Chapter 9

The next morning, Li Minghui got up and, following the old routine, started cooking the congee. Then, with his brain fully recharged, he launched the creative software and transformed into a super genius novelist, typing away furiously. After two hours, he checked the word count and nodded in satisfaction. His speed had increased a bit, reaching over 5,200 words without any corrections for typos. At this point, his stomach growled, so he immediately put down his work and had a bowl of congee with steamed buns, accompanied by a small packet of pickled vegetables. After a hearty meal, he felt his stomach was satisfied and leisurely returned to the computer. He couldn't resist and lit a cigarette, savoring it contentedly.

A cigarette after a meal, happiness like a god. Although his finances were tight and he needed to be frugal, he still indulged in a cigarette after the meal.

After finishing the cigarette, Li Minghui stretched lazily and took his time to correct the typos in his draft before closing Word and logging into QQ.

"Beep beep beep!"

As soon as he logged in, the QQ notification sound rang. He opened it and saw that Xiaodou had added him. Checking the time, it was 10:00 AM. Li Minghui quickly opened the Qidian Chinese website, logged into the author's section, and entered the backend. He glanced over and saw that the number of favorites had increased to 41 overnight.

"Great!"

Li Minghui, feeling elated, quickly copied a 3,000-word chapter and uploaded it. Without checking his book's page, he hurriedly opened QQ and found the editor section, which only had Xiaodou. He opened Xiaodou's chat window, thought for a moment, and then typed, "Hello, I am the author of 'Zhu Xian,' Ming Hui Guang Yao."

After sending the message, Li Minghui waited anxiously, but he didn't have to wait long. Xiaodou's avatar started flashing, and he quickly opened the chat window to see that Xiaodou had already left a message.

Xiaodou: Hello, I am the signing editor. I need to confirm: the online electronic rights to this book are still in your possession, right?

Li Minghui: Yes, they are.

After a moment, Xiaodou: Are you willing to sign with Qidian?

Li Minghui: Yes, I am willing to sign.

After a while, Xiaodou quickly sent over two files: one was an author information form, and the other was a guide for filling out the form. Seeing these files, Li Minghui's heart skipped a beat, feeling secretly delighted: "This is it, signing!"

He opened the two forms and quickly filled them out. Although they looked complicated, the information required from the author was minimal, and he finished quickly.

Then, Li Minghui sent the two forms back to Xiaodou and waited anxiously. However, professionals were different, and Xiaodou soon sent back another file: "If there are no issues, fill in the blank spaces. The password is 321!"

After checking everything, he found no problems. Xiaodou then told him to mail the contract and provided some tips on saving money.

However, saving money was no problem for Li Minghui, a seasoned veteran. He knew which courier companies were cheap and reliable. After feeling a bit dizzy, he realized he hadn't carefully read the contract, but he thought it didn't matter. Many authors signed standard contracts, and there were no issues.

Li Minghui then ignored the computer, saved the contract on his phone, and rushed out to find a cheap store to print and photocopy the contract. After checking that everything was correct, he signed the necessary places and, satisfied, went to a nearby courier company to mail the contract.

Now, Li Minghui finally felt relaxed, as excited as if he had received his first paycheck: "I'm finally signed!"

Back in the basement, the computer was still on. Li Minghui, feeling extremely excited, quickly opened the Qidian author backend and refreshed the favorites count, which had increased to 41, making him feel very comfortable.

Thinking there was nothing else to do, he opened the 'Zhu Xian' page and saw the current data.

Total clicks: 829

Member weekly clicks: 258

Total recommendations: 56

Total word count: 19,876

However, the click-to-favorite ratio and click-to-recommend ratio were good, indicating that 'Zhu Xian' was finally attracting its first batch of readers, and its charm was beginning to show.

To be honest, the early plot of 'Zhu Xian' wasn't great, but after Li Minghui's editing, it had a stronger rhythm and a much stronger sense of immersion.

Looking at the book reviews, Li Minghui's eyes narrowed in a smile. Apart from some generic comments, the review section was filled with praise. Occasionally, there were a few troublemakers, but Li Minghui ignored them. As a new author, he loved the praise, and these troublemakers seemed to be envious and jealous.

At this moment, Li Minghui felt incredibly elated. He had just signed, the book's data was good, and the readers were supportive. He was really looking forward to a bright future.

He then opened each review and replied, but when he saw one, he hesitated.

"Good book, excellent creativity and plot, and the writing feels good. However, the writing is a bit thin. If you're willing, we can exchange ideas!" — Dama Feiyan

Li Minghui's first reaction was that this person was a web editor. As a veteran of the web literature world, he usually ignored these editors. However, after checking Dama Feiyan's space and seeing the many books they had collected and recommended, he felt this person wasn't an editor. After some thought, Li Minghui left a message for Dama Feiyan: "New 'Zhu Xian' author, QQ: xxxx, please give guidance!"

After sending the message, Li Minghui didn't think much more about it and started browsing Qidian's various charts, looking for interesting books. He realized he needed to learn but didn't need to force himself. Reading books he liked could also improve his skills, so why not?

However, when Li Minghui clicked on the fantasy category page, his eyes lit up. He saw that his book had reached 13th place in the new author list of the fantasy category, meaning he was just one position away from the list. Without any recommendations, this was a great promotion for Li Minghui.

His eyes lit up again when he realized the gap to 12th place was only five points!

Five points, which could be achieved with one member click or one recommendation. Li Minghui was delighted and immediately opened his book, remembering he had a recommendation ticket and hadn't added the book to his shelf. Even his old account had a few recommendation tickets!

After some thought and hesitation, Li Minghui wondered if voting for himself was considered ballot stuffing. However, thinking it was a good opportunity to get exposure in the fantasy category, and that 'Zhu Xian' would eventually become popular but needed time, he decided to vote for himself.

Biting his lip, Li Minghui cast some votes for himself, thinking it shouldn't be considered ballot stuffing.

To be safe, Li Minghui also started reading his book from the first chapter. The new 'Zhu Xian' not only had the classic plot of the original but also benefited from Li Minghui's creative talent. The book was very immersive, and even Li Minghui, who knew the story and plot, was drawn into the new 'Zhu Xian.' He read the six chapters, totaling about 20,000 words, very carefully, hoping to find any flaws from a reader's perspective.

However, after finishing the six chapters, Li Minghui found that the book, apart from slightly more straightforward writing compared to the original, had excellent readability and paragraphing, with no flaws. It was suitable for both experienced and new readers, making it a hit with both.

After some thought, Li Minghui closed the book, satisfied, and continued reading his draft, as he was captivated by the plot he had written, eager to read more.

Thus, Li Minghui forgot about the ranking and everything else, quickly immersing himself in the world of his novel.

He read 50 chapters of his draft for an hour without changing his position, and then, with a mix of regret and intense joy, he said, "The creative software is indeed amazing, and 'Zhu Xian' is truly a classic. I know the story and plot, and I wrote it, but reading it again has captivated me. If it gets on the list and is discovered by readers, the numbers will definitely skyrocket!"

At this point, Li Minghui remembered the ranking and hurriedly opened Qidian. First, he logged into the author backend to check the favorites. He was stunned to see that in just over an hour, the favorites had increased to 80, making him extremely happy.

He then opened the book page and saw the following data:

Total clicks: 2,898

Member weekly clicks: 556

Total recommendations: 156

Total word count: 19,876

"Amazing!"

Li Minghui's heart skipped a beat, thinking he must have made the list. Although it was the new book popularity list in the fantasy category, it had given him the opportunity to get exposure, leading to the surge in favorites.

In just three days, Li Minghui had climbed to 11th place in the new author list of the fantasy category, making his book suddenly visible to many readers.

"The power of the list is indeed great!"

In the following days, Li Minghui was extremely excited. He found that almost every time he refreshed, his favorites increased by one, sometimes even two or three. He frequently checked the book page and the fantasy category list, showing the typical new author's eagerness for his data and ranking to keep rising.

Thus, he spent over two hours refreshing the backend, checking the increasing favorites, and then going to the book page and category page to check his data and ranking, enjoying the process immensely. It was already past noon by the time he reluctantly left the computer.

However, these two hours had left him very excited, as his favorites had already surpassed 200 in just two hours.

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