Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

For Tan Yuechun, their breakup was a pity as well.

If these two get married, she would become relatives with the Bai Family; such relatives were scarce!

In face of her questioning, what could Xiang Wan say to her?

She lowered her head and answered her queries occasionally, but she never got to the point.

Tan Yuechun was running out of patience.

"I'm your aunt, related by blood. Do you think I'll do you harm?"

Xiang Wan looked up. "Youngest aunt, I don't mean that."

"Then why don't you tell me the reason for the breakup?" Tan Yuechun wanted to help. "I can help you a.n.a.lyze how to get Bai Muchuan back!"

Xiang Wan then kept quiet. "…"

She looked at her youngest aunt but did not say a word.

Everyone was so anxious and nervous when she finally replied.

"I don't have the intention of having him back!"

The three Tan sisters had presumed that by coming back to Jin City so suddenly, Xiang Wan must have been dumped.

They didn't expect that Xiang Wan did not have the intention of getting back together after trying to unravel the reason for their breakup.

"You youngsters are too headstrong! Everyone wanted to be a princess, but there really aren't many princesses! How can you expect your boyfriend to dote on you and pamper you when you have nothing and yet not willing to do something for him! Why did he have to do all these for you, huh?"

Tan Yuechun's domineering ways was at work.

She was enraged and anxious as she gave Xiang Wan an earful.

Finally, Xiang Wan couldn't take it anymore.

"… Youngest aunt," said Xiang Wan, who looked at her in all seriousness, "both of us can't get along because of our personalities. We didn't let each other down and didn't have anyone else either. It's simply because we just couldn't stay together anymore."

"Couldn't stay together anymore?" Tan Yuechun sneered. "Then who else can tolerate your character?"

"…" What else could Xiang Wan say?

"Just look at you! You've written all these novels but you're no different from a handicap. Why is that so if you ask? Let me tell you then. You don't understand society, you don't know how to socialize, and you stayed indoors all day long. Besides staying at home to play games, watch dramas, play with your mobile phone, and write your novel… what else can you do? How would you get to know good men like this? Xiang Wan, let me tell you, if you continue to live like this, you'll stay single all your life! Hurry and quit being a web novelist then get a proper job."

It was the same old preaching again.

There was nothing new.

So being a web novelist became "internet addiction" in her eyes.

Xiang Wan knew she could not change her youngest aunt's mindset, and she couldn't be bothered to do so as well.

Fang Yuanyuan, on the other hand, seemed like she was unable to take it anymore.

"Youngest aunt!" she gasped, "you're wrong! Being a web novelist is not an inferior profession. Rather, it's a job that has advanced culturally… Its prosperity relies on the rapid development of smartphones in this electronic age. It also carries the direction of the future of the online literature industry. This is actually an inevitable change that provides convenience for a fragmented reading experience for everyone…"

"Shut your mouth up! You should use such formal speeches when you write your summary." Tan Yuechun interrupted and stared at her while pointing her finger at Fang Yuanyuan. "I haven't reprimanded you yet! You should do some soul searching!"

Oh my!

She forgot that she was also a "target" to get a dressing-down from her youngest aunt.

Fang Yuanyuan wished to defend Xiang Wan, but her neck had shrunk back in realization.

She only wished that their youngest aunt would forget about her now…

However, to her disappointment, she had successfully obtained their youngest aunt's attention.

Basically, Tan Yuechun had said all she could to Xiang Wan, and she started to berate Fang Yuanyuan.

Fang Yuanyuan took a glance at Xiang Wan.

Both cousins suffered a tongue-las.h.i.+ng!

And they could only bear with it!

This "family meeting" lasted for more than an hour.

Xiang Wan and Fang Yuanyuan behaved like a rat hiding in their hole. They would only listen but not talk back nor say anything else.

Of course, they would also keep each other's secret safe…

When they left their youngest aunt's house after dinner, Xiang Wan's head was about to explode.

"Gosh, youngest aunt can really preach!" Fang Yuanyuan hugged her head when she sat inside the cab. "I almost went crazy! I feel like I've done something unpardonable…"

This did not bother Xiang Wan. "So you won't be getting married?"

"Of course I will! I'm so excited!" Fang Yuanyuan grinned happily. "I'm even a little curious about how youngest aunt will look like when she knew what I did!"

"… Are you a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t or something?"

"It's not that! I just have a feeling that youngest aunt belonged to the sharp-tongued but soft-hearted type. Just let her nag and preach… and that's all there is to it."

Xiang Wan just grunted a laugh.

What Fang Yuanyuan said was not entirely wrong.

Just that it was not fully correct either!

Everybody had their own views on a problem.

She need not concur or object to it.

Xiang Wan thought she had attained the highest level of open-mindedness!

She lived her life quietly, waiting for the Annual Award Ceremony which would be held in January to arrive, as well as waiting calmly for an impending storm.

However, contrary to her expectations, the storm did not arrive.

One week had pa.s.sed.

And another week had pa.s.sed.

The mastermind she had expected to show up did not appear nor made a move at all.

It felt as if life had gone back to her original track.

Besides updating a little more everyday and that her royalties increased a little, there was hardly any changes in her life.

D*rn!

So—Bai Muchuan was actually the real target and not her after all?

It was understandable. She was just a web novelist, and that was all she was.

After she left him, the mastermind couldn't even be bothered with her.

So will I really be safe and sound now? She asked herself.

Xiang Wan did not know if she should be happy or troubled.

Although what should have come did not arrive, she received something unexpected as well.

For the past two weeks, she received 10 gifts from Second Young Master Mu…

When she did a simple calculation, it amounted to approximately 100,000 yuan.

That pushed her novel all the way to being rank one for the most gifts received. Not only that, but her novel was also slowly making its way up in various ranking categories which made her get more readers in return. Many new readers who liked "Murder The Dream Guy" also joined their reader chat group with the joint efforts of Yuan Qianqian, Huangpu, and other moderators. As a result, the expanding reader chat group gradually transformed into her very own fan base that encouraged and cheered her on…

During this process, Xiang Wan also gained a few wealthy fans.

"Mei Baobao,""Quanquan,""Xiao'er," et cetera…

They were generous. Not only were they wealthy, but they were also very good-looking. For a moment, Xiang Wan was a little overwhelmed…

The love of these good-looking readers made her a little flattered, happy, but also frightened at the same time.

She was worried that she didn't do a good job and let everyone down…

Losing something that one had was far more painful when one never had it!

Therefore, she started to have greater expectations on her work and created a miracle for her works—

During that period, her chapters totaled over 10,000 words daily!

And, she updated every single day!

All of her energy went into her writing career.

Even when she was in the toilet, she would think about her plot.

As time went by, sometimes, she would even forget about the mysterious manipulator behind-the-scenes…

With the support of Second Young Master Mu and a group of wealthy fans, Xiang Wan's "Murder The Dream Guy" finally welcomed some great changes!

Her novel got into Top Ten in the subscriber ranking and even the monthly ranking. She started to stand out amongst her circle of authors…

The danger she had been expecting did not arrive.

However, an online war had arrived quietly and suddenly.

Xiang Wan was totally unprepared.

Votes.

Votes.

And more votes.

Vicious compet.i.tion in the ranking charts.

Xiang Wan was as if suddenly got splashed by a bucket of cold water.

In the online literature industry, it was very common for fans to vote and gift their favorite authors. There were also fans that would spend a lot of money just to get their favorite novel or author to have a higher rank. It was an act that proved the author or the novel was well-liked. Frankly, it was supposed to be a good thing.

This was because, although this was pretty much a positive thing, it could also invite a lot of hatred.

Every industry had compet.i.tion. That also applied to the online literature industry.

Compet.i.tions were one of the most merciless and brutal among social relations.

Most people would feel that authors in the same website should get along better but the ranking wars proved that it was usually the most intense fighting amongst themselves…

The December that year pa.s.sed by quickly.

Jin City's cold winter seemed to have just arrived, and Xiang Wan's birthday was around the corner.

It was a really special day—11th of January.

In the past, Xiang Wan always joked that her birthday might be a sign that she would stay single all her life.

When they stepped into the New Year, she found herself stepping on incidents that had nothing to do with love—

In order to prepare a birthday surprise for Xiang Wan, her fans registered many alternate accounts that had names starting with "Happy Birthday to Xiang Gongzi" followed by "001, 002, 003…" and so on. Her fans topped up these accounts with real money and subscribed to her novel. Not only that, but they also gave all of their monthly votes to "Murder The Dream Guy"…

That really attracted eyeb.a.l.l.s.

Xiang Wan's birthday was on the 11th.

However, starting from the 1st of January, she had already received the surprise they had prepared for her.

Well, it was more of a shock actually!

The night before, Xiang Wan was so engrossed with reading a very exciting novel that she stayed up till 4:00 a.m.

When she woke up the next day, it was almost noon.

Fang Yuanyuan had gone to work early in the morning.

She was yawning while scrolling through her social apps and was dumbstruck at what she saw!

"Congratulations to 'Murder The Dream Guy' for coming in first in the monthly ranking!"

First place in the monthly ranking?

First place!?

For quite a while, her novel had been taking second place.

There were fans who would tease her that "Xiang Gongzi" was "Forever Number Two". She actually felt proud about it and even had a thought that if she could hog the second place forever, she would wake up with a smile every day.

In her heart, she was a little in awe of the author that had been taking the first place for as long as she could remember!

When she just started out being a web novelist, the author above her was already a well-known figure across the platform!

Like many newcomers to the industry, Xiang Wan had sincerely liked her a lot before.

In all aspects, she did not think that she had the ability to compete for first place. She had never thought of taking the first place as well…

In Wen Quan Book Treasury, there were many female authors who were great in their writing and had really creative plots. Xiang Wan felt that she was already extremely glad and honored to come in second. The thought of competing for the first place had never crossed her mind.

Hence, when she realized that her novel was now number one, she broke out in a cold sweat instead and quickly went to her reader chat group.

"My dear readers, what happened?"

"Haha! Are you surprised and happy?"

"… I'm a little shocked!" Xiang Wan spoke her mind.

"Don't be a wuss! This is the birthday gift that everyone prepared for you. We'll help you take first place for once!"

"Don't, don't, don't, my dear readers! Number two is especially suitable for me! Everyone, please don't spend anymore money on me…"

"Just keep quiet! Your mission is to write us a good story! Let us worry about all other things!"

She was moved.

These people had nothing to do with her.

They were simply acquaintances in the vast sea of people.

Yet these lovely fans of hers seemed to give her more love than her own family.

Understanding, encouragement, and warmth… These were something Xiang Wan seldom received.

She grew up in a lonely environment.

Thus, she treasured and wanted to uphold the love she received from her fans.

Nevertheless, Xiang Wan had an ominous feeling about this birthday surprise.

She had a very strong feeling about it.

And that feeling came true in no time!

The top female author of the platform and her huge fan base came cras.h.i.+ng down on her!

They had pieces of evidence.

Those alternate accounts with the name "Happy Birthday to Xiang Gongzi" were their evidence.

The top female author's fan base made mean and nasty remarks that an unknown author like Xiang Wan actually had the audacity to fight for first place in the monthly rank against their beloved top author. They dissed Xiang Wan of being overconfident, overambitious, and wanted to take over the position of the top author in Wen Quan. They claimed that such behavior should be condemned and issued a declaration of "war" that they would fight right to the end…

The internet was like an arena.

Even though Xiang Wan did not have as many fans as the top author, she still had her fair share of some loyal fans.

Every human had a mouth, so when her fans saw those demeaning comments, it was only normal for them to retaliate.

In any industry, relations.h.i.+ps between people were always complicated.

Their fans were like a fish fighting in a pond; there were also several fishes that wanted to make the water as muddy and chaotic as possible…

It was a mess!

A mess that started to go out of control!

At this time, the top author contacted Xiang Wan and warned her.

She told Xiang Wan sternly that she was not an author who wrote novels because of money and that ranking was not important to her. However, such vicious acts to fight for the first place extremely disgusted her!

For Xiang Wan who was still in the stage of writing "for money", she did not understand how the top author felt about writing since she need not worry about money. Xiang Wan was also unsure if fighting for ranking was a good thing or a bad thing. The only thing she was quite sure of was that she felt a little apologetic on this matter.

Hence, she explained seriously and apologized to that top author.

"My readers wanted to celebrate my birthday and make me happy…"

Authors preferred a quiet environment. No one would want to quarrel with their peers unless it was the last straw.

However, with the way things had developed, it had turned out to something that they could no longer control.

The "war" between the fans was still ongoing—

The top author had an enormous amount of fans with a younger age group. Majority of them behaved like warriors while they defended their beloved author. In contrast, most of Xiang Wan's readers had a family and a career; they knew the ways of society and adopted a more cautious approach toward making online comments and remarks. Some of them were not even bothered by it and ignored the "war". Hence, she had no advantage regarding such online "wars".

Xiang Wan would never ask her readers to go online and defend her.

Although most of her readers did not like to quarrel, they would spend money on her novel willingly.

They might not have engaged in online arguments, but they showed their prowess through the ranking!

The ranking battle was intense.

The silent majority was also enjoying watching the ranking drama between the two authors.

Those who added fuel to the fire was far greater than those who helped to put out the fire.

The incident was gaining so much attention that the entire platform was watching it.

It seemed that the attention on her had exceeded the drama she had suffered that time when Xiang Wan's novel gained a lot of attention because of the 720 case…

Xiang Wan could only let out a bitter laugh!

These sensational bickering and arguments were exactly the ingredients the ma.s.s public loved!

Every day when she opened her eyes, she would receive all kinds of consolation and gossip across the social apps. She had a feeling that this incident had detached her from the real world.

She felt miserable.

However, she couldn't complain.

While handling all this mess, her birthday finally arrived.

11th of January.

This day was destined to be a special day—

Many years later, Xiang Wan still felt that it was an unforgettable day whenever she thought of it.

Because on this very day…

Many peoples' fate had taken a twist—