Han Ning's home was in the old part of town, just a ten-minute ride from Xijin Ferry Street.
With both of them on their bikes, it didn't take long to reach the entrance of her residential complex.
"See you tomorrow!"
Han Ning smiled and waved at Fang Yi, then pushed her sky-blue bicycle into the neighborhood.
Watching her figure gradually disappear beyond the entrance, Fang Yi finally turned and pedaled home.
—
He arrived at his house right at 8:30.
Old Fang and Old Zhuang were sitting on the couch, and the ending theme of The Journey to the West Sequel was playing on TV. When they saw him come in, the two exchanged a knowing look.
Zhuang Shufen suddenly asked, "So? How did it go?"
"So what?"
Fang Yi looked puzzled as he kicked off his shoes and slipped into a pair of house slippers.
"The date," Zhuang Shufen reminded him.
"Oh, it went well. We had a good chat."
Fang Yi poured himself a glass of cold tea, then shuffled back to his room in his slippers.
"Ahh…"
As soon as he disappeared into his room, a soft, melancholy sigh echoed from the living room.
Fang Yucheng looked over and asked, "What? You're not happy your son's dating someone?"
"I just think it's a shame. If only he were dating Wanqing instead, that would've been perfect," Zhuang Shufen murmured under her breath.
As the more rational one in the house, Fang Yucheng countered, "Come on, nothing in life is perfect. Besides, Xiao Yi and Wanqiu get along just fine the way they are now."
Zhuang Shufen rolled her eyes. "You don't get it. I watched Wanqing grow up. If they ended up together, I know I'd get along great with her as a daughter-in-law. If it's some other girl… who knows what kind of personality she'll have?"
Fang Yucheng quietly curled his lips in a half-smirk.
Seriously, the two kids hadn't even confirmed anything official yet, and this woman was already planning their post-marriage family dynamics. Could she be any more free right now?
—
"After returning to Beijing, there was a period of time when I didn't see Shirley Yang again. Maybe she was busy finding doctors to treat Professor Chen… or maybe she was handling the aftermath for the deceased…"
Fang Yi finished the final sentence and placed his fountain pen down with a long, deep exhale.
The first volume of Ghost Blows Out the Light: The City of the Dead — complete.
He believed it wouldn't be long before someone from Rongshuxia or a publishing house reached out to him. Once they did, these handwritten manuscripts would become his very first source of real income.
In his previous life, Ghost Blows Out the Light had eight total volumes: The City of the Dead, Dragon Ridge Maze, Yunnan Insect Valley, Kunlun Shrine, Yellow-skin Tomb, South Sea Return Ruins, Furious Xiangxi, and Witch Gorge Coffin Mountain — over two million words in all.
There was no way he'd handwrite the entire thing. That would be a nightmare.
His plan was to write out the first two volumes by hand. The remaining six? All digital.
Typing, after all, was exponentially faster than handwriting. With just four or five hours a day, he could upload tens of thousands of words.
His target price for the book rights? One million yuan.
And this wasn't just for print rights. It included everything — film, television, games, audiobooks. A full bundle deal.
Once sold, the IP would no longer have anything to do with him.
You might think a million is too low, but remember — in this era, aside from physical print, film rights for novels barely fetched anything. Ten, twenty thousand tops.
Don't believe it?
Take Wang Shuo, for example — the hottest, most commercially successful author in the country at the moment.
Know how much Fierce Animals sold for when Jiang Wen bought the rights?
Five. Thousand. Yuan.
Then Jiang Wen used it to direct In the Heat of the Sun — and made fifty million at the box office.
Even now, that's the going rate for film rights — even for big names like Wang Shuo. So what would a nobody internet author expect to get?
Sure, a decade from now, the rights to even just one volume of Ghost Blows Out the Light will be worth over 800,000 on their own.
But that's years away.
If he manages to snag the agency rights to Legend of Mir next year, the profits will be in the billions. What's a measly million compared to that?
The more he earns now, the more confidence he'll have to compete for the Legend of Mir contract later.
Fang Yi understood priorities.
He glanced at the clock. Midnight, right on the dot.
Time for bed.
Just as he was about to switch off the light, the phone in the living room suddenly rang.
Huh?
Who could be calling this late?
Curious, Fang Yi padded out of his room and picked up the receiver.
Thankfully, he was quick — the phone had only rung twice, so it didn't wake up his parents.
"Hello, who's this?"
He kept his voice low as he spoke into the phone.
"Fang Yi… it's me."
A cautious, gentle voice came through the line — Han Ning. She was whispering too, clearly trying not to be overheard.
Han Ning?
Fang Yi's eyebrows rose. "What's up? It's so late."
"I'm really sorry for bothering you this late," Han Ning said softly. "But… can you tell me what the connection is between liking to climb mountains… and liking me?"
Fang Yi: ???
He took a deep breath, then stared at the phone, stunned. "You're seriously calling me in the middle of the night just to ask that?"
"I… I couldn't figure it out. And I couldn't sleep," Han Ning said weakly.
Was this girl… obsessive?
Fang Yi couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, alright. I'll explain it to you now."
"First, stand up straight. Then lift your head, puff out your chest, and pull in your stomach."
A few seconds passed.
Then her voice came from the other end: "Okay. Then what?"
Fang Yi guided her patiently, like a sensei preparing a disciple. "Now slowly lower your head."
"I lowered it… then what?"
Fang Yi smiled, a sly glint in his eye. "Now… what do you see?"
"Beeep… beeep… beeep…"
Silence.
Then came the sound of the call being abruptly ended. A busy tone rang in his ear.
Nice.
It seemed she finally understood the "connection" between mountain climbing… and liking her.
Fang Yi raised an eyebrow, turned around, and headed back to his room to sleep.