Chapter 15

【ps: Thank you again to Gongzi Lang for the tip, and to the two friends, Wo Bu Dong OOXX and Ye, for their tips. Here’s the third update. The fourth update tonight might be a bit late, but it will definitely come~】

Cousin stood beside Tong Yan, watching him for a while. He was so surprised that he exclaimed, "You, you really want to write a novel?!"

Only then did Tong Yan notice someone standing beside him. He suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable, and his fingers became less nimble, the words less vivid. "Bro, can you stop staring at me? You’re making it hard for me to write. I’ll let you read it when I’m done, okay?"

Liu Ming immediately moved to the back of the computer desk, no longer interfering with Tong Yan, but his mind was racing. His dear little brother was actually going to write a novel. This was too crazy!

He saw the title of the novel, "The Wild History of a Little Soldier." It sounded quite exciting. Tong Yan’s writing skills were among the best in his class, but to create a million-word-scale epic web novel, Liu Ming still doubted his cousin’s ability and perseverance. Perhaps he was just writing for fun.

Tong Yan hadn’t learned the Wubi input method and could only use the slower Smart ABC. Combined with his lack of familiarity with the keyboard, his typing was very slow. Even though he had a well-developed plot in his head, after an hour, he had only written about six or seven hundred words. He was still far from being able to type without looking at the keys.

By lunchtime, Tong Yan had been typing non-stop for nearly four hours, writing a total of more than two thousand words, which was even slower than when he wrote essays on paper.

Seeing that his cousin was about to stop, Liu Ming quickly pushed the lunch tray in front of Tong Yan. "Take a break, eat your lunch, and I’ll read your masterpiece."

"Give me some feedback," Tong Yan said humbly. It was his first time writing this kind of fantasy literature, and he was quite nervous. He valued his cousin Liu Ming’s opinion as the first reader very much.

Liu Ming, after all, ran a bookstore. Although his own writing skills were basic, his judgment was good. He read the unfinished first chapter, "My Grandfather’s Grandfather," in just one minute. It was a quick read, a rough scan, but it felt quite good. On the surface, it didn’t fall short compared to the web novels on the shelves. Tong Yan’s writing skills were indeed solid.

Then Liu Ming spent another five minutes carefully reading it, helping Tong Yan correct a few typos. When Tong Yan asked for his thoughts, Liu Ming pondered for a moment. "Keep writing."

Liu Ming neither encouraged nor discouraged him. If he gave positive feedback, his little cousin might get too engrossed and neglect his studies, and his aunt would definitely blame him. But he couldn’t bring himself to say negative things, as he genuinely believed Tong Yan had a talent for this.

Tong Yan had grown up reading traditional literature and had also read many famous martial arts novels and science fiction series like the Wei Si Li series. He had only been reading web novels for about twenty days, but in the first chapter of "The Wild History of a Little Soldier," he had captured the essence of web novels. He didn’t show off his knowledge or overly embellish the atmosphere or build up the prelude. Instead, he introduced the protagonist straightforwardly and opened the story with a 3,000-word chapter, making Liu Ming, as a reader, eager to see what happened next.

It seemed that in these past days, Tong Yan had not only been reading but also studying the characteristics of these novels, summarizing and applying them to his own work. In the absence of anyone to teach him how to write web novels, he had found his own way. His sincerity was so evident that Liu Ming couldn’t bear to discourage him. After all, he wouldn’t be able to write once school started, so he might as well let him enjoy it during the summer.

In the afternoon, Tong Yan spent another two hours finishing the first chapter, which was about 3,400 words. Then he started reading the top-ranked new books on Qidian, approaching them with a learning attitude this time.

The most popular new book at the moment was "The Face-Changing Warrior," a Western fantasy novel by the author Dancing. It was a very feminine pen name, but the writing was indeed excellent. Each chapter ended with a cliffhanger, making readers eager to click to the next one. The writing style was light and humorous, making it highly readable. No wonder it was so successful.

Although their genres were different, the goal was the same: to make the reader feel good. There was a lot Tong Yan could learn from this book.

After reading for a while and accumulating some insights, Tong Yan revised his first chapter, making it much smoother. When he showed it to his cousin again, Liu Ming still said, "Keep writing." But inside, he was greatly impressed: Could this kid be a reincarnation of a literary star? At such a young age, he could write so well. I can’t help but want to shout, "Update faster, damn it!"

Liu Ming didn’t want to comment too much on Tong Yan’s novel, so he decided to let millions of readers judge. The next day, Tong Yan logged into the Qidian account that Zhang Xiao had helped him apply for (i.e., the PT account). Having an account meant he could add good novels to his bookshelf so he wouldn’t forget them later. As for paid reading, it hadn’t even crossed his mind yet.

To become a Qidian author, one had to register a Qidian account. The process for applying to become an author was simple and complete. Just click on the author section and follow the steps to publish your work on the Qidian platform. It was a very user-friendly operation that greatly lowered the barrier for authors.

Tong Yan just went through the process today to get a general idea of how to publish a novel. Then he closed the webpage and continued writing, following the plot from the previous day. By evening, he had written more than 5,000 words, split into two chapters. Of course, it took a long time, over eight hours of good time spent typing.

Almost simultaneously, a young man named Xiaofeng in Hubei Yichang began quietly preparing a new book after browsing Qidian. He had previously written a novel called "Ten Years in Yingxiu" under the pen name "Beiyang Shu" and other scattered works, as well as pseudonyms like Yuzhu Xiong. He was relatively well-known in the circle, much more experienced than Tong Yan, who was just starting out. But now he decided to abandon the pen name "Beiyang Shu" and the not-so-popular "Ten Years in Yingxiu" and start a new novel as a newcomer.

He had already thought of a new pen name: "Cat Nibbles." If this new book didn’t become popular, he would change his pen name to "Dog Sheng," so that he would have a complete set: rat, cat, and dog. Xiaofeng looked at the document on his desktop called "The Vermilion Bird Chronicles" and sighed: Hopefully, it won’t come to the point of using "Dog Sheng."

In the following days, Tong Yan continued to write, managing to write one or two chapters, about 4,000 to 5,000 words, each day. Over a few days, he had accumulated about 20,000 words. He reviewed and revised his work from the beginning every day, firmly believing that good articles are the result of revisions.

In his spare time, he either studied excellent web novels to learn from their strengths or looked at the top-ranked new books on Qidian’s potential weekly chart, comparing them with his own "The Wild History of a Little Soldier" to find some confidence. Well, he did find some.

Seeing that even novels he didn’t think were that great could make the charts, Tong Yan couldn’t hold back any longer. He had already written more than 20,000 words, so why wait? He had practiced the process of applying to be an author and publishing a novel many times, and today he finally completed it in one go, using the pen name "Shop Boy."

When Zhang Xiao helped Tong Yan apply for the account, he casually suggested "Shop Boy" because Tong Yan was the second-in-command at the bookstore. Although he later thought the name was too casual, he felt relieved when he saw the pen names of other writers. Even a casual name was more formal than "Old Pig," "Habitual Vomiting," or some numbers and letters.

On that day, Tong Yan officially registered as the author "Shop Boy" and uploaded the first chapter of "The Wild History of a Little Soldier," "My Grandfather’s Grandfather," waiting for the website’s review.

It felt like he had completed a monumental task. Tong Yan’s face was filled with excitement, nervousness, and anticipation. Perhaps his different demeanor was too obvious, because when he got home, his sister immediately asked, "Did something good happen today?"

Tong Yan couldn’t tell the truth to Zhang Shan, or it would get back to his parents, and that wouldn’t be good. So he had to dodge the question. "I read a really great book today, by Mo Yan. I’m still savoring it. I think this old guy could win the Nobel Prize."

Tong Shan Shan snorted and didn’t ask any more. She never cared about literary matters.

【ps: Regarding the lighthearted joke about "Dog Sheng," I hope Cat Nibbles’ readers won’t mind~】

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