Chapter 73

Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but after returning home, Tong Yan felt that his father had more white hair, and the signs of his hard work were etched on his face. Now, it seemed that he was almost single-handedly supporting the family. As the second man in the family, Tong Yan hoped that his writing fees could help ease his father's burden.

Regarding the exam results, with the warning from last time, his parents didn’t say much. At least he got first place in one subject, and there was a high chance he wouldn’t have to pay next year’s tuition, which was a good thing. As for his class ranking, fluctuations were normal.

He brought the laptop back home, locked the door, and spent almost the whole day writing. It felt great not having to endure Tang Jiao’s attitude at the bookstore anymore! He would read through each chapter from the beginning, analyzing from a reader’s perspective whether the tens of thousands of words were engaging enough.

Almost every time he read through, he would make local adjustments and changes, and even had a major revision once. Tong Yan’s pursuit of perfection was evident.

He also sent the written content to Zhang Xiao. Zhang Xiao’s reading volume far exceeded that of Tong Yan, a writer, and he was a very experienced online literature reader. As an outsider, he could see things that Tong Yan overlooked. Although he couldn’t offer much advice on the overall plot, he did help Tong Yan avoid several pitfalls and made the beginning more engaging.

After returning to school, Tong Yan had already accumulated over 70,000 words, more than 20 chapters. He felt this was enough. He didn’t think the outline should be set in stone; while a determined outline shouldn’t change drastically, as the plot developed, no one could guarantee what would happen in the novel. Perhaps as he wrote, he would kill off a major supporting character, turn a big boss into a minor one, or promote another to a boss. Readers’ suggestions would also influence his subsequent writing to some extent.

This was the charm of serialized literature. The main creator was the writer, but readers also had good ideas. After reading the latest chapters, they would provide feedback to the author and try to influence the author’s creation. Smart authors would, while sticking to their principles, incorporate these ideas into their works, making them more appealing to a broader audience. If there were too many drafts, making changes would be particularly difficult.

Old Liu seemed very concerned about Tong Yan’s writing path, asking almost every night, "Not published yet?"

After spending more time together, Old Liu also learned some online literature terms from Tong Yan, such as起点 (Qidian), 上架 (going live), 点击推荐 (click recommendations), and 金手指 (golden finger).

On the first night back at school, when Old Liu asked, Tong Yan confidently replied, "It’s about to be published, but I need one more person to look at it."

Tong Yan logged into QQ and clicked on Xigua’s gray avatar. He was in隐身 (stealth) mode, but Xigua seemed to be resting, as it was almost midnight. Tong Yan wrote a message.

"Xigua, after some consideration, I’ve decided to return to Qidian to write novels. I like this kind of fantasy literature, and more importantly, I need to earn money. So I chose to come back. I bought a used laptop with the writing fees and use the evenings to write, ensuring at least one update per day, sometimes two, and no breaks. I’ve been preparing for a month, and I have some drafts ready. I hope to write under you, so I want to send you some for your review and feedback."

After sending the message, Tong Yan copied 10 chapters, over 30,000 words, including the synopsis and outline, and sent them all to Xigua.

Just as he was about to log off, Xigua’s avatar lit up, and a message came through: "Just this much draft? Do you have more?"

Tong Yan was overjoyed: "Yes, I’ll send more."

Xigua: "Alright, go ahead. I’ll read it first. We can talk tomorrow. When are you free?"

Tong Yan: "Usually after 11:30 PM."

Xigua: "You’re working too hard. Can your body handle it?"

Tong Yan: "When you do what you love, you don’t feel tired. If you get rewarded, it’s even more enjoyable."

Xigua: "…If you can write at the level of 《小兵野史》 (The Little Soldier’s History), you’ll definitely achieve your goal."

Tong Yan: "I believe I’ve improved."

Xigua: "Don’t be too hasty. I’m logging off. Bye."

Tong Yan: "Sleep well, don’t stay up late. Bye."

After reconnecting with Xigua, Tong Yan felt even more motivated, his fingers tapping away, almost forgetting that there was someone else in the room.

The next morning during self-study, Old Song tapped on Tong Yan’s desk. He immediately sat up straight, picked up his Chinese textbook, and pretended to read, his eyes half-open and lacking spirit. Old Song noticed that he hadn’t interacted much with Song Rao recently and, seeing his good behavior, didn’t criticize him much.

Tong Yan had almost fallen asleep on the desk, which was the first time Old Song noticed, but not the first time it had happened.

Even though he slept during lunch, breaks, and even while washing his feet at night, when it was time to sleep, he was writing novels, staying up until around 2 AM. Even if he made up for it with scattered daytime naps, he still couldn’t be fully alert. Success without any cost was unrealistic, and Tong Yan faced this lack of energy and fatigue calmly. As long as he could write novels at night, he felt it was worth it.

As soon as he logged into QQ that evening, Xigua sent a message.

Xigua: "I’ve read it. I didn’t expect you to be so adept at writing fantasy on your first try. I thought you were only suited for science fiction!"

Seeing Xigua’s positive response, Tong Yan knew this novel was going to succeed!

Tong Yan: "Writing science fiction last time was a mistake. Fantasy suits me better."

Xigua: "You’re writing a genre with the most readers and the most competition. Are you that confident?"

Tong Yan: "Of course. I’ve read many popular novels on Qidian recently. I believe 《暴怒雷霆》 (Raging Thunder) can hold its own in the competition."

Xigua: "It seems you know your strengths and weaknesses."

Tong Yan: "Can I publish the book now?"

Xigua: "Go ahead. You’ve revised the beginning many times. I can’t give you much more advice. Just publish it. By the way, are you using your old pen name?"

Tong Yan: "I want to change my pen name and start anew."

Xigua: "Actually, your last book still has a lot of fans. Some people are still waiting for you to continue 《小兵野史》. If you leverage this, your new book will have a better chance of success during the initial period."

Xigua: "But changing your pen name has its advantages. You won’t have the stigma of an unfinished novel, and you’ll be more trustworthy to new readers. The choice is yours."

Tong Yan: "童言无忌 (Tong Yan Wu Ji) is my new registered account. I’ll use it to publish the new book."

Xigua: "Alright, publish the book. For the contract, contact Xiao Mai directly. I’ll let her know in advance. Signing early will help me arrange recommendations for you, but she doesn’t work in the evenings."

Tong Yan: "I can contact her during my computer class the day after tomorrow."

Xigua: "Alright, I’m going to sleep. Don’t stay up too late."

Xigua’s words were in vain. When could Tong Yan be busy if not now? That night, his fingers danced on the keyboard, and he didn’t return to the dorm to sleep until around 2 AM, exhausted.

That night, Tong Yan successfully created the new book 《暴怒雷霆》, uploaded the first chapter 《被挟持的熊质》 (The Bear Held Hostage), and waited for the review…