Chapter 19: The Magnate's Generosity
At present, the system displayed that his total follower count across all platforms was only 1.3 million—a figure that didn’t seem correct. Just combining the followers from his “Xu Ze” Weibo account and his music platform account, the total already exceeded 1.4 million.
“System, did you miscalculate my follower count?” Xu Ze asked in his mind.
System: “Reminder to Host: For accounts created under the same name, followers are only counted once across platforms. For instance, if you created a Weibo and music platform account both under the name ‘Xu Ze,’ fans who follow both will only be counted as one person.”
Xu Ze frowned. Was the system really this meticulous?
So essentially, it encouraged him to create alternate accounts. But the growth in follower numbers for these smaller accounts would be much slower. For example, his “Idle Fish” account currently had only 420,000 followers, and the increase was sluggish.
It seemed that reaching the five million follower goal wouldn’t be so simple after all.
Xu Ze then checked the rankings and download numbers for his new song. It showed that “East Wind Breaks” had already surpassed “Who Will You Think of When You’re Lonely.”
“East Wind Breaks” was currently ranked second on the new song chart, with 250,000 downloads.
“Who Will You Think of When You’re Lonely” was third, with 150,000 downloads.
As for the rankings, Xu Ze didn’t care much; his main concern was the downloads. With the two songs combined, he’d reached 400,000 downloads, meaning he’d already earned 200,000 yuan.
In just two days, he’d made 200,000 yuan, and the download numbers would continue to rise. He wondered how much he’d earn next month.
Without dwelling further, Xu Ze opened the Splendid Chinese Web to continue today’s novel update.
Upon entering the website, he suddenly noticed that his “Immortal Execution” was ranked second on the new book chart.
First place belonged to a renowned writer, “I Am the Darkest,” with his urban novel “Strongest Abandoned Youth,” which had already reached 150,000 words.
Among the top ten new books, the other authors’ levels were at least lv5, and their novels generally had over 100,000 words.
Only Xu Ze, with an author level of 1 and just 60,000 words in “Immortal Execution,” stood out as an anomaly on the new book chart.
On the Splendid Chinese Web’s author forum, a post appeared.
“Is the Second New Book Chart a Cheater? 60,000 Words, 60,000 Favorites, 5,000 Recommendation Votes!”
The post immediately attracted many lurking writers.
“Cheating votes? That’s unlikely—the platform’s checks are stringent.”
“If it’s not cheating, is this some big-name author? So strong, only 60,000 words and already 60,000 favorites.”
“But their author level is only 1.”
“I think it’s cheating. How could a newcomer get so many favorites for just 60,000 words, and also rack up 5,000 recommendation votes?”
“It’s been ages since someone so blatantly cheated.”
“Maybe it’s just a big-name author using an alternate account?”
“I read ‘Immortal Execution’—the writing feels very seasoned, not like a newcomer.”
“Which big-name author is so fierce?”
“I feel even ‘big-name’ isn’t enough—at least platinum level. Don’t forget, he’s writing an immortal fantasy.”
“That’s right! Since when has the immortal fantasy channel been so strong?”
“As far as I know, there’s no platinum author in immortal fantasy yet. The only famous author is still serializing his book, unlikely to start a new one.”
“I haven’t read it yet; let me check before commenting.”
“+1.”
The thread quieted for a while, but twenty minutes later, the comments suddenly exploded.
“Just finished reading—this is an immortal fantasy master!”
“Skillful writing, smooth plot!”
“Immortal! Damn, this is what immortal fantasy is supposed to be!”
“Is immortal fantasy about to rise?”
“Judging by the trend, this book will surely be a hit!”
…
Xu Ze was unaware that the forum was abuzz about him; he hadn’t joined any author chat groups and calmly finished writing 10,000 words, saving 2,000 as a backup and publishing 8,000.
After posting the chapters, he opened his author dashboard to check recent comments.
Some readers discussed the plot, others praised his writing, and occasionally a few criticized him, but Xu Ze wasn’t bothered.
Scrolling further, Xu Ze noticed that since he switched from 10,000-word updates to 8,000-word updates, the number of readers urging him to update had increased.
Most expressed dissatisfaction with the reduced word count, especially one reader who left daily comments urging updates and liked every single one of his own comments.
This reader was likely a university student—otherwise, who would have so much time?
Xu Ze was about to close the dashboard when he saw a new comment from someone named Warm Breeze:
“Does the author have an update rule? How about an extra chapter for a reward of 1,000,000 Splendid Coins?”
Xu Ze paused. The conversion rate was 100 Splendid Coins to 1 yuan, so 1,000,000 Splendid Coins meant 10,000 yuan?
After the platform’s fifty percent cut, he’d receive 5,000 yuan from a reward of 1,000,000 Splendid Coins.
Xu Ze licked his lips and replied with his author account: “Agreed. One extra chapter for 1,000,000 Splendid Coins. You reward, I update!”
He hadn’t expected much, assuming the reader was just boasting, but right after he replied, a red banner scrolled across the website.
“Reader Warm Breeze has rewarded ‘Immortal Execution’ with 1,000,000 Splendid Coins—come grab the treasure chest!”
The site’s rule was that for a reward of 1,000,000 Splendid Coins, a special banner would notify all users. New readers would have a chance to grab the treasure chest, which could yield Splendid Coins or recommendation votes.
So each 1,000,000 Splendid Coin reward would bring in many new readers for a book.
Xu Ze was stunned—so generous?
He immediately released a 2,000-word chapter from his backup. Since the patron had rewarded him, he couldn’t break his promise.
“Reader Warm Breeze has rewarded ‘Immortal Execution’ with 1,000,000 Splendid Coins—come grab the treasure chest!”
As soon as he posted the extra chapter, another banner rolled across.
“What the—!” Xu Ze was shocked. “At least read before rewarding! You didn’t even look and rewarded again.”
Not believing it, Xu Ze released another chapter.
“Reader Warm Breeze has rewarded ‘Immortal Execution’ with 1,000,000 Splendid Coins—come grab the treasure chest!”
Xu Ze: “….”
At that moment, many readers who saw the banners were bewildered as treasure chests dropped continuously, and they couldn’t grab them fast enough.
People in the book review section asked,
“What’s happening?”
“Ah, so many treasure chests!”
“A wild patron appears!”
“Stop asking—just grab the treasure chests!”
“They’re all mine, don’t fight me for them.”
“Don’t be so petty—there are plenty, you won’t miss out.”
Meanwhile, in the author forum, under the thread discussing “Immortal Execution,” an author exclaimed,
“Whoa, someone just rewarded this book with 1,000,000 Splendid Coins!”
“I saw it, so many banners rolling across.”
“Go grab the treasure chests!”
“What’s going on, is the author rewarding himself?”
“No, it’s that reader named Warm Breeze asking for extra chapters.”
Someone then posted a screenshot of the conversation between Warm Breeze and Xu Ze.