37: Chapter 37: Can I choose my own seat if I get first place in the class?

Over the next period, although the two had not met again, their communication became more frequent.

During this time, the first month's sales figures for Chen Fan's physical book also came out; the initial print run of 80,000 copies was completely sold out.

When the news arrived, even the publishing house was shocked. They immediately made the decision to print a second batch, more than doubling the quantity.

The physical book was priced at 28 yuan per copy. With 80,000 copies and a 13% royalty rate, that came to 290,000.

After deducting Qidian's 10% agency fee and taxes, he received around 210,000.

This money had already arrived in his account.

His bank card balance had reached 3.8 million.

Having so much money caused Chen Fan some temporary distress. He was a high school senior living in a county town, with money but nowhere to spend it.

Soon, as the winter break ended, it was March 1st, the start of the school term.

The first week of school was the mock exam.

As the exams ended, Chen Fan's novel also reached its conclusion.

After uploading the final chapter.

Then, at the end of the chapter, he slowly typed out three words: "The End."

The page refreshed, indicating the publication was successful.

From uploading the first chapter on October 17, 2009, to March 4, 2010, it had taken nearly five months and reached 3.97 million words.

It was finally finished.

And with this book, Chen Fan's royalties had exceeded a million.

There were no royalties in November, only 8,000 in tips. In December, the first month's royalties plus tips reached 970,000. It rose to 1.32 million in January, and 1.75 million in February. The March royalties had not been released yet, but they were estimated to be around 1.9 million.

Plus the physical publishing fees of around 300,000, the total was now over 6 million.

And this was not even the total income for the book; even after it finished, the fees from the main site and wireless channels would still bring in hundreds of thousands each month.

There were also anime and game adaptation rights that Chen Fan had not even counted yet. In short, with this book, Chen Fan had stepped into the ranks of millionaires.

Recalling his thoughts, he clicked on the reader comment section.

The latest comments had loaded:

— "Flowers for the finale!"

— "I've followed this for over four months, and now that I've finished reading, I really can't bear to let it go."

— "I've gotten used to 30,000 words a day. How am I supposed to read those authors who only update 4,000 words a day now?"

Chen Fan smiled. Just as he was about to scroll down, a message suddenly popped up in the bottom right corner of the screen.

[Tip] 100,000 Qidian Coins: Grumpy Durian tipped "High Martial Era" 100,000 Qidian Coins — "Pen name is awesome! See you in the next book!"

[Tip] 100,000 Qidian Coins: Xiaolou Tingyu tipped "High Martial Era" 100,000 Qidian Coins — "I've followed this from the start to the finish. It's the most satisfying book I've ever followed, bar none!"

... ... A dozen large tips flashed by, all congratulating the finale of "High Martial Era."

And the tips kept coming.

Chen Fan stared at the screen for a long time, only turning off the computer after the tip notifications gradually subsided.

He closed his eyes, and sleepiness slowly washed over him.

The next morning, Chen Fan was woken up by his alarm.

He washed up, ate, and headed out.

As the class bell rang, the homeroom teacher, Lao Zhou, pushed the door open and entered.

The classroom instantly went quiet.

Lao Zhou walked up to the podium, holding a stack of report cards, and swept his gaze across the class.

"The mock exam results are out."

"Chen Fan."

Chen Fan looked up.

"632 points. First in the class, ninth in the school."

The classroom was silent for a second.

Then, with a buzz, it exploded into chaos.

"Holy crap?"

"632??"

Lao Zhou tapped the podium. "Quiet!"

"Second place, Li Tao, 516 points."

As the second-place score was announced, the classroom exploded into chaos again with a buzz.

As the student with the best grades in the class, Li Tao was actually more than 100 points lower than Chen Fan this time.

In reality, Li Tao performed normally this time, but Chen Fan was just cheating.

Because the invigilation for this mock exam was extremely strict, everyone understood that Chen Fan's score was real.

This score once again shocked the students and teachers in the class.

It even alarmed the grade director.

He specifically spoke with the homeroom teacher, Lao Zhou, wanting to transfer Chen Fan to the experimental class.

Lao Zhou was naturally unwilling. He had finally found a promising student for a top university, and now they wanted to transfer him to another class, even if it was the experimental class.

But after all, he had to consider Chen Fan's wishes, so he specifically spoke with Chen Fan about it.

"I'll go," Chen Fan said without hesitation.

The experimental class at least had Lin Xi; there was really nothing in his current class that he was attached to.

"Are you sure? The competition in the experimental class is quite intense. I'm afraid you won't be able to adapt."

Lao Zhou still wanted to persuade him, not wanting to lose such a good student.

"I'm afraid they won't be able to adapt to me."

Chen Fan's words revealed his confidence. He was cheating, so how could he not adapt?

Seeing Chen Fan's expression, Lao Zhou understood that he had made up his mind, so he stopped trying to persuade him.

The next day.

Under Lao Zhou's guidance, Chen Fan met his new homeroom teacher — Zhao Fang.

She was in her thirties, with short, ear-length hair tucked behind her ears, revealing a clean and sharp profile.

Chen Fan had heard of Zhao Fang; she was apparently a figure like Abbess Miejue. Upon meeting her, he realized she wasn't quite the Abbess Miejue he had imagined.

"You must be Chen Fan?" she asked. Her voice wasn't loud, but it was steady.

"Hello, teacher," Chen Fan said, neither servile nor overbearing.

Seeing this, Zhao Fang nodded. "Come with me."

Following Zhao Fang, he headed toward the experimental class.

As soon as they entered the classroom, Zhao Fang walked to the podium, tapped the desk, and said, "Everyone, stop for a moment."

The students in the experimental class, who were in the middle of morning reading, quieted down upon hearing this.

"I'd like to introduce a new student to everyone, Chen Fan. He scored 630 on the last mock exam, ranking ninth in the grade."

As soon as Zhao Fang finished speaking, murmurs broke out in the class.

In the row by the window, a few girls huddled together and whispered, "He's so tall..."

"And quite handsome too."

"630 points? That's higher than a lot of people in our class, right?"

Chen Fan's gaze swept across the classroom and quickly locked onto a seat by the window in the third row — Lin Xi was looking at him, a smile playing on her lips, her eyes bright.

A few boys in the back row didn't speak, but their eyes revealed something else — some looked him up and down, some turned their heads away, and others curled their lips downward.

Ignoring the commotion below, Zhao Fang pointed to an empty seat in the last row. "Sit there for now; we'll adjust it later."

He didn't move, but instead looked at Zhao Fang. "Teacher, when we readjust the seating, can I choose my own seat?"

Zhao Fang looked at Chen Fan in surprise upon hearing this. This student was actually negotiating with her.

"Sure," she said unhurriedly. "Get first place in the class in the first mock exam, and I'll let you choose."

As soon as she finished speaking, a few low laughs broke out in the class — the kind of laughter from people waiting to see a show.

Chen Fan didn't speak.

Zhao Fang looked at him. "What? No confidence?"

"I do."

What was first place in the class? Even the top score in the experimental class was only 650 points; it was easy for Chen Fan.

This time, it was Zhao Fang's turn to be stunned.

The laughter in the class also stopped.

Chen Fan stood straight, his tone calm. "If I get first, you let me choose. Does the teacher keep her word?"

Zhao Fang stared at him for two seconds, a flash of surprise passing through her eyes, before she nodded. "I do."

"Good." Chen Fan replied, and walked toward the last row.