Chapter 15: Maternal Uncle

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After briefly trying out the Pet Sprites app, the group chat for Dormitory 602 instantly came alive, with messages flooding in like a rising tide.

“Fourth Brother, your Pet Sprites app is certainly full of creativity, but the interface is way too crude. You should at least find a graphic designer to give it a proper makeover. It really isn’t presentable in its current state.”

“I’d be embarrassed to put it on the market like that.”

“Exactly, exactly. The artwork is rough and simplistic! Still, you’ve got to hand it to this kid—you actually managed to uncover such a niche market as pet sprites. That’s some imagination. What a brilliant idea!”

Li Ping’an took a moment to glance at the messages in the dormitory group chat. After replying, “It was my little sister’s idea,” he plunged straight back into producing and posting short videos.

He had no idea how effective those videos would be as advertisements, but they were certainly better than nothing.

“Huh? Your little sister’s idea? I knew it. With that blockhead of yours, there was no way you could suddenly become so clever.”

“Get lost. Since when did she become your little sister? Don’t try to act so familiar.”

His roommates continued teasing one another with a remark here and a quip there.

When Li Ping’an next found himself with some free time, he saw the suggestions his roommates had made.

He quieted his mind and thought it over carefully. He, too, felt that finding a professional designer was indeed necessary.

Not only did he need several adorable and captivating pet illustrations, giving users more appearances to choose from when hatching their pets, he also needed to create several distinctive themed skins to enrich the app’s visual experience and personalization options.

Only then could he attract more users’ attention while improving the app’s overall quality and competitiveness.

Li Ping’an did not immediately go online in search of a professional designer without giving it any thought.

After all, professionals often charged rather steep fees, while the funds currently at his disposal were extremely limited. Every penny had to be carefully budgeted, and not the slightest bit could be wasted.

In his view, looking at the matter from another angle, this was an excellent part-time opportunity.

Offering it to capable, familiar classmates would not only reduce costs but also encourage communication and cooperation among them. It was a perfect way to achieve two goals at once.

He quickly found his high-school class group chat, composed a message, and sent it:

“I’m looking for a part-time graphic artist and a front-end UI designer. Did anyone in our class major in this at university?

“Or if you know someone else who did, that works too. The price is negotiable, and the compensation will definitely be generous. If you’re interested, message me privately.”

After sending it, Li Ping’an waited expectantly for a response.

However, as the seconds and minutes passed, ten minutes went by without anyone sending him a private message.

He was not in any hurry.

He knew that the high-school class group chat was usually flooded with messages. Everyone was accustomed to muting the group and setting it to receive messages without notifications. He had done the same himself.

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Therefore, it was perfectly understandable that his classmates had not seen his message in time.

“Beep beep beep!”

About an hour later, just as Li Ping’an was concentrating on plans for the next version of Pet Sprites, the notification tone for a QQ message suddenly rang out.

He hurriedly switched screens to take a look and saw a private message waiting for him.

“I can do graphic design, and some people in my major know front-end UI design.”

“How are you calculating the price?”

The sender was his high-school classmate, Li Nan.

Delighted to see the message, Li Ping’an immediately replied:

“For graphic design, I’ll pay by the image—eighty yuan per illustration. As for the front-end UI design, the main task will be designing the app’s themes and layout. I’ll pay one hundred yuan per complete design. How does that sound?”

“Sure!”

On the other end, Li Nan agreed almost without hesitation.

She had nothing much to do at home during the winter vacation. The chance to earn some extra money was naturally something she welcomed. Why would she turn it down?

“Great. I’ll send you the requirements document in a moment.”

“Okay,” Li Nan answered briefly and crisply.

Li Ping’an spent only a few hurried minutes putting together a somewhat crude and decidedly informal requirements document, then sent it to Li Nan.

After completing the whole process, he stood up and stretched deeply.

The fatigue brought on by sitting for so long eased slightly in that instant.

Suddenly, as though a spark of inspiration had flashed through his mind, Li Ping’an abruptly remembered something important.

He quickly sat back down at the computer, opened the developer dashboard, and prepared to check the app’s download figures. A trace of nervous anticipation showed in his eyes.

His heartbeat quickened unconsciously, as though he were about to learn the results of a major examination.

After manually tallying the figures and checking them carefully, an exhilarating number appeared before him.

Since its release, Pet Sprites had reached a total of 1,609 downloads!

To Li Ping’an, this was undoubtedly a tremendous surprise—an occasion truly worth celebrating.

Immediately afterward, he eagerly checked the number of registered users in the app’s backend.

Exactly 1,600.

The figure was nearly equal to the number of downloads. This indicated that the overwhelming majority of users who had downloaded the app had been sufficiently interested to register and use it, further confirming the app’s appeal.

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At that moment, Li Ping’an’s heart was filled with joy and satisfaction.

Although he knew the figure contained a certain amount of water, the download count might plummet after today once the initial enthusiasm generated by his friends’ promotion faded.

Even so, he could not help harboring a beautiful hope. Perhaps the app worked exceptionally well. Perhaps users who had tried it would become deeply attached to it and voluntarily share it with their friends, driving the download count steadily upward and creating a powerful wave of word-of-mouth promotion.

Anything was possible! Who could say?

Just as Li Ping’an was immersed in speculation about the future trend of the app’s downloads, a clear ringtone suddenly broke the silence around him.

He instinctively glanced at the caller ID and paused slightly when he saw that it was his uncle calling.

Without hesitation, Li Ping’an reached for the phone beside the computer.

He slid his finger across the screen and answered.

“Hello, Uncle.” His voice was warm and familiar.

“Your aunt wants you and Xiao Ya to come over for lunch tomorrow.”

His uncle’s familiar yet slightly hoarse voice came through the phone, carrying an unmistakably firm tone.

“Be careful on your bicycles when you come tomorrow, all right?”

Before Li Ping’an could respond, his uncle hung up directly, as though afraid he might find an excuse to refuse.

Li Ping’an stared blankly at the screen, now showing that the call had ended, and a helpless smile appeared on his face.

His uncle was a thoughtful man too. He insisted on saying that it was his aunt who had invited them to dinner.

There was a rural saying:

“Your mother’s brother is as close as your mother,
Your father’s younger brother as close as your father.
An aunt’s husband and an uncle’s wife cannot always be trusted.
Your father’s sister is true kin,
Your mother’s brother’s wife only a borrowed relation.
An aunt by marriage may be half true and half false.”

That may be what the saying claimed, but in reality, everything depended on the person.

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