The first prospective buyer appeared

"Woman, you've got excellent taste."

Su Ruochu's pretty face flushed, and she hurriedly pushed Chen Fan away.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Aren't you afraid someone will see?"

Chen Fan smiled. "Why should I be afraid of anyone seeing me being affectionate with my own wife?"

"Who's your wife?"

"You're not my wife? Well, you heard him just now. Dorm Building Eight, where I'm staying, is a women's dorm."

"There are plenty of pretty upperclasswomen living there. I'll go find them right now..."

"Go ahead. Once you leave, I'll have one less burden, and I can chat with some other guys."

Chen Fan promptly stepped back and seized Su Ruochu's hand, holding it tight.

"You win."

Su Ruochu immediately gave him a triumphant smile.

Chen Fan held her hand.

"Want to take a walk together?"

"Mm."

This time, Su Ruochu didn't refuse.

They strolled leisurely along the campus road beneath the streetlights.

Perhaps because they hadn't seen each other for several days, Su Ruochu was noticeably more talkative around Chen Fan.

She told him that after her mother had caught them together that day, she'd been grounded at home.

Then, when university started, her parents had personally escorted her to campus to register.

"I wanted to let you know, but my mom wouldn't let me go out."

Su Ruochu offered the explanation quietly.

Chen Fan simply smiled and clasped her hand.

"It's all right. I came with Guo Shuai that day."

"Now we're at the same university, studying the same major. No one can keep us apart anymore."

Su Ruochu's face turned bright red. She lowered her head and softly murmured, "Mm."

Chen Fan said quietly, "Actually, I went looking for you on the first day, but I didn't know which class you'd been assigned to."

"Me too," Su Ruochu said softly, blushing.

Over the past few days, she'd been secretly searching for Chen Fan on the training field, but there were too many people. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Chen Fan glanced at her.

"I never saw you looking for me. All I saw was you having a lively chat with some handsome guy."

"Just now, I saw you heading this way from upstairs and thought you'd come to find me. Then some guy showed up out of nowhere, and the two of you looked so happy talking. My heart nearly broke..."

This time, Su Ruochu didn't laugh. Instead, she quietly explained.

"The day I enrolled, my mom contacted Tian Yuan and asked him to look after me."

"I really did come to find you just now."

"But I didn't know which building you lived in, so I wanted to ask Tian Yuan to help me find you."

At that, Su Ruochu stole a glance at Chen Fan.

"I don't have those kinds of feelings for Tian Yuan. Ever since I was little, I've always thought of him as an older brother."

Chen Fan smiled. "I believe you."

"But you have to understand me too. You mean so much to me."

"Whenever you're involved, it's easy for me to lose my head..."

Smiling, Su Ruochu caught Chen Fan by the wrist.

"Then I'll stay by your side. Whenever you lose your head, I'll be responsible for pulling you back with the reins."

"Why do you make me sound like a donkey?"

That remark sent Su Ruochu into a fit of giggles.

Military training continued day after day, starting with simple drills such as standing at attention, shouting slogans, and turning left and right.

After four or five days, the instructor began teaching them the hardest part: the goose step...

Having been through university once before, Chen Fan felt deeply nostalgic about all of it and put particular effort into the drills.

In the end, the instructor selected him as one of the two model cadets who led the formation from the front.

The days of military training were monotonous, but they weren't boring.

During the day, he spent time with his roommates. In the evenings, he walked around campus with Su Ruochu before escorting her back to her dorm building.

They kept it a secret for a few days, but eventually, word got out.

Faced with his roommates' interrogation, Chen Fan didn't hide anything. He openly admitted that he had a girlfriend.

"Damn! Who would've thought our number four would be the first in our dorm to get a girlfriend?"

Luo Wenjie was indignant.

"Where's the justice in that? I'm way better-looking than you."

Wu Di, meanwhile, chuckled and patted Chen Fan on the shoulder.

"Bring your girlfriend over sometime so we can check her out for you."

Chen Fan smiled and nodded.

"No problem."

Although his days were simple and fulfilling, something else had remained on Chen Fan's mind.

It was already September.

He remembered it very clearly.

In his previous life, the Easy Domain Network had been acquired by HiChina in September.

In this life, his Domain Name Network had surged far ahead, leaving the Easy Domain Network in the dust.

Even if HiChina wanted to make an acquisition, his site would undoubtedly be its first choice.

But because he had military training every day, Chen Fan still had no idea how things stood.

Finally, with military training nearing its end, Chen Fan couldn't wait any longer.

During the midday break, he slipped off campus alone and entered an internet café across from the university's east gate.

The café was interesting. It had a distinctive name: Earth Village.

Thanks to the internet, the Earth had become a village.

Apparently, the owner of this internet café was an interesting person too.

Chen Fan had received his ID card before summer vacation ended.

So this time, he didn't have to sneak around. He could openly go to the counter and get an internet access card.

He started the computer, entered his password, and logged in.

The familiar Windows 2000 operating system was far smoother and easier to use than the computers at the internet café in his hometown.

Chen Fan had no time to browse anything else. He went straight to the Domain Name Network's admin dashboard.

Good grief. After being offline for so long, Chen Fan was startled by the figures on the dashboard.

In less than half a month.

The Domain Name Network's figures had at least doubled.

It had left its competitor, the Easy Domain Network, far behind.

The results had even exceeded Chen Fan's expectations.

Several factors had contributed to this outcome.

First, Chen Fan had pioneered the use of paid online commenters for promotion in this era.

Second, the Domain Name Network utterly outclassed the Easy Domain Network in polish and ease of use, putting it at least several versions ahead.

Third, the Easy Domain Network had spent lavishly on a high-profile marketing campaign, but thanks to the paid commenters, it had ended up indirectly promoting the Domain Name Network instead.

Together, these factors had caused the Domain Name Network's traffic to skyrocket, even far surpassing the Easy Domain Network's traffic at the same point in his previous life.

After a quick look around, Chen Fan opened the admin inbox.

Aside from a dozen or so spam emails, no one had contacted him.

Chen Fan couldn't help feeling frustrated.

This wasn't right.

September was almost over.

Surely someone should have set their sights on the Domain Name Network by now.

Why hadn't they made a move yet?

The whole reason Chen Fan had created the Domain Name Network was to sell it for a good price.

He had no interest in this type of website.

To put it plainly, in Chen Fan's eyes, the Domain Name Network was simply a product.

It was his first step toward making his first pot of gold and getting things off the ground.

If the Domain Name Network couldn't be sold, wouldn't all his earlier plans go down the drain?

Just as Chen Fan sat there looking frustrated, unsure where things had gone wrong.

A notification suddenly popped up on the computer.

A new email had arrived.

Chen Fan clicked it casually, then froze.

He quickly leaned closer and read the email carefully.

At last, Chen Fan smiled.

He let out a long breath.

Finally...

The first prospective buyer had appeared.