Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 408 Shocks the Industry
The number of people who have collected it has reached more than 7100.

Overnight, the number of collections increased by more than a thousand. Before his rebirth, Cao Sheng had occasionally seen such a surge in collections after writing some good works and getting them featured on better recommendation lists. Occasionally, he would even see a surge of more than two thousand collections in a single day.

But that was in the 2020s.

Back then, Qidian's reader base was many times larger than it is now, and a good recommendation slot was far more effective.

And now?

How many readers have registered accounts on Qidian?

Moreover, the current online version of this new book contains less than 20,000 words.

In his mind, a new book with such a short word count was just the perfect time for an author to play single-player games.

He vividly remembers that in 06, when he first published his work on Qidian, the number of people who collected his work only increased by a dozen or twenty per day for the first week or so.

After a week, there were only about a hundred favorites.

Therefore, he was quite surprised that the number of people who collected "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" exceeded 7,000 within three days of its upload.

Actually, he's doing alright.

I was just quite surprised.

But for many in the industry who are closely following the data in his new book, such figures have already left many people speechless and utterly astonished.

Especially those authors who are active on Qidian.

They cannot see the specific number of people who have collected this book, but at the very beginning, on Cao Sheng's suggestion, Qidian set up a Hall of Fame for each work.

This hall of fame is displayed below the introduction of each book.

Not very noticeable.

But readers and authors who frequently read books on Qidian are aware of the existence of this Hall of Fame.

The honors each book receives will be displayed in this hall of fame.

For example, if the number of collectors reaches 500, this honor will be displayed in the Hall of Fame.

It will also be displayed when the number of people who have collected it reaches 1000.

The event will be displayed when the number of people who have collected the content exceeds 3000, 5000, and 10000.

Therefore, many people noticed that on the third day after the publication of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts", a new message appeared in the Hall of Fame: "5000 people have collected this book".

One author couldn't help but swear when he noticed this achievement.

Examples: "Holy crap!", "Damn!", "Fuck!", "Grandma's a bear!"

Readers had mixed reactions to this achievement.

Some people exclaimed in surprise: "Holy crap! No way? It's already surpassed 5000 favorites?"

Some people questioned: "This data... is it manipulated? It looks too fake!"

Someone exclaimed in delight, "Ah Hui is amazing! No wonder you're so great!"

……

When an editor from another website noticed this honor, he turned to his colleague and asked, "Hey! Do you know how much of the number of favorites on Qidian is inflated? What number does it have to be multiplied by?"

When editors from other websites saw this achievement, they exclaimed, "I never imagined that the growth rate of the most popular new books could be this fast."

That afternoon, many people in the editorial department of Rongshujian were quietly discussing this matter.

"Hey! I heard that CEO Cao's new book has already surpassed 5,000 favorites on Qidian. Do you think that number is accurate?"

"Believe me!"

"Huh? You believe that?"

"Hmm, what? Didn't you know that President Cao's new book has already surpassed 10,000 favorites on our website?"

"Huh? Really? That's incredible?"

"What do you think? All of Mr. Cao's works since his debut have been first published on our website. His online fans are basically all here. Now that he has released a new book, his fans will see it and put it on their bookshelves, whether they read it now or not. Isn't that normal?"

……

This is a discussion between two editors.

In another corner, two other editors were also discussing the matter.

"Hey! Did you see the number of people who have added Cao Sheng's new book to their favorites on Qidian? It's over five thousand!"

"Really? Sigh! With President Cao's new book, it looks like Qidian is going to make a big splash this time!"

"Absolutely! This spotlight should have been all on our website, but now Qidian has taken a huge chunk of it! It's really infuriating! I just can't understand why President Cao would side with the enemy! Did Qidian offer him an irresistible price?"

"Probably! Although reading books on Qidian is free, it's not impossible that Qidian would be willing to pay Cao a generous royalties in order to get him to publish his new book."

"Sigh! President Cao has become obsessed with money! He's even willing to do things like aiding the enemy just to make money, and President Zhu doesn't care?"

"Ha, who said we don't care? I heard that General Manager Zhu called General Manager Cao to discuss it."

"Oh? Really? Then why is Mr. Cao launching a new book on Qidian?"

"Tch...Do you even need to ask? It's obvious that our CEO Zhu can't control him! After all, CEO Cao has already met the word count agreed upon with our website. He's now a free man, and he can publish his new book wherever he wants. What right does CEO Zhu have to stop him?"

"But he's one of our shareholders!"

"So what? He's not a major shareholder of our website! Besides, our website has been burning through cash for the past few years and hasn't made a profit yet. Although Mr. Cao has shares in our company, he hasn't received any dividends. Wouldn't you be angry if you were him? I think the fact that he didn't ask Mr. Zhu to withdraw his shares is already a big favor to Mr. Zhu!"

"Hmm... Now that you mention it, I understand. On one hand, we haven't been giving him any dividends yet, and on the other hand, Qidian might be trying to poach him with a high price. Only the money he earns is truly his own. No wonder President Cao is simultaneously publishing his new book on Qidian."

……

Jin Qiaoyin listened to her colleagues' discussions, remaining silent and not uttering a single word.

I have a terrible feeling that my boyfriend cheated on me.

She is Cao Sheng's editor.

She originally thought she would always be his editor, because before she joined the company, she had heard that Cao Sheng was a shareholder of Rongshuqian.

Therefore, she believed that Cao Sheng would always be under the banyan tree.

I never dreamed that Cao Sheng would publish his new book on another website.

Although this new book is also being updated simultaneously on Rongshu.com, she had already heard that only the free part of the book would be available on Rongshu.com.

The subsequent paid chapters will no longer be published on Rongshu.

She couldn't quite understand how this book could be charged online.

He's asking readers to send money to his account? And if they don't pay, they can't see the later content? That's...not a good idea, is it?

……

Zhu Weilian had also heard that Cao Sheng's "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" had surpassed five thousand collections on Qidian.com.

He felt the same way.

But as the boss, he couldn't go out and discuss this matter with everyone, so even though he felt bad, he could only keep it to himself.

He stayed in his office and didn't go out.

On the computer screen in front of him was the page for "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" on Qidian.com. The honor of having five thousand collectors in the Hall of Fame looked particularly glaring in his eyes.

He thinks about things a lot.

For example: This website is developing so fast, its readership should catch up with ours soon...

For example: Is this website going to charge for Cao Sheng's book? Is their cash flow about to dry up? Can't they keep burning money? Are they taking a gamble?
For example: Does Cao Sheng know what he's doing? Trying to get paid reading for his work? Aren't you afraid your fans will tear you apart? Aren't you afraid of ruining your image and abandoning you?
and many more.

……

That afternoon, Huang Qingya was sitting in the office of the Huizhou Writers Association, browsing the performance of Cao Sheng's new book "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" on Qidian.com on the computer on her desk.

As Cao Sheng's only publicly acknowledged girlfriend, she didn't date him very often, but she still paid close attention to his activities.

She always paid close attention, especially when he published a new book.

She always had mixed feelings whenever she paid attention to it.

I both hope his new book sells like hotcakes and gets rave reviews, and I also hope it flops, the bigger the flop the better.

Her mentality is somewhat similar to that of a man who has found a beautiful girlfriend who is an excellent dancer.

Some men who have girlfriends like this often experience two completely opposite feelings whenever they see their girlfriends dancing gracefully on stage, attracting the attention of the entire audience, and receiving thunderous applause at the end of the performance.

One type of man is proud of having won over such a beautiful woman, while the other wants to break her legs so she can never dance again, and then she will obediently stay by his side, belonging only to him, and will no longer smile charmingly in front of other men who have designs on her like before.

Huang Qingya has had similar feelings every time Cao Sheng publishes a new book in the past two years.

Every time she saw him publish a new book, she hoped that his new book would be a huge hit and that she would see his confident smile, but at the same time, she also hoped that he would flop badly.

It would be best if he were so badly beaten that even his own mother wouldn't recognize him.

At that time, other women will no longer want him, and he will belong to her alone.

Sometimes, she couldn't help but think: the reason he's not in a hurry to marry me is because he's too successful in his career right now. If his career suddenly fails and his confidence shatters, he'll probably start to worry that I'll leave him and want to use marriage to lock me up.

Whenever she thought about this possibility, she would have some wonderful fantasies.

For example, Cao Sheng held a bouquet of red roses, knelt in front of her, and proposed to her as if praying to a god.

Thinking about it, it's actually quite beautiful.

pity……

He just won't flop!

They still haven't pounced.

This new book, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," has already garnered over 5,000 favorites in just three days since it was uploaded to Qidian.com.

"That's really perverted!"

She smiled bitterly to herself.

Especially when she thought about how her novel, "The Legend of Xiao Qiao," which is currently being serialized on Hongxiu and is extremely popular, only has a little over 50,000 collectors, she felt even more uneasy.

But reason reminded her: as his girlfriend, she should congratulate him when the time comes, and not let him discover her ulterior motives. If other women congratulated him, but she didn't, he might have a problem with her.

Thinking this, she picked up her phone and sent a message to Cao Sheng.

"Congratulations! Your new book has already reached 5,000 favorites on Qidian! That's fast! You're amazing!"

……

Huizhou Teachers College.

Cao Sheng, who had two physical education classes this afternoon, just ran a kilometer with everyone at the teacher's request. After the run, the teacher let everyone have free time.

Some students went to play basketball, some went to play soccer, some went to play table tennis, and some went to the dance studio to practice dancing.

Cao Sheng didn't want to play anything; he just wanted to go to the convenience store downstairs from the girls' dormitory and buy a pineapple to eat.

As for the reason?

I just suddenly wanted to eat pineapple, nothing else.

Speaking of which, it wasn't until I got to university that I learned you could buy just one piece of fruit, like an apple or a pear, and if you were buying a pineapple, you could just buy one slice.

He had speculated on why the convenience store was willing to sell it that way.

His reasoning was that the shop owner understood the psychology of college students. Most of them lived in school dormitories, and if they bought too much fruit and carried it back to their dorms, should they share it with their roommates? Yes, they should! But most students didn't have much money for living expenses and were reluctant to share.

Let's not separate them! It will affect the relationship between roommates.

Therefore, the convenience store thoughtfully launched a "retail" service.

Just then, Cao Sheng walked into the convenience store, told the owner he wanted a pineapple, and took out his wallet to pay when he heard his cell phone ring in his pocket.

He paid, took the pineapple skewered on a bamboo stick, ate it as he left, and took out his phone as he did so.

Upon seeing Huang Qingya's message, he smiled and casually replied, "I already have over seven thousand favorites, maybe even eight thousand."

He didn't intend to hide anything when discussing these topics with his girlfriend.

I am willing to share my achievements with her.

but……

He was unaware of Huang Qingya's complex psychology.

Huizhou Writers Association.

When Huang Qingya saw his reply, a bitter smile appeared on her face.

He muttered to himself, "I underestimated just how twisted you are!"

The message he sent was: "Wow! So many? Wow, that's amazing! Honey, you're incredible!"

Huizhou Teachers College.

When Cao Sheng saw the words "You're too fierce," he wanted to hear her say those words in his ear. He had been a little feverish lately, and she hadn't come for a few days.

"Want to come over and celebrate with me tonight?"

Huizhou Writers Association.

Huang Qingya pouted; she was in a complicated mood and had no desire to celebrate with him.

She hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Not today, it's not convenient. Let's do it in a few days! I'll come celebrate with you when I'm free, okay?"

Huizhou Teachers College.

Cao Sheng was naturally a little disappointed when he saw this message.

He didn't doubt that she was lying to him; he genuinely believed that she was on her period and couldn't have sex.

He felt that even if he couldn't do "that" with his girlfriend on a date, they should still meet up. It wasn't like he was dating other women and couldn't do "that" with them, so he should just disappear.
He thought that since they couldn't do *that* kind of thing tonight, having dinner and watching a movie together would probably better enhance their relationship.

This proves that he misses her, and not just for that kind of thing.

Thinking this, he replied, "It's okay! We can go out for a meal, watch a movie, or go shopping for some clothes or something."

To his surprise, Huang Qingya replied a moment later: "Don't even try! Do you think I don't know what kind of person you are? You have so many tricks up your sleeve. Even if I'm on my period, you have other ways to play with me. Do you think I don't know? Let's wait a few days! I'll come find you when I'm free, okay?"

Cao Sheng was taken aback.

(End of this chapter)