Chapter 65: What to Do Besides Writing

There are indeed benefits to establishing a reader group, but Jiang Zheng was not particularly moved by the idea. Increasing fan loyalty, fostering a sense of unity among fans—these two points alone would be enough to make anyone want to maintain such a group. Why do the top authors receive so much support the moment they start a new book? Why do they immediately rack up collections, votes, and tips as soon as a book launches? Some even go as far as to only announce a book title and instantly gain tens of thousands of collections and hundreds of top supporters. All of this popularity is accumulated over time, and reader groups play a crucial role in that process. Otherwise, why bother going through the effort to set one up?

If Jiang Zheng planned to pursue a career in online literature, he would have followed the advice of “Fleeing in Panic” and created a reader group. But Jiang Zheng was keenly aware of one thing: his achievements thus far were largely due to the temporary skills provided by the system. Once he completed his tasks, those skills would vanish. Without the system’s temporary skills, he wouldn’t be able to write novels of this quality, nor keep up with such a rapid update pace. It wasn’t that Jiang Zheng was belittling himself—he simply knew his own capabilities.

After the task was done, he might not remain in the online literature world, or at least not for a long while. As for the future, he couldn’t say for certain; perhaps one day he would return. But since he was about to step away from the web novel scene for quite some time, the benefits of a reader group seemed rather moot. He didn’t even know if he would start another new book, so things like fan loyalty and group cohesion weren’t particularly important to him.

“Let’s talk about it later. Right now, I’m not planning to set up a reader group,” Jiang Zheng said.

Fleeing in Panic could only sigh. Whether or not the group was established depended entirely on Jiang Zheng’s willingness. If the author wasn’t going to be present, any group set up by others would be useless—nobody would bother joining a reader group where the author was absent. He’d already said everything there was to say. Since Jiang Zheng still wouldn’t do it, Fleeing in Panic could only drop the matter.

“So what should I say to those readers who asked me about it?” Fleeing in Panic inquired.

Jiang Zheng replied, “Just tell them there’s no group. If anyone wants to chat, let them do so in the book review section or chapter comments.”

Fleeing in Panic responded with an emoji, then went offline.

Jiang Zheng rubbed his temples, put the reader group matter out of his mind, and stayed up late writing.

………………

The next day, Jiang Zheng posted a single-chapter update. After thanking everyone one by one, he announced that until he finished fulfilling all the extra updates owed for monthly votes, he would not be posting any additional bonus chapters. All extra chapters would be on top of his daily thirty thousand word minimum.

Everyone was agreeable to these terms. With a guaranteed thirty thousand words per day and the promise of extra updates, they were more than satisfied. Many readers urged Jiang Zheng to take care of his health, though of course, if he was feeling strong, they wouldn’t mind him pushing himself for even more chapters.

With the book now officially launched, Jiang Zheng’s only remaining task was to update regularly and steadily. His novel could be said to have become popular—perhaps not yet a sensation across the entire web, but he had already done his utmost. He had given everything he could.

Writing a book that becomes wildly popular across the internet is not an easy feat. Besides personal ability, it requires the right timing, favorable circumstances, and a bit of luck. Every smash hit is, in a sense, a child of its era.

Jiang Zheng’s novel was by no means poor; both the writing and the plot were among the best in the web novel world. Still, whether it could truly become a phenomenon depended on fate.

Aside from writing, Jiang Zheng began to consider how he would spend his summer vacation. He couldn’t devote all his time to writing, even with the system’s assistance; nonstop writing would exhaust him eventually. He needed to find something else to do.

In the past, Jiang Zheng’s first thought would have been to look for a summer job. Some places especially liked to hire summer workers because they were cheap. A regular employee with social insurance would cost at least three thousand a month, perhaps more. But summer workers could be hired for fifteen hundred or two thousand a month, with no need for insurance. That’s why fast food joints and restaurants liked to hire them—no experience required, just a willingness to work hard.

But now, Jiang Zheng wasn’t keen on taking a summer job—not because he thought he was above such work or looked down on the pay. He simply wanted to do something more meaningful. Working a summer job was meaningful as well, offering a chance to experience society and earn some money. That was enough for the old Jiang Zheng, but not for the current one. His ambitions had grown.

Ever since acquiring the system, Jiang Zheng’s mindset had begun to change. Suddenly, an idea sprang into his mind—study!

The moment this thought appeared, it spread through his mind like wildfire. Jiang Zheng remembered his previous piano task, which he’d barely managed to complete. The system’s skills were useful, but with no foundation in piano, even the best skill was of limited help. Fortunately, he’d crammed some basic piano knowledge at the last minute and managed to finish the assignment. But it wouldn’t do to rely on shortcuts every time.

In truth, basic piano theory wasn’t all that hard to learn. The real challenge lay in playing, which required talent and practice; the theoretical part was manageable. But what if the system assigned him a task with a truly steep learning curve—one he couldn’t just cram for at the last minute? What would he do then?

After the piano task, Jiang Zheng had considered dedicating time to study. But with the “Boys and Girls Forward Challenge” task and this writing assignment, he’d never gotten around to it. Now that the novel was on the shelves and he’d done all he could, all that remained was steady updates. Whether he could complete the system’s task would be up to fate.

So now, he could finally put learning on the agenda.

With his mind set on what to do next, Jiang Zheng was stumped by the question of what to study. There were so many options, he didn’t know where to begin. After pondering for a long time, he decided to follow his heart and start with whatever interested him most.

With that, Jiang Zheng began browsing online for books. When it came to learning, he still preferred physical books—after all, that was how he’d always done it. Reading novels on an e-reader was fine, but for in-depth study, e-books always seemed to lack something.

He bought a mountain of books, all on topics that interested him. Once the order was placed, he returned to his writing. The books were expected to arrive the next day, so he decided to write extra today—after all, he still owed a lot of chapters and wanted to pay off his debts as soon as possible.