Chapter 79

【PS: It's the weekend, everyone. While you're enjoying your leisure time, don't forget to vote! If you like this book, share it with your friends~】

Longtian is also a novel website, established in 2000, even more senior than some others. It was once very popular, but when other websites started developing online paid reading, Longtian still insisted on physical publishing and refused to change, resulting in being left behind by the times. Authors left, business shrank, and its influence waned, no longer enjoying the prestige it once had.

However, Longtian's forum is still very active. Many online writers and veteran readers like to gather here to chat about novels and share stories. First-hand industry news can be found here, making it a free and open space for the online literature community. Recently, Longtian has also followed the trend of web portals and launched Longtian Blogs, attracting well-known figures in the industry such as Feiligu, Ma Boyong, and Qianhuanyun to start their own blogs.

That year, Nianhuai wrote a long review promoting "Furious Thunder" in the original review section of the Longtian forum. While the strengths were highlighted, the weaknesses were not concealed. Fortunately, Tongyan had prepared this novel for a long time and incorporated the writing styles of many popular works, so there were no major flaws. The rest was just a matter of personal taste. Some reviews were average, some praised it highly, and some found it unappealing. Nianhuai was an active member of Longtian and, with his long review, attracted many readers to Qidian to check out the book, bringing in a new audience.

When Tongyan went to Old Liu's place in the evening, he brought his high school information technology textbook. Old Liu mentioned that he could read, and Tongyan could tell that the old man was quite interested in the internet recently. However, because he couldn't type, he had limited access to content. Tongyan didn't have time to teach him personally, so he let him learn on his own, hoping he would pick up as much as he could.

Before writing, Tongyan habitually logged into QQ to reply to his friends' messages, then logged out to focus on writing. He couldn't write while logged into QQ; it was too distracting and would significantly reduce his writing speed and quality.

Huabiao continued to boast about his steadily increasing subscription rate and praised Tongyan's new book. This time, Tongyan's momentum was stronger than during the "Little Soldier's History" period, and the fact that he was only 16 made people genuinely envious.

Tongyan: Thanks, Brother Huabiao, but earning royalties is the most practical thing. I still envy you, old man!

The second Qidian Author Annual Conference was successfully held, co-organized by six well-known domestic internet companies: Sina, Sohu, Tencent, NetEase, TOM, and Tianya Online, with the participation of publishing groups from Taiwan and the mainland. Several books' traditional and simplified Chinese copyrights were successfully sold at the event, and the Qidian Annual Awards were held, presenting the 2005 Author Outstanding Achievement Award and Outstanding New Talent Award. Watermelon sent Tongyan several photos of her with Blood Red, Yan Yu Jiang Nan, Tang Jia San Shao, and other major authors. Tongyan's first impression was that Sister Watermelon looked quite delicate.

In addition to sending photos, Watermelon also expressed that Tongyan's new book was performing well and hadn't let her down. If it continued to perform outstandingly this week, she would continue to recommend it.

Tongyan sent a message expressing his thanks and jokingly asked why Sister Watermelon was so short, almost a head shorter than Tang Jia San Shao. Sister Watermelon didn't reply, probably because she was asleep.

Tian Xiaoni also sent several messages, not only reporting on her new school life but also praising Tongyan's novel. Tongyan was initially startled, thinking she had found out about "Furious Thunder," but upon reading further, he realized she was talking about "Miao Xing Ren."

Tongyan breathed a sigh of relief and wrote, "This is all thanks to you. It was your greedy cat that gave me the inspiration." Just as he was about to click "send," he stopped his hand from touching the keyboard and immediately deleted the message.

"Good thing I was quick-witted. If I had chatted with her now, she would have known I was online late at night!" Tongyan was relieved. He usually replied to Xiaoni on Thursday during computer class, but this time, in a moment of urgency, he almost gave himself away.

Tongyan, despite his carefulness, didn't realize he had already given himself away. Since Tian Zini had read his short story, she must have bought the magazine and noticed the author's introduction at the end, so she already knew about "Little Soldier's History."

Although Tian Zini's academic performance in Class 2 wasn't the best, she wasn't stupid. On the contrary, due to her family education, her understanding of human nature far exceeded that of her peers. The seemingly harmless, chubby girl was actually very perceptive.

When she searched for "Little Soldier's History," Tongyan had already posted a declaration of abandonment, but Tian Xiaoni didn't believe that Tongyan would really give up writing. She liked him for his good looks, talent, good character, and responsibility, but also for his persistence.

Although Tian Zini could have directly asked Tongyan if he was still writing online novels, she preferred to interact with him in a completely different identity. After reading the abandoned "Little Soldier's History," she joined the book's fan group. At that time, the fan group was already sparse due to the novel's abandonment. Then, Tian Zini added the deputy moderator, Wo Ben Xiao Zhang, as a friend.

This was a QQ number Tian Zini had registered specifically for her reader identity, with the same nickname "I Am By Your Side" as her Qidian account. When Zhang Xiao saw a female reader adding him and also being of the "I" generation, he was quite excited, thinking that being a deputy moderator for Tongyan might give him a chance to meet female readers. However, "I Am By Your Side" only talked to him about the shop assistant, asking what the shop assistant was doing and if he was still writing, completely ignoring him as the deputy moderator.

Despite his disappointment, Zhang Xiao was still pleased to see that Tongyan had such a loyal female fan. However, at that time, Tongyan hadn't yet published "Furious Thunder," so Zhang Xiao could only say nothing.

However, about half a month ago, Wo Ben Xiao Zhang told "I Am By Your Side" that the shop assistant had published a new book but under a different pen name. He gave Tian Zini a link, and she found "Furious Thunder." Judging from the update times and frequency, the clever Xiaoni deduced that Tongyan might have bought his own computer and was using evenings to write and update. This was later confirmed by Wo Ben Xiao Zhang.

Tian Zini was very concerned, seeing how hard Tongyan was working. She had heard from Ye Qingzhu that something had happened in Tongyan's family, and she wondered if his hardworking state was related to the family's changes. Tian Zini wanted to help Tongyan, and the best way to do so was to boost the performance of "Furious Thunder."

Tian Xiaoni had already figured out the rules of Qidian in less than a month. For a novel to become popular, it needed a good position on the new book list when the word count was low, a good position on the click list when the word count was high, and a good position on the monthly ticket list after going on sale. When a book could consistently appear on the homepage's weekly recommendation list, it could be considered a hit.

Tian Xiaoni wanted to use her small influence to help Tongyan's novel become a hit online. If they ever ended up together, she could proudly tell Tongyan: "I have always been by your side..."

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