Chapter 30

【PS: Thank you to the sponsor "The Devil's Tailor." Also, I'm asking for a few more recommendation votes to help us climb the rankings. Thank you~~】

"Alright, alright."

Tong Yan saw "The Little Soldier's History" at 15th place on the weekly click-through list, which wasn't too bad, just a few spots away from the homepage.

Actually, it couldn't be too bad. Being in the top of the new book potential list, getting a homepage feature, and having two major recommendations from the Three Rivers Pavilion and the serialized works section, even if the slower updates caused many readers to pause their follow-up and wait for a bulk update, there were still many people following the story. The current position on the list was quite fitting.

Next, Tong Yan naturally went to the book review section. After the speculation about his identity a few days ago, there weren't many hot topics in the book review section anymore. However, he would still click into the more popular reviews, often seeing the accounts "I Am Arrogant" and "Shop Assistant Xiao Yi."

It wasn't surprising that his cousin, who had a computer, frequently visited the book review section. What was strange was that Zhang Xiao, a middle school student, could also go online every day. Was he running to the internet cafe every day? He would have to talk to him later; students should prioritize their studies.

In the book review section, there were still complaints about Shop Assistant Xiao Yi. Besides the common complaints about slow updates and lack of satisfaction, the reader "Xuan Yin Ju Shou" commented: "I feel that the recent plot isn't as outstanding as before. How to put it, after Song Hu achieved a little success, he seems to be living a bit too comfortably, lacking the drive to continue striving. This might be the author's arrangement, and there might be a big move later, but these few chapters are written too loosely, with no satisfying scenes at all. The transitions aren't done this way!"

There were other readers agreeing below, and "I Am Arrogant" and "Shop Assistant Xiao Yi" defending him. Actually, Tong Yan also agreed with Xuan Yin Ju Shou's comments. When he wrote those chapters, he was mainly trying to stockpile content for after the school started, so his primary goal was to write more, and he somewhat neglected the plot. If he had put more effort into making the transition chapters more interesting, he wouldn't have received so much criticism from readers.

Tong Yan didn't know how to explain himself, because the five or six chapters his cousin currently had were all like this—slow-paced, lacking excitement, and somewhat like a流水账 (流水账 means a detailed, often tedious, account of events, similar to a diary or log). However, he couldn't start over; he could only hope that readers would tolerate these relatively bland chapters. The segments he was currently planning but hadn't started writing would definitely meet the readers' needs.

The novel had been uploaded for over twenty days, with a total of 56,000 clicks and 4,300 recommendations. When Tong Yan entered the author's backend, he saw that the number of collections was 2,700, more than double what it was a few days ago. It seemed that the recommendations were quite effective.

He then quickly scanned the monthly review list. The current top three were "Evil Wind" by Xuehong, "Profanity" by Yan Yu Jiang Nan, and "The Face-Changing Warrior" by Dancing. One xianxia and two fantasy novels reflected the current hotspots and trends in online reading. Following them were the niche sports novel "Dream Begins with Basketball" and the even more niche entertainment novel "The Legend of the Tycoon" (Note: At the time, there was no such category as entertainment novels, and this book was considered a pioneer). According to the rules of the monthly review list, the top five would receive bonuses, but it was only the beginning of the month, and the real competition would be at the end.

After browsing Qidian, Tong Yan opened QQ. Both his cousin and Zhang Xiao only communicated with him through this one method.

Unfortunately, neither of them was online, so Tong Yan left a message for each of them. For his cousin, it was "Brother Ming, how's business at the shop?" For Zhang Xiao, it was "Don't let managing the book review section affect your studies. I hope we can become schoolmates in the future." Yangping No. 1 High School wasn't that easy to get into.

Tong Yan's friend list only had three people, two of whom were offline, and only Editor Watermelon's avatar was lit up.

Tong Yan knew that among the thousands of writers on Qidian, there were only ten chief editors, and Watermelon, being one of them, was definitely very busy. Plus, Tong Yan was also busy writing, so he had never initiated a conversation with Watermelon. This was the first time he wanted to contact his editor because he had a question that had been bothering him for a long time.

Tong Yan: Sister Watermelon, are you there?

Watermelon: Yes, what's up?

Wow, instant reply.

Watermelon: Shouldn't you be in class right now? You're not skipping, are you?

Watermelon was still concerned about Tong Yan's studies. If he were a college student, she wouldn't care if he skipped class, but Tong Yan was a high school student, and she didn't want online novels to become a source of misguidance.

Her typing speed was pretty fast. Tong Yan: No, I'm in class, computer class.

Watermelon: Oh, that's better. Study hard and write well. What's up?

Tong Yan: Actually, I wanted to ask when my book will start making money.

Tong Yan felt a bit embarrassed asking this question. Would Sister Watermelon think he was a money-grubber?

Watermelon didn't have any other thoughts. It was normal for Shop Assistant Xiao Yi to think about money. A 16-year-old high school student had put in a lot of mental and physical effort writing a web novel, and it wouldn't be right if he didn't get the corresponding rewards. The reason web novels have developed so well is that the paid reading system was introduced in 2003, allowing writers to earn money and become motivated, which led to the current small but thriving web novel market.

Watermelon: If you kept up your previous speed, you could have gone VIP this month. But now that your updates have slowed down to 20,000 words a week, it will probably be next month before you can go VIP. If you go VIP next month, you won't receive your royalties until mid-November.

Mid-November? That's more than two months away. It looks like he would have to tighten his belt for the next two months. Internet cafe expenses weren't cheap. In the past, he could save some of his monthly living expenses to buy snacks for his sister, but now, he might have trouble feeding himself.

Watermelon: Why aren't you saying anything?

Tong Yan: Oh, it's nothing.

Watermelon: Are you short on money?

Tong Yan: No, not really~

Tong Yan: At least not yet.

Tong Yan didn't want to sound pitiful in front of someone he wasn't close to, but Watermelon could tell he was worried about money. However, out of a sense of dignity, he didn't want to admit it to her.

At this moment, Watermelon suddenly thought of a way for Tong Yan to earn some quick money, but she wasn't sure if it would work. After all, Shop Assistant Xiao Yi was just a new writer, and his fame couldn't compare to that of Xuehong or Yan Yu Jiang Nan. Would the chief editor agree?

Watermelon: Xiao Er, when can you get online again?

Tong Yan: Uh, Sunday.

Watermelon: Remember to log into QQ then. I'll see if I can get you a chance to earn some money.

Tong Yan was surprised. There was such a good opportunity?

Tong Yan: Really? What kind of opportunity?

Watermelon: You don't need to know now because the chances aren't that high. I'll try, and it's better not to get your hopes up.

Tong Yan was speechless. You've already told me about this, so won't I be disappointed if it doesn't work out? But since Watermelon had said that, he didn't want to push the issue.

"Alright, thank you, Sister Watermelon."

In the Qidian content department, Watermelon took a deep breath, stood up, and knocked on the chief editor's door.

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