Chapter 86

【PS: I'm very sorry for breaking my promise yesterday. Please bear with me. This is the first update, and there are two more chapters to follow~】

The recommendation effect of the Sanjiang Pavilion was indeed very good. Two days later, the number of bookmarks for "Raging Thunder" officially broke ten thousand, surpassing the peak period of "A Private Soldier's History." Its ranking on the click list also began to hover between seventh and eighth place.

On Friday, Tong Yan, as expected, saw the notification for a strong recommendation in the backend. Although there were cases like "Boiling Beast Blood" that received strong recommendations during the new book period, more often than not, a strong recommendation meant going on sale.

Tong Yan topped the Sanjiang list without any doubt. This was his first time winning the Sanjiang champion, and he was quite pleased. However, when he opened the Sanjiang page and saw the预告 for Jingguan's upcoming Sanjiang interview, he immediately realized the gap between him and the super popular writers.

When the list was updated, the number of bookmarks for "Raging Thunder" had reached 13,800. With so many bookmarks, it was already qualified to go on sale, but Tong Yan wanted more than just passing the test; he wanted excellence. Therefore, he still needed to pass the strong recommendation. Opening the homepage of Qidian, the recommendation list on the left side was very prominent, and its effect was almost self-evident. Tong Yan was confident that he could make further progress on the click list.

"Tong'er, how do you do this problem?" Tong Yan found a difficult problem in his physics workbook and, after racking his brain and failing to solve it, sought help from Dong Mian.

Dong Mian glanced at it, "The teacher explained this problem." Seeing Tong Yan's puzzled look, he added, "The day before yesterday! During evening self-study!"

"Oh, I don't remember. Can you explain it to me?" Of course, Tong Yan didn't remember. Relying on his solid foundation, he rarely listened during evening self-study, using the time to brainstorm his novel plots, which inevitably led to some knowledge gaps.

Dong Mian patiently explained, and Tong Yan listened attentively. His comprehension was strong, and he quickly understood. Just as they finished, they saw the head of the guidance office, Wang Tieshan, leading several young teachers carrying thick stacks of books, followed by a few first-year boys with their heads down. Among them, Tong Yan saw Lin Tao, who had once climbed the wall with him to go online.

Since it was break time, many students ran out to watch, occasionally exchanging information with students from adjacent classes. Soon, Class 2 was filled with rumors.

According to Zheng Jingshe, those books were a novel called "Campus Gang," which had recently become very popular in several schools in the city. The protagonist was named Xie Wendong, and those who read the book affectionately called him "Dong Ge."

It was rumored that several recent fights in schools were related to this novel. Some students even formed gangs and extorted money from their classmates, mimicking the plots in the book. This phenomenon was particularly severe in junior high schools.

As a result, all junior and senior high schools in the city launched a crackdown on the novel. "Campus Gang" became a banned book. Students who possessed the book were criticized and their parents were called in, and several bookstores were also required to rectify by the education bureau due to this book.

Later, Tong Yan learned that "Campus Gang" was not the original title of the book. It was a name specifically chosen by the publishers to attract students' attention. Online, the book was called "****" and was once extremely popular.

Tong Yan had never been interested in gangsters from Hong Kong, and he deeply detested the small-time hooligans in the county who ate his family's buns without paying. Therefore, he had always disliked gangster-themed novels, especially those that portrayed gangsters as positive role models, making readers think that being a gangster was cool.

Amidst his schadenfreude, Tong Yan suddenly realized that his novels might also have a negative impact on minors. Could they become targets of school crackdowns in the future?

"Private Soldier's History" and "Raging Thunder" were definitely not gangster-related, but what about the sexual content?

In "Private Soldier's History," although the female lead was the wealthy young lady An Luwei, the protagonist had several sexual partners before falling in love with her. Even in Tong Yan's outline, after obtaining An Luwei, the protagonist still had a lingering desire for beautiful women, which Tong Yan believed was fitting for a galactic overlord.

In web novels, multiple female leads were a common phenomenon. Since our target readers were generally male, adding more interactions with female characters could better attract readers' interest. For example, the currently popular "Boiling Beast Blood" owed its success not only to Jingguan's humorous language and mature character development but also to the various beautiful Bionese women and the satisfaction Liu Zhenhan felt when he acquired them.

Tong Yan believed that multiple female leads were not worth criticizing. If the female characters were well-developed, not just eye candy, and had depth, there was no harm in having more. Moreover, they could enrich the plot. With precedents like "White Deer Plain" and "The Deer and the Cauldron," Tong Yan was relieved to find that he was not yet in a position to corrupt young readers.

However, upon further reflection, he realized that his novels would definitely be read by Song Rao and his sister in the future. The protagonist's entanglements with multiple female characters might be seen as his own fantasies, which could damage his carefully cultivated image. Especially for Song Rao, would she doubt his sincerity? Would she think he had multiple girls on his mind, just like the protagonist in his book?

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became!

So that evening, Tong Yan only posted one chapter and then conducted a self-check of the remaining drafts of "Raging Thunder," removing all the ambiguous interactions with non-lead female characters, including a popular supporting character who appeared early in the story. Han Ting would maintain a certain distance from her when they met again.

This action had a significant impact on Tong Yan's future writing. From then on, the male leads in his stories, while each having their own characteristics, were generally positive and hardworking, rarely portrayed as villains, and took relationships seriously. Even in traditional literature, they were considered rare examples of upright values. For web novels, which often relied on the bizarre and the evil to attract readers, having such protagonists not only avoided flopping but also became very popular, which was quite rare.

However, this change initially affected Tong Yan. The appeal of "Raging Thunder" was its sense of satisfaction, but in recent chapters, the protagonist's cautious approach to relationships made it less satisfying. Some beautiful women who should have been acquired were not, which was frustrating. What upset readers the most was that the first girl Han Ting met in the other world, the Qilin girl Ge Mei, was gradually marginalized and had not spoken to the protagonist for several chapters.

It must be said that making such a change just before going on sale was very risky. Tong Yan had not been lurking in the group for a while and was unaware that a large-scale opposition had already formed.

During the day, the first-year students began to leave school, and the second-year students were about to take exams. On his way to Old Song's office, Tong Yan encountered Song Rao. With heavy study loads, they had not gone to the small pond to gaze at each other affectionately for a long time, and Song Rao had not spoken to Tong Yan for several days.

Seeing her crush, Song Rao approached and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing much." Tong Yan moved to the right, maintaining a certain distance from Song Rao...

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