Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 540 Announcement: First Subscription Exceeds 10,000

Some say that power is the best aphrodisiac, capable of keeping a man forever young.

In fact, a sense of accomplishment can also revitalize a man, making an old man feel young again.

Just like Cao Sheng, every time he achieves a good result, he wants to find a beautiful woman to celebrate with. He not only wants the beautiful woman to share his joy, but also wants the beautiful woman to accompany him to taste the joy of life.

Even now, though it's past midnight and Jiang Xiaoshuang is already asleep, he still has to wake her up.

"I was already asleep..."

She said in a low, complaining voice.

Cao Sheng pressed his forehead against hers, panting heavily, and said, "Who told you to sleep in my bed? You got into my bed and you expect to get nothing in return? You have to pay for a hotel room!"

Jiang Xiaoshuang bit her lip, and upon hearing this, rolled her eyes at him with her dazed gaze, saying intermittently, "Beast! So... you are, you are a beast..."

"It's better than being worse than an animal..."

……

The next morning.

When Cao Sheng woke up, Jiang Xiaoshuang was no longer in bed. He composed himself, looked at the sky outside the window, got up, dressed, and prepared to go downstairs to practice his boxing.

He thought Jiang Xiaoshuang had already left.

As I came out of the bedroom, I caught a glimpse of Jiang Xiaoshuang busy in the kitchen with Qin Xiyue.

Make me breakfast?
Cao Sheng smiled, but instead of going over to greet him, he quietly walked to the front door, changed into his sneakers, and went downstairs for his morning exercise.

More than an hour later.

When he returned from his morning exercise, he saw several breakfast items laid out on the dining table as soon as he entered the door, and he also saw Jiang Xiaoshuang sitting at the table eating.

Seeing him return, Jiang Xiaoshuang was a little surprised, then smiled and said, "You're done practicing? I thought you'd practice a little longer. I was about to go to work, so I didn't wait for you and ate first. Come and eat with us!"

Cao Sheng waved his hand, "You eat yours, I'm going to take a shower first, I'll be back in a bit."

Jiang Xiaoshuang said "oh" and then added, "I've already prepared your change of clothes and bath towel and put them in the bathroom. You can go and take a shower directly."

Cao Sheng was a little surprised. "Okay! Thanks!"

When he returned from his shower, Jiang Xiaoshuang had already finished breakfast and was changing her shoes and grabbing her bag at the door. Hearing footsteps, she turned around and smiled, "I don't have time, I have to go quickly. Can I borrow your driver to take me?"

Cao Sheng sat down at the dining table and casually said, "Okay, I'm not going out today anyway. By the way, when are you going to take your driver's test? I'll give you a car once you get your license."

As he spoke, he picked up the bowl of porridge on the table, took a sip, and then used his chopsticks to pick up some vegetables.

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoshuang, who had already opened the door, turned around and looked at him in surprise. She frowned for a moment, then smiled and said, "I can take the driving test, and I can buy the car myself. I don't need you to take me! Bye-bye!"

Cao Sheng glanced at her and watched her leave.

You wouldn't take the car I'm giving you?

The first thing that came to Cao Sheng's mind was that saying—"Those who want nothing actually want everything."

He already knew that Jiang Xiaoshuang wanted to be his girlfriend.

It seems that she not only wants to be his girlfriend, but also his wife.

Otherwise, if he offered to give her a car, she would have no reason to refuse.

Did she buy it herself?

Does she have the money to buy a car? Is her family well-off?
These thoughts flashed through Cao Sheng's mind. He smiled silently and didn't dwell on them.

Anyway, he doesn't want to be in a relationship for the next three to five years.

He feels pretty good about his life now.

I'll consider marriage partners when I'm truly ready to get married.

……

Magic City.

Early in the morning, Zhu Weilian convened a meeting with all the editors.

Before the meeting began, William Zhu sat in his seat with a frown on his face, looking rather unpleasant.

After everyone was seated, the secretary reminded him that everyone had arrived. Only then did he take a deep breath and scan every face in the conference room.

There's something almost nobody knows—back when Cao Sheng was creating various fan groups, Zhu Weilian, disguised as someone else, infiltrated the Zhongyuan Yidianhui No. 5 fan group.

After joining the group, he usually remained a lurker.

I occasionally check the chat history in the group.

Yesterday... from morning until midnight, he would occasionally open the Zhongyuan Yidianhui No. 5 group to spy on the chat messages in the group.

Because he knew that the book "Cultivation Chat Group" was released on Qidian at midnight the night before last.

He received no prior notice.

He didn't receive the news until the afternoon of the day "Cultivation Chat Group" suddenly published its launch announcement.

He wondered if Rongshuxia should also release the book at the same time.
A momentary lapse in judgment led him to decide to observe the sales performance of the book on Qidian.

Most importantly, he thought that since Qidian had already started charging for the book, while mine was still free, Qidian's readers would come to read it here.
He assumed that since Cao Sheng hadn't requested that the book be simultaneously published on Rongshuxiao, its serialization on Rongshuxiao wouldn't be interrupted.

If it gets interrupted, Cao Sheng should let me know.

It was this one wrong decision that made him feel so bad last night.

He didn't expect that Cao Sheng would suspend the serialization on Rongshuxia's site yesterday without even a word.

From midnight the day before yesterday to midnight last night, "Cultivation Chat Group" was launched on Qidian, releasing 8 paid chapters in succession.

On Rongshuxia's side, not a single chapter has been published.

However, those pirate websites quickly serialized those eight chapters.

However, he cannot connect pirated resources to Rongshu.

This is a major difference between pirated websites and legitimate websites.

If legitimate websites don't respect other people's copyrights, they will lose their reputation in the industry. Excellent authors will definitely dislike such websites and won't want to publish their works on them.

If this continues, the banyan tree will no longer be able to produce genuine products.

"Ahem! 'Cultivation Chat Group' has been released on Qidian.com. Have you all heard about it?"

He coughed twice to draw everyone's attention to him and then started the conversation.

Everyone nodded.

Zhu Weilian asked with a stern face, "Do you know how many people subscribed to this book in the first 24 hours on Qidian?"

"More than 10,800!"

The editor-in-chief of the second editorial group raised his hand to answer.

It immediately drew everyone's attention.

William Zhu also looked over and thought to himself: Could it be that you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, have also joined Cao Sheng's fan group?
A young female editor from the fourth editorial team chimed in, "Yes! There really are over 10,800, it's true!"

All eyes turned to her again.

Zhu Weilian looked over as well, thinking: You've infiltrated too? What are you trying to do? Are you trying to follow in Wang Jing's footsteps? Trying to switch jobs and work for Cao Sheng?
Wang Jing was their website's copyright editor at the time.

He once sent Wang Jing to Huizhou to discuss copyright cooperation with Cao Sheng.

Later, Wang Jing was also put in charge of contacting and communicating with Cao Sheng.

result?

Wang Jing went to work for Cao Sheng.

Therefore, he is now very wary of the female editors in his company being too enthusiastic towards Cao Sheng.

He became wary whenever he saw female editors talking about Cao Sheng, their eyes lighting up.

"Yes, that's right! It seems everyone is very well-informed! Excellent! This shows you have a good understanding of industry trends, which is great!"

William Zhu offered insincere praise, forcing a smile, and said, "The purpose of this meeting today is to brainstorm and discuss how to promote the book 'Cultivation Chat Group,' to make its launch today as big and impactful as possible! Ideally, we want the entire industry to notice that this book is also available on our website. Everyone, please feel free to share any good suggestions you may have! Alright! Now, everyone, let's hear your thoughts!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the conference room was both surprised and delighted.

This means that Rongshuxia will officially launch paid reading.

When Zhu Weilian asked Cao Sheng to post the new book on Rongshu.com, he had the intention of making it a paid reading platform.

The first batch of works to be put on sale is of great significance.

He wanted to make sure the first shot was a success. He absolutely couldn't let it fail.

Last night, when Zhu Weilian saw the screenshot of the 24-hour first-order data posted in Cao Sheng's fan group, he was surprised, but more than that, he felt a complex mix of emotions that were hard to describe.

He sat in front of the computer for a long time after midnight last night.

I didn't sleep all night.

Many thoughts flashed through my mind.

My deepest thought is: I got up very early, but arrived late.

The Rongshuxiao website he founded was clearly the first Chinese-language online literature website, and Zhongyuan Yidianhui was one of the earliest authors on that website.

He has serialized several works by Zhongyuan Yidianhui.

Before Zhongyuan Yidianhui was poached by Qidian, all of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's works were published on Rongshu.

But the result?

Qidian was the first to offer paid reading.

Currently, the first-day subscription data for new books on Qidian has been boosted to over 10,800 by Cao Sheng's new book, while Rongshu has not yet released a single work.

Can't wait any longer!
It's not too late to make up for it.

There's still a chance, there's still a chance...

With this in mind, we had this meeting this morning.

……

Just as Rongshu was holding a meeting to discuss how to promote and list "Cultivation Chat Group" to make the entire industry aware that the book would be available on Rongshu.

A large red banner was hung at the top of the Qidian homepage early in the morning.

The banner read: "Warmest congratulations to Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new work 'Cultivation Chat Group' for surpassing 10,000 subscriptions in its first day!!!"

The Third Young Master believed that the early bird catches the worm.

Since the subscription data for his book "Mad God" on Qidian has been increasing, he has been full of motivation every day, and he got up very early again today.

I just went out and bought a bowl of beef noodles before returning home.

As I turned on my computer and logged into Qidian, I opened the package of beef noodles, ready to enjoy the fragrant bowl of noodles! Then I spotted the big red banner at the top of the Qidian homepage.

The words on the banner immediately froze his smile on his face.

"First-day subscriptions exceeded 10,000?"

The Third Young Master frowned as he looked at the words on the banner. After a while, he looked down at the beef noodles in front of him.

The beef noodles were the same bowl as before.

The chili oil, cilantro, and sesame seeds on the noodle soup were still so beautiful and appetizing, but they no longer whetted his appetite.

At that moment, a thought flashed through his mind: the early bird catches the worm, but the early worm gets eaten by the bird...

……

Magic City.

Guo Xiaosi is also very diligent.

A small body contains a big ambition.

He wanted everyone who looked down on him to look at him with new respect.

He often encouraged himself: I am shorter than you, that's something I was born with, I can't change it, but I will surpass you far in my career, so that you can only look up to me! I want to be a giant in my career!

He also got up very early today.

I just went for a run and came back.

He was panting heavily, and his face was pale with exhaustion.

He recently wanted to work out and have a strong physique like Cao Sheng.

But after persisting for several days, I felt like dying every time I finished running.

I can't stand it, I really can't stand it. It feels like my lungs are on fire, burning and burning.

He had just finished running and ordered some shumai and a cup of soy milk at a breakfast shop. He finished the soy milk, but only managed to eat two shumai, which he forced himself to eat.

too tired!
I've lost my appetite from exhaustion.

Back at his lodgings, he washed his face, poured himself a glass of water, went to his computer desk, and turned on the computer.

This is the house he rented specifically so that he could focus on writing.

His thinking has always been very clear.

He is never stingy with money as long as it benefits him in making money.

Soon, the computer started up successfully, and he reached the starting point.

Just as I was about to click on the author section and log in to my author account, my eyes were drawn to the large red banner at the top of the Qidian homepage.

"Over 10,000 orders on the first day? This? How is this possible?"

Guo Xiaosi was stunned.

He couldn't believe that Cao Sheng's new book had already surpassed 10,000 first-day subscriptions, considering how long Qidian had only implemented paid reading.

New works released each week that have over a thousand first-time subscriptions are considered popular works, which is a very good result.

Cao Sheng's book, however, boosted its initial subscription figures to over 10,000.

How can he possibly catch up now?

He subconsciously looked down at his legs and a thought flashed through his mind: I can't even stand running three kilometers every morning, can I really keep up with Cao Sheng, that beast?

"Is the pioneer of online literature really that amazing? Does your mother know?"

He couldn't help but mutter to himself.

His face looked very bitter.

……

Zhang Shuang, champion of the 2000 New Concept Writing Competition.

That morning, after lunch...

On a whim, I left the Fudan University campus.

He was admitted to Fudan University through a special admission program after winning the New Concept Writing Competition.

I was actually very proud.

He considers himself one of the most outstanding young writers of this era. In terms of talent, there are few peers in the country who can rival him.

Walking through the campus of Fudan University, filled with top students, he felt a sense of superiority and couldn't help but think: So what if you're good at studying? You're just bookworms and exam machines! If it comes to writing essays, who among you can rival me?
Until a few days ago, he published his own online novel on Qidian.com, titled "Immortal Aura".

He originally thought that with his outstanding academic qualifications, "The Aura of Immortality" would quickly attract many readers even if it was published under a pen name.

But he waited a long time, and very few readers came to him.

He couldn't help it.

On a whim, upon learning that Zhongyuan Yidianhui had published a new book called "Cultivation Chat Group," he impulsively went to the book's review section and revealed his identity, announcing that he had published a new book called "Immortal Aura" on Qidian.

It felt great at the time.

Now?

He has become a laughing stock not only among many authors and readers on Qidian, but also among teachers and students at Fudan University. Recently, wherever he goes, he always suspects that people are mocking him when they look at him.

Furthermore, he has recently developed a stronger premonition—he estimates that he will probably lose the right to choose a partner throughout his entire college years.

Are there any beautiful women who would want me?
This terrible mood has been haunting him lately, constantly weighing on his mind.

Every day I feel like going for a walk outside the school or going online to change my mood.

Sure enough, at noon that day, he went to an internet cafe outside the school again.

And it did indeed successfully change my mood.

When he opened the Qidian homepage and saw the big red banner hanging high above it, and saw that Cao Sheng's new book had surpassed 10,000 first-day subscriptions, his mood changed drastically, and his lips trembled.

(End of this chapter)