May 2015: 'How a Bad Guy Is Made' first proposed the slogan of noob-style writing.
June 2015: 'How a Bad Guy Is Made' was banned.
July 2015: Lingdian launched a noob-style feature, which ended in failure.
August 2015: The founder of the noob-style trend, The Number One White Under Heaven, guided a new author, Jiangshan, and defeated the 4-star author Paradise Bird.
September 2015: 'The School Belle's Bodyguard' completely vindicated noob-style writing, sparking a nationwide discussion on web novel techniques.
This was an ongoing record of the development history of online literature.
On the Feilong forum, the moderator of the Jianghu Chat section, "Yunzhong Xianke," documented it this way in the history of web literature.
After that, Yunzhong Xianke opened another document titled "Biography of The Number One White Under Heaven."
This was the 100th web literature figure he had recorded.
Speaking of which, The Number One White Under Heaven was an extremely special figure in his records.
He was the only author ranked at 1-star to make the list.
He was also the only author whose two works both influenced the development of web literature.
He was also the only author Yunzhong Xianke didn't know at all.
Just as he was about to start writing, he suddenly realized he knew nothing about The Number One White Under Heaven and closed the document.
Looks like he would have to interview him first before writing this biography.
...
Mota Publishing.
"Nianhua, there's been an issue with operations. Your new book, 'Left-Hand Years,' has hit a bottleneck in sales. The publisher likely won't allocate too many resources to it in the coming months."
"Mr. Gao Hong, didn't your editorial department say before that you would strongly promote my work?"
"Yes, that was our initial plan. We even intended to groom you as the successor to the youth literature representative Han Jin. But your new book's performance has disappointed us."
"Disappointed? What do you mean? My new book has already sold over 300,000 copies. Sure, it's not on Han Jin's level, but compared to other authors, that's already pretty good, isn't it?"
"It is good. Unfortunately, your luck is bad. A better book has appeared on the market."
"Which one?"
"'A Chinese Ghost Story'."
"I've never heard of it."
"That's normal. It's a supernatural work."
"Mr. Gao Hong, are you joking? How many copies can a supernatural novel sell? Even a master like Zhang Yun only sells around 300,000. And from what I know, his book is 'Evil Ghosts Run Rampant', not 'A Chinese Ghost Story'."
"'A Chinese Ghost Story' isn't written by Zhang Yun, it's by someone else. Anyway, according to yesterday's data, it has already surpassed 400,000 copies in sales. And that's without New Moon Publishing fully pushing it yet. We expect that once they focus their resources on it, your 'Left-Hand Years' will take a serious hit."
"400,000 copies? That's impossible. New Moon must be cheating."
"Whether it's possible or not, that's the reality. And don't worry about whether they're cheating."
"…Mr. Gao Hong, what should I do now?"
"For now, wait. Let this wave pass, then we'll see if there's another opportunity to promote your book."
"I'll leave it to you then, Mr. Gao Hong."
"Oh, and don't sit idle during this time. You can do some self-promotion, write a few pieces for Youth Literature, and do a few interviews. If the results are good, the publisher will follow up."
"Understood. Thank you for the guidance."
...
After evening self-study, it was already 9 PM.
Huang Yifan returned to his rented room, turned on his computer, and immediately logged into Lingdian.
12,000 bookmarks.
Seeing the number in the backend, Huang Yifan wasn't surprised at all. He simply nodded. "Not bad."
Although 'The School Belle's Bodyguard' wasn't the absolute top work in his previous life, its "Golden Three Chapters" technique was undeniably powerful. Even in an era flooded with noob-style novels, it still stood out. That alone proved how strong it was. Not to mention that in this world, such a technique didn't even exist yet.
Once this fresh structure appeared, it naturally drew massive attention.
Combined with the homepage interview promotion, surpassing 10,000 bookmarks in a single day might sound exaggerated, but it was actually reasonable.
Then he checked the new book rankings. As expected, it had already crushed 'Starcloud Swordsman' and taken first place.
He didn't dwell too much on it, nor did he care much about the elite author behind 'Starcloud Swordsman'. Instead, he entered the comment section of 'The School Belle's Bodyguard'.
He had a habit of reading comments after publishing.
On one hand, it gave him a bit of satisfaction. On the other hand, it helped him understand readers' preferences and habits.
After all, books are written for readers. Once you understand their tastes, writing becomes much easier.
But the moment he entered the comment section, he was stunned by more than ten bright red donation messages.
"Flowers raining down, 'Little Goldfish' rewards 100,000 Lingdian coins."
"Such talent deserves this reward, 'Momo' rewards 100,000 Lingdian coins."
"Nothing beats this kind of satisfaction, reward granted, 'Supreme Emperor' rewards 100,000 Lingdian coins."
"A book like this must be rewarded; 'Zizai' rewards 100,000 Lingdian coins."
"Not rewarding feels uncomfortable. 'Piaoyi' rewards 100,000 Lingdian coins."
...
Ten bright red messages.
Ten alliance leaders.
Looking at these posts, Huang Yifan was momentarily stunned.
Ten alliance leaders within 24 hours of release.
As far as he remembered, that was treatment reserved for elite authors.
Had he… become one?
At that moment, Huang Yifan felt a surge of emotion.
Even though he had been featured in Lingdian's homepage interview before, even though people had called him "elite" or "White God," he had always taken it as a joke. He never truly believed he was an elite author. In his mind, he was still just a small writer. After all, his author rank was only 1-star. To be an elite, shouldn't you be at least 8 or 9 stars?
But now, with his second book, he had gained ten alliance leaders in a single day.
The money wasn't the most important part.
It was the recognition.
It was the honor.
From these rewards, he understood that readers truly saw him as an elite author now.
His eyes grew slightly moist. Wiping them, Huang Yifan returned to the backend and uploaded all the chapters he had saved in one go.
After finishing, he added a note at the end of the final chapter:
"You give me a quince, I return you fine jade. Not as repayment, but as a token of lasting friendship.
You give me a peach, and I return you white jade. Not as repayment, but as a bond forever cherished.
You give me a plum, I return you black jade. Not as repayment, but as a friendship everlasting."
This was a poem from the 'Book of Songs', expressing the mutual exchange of gifts between friends.
The line "You give me a peach, I return you jade" had been passed down for thousands of years.
Readers treated him like an elite, so Huang Yifan treated them as friends.
Since they rewarded him with alliance leader status, he would repay them with his writing.
"You give me a peach, I return you jade. Dear readers, you support me with rewards, and I will repay you with endless updates. Tonight, I'll write through the night. I don't know how many chapters or words I can produce, but whatever I can write, I will write. As long as I still have strength, I'll keep going, so everyone can enjoy to the fullest."
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Glossary
Mu Gua ("木瓜", "Quince") from the Book of Songs ("诗经", Shī Jīng), compiled roughly between 11th–7th century BCE (Western Zhou to Spring and Autumn period). This short poem expresses the idea of reciprocity and lasting friendship, where even a small gift (like a quince, peach, or plum) is repaid with something precious (jade), not as an equal exchange but as a symbol of deep gratitude and enduring bonds. The Book of Songs itself is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, traditionally attributed to Confucius' compilation, and is one of the Five Classics of Confucian literature.
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