Chapter 69

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Western names are too hard to remember, so I'll rule out fantasy. I know too little about Taoism, and there's too much preparation needed, so I'll rule out immortal cultivation.

So, the only genre left for Tong Yan is Eastern fantasy.

Lying in bed, Tong Yan determined the direction of his writing and began to weave the story. "The Wild History of a Little Soldier" had "The Legend of a Little Soldier" as a model, and with countless sci-fi movies as references, the background setup wasn't too difficult. But now, Tong Yan had to create a whole new world, which was a great test of his imagination.

Tong Yan, who loved to daydream, had his mind broadened even further by reading a few web novels. Lying in bed, he quickly imagined a world filled with tribes, where danger and opportunity coexisted, a magnificent world.

Tong Yan temporarily called the world he had imagined "rough draft" because it was very crude and full of flaws. He needed to improve and fix it over the coming days to make it a false but realistic story background.

After completing the initial framework of the first stage, Tong Yan fell into a deep sleep with a satisfied smile. At the same time, Old Liu was still struggling, dozing off while wondering why the student named Tong Yan hadn't jumped out of the window yet!

The next day, after seeing Old Liu with dark circles under his eyes, Tong Yan secretly gave him another bottle of Erguotou. Fortunately, the old man didn't refuse, which greatly encouraged Tong Yan. Over the next few days, he continued to give away the remaining Erguotou, and Old Liu accepted all of them without hesitation.

"Tong Yan, how is the notebook working for you?"

During the computer class, Tong Yan saw Zhang Xiao's message asking about the computer.

Tong Yan: I haven't used it yet, I haven't had the chance, but the opportunity is just around the corner.

Tong Yan decided to come clean with Old Liu that night, and this would be the decisive moment.

Besides Zhang Xiao, Tian Xiaoni was also a frequent contact. She congratulated Tong Yan on his outstanding achievement of ranking second in the grade for the monthly exam, representing the people of the capital.

Tong Yan found it strange that Tian Xiaoni knew about any developments on his side. Could she have千里眼 (千里眼 means "千里 eye," which is a metaphor for someone who can see things from a great distance, but it's not directly translatable, so I'll use "千里 eye" here)? Later, he realized that her best friend Ye Qingzhu was in Class 1, so it wasn't a千里 eye, but a surveillance system. What puzzled Tong Yan was why the aloof and proud Ye Qingzhu was so enthusiastic about praising his heroic deeds.

Hua Biao: Xiao Er, are you there?

About twenty minutes before the end of the class, Hua Biao sent a message.

Tong Yan: Oh, Cousin Biao, what's up?

Hua Biao: You're too despicable?

Hey, how can you insult me like that, you still call me Cousin Biao! Tong Yan thought to himself, feeling depressed.

Hua Biao: I made a typo, sorry, you're too eunuch?

Tong Yan also felt embarrassed: Yeah, there's been a change at home, I can't continue writing.

Hua Biao didn't ask about the specific changes, as they were just online friends and it was taboo to delve too deeply into personal matters.

Hua Biao: That's a pity. Your book is really good. Now, it has over ten thousand followers, which is much more than my "When the Country Falls and the Mountains Remain." By the way, I heard from my editor that you're a high school student. Is that true?

Hua Biao expressed some regret and then started to gossip.

Tong Yan: Is your editor not Watermelon?

Hua Biao: No.

Tong Yan: I didn't expect my story to be known by other editors too. I feel ashamed.

Hua Biao: So it's true!?

Tong Yan: Yeah.

Tong Yan felt he got along well with Hua Biao, so he didn't hide it.

Hua Biao: I thought I was young and talented enough, but it turns out there's always someone better. A new generation replaces the old!

Tong Yan: I've already been beaten down, so don't mock me.

Hua Biao: I'm not mocking you. When I was your age, I found writing essays a headache, but you've already written over 200,000 words and can write so fast while studying. That's really impressive.

Tong Yan: What do you mean fast? At my speed, my readers are very dissatisfied. If I could update twice a day, the results would be much better.

Hua Biao: Hehe, that's where you're being foolish. I remember when you started, you were updating twice a day, but then it became once a day, and sometimes you even skipped updates. Of course, readers are dissatisfied because you're regressing. They think you don't take them seriously. If you were a famous author, it wouldn't matter, but as a new writer, readers will naturally have complaints.

Hua Biao: Look at me. I usually update once a day, sometimes every two days, and occasionally twice a day. Readers are overjoyed and spread the news. This update schedule makes them feel that I'm working hard and doing my best for them, so my readers are very loyal.

Hua Biao: Let me tell you something. My book went on sale last month. Although the number of followers isn't high, the ratio of subscriptions to followers is very high, which is something I'm proud of. Most of my readers are willing to pay for me.

Tong Yan: Really? Congratulations on your success!

Going on sale is the basic achievement of a web writer. It's the foundation for becoming a god, famous, and rich. Tong Yan was once just one step away from going on sale.

Hua Biao: Thanks for your good wishes. Although this is my second book, it's my first time going on sale. Ha ha.

Tong Yan: By the way, Cousin Biao, how long after going on sale do you unblock the chapters?

Tong Yan's novel would definitely go on sale in the future, and now was a good time to ask Hua Biao about the details.

Before 2003, web novels were all free, published out of the authors' love. Later, to increase the authors' income, the VIP fee system was introduced. Novels would go on sale after reaching a certain number of words and achieving good results. The subsequent content would require payment, but to reduce readers' resistance, the paid chapters would be unblocked after a period, becoming free chapters as a benefit to readers.

This wasn't a hard rule, but it was an unwritten rule in the web novel community. Every author did it this way. Tong Yan had seen this mentioned in "Desecration" by Yan Yu Jiang Nan, but he didn't know when the best time to unblock the chapters was.

Hua Biao: Unblock? I've never thought about unblocking.

Tong Yan: Ah, but everyone else does it.

Hua Biao: Cousin Biao always takes the unconventional path, ha ha. Think about it, some readers pay to read our novels, and they enjoy the dignity of being legitimate readers. But then you make the paid chapters free, making their money seem wasted. Is that fair to those who support the legitimate version? In the long run, who would still support the legitimate version!

Tong Yan: That makes sense.

Hua Biao: So I firmly won't unblock. The right to unblock is in my hands, and no one can force me. Instead of retaining readers by unblocking paid chapters, I think it's better to focus on making the story more interesting.

Tong Yan completely agreed with this. After logging out of QQ, he still had a few minutes left. He opened the Qidian page, but instead of choosing "Log In," he clicked "Register." Since he had decided to say goodbye to the past, he might as well start anew, including his Qidian account.

When filling in the nickname, several catchy names flashed through Tong Yan's mind. Finally, "Tong Yan Wu Ji" (Tong Yan's Innocent Words) was entered into the box. He seemed to remember saying that he liked this pen name.

After completing the registration, Tong Yan wanted to take one last look at "The Wild History of a Little Soldier," as a farewell from Tong Yan Wu Ji to Dian Xiao Er. The book review section was still filled with criticism of Dian Xiao Er, but they were all old posts, indicating that people were gradually forgetting about the book. Among the criticisms, Tong Yan saw a new post that looked like an advertisement. The content was: "Dian Xiao Er has stopped writing, which is very sad, so he worked hard and wrote a book. I hope everyone can support it!"

The poster was someone Tong Yan remembered, I Eat Tomatoes. Tong Yan clicked the link and saw a novel called "The Legend of Star Peak." By this time, the poster's name had changed from "I Eat Tomatoes" to "I Eat Tomatoes" (the Chinese name for tomatoes is "西红柿" which is pronounced "xiang shi zi," but in this context, it's a pen name, so it's kept as "Tomatoes" in English)...

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