Chapter 7: The Goddess Spoke to Me First; She Has Feelings for Me

In his past life, Chen Fan studied computer science and was a typical IT guy. Because of this, he had specifically researched the industry during his university years. Come to think of it, domain name speculation was a business with a massive return on investment. As long as one could register a good domain name, flipping it later for millions or even tens of millions was no mere fantasy—it was a path to overnight riches.

Chen Fan recalled that in the future, JD.com would spend 30 million yuan to acquire its domain. Lei Jun’s Xiaomi spent over three million dollars. Of course, the most expensive was the 360 domain, which cost over 100 million yuan to purchase from a foreign website at the time. It was clear just how insane the domain trading market was.

The most famous figures in that era for domain trading were Cai Wensheng and Yao Jinbo. The former, chairman of Meitu and a renowned investor, held a vast collection of rare domains. The latter was even more well-known as the founder of 59.com. His vision was incredibly sharp; he had frantically registered a massive number of domains early on. It was rumored that he owned the largest number of two-digit numeric domains in the country, with a total value exceeding 100 million yuan.

Chen Fan rubbed his hands together in excitement. This was the advantage of being a prophet—getting there before anyone else could react. He got up, asked the internet cafe manager for pen and paper, and rapidly jotted down every famous website domain he could think of. After half an hour, he had copied down nearly fifty of them.

Next came the attempt to register them one by one. Since Alibaba Cloud had not yet been born, he had to go to foreign websites to register. However, that was no challenge for an IT guy like Chen Fan. With a few simple operations, he easily bypassed the firewall, found a registration site, logged in, and began his attempts.

"Huh? This site already exists?"
"Oh? This one is taken too?"
"No matter, I have plenty more."

Chen Fan muttered to himself, trying one after another. Half an hour later, his face turned pale, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

"Damn it! Does it have to be this ruthless?"

He collapsed weakly into his chair, filled with frustration. Every single domain he could think of had already been registered by others. At this moment, Chen Fan felt as though he had underestimated the heroes of the world.

...

When their time was up, Guo Shuai slammed the table in frustration. "Damn! I was this close to winning!"

Turning his head, he noticed Chen Fan sitting beside him with a vacant expression, as if in a daze. Guo Shuai nudged him. "What are you thinking about? Want to extend for another hour?"

"Extend my foot! Let’s go back!" Chen Fan was in a foul mood and stood up to leave immediately.

Guo Shuai was reluctant. "Let’s play one last hour, just one last hour, alright? You have to let me have some fun..."

Seeing Chen Fan staring intensely in a certain direction, Guo Shuai followed his gaze. He saw a familiar figure sitting in a corner across the internet cafe hall, playing a game.

"Huang Hu?" Guo Shuai was surprised and exchanged a glance with Chen Fan. "So this brat is the one causing trouble. What’s the plan?"

If this were the Chen Fan of his past life, he might have chosen to avoid trouble and let it go. But the Chen Fan of today housed the soul of a forty-year-old. Moreover, while Huang Hu’s threats to him were nothing, the fact that he dared to have designs on Su Ruochu was something Chen Fan absolutely could not tolerate.

"You go back first. This has nothing to do with you."

Hearing this, Guo Shuai laughed. "Looking down on me, are you? We’re brothers—it’s in the heart, you get that?"

Chen Fan looked at Guo Shuai with appreciation. "Good man."

Guo Shuai rolled up his sleeves. "I’ll handle this; you stay out of it. I’m already the bad student in the teacher's eyes anyway; the worst they can do is give me a disciplinary warning. I’m past caring about a few extra nits."

Just as Chen Fan was about to speak, he noticed Huang Hu stand up and head toward the exit.

"Damn, he’s logging off too."
"Follow him."

The two followed him secretly, only to discover that Huang Hu hadn't left; instead, he entered the internet cafe's restroom. Chen Fan gave Guo Shuai a look and grabbed a trash can from the entrance. Guo Shuai counted down three seconds and gently pushed the restroom door open. It was unlocked.

In the foul-smelling stall, Huang Hu was standing with his back to them, relieving himself and humming a tune. Chen Fan stepped up and slammed the trash can over the guy’s head.

"Damn... who the hell is looking for death?" Huang Hu shouted, just as he was about to reach up to grab the trash can, Guo Shuai stepped forward and kicked him hard in the backside.

The force was not insignificant. Huang Hu fell face-first onto the floor. Right in front of him was the urinal. The conditions of a restroom in an internet cafe were easy to imagine; the filthy urinal was filled with un-flushed waste. As Huang Hu fell, both his hands landed directly in it.

Guo Shuai wanted to rush in and kick him a few more times, but Chen Fan dragged him out of the restroom.

"Ah..."
"Who is it? Who the hell is looking for death?"
"I saw you! If you've got guts, don't—ugh... urgh!"

Behind them came the wailing of Huang Hu. The two of them bolted out of the internet cafe and burst into laughter.

"I’ve hated that guy for a long time. Acting like a fox borrowing a tiger's might, thinking he's the principal just because he's a class monitor."

Chen Fan didn't feel much of a post-revenge high; instead, he urged, "Let's go. The next class should be with Teacher Wang. If we're late, we're dead."

"Damn, almost forgot. Let's go!"

The two ran wildly and charged into the classroom just before the bell rang for the second period.

...

Watching the homeroom teacher walk in, Chen Fan and Guo Shuai exchanged a look and smiled.

"Students, class begins." Wang Qiming looked around, his brow furrowing. "Where is the class monitor, Huang Hu?"

No one responded. Guo Shuai raised his hand. "Teacher, could the class monitor have fallen into the toilet from a stomach ache? Should I go look for him?"

The whole class burst into laughter.

"Guo Shuai, can't you keep quiet for once? Sit down!" Teacher Wang snorted coldly. "Class begins!"

Chen Fan smiled as he took out his textbook. Turning his head, he noticed Su Ruochu sneaking a glance at him and grinned. To his surprise, the class beauty didn't look away this time.

"You skipped class."

Chen Fan was stunned and whispered an explanation. "Actually, I was..."

Su Ruochu furrowed her brows. "The college entrance exam is coming up soon. Chen Fan, don't you take it seriously at all? Don't you want to get into a good university? Even if you don't think of your parents, don't you think of your own future?"

Chen Fan was surprised that Su Ruochu had said so much in one breath. He gave a sheepish laugh and scratched his head. "I understand. I'll listen to you; I won't skip class again."

Su Ruochu turned her head away. "Why listen to me? Studying is your own business."

Chen Fan, however, was beaming with joy, his heart filled with excitement. The goddess was actively concerned about him; she had him in her heart.

After school, Su Ruochu carried her bag to the bike shed, only to see Chen Fan waiting there.

"Hehe, what a coincidence. Shall we walk together?"

Su Ruochu frowned. "Chen Fan, what exactly do you want?"

"I don't mean anything else, I just want to walk home from school with you."

Su Ruochu pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "At lunch today... when you were eating, was what you said to Li Na true?"

"What did I say?" Chen Fan was dazed, not reacting for a moment.

Su Ruochu’s pretty face flushed, and she turned her head away. "Just... what you said about liking me... is it true?"