In the Feilong Internet Cafe hidden deep in the streets of Xicheng District of Jiangcheng City, Wang Pu slapped a ten-dollar note on the counter along with his ID card.
He looked around in the smoke-filled room and saw that his old seat was still empty. He breathed a sigh of relief and whistled to the girl at the bar.
The girl at the bar glared at Wang Pu angrily and threw the cigarettes, drinks and swiped ID card back to him.
"You only have 15 yuan left in your card. Do you want to top it up?"
Wang Pu grabbed the thing and said with a smile: "Don't worry, wait until you finish it. There is no discount now."
The girl at the bar rolled her eyes, turned her head and ignored him.
Wang Pu didn't pay attention, sat down in his seat and turned on the computer skillfully.
There are at least hundreds of Internet cafes, large and small, in Jiangcheng. Feilong Internet Cafe is one of them that is very inconspicuous. It has a long history and backward conditions. All the machines used here are four or five years old and are almost on the verge of being eliminated.
The place is also small. If you fart when you sit in your seat, it is estimated that half of the people in the Internet cafe can smell it. It is probably because of this that even though there is a no-smoking sign here, no one cares about smoking.
The most important thing is that the price of Feilong Internet Cafe is very cheap, only 2 yuan an hour, and from time to time there is a promotion of 100 yuan for 100 yuan, so that young people like Wang Pu who live at the bottom of the city can also find themselves here.
Cheap pleasure.
The machine started very slowly, so Wang Pu was not in a hurry. He put the drink aside and then tore open the cigarette case.
"Old Wang, give me one."
Suddenly, a low and hoarse voice came from the side, which made people shudder.
"Fuck!"
The unprepared Wang Pu was startled and turned around to see that it was the guy in the next seat asking for a cigarette.
Wang Pu knew this guy: "Master, you really want to scare people to death?"
"The Great God" is definitely a legend in Feilong Internet Cafe. Everyone who frequents the Internet cafe knows him. He is about the same age as Wang Pu. He is unkempt and skinny, and he always looks like he doesn't have enough sleep.
There are many stories about the great master. The most famous one is that he once played a newly launched online game for seven days and seven nights without sleeping for less than a day. His boss was so frightened that he almost called the police for fear that he would die suddenly in front of the computer.
But the vitality of the great god is stronger than that of a cockroach. What Wang Pu looked like when he first came to Feilong Internet Cafe a few years ago to surf the Internet, he still looks the same now.
In addition, what is admirable about the great master is that he never goes out to work and earns himself internet fees and food by playing games.
In response to Wang Pu's complaint, the master showed no guilt and continued to stretch out his hand: "Give me a cigarette to smoke."
"I'm impressed with you!"
Wang Pu simply took out half a pack of cigarettes and gave it to the other party: "I'll share half with you. Isn't my brother loyal enough?"
The great god had played a game with Wang Pu before, so the two of them still had some friendship.
As for Wang Pu's generosity, the master sneered: "Half a pack of five reds is considered a sign of loyalty? Bullshit."
Wang Pu was so angry that he was about to take the cigarette back, but he slipped it into his pocket.
There was one in his mouth.
"Fuck!"
Wang Pu retracted his hand angrily, held the mouse pad and opened the browser, and logged into his Feixun at the same time.
Beep beep beep!
Feixun's avatar kept jumping, and Wang Pu clicked on it one by one, blacklisting those who committed fraud, borrowing money, and harassing people, replied to several friends' messages, and finally opened the group chat of [Laobai Group].
[Lao Bai Group] is a large group of thousands of people. The composition of the hundreds of group members is very complicated. They range from PhD professors to brick workers. The only thing in common is that, like Wang Pu, they are from online novels.
Enthusiast!
And the reading age is very long.
Wang Pu is 25 years old this year and has been reading online novels for 10 years. When he was in junior high school, he started renting pirated books to read. He could read them for several days for 50 cents a book. Later, he started looking for books online. It can be said that he read books online.
countless.
For Wang Pu now, reading online novels is the greatest happiness he can get at the minimum cost. What he reads online is genuine and a proud VIP subscriber, but his subscription coins are huge.
Part of it was obtained through various activities on the book site and red envelopes issued by wealthy book friends.
It's just that recently, Wang Pu has found that his happiness has become increasingly hard-earned. It's not just about money. He still has a lot of subscription coins in his accounts on several major websites.
But there are fewer and fewer books that are readable and satisfying!
This is the biggest tragedy for "old white" readers like Wang Pu. The more they read, the more demanding they become. They cannot accept novels with rough writing, excessive yy, and serious routines. However, the website is full of big-name novels.
Some of them are books like this.
Wang Pu was helpless. He even thought about writing a book himself, but after writing several thousand words, he realized that writing a book was not easy.
I obviously have many, many ideas in my head, but the text I typed out on the keyboard is so awkward that I feel embarrassed just looking at it, so I can only give up.
The problem of book shortage cannot be solved.
"Can you guys recommend some good books? New ones are best. I've basically read all the old ones!"
Wang Pu shouted in the group: "There are no books to read!"
"Ten thousand tons of copper balls!"
"Me too, I've been re-reading old books recently, and those old books are still wonderfully written. What the hell is going on now!"
“The Legend of Eight Wastelands Conquering Demons is good, highly recommended.”
"I just watched it. Xian Xia is pretty good. I'm keeping it!"
"I'm watching "Midnight Watcher", it's very scary"
The group of friends talked a lot and recommended more than a dozen books, but Wang Pu was very disappointed because these books were either ones he had already read or were of a genre he didn't like.
Wang Pu likes fantasy, fairy tale, and historical online novels.
Just when he was about to close the chat box and search for it on the website, a group member with the ID "Old Bookworm" said: "I am watching "The Swordsman". It is very interesting. I recommend it to everyone."
He also attached an address link.
Wang Pu clicked on the website and opened the new book recommended by the "old bookworm".
Smiling and proud?
The title of this book is okay, at least it's not some god-demon-emperor Tyrannosaurus Aotian. I hope there will be a surprise!
[Laobai Group] has a lot of people, and there are many group members who clicked on the address like Wang Pu.
Everyone is short of books!
Soon someone complained in the group: "I'm dizzy, martial arts? Isn't that an old antique!"
"Khan, it's only 70,000 words. How can you bear to destroy such a young seedling?"
"We haven't signed a contract yet, and the data is too bleak. Is it really a good book?"
"Old bookworm, you're not pushing yourself, are you?"
“Self-promoted 1!”
To be honest, Wang Pu also suspected that the "old bookworm" was a self-recommendation or a friendly recommendation. Not only was the book he recommended not signed, but it also had too few words and poor grades. If it is really a good book, wouldn't it mean that the editor of Inspur Reading was mistaken?
Already?
Hundreds of clicks, dozens of collections, on a big website like Inspur Reading, I really can’t stop browsing!
Wang Pu has been among a group of authors and has some knowledge of the online literary world.
And this martial arts theme is really non-mainstream.
The works in Inspur Reading are divided into several major types: fantasy, fairy tales, urban, history, online games, sports, military, science fiction, supernatural, etc., and there is also a custom type.
The so-called custom types allow authors to define their own works, such as fantasy, sadomasochism, super science, etc. They are basically niche and imaginative works.
"The Swordsman" recommended by "Old Bookworm" is classified into the custom genre, and the author defines it as martial arts.
In Wang Pu's mind, martial arts is really an antique novel subject. He vaguely remembered that he had read a book about Excalibur when he was a child. It seemed to be written by a writer from Xiangjiang.
Will books with this theme be the food that old white people like?
He subconsciously gave this book "Swordsman" a negative score.
The "old bookworm" explained in the group: "It's really not self-recommendation. It's my personal food and grass. You can see for yourselves."
Wang Pu thought about it and there were no books to read anyway. Even if he contributed a few clicks to others, it didn't matter. Just think of it as supporting newcomers, so he clicked to read the first chapter. ——