Chapter 10: Chapter 10 Can We Learn a Trick or Two from Him?

Old Zhang followed the description in “Swindler,” constantly shaking the dice, far more focused than he ever was in school.

He repeatedly opened the dice cup and verified the results.

Smack!

Once again, the dice hit the floor.

Old Zhang talked to himself, “The sound of the dice landing this time is very crisp, crisper than any other time, the face that landed should be 1, so the face that’s facing up is…”

“6 points!”

Old Zhang lifted the dice cup.

Inside, the die indeed showed six points up!

“Holy shit!”

“It’s actually true!”

“What this author wrote is actually the real deal!”

Old Zhang’s eyes widened in disbelief.

He completely changed his view of the book on swindling.

“I thought this author was just some green kid, but turns out he’s a master of cheating techniques!” Old Zhang put aside his contempt.

He stared at the dice inside the dice cup, his brow furrowed, and his previously lifeless eyes suddenly sparkled again, the gloominess on his face dissipating in an instant.

“It seems, I might have a bit of a talent for listening to dice myself.”

Old Zhang’s eyes shone with deep thought.

In the quiet living room, the crisp sound of dice rattling inside the cup resonated, unceasing.

“Old Zhang!”

Zhang Xinxin pushed open the living room door with a shove and unexpectedly turned back, “I told you to watch videos and read novels, so why are you playing with dice again, are you thinking about gambling?”

“No… no!”

Old Zhang stumbled over his words and quickly put down the dice cup, his gaze slightly evasive.

“You’re playing with dice and you say it’s not gambling?”

Zhang Xinxin looked skeptically at her old man.

Old Zhang pointed to his phone screen, “I’m reading a novel, it says shaking dice can train the wrist.”

Zhang Xinxin was doubtful, “Dice? Is that a serious novel?”

Old Zhang immediately defended “Swindler,” “Serious, absolutely serious!”

“Hmph!”

Zhang Xinxin huffed.

“Why are you here but not in the store?” Old Zhang retorted.

Zhang Xinxin walked into the room, “I came back to get my tablet.”

“What do you need the tablet for?” Old Zhang asked again.

“To watch videos!”

“Can’t you watch them on your phone?”

“The phone screen is too small.”

“Always watching videos, are they really serious videos?” Old Zhang quipped.

Zhang Xinxin pursed her lips, her eyes darting away, “Why wouldn’t they be serious?”

The video website Lin Chuan provided not only discussed the complex ethical relationships of humans in society, the self-rescue methods of the weak against the strong, but also delicately depicted the struggle and downfall of people when faced with the contradiction between desires and reality, with characters that were deeply developed.

Serious indeed.

Zhang Xinxin hugged her tablet and quickly left the house.

Old Zhang, diligent and eager to learn, continued to read with the mindset of an apprentice.

But the more he read, the more mystical it seemed, and the more he felt that the author was definitely a master of cheating techniques!

Old Zhang checked the author’s homepage.

Author: Mr. Lin.

“Huh, there’s a reader’s group?”

Old Zhang saw the next line, a QQ group.

So.

Old Zhang opened his long-unused QQ and applied to join the group.

…

Ding dong.

In the rental, Lin Chuan received a notification for a group join request.

[‘Arrogant Zhang’ is applying to join the group, do you agree?]

Lin Chuan raised an eyebrow.

Wow, a new reader is joining the group so quickly!

Agree.

At that moment.

In the reader’s group, the various experts saw the new member arrive and started to make their presence known.

[@Arrogant Zhang, welcome new friend to the Ministry of Justice.]

[My good brother, are you here to learn techniques too?]

[@Mr. Lin, Author Boss, will you take me as a disciple? Teach me a couple of moves!]

[I’ve read 30,000 words; you didn’t lie, author, it’s really technical. I’ve been practicing the listening dice skills for a long time and still haven’t mastered it.]

[Cheating Sect techniques, where can one learn them so easily?]

[Author, you’re too criminal, it’s written too realistically!]

[Is this your autobiography?]

Lin Chuan laughed: I just made that up.

[Got it!]

[Protect!]

[+1]

[+1]

[+1]

The landlord, Old Zhang, looking at the chat history in the group, stroked his chin, pondering, “This author, he really does have something up his sleeve!”

The ‘Arrogant Zhang’ in the readers’ group was him.

Old Zhang piped up.

[@Mr. Lin, Author’s amazing, I’ve come to pay homage to your greatness!]

[@Mr. Lin, does the author take disciples?]

Old Zhang’s head was filled with nothing but fantastic Cheating Techniques.

Lin Chuan saw ‘Arrogant Zhang’s’ comments and, revealing a smile, replied, “I’m a serious writer, I don’t take disciples!”

The readers in the group quickly offered advice, tagging @Arrogant Zhang.

[The author is a skill-based writer, all his craft is in his novel!]

[If you want to learn something, just read the book carefully!]

[If you learn something, reward him! Reward him generously!]

[With an Alliance Leader’s Treasure Chest, you’ll knock the author dizzy!]

[With your powerful wallet, stuff the poor author full!]

Old Zhang nodded, deeply agreeing!

Money makes the world go round!

Although this author had Cheating Techniques up his sleeve, he didn’t rely on them to make money. I’ll reward him as a tuition fee for paying respects to the master.

With that thought.

Old Zhang immediately opened the Sailing Novel app, looking for the reward function.

An Alliance Leader’s Treasure Chest, 10,000 Sailing Coins, which is a thousand yuan.

Old Zhang didn’t hesitate, waving his hand grandly.

Two Alliance Leader’s Treasure Chests were sent.

…

‘Arrogant Zhang has sent you an Alliance Leader’s Treasure Chest, please keep up the good work.’

‘Arrogant Zhang has sent you an Alliance Leader’s Treasure Chest, please keep up the good work.’

The mobile app popped up with the reward notification.

Lin Chuan took a close look.

Nice going!

Two Alliance Leader’s Treasure Chests!

Two thousand yuan!

After the platform’s fifty percent cut, Lin Chuan would receive a thousand yuan.

Geez, that’s a month’s rent covered.

Subscriptions and rewards are the greatest acknowledgments from readers.

Suddenly receiving rewards of two Alliance Leader’s Treasure Chests from readers.

A life of cheats, about to take off!

…

On the other side.

A satisfied smile appeared on Old Zhang’s face.

Then, leaning back, he comfortably sprawled on the leather sofa, lifting one leg over the other, humming a tune.

He continued reading the novel.

You never know, might I also learn a thing or two from it?

If I master it, wouldn’t I be able to make back the hundred and eighty thousand I’ve lost over the past two years in no time?

Indeed.

Lin Chuan did not disappoint his expectations.

‘Swindler’ was packed with solid content!

Especially the Cheating Techniques inside, they simply sent Old Zhang into raptures.

“Mr. Lin, you’re truly formidable!”

Others read novels as stories, Old Zhang studied them like tutorials.

No, Old Zhang treated ‘Swindler’ as if it were a sacred manual.

Holding it in the palm of his hands, he couldn’t bear to put it down.

“Xinxin, I’m heading back to my room.”

Just after dinner, the pretty lady downstairs called for Old Zhang to go for a walk, but he did not pay attention and directly entered his room instead.

Zhang Xinxin glanced up, seeing Old Zhang happily staring at the phone screen, she found it odd and muttered, “I wonder what novel Old Zhang is reading that has him so engrossed.”

“Next time I see Lin Chuan, I’ll have to ask him to recommend a couple of proper novels.”

Very soon.

Zhang Xinxin remembered the website address that Lin Chuan had given her, then shook her head, “Never mind, he’s not exactly a respectable author.”

Meanwhile, Old Zhang, after entering his room, quietly locked the door.

He was up to no good.