Study System: I'm a 38-Year-Old Student-Chapter 85 - 78: Who Even Tips Authors for Web Novels? (Please
Shen Qiushan packed five lunches from the cafeteria.
Walking through the campus, plenty of students would turn to look at him, then whisper a few words to their friends.
And Shen Qiushan could more or less guess what they were talking about.
It was probably stuff like: "That’s Old Shen, right?" "He scored 494 points!" "He actually looks kinda handsome!"
Of course, that was just what Shen Qiushan liked to imagine.
The reality was—
Boy A: Hey, it’s that Old Deng!
Boy B: I heard this Old Deng is trying to hit on our Principal Lin. Someone saw him having lunch with Principal Lin!
Boy A: What a toad wanting to eat swan meat! Even Principal Lin is out of his league!
Shen Qiushan had no idea such rumors were spreading around school. When his eyes happened to meet students’ gazes, he’d even give them a friendly nod.
By the time he got to Lin Xiamo’s office—
The little tutoring group was already up and running.
Xu Pipa was seriously explaining a math problem to Shen Yixiao and Shen Yanran, the sibling duo.
Lin Xiamo was seated behind her desk thumbing through a stack of files, but her gaze would drift over from time to time to the three around the coffee table.
This way of learning, actually, worked even better than being tutored by a teacher.
It was more targeted—they could ask whatever they didn’t get stuck on, and another perk was that both parties were students. As peers, it was just easier to talk to each other.
Whether it was Xu Pipa explaining, or Shen Yixiao and Shen Yanran listening, there wasn’t that awkward "teacher-student" distance.
Lin Xiamo felt this method could actually be promoted in school, but then again, the feasibility wasn’t great.
After all, top students like Xu Pipa were usually really busy—barely had enough time for their own studies, let alone helping others.
And even if they were willing, their parents would most likely object if they found out.
"Let’s eat first."
Shen Qiushan put the takeout lunch boxes on the coffee table, then waved Lin Xiamo over so she’d join them for lunch too.
"Almost done with this problem..."
Xu Pipa sniffed the meaty aroma from the boxes and sped up her problem explanation.
The guest area in Lin Xiamo’s office was spacious—a three-seater sofa against the wall, with a single-seater on either side of the coffee table.
Five people sitting around the coffee table—just right.
Shen Qiushan got six dishes from the second-floor cafeteria—four meat, two veg.
He opened the boxes—steam and fragrant smells wafting straight into their noses, practically making their taste buds tingle.
Xu Pipa swallowed quietly—ever since Grandma passed, she hadn’t seen this much food at the dinner table at home.
"Eat it while it’s hot."
"We gotta keep going after we eat!"
With that, Shen Qiushan picked out a piece of braised pork—half fat, half lean—and put it in Xu Pipa’s bowl: "Pipa, you’re way too skinny! Eat up!"
"Teacher Xu, here’s the big chicken drumstick for you too!"
Shen Yanran teased as she called out "Teacher Xu," and plopped the biggest chicken drumstick into Pipa’s bowl.
And that "Teacher Xu" directly made Xu Pipa blush, a rosy hue spreading across her fair cheeks.
"Teacher Xu, another piece of sweet and sour pork!"
Shen Yixiao joined in, scooping a piece into Pipa’s bowl too.
"That’s...that’s enough."
Xu Pipa replied quietly.
But for some reason, her nose felt a little tingly.
To avoid losing composure, she pinched her thigh hard under the table with her left hand, then picked up the braised pork, lowered her head, and chewed silently.
That way no one could see her expression or the watery mist in her eyes.
After eating—
The little tutoring group continued business as usual.
Shen Qiushan sat nearby and listened in as well.
Ding!
Listening to a top-tier teacher’s lecture—
Scholar Index +20 points.
Uh!!
Shen Qiushan looked in surprise at Xu Pipa with her little mushroom head.
This little one actually got rated as a top-tier teacher by the system!
Even more awesome than Chen Xiangyu!
Actually the only one in Sanjiang High School so far to be rated top-tier by the system.
Of course, that only applies to the teachers Shen Qiushan has attended classes with.
So young, already ranked as a top-tier teacher by the system.
Her future achievements are basically limitless!
Shen Qiushan listened in for a while longer—he really picked up a lot.
Though Xu Pipa seemed super introverted and shy, her explanations were clear, and she had her own set of problem-solving methods and skills.
Compared to Sun Xing, the math teacher from Class 5, she was leaps ahead.
So there you go, ability and age aren’t actually linked at all.
All that so-called experience? Worthless against real talent!
As Shen Qiushan was mulling this over, Lin Xiamo nudged her lips toward the door, signaled him to step outside and talk.
"What now?"
"I’m listening to class too!"
They stepped into the hallway, Shen Qiushan speaking up first.
Listening to a top-tier teacher’s lecture—
That’s 20 Scholar Index points per minute!
So, every minute out here talking with Lin Xiamo was costing him 20 Scholar Index points.
This kind of "chat fee" made Shen Qiushan think of live-streaming sites, where everything was billed by the minute.
"Why did Xu Pipa agree to tutor Xiaoxiao and Yanran?"
Lin Xiamo cut right to the point.
"I said I’d cover lunch and pay her a tutoring fee."
"How much?"
"One hour at noon every day—100 yuan."
Lin Xiamo nodded slightly. For a top student like Xu Pipa, 100 an hour is really not expensive.
"If lunch is always at this level, plus the tutoring fee, you’re looking at ten grand over two months..."
Lin Xiamo wanted to gently remind Shen Qiushan to pinch his pennies a little.
After all, there’ll be a lot more expenses coming up!
But before she could finish, Shen Qiushan shoved his phone in her face.
"What are you doing!!"
Lin Xiamo instinctively took a step back, glaring at Shen Qiushan.
"See for yourself!"
Shen Qiushan shrugged smugly. He was showing her the tip income for "I Really Didn’t Want to Reincarnate."
"Tip income?"
"Hold on, you wrote this book?"
Lin Xiamo stared at Shen Qiushan, wide-eyed in shock.
"Of course!"
"Why else would I have access to the author’s backend?"
Shen Qiushan glanced outside the window, showing off his mysterious side profile, and said leisurely, "Since I decided to attend school here, and I do plan on university, I obviously need a plan for the future!"
"I never expected anyone else to support me!"
He looked back at Lin Xiamo, grinning, "That stuff about asking you to pay for my college tuition was a joke."
"I’ve already saved up all my college expenses!"
"See? The tip income is already at seventy—uh, eighty thousand!"
The Xiaoyu’er Faction and Youchu Faction’s battle was still raging. The backend’s tip income had reached 80,000 yuan.
Listening to the explanation, Lin Xiamo was dumbfounded. She’d never have guessed that her reliable-challenged brother-in-law had been secretly hustling all this time.
She’d always heard that writing web novels online could actually be pretty lucrative.
Some people reportedly make hundreds of millions a year writing them!
Still, she’d never have thought Shen Qiushan was also an online author, and a pretty successful one at that.
Tip income alone topping eighty thousand—that was just wild.
Honestly, Lin Xiamo just couldn’t wrap her head around why people would tip so much money reading novels!
The small tips she could get—read a good book, buy the author a milk tea.
But those who’d tip a few thousand or even tens of thousands at a pop—
Do they have a gold mine at home or what??
