Chapter 41: A Fat Man’s Ambition
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
6300 online viewers, 9300 total views!
This wouldn’t have been possible without his acc.u.mulated popularity over the last few days of streaming, and FlatHeadBro, Mr. Sleepy, and the heavy promotions done by other authors. Even with these factors, Meng Fan still couldn’t shake the fact that this had been a result of his +2 validation.
Especially considering the discrepancy between the total viewers and total online viewers, he could imagine how many people had clicked by accident or wandered in. Even if these people didn’t fancy art streams or didn’t like his stream, they still contributed to the number of views Meng fan received.
Those were precious numbers indeed.
Marketing phone calls and fraudulent texts were annoying. Having his cla.s.smates call the wrong number also made him hopeless. Even more tragic was catching the attention of his teacher so he couldn’t skip cla.s.s… These were nothing compared to the inability to feel the burning pa.s.sion of being in love.
Who hadn’t received a scam phone call or felt the fear of being picked out by a teacher? But Meng Fan really hadn’t been in a relations.h.i.+p before!
Once he gains validation, he would be able to complete his streaming task faster and get the final charm attribute award as soon as he finished.
The streaming mission would add a total of 15 points of charm if completed. Meng Fan wasn’t trying to become an idol, only seeking entry into the ‘normal’ ranks so he could compete fairly for a chance at love with all the other players.
“Increased validation will definitely make more pretty ladies notice me, and one of them is bound to like my type!”
As a decisive man, after considering the trade-offs, Meng Fan managed to convince himself in one sentence.
He was willing to give up video games for love; this was just a b.u.mp in the road!
It looked like he had to keep performing his ‘thumbs up’ dance.
“It’s over?”
It was rare that the administrator who usually watched TV shows was painting today. However, she was not very focused, as every ten or so steps she would smile at Meng Fan.
“This must be the Lei Feng paG.o.da at sunset, right?”
Meng Fan glanced at her aisle, and his eyes suddenly lit up. This drawing wasn’t done, but it was enough to see talent.
The administrator put away her brush. “I can’t seem to get it right. I’ve been to see the paG.o.da several times, but I just can’t recall the feeling. Well, I’m done drawing for today. I should go back earlier and watch my TV shows!”
“No wonder you said you never finished a product within a month. Your excellent working spirit is very admirable!”
Meng Fan gave the administrator a thumbs up. This really wasn’t a compliment, nor was he trying to gain experience—or else he wouldn’t have just given her one thumbs up. It was sincere admiration.
The studio administrator dressed in neutral colors with a smile hanging off her mouth was not just any person. This was a real artist who held onto the t.i.tle of ‘lecturer’ at the art academy by teaching two cla.s.ses a month. Even though she only produced a piece every two or three months, if she really wanted to sell it, she could buy a parking spot in any of the neighborhoods next to the university.
A real-life hidden master!
Meng Fan had heard his mother mention her when galleries were trending. Ms. Chen Fu had followed the trend and opened up a large-scale gallery in the city of Hu known as China’s gateway for oil paintings. Later due to issues between Ms. Chen and her business partner, she resolutely chose to pull out and declare bankruptcy. Some people thought it was arrogant; others believed her to be plain stupid. In short, from then on, Ms. Chen Fu disappeared from the public eye.
Apparently, she had returned to the HuaXia Academy of Fine Arts five years ago. It was only in the last two years that someone had learned that this una.s.suming studio manager was the famous Ms. Chen Fu.
Even now, there were few who knew about this hidden monk. If he didn’t hear it from his mom, a plumpish homebody like Meng Fan would never have known about her.
“What do you mean by excellent work ethic? It’s just OCD.”
As she spoke, she lifted her hand to look at the time. She turned and reminded the remaining three students in the studio to close the door when they were done.
Obviously, the administrator was not happy having her time wasted.
“Where are you going?”
Meng Fan had just left the studio when he saw Zhang Zhou Wei approaching.
Zhang Zhou Wei grinned. “I’m here for you. I knew your stream was over so I came to get you.”
“It’s not like I don’t know the way. The h.e.l.l are you doing? You just dropped off w.a.n.g Ya Nan at her dorm and ran into me by coincidence, right?” Meng Fan didn’t believe a word Zhang Zhou Wei had said.
“Actually, I wasn’t, but it does have to do with w.a.n.g Ya Nan. Zhang Zhou Wei continued, “Remember when you bought all the girls in her dorm cakes to apologize for your crazy confession spree? Ya Nan said her dormitory wants to invite you over for a late-night snack. Let’s go! They’re already at sister Ma’s. Da Qiang and Pigeon are headed there too.”
“Seriously?”
Meng Fan thought this couldn’t be because his increased validation had caused them to think of him.
It might be due to his ‘thumbs up dance’ that had made its way around the entire art academy.
“Are you sure it’s not you three animals hanging out with your girlfriends dragging me along to third wheel?”
“What are you prattling about! Besides, even if it was one on one, your brothers would have asked Ya Nan to bring you a girl. Not to mention, I just heard from Ya Nan that there was a real kawaii girl on her floor that was into chubby boys. She had seen your ‘thumbs up’ dance and especially asked Ya Nan to inquire about you. Ya Nan sent me her photo. Do you want to see?”
“I’m not fat! But I can always look at cute girls. Unless she’s a catfish.”
“If you want to know if she’s catfis.h.i.+ng or not, find her tomorrow! Or let Ya Nan call her and ask her if she wants to come out!”
“This is not… good. The key is that she likes chubby guys. I’m not fat, so we’re not compatible.”
“Do you not own a mirror or a scale at home, or do you have no mental capacity to compare?”
“At least I have a skinny heart! Think about it, if she likes fat guys, and I’m losing weight, once I slim down, she won’t like me anymore! How embarra.s.sing is that!”
“Where did all of this confidence come from! Okay okay okay. Let’s say you did slim down, but it will take half a year, if not a year, right? You can be in a relations.h.i.+p! Not like you have to be together forever, half a year or a year is more than enough!”
“Does w.a.n.g Ya Nan know about your thoughts?”
“We’re different, of course, we are soulmates.”
“Don’t make it sound so nice. Aren’t you just missing an X life?”
“…”
The two continued to jest back and forth until they reached sister Ma’s barbecue store. This time, it really was w.a.n.g Ya Nan and the 4 girls in her dormitory treating Meng Fan to a late-night snack. Zhang Zhou Wei and his other roommates were just freeloaders.
In this process, they evidently did not invite the cute girl who claimed to like chubby boys. After all, based on the photos he saw, she wasn’t Meng Fan’s type either.
Not every roly-poly guy was attracted to cute girls.
That was true. Meng Fan desperately desired to be in a relations.h.i.+p, but he wasn’t that easy to please.
For some, they were willing to settle for whoever just to experience a relations.h.i.+p, while other people insisted on being selective. Meng Fan was the type that had colossal trouble getting into a relations.h.i.+p yet still harbored high standards for his girlfriend.
He was fat, but he was also a ‘face-judger’.
Or according to him, he had high aesthetic standards.
After all, his seven sisters were all considerably attractive.
Meng Fan’s first victim of confession Tang Wei Wei was considered attractive. In addition to her pure lily-like disposition, she could be considered a school beauty throughout the academy.
The scariest thing was that Meng Fan not only judged by appearance…
Looking back and reflecting, it really served him right that he had never been in a relations.h.i.+p.
At the beginning of his second life, Meng Fan insisted on maintaining his high standards. The addition of a system only solidified his perspective, if not setting his standards higher.
Fat men who’ve never been in love can still be ambitious!
Very, very ambitious.
If his ambition before had been at Tang WeiWei’s level, then his ambition now was upgraded to…
After eating the late-night snacks, it was already midnight when they got back to the dormitory. w.a.n.g Ya Nan used her super social skills to easily bypa.s.s the school gate, even helping them get past the boys’ dorms’ locked gate.
Meng Fan was full of guilt after the meal and woke up at five in the morning the next day to go running. Could last night’s barbecue weight be shed in just ten kilometers?
The track was rather empty in the morning, but there were a lot of people pa.s.sing by. Therefore, Meng Fan, who had decided to level up his validation points, began screaming at the pa.s.sing students as he ran. He stretched both of his arms out and did a thumbs up.
‘Cla.s.smates, we must seize the day, today will be full of energy!’
“Morning!”
When Meng Fan finished his fifth kilometer, Wu Tong appeared on the track. After exercising, she caught up to Meng Fan to say h.e.l.lo.
The ‘wind’ flew over, only to be stunned.
Meng Fan felt like he was filled with energy.