Rebirth of the Godly Prodigal

“Idiot!” Ko Gohon was greatly enraged and pushed the bodyguard to the ground. Then, he clasped his chest and stumbled to the sofa and sat down, dispiritedly saying, “This Hong Dali, what is he exactly… Damn it, why does everything that he does become so popular?! Why? Why?!”

After all, Ko Gohon wasn’t a fool. He knew very clearly what it meant for the number of installations to pass the 10 million mark just after it was launched.

Though he wasn’t very familiar with online novel websites, he at least understood one thing—this time, Hong Dali had grabbed the opportunity again. More than 10 million installations meant more than 10 million independent IP visits, and it totally couldn’t be compared with the previous 3 million!

What a pity he’d just invested 200 million and was planning to strike him down at one go. Alas, the 200 million had been thrown into the water without even a ripple being observed. And this lake water had turned from water to ice, completely frozen, definitely without even a hint of the money invested being seen…

As expected, after the bodyguard said this, he added, “Now the authors we poached can’t stand it anymore and all want to go back there. Young Master, if they write a few hundred thousand words and just stop writing, or leave a lousy ending and just leave, the credibility of our website would be completely lost. Money… money… would probably not have much effect…”

To the authors, the flat fee did seem very nice. But that still couldn’t be compared to the earnings from Zhong Dian website that had experienced a rapid increase of threefold of site traffic. Previously, they earned approximately 20 to 30 yuan per 1,000 words at Zhong Dian website. But now that there was the linking of the data from the smartphone reading app, the subscriptions would instantly increase by five to ten folds. And most importantly, the prospects were much better than writing at their site.

“No! No! I can’t let this go, definitely can’t!” After a short period of daze, what followed right after was absolute madness! Ko Gohon had always thought very highly of himself, so how was it possible that he’d just admit defeat like that? Thus, after he calmed down, Ko Gohon fiercely said, “Increase the writers’ payment by 50%! This time, though Hong Dali is in the lead, even if I have to throw in money, I want to throw it till he collapses to the ground!”

“OK!” The bodyguard instantly replied.

“Also!” Ko Gohon continued, “Go and contact the software manufacturing company right away. Since he’s made a smartphone reading app, we’ll launch a reading software as well, called Fengyun Reads. Then, relay my instructions that whoever installs Fengyun Reads will be rewarded! I don’t believe it. So what if he has good ideas? Even if I throw in money, I’ll throw it till you die!”

“Yes!” The bodyguard instantly went out.

“Damn it, I don’t believe Hong Dali can win me every single time, definitely don’t!” Ko Gohon paced back and forth in his room. Just as he was still feeling dispirited, suddenly, his phone rang. Ko Gohon picked it up. It was an unknown number. He said harshly, “I’m not free now! Talk later if there’s anything!”

“Gosh, Young Master Gohon, you’re so busy?” Hong Dali’s annoying voice sounded. “You aren’t thinking of going back on your words, right?”

“Go back on my words? Go back on what words?” Ko Gohon angrily said, “I, Ko Gohon, never go back on my words!”

“Oh, a few days ago, didn’t you say you still wanted to bet?” Hong Dali grinned, but what he said wasn’t as pleasing to the ears. “I was thinking that it should be the online novel website’s turn, but this time, it looks like I’ve won again. Um, those 50 Prime Minister Grade limousines, when are you going to give them to me?”

“Idiot!” Ko Gohon was furious as he screamed, “When did I say that…”

Alas, before he finished speaking, he heard Hong Dali curiously asking, “You haven’t? That’s weird. Then who was the one that said that in the audio recording in my phone? He clearly said that this time, we’d place a bet of 50 million. En, right, you were the one who said ‘This time, I want to place a 50 million bet!’, then I said ‘I’m not interested in betting’. Actually, I was thinking that it wasn’t very nice to win your cars like that. But alas, you said ‘Rascal, you dare to look down on me!’ and then ‘I want to place a 50 million bet with you! 50 million!’.”

Hong Dali mimicked Ko Gohon’s voice very animatedly, and laughter sounded in the background from time to time.

“It’s like this.” And then, this fellow who couldn’t wait to get bashed up for a hundred times continued, “Aiya, as the saying goes, if you’re willing to bet, you should be willing to admit defeat… Forget it, it’s really boring playing with such a retarded and untrustworthy fellow. Since Young Master Gohon doesn’t have the courage to bet with me anymore, then forget it…”

“We’ll bet then, but this time, don’t be happy too early.” Ko Gohon loudly said, “You haven’t won yet, and I’ll definitely not admit that you’ve won! This is just the first day, we’ll wait and see!”

“Oh… Actually, I was just casually saying it.” Hong Dali’s voice was really infuriating. “Actually, if you don’t admit it, then it’s fine. Anyway, since the start, I never planned to bet on this…”

Ko Gohon berated, “Bet! We must bet! Hong Dali, you just wait! I, Ko Gohon, never go back on my words! If I say that I’m betting, I’m betting!”

“Really! Then OK…” Hong Dali calmly said, “But it has to have a time period. This thing doesn’t look like it’ll produce effects in the short run. Most importantly, it’s how we determine whether it’s a win or loss…”

“Two weeks!” Ko Gohon shouted. “Two weeks later, we’ll see whose amount of updated works on our website is the highest! The person with the most number of books updated within three days wins!”

“Alright then… Honestly, why do you like gambling so much? I hate gamblers.” Hong Dali’s tone was as if he were asking an old friend how he was doing. “Oh right, Young Master Gohon, have your bodyguards recovered from their injuries yet? The previous time, Sister Xiaoyi and the other two didn’t really control their strengths well, and I didn’t expect for your bodyguards to be so fragile. I’m really sorry. But I won’t pay for the medical fees…”

Upon hearing Hong Dali’s words, Ko Gohon was instantly enraged. “Hong Dali! You’re despicable! Shameless! We’re not done yet! Not done!”

“I know!” The problem was that Hong Dali very shamelessly admitted. “I’ve never said that I’m a gentleman. I’m a prodigal, a superprodigal, so I’ve never said I was a good person. Um, carry on. I’ll go and play.”

“Go to hell!” Ko Gohon was so angry that he threw his smartphone to the ground and then stomped on it ferociously.

After the smartphone had been stomped to pieces, Ko Gohon finally vented a little of his anger. He angrily sat on the sofa, gritted his teeth and said, “Idiot! Idiot! Hong Dali, we’re not done, not done! I’ll see how long you can be cocky for! I’ll see how long you can be happy for! This time, even if I throw in hundreds of millions, I’ll crush you to death! Crush you to death!”

Thinking up to this point, Ko Gohon roared, “Come here! Come here!”

“Young Master, I’m here!” The bodyguard hurriedly ran inside. “Young Master, what are your orders?”

“Call the website administrator over here right away. I want to ask him how to quickly increase the number of updated books. Quickly go!” Ko Gohon gritted his teeth. “Hong Dali, it’s impossible for me to let you always be so cocky! Definitely not!”

Very soon, a middle-aged man ran inside, soaked in sweat. Once he saw Ko Gohon, he hurriedly greeted. “Young Master, you’re looking for me?” This person was the general manager of Feng Yun website, GM Liu.

“GM Liu,” Ko Gohon’s stared at him with his eyes like a poisonous snake. “I’ll take out 100 million more. I want to increase all the poached authors’ pay by 50% and ensure that they don’t leave! Also, I want you to increase the number of updated works for me within two weeks. Do you have any good ideas of how to do so?!”

“Ah? Two weeks’ time?” GM Liu’s eyeballs turned, and after thinking for a while, he said, “If it’s for the long term, it’s not easy. But it’s very easy if it’s for the short term. We only need to spend money to hire ghostwriters and write things that will increase the number. That’s very simple. If the speed is slow in two weeks, it would only be able to reach fifty to sixty thousand words. But if we do this, within two weeks, it’s not a problem to do a few thousand books!”

“Good! Do it this way!” Ko Gohon fiercely smacked his thigh. “Go and liaise with them right away. I want to pull these people over with the fastest speed, the more the better. And set the price higher. We don’t want quality, we only want quantity. Do you understand?!”

“Understood!” GM Liu instantly went out.

“Humph humph, Hong Dali, you really think I don’t have a plan? This time, I’ll see what you can do!” Ko Gohon clenched his fists till his veins almost burst. “I want you to cough out everything you’ve taken in along with interest! Cough it all out!”

…

Feng Yun website author’s group chat.

Author One: “Good news, good news! The flat fee for our novels has been increased by 50%! This time, it has increased by half. This company is really filthy rich, I’ve never seen one so generous!”

Author Two: “Yes, my fees are 50 yuan per 1,000 words. Now it has become 75 yuan per 1,000 words. That’s literally throwing money! What the heck, I am a tall, rich and handsome guy too!”

Author Three: “Sigh, why don’t we observe further?”

Author Four: “Mm, I’ve decided not to leave as well. Anyway, this side gives us money, so what are we scared of? That side is so filthy rich, but honestly, I’m quite curious. Who exactly is the one who’s so generous, he’s totally throwing money away. Does he have too much money and nowhere to spend?”

The others: “Whatever, just focus on writing your novel. Every word is money!”

…

In the various group chats for ghostwriters.

Ghostwriter One: “Breaking news, breaking news! Feng Yun website has a boss with lots of money who wants to take in novels to increase their numbers. Starting from 5 yuan per 1,000 words, this is really a rare generous price! Everyone, quickly go, our opportunity to earn fast money has come!”

Ghostwriter Two: “What the heck, really? I was still troubled over how to deal with so many scrap drafts. This time I finally have a place to sell them, hahaha!”

Ghostwriter Three: “Yes, yes, I have many scrapbook drafts as well, this is real money that has dropped from the sky!”

Ghostwriter Four: “Say no more, everyone. Quickly get going!”