Chapter 70: Father Xia's Obstruction

"I am her father, and I have the right to decide what kind of people she associates with," Xia's father said, his tone growing colder.

Lin Qianfan's gaze remained calm. "A father's right should be used to ensure a better life for his child, not to restrict her choices."

The man sneered. "What qualifications do you have to lecture me?"

At that moment, a familiar voice interrupted their confrontation.

"Enough! Stop arguing, both of you!" Xia Ruo walked over from not far away, her face filled with anger.

"Dad, I've said it before, you don't need to meddle in my life!"

Xia's father was momentarily stunned, clearly not expecting her to show up suddenly.

"Xia Ruo, do you even know what you're doing?!"

Xia Ruo did not back down. "Of course I know."

"What about you? What gives you the right to make decisions for me? Just because I'm your daughter? Then what about you—have you ever fulfilled the responsibilities of a father?"

Xia's father was choked by her words, unable to react for a moment.

"You always think you're right, thinking you can control everything, but you've never once asked me what I actually want!"

"You think you're doing this for my own good, but in reality, you're just satisfying your own desire for control!"

"I am doing this for your own good!"

"For my own good?" Xia Ruo let out a cold laugh. "You don't understand me at all, and you have no right to dictate my choices."

"Don't forget, I'm your father!"

"And don't you forget, I'm not a child anymore!"

Xia's father turned livid with rage, his expression shifting from anger to something complex.

"You'll regret this." Dropping those words, he turned and walked away.

Xia Ruo stood in place, watching her father depart.

After a long while, she turned around and looked at Lin Qianfan.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, her voice full of guilt.

"You don't need to apologize to me." Lin Qianfan took a step closer, his tone calm. "Because I have no intention of letting you face all this alone."

Xia Ruo raised her head, looking into his eyes, where complicated emotions swirled.

"But, my dad..."

"Xia Ruo," Lin Qianfan interrupted her.

"I don't know what the future holds, but I know one thing."

"What is it?" Xia Ruo asked instinctively.

"If you are willing, I will stay by your side until the very end."

Xia Ruo froze, her lips parting slightly without making a sound.

She lowered her head, fell silent for a moment, and then gently nodded.

The atmosphere between them grew quiet and subtle.

As time went on, the bubble tea shop became increasingly prosperous, especially with several newly launched beverages that captured people's affection, drawing long queues almost every single day.

"Today's revenue has hit a new record high!" the manager of the bubble tea shop reported excitedly to Xia Ruo.

"Keep it up." Lin Qianfan nodded, a trace of satisfaction evident in his tone.

Meanwhile, Lin Qianfan's novel was nearing its conclusion.

He had been writing this novel for nearly a year. What started as a way to earn a little living expense had now become a habit.

Setting down his laptop, he picked up his phone and opened the backend of his official account.

The comment section beneath the article was already packed with messages from readers.

"Author-daadaa, when are you updating? I'm waiting so long my hair is falling out!"

"Author, where are you? My tears have all run dry!"

Lin Qianfan felt no particular ripple in his heart as he looked at these messages.

The book had reached its finale; the plot lines were tied up neatly, and the story was complete, giving the readers a proper resolution.

He had originally written it just for money, but now that he had many other ways to make money, there was truly no need to continue pouring time into writing novels.

Scrolling down the backend data, he saw that views and reads were still growing rapidly, but he had already decided to put down his pen.

All of this was proof that his novel had utterly crushed the performance of that initial website.

"It turns out that leaving those exploitative platforms really does make the financial returns much more direct."

He casually set up an automated reply for his official account with a simple and direct message: "This book is about to conclude. Thank you for your support."

After the morning class ended, Lin Qianfan walked out of the classroom as usual, and his phone buzzed.

Glancing down, he saw that the novel's popularity continued to rise, and the comment section was an absolute frenzy.

"This novel is an absolute masterpiece! When is the author starting a new book?"

"It's ending? I can't bear to let it go! Boss Lin, hurry up and write the next one!"

"This ending is so epic! Author-daadaa, please release extra chapters!"

Glancing over the data, he casually closed the page.

Although the novel had concluded, the traffic to his official account was climbing ever higher.

Backed by the massive fan base accumulated through the novel, his official account had transformed into a massive traffic pool, faintly surpassing even the novel website where he had previously stayed.

Meanwhile, the WeChat platform gradually stabilized.

Its user base was growing steadily, especially after the launch of the short-video feature, which directly doubled the number of active users.

Many people began posting daily moments on WeChat, and even a batch of minor streamers started gaining followers through the short-video feature.

Lin Qianfan was quite satisfied with this.

After afternoon classes let out, he returned to the dormitory, grabbed his laptop, and headed to the studio.

Inside the studio, Yongpan, Dawei, Xiaoyang, and Zhao Cheng had already arrived.

Gathered around a computer, the few of them were discussing the WeChat backend data.

"Brother Fan, you're here." Yongpan looked up and pointed to a report on the table. "This is the latest user data for WeChat. Active users have already broken the fifty-thousand mark." Wait, fifty thousand? *Correction*: active users have already broken the five hundred thousand mark.

Lin Qianfan took the report and gave it a quick scan. "Mm, good growth, but this is just the beginning."

He put the report down and looked at the group. "I'm planning to establish an internet company."

Hearing this, the others froze simultaneously.

"Our WeChat has only just stabilized, and you want to start a company?" Dawei scratched his head. "Isn't that a bit too rushed?"

"It's not rushed; it's going with the flow," Lin Qianfan replied calmly.

"Now that WeChat's user base is stable, and traffic for both short videos and the official account is growing, seizing this opportunity to establish a company will allow us to better integrate our resources."

"If we wait until WeChat is completely saturated before starting a company, we will have missed the optimal window."

Yongpan nodded. "Brother Fan makes sense. Now is indeed a great time."

"The resources we've accumulated over the past year are more than enough to launch a major project!"

Xiaoyang frowned in thought before speaking, "Setting up a company is fine, but running one isn't simple. None of us have any experience."

"I've already considered that." Lin Qianfan took a document out of his bag and handed it to Xiaoyang.

"This is an exchange program between myself and an overseas internet company. They are willing to provide technical support and training."

"Once the break starts, I plan to send you all to their company to study and understand the workflow of corporate operations."

Zhao Cheng took the document and flipped through it. "An overseas company? Is this reliable?"

"Reliable," Lin Qianfan said with certainty.

"I've already spoken with the person in charge over there. They are very sincere, and their technology is indeed more advanced than ours; it's well worth studying."

The group looked at each other and ultimately nodded in agreement.