Half a month later, Shen Qiong was leisurely sipping tea. Ever since he'd gotten an assistant, life had been easygoing. With Ren Tianxue vetting the clients, their quality had noticeably improved.
In the past, most clients paid between one and two hundred yuan for a fortune reading. Now, they paid three or four hundred, and he even received two five-hundred-yuan payments in a single day.
After deducting Ren Tianxue's wages, Shen Qiong's income hadn't decreased at all. In fact, it was showing signs of climbing.
Shen Qiong figured he really wasn't cut out for this line of work. It was Sunday, and he planned to take the afternoon off. He'd told Ren Tianxue the night before that she didn't need to come in today.
At that moment, Shen Qiong was lounging at home, reading a novel. After the Grave Robbery Notes TV series became a hit, the novel had caught fire again. Shen Qiong wasn't interested in watching the show, but he was completely engrossed in the book.
Every time he finished a chapter and tapped to continue, an ad would pop up. Only then did Shen Qiong remember that he was reading a pirated copy. He chuckled wryly. "Pirated copies are easier to find than the official ones. I almost forgot this was a bootleg."
He thought that, now that he was earning tens of thousands a month, reading pirated books was a bit unfair to the author. So he closed the page and searched for the novel again. At last, he found it on Dian Niang.
This world was strange. Pirated books were easy to read: with one click, you could go from the beginning all the way to the ending. Official copies, on the other hand, came with all sorts of hassles. Once you reached a certain word count—in other words, once the novel went premium—you had to register an account, add money to it, and subscribe to chapters before you could read them.
Keeping up with daily updates cost no more than a pack of cigarettes a month. But one major reason so many readers chose pirated copies was that they didn't involve so many tedious steps. That was undeniably more appealing.
Shen Qiong wondered when he might be able to simplify all those steps. If he could, he'd probably be well on his way to making a fortune.
With a few thousand a day coming in, Shen Qiong decided to enjoy being a rich guy for once. He put two thousand yuan into his account and started sending out rewards and red packets like crazy.
The book's review section immediately burst into life!!!
"A rich guy has appeared!!!"
"Holy crap, adopt me!!!"
"Your words rain down like flowers, moving me to tears. A talent such as yours deserves this reward!" As Shen Qiong sent out his rewards, all sorts of red messages floated across the screen...
Just like that, a thousand yuan was gone. Shen Qiong had also climbed into the Alliance Leader position. He figured that was enough for today and was about to stop, when he noticed someone else sending red packets besides him.
The novel had been finished for a long time. New readers showed up every day, of course, but most of the rich guys had already sent their rewards while following the updates. Few people would tip a book that had been completed ages ago.
Could that guy be like him? Had he read so many pirated copies that he'd come to make it up to the author?
A reader named "Searching for Him in the Crowd a Thousand Times" soon tipped a thousand yuan, knocking Shen Qiong down one spot in the Alliance Leader rankings. Then he stopped.
What the hell? Shen Qiong grumbled as he watched the other guy's fan value edge ahead of his by a hundred points, then freeze there.
Shen Qiong gritted his teeth. You dare climb over me? No way. I'm taking that spot back!!!
With that, Shen Qiong sent ten more one-thousand-yuan rewards, then tossed in another hundred yuan. In an instant, he left the other guy behind in the rankings.
At that point, Searching for Him in the Crowd a Thousand Times got annoyed and started competing with Shen Qiong, matching his rewards one for one.
The novel had been finished for ages, and there were hardly any readers left in the reviews. But when they saw two rich guys squaring off with rewards, they immediately called their friends over...
"Great news! Two rich guys are battling it out with tips on Dian Niang..." Someone immediately posted this on the Grave Robbery Notes Baidu Tieba.
Shen Qiong was truly exasperated. He'd finally gotten to play rich guy for once, only for someone to come along and deliberately outspend him?
"Such brilliance deserves thunderous applause! Nothing less than this reward could express my admiration!"
"Your words rain down like flowers, moving me to tears. A talent such as yours deserves this reward!"
Searching for Him in the Crowd a Thousand Times was the real deal. His tips started at a hundred yuan, leaving the clueless readers utterly dumbfounded.
Shen Qiong couldn't keep up with that kind of spending. Once he'd blown the two thousand yuan in his account, he promptly conceded defeat.
"You're so awesome, why don't you go to heaven?" Shen Qiong left a comment in the reviews using his account, Master Shen.
"I'm on a plane right now," Searching for Him in the Crowd a Thousand Times replied.
Shen Qiong was impressed. Rich guys really did whatever they wanted. He'd said to go to heaven, and the guy had actually gone airborne.
"You win. I admit defeat." Shen Qiong typed the words on his keyboard.
Searching for Him in the Crowd a Thousand Times: "But I'm not done having fun yet! How about we keep going?"
Shen Qiong nearly spat blood. It really was infuriating to compare yourself with other people. He'd just blown a month's food budget, and this rich guy was saying he hadn't had enough fun.
Shen Qiong replied, "I haven't had enough fun either, but my wallet's bleeding."
The readers watching the spectacle joined in. "Master Shen, you made the right call. I'll let you in on a secret: that big spender once tipped over a million in a single day. I mean RMB."
Holy crap! Impulse really was the devil! Good thing he hadn't gotten carried away.
Shen Qiong figured that even if he spent his entire fortune, it might not add up to another guy's pocket money for a single day.
Shen Qiong replied, "That's impressive! Come to Shili Street in Lingxi City, and I'll read your fortune for free."
"There's no book called Shili Street in Lingxi City?" a reader replied.
Shen Qiong answered with a pained expression, "I'm not a writer. I'm a fortune-teller."
"His predictions never miss; each reading is worth a fortune. Young Ye Tian unexpectedly inherits a master fortune-teller's legacy, probing the mysteries of heaven and man and understanding the changes of past and present. To find out what happens next, tune in to ****." Someone took the opportunity to post an ad.
Searching for Him in the Crowd a Thousand Times: "I never thought I'd end up going head-to-head with a Jianghu con artist. What a waste of time."
Shen Qiong was immediately annoyed. What did he mean, a Jianghu con artist? He replied, "I've changed my mind! I won't read your fortune for free. It's five hundred thousand per reading, and if I'm wrong, I'll pay you back ten times over."
Aboard the plane, Yao Hongguang smiled. "Interesting."
A reader replied to Master Shen, "You're talking pretty big, aren't you?"
"You sure you can afford to pay up?" Searching for Him in the Crowd a Thousand Times replied.
Thinking that he might as well use the chance to promote himself, Shen Qiong answered, "If you don't believe me, search for Master Shen. That's my name. I'll be waiting for you to claim your five million." He even posted a link to his Weibo account.
In an instant, the review section boiled over.
"Holy crap, it's real! I checked his Weibo. This guy actually seems to make a living at it," a reader named Dream Pianist exclaimed.
Some readers mocked him. "He has fewer than ten thousand followers. Who knows if they're even real? I don't think he deserves to read a fortune for a big spender."
"Look, what's that flying in the sky? A bull? Who blew it up there?" commented a reader named My Temper's Really Bad.
Shen Qiong shrugged. He knew there was no way to settle this online, and he hadn't expected the rich guy to actually pay him five hundred thousand for a reading. But as he watched the reviews refresh with people discussing him, he knew he'd gotten the result he wanted.
He opened the People nearby page on WeChat.
User: Shen Qiong Level: 2 (Getting the Hang of It) Increase your Fame and Reputation to raise your level. Current reputation: 2130 (Making a Name for Yourself)
It had gone up by nearly a thousand compared to before. That wasn't bad! He figured that if he wanted to build his reputation quickly, he'd have to rely on making a "big splash."
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