Chapter 18: I Am Your Patron, Where's the Promised Extra Story?

Yuncheng University.

In the sweltering heat of summer, under the supervision of the drill instructors, the male and female students were split into two groups.

However, for the School of Science and Engineering where Xia Shu belonged, girls were still a rare sight.

Take his major for example—the ratio of boys to girls in his class was already five to one. Yet, even this was considered a decent balance for their school; at least out of fifty students in his class, there were still ten girls.

Looking over at the neighboring Electrical Engineering classes, the number of girls was so small you couldn’t even count them on one hand.

Of course, numbers didn’t matter much in such a large university. Most single students wouldn’t limit their prospects to just their own school.

Everyone knew that the most attractive girls were usually found in the School of Arts or the School of Humanities, so whenever they were training on the field, their eyes would inevitably wander toward the other classes.

Similarly, handsome guys would naturally draw the attention of many girls—especially someone like Xia Shu, a freshman who had recently gone viral online. In just the first couple of days of military training, countless girls had already run over asking to take photos with him.

To have such a dazzling moment right at the start of university life was something many could only envy. The male students, watching so many beautiful girls approach Xia Shu, couldn’t help but look on with admiration.

As for Xia Shu himself, he could only adapt to the situation and accept it as it came. At first, he might have been a little overwhelmed, but now he didn’t mind anymore. After all, in some ways, this newfound attention had given him a bit of an advantage.

In this era of traffic dividends, someone like him, who naturally attracted attention, was sought after by many platforms eager to reach out for potential collaborations.

Xia Shu would occasionally browse DouDou, and during the long summer break before university, out of sheer boredom, he had recorded a few videos. After going viral, the algorithm had pushed him to many users, and he quickly gained a following.

Soon enough, some potential collaborators began messaging him privately.

There were even a few with less than pure intentions—people who seemed unhinged, fixated on him. When Xia Shu checked some of these messages, he was nearly driven to spit blood in exasperation.

He never imagined there were people online with no sense of shame, who, regardless of gender, would message him outright offering money for all kinds of indecent proposals.

Xia Shu simply ignored and deleted all such messages.

He made a point to emphasize in his personal profile:

“Still just a kid, just want to quietly scroll DouDou, not aiming for fame, just here for the gossip, please don’t disturb.”

Still, when it came to collaborations that could actually earn him money, Xia Shu paid attention.

Now that he was dating a wealthy girlfriend like Su Rouxue, he definitely needed to make good money, so he couldn’t pretend he wasn’t interested when an opportunity came knocking.

However, if he were to accept any offers, he had to stick to his principles; at the very least, he needed to feel comfortable with the deal. Otherwise, if the advertisement didn’t resonate and the feedback was poor, earning the money would feel hollow and unpleasant.

During military training, every day passed without much incident. However, all freshmen were required to attend evening self-study sessions, which mainly revolved around student council recruitment and class publicity.

Without a second thought, Xia Shu signed up early for the basketball team.

Normally, this would require an interview, but when the team captain learned of Xia Shu’s interest, he was immediately accepted—after all, having such a popular figure on the team was great publicity.

Sure enough, after the news spread that Xia Shu had joined the men’s basketball team, the number of interviewees surged over the next two days.

Each night after military training, Xia Shu would open his laptop and start writing his novel.

Naturally, this drew the attention of his roommates.

Especially Liu Zhuang, who leaned right over Xia Shu’s screen to peek at what he was writing.

“‘My Wife Is Not Proper’? That’s an interesting title. I’ll go support you on the platform later,” Liu Zhuang said, his booming voice making sure everyone in the dorm heard.

“Hey, isn’t that basically your autobiography? With a title like that, I bet there’s plenty of improper stuff in there!” Lin Xiang teased from his bed, phone in hand.

“Wait, is it the one I’m reading?”

But the biggest reaction came from Wang Yang.

He hurried over to stand behind Xia Shu, and when he saw the author’s dashboard and the ongoing serialization, his face lit up with excitement. “No way, it really is! Xia Shu, I’m your gold sponsor!”

“What do you mean? You’ve read it?”

Xia Shu quickly closed his writing platform, raising his eyebrows in embarrassment. Having his own work discovered by his roommates was still a little mortifying.

“Of course it’s me! Look at your top tipper, isn’t the username obvious enough?”

“My roommate’s not just an internet celebrity, but also a bestselling author.”

“What’s more, to write something that hits the spot so perfectly, always on the edge, yet feels like an autobiography—it’s amazing and a bit of a surprise.”

Wang Yang was so excited that he stood behind Xia Shu, gripping his shoulders and laughing heartily.

“Well… it’s definitely not an autobiography. How could it be?” Xia Shu felt even more awkward. He had to admit, though written with subtlety, his pacing was undeniably quick.

When he checked the tipping leaderboard, the top sponsor was indeed “Boundless Ocean”—a play on Wang Yang’s name.

“Come on, I don’t buy it. You couldn’t write so realistically without personal experience. But the protagonist in the novel is really impressive—are you really that good?”

Wang Yang’s tone was drawn out, with a hint of suspicion.

“Give me a break. I just write for fun, tailoring the story to what readers want to see.”

“Haha, it’s fine, we’re all adults here. But Xia Shu, as your number one patron, when are you going to write that 500-word bonus chapter you skipped in the novel and post it in the fan group? I’ve been hounding you every day!”

“Well… I’m still waiting for inspiration.”

Xia Shu forced a smile. The 500-word bonus chapter had indeed been a reward milestone, and it seemed he’d already reached it. He’d nearly forgotten about it these past days—but what he wouldn’t tell Wang Yang was that he had already written it.

And that bonus chapter wasn’t just 500 words—it was ten thousand.

Very detailed, very suggestive, very sweet, and very… swift.