could write a novel that reached ten thousand subscriptions, you were basically in line to compete for a Grand Master title; if your channel performance was decent or you'd sold any rights, it was practically guaranteed.

But if the same performance were placed in ten years' time, it wouldn't even be worth mentioning… you wouldn't even qualify to get in line.

【Qianzhou】: Next year!

【Qianzhou】: If you maintain your current level and your channel numbers stay strong, I guarantee you'll have a shot next year!

【Chongran】: Then I'll take your good words as a blessing.

In truth, Qianzhou dared to be so confident mainly because Chief Editor Hongdou had vouched for him.

Last night at the annual meeting, Hongdou had casually mentioned over drinks that the chief editor had high hopes for Chongran's novel.

Especially now, with traffic surging, the website would moderately allocate resources to support it.

【Chongran】: So what's the good news?

【Qianzhou】: Hehe, remember that writing contest I signed you up for when you first went live?

【Chongran】: Oh, yeah, there was something like that.

Li Luo still remembered; after a quick search in his Memory Palace, it came back to him.

The first-prize cash reward was still ten thousand yuan.

But for him now, ten thousand yuan wasn't that substantial—it was just free money, so why not take it?

【Qianzhou】: Riding the momentum of the New Year's holiday, your novel successfully won first prize in this contest—and the prize money has been adjusted: first prize is now fifty thousand yuan.

【Chongran】: Oh? So generous?

【Qianzhou】: Hmm… but there's a condition.

【Qianzhou】: This contest is officially tied to the newly established Online Literature Association of Qianjiang Province, so if you want to claim your prize, you'll need to attend the symposium in early February.

【Qianzhou】: Do you remember that symposium? Just show up, collect your award on stage, and the prize money will be handed out then.

At the words "collect your award on stage," Li Luo's heart tightened, and he asked immediately.

【Chongran】: When you say "collect your award on stage," you don't mean you want me to get photographed or anything, do you?

【Qianzhou】: Probably, yeah—just a photo for the Online Literature Association's records, maybe displayed on a photo wall for promotion. Don't worry, no one you know will see it.

【Chongran】: Will it be promoted online?

【Qianzhou】: How could it? Their website hasn't even been built yet—where would they promote it?

Hearing Qianzhou say that, Li Luo felt slightly relieved.

Being displayed on an offline photo wall wasn't much to worry about.

He didn't know anyone at the Online Literature Association in Yuhang City—let them hang it if they want.

As long as the money comes.

No one he knows is likely to see it anyway.

【Chongran】: Then fine—I'll probably have time to go then.

【Qianzhou】: Great! I'll come too—don't forget to treat me to dinner.

【Chongran】: Exploiting a minor's earnings—don't you feel guilty?

【Qianzhou】: Your monthly royalty is already six or seven times my salary, and it'll only grow more—how can you be so heartless as to make a salary slave pay?

【Chongran】: Alright, we'll contact each other then.