Chapter 306: Settlement
Chapter 306: Settlement
October 26th.
Terminal Chinese Web.
Ma Yiqun had just finished watching the official platform’s interview with Tengda, and his face was full of relieved satisfaction.
Because President Pei had so many outstanding employees, Ma Yiqun did not get the precious opportunity to be interviewed this time, nor did he appear in the video.
But many of the people interviewed were Ma Yiqun’s good friends and close colleagues, so seeing the interview still filled him with genuine happiness.
“Wonderful. Everyone has achieved their dreams.”
Ma Yiqun closed the interview video on the official platform. The webpage below it was the author dashboard for Terminal Chinese Web.
The data showed that his new novel had achieved a first-day subscription count of 2,000—quite a good result!
By Infinite Chinese Web standards, this wasn’t impressive; after all, an average subscription count of 3,000 was needed to reach “premium” status.
But for Ma Yiqun himself, and by Terminal Chinese Web standards, this was already a very strong performance!
Ma Yiqun knew very well that compared to Infinite Chinese Web, Terminal Chinese Web still had a huge gap in its reader base.
The same book could easily get a 3,000 average subscription on Infinite Chinese Web, but on Terminal Chinese Web, getting even 1,000 was considered good.
Although Terminal Chinese Web had previously benefited from the popularity of the game Turn Back Before It's Too Late and the shared Tengda account system—bringing in a large batch of readers—a web novel platform doesn’t become popular overnight. Its readership needs slow and steady accumulation.
The subsidies Ma Yiqun received from President Pei were mainly used to support this category of books. If a book had the potential to be a premium novel but would only get around 1,000 average subscriptions on Terminal Chinese Web, Ma Yiqun used those funds to fill in the author’s income gap.
Judging by these numbers, if Ma Yiqun’s book could reach a first-day subscription of 2,000 on Terminal Chinese Web, it was effectively equivalent to 6,000 first-day subscriptions on Infinite Chinese Web—a very impressive figure!
Ma Yiqun didn’t give himself any subsidy for manuscript fees, because he didn’t particularly care about that income.
What mattered most was that his book had received recognition from readers!
After his past experiences of one flop after another on Infinite Chinese Web, Ma Yiqun had started to lose confidence in his own ability. So this time, he began writing purely for his own enjoyment, and he didn’t even give himself many recommendation slots.
But the first-day subscription results were so good that Ma Yiqun was overjoyed!
This morning, President Pei had called him again, instructing him to take all employees from Terminal Chinese Web and the TPDb website out for a big celebratory meal as recognition for their outstanding performance.
President Pei’s tone was very firm—clearly, it wasn’t something that could be refused.
So Ma Yiqun had already reserved the Swan Lake Restaurant for tonight, preparing to take his subordinates out for a feast.
Of course, the best option would’ve been the Nameless Restaurant, but unfortunately, there were no available seats.
Buzz… buzz…
At that moment, the phone on Ma Yiqun’s desk vibrated.
The caller display didn’t show a name—just a long string of numbers.
Ma Yiqun glanced at the screen. Seeing that it was a familiar number, he had originally wanted to hang up, but after a moment of hesitation, he still pressed the answer button.
“Dubiao, you finally picked up my call?” A voice slightly older than Ma Yiqun’s came through the phone.
Ma Yiqun gave a helpless smile. “Brother, just say what you want.”
“You’re still working at that game company?” the voice on the phone asked.
Ma Yiqun was silent for a moment. “Brother, just be direct. We don’t need to be polite with each other.”
The person on the phone let out a light sigh.
“Dubiao, I know you went into the gaming industry because you were upset at the time. I’ve looked into it recently too—China’s gaming industry doesn’t value storytelling at all, much less in a place like Jingzhou. Working in this field is like using a bull knife to kill a chicken—just wasting your life.”
“Web novels and games are both things that will never make it into respectable circles. No matter which of the two you pursue, it’s a waste of your talent.”
“A few days ago, I met with Grandpa. My view—and Uncle’s—is the same. You’ve been in that game company long enough. Isn’t it about time you thought things through? If you prepare for a year and take the graduate exam, you can still go back into academia and pick up a teaching position. It’s still completely possible.”
“If you really want to write books, the traditional publishing route suits you better. I can introduce you to some connections.”
“You insisted on taking the web novel route back then, but you never succeeded. Isn’t it time to admit you don’t have talent in that area?”
Ma Yiqun’s lips curved upward, and he smiled faintly.
The person on the phone was his older cousin, eight years his senior.
This cousin was already a member of the local Writers’ Association, had published several physical novels, and enjoyed good sales—leaving Ma Yiqun far behind.
If Ma Yiqun had taken this call a few months earlier, he might really have been persuaded.
After all, his cousin had gone down this road before, and after entering Shangyang Games, Ma Yiqun had indeed seen the unreliable side of the gaming industry.
During his time at Shangyang Games, Ma Yiqun was mostly responsible for reskinning games—a pure grunt job with no technical content.
He often questioned himself, feeling as if he was wasting his life.
After all, he came from a scholarly family, graduated from a prestigious university with a literature major, and had such a successful cousin. For Ma Yiqun to be struggling like that… it really was hard to accept.
But now, everything was different.
Ma Yiqun smiled. “Brother, you’re really mistaken.”
“The latest game we made has already received promotion from the official platform. The overseas version is getting great reviews in Europe and the U.S. Especially the story—it’s gotten a lot of praise.”
“My new novel is doing well too. It should reach the ‘premium’ standard soon, and the reader reviews are all excellent.”
On the other end, his cousin froze.
“Your new novel? When did you start a new one?”
Ma Yiqun also froze, then suddenly frowned.
Huh?
He instantly sensed something very wrong from his cousin’s reaction.
Ma Yiqun frowned and said, “Brother, I never told the family my pen name on Infinite Chinese Web.”
Silence fell on both ends of the call.
Ma Yiqun was sharp. He understood immediately.
Something was off.
Back when he decided to enter the web novel industry, he encountered resistance from his family. So he began writing online novels during college to prove himself.
Although every book flopped, he never told his family what his pen name was.
But today, when his cousin heard he was writing again, why was he so surprised?
Judging from his tone, his cousin clearly believed that after Ma Yiqun joined the game company, he had stopped writing entirely—and was extremely certain of it, otherwise he wouldn’t have reacted that way.
Why was he so certain?
Unless… his cousin had already known his pen name on Infinite Chinese Web all along—and had been monitoring his author account!
After a long silence, his cousin finally spoke.
“Ah… Dubiao, I’m sorry.”
“You’re too smart. At this point, I can’t hide it anymore. I’ll just tell you the truth.”
“Actually, I’m good friends with a senior chief editor at Infinite Chinese Web.”
“For those books you wrote, the data when they went premium were actually pretty good, but I asked that friend to alter the numbers. I just wanted you to retreat early, to stop thinking about writing web novels.”
“I was afraid that if you tasted even a little benefit, you’d go further and further down the path of web novels—a road of no return.”
“Writing web novels is a dead end!”
Ma Yiqun: “…”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He was angry… yet also relieved.
Angry because he had finally found the culprit!
He had always felt something was wrong. How could his book have such good public-chapter stats, only to instantly collapse the moment it went premium?
A slight drop would make sense, but going from a projected premium hit to a first-day subscription of 30? That was way too fake!
But at the time, Ma Yiqun never suspected anything like this. Who would think that a huge platform like Infinite Chinese Web would alter backend data just to target a small author?
Only now did he realize he had been sabotaged!
Ma Yiqun let out a relieved laugh.
“Brother, you guys really worry too much. I chose my path, and I know what I’m doing.”
“As for your claim that writing web novels is a dead end—I disagree.”
“One day, I’ll prove it to you.”
After hanging up, Ma Yiqun felt his mood soar.
The dark cloud that had always hung over his heart had finally dispersed!
If in the beginning, his decision to write web novels on Infinite Chinese Web and later join Shangyang Games as a story planner carried some element of defiance, then now—as the chief editor and manager of Terminal Chinese Web—Ma Yiqun treated his current job as the lifelong career he wanted to dedicate himself to.
And at this moment, the person he most wanted to thank was still President Pei.
If President Pei hadn’t recognized his talent and placed him as the chief editor of Terminal Chinese Web, how could all of this have happened?
Perhaps he would have always believed his novels had no audience, eventually giving up web fiction entirely. Then, once he lost interest in the gaming industry, he would’ve followed the path his cousin suggested—returning to his old life.
Therefore, he had to work hard—he couldn’t betray President Pei’s trust and support.
He must make Terminal Chinese Web even more successful!
Thinking this, Ma Yiqun reopened the backend of Terminal Chinese Web and immersed himself back into work.
…
…
October 31st.
A system light screen appeared automatically before Pei Qian’s eyes.
[Wealth Conversion System]
[Host: Pei Qian]
[Profit Conversion Ratio: 100:1 | Loss Conversion Ratio: 1:1]
[Settlement Imminent]
[System Funds: 5.94 million + 840,000 (↓1.22 million)]
[Fixed Assets: One Mingyun Mountain Villa—commercial residential, valued at 8.46 million]
[Personal Funds: 4,858,315]
[Special Task This Cycle: ‘Profit and loss are both part of business.’ The host seems excessively fixated on temporary profits, which is not the mindset a true business prodigy should have. The system recommends achieving a loss by next settlement. (Completed)]
[Special Task Reward: A mysterious surprise within system rules. (Available)]
[Settlement Processing—]
[Converting Wealth]
[System Funds: 5.94 million + 840,000 (↓1.22 million)]
[Fixed Assets: Mingyun Mountain Villa—one unit (8.46 million)]
[Personal Funds: 1.83 million (↑1.22 million × 110)]
Seeing this string of numbers, Pei Qian was on the verge of joyful tears.
It hasn't been easy!
He was finally seeing personal wealth measured in the millions!
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