âWanruâ was Yang Jingwanâs pen name, the same as her WeChat nickname.
The barrage of million-book-coin reward messages from âLin Shaoâ didnât stop until they had scrolled past a hundred times. On this female-oriented fiction site, the exchange rate between real currency and virtual coins was one to one hundred.
That meantâthis series of tips equated to a full one million yuan in real money.
In the entire online novel industry, a reward of just a hundred thousand was already considered god-tier. A full million? That was near unheard of.
Yang Jingwan stared at the screen for a long time, utterly stunned.
The platform splits rewards seventy-thirty, with seventy percent going to the author. That meant sheâd just pocketed around seven hundred thousand before taxesâafter taxes, still well over six hundred thousand.
Just like that, she had made more than six hundred grand. Even she felt dazed.
Wang Haoran, however, grew thoughtful.
This wasnât normal.
Judging by the ID âLin Shao,â the tipper was clearly male. Male readers on female fiction platforms werenât unheard of, but one who would tip a million? That was definitely rare.
With suspicion already rising, Wang Haoran said, âLet me borrow your site account for a sec.â
âGo ahead, use it as you like,â Yang Jingwan replied casually, not thinking much of it.
Wang Haoran grabbed his laptop, logged in using her credentials, and sent a private message to Lin Shao.
âThank you.â
Just two simple words.
But even that was enough to trigger an instant reply.
âHey, pretty big sister author, can I get your WeChat?â
âSure.â Wang Haoran borrowed Yang Jingwanâs phone and sent over her WeChat ID.
Soon enough, a friend request popped up.
Verification: Iâm Lin Shao.
Wang Haoran approved it and immediately checked the profile.
The WeChat account listed âmaleâ as the gender, with Qingling as the locationâno other info. Not even a single post in the Moments feed.
As Wang Haoran was investigating, a new message came through.
âBig sister author, I gave you so muchâdonât I at least get a photo?â
âOf course,â Wang Haoran replied smoothly, then went online to search for a random pretty selfie.
There was no way heâd actually send Lin Shao a real photo of Yang Jingwan. She was the female lead, after all. If this Lin Shao was some protagonist in disguise and happened to see her in real life, that would almost certainly trigger some ridiculous plot event.
A few clicks later, he found a decent-looking selfie and sent it.
His instincts as a villain were screaming. This Lin Shao? Definitely a protagonist.
Wang Haoranâs plan was simpleâbait the guy through private messages and lure him into the open.
But just as he thought the trap had worked, a reply came back:
âThis picâs from the internet. I found the same one in a reverse image search. Canât believe you used a fake! If you wonât show your real face, youâre definitely some ugly chick. Bye.â
And just like that, Yang Jingwanâs WeChat was blocked.
Wang Haoran sighed in regret.
Was Lin Shao just too cautious, or had he developed some kind of sixth sense for spotting a fake? The trap didnât work. It had been sniffed out.
Had he known this would happen, he mightâve risked using Yang Jingwanâs real photo after all.
But now it was too late, and so he returned the phone to her.
Yang Jingwan had no idea what heâd really been up to. All she saw was him reaching out to a fan whoâd just dropped a million. With a hint of teasing in her voice,
she asked, âWhatâs this? Getting jealous of a reader? Afraid Iâll get snatched away?â
Wang Haoran grinned and delivered a line laced with sugar, âOf course I am. Youâre my precious girlfriend. How could I not worry?â
ăDing! Host stirred the heart of female lead Yang Jingwan. Gained 300 Villain Points!ă
ăDing! Host stirred the heart of female lead Yang Jingwan. Gained 300 Villain Points!ă
ăDing! Host stirred the heart of female lead Yang Jingwan. Gained 300 Villain Points!ă
Warmth bloomed in Yang Jingwanâs chest. Her head gently rested against his shoulder, and in a voice as soft as the moonlight, she murmured, âDonât worry. Iâll never leave you. Not in this life, not in the next⊠even if Iâm reborn a thousand times, Iâll always be yours.â
Everyone knew women loved sweet words.
And strangely enough, Wang Haoran, though a man, found he liked hearing them too.
Was that normal? He wasnât sure. But it wasnât the kind of mystery he wanted to explore right now.
His gaze fell on her, hot and unrestrained.
Reading the look in his eyes, Yang Jingwan blushed and mumbled, âIâIâm going to take a shower.â Then she fled the room.
Wang Haoran leaned back and toyed with his phone while he waited. Suddenly, he remembered something from earlier in the dayâsomething Xu Muyan had mentioned.
Sheâd given him her Douyin ID.
He opened the app and searched. It didnât take long to find her account.
Xu Muyan hadnât posted many videosâonly two. One was a gameplay clip showing off her mechanics. The other was a casual selfie video shot on campus.
Just those two clips had brought her over two million followers.
Her profile picture was glowing with a red ringâmeaning she was live.
Wang Haoran clicked in.
There were more than ten thousand viewers watching the stream.
For a gaming channel, that was upper-middle tier.
She was playing Assassin Akali. It was just six minutes into the match, and she already had ten kills. The comment section was filled with endless â666âsâchat speak for âsick play.â
But Wang Haoran wasnât there for the game. After a few minutes, he lost interest.
He backed out and returned to his profile screen.
His old accountâPiano Godâhad been banned because of the scandal involving Qiu Qianweiâs awards speech. He hadnât bothered trying to get it back. That account was only needed to court her. Now that she was already his, it didnât matter anymore.
Still, if he wanted to boost Xu Muyanâs popularity with a big gift drop, heâd need an account.
So he created a new one.
The ID was plain: Number One Boss.
He loaded a million yuan onto it.
Then re-entered Xu Muyanâs stream.
Opening the gift screen, he selected the Supreme Saluteâthe most expensive option available at 66,666 book coins, or 6,666 yuan in real money.
Without rushing, he tapped it one hundred timesâdropping a total of 666,600 yuan.
The stream exploded.
âNumber One Bossâ instantly took the #1 spot on the leaderboard. Bullet comments flooded the screen in a frenzy. Even Xu Muyan herself was caught off guard. Distracted by the shower of gifts, she lost focus and ran straight into a group fightâher character got overwhelmed and killed for the first time that match.
Viewers began worshipping âNumber One Boss.â
Wang Haoran smirked and was about to slip awayâheâd save the rest of his gifts for another day.
But thenâŠ
Another round of explosive gift animations appeared on screen.
âLin Shao sent Supreme Salute x10!â
âLin Shao sent Supreme Salute x10!â
âLin Shao sent Supreme Salute x10!â
âLin Shao sent Supreme Salute x10!â
Wang Haoranâs âNumber One Bossâ was quickly bumped down to second place.
And Lin Shaoâs storm of gifts? Still going.
âLin Shao sent Supreme Salute x10!â
âLin Shao sent Supreme Salute x10!â
âLin Shao sent Supreme Salute x10!â