Years had passed, and Li Yuan could no longer remember what scores Zhang Zhongding and the others had gotten or which universities they had attended. He vaguely recalled that Zhang Zhongding hadn't performed well that year. He repeated his senior year and then enrolled in a bachelor's degree program the following year. After graduating, he took the civil service exam as a fresh graduate and, thanks to his emotional intelligence and family background, began thriving in the small county town.
Not long after Li Yuan joined the system in 2016, Zhang Zhongding, who had just completed his four-year work term, was promoted to a deputy section-level leadership position, becoming the deputy head of a township. Before Li Yuan's rebirth, he had even risen to the rank of the township's top official. In short, he was doing much better than he was.
It could only be said that grades weren't the deciding factor; emotional intelligence and background were. Unfortunately, Li Yuan had neither.
Thinking of this, Li Yuan suddenly recalled Bai Weixi's family situation and faintly understood why he had been rejected. In his previous life, out of wealth, power, and personal appearance, he only possessed the last. But for a family with a background like Bai Weixi's, looks were not the determining factor, not even a major one.
Being handsome couldn't fill your belly. However, money could buy food, and with power, others would treat you to meals.
So, if I want to elevate my social status without going into politics, my only option is to grind for money. Li Yuan thought to himself.
***
Time flew by, and another five days passed in a blink.
Today was Sunday, and his editor, Starry Sky, gave his new book, *Battle Starry Sky*, a trial promotion. Li Yuan spent the entire day in an internet cafe, monitoring the promotion's effect on his new book.
This high-imitation *Fight Break* fanfiction had been updated to 60,000 words, with a current total of 4,356 favorites, 2,356 recommendations, and 345 monthly tickets, ranking 31st on the new book chart. The performance was quite impressive. This result was achieved without any other promotions, relying solely on the genre, content, and the traffic from the new book chart.
Li Yuan checked the comment section daily. Any malicious comments received the one-stop service of deletion, blacklisting, and muting.
Book-hungry for recommendations: "Hey, I found a great book! A broken engagement, a grandpa in a ring, Fight Qi, the tables turning after thirty years... Quite interesting. I've added it to my favorites. I'm rewarding the author with an Alliance Hierarch, hope you update more!"
Begging you to update faster: "The author's writing is really good. The Alchemy, Artifact Refining, talismans, and the cultivation system are all great. Rewarding you with a Helmsman to start. Keep it up!"
Likes to Exaggerate: "Author, where's the fan group? Hurry up and create one! I'll reward you with an Alliance Hierarch when you do."
***
The overall reviews in the book's comment section were very positive, consisting entirely of praise alongside plot discussions.
With the promotion, the book began to display an incredible ability to attract new readers. Nearly every fifteen-minute refresh brought in dozens of new favorites. In less than half a day, the number of new favorites reached 5,000. The data exploded as the book completely took off.
As long as this continues, getting over 10,000 first-day subscriptions, or even 20,000, won't be a problem. It's truly worthy of being the number one legendary book from my previous life; its money-making potential is simply unbeatable. Potato must have earned over a hundred million from this book alone.
Li Yuan understood that this was his greatest asset. In this era, as long as he could cultivate a platinum-grade writer's account, he would never be short of money in the future. This was one of the fields he had excelled in during his past life; he was fairly familiar with it, and it was much simpler than starting his own business.
Li Yuan spent almost the entire day in the internet cafe writing fervently. He hadn't bought a laptop yet, so he had no choice but to work hard in the cafe, typing up drafts to build a stockpile.
The next day, he was awakened by a message from his editor.
Starry Sky: Your book is a hit. The promotion's effect is excellent, with over 10,000 new favorites on the first day. Keep it up, and securing 10,000 first-day subscriptions is a sure thing. Stockpile some chapters and maintain the quality; several more major promotions are coming.
Li Yuan: Thanks so much! I'll keep updating diligently. smile.jpg
Starry Sky: Your book has a lot of fans now. You could consider starting a group early, or you could wait until after it's monetized. It's up to you.
Li Yuan: The group is already set up. I'll announce it on the day it's monetized.
***
The next day, Li Yuan arrived at the internet cafe early as usual. He logged into Yuandian Web and checked the backend data. The novel had gained 11,869 new favorites yesterday, and today's additions had already reached 3,000 and were still climbing. The book had soared straight into the top five on the new book chart.
In short, it was a massive hit.
Hehe, even though it's a high-imitation fanfic, I still poured a lot of my own ideas and hard work into it. Not bad at all. Li Yuan thought, feeling quite pleased with himself.
Just then, his phone rang.
"Hello, Yuan? The Gaokao scores are out! Have you checked yours?"
Li Yuan was taken aback. "The Gaokao scores are out already? That was fast. I haven't checked yet. What did you get?"
Wang Shuai's voice was ecstatic. "Hehe, not bad, 538! I should make the cut for a second-tier university."
Li Yuan only remembered that in Hui Province in 2008, the cut-off for first-tier universities was 563 points, and he had surpassed it by 40 points. His score was high enough for a standard 211 university in another province, but not for one in Modu.
Li Yuan logged onto the website to check his score.
Chinese: 118, Mathematics: 136, English: 102, Science Comprehensive: 247.
It was exactly the same as in his previous life, not a single point off. His English score was relatively weak. He vaguely remembered that Bai Weixi had scored over 140 in English, much better than him.
"So? Have you checked?" Wang Shuai asked. "What did you score?"
"603 points," Li Yuan replied. "About what I estimated."
"603, that's pretty good!" Wang Shuai said. "You're definitely over the first-tier threshold. You can get into a good university."
"Oh right, Yuan, check the QQ group messages. Our class teacher is calling a class meeting for tomorrow afternoon."
Li Yuan paused. A class meeting? He seemed to recall this from his previous life. Back then, he was still Bai Weixi's lapdog.
He opened the group messages. The class monitor had indeed posted an announcement: "Class meeting at 3 p.m. on June 26th in Classroom 22."
After Wang Shuai hung up, other classmates like Yang Zhen, Xu Zhi, and Zhang Zhongding also called to ask about his score.
"Yuan, I only scored 460," Zhang Zhongding said, his voice dejected. "I probably won't make the cut for an undergraduate program. I guess I'll have to repeat the year." Among the "Front Five Tigers" of Class 22, he had scored the lowest. The other four had all scored at least 510, enough for a third-tier university.
Li Yuan offered a comforting smile. "Zhongding, if you have to repeat the year, then just do it. Ask our class teacher if he's leading a repeat class. Work hard, and you'll definitely do better next year."
"Yeah… Anyway, I have to go. My mom grounded me after she found out my score. I can only study at home and can't go anywhere. I guess I can't join you guys for basketball or learning to drive this summer. That's all, hanging up."
Li Yuan could tell that Zhang Zhongding was in a really bad mood. It was completely normal; failing the Gaokao was much more serious than a breakup. This was especially true since both of Zhang Zhongding's parents were in the system—his father was the director of a major bureau, and his mother was the chief physician at the county hospital. They placed great importance on academic results and required him to get into an undergraduate program.
The Gaokao was the first great watershed in life.
Now that his Gaokao scores were confirmed, Li Yuan decided to call his mother and share the good news. His parents had stayed in their hometown specifically to wait for his results.
As soon as the call connected, his mother, Xia Qin, asked anxiously, "Yuan, have the Gaokao results come out? How did you do?"
Li Yuan said, "Mom, the results are out. I scored 603."
"603 points? How is that? What kind of university can you get into?" Xia Qin asked, unfamiliar with the details of the Gaokao and universities.
Li Yuan explained, "Mom, with my score, I can get into a key university. As for which one specifically, I'll have to fill out my university applications and see how things go."