Chapter 89: Chapter 88: What Are You Looking At? (Request for first subscription)

“Idol, don’t be nervous.”

Xia Qingqing poured Lin Chuan a cup of jasmine tea and pushed it toward him with a smile, “You’re now the treasure of our Cyber Security Detachment; we won’t take you away.”

Lin Chuan gave a dry laugh and sipped the jasmine tea.

The tea slid down his throat, leaving the lingering fragrance of jasmine in his mouth.

Darkness fell, and a few stars shone in the night sky, while the Riverside Cottage stood quietly by the Anling River.

Xia Qingqing was reading in silence as well.

She wouldn’t dare to neglect a book by her idol.

The opening content of “All-In” entered her clear eyes.

‘Ten years ago, I entered the KK factory.’

‘Ten years later, I finally escaped to see the sky again.’

‘There were no dreams of instant riches; no extravagant life of luxury.’

‘On the contrary, it was hell, a cage, a den of sin.’

‘There, there were no people, only demons and pigs.’

‘A pig’s life or death doesn’t concern the demons. Once a pig loses its value, it will suffer greatly because it will have to watch its ‘weights’ being removed, then left to its own fate.’

‘Whether you were deceived into going there or went willingly, everyone was treated the same, like life was worthless.’

‘My name is Mr. Lin, a person who was tricked into the factory and luckily escaped up to the heavens.’

‘I will tell you everything here through the perspective of someone who has lived through it!’

‘…’

Raising her head after reading for a while, Xia Qingqing looked at Lin Chuan with some puzzlement, “Idol, you wrote ‘eyewitness’ here; is this an autobiography?”

After reading “Hacker Kingdom” and combining what she knew of Lin Chuan’s miraculous deeds today, she was already doubting whether it was an autobiography.

Now, having seen the preamble of “All-In,” Xia Qingqing couldn’t help but start doubting again.

After all, Lin Chuan’s novels often carried the ‘autobiographical’ label.

Lin Chuan smiled: “It’s just a novel, artistic exaggeration, Brother Xun does the same.”

Xia Qingqing nodded slightly and continued reading.

‘I am a programmer.’

‘To be precise, I am a hacker.’

‘I’m not short of money, and I’m the sunny and handsome type, but the intense workload has my hairline rapidly retreating, and I’m anxious.’

‘So, I decided to travel abroad.’

‘The tour group I joined was Yundian’s, filled with young men and women. The outcome of this trip for these people was the same as mine: sold into the factory by a duplicitous guide.’

‘Later I learned that the market price for a pig was three hundred thousand.’

‘That travel agency specialized in the pig trade.’

‘…’

‘The people from the KK factory put me on an MPV van.’

‘Perhaps they weren’t worried about me running away, so they didn’t blindfold me.’

‘In fact, the KK park had truly achieved ‘zero pig escape’, which was the source of their confidence.’

‘The journey was bumpy, and I sat next to two brawny men with bare arms, whose strange tattoos sent a chill through me.’

‘We’ve arrived at the KK factory.’

‘Outside the factory, I saw people in floral shirts, holding AK-47s.’

‘…’

As a reader, Xia Qingqing, unlike editors who review manuscripts, didn’t make any comments or suggestions while reading.

She just kept on reading.

For a long time.

Xia Qingqing finished reading and took a deep breath.

“How is it?”

Lin Chuan asked.

Xia Qingqing took a sip of jasmine tea and thought seriously before speaking, “I think the perspective of your novel is very different.”

“Tell me more,” Lin Chuan said with a smile.

After a moment of thought, Xia Qingqing said, “As a Cyber Police officer, the cases of fraud I usually come across are from the victim’s perspective, and the occasional anti-fraud novels I’ve seen are also told from the perspective of the victim or police. This is the first time I’ve seen a story unfold from the perspective of a fraud salesman.”

“Indeed.”

Lin Chuan took a sip of tea and nodded.

Few novels start a story from the perspective of the perpetrator, the Fraud Salesman, with a major reason being that most web novel writers struggle to understand the experiences and psychological journeys of fraud salesmen.

They also find it hard to imagine the evil and terror within the factories.

The information seen online is just the tip of the iceberg.

The true hell has not yet been revealed.

Xia Qingqing continued, “The perspective of a fraud salesman gives me a refreshing feeling. Compared to the perspectives of the police and the victims, it allows the readers to have a more comprehensive view and to clearly see the entire process of the salesmen committing fraud. It’s very realistic and relatable, and I think this could be a novel of great social value.”

Lin Chuan was slightly moved and surprised, and laughed, “I didn’t expect you to have such deep insights into web novels.”

Lin Chuan was a web novel writer.

Many people fail to understand this profession, or rather, most do not even consider it a profession.

There are strong stereotypes about web novel writers:

Jobless vagrants, idling away; cooped up at home, glued to the computer, slovenly, unsociable; incomes highly unstable, without benefits or social security…

Summed up in several key words: poor, unattractive, lethargic, unambitious, unstable, only knowing how to please oneself.

This was not a summation based on extensive data research by Lin Chuan; it was how his mother often criticized him.

Lin Chuan really wanted to retort to his mother: ‘This profession is actually very stable, stably poor, stably headed for a flop.’

But let’s get back to the point.

For Lin Chuan to find someone outside of his profession who recognized the value of his work and the creative value of his novels was an extremely difficult feat.

As hard as the path through Sichuan, as impossible as ascending to Heaven.

That was why, when Xia Qingqing said, ‘this could be a novel of great social value,’ Lin Chuan’s heartstrings were struck.

Heaven knows how much that statement impacted a web novel writer!

Like Ziqi unto Boya, like the running stream to the towering mountain.

“Is that so?”

Xia Qingqing smiled happily.

Little did she know, this was the result of her racking her brain, searching through all the vocabulary she had, to come up with the relatively professional terms.

To be honest, she had used all the skills her Chinese teacher had taught her in these few sentences.

Of course, her words came from the heart.

Lin Chuan earnestly looked at the girl in front of him.

The shoulder-length hair suited her very well, complemented by a delicate oval face, with brows like a painting, a perky nose, wearing a light blue T-shirt and a black casual thin coat that highlighted her slender, fair neck. Her whole person exuded the aura of youth, lively and pure.

No wonder when she entered the shop, she caught the attention of everyone there.

Indeed she was beautiful.

“What are you looking at?”

Xia Qingqing noticed Lin Chuan’s gaze, pursed her lips, and her pair of clear eyes blinked.

Lin Chuan came to his senses, smiled, and deflected the question, “I’m looking at the night scenery by the riverside, the galaxy in the sky, the beautiful scenes of the world.”