Chapter 37: Everyone Must Die

Ten thousand yuan.

For Li Luo himself right now, that's a considerable amount of money.

To say so feels a bit embarrassing for a Reborn.

But right now the family has bought a house and carries a mortgage of about one million yuan, with monthly payments of five or six thousand yuan.

The breakfast shop's monthly profit is enough to cover this expense, since the storefront is owned by the family—no extra rent cost.

Still, it would be best if this could slightly ease the mortgage pressure on the family.

Unfortunately, Li Luo asked again and learned the writing contest lasts three months.

After three months, there'll be another month or so for judging, so altogether it'll be nearly the end of the first semester of high school.

Holding onto the thought that something is better than nothing, Li Luo still thanked the editor Qianzhou and glanced at the backend subscription numbers.

One hour after going live, the number of subscribers for the first paid chapter—307.

According to the normal growth curve, by this time tomorrow, the subscriber count should be around 1,600 to 2,000.

For a debut novel by a new author, this performance is quite impressive.

No wonder Qianzhou placed his first premium book's hopes on Li Luo.

Looking at this backend data, Li Luo gradually relaxed, pulled out a calculator, tapped away, and calculated roughly how much his monthly royalty would be.

He arrived at a figure of around six thousand.

Just enough to cover the mortgage payment.

But if the performance continues to grow, he'll certainly earn more than that in a month.

【Qianzhou】: Your current performance is excellent. Believe me.

【Qianzhou】: Keep writing until one million words, and if you get recommended to various external platforms, your income sources will multiply.

【Qianzhou】: Many authors earn only a few thousand yuan from this site, but when you add up the external platform revenues, it can reach nearly ten thousand yuan—altogether it's very substantial.

Seeing the editor's words, Li Luo suddenly realized.

In his past life, when he wrote Online Novels, it was already the era of full-network anti-piracy, where authors' income came almost entirely from paid subscriptions on this site.

But in the current 2014, it's still the full-network piracy phase.

Qidian Chinese Website doesn't just have income from this site—it has multiple distribution channels.

Although piracy means many free riders here, with enough channels, quantity transforms into quality, and the income is still considerable.

But you still have to wait until one million words to get on external channels… Li Luo glanced at the word count in his draft folder and thought he'd better take it slow.

Making money doesn't need to be rushed.

【Qianzhou】: Of course, you're still in high school. I advise you to study seriously, at least ensure your academics stay on track so your family won't worry.

【Chongran】: Understood, Editor. Thanks for the reminder.

After finishing the chat with the editor, Li Luo was just about to start typing when another QQ message popped up.

Li Luo opened it and found it was Xu Youyu.

【EarlySleepGrowsTaller】: How many subscribers did you get in one hour?

【Chongran】: Over three hundred. What about you?

【EarlySleepGrowsTaller】: One hundred twenty…

【Chongran】: That's pretty good.

【EarlySleepGrowsTaller】: Not as good as yours. I read your book—your pacing and爽points are written excellently. I feel mine's still too literary; readers often tell me that.

Okay okay, Li Luo read Xu Youyu's message and internally sneered.

A few days ago you were at the dinner table saying my book was mediocre, but now online you're calling it excellent, right?

【Chongran】: Your book has its own unique style—I really like it. Don't pay attention to a few readers' opinions; sticking to your own content keeps you from going off track.

Though he internally complained, Li Luo still repeated back to her the exact words Xu Youyu had once said to him.

Writing serialized Online Novels is exactly like this.

You constantly face all kinds of reader complaints and distractions.

If you can't adjust your mindset to handle this, you're doomed to go nowhere.

【EarlySleepGrowsTaller】: Thanks for the big guy's encouragement! I'll go start typing now.

【Chongran】: Okay.

Looking at Xu Youyu's adorable QQ chat style, Li Luo couldn't help smiling—he thought his senior's personality differed greatly between online and offline.

Playing contrast cuteness on him?

Li Luo muttered a couple of sarcastic remarks, then calmed his mood and began typing.

That evening.

Ying Chanxi came home, put down her schoolbag, changed into a nice outfit, invited Xu Youyu, and the two girls linked arms and happily went downstairs to buy groceries.

In just a few days of living together, Ying Chanxi and Xu Youyu's relationship had progressed rapidly.

Although for the past few days they'd finished evening self-study only at 8:30 p. m., every time Ying Chanxi returned, she'd call Li Luo to make late-night snacks.

Xu Youyu would just barge in shamelessly for a meal, and the two girls would eat and chat, quickly becoming close.

Today was Friday, no evening self-study—Ying Chanxi rushed home right after class and went with Xu Youyu to buy groceries, planning to have Li Luo cook a lavish dinner.

Just after Ying Chanxi and Xu Youyu left together to buy groceries, Li Luo went to the kitchen to prepare, when he received a call from his mother.

"Hey, Mom, what's up?"

"What are you doing?" Lin Xiuhong asked on the other end.

"Thinking of you, Mom," Li Luo said sweetly.

"Get lost," Lin Xiuhong rolled her eyes, though her lips involuntarily curled up, "School starts the day after tomorrow, right? What time in the morning?"

"Just report before nine."

"The day after tomorrow, your dad and I won't open the shop—we'll come to your place at eight in the morning and take you to school."

"Fuyi Middle School is right across the street—I can go by myself," Li Luo chuckled, "you don't need to worry about it."

"Is this worrying?" Lin Xiuhong snapped, "You barely got into Fuyi Middle School—don't you think your dad and I deserve to show off a little?"

"Fine, fine, fine," Li Luo hurriedly replied, "then come on over. Anything else?"

"No… oh wait, there's one more thing," Lin Xiuhong thought for a moment, then added, "Do you still remember your uncle?"

"Of course I do. What about him?"

"Your uncle's a member of the Writers Association, and since your novel got noticed and signed, it must be pretty good—I recommended it to him."

"What?!" Li Luo yelled, jumping straight up in shock, nearly punching through the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" Lin Xiuhong frowned, confused by his reaction. "Your uncle's very learned—he'll give you some feedback, and you can learn from him."

"Mom, the stuff I wrote…" Li Luo struggled to speak, "it might not be suitable for someone your uncle's age."

"What do you mean suitable or not?" Lin Xiuhong looked puzzled, then said, "I already told your uncle. I'll let him know when he's free to take a look. That's it—see you the day after tomorrow."

After hanging up, Li Luo's eyes turned gray, as if life had drained from him, his head buzzing.

Ying Chanxi and Xu Youyu returned with groceries, walked into the kitchen, and saw his hollow expression. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Li Luo forced a smile, sighing faintly. "I just died… again."

【Dead End Diary】: I feel 2000 words per chapter still has too little information. I calculated—if I stick to 4000 words for four more days, I can resume 7000-word updates, just reaching 200,000 words by the end of the month, meeting the new book ranking requirements.