Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 93 Chinese New Year
The page opens.

Cao Sheng saw that under the banyan tree of this test version, the main color was still green, and the logo was still a banyan tree.

But the layout of the website’s homepage is indeed very different from before.

It was a bit like the old version of Qidian.com that he remembered.

In fact, based on his personal experience, he has always felt that the old version of Qidian.com is the most user-friendly and convenient for finding books. As an author, every time he publishes a new book, the effects of the various recommended positions are also very good.

Even if it is not recommended, just the fact that the book title appears briefly in the update list for a few minutes after the chapters are updated every day can attract some readers.

Later, the page of Qidian became more and more grand, with more and more recommendation slots and various other functions, but it invisibly distracted the readers' attention and made it inconvenient for readers to find books. As an author, every time I started a new book, publishing the first tens of thousands of words was like playing a stand-alone game.

Looking at the categories of fantasy, science fiction, fairy tales, history, military, supernatural... on the new version of the webpage, Cao Sheng was in a trance for a moment.

Suddenly, I had an illusion: I didn't seem to be reborn, or I was reborn to the starting point of the 2000s.

Of course, there is also a sense of accomplishment.

Because the original Under the Banyan Tree page was not like this. It was his work and three design drawings that transformed Under the Banyan Tree into the way he liked it.

However, there are only a few books listed on this test version of the webpage, and most of the recommendation positions and rankings are blank.

It's like a small supermarket that has just been renovated and hasn't stocked any goods yet.

But even so, he still browsed the beta version of the website for quite a while.

He felt that Banyan Tree should be able to sell for more money when it was acquired by Shanda Literature in the future, so he decided to make an additional investment when Banyan Tree raised funds this time to maintain his share of the shares.

As for whether it is possible to surpass the starting point in the future under such a banyan tree?
He thought about it and felt that it was unlikely.

The success of the original time and space starting point does not lie in the design of the web page.

There were many websites whose web pages were more beautiful than Qidian back then.

It’s not about first-mover advantage either.

The original time and space’s starting point was established in 2002. Many novel websites were established earlier than starting point and were more popular and had more famous writers, but in the end they were all defeated by starting point.

Is it because Qidian was the first to launch the VIP subscription model? It made authors earn money? And thus attracted most authors?
This is an important reason.

But after Qidian, most novel websites in the industry started charging fees, not much later than Qidian.

But has anyone knocked Qidian off the position of overlord?

No!

Not even once!

Therefore, Cao Sheng did not think that under the banyan tree in this time and space, there was a chance that he would always be ahead at the starting point.

He felt that the genes of Wen Qing under the banyan tree were too deeply rooted in his bones.

This has been a gathering place for young literary men since the beginning. Not only the authors are young literary men, but also the editors and the boss are all young literary men.

With so many young intellectuals gathered together, how many years can their popularity last?
When more and more young people are no longer interested in literature, there is no future for those people and websites that are still literature-conscious.

……

half a month later.

Cao Sheng sat at the stove, and his father in front of the stove said, "A Sheng! Make the fire bigger, the bigger the better!"

Cao Sheng nodded, reached out and took a few more pieces of firewood and stuffed them into the stove.

This scene seemed to be happening again yesterday.

It was just like the scene when he had just been reborn.

His father was in front of the stove, stirring the sand in the pot, preparing to fry rice to make fried rice candy. Cao Sheng was at the stove, adding firewood to the stove and lighting the fire.

The difference is – a year has passed.

The main house of his family was demolished and rebuilt into a two-story building.

The kitchen was also demolished and rebuilt to make it bright and clean.

Even the old stove that he had been used to using since he was a child was demolished and replaced with a new one, with clean white tiles covering the stove surface.

The old tree stump that he sat on when he was burning the fire was turned into a new wooden stool, on which a sponge pad was tied. Cao Sheng, who was sitting at the mouth of the stove, was wearing his old clothes, and it seemed that nothing had changed.

But the father standing in front of the stove was wearing a brand new wool sweater, jeans, and work shoes with fleece lining, all bought by Cao Sheng.

The steamed and dried rice is poured into the pot.

The boiling sand in the pot burned the rice so much that it expanded with a popping sound.

This year his family's conditions are better, so he makes less fried rice candy. He mainly makes peanut candy and sesame candy, and uses several times more peanuts and sesame seeds than in previous years.

There were more smiles on Cao Sheng's parents' faces than in any previous year.

This made Cao Sheng feel the meaning of struggle.

His state of mind is still that of a forty-year-old.

I have long understood who are the most important people in this short life and what I should work hard for.

Improving his own life and that of his parents is the driving force behind his rebirth.

It is his personal ideal to compete with the future great writers of online literature.

He doesn't really care about anything else.

……

New Year's Eve.

The sound of firecrackers in the village and the sound of children playing and laughing outside came to Cao Sheng's ears from time to time.

Cao Sheng was sitting at the desk in the bedroom on the second floor. He had already eaten the New Year's Eve dinner and was typing away on his laptop.

He really likes holidays.

Because after the holiday, I have more time to write every day. I can write at night or during the day.

During this winter vacation at home, his word production has increased significantly.

This month, he will be able to write at least 200,000 words, and should be able to publish four volumes.

He was consciously speeding up the publication of "I Want to Become an Immortal", wanting to finish the book as soon as possible and then start a new one.

While there are no decent competitors now, I should publish a few more works and use my own works to quickly grab the market and expand my first-mover advantage in this industry.

He had previously planned to write "I Want to Become an Immortal" to four or five million words.

Recently I plan to compress the length of this book to around 200 million words.

Cut down on some of the plots that could be cut down.

Squeeze the water out of the book.

This will not only make the plot more compact, but also allow him to finish it as soon as possible and publish new works as soon as possible.

……

New Year's Day.

As usual, Cao Sheng brought some gifts to visit his uncle's house to wish him a happy New Year.

From afar, before arriving at my uncle's house, my uncle personally lit the firecrackers at the door to welcome him. My uncle, aunt, cousin, cousin... even my second uncle, second aunt, cousin Meimei and others, all gathered in front of my uncle's house, all looking at him with smiles on their faces.

Cao Sheng had never been treated like this before when he came here to pay New Year's greetings.
When he saw his cousin Meimei, he knew the reason for this scene. Meimei must have told his uncle and others about the publication of his novel.

It’s noon this day.

The families of the eldest uncle and the second uncle got together to eat and drink with Cao Sheng.

Cao Sheng looked around and saw smiling faces everywhere.

The older cousin who disliked him for being too young and didn't want to play with him when they were young, today he mentioned frequently that Cao Sheng played behind him when they were young; the older uncle who was always serious had a smile on his face today; the second aunt who said when they were young that he was too quiet and would definitely not achieve anything when he grew up, today she smiled and said to everyone: "Since he was young, I knew that A Sheng would definitely achieve a lot in the future! How is it? Was I right?"

Only grandma hadn't changed much. Looking at his eyes, she was still so kind. After dinner, she took his hand and pulled him to her room like she did in previous years. She opened the large wooden box beside her bed and took out from the bottom of the box some cakes, red dates, persimmons and other things that people gave her during festivals, and even a dozen White Rabbit milk candies. She stuffed them into his hands with a smile, saying that they were specially left for him.

(End of this chapter)