Rebirth and making money first

As night falls and the lights come on, the hustle and bustle of the city gradually fades into the darkness. But for online novelist Zhang Jing, the night is the source of her creative inspiration. After a day's work, she goes to the internet cafe as usual, ready to write more stories.

She turned on her computer and, with deft strokes, began rewriting those once-popular short stories from her past life. Time ticked by, and four hours flew by in a flash, unnoticed. To enhance her story's readability, she cleverly strung several stories together, making them more engaging and rich. Once she was finished, she carefully reviewed them, confirmed they were correct, and clicked "Submit," handing her work off to her editor.

Just then, she noticed a message flashing in the upper right corner of her screen. Curious, she clicked on it. It was a request from her editor for a contribution! The editor had highly praised the short story she had submitted and confirmed that they had decided to commission her. Even more exciting, she knew that if her story was accepted, in addition to the royalties, she would also receive a share of the commission. The specific payment schedule was: 100 yuan for articles over 200 words, 300 yuan for over words, and yuan for over words. Of course, the story's content had to meet the requirements, avoid touching on sensitive topics, and convey positive energy.

Zhang Jing was delighted to see this news. She checked her account and saw that 1200 yuan had already been deposited from her previous submissions. Finally, some income!

This brought her immense satisfaction and joy, and it also strengthened her resolve to continue writing. Zhang Jing thought, if she could produce a 100-yuan article every day, she'd be earning 3000 yuan a month. While the work was tough, as her old landlord often said, "Without hard work, how can you gain wealth?" Furthermore, her trading opportunities in the stock market were limited, so diligently writing was perhaps a more reliable way to make money.

Thinking of this, Zhang Jing took a deep breath, then smiled and told herself, "Keep going! Strive hard for your dreams, for a better life!" She believed that with perseverance, she would achieve greater success in the field of online literature. She decided to start writing a serialized novel! She'd start with the story of the poor girl disliked by her grandmother, who favored boys over girls. Zhang Jing first drafted the outline, then quickly typed several chapters, her ideas pouring out. But she still felt unsatisfied. Seeing that it was already late, she saved the file.

Upon returning home, Zhang Jing found the old landlord still waiting for her. The nanny was showering, and the landlord complained to her, "I'm really unhappy with this nanny, but it's no use telling her. I even get scolded by my son." Life seems to become a mess once we age. Living in misery is the norm, and Zhang Jing herself had a miserable end in her previous life. How could she comfort such an old landlord? Perhaps she could only persuade her to find a more positive outlook.

A-Long called again, asking if Zhang Jing had slept yet. Zhang Jing said she had just gotten home and hadn't showered yet. A-Long asked, "Why are you back so late? Have you eaten?" Zhang Jing said she went to an internet cafe to write an article. A-Long said internet cafes weren't safe and it would be better to buy a computer. Zhang Jing said computers were too expensive, so A-Long suggested buying a used one; there were people assembling them in Huaqiangbei. He asked Zhang Jing what configuration she needed and he would help her find it.

Zhang Jing said she wanted something that could write, track the stock market, research, listen to music, and play games. A-Long laughed at her, saying those were the basics. He told her to choose stocks carefully, telling her not to worry about it; he would see to it that she settled into her new dorm after moving. He urged her not to forget her stocks, explaining that Fuyao and Gun Mine had seen their prices rise and fall, but not significantly, and urged her to keep an eye on them. Zhang Jing knew this was what A-Long was most concerned about.

What should I teach those people tomorrow? Just thinking about it makes me feel overwhelmed. Seeing the image of the Bodhisattva on her desk, Zhang Jing remembered her own conversion to Buddhism. But then she gave up, completely disbelieved. She'd tried to be a good person, but she hadn't seen any reward. If that didn't work out, she'd teach those students Buddhist songs. Seeing that she only had one more day to work before the holiday and the chance to move, Zhang Jing breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Jing was commuting to work on the bus. It was still early, and the bus was sparsely populated, mostly students rushing to school. She admired the scenery outside the window while pondering what she would teach for the day. The announcement from the train car caught her attention: China was issuing a complete collection of global gold coins, to be held at the Foreign Language Bookstore within the Shenzhen Library. The starting bid for one of the coins in Hong Kong was a whopping HK$30,000! Furthermore, the precious books were being sold at their original price, with the entire set priced at over 4,700 yuan, making it a truly valuable collectible. These coins not only featured anti-counterfeiting technology but were also numbered and issued in limited quantities.

However, the driver got into an argument with a passenger who didn't have change. He aggressively tried to get the passenger off the bus, but the passenger refused. So, the bus stopped, allowing the two to continue arguing.

At that moment, Zhang Jing suddenly remembered that this gold coin set had been sold in her past life, but she had just spent her money and missed the opportunity to buy it. For years, this had been a great regret in her heart. But this time, she decided not to miss it and must go and buy it. She couldn't wait to sell her stocks. Seeing the students rushing to school and herself rushing to work, Zhang Jing hurried over to the driver and said, "I'll put the coins in for her. Stop arguing. I'm rushing to work, and my kids are rushing to school too. Drive faster so you don't get late."

The passenger thanked Zhang Jing, who told her not to worry about it. She then advised, "The driver is right; it's his job. Make sure you have change before you get on the bus. You can buy a newspaper." The passenger nodded in agreement. Zhang Jing then focused on the bookstore ad, noting when it would go on sale. She learned it was Sunday.

Zhang Jing couldn't help but feel a bit surprised. In her previous life, it didn't seem like the sale had started this early. Could this be the legendary butterfly effect? ​​In her previous life, few people knew about the book's sale. It was said that originally, each person was only allowed to purchase one set, but later, when the limit was lifted, some people even bought seven sets at once. The organizers were forced to temporarily limit each person to a maximum of three sets. Having missed this opportunity in her previous life, she couldn't miss it again in this one. Thinking of this, Zhang Jing made up her mind and decided to move on Saturday to avoid delaying her purchase of the gold coin collection.

As soon as Zhang Jing got to work, she received a notice telling her that she no longer had to substitute for the class. It turned out that the teacher who had been on leave had returned.

The director asked Zhang Jing to finish the manuscript in the morning and submit it in the afternoon. Zhang Jing needed several photos of students to accompany the captions, but the director explained that the office had plenty of such photos and asked her to find them herself. After finding the photos, Zhang Jing headed to the computer room to revise the manuscript. With her excellent writing skills and rich imagination, she not only completed the revisions but also expanded on the content. Soon, a deeply moving manuscript was ready.

Zhang Jing planned to go to the stock market. She handed her manuscript to the director and asked for two hours' leave. When she arrived, the market hadn't opened yet. After a while, she found Shenzhen Development Bank's stock price was already 58 yuan, and it looked like it might break the 60 mark today. She hurried to the front desk to place an order, then thought for a moment and decided to sell everything at 61 yuan. She sat back and waited, then looked at Fuyao and Yanzhou Coal Mining. Fuyao had fallen and then rebounded, while Yanzhou Coal Mining was slowly rising. She planned to hold onto both stocks for the long term, so she couldn't move.

Zhang Jing could only wait for Shenzhen Development to sell, then continued browsing stocks when bored. Seeing the liquor category, she suddenly remembered the legendary Kweichow Moutai, a major A-share. Its share price was surprisingly low at 26.81 yuan today. It could easily reach over 2000 yuan per share in the future! Zhang Jing was unwilling to not buy it.

She calculated that if she sold her 2800 shares at 60 yuan, her principal would be 6266 yuan. If she were to buy Kweichow Moutai, she could only buy 6200 shares, plus fees. Since she could only buy shares, she could only afford one set of the Gold Coin Collection. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. She knew she was greedy, but she couldn't control herself.

Before she could figure it out, the phone rang. It was A-Long. "A-Jing, your Shenzhen Development is at 62 yuan! Sell now!" Zhang Jing told A-Long she was at the exchange and had placed an order. "No more words, the trade is successful." Zhang Jing checked the transaction status. The transaction was complete, and the account balance had increased to over 17 yuan. Zhang Jing, pacing her pounding heart, breathed a sigh of relief. On the screen, Kweichow Moutai was still in the green, at 26.78, and still falling.

She quickly calculated her funds and found they could buy 6300 shares. If she transferred over 500 yuan from her royalties, she could buy 6400 shares. She had to give up on the gold coin collection; the cash she had was barely enough for moving. Thinking of the sky-high price of Maotai in later generations, Zhang Jing decided to go all in. She quickly transferred 700 yuan into her bank account. With over 17 yuan in hand, she headed to the front desk.

Zhang Jing bought 6400 shares of Kweichow Moutai at 6400 yuan. She sat back in a daze, having spent over 26.75 yuan. Her gold coin collection was gone! Her popular shop in Yiwu, where she'd paid a 17 yuan down payment and even won a prize, was gone! Her three-bedroom apartment in her hometown, where she'd bought it for 15 yuan, was gone! Her investment in a demolished house in her hometown was also gone!

Zhang Jing sat for an hour, sorting herself out. She counted the money she had and found she still had 600 yuan, enough for moving. She was going to have to live a frugal life for a while.