"Lu Zhaoheng's first time wasn't with Zhao Si, the first female lead he's supposedly closest to, but with a senior he only just met, who beat her to the punch?"
Zhang Zhaomu stared at the text on his screen expectantly. Bing Chan's writing was as good as ever. Although censorship kept him from describing the scene outright, the suggestive descriptions were even more entertaining: before a reader knew what had happened, the wheels had already rolled over their face.
After finishing the chapter, Zhang Zhaomu was left wanting more.
He suddenly remembered there might be bonus extras in the readers' group, and he could barely contain himself.
Switching to QQ, Zhang Zhaomu searched for the group called "Have You Complained About Bing Chan Today?" again. As a reader, he had no trouble with the verification question. He filled in the answer, and his request to join went through without a hitch.
Before long, a notification popped up saying his request had been approved, followed by a flood of group messages.
Fortunately, Zhang Zhaomu had his phone on silent.
He opened the chat and, unsurprisingly, saw a heap of ridiculous internet pictures. There were hardly any messages seriously discussing the novel.
He headed straight for the group documents, but unfortunately, he couldn't find the legendary bonus extras.
Unable to resist, he asked in the group:
"New member here. Didn't people say there were bonus extras in the readers' group?"
A bunch of replies immediately appeared below.
"Sure enough, the first thing every newbie does is ask about the extras! Bing Chan, hurry up and listen to the people's heartfelt pleas!"
"You promised to write an extra when the novel hit an average of ten thousand subscriptions, but you've dragged it out until now and still haven't written it. Dog author, how can you face us?"
"@Bing Chan, get out here! If you really don't want to write an extra, we wouldn't mind some photos of you in women's clothes."
"I gave up on the dog author ages ago. As the saying goes, do it yourself and you'll have food and clothes aplenty. I wrote an extra myself. If you want to read it, search for the keywords. I won't post the link here; those who know, know."
"Holy crap, we've got a master here! I'm going to check it out right now!"
"What do you mean, those who know, know? I don't know! Where can I read it? Can some big shot explain?"
"May good people live in peace all their lives!"
"About the extras, stop pestering the author. Besides, even if he wrote one, it definitely wouldn't be the kind you're hoping for. There are so many people in this group that if he actually wrote something out of line, he'd cross the line into illegality in minutes. You don't want to see Bing Chan hauled off to the police station, do you?"
"If they can give Bing Chan a computer in there, I'll be the first to vote yes. They ought to lock him up and make him write like mad!"
"Add one more vote. This guy updates too little! His novel is doing so well that other authors would be itching to write ten or twenty thousand characters a day, but him? Four thousand a day, come hell or high water, and he still takes days off now and then!"
Just then, a message with the group owner tag popped up.
Bing Chan Has Already Worked Very Hard: "The human limit is four thousand characters a day. Anyone who exceeds it mutates into a tentacle monster."
The messages in the group began pouring in even faster.
"You've got the nerve to show up? You've got time to spam the chat but no time to write?"
"Great Bing Chan, I just caught up to the latest chapter. Will the new junior he met be joining the harem? Also, there are already three female leads, and their personalities are all so distinct that I really can't imagine how the protagonist could build a harem. Don't go giving us a single-female-lead ending. I hate stock-picking novels the most."
"Aren't there plenty of ways? Trust Bing Chan. As long as it isn't too outrageous, I could even accept him swapping the kids like the novel next door did."
"So what is that website, anyway? My bro has terminal cancer, and his only dying wish is to take a look!"
"[Image]"
"Holy crap, I really like this one. Send more."
"Jade feet! Slurp!"
"..."
A single lewd picture soon sent the group off course again. Zhang Zhaomu was enjoying himself when he suddenly realized something.
Duan Chan'er was in this group too, wasn't she? And judging by how the group notifications had popped up on her phone last time, she wasn't the type to mute a group after joining it.
Did she often read the group chat?
Somehow, the atmosphere in this group seemed a little out of place for a girl like Duan Chan'er.
"I reckon Duan Chan'er is the type who'd seriously discuss the plot in the group."
Zhang Zhaomu looked through the member list, but there were simply too many people in the group, including plenty of burly men posing as women. Finding Duan Chan'er among them would be like looking for a needle in the sea, so he suppressed that little bit of curiosity.
The rest of the time was unremarkable. Class Nine wasn't very strict about discipline anyway, so Zhang Zhaomu chatted in the group and read novels. Before he knew it, evening self-study was over.
As usual, he went to wait for Chen Zhenzhen outside Class One, but this time, he felt he was getting far more attention than yesterday.
In particular, when Chen Zhenzhen walked naturally over to Zhang Zhaomu and a smile appeared on her usually expressionless face, Zhang Zhaomu could plainly see undisguised hostility on the faces of the boys in Class One.
"That new skin's working wonders." Zhang Zhaomu made no comment on their hostility and teased Chen Zhenzhen. "Looks like I'll have to come by your class less often, or I'm afraid someone's going to throw a sack over my head."
"Don't worry. If anyone really does that to you, I'll be the first to rush in."
"The first to protect me?"
"No." Chen Zhenzhen waved her little fist. "The first to take a swing."
"Oh?" Zhang Zhaomu didn't mind and said with a smile, "Where's all that resentment coming from?"
"If you'd been deliberately gawked at every single break from this afternoon until the end of evening self-study, you'd probably be even more resentful than I am," Chen Zhenzhen said indignantly.
"How do you know I wasn't gawked at?" Zhang Zhaomu spread his hands. "I'm not resentful, though. I actually enjoyed it."
Chen Zhenzhen immediately lost the desire to speak.
She had almost forgotten that this guy's appearance had changed a lot too. Girls were usually even more enthusiastic about that kind of gossip than boys and bolder about it too, so it was perfectly normal for them to go in groups to gawk when a fresh new handsome guy appeared at school.
"This sort of thing only lasts a little while," Zhang Zhaomu said. "Once the novelty wears off, nobody will be bored enough to come gawking every day."
"The gawking is one thing." Chen Zhenzhen bit her lip lightly. "It's mainly the ones with ulterior motives..."
She had never known there were so many ways for boys to pursue girls. Handing over love letters, eagerly bringing drinks and snacks, and striking up conversations directly were all old hat. Some asked female friends to sound her out indirectly and play matchmaker; some boys worked together to create chances to talk to her; and some even claimed to be relatives...
It was exhausting.
Looking at Zhang Zhaomu beside her, Chen Zhenzhen suddenly felt a little envious of his optimistic outlook.