Chapter Eleven: My God! Did Brother Tai actually come to the internet cafe to study?

"Is... is this the author 'Must-Fire'? How does he look like a high school girl? She's actually quite pure and pretty."

"Yueyue, stop being angry. Perhaps there's some unspoken reason why she had to end the novel like that," Lan Youyou said, peering closely at the screen.

"No, no, no! It's even more infuriating than that."

Ling Tianyue, furious, quickly opened her computer and began typing away with a clatter. She explained to Lan Youyou, "This photo is the girlfriend of the author 'Must-Fire.' She's an internet celebrity who's been trending lately, nicknamed 'Sister Milky Fragrance.' And now, 'Must-Fire' actually has the nerve to ask us, his readers in the fan group, to cheer for his girlfriend. It makes me so mad! I won't let him have his way. Watch how this young lady handles him..."

Ling Tianyue's screen name was [Scratching God's Armpit], and she was an administrator in Huo Qitai's "Must-Fire Two-Thousand-Member Fan Group." Because of this, she held significant influence and sway within the group.

[Scratching God's Armpit]: Everyone, follow me to that post. Just spam: "Sister Milky Fragrance, hurry up and break up with your boyfriend! He’s got nothing down there; he’s a eunuch."

[Gargamel]: Wow! Sister Armpit, that's a great idea. A eunuch author doesn't deserve a woman.

[Warm Sun 1314]: Let's do it! Give me a second, I'm going to top up some money to boost that post and your replies. Damn author, wasting my tips.

[Vera]: Must-Fire's girlfriend is so pure! Can I hit on her, guys? A pretty young lady shouldn't be paired with a stinky man.

[Otaku Veggie]: Lara! Don't go there; that photo looks like a green tea b*tch. Come here, let's kiss!!

...

One must fully appreciate the deep resentment that a group of eager readers feels toward an author who leaves their story unfinished and "castrated."

And so! Within a few hours of Huo Qitai’s message being broadcast, even in the dead of the night, the hype post about "Sister Milky Fragrance" on the internet forum exploded again. The number of comments grew by hundreds at a time, leaving onlookers dizzy.

It seemed as if two factions were locked in a "dragon-tiger battle." One side was the non-mainstream "Funeral Love Family," claiming Sister Milky Fragrance as one of their own—the girlfriend of the Four Heavenly Kings' Brother Huo—and swearing to defend the "Sister-in-law Huo" to the death. The other side seemed to be a group of literature readers with a very strange stance, constantly urging Sister Milky Fragrance to leave her boyfriend and calling him a eunuch.

...

Regardless, thousands of people were completely whipped into a frenzy on the internet during that hot summer night. At the same time, it pushed the already trending "Sister Milky Fragrance" to a brand new level of popularity.

In the original timeline, Sister Milky Fragrance's popularity would only surge again in a few years. When the renowned director Zhang Yimou came to Nanjing for casting, he specifically requested her, essentially hand-picking her to be the next "Mou Girl." However, she turned it down, citing that her "studies were the priority."

That was absurd! Who could actually turn down becoming a "Mou Girl"? Naturally, it hit the headlines instantly, extending her fame for a long time. Later, she would go on to be admitted to Tsinghua University, appear on the TV show *Super Brain*, go on an exchange program, and eventually hook up with "Brother Dong," leaping into the upper class as "Sister-in-law Dong."

But now... Huo Qitai's mass message had made Sister Milky Fragrance explode in popularity once again. For the next few days, Zhang Runtian was both happy and utterly distressed.

"Tian, you have such dark circles under your eyes! Were you reading the comments all night?" Her best friend, Li Xiuyan, asked with concern the next morning.

Li Xiuyan browsed the comments on the computer and gasped, "Hey! Why are they saying you're that 'Brother Huo's' girlfriend? Isn't this another rumor? It's not good for your reputation."

"Sigh! I don't know what's going on. Those Funeral Love Family people seem to have misunderstood. Brother Huo only said I was his friend, but they've labeled me as his girlfriend." Supporting her chin, Zhang Runtian frowned, pouting her pink lips. "I've been messaging Brother Huo, asking him to help explain it in the various Funeral Love groups, but he hasn't been online. It’s driving me crazy."

"This must be cleared up, or when it gets back to school, everyone will definitely think you're dating—and dating one of those non-mainstream internet boys, no less..." Li Xiuyan scrolled through the tens of thousands of comments, shaking her head. "But it seems useless to explain now. Look... this post has gone completely off the rails. There are even people urging you to break up and cursing Brother Huo for being a eunuch!"

...

Over the next few days, "Sister Milky Fragrance" was the talk of the internet, and that pure photo of her spread even further. As for the culprit, Huo Qitai, he truly hadn't logged onto QQ again, burying himself in an internet cafe booth to focus on his "career."

Time was incredibly tight, and these materials were indeed hard to come by. Huo Qitai had originally planned to finish in three or four days, but now nearly a week had passed, and he had only completed the science study materials. To tackle the liberal arts, he would need to pull at least a few more all-nighters.

"Phew... the science side is finally done. Luckily, math, Chinese, and English are interconnected, and history, geography, and biology aren't as difficult as physics and chemistry. The study and review methods are consistent throughout. I really am a career-driven maniac; in just one week, I've compiled hundreds of thousands of words of review materials and practice problems..."

Taking a breather, Huo Qitai looked disheveled, his face greasy. For over a week, he hadn't even returned to his rented apartment. When hungry, he ordered instant noodles or food from the shop next to the cafe; when tired, he slept on the sofa in the booth. He was the spitting image of a hardcore internet cafe dweller.

He didn't have a phone, hadn't logged into QQ, and hadn't contacted anyone. For all intents and purposes, Huo Qitai had evaporated from the world, disappearing completely from the sight of his friends and family.

So much so that when his mother, Zhang Aiji, came into the city to find him today, the landlord said he hadn't been back in a week, assuming he had returned to their hometown. Huo's mother panicked. She immediately went to Xue Xiaoshan, only to learn that he hadn't been in contact with Huo Qitai for a week either and also assumed he’d gone home.

"This is bad! Could Brother Tai be heartbroken and doing something stupid?" Xue Xiaoshan screamed internally, though he reassured Huo's mother, "Auntie, don't worry. Maybe Brother Tai just wanted to relax after the college entrance exam and got addicted to the internet cafe. I'll call some classmates to help search the cafes he frequents. You go back to his place and wait for news."

After sending her off, Xue Xiaoshan immediately called the guys from class who usually gamed with them. They split up to check seven or eight internet cafes near the school, agreeing that whoever found him would call Xue Xiaoshan immediately.

"Brother Tai, please don't let anything happen. I felt like you were acting really strange the day you filled out your applications..."

Xue Xiaoshan searched two cafes in deep anxiety, failing to find a trace of Huo Qitai. Just then, his phone rang; it was the vice class monitor, Lu Xiqing.

"Shan, I found Brother Tai. He's at Dazhong Internet Cafe!"

Xue Xiaoshan let out a sigh of relief. "Wait for me, I'll be there!"

As long as he was in an internet cafe, Xue Xiaoshan thought, his hunch hadn't been wrong. Brother Tai was definitely heartbroken, but he wouldn't do anything reckless. Spending a few days and nights playing games was just the standard way for a young man to vent, right?

But when Xue Xiaoshan arrived at Dazhong Internet Cafe, Lu Xiqing stared at him as if he had seen a ghost. "Shan, Brother Tai is in the booth inside. He looks so focused and serious. I didn't dare disturb him, so I called you immediately. The state he's in... it just doesn't seem right!"

"What's not right about it? People come to internet cafes to play games. Unless... wait? Hehehe! Brother Tai wouldn't be watching adult movies, would he?"

Xue Xiaoshan, wearing a mischievous grin, tried to sneak over to startle Huo Qitai. But as he approached the booth, he gasped as if he’d seen a ghost, too. "My god! Is Brother Tai actually here to study?"

It was insane! It was absolutely insane!

Xue Xiaoshan couldn't believe his eyes. Huo Qitai's table was covered in review materials for every subject, along with dense, handwritten notes. On the computer screen, three Word documents were open side-by-side.

He leaned in closer, and the titles of each document were terrifying enough to kill someone. One was *Three Days to Master High School English Grammar*. Another was *Five Days to Conquer High School Math*. The last one was *Seven Days to Fast-Track High School Physics, Chemistry, and Biology*.

Xue Xiaoshan couldn't help but count on his fingers: 3+5+7... The entire high school curriculum, excluding Chinese, could be mastered in fifteen days? Where on earth did Brother Tai get this martial arts manual? So that's where he’d been all this time—holed up in this cafe studying his secret manual!

"Brother Tai! Brother Tai! You're really diligent! With this kind of drive, I actually believe you could repeat a year and aim for Peking University."

Patting Huo Qitai on the shoulder and looking at his greasy, messy hair, Xue Xiaoshan found that he actually looked somewhat "disheveled-chic." Sure enough, good-looking people could wear a rag as a shirt and still look like a trendsetter.

"Who the hell said anything about repeating a year? Shan, how did you find me here?" Huo Qitai, deep in concentration, turned around and said, "Perfect, I'm almost done here. I was just about to find you and Lulu."

"Brother Tai, if you're not repeating a year, why are you compiling all these high school review materials in an internet cafe?" Xue Xiaoshan asked, puzzled.

"Obviously, I'm going to sell these materials to make money! Big money," Huo Qitai said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.