Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 427 The Butterfly Effect Reappears
William Zhu thought for a moment, nodded, and waved to his secretary, indicating that she could leave.

After his secretary left his office, he logged onto Qidian on his computer, opened the best-selling books on Qidian, and looked at the number of people who had given him tips and the amount of each tip.

Especially when he opened Cao Sheng's new book "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" and saw that 104 people had already given him rewards today, including some large rewards such as 100000 Qidian coins, his eyes narrowed.

100000 Qidian coins are equal to 1000 yuan.

Zhu Weilian naturally didn't care about this amount of money.

But if the number of readers who tip so much money increases, it will be more than just a matter of 1000 yuan.

I also caught a glimpse of the row of alliance leaders on the fan ranking list.

In just one day, this book has received so many donations. If every popular author could be so adored by readers, then...

When Qidian first tested paid reading, he wasn't tempted, especially after learning about the number of subscribers for the first batch of published works. He became even more determined not to follow the trend and adopt paid reading.

But the tipping feature that Qidian just launched today, especially these large tips, has really caught his eye.

He suddenly wanted to add a tipping feature to the banyan tree.

We will not offer paid reading; we will only provide a tipping feature.

This allows a small number of well-off readers to voluntarily contribute to Rongshu Xiao's works.

He thinks this is good.

Whether or not to tip is entirely up to the reader.

It won't offend most readers, and it will also give websites and authors the opportunity to make money.

Best of both worlds!

……

The owner of a certain sword also noticed the newly launched reward function on Qidian, and even more so, he noticed that many readers who were not short of money were rushing to reward hundreds or even thousands of yuan for each of the published works.

For a moment, he couldn't understand why these readers were so eager to give rewards.

Do you have too much money? Are you just burning it out?

Is it that he didn't experience any thrill or satisfaction when giving tips?

Completely baffled, he quietly registered an account on Qidian.com and then quietly recharged 1 yuan to tip Zhongyuan Yidianhui for his novel "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts".

After sending the tip, he squinted his eyes and silently savored the feeling of receiving the reward.

result?

Naturally, I didn't feel anything.

If he had to describe his feelings, he realized that if he hadn't used that one yuan to tip, he could have bought four meat buns the next morning. So, he still couldn't understand why so many readers were so eager to tip.
His frugal habits prevented him from experiencing the thrill of becoming a leader through generous rewards.

There are some kinds of exhilarating experiences these days that people in later generations can't understand.

For example, if a reader likes a book, there are generally only three ways to share and discuss it with others.

Three methods may sound like a lot, but they are actually quite few!
These three methods include sharing and discussing the book with friends in real life.

Most of my friends probably haven't read this book, so it's difficult to have an in-depth discussion with them.

The second way is to post and discuss with other readers in the book's review section.

The third way is to discuss the book with others on a certain forum.

There are roughly three ways.

At that time, QQ had not yet launched a group chat mode.

Therefore, people cannot join the book club group.

In this era, no novel website has a chapter review system, so book fans can only gather in the book review section to discuss.

In this situation, book fans who give large rewards, such as leaders, hall masters, elders, sect leaders, and alliance leaders, have a lot of prestige in the book review section.

Not only do other book fans respect them, but even the book's author will prioritize replying to their posts.

If these book fans who give large sums of money are a little more savvy, they might even have priority in choosing a partner in the book review section.

This is not bullshit!
It is a true story that actually happened many times in the original timeline.

Especially those book fans who frequently tip the top-tier patrons, or even the Silver and Gold patrons, are well-known throughout the site; many people know they are wealthy readers.

Therefore, some female readers or authors on the site will take the initiative to befriend them, treating them as their prey. Those with less experience will directly pursue them, while those with more experience will appear before them as prey.

Therefore, many people cannot understand why some readers would be so foolish as to tip books with "Alliance Master" or even "Golden Alliance" rewards?
It cannot be said that every reader who gives a large reward does so in order to be pursued by a woman, but it is true that a considerable number of readers give rewards for that purpose.

For example, in the original timeline, Cao Sheng knew that whenever a leader appeared in his fan group, not only would many male members strike up a conversation, but several female fans would also do so, and some of them would even go on private dates.

Ordinary book fans can only chat and flirt with female book fans in the group.

And book fans like sect leaders and alliance leaders often meet female book fans in real life.

Of course, this is something that ordinary book fans would never think of.

Book fans who have enjoyed these benefits generally don't talk about it to others.

Just like the owner of a certain sword shop at this moment, looking at the pages of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts", he frowned and couldn't understand why so many readers would give this book the title of "Alliance Master".
How can these people be so willing to spend 1000 yuan on a single alliance leader?

Although he couldn't understand it, he, like William Zhu, had the idea of ​​enabling a tipping function on his website.

The difference is that—he originally didn't want to follow Qidian's example and start paid reading, but now he not only has the idea of ​​starting a tipping function, but also the idea of ​​starting paid reading.

He thought: paid reading + tips, it seems like it can really make money for both the website and the author.

Even if the author doesn't earn much money, the website should make a considerable amount.

Because the revenue from subscriptions and tips for each book may not be high.

However, according to the revenue sharing ratio of Qidian, the website can get half of the revenue of each book. If the website has hundreds or even thousands of works that have enabled paid reading and reward functions, then... little by little, the website's revenue may be quite considerable.

……

This was probably something Cao Sheng hadn't anticipated.

Other websites that wouldn't normally immediately follow Qidian's lead and launch paid reading features will likely be tempted to do the same after seeing Qidian's reward function.

In fact, Cao Sheng simply hadn't thought about this aspect of the problem.

His idea was to make Qidian successful in the paid reading sector as soon as possible, and then lead the trend.

In his memory, since the beginning of paid reading, no other website has been able to shake the dominant position of the original timeline.

It gives one the feeling that if you take the lead, you will stay ahead.

He has his final exams coming up soon.

I had no time to think about anything else. Every day, I not only had to speed up my writing and try to update the new book with three chapters every day, but I also had to find time to review the textbooks and make the most of the time to study according to the exam scope set by the teachers.

After all, this was his last exam in his university career. He had never failed a course before, and he hoped to pass this last one smoothly.

As for why so many fans tipped "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts"?
He was only slightly surprised.

I didn't expect that as soon as the tipping function was introduced, so many people tipped his book, and nearly 20 people even became "Alliance Masters" in one day.

Logically speaking, there shouldn't be that many.

However, some comments from the patrons in the book review section gave him the reason.

For example: "Ah Hui! I'm a long-time fan of yours. I've been reading your books online ever since you wrote 'I Want to Become an Immortal.' I've been reading them for free for so many years. Now that I can give a reward, I'll give you a 'Lord of Alliance' reward! Consider it as making up for the cost of reading your books over the years. Keep it up! I will continue to support you."

For example: "This book, 'The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts,' is so popular! I haven't read it yet, but I plan to wait until it reaches 100 million words before I can enjoy it. I really like your 'The Exquisite Pagoda of Heaven and Earth,' and I hope this book will be just as exciting. I'll give you a reward to support you! Keep it up!"

For example: "This book, 'The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts,' isn't my cup of tea! I prefer fantasy novels, like 'I Want to Become an Immortal,' 'Tomb of the Gods,' and 'The Romance of the Primordial Era,' which you wrote. Just for those books, I'll give you a patronage award!"

……

and many more.

In the book review section, some of the alliance leaders' comments made Cao Sheng realize that the reason why "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" could have so many alliance leaders was not just because of the book's quality.

It's more because of the popularity he's built up over the years with so many works.

In the blink of an eye, another few days have passed.

Cao Sheng took the final exam.

During the final exams, he slowed down the update speed of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts", only updating one chapter a day.

This led to numerous discussion posts in the book review section.

For example: "What's going on? It's only been a few days since it was released, and Ah Hui has already given up? One chapter a day? That's not even enough to fill a tooth gap! Before it was released, there were two chapters a day! How come now that it's released and we're getting paid, we're only updating one chapter a day? How are we supposed to support it?"

"What's going on? There's only been one chapter these past few days? Is the book's subscription service failing too? Ah Hui, are you going to abandon this story as well?"

"Only three chapters in three days? What's wrong with the author? Is he sick?"

……

Hundreds of similar book reviews appeared during the three days of Cao Sheng's final exams.

Until someone posted, "I'm an alumnus of the author's school, I'm also from Huizhou Teachers College, please stop cursing! Ah Hui is taking final exams these days! After the exams are over, he should be able to resume three chapters a day."

This post immediately reminded everyone that Zhongyuan Yidianhui was still in university.

The comments on this post sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

"Damn it! Final exams..."

"Oh my god! I almost forgot that Ah Hui is still in school."

"It's true what they say, comparisons are the thief of joy. We both went to university, but I got a degree from a top-tier university! After all those years, all I got was a diploma and I didn't even find a girlfriend, while Zhongyuan Yidianhui is already famous and worth over 100 million. It's insane!"

"Final exams... Wow! They're already so famous and rich, and they still take final exams?"

"No way? Didn't the author go to a junior college? I remember he started going to university and writing novels in 98, right? How come he still hasn't graduated? Is he still taking exams? What kind of junior college did he go to? How could it take so many years?"

"Upstairs, your information is outdated! Ah Hui went on to get a bachelor's degree after completing a junior college program; you can search for him online!"

……

Final exam.

This put the book fans at ease.

It also left many book fans with mixed feelings. These days, most people who like to read online novels are young people, and the youthfulness of Zhongyuan Yidianhui made many people realize their own ordinariness.

For most people, this is actually an inevitable part of life.

Many people always think they are special, particularly talented, mature, or intelligent, and so on.

There's always a feeling of being underappreciated.

It's only as time goes by, and as more and more peers across the country emerge or soar to great heights, that most people gradually realize that they are just ordinary people.

Just like Cao Sheng before his rebirth.

He also once thought he was special.

During high school, I felt that my Chinese teacher was not as good as me.

When writing novels, I felt that the writing style of the Five Great Masters of the Central Plains was just so-so, and that my writing style was no worse than theirs. I also often felt that a certain book that was very popular on Qidian had too many typos, a weak plot, and was of lower quality than my own work.

It wasn't until his peers rose to prominence one by one, and other authors of his age became famous and wealthy, while he remained lukewarm in popularity, and more and more young people surpassed his achievements, that he gradually realized that he was actually quite ordinary.

Nothing special!
Of course, he is special after his rebirth.

His pen name, "Zhongyuan Yidianhui" (meaning "A Little Gray in the Central Plains"), has long been the top name in the industry.

Even though he has slowed down his update speed these past few days due to exams, only updating one chapter a day, the number of subscribers to his new book "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" on Qidian is still growing.

With the support of a major featured recommendation on the homepage of Qidian, and the effect of topping the bestseller list, new book monthly ticket list, weekly click list, weekly recommendation list and other lists.

Although the updates to his book have been slow these past few days, its subscription growth rate is far ahead of other works released at the same time.

During the three-day exam period, the highest single-chapter subscription first exceeded 9000, and then the average subscription increased from more than 5500 before the exam to more than 6900.

It has to be said that suddenly changing from three chapters a day to one chapter a day is actually very beneficial for increasing the average subscription rate per chapter.

Of course, the rapid increase in average subscriptions is mainly due to the support of recommended positions and top spots on several lists.

It's worth mentioning that since someone revealed in the book review section that Cao Sheng's update frequency has decreased significantly in the past few days because of the final exams, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" has suddenly seen another wave of donations.

The number of people who gave tips that day exceeded 80.

Originally, since the first day the tipping function was launched, the number of people tipping each day has gradually decreased, and gradually only a dozen or so readers tip each day.

As everyone learned that Cao Sheng was starting his final exams and that's why he had slowed down his updates, everyone's enthusiasm for giving rewards seemed to surge again.

Many people choose to post in the book review section after giving a tip.

"I was wrong! I criticized the author without understanding the situation, so I'm giving 500 Qidian coins as an apology!"

"The author is still updating daily even during final exams, awesome! This is just a small tip, please accept it!"

"Wishing Ah Hui all the best on his final exams and that he doesn't fail any subjects! Here's a small tip to encourage him! Keep it up!"

"You're taking final exams, right? I've already given you a tip, Ah Hui, you know what I mean? After your exams, hurry up and update more! Otherwise, I'll scold you!"

(End of this chapter)