Brian Carter was silent for a moment. “If you acted like this in our group, you’d get beaten up.”

David Bolton laughed. “I don’t believe you’ve never thought about it yourself. Otherwise, why would you suddenly say you need time off to organize your outline?”

Brian Carter really hadn’t thought about it before. Mainly, his usual way of thinking wasn’t like that, so it was hard to consider things from this angle. Now that he’d been reminded, it was truly an eye-opener.

David Bolton’s proposal not only avoided the problem of leaving out any harem girls—after all, in the end, everyone gets left out, so who would care about just one more?—but also managed to please both the harem fans and the single-heroine fans. Maybe the results would even be better. The only downside was getting scolded after the story finished, but by then, the money would already be made—who’d be afraid of a little scolding?

There was another benefit: the previously troublesome issue of how much screen time to give Qiu Wuji could be left alone. The plot could proceed as originally planned; just change her relationship with the protagonist to a normal sect leader and disciple, and skip all the ambiguous stuff. If readers want to speculate, let them—what does it matter?

It was simply a win-win solution.

Brian Carter raised his glass in a toast, sincerely saying, “Qiren, if you don’t get popular, there’s no justice. Your research and understanding of these things is deeper than most people’s.”

David Bolton’s eyes sparkled. “I also think there’s no justice if I don’t get popular.”

He paused, but his gaze seemed to start wandering, his expression a little complicated.

Brian Carter followed his gaze and saw a girl in black, about seventeen or eighteen, walking from the street, silently passing the barbecue stall and entering their apartment complex.

As she passed by, the smell of alcohol lingered.

Brian Carter recognized this girl.

Because she lived on the same floor as them, in the apartment across the hall.

These days, neighborly relations are distant. They’d lived on the same floor for so long without ever speaking. Occasionally, they’d meet in the elevator, but each would just look down at their phone, not even greeting each other, so naturally, they didn’t know each other’s names.

Writers’ lives are upside down day and night, and this girl was about the same. They often ran into each other in the middle of the night, and every time he saw her, she seemed tipsy.

Sometimes, there was even a small bruise on her forehead...

Most people’s first assumption would be that she was a bar hostess, or maybe a delinquent girl—something along those lines.

“She used to be a game streamer. I came across her once,” David Bolton said in a low voice. “But she didn’t talk much, just played her games quietly, so her popularity was really low. I doubt she could make a living from it.”

Brian Carter said, “A flop in the industry, like us?”

David Bolton sipped his drink in silence.

Streaming and web novels are actually quite similar in many ways—it’s easy to empathize.

We’re all flops, so who can look down on whom?

Suddenly, Brian Carter said, “Do you like her?”

David Bolton’s hand tightened around his glass, but he replied casually, “She’s good-looking, so of course there’s a bit of desire. That’s normal. Haven’t you ever felt that way?”

To be honest, Brian Carter had felt that way too. He’d even fantasized about running into her at some club and having her as his hostess. It’s just a guy thing—judge the action, not the thought. Daydreaming is totally normal. Back in high school, he’d even fantasized about the Chinese teacher from the class next door.

But in reality, none of them had the money to go to those kinds of places!

Soon, David Bolton continued, “But like her? Not really. With this kind of job, how could I... Anyway, we can’t even support ourselves. Even if I knew which club she worked at, I wouldn’t have the money to go. What’s the point of talking about like or not like?”

Brian Carter raised his glass and downed it in one go. “Good luck. You’ll make it big.”

Chapter 7: Curtain Falls

Come to think of it, what David Bolton did after he got popular actually fit the “club model” stereotype... just that his target was more specific than most...

But in reality, whether she was a hostess or not was still just speculation. It wasn’t something to dwell on—if they guessed wrong, wouldn’t that be super awkward?

The two didn’t say much more. After finishing the bottle, they each went back to sleep.

It was already the middle of the night... No matter how many worries you have, you can’t just drop dead from them.

This time, Brian Carter actually slept very soundly. When he woke up, it was already noon. As he got up to wash, he found David Bolton’s door wide open, and saw him sitting nervously in front of his computer, constantly refreshing the screen.

Brian Carter checked the time—one in the afternoon. It looked like David Bolton’s new book had just been online for an hour. He quickly finished washing up, went in, and poked his head over. “How is it? How many in the first hour?”

There was a hint of excitement on David Bolton’s face. “Over four hundred.”

Over four hundred first-hour subscriptions... In twenty-four hours, it could reach around two thousand. Hitting “premium” status (three thousand average subscriptions) wouldn’t be too hard in the future.

A premium work is still far from being “a hit,” but it’s enough to make a living.

Right now, Brian Carter’s own results were just a bit above premium.

Brian Carter was happy for David Bolton, and also a bit surprised. David Bolton’s previous number of bookmarks wasn’t high, so he’d thought things might be a bit bleak. Of course, it wasn’t so low that it was doomed to flop, so there was still hope and thus the nerves.

But for such a not-so-high bookmark count to get this many first subscriptions meant the conversion rate was really high. For web novels, where piracy is rampant, that’s not easy—it showed David Bolton’s readers were really loyal.

The “even if it looks niche, the fans are hardcore” comfort Brian Carter had given before seemed to be coming true.

Honestly, this was beyond David Bolton’s expectations. He was clearly very excited, his face glowing as he pulled Brian Carter along. “Come on, Brother Chu, let me treat you to lunch!”