Li Dedong's runaway incident had delayed Ding Yun's book adaptation plans. After all, with her younger brother gone, she, as his elder sister, couldn't just stay inside and be indifferent. She had to at least feign concern and help search for him.
Otherwise, she'd be accused of being heartless, of not caring about her brother's safety.
This, of course, cost her time.
To make up for it and complete her first adaptation project in another world as soon as possible, Ding Yun spent two days assisting in the search. Then, she decided she couldn't waste any more time and quickly learned the computer knowledge of this world, integrating it with her existing skills. This allowed her to easily pinpoint Li Dedong's location.
He had run away, but he had his phone with him. Besides his phone, Ding Yun was sure he wouldn't be able to resist playing games for long.
Whether he used his phone or logged into a game,
as long as he did either of these things,
Ding Yun had ways to locate him through technological means. While she might not find his exact coordinates, she could get a general area. With a little analysis, she easily found Li Dedong.
She then stormed into the internet café.
She apprehended Li Dedong and notified his parents.
As for the internet café owner, he dared not say anything when Ding Yun threatened to report him to the public security bureau for harboring minors if he tried to stop her. He even had his employees quickly memorize Li Dedong's face and ban him from the establishment in the future.
Li Dedong, naturally, was unwilling to be subdued.
He yelled loudly, "Let go of me! You're hitting me! I don't know you! Li Yun, you'll regret this!" while struggling fiercely.
However, his strength was brute force without skill.
Ding Yun pressed on his pressure points and struck him at critical bone and muscle locations twice. He lost all ability to resist and began to wail in pain.
To others, however, he appeared to be a dramatic nuisance. The girl above hadn't even touched him, and he wasn't bleeding or injured, yet he wailed as if he were dying. What else could he be but a dramatic nuisance?
Fortunately, Xu Hui and the others weren't far away. After receiving Ding Yun's call, they arrived in less than ten minutes. Ding Yun then quickly said,
"Dad, Mom, you come and hold him. If he runs off again, I can't guarantee I can find him.
Also, I'm tired, I'm going back now."
Xu Hui and her husband saw Ding Yun pinning Li Dedong down with her knee and didn't think there was anything wrong with it. They didn't dote on their son either; in fact, they agreed with Ding Yun. As a girl, she naturally wouldn't have as much strength as a boy.
She had managed to hold down this imp of a boy until now, so she must be tired. They hurried forward, each grabbing one of Li Dedong's arms to pull him up.
"Xiao Yun, you've worked hard. You should go back and rest. We'll handle the rest."
After saying that, Li Qinghua immediately turned to his son and began to scold him without restraint.
"You've really outdone yourself.
Running away from home and coming this far, and you didn't forget to come to an internet café to play games? Is this game your life? If you have the guts to run away, you should have the guts not to use my money! Why did you take money with you!"
If Li Dedong had been gone for ten days or half a month, or if he had appeared miserable, disheveled, and suffering, Li Qinghua might have softened and restrained his emotions somewhat.
He wouldn't have scolded him so harshly.
Perhaps he might have even offered comfort first.
But now, not only was the boy found in less than three days, but he was found in an internet café, likely playing games. How could he not be angry?
The only reason he hadn't administered a "loving beating" was his self-control and the fact that their family didn't have a tradition of hitting their children.
If they did,
several rolling pins would have been broken.
At the very least, he would have doubled his butt circumference with a beating, making it swollen.
Meanwhile, Xu Hui, playing the role of the doting mother, said, "Oh, Qinghua, don't be too angry.
Dedong, quickly promise your dad you won't come to internet cafés again, and you won't run away from home. Do you know how worried we were? We were scared to death! If anything happened to you, how could Mom live!"
"Let go of me, let go of me..."
"Li Yun, I'll never forgive you!"
Although Li Dedong was no longer in pain after Ding Yun released her grip, his hatred for Ding Yun only grew. If it weren't for Ding Yun, he wouldn't have been caught.
At that time, his parents might have been tearfully begging him to come back, instead of him being caught and lectured.
However, Ding Yun had already turned and left.
She was too lazy to listen to their exchange.
What happened next, or what they discussed, Ding Yun didn't know. She only knew that Li Qinghua and his wife took Li Dedong for a check-up at the hospital.
Then they took him home.
As for the outcome, based on Ding Yun's observation, there seemed to be a compromise. Li Qinghua and his wife limited Li Dedong's gaming time, perhaps allowing only four hours a day. Everything else returned to normal, including his allowance. The price was that Li Dedong could no longer run away from home and had to attend a half-day cram school.
As for any other deals,
Ding Yun wasn't interested and didn't inquire.
She had already successfully localized the first fifth of the novel she had bought and compiled it into the first installment of her five-part series, "Heroic Heart."
The story spanned the last twenty years of the Northern Dynasty,
ending with its demise.
The protagonist died heroically, his chivalry fragrant even in death.
She was now busy searching for suitable publishers and martial arts magazines to submit her work.
After all, online literature was just in its infancy, and its monetization models hadn't even been figured out yet. Its overall influence was relatively weak. Most people still bought physical books from bookstores, even pirated ones from bookstalls.
Instead of using such a good martial arts novel for online literature,
it would be better to publish it first as popular literature.
Once she gained some fame and a stable readership, she could then transition to online literature with that established following, which would be much better than starting from scratch and slowly accumulating readers.
Even if she earned enough money,
she might not need to join a specific literary website. She could buy one outright, or even establish her own. If she lacked authors, she could directly purchase them from the cultural dissemination system.
There would never be a shortage of excellent content.
She would definitely establish a foothold, and even dominate the online literature scene.
Therefore, no matter how she looked at it, it was more suitable to first gain fame through popular literature publishing before considering online literature and its development.