11: Our family is rich.

The moment Lin Que spoke, the air in the living room froze.

Lin Jianguo had just picked up his water glass; hearing this, his hand shook, and a few drops of water spilled out.

He slammed the glass down on the coffee table, his brow furrowed into a tight knot.

"What nonsense are you talking! If we don't work, how are you going to go to university? What is our family going to eat?"

Wang Xiulian also grew anxious and quickly gave her son a light pat.

"Little Que, have you studied yourself into a daze? Don't talk back to your father. Don't we work for your own good?"

Looking at his parents' reaction, Lin Que wasn't surprised at all.

He knew,

That trying to get people who had worked hard for half their lives to immediately accept the idea of "no longer needing to work,"

Was harder than making them believe the earth was a cube.

He didn't argue, but simply looked at them calmly.

"Because our family has money now."

"Has money?"

Lin Jianguo glanced at his solemn son.

"What, did the money just blow in with the wind? Or do you think your parents are fools who would believe such nonsense?"

In his view, his son was just being a rebellious teenager, indulging in wild fantasies.

Therefore, he didn't take the words seriously at all.

Lin Que shook his head, took out his phone,

Opened the banking app, and then held the phone out in front of them.

"See for yourselves."

Wang Xiulian leaned in suspiciously, and Lin Jianguo also craned his neck over.

When they clearly saw the string of numbers on the screen, both of their expressions looked as if someone had pressed a pause button.

"Units... tens... hundreds... thousands... ten thousands... hundred thousands... millions..."

Wang Xiulian extended a finger, trembling as she tapped the screen, counting softly under her breath.

With every zero she counted, her eyes widened a fraction more.

When she finished counting, she abruptly looked up at Lin Que, her eyes filled with terror and disbelief.

"Xiao... Little Que, this... this is two million?!"

Her voice was trembling, as if she were looking at something terrifying.

Lin Jianguo snatched the phone away, pulled his reading glasses out of his pocket, and put them on.

He brought the screen close to his eyes and examined it carefully over and over again.

After confirming he hadn't misread it, his first reaction wasn't joy, but shock and anger.

With a "thud," he slammed the phone onto the table and stood up abruptly.

He pointed at Lin Que's nose and shouted sternly:

"Speak! Where did this money come from?! Have you been doing something illegal out there?!"

Two million!

For an ordinary family like theirs, where they had spent their lives earning fixed wages in a factory, this was an astronomical sum.

Even if the two of them worked their whole lives without eating or drinking, they couldn't save up this much money.

Thus, Lin Jianguo's first thought was that his son had gone bad and taken a wrong path.

"Dad, sit down first and listen to my explanation."

Lin Que's expression remained calm; he had long expected this scene.

"Explanation? I'm telling you, Lin Que, if you dared to do anything underhanded or illegal, I'll personally hand you over to the police station today!

My, Lin Jianguo's, son can be poor, but he absolutely cannot be a thief!"

Lin Jianguo was so angry that his chest was heaving violently and his face was flushed red.

"Jianguo, don't get worked up yet, listen to the boy!"

Wang Xiulian quickly held her husband back, then looked at her son anxiously.

"Little Que, hurry up and speak, what is this all about? Don't scare your mother!"

Lin Que sighed and brought out the explanation he had prepared long ago.

"Dad, Mom, please calm down. This money was earned by me, fair and square."

"You earned it? You're a high school student; in less than three months, where could you possibly earn two million? Do you take me for a fool!"

Lin Jianguo didn't believe it at all.

"I earned it by writing things,"

Lin Que said.

"Writing things?"

Wang Xiulian was stunned.

"Writing things? Little Que, tell your mother the truth, exactly what kind of things can earn this much money?"

Lin Que sighed and, meeting his parents' anxious gazes, slowly laid out the story he had already thought through.

"You know that technology is very advanced now, and there are many large tech companies developing things called holographic games, right?"

Lin Jianguo and Wang Xiulian looked at each other and nodded blankly.

Although they didn't understand it, there were advertisements on TV every day, so they had at least heard of it.

"Those games all need stories—scripts.

Previously, when I had free time, I wrote a science fiction story about a future world and submitted it to a big company called Hong Guo.

They thought I wrote it very well, so they bought the copyright to my story, planning to turn it into a game."

Lin Que placed deliberate emphasis on the word "copyright."

"This two million is the copyright fee they paid me.

This is an advance payment; if the game sells well later, there will also be royalties."

This explanation was half-true.

"the human world is like a prison" was indeed a horror story with a sci-fi background.

Hong Guo Net was indeed a major platform, and the money was indeed copyright fees and tips.

He had simply and cleverly replaced the concept of "web novels," which they wouldn't understand,

With "holographic game scripts," something they had heard of but didn't quite grasp.

After hearing Lin Que's explanation, both Lin Jianguo and Wang Xiulian fell silent.

They still felt this whole thing was too surreal, like listening to a fairy tale.

Writing a story could sell for two million?

"You... you're not lying to us?"

Wang Xiulian asked cautiously.

"Of course not. The contract is already signed; it's an electronic contract in my email.

The money was also transferred from a regular company account, the bank has the records, it's completely legal."

Lin Que spoke with absolute certainty.

Lin Jianguo stared at his son for a long time, trying to find any sign of guilt or evasion on his face.

But Lin Que's gaze was too steady; that kind of frankness and confidence was something he had never seen on his son's face before.

Lin Jianguo suddenly remembered,

When he was young and decided to leave the countryside to make a living in the city,

Didn't he also have that same "I'll carry the world if it falls" look in his eyes?

After a long while, he finally relaxed his tense body and sat back on the sofa.

He picked up the glass of water that had gone completely cold and drank it all in one go, his Adam's apple bobbing.

He picked up the phone, looked at the string of numbers once more, and asked in a raspy voice:

"The contract... is it really okay?"

After receiving Lin Que's affirmative reply, he finally let out a long breath,

Leaning deeply back into the sofa:

"You brat... are you trying to stop my heart before you're satisfied?"

There was a slight tremor in his voice.

He believed him.

Or rather, he chose to believe in his son.

Wang Xiulian's eyes instantly turned red; she grabbed Lin Que's hand, and tears began to fall drop by drop.

"My son... my son has made it... he can earn big money..."

Her greatest wish in life was for her son to be successful.

To not be like her and her husband, struggling in a factory for their whole lives.

Now, this wish had come true in a way she could never have imagined in her wildest dreams.

The atmosphere in the living room instantly transformed from the previous tension into one of warmth.

Lin Que patted his mother's hand, feeling somewhat moved in his heart.

"So, Dad, Mom, this money is enough for our family to live a good life.

Go and quit your jobs tomorrow; don't suffer that exhaustion anymore.

Dad, your back isn't good, and Mom, your hands need a good rest too."

"This... this two million is for your university and for you to marry a wife in the future, how can we touch it?"

Wang Xiulian said as she quickly wiped away her tears.

"I can earn more money in the future; this is just the beginning."

Lin Que smiled.

"Besides, I have a plan."

"What plan?"

Lin Jianguo asked; the way he looked at his son was now completely different, filled with a sense of inquiry.

"First, we have to change houses. This old place is too run-down, and the environment isn't good.

We'll go to the city center and buy a larger one, three bedrooms and a living room—one room for you, one for me, and the last one... we'll leave empty!"

"Buy a house? Houses in the city center are so expensive!"

Wang Xiulian exclaimed.

"Mom, don't worry."

Lin Que waved his hand confidently.

"Buying a decent house in a place like Jiangcheng is more than affordable."

"Besides, this money is just the start!"

"Secondly, I want to rent a place to serve as my studio."

"A studio?"

"Yes, a studio specifically for writing.

On one hand, I need an absolutely quiet environment to conceptualize.

More importantly, the contract signed with Hong Guo Tech has a confidentiality clause,

Requiring that the creative work must be done in an independent, non-home environment to prevent trade secrets and scripts from leaking.

This is an industry rule and a responsibility toward the company.

This way, I can focus more on writing good material and earn more money."

Lin Que explained.

On one hand, he had to move out of the house,

Otherwise, with him typing away at the computer all day and night, he would eventually be exposed.

On the other hand, he wasn't lying; in his past life, he had suffered from having his drafts stolen by hackers.

Moreover, he absolutely could not let his parents see something like "the human world is like a prison."

Lin Jianguo pondered for a moment and then nodded:

"This requirement is reasonable. Since it's for serious work, you indeed need a good environment.

You take charge of the money; you can arrange it however you like."

He looked at his son methodically planning for the future with a steady gaze.

Suddenly, he felt the heavy burden he had carried on his shoulders for a lifetime seem to lighten all at once.

Wang Xiulian was still too excited by the two million to speak,

Repeatedly asking Lin Que what he wanted to eat, saying she would go buy it right now.

Looking at the heartfelt relief and joy on his parents' faces,

The feeling that they had set down their heavy burdens filled a place deep within Lin Que's heart.

This brought him more satisfaction than any screenwriting award he had received in his previous life.

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the lights of ten thousand homes.

A new era, an era belonging to him, had officially begun.

And the first thing he had to do was to go to the best area in the city.

To find himself a... lair worthy of the title "Hell Dream Weaver."