Chapter 16

【ps: Thank you, Daocong Mi Xiaoshi, for your generous tip again~ Today we reached 53rd place on the list, and everyone has been very supportive. Let's keep it up tomorrow!】

Last night, Tong Yan went to bed very late, but the next morning, he was still full of energy. After having a hearty breakfast, he took his notebook and headed straight for the bookstore.

Entering the room, finding a seat, turning on the computer, and going online, he completed these actions in one smooth motion. Tong Yan opened his author backend, but it showed that his work was still under review. This scene was noticed by his cousin, Liu Ming, who then realized that Tong Yan had already started publishing his novel.

His comment was, "You're in too much of a hurry."

Tong Yan felt a bit disappointed as he closed the webpage. "I can't wait for people to read my novel and give me feedback." Then he opened Word and prepared to write, having already planned what to write the night before.

Liu Ming really wanted to tell Tong Yan that his writing career could only last for these few weeks, and it would have to be interrupted after school started. Posting online was not a wise move, but seeing his cousin typing away with sparkling eyes, he didn't want to dampen his spirits.

Tong Yan's typing speed was a bit faster today, and he looked down at the keyboard less often. He became more familiar with the 26 letters and the commonly used symbol and number keys. However, he checked the author backend more frequently. Although the website had stated that the review would be completed within 48 hours, it had only been a few hours since he submitted his work, but he still hoped to see the approval message when he opened the backend.

After repeating this several times, by the afternoon, Tong Yan no longer had the confidence to open the author backend. He just focused on typing, and his speed indeed increased. By the end of the day, he had written two chapters, totaling 6,000 words, breaking his personal best record.

After finishing, Tong Yan leaned back in his chair, too tired to move. It seemed that writing a novel was not just a mental task but also a physical one. His mind had to work quickly, and his fingers had to keep up. Except for lunch, he spent almost eight hours a day on this activity, typing away non-stop, even more intensely than those kids obsessed with online games.

Fortunately, hard work pays off. The next day, before leaving the bookstore, Tong Yan opened the author backend with the last bit of hope. Then he heard a "ding," indicating a new message.

Liu Ming, who was nearby, also leaned over to look at the screen. Tong Yan calmed himself, moved the mouse, and clicked lightly. The message read, "Your work 'The Wild History of a Little Soldier' has been approved and can now be officially uploaded. Our editors will pay attention to your work. Please continue to work hard!"

This initial review was very easy to pass, as long as there was no reactionary or obscene content. Even if the writing was poor, it would still be approved. The reason it took so long was that he chose to publish on the weekend, and the editors were resting. However, the novice Tong Yan and Liu Ming didn't know this. The two were excited and high-fived, celebrating their first success. Liu Ming was genuinely happy for Tong Yan's "achievement."

Tong Yan, while the momentum was still hot, uploaded all three chapters, totaling over 10,000 words, and kept three more chapters in reserve. Then he clicked into the page of "The Wild History of a Little Soldier," the first time he had entered his own work's page.

At the top of the webpage were the four red words "The Wild History of a Little Soldier." Below them was a line of smaller text: "Category: Science Fiction | Author Column: Dian Xiaoer | Total Clicks: 2 | Total Recommendations: 0 | Last Updated: August 11, 2005." The three chapters he had just published were not yet displayed, and the update time showed the first chapter from the day before. This was normal since it had just been approved and had not yet received any clicks or recommendations.

Further down was the cover and synopsis section. There was no cover, as neither Tong Yan nor his cousin knew how to create one. Using Office was already a big challenge for them.

Tong Yan was not very good at writing synopses, so he only wrote one line: "Our journey is to the stars and the sea—Song Hu!" He borrowed this classic line from "Legend of the Galactic Heroes." Fortunately, this phrase was not yet overused in 2005, and it sounded both powerful and directly related to the theme of the novel, so Tong Yan used it.

Below the synopsis was a line of small text: "Main Character Search Keywords—Space, Little Soldier, Song Hu." Further down were the buttons "Click to Read," "Add to Bookshelf," "Recommend This Book," and "Author Column," as well as a portion of the first chapter's content.

Tong Yan clicked "Click to Read" and "Add to Bookshelf." The number of collections he saw in the backend was still "0," but now it should be 1. When he clicked "Recommend This Book," it showed that he had no recommendation tickets, so he had to give up on that.

Scrolling down further, he saw the book review section, which was also empty. This was the entire page of "The Wild History of a Little Soldier." Although it lacked many features, it was still his own little world. Tong Yan scrolled up and down several times, only leaving the bookstore when his cousin started yawning.

After Tong Yan left, Liu Ming thought for a moment, logged out of his cousin's account, and began applying for his own起点 (Qidian) account.

At the same time, a male reader with the Qidian nickname "Ox by the River" refreshed the Qidian homepage and saw three new chapters from the same book in the update list. The book was called "The Wild History of a Little Soldier." At that time, Qidian did not limit the number of times a book could appear in the update list within six hours. Instead, each new chapter was displayed separately, making it very noticeable.

"Ox by the River" had been a Qidian reader for over a year and was a big fan of "The Little Soldier Legend" by Xuan Yu. Unfortunately, the author had temporarily stopped the online serialization to publish a physical book, and there had been no updates for four months, leaving "Ox by the River" very eager for more. Seeing a novel titled "The Little Soldier," he couldn't resist clicking in. When he saw the synopsis "Our journey is to the stars and the sea," he knew it was a novel similar to "The Little Soldier Legend." He immediately clicked to read, finished the first chapter, added it to his bookshelf, and used his three recommendation tickets, then continued reading.

As one of the three great oddities of the internet and the only one to debut on Qidian, "The Little Soldier Legend" had a large number of loyal readers on Qidian. Even after four months without updates, people still thought about it and missed it.

Readers like "Ox by the River" were not just a few. Seeing a novel titled "The Little Soldier," many of them clicked in out of habit. After reading the synopsis and the main character's name "Song Hu," they usually decided to give it a try. If they liked it, they were willing to add it to their bookshelf and give it recommendation tickets.

Of course, while "The Little Soldier Legend" had many readers, not many of them would see "The Wild History of a Little Soldier." It had no website recommendations and had not entered any automatic lists. It only appeared briefly in the update list, so those who saw it saw it, and those who didn't missed it.

By the time Liu Ming finished registering his account and clicked into the page of "The Wild History of a Little Soldier," he saw that the total clicks had already reached 24, and the total recommendations were 8. In just a few minutes, there had been such a significant change. Although he didn't know if this was good or bad, he was genuinely happy for his cousin and immediately contributed a click and a collection.

Meanwhile, Tong Yan wrote for a while in his room, planning the subsequent plot development. He also practiced writing the positions of the keys on the keyboard on paper. When he could type without looking at the keyboard, his speed would greatly improve. The demand for update speed in web novels was very high, and he was eager to improve himself, hoping to start earning royalties as soon as possible.

Just now, he overheard his parents discussing his sister's academic performance. Shan Shan's grades were only average, and the hope of getting into a high school in the city was slim. The family also lacked the financial means to pay for her school choice fee. Therefore, Shan Shan might have to attend a county high school with lower teaching standards, which would directly affect her future.

Ultimately, it all came down to money. Years ago, his parents had made a significant financial sacrifice to send the academically excellent Tong Yan to a city middle school. They had spent a lot of money, but fortunately, Tong Yan had performed well, earning free tuition in high school and avoiding any school choice fees. However, even with this, the family's financial situation could not cover the high school choice fee for the city's top high school.

After hearing his parents' frustration, Tong Yan silently returned to his room, but he was determined: Since his parents lacked the financial means, he, as the older brother, would take on the responsibility! He had discovered the path of web novels and didn't aspire to earn tens of thousands of yuan like top authors. He only needed 5,000 yuan a month, which would be enough to cover his sister's school choice fee and miscellaneous expenses.

【ps: Special Note: Personally, I do not support high school students writing web novels. I would rather they fall in love early than write web novels in middle school. Tong Yan is the protagonist, so he has a bright future, but most people do not have that kind of luck. The loss would be your studies.】

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