Chapter Sixteen: The Mystery Gradually Ignites (Please Keep Reading!)

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Chen Jiang was typing when he saw the catch-up reading data sent by Editor Daxian. He appeared calm inside. Yet Editor Daxian seemed even more excited than he was.

[Editor Daxian at Yuedian]: Let me tell you, your book has become famous in our department. The catch-up reading data is even stronger than when “Skybreaking Chaos” first launched!

[Editor Daxian]: Our chief editor was thrilled when he heard the news. I’ve already mentioned recommending your book, and judging by his reaction, it should be no problem.

Chen Jiang had also read “Skybreaking Chaos,” the book Editor Daxian mentioned. It was released in January last year and quickly swept the major rankings on Yuedian, achieving impressive results on various other platforms. It reportedly had over a million active readers on several free sites.

To be honest, Chen Jiang was startled when he first saw the book. Its premise shared many similarities with the legendary “Battle Through the Heavens” from his previous life. Had the subsequent plot not diverged so much and not been so captivating, Chen Jiang might have thought someone else had time-traveled like him.

The author, known as Sweet Potato, incorporated familiar tropes such as broken engagements and underdog protagonists, much like “Battle Through the Heavens.” The main character also had a golden finger in the form of an old grandpa. These genres, which appeared in 2009 in his previous life, only emerged in 2023 in this era.

Had it been the original “Battle Through the Heavens,” “Mystery” might not have stood a chance. But “Skybreaking Chaos” was weaker in plot than the former. Chen Jiang was confident that at least on the main site, “Mystery” could surpass “Battle Through the Heavens.” As for other channels, he was less sure.

“Mystery” had a high reading threshold and, besides Yuedian, no site had such a large base of dedicated white-collar readers.

[Editor Daxian]: There’ll be a chapter push today. Don’t forget to update a couple more chapters.

[Jiang He]: Got it.

[Jiang He]: By the way, what are the names of those authors you said would help promote my book?

[Jiang He]: I’ll help push their books once mine is up.

[Editor Daxian]: “The Tycoon’s…”

…

At noon, Yi Yunxue said she’d made chili oil noodles.

Chen Jiang had just rung the doorbell when Li Jie, standing at the door with a puzzled expression, appeared.

“Chen Jiang? Are you here to see Yunxue?”

Since the new song promotion happened last night, Li Jie had stayed over at Yi Yunxue’s place.

Chen Jiang hadn’t expected anyone else to be there and was a bit surprised. “Li Jie, you’re here too? I came for lunch.”

“I eat at Yunxue’s every day now.”

“You’re here?”

At that moment, Yi Yunxue, wearing an apron, came out.

“What’s going on between you two?” Li Jie’s gaze swept over them with a complex look.

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“Don’t misunderstand. We just share meals. He pays for his food, and I cook two servings. Otherwise, cooking for myself is inconvenient,” Yi Yunxue explained.

Li Jie understood the situation upon hearing this.

The three sat down at the table. Chen Jiang tasted the chili oil noodles.

“Mm, delicious!”

He glanced at the noodles in the two women’s bowls, which were noticeably redder than his.

“Did you use different chili peppers?” Chen Jiang asked, puzzled.

“Yes, aren’t you from Guangdong? So I put less chili,” Yi Yunxue explained with a smile.

Looking at the noodles dyed red in Yi Yunxue’s bowl, Chen Jiang felt relieved. “Good thing you’re considerate—I really can’t handle that much spice.”

“Li Jie’s bowl is even spicier,” Yi Yunxue said.

“Where’s Li Jie from?” Chen Jiang asked, eyeing the even redder noodles in front of Li Jie.

“I’m from Sichuan,” Li Jie laughed. “I asked Yunxue to make mine extra spicy and numbing.”

“Li Jie, I’ve decided. When my contract ends, I’ll start my own studio,” Yi Yunxue said suddenly as she ate.

“Starting your own studio sounds good. I’ll continue as your manager,” Li Jie nodded.

“The downside is that going solo means you have to find your own resources. But it’s better than worrying about the company blocking your access.”

Hearing their conversation, Chen Jiang slurped his noodles thoughtfully.

…

As expected, “Mystery”’s data grew rapidly.

After the first round of promotion, the catch-up reading surpassed 20,000.

Editor Daxian was initially puzzled, noticing that a third of readers came from searches.

Since the overall increase was significant, the platform naturally gave more exposure, resulting in the current data.

Later, he investigated and found a webnovel promotion blogger recommending “Mystery” across major video platforms.

In the videos, the blogger praised the book extravagantly.

This blogger had over 200,000 followers, and the videos accumulated tens of thousands of likes across platforms.

No wonder “Mystery” saw such a surge.

In this creative drought and slow development of web novels, the book’s premise shocked countless worldviews.

“So novels can be written like this!”

“So there’s this kind of fine grain in web novels!”

“What was I even reading before?”

Due to the explosive data, “Mystery” topped the new book chart, leading the second place by over ten thousand in catch-up reading.

At this time, the book had just over 80,000 words, which was thanks to Editor Daxian’s plan to push the book harder after seeing its excellent performance. Otherwise, at the usual 4,000 words per day, it might only have about 50,000 words now.

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This suddenly emerged masterpiece sparked heated discussion among countless authors.

[Yuedian 10K-Subscription Authors Group]

[Dream Yang]: Did you guys see the new book chart? “Mystery” just surpassed Brother Tao’s urban story!

[Eating a Peach]: So frustrating! My book only topped the chart for two days before dropping. I wanted to ask for a catch-up push, but my editor advised me not to waste effort.

[Dream Yang]: Brother Tao, can you stand that? What’s up with your editor telling you to give up?

[Eating a Peach]: My editor said “Mystery”’s catch-up reading is five times mine. I can’t catch up! The data is terrifying!!!

[Dream Yang]: ???

[No Wind]: ???

[Want to Trade pg for Big Shot Chapter Push]: ???

…

Suddenly, all the silent authors in the group were stirred.

[Dream Yang]: Damn, is it really that awesome? Brother Sweet Potato didn’t have this many catch-ups at this time last year, right?

[No Wind]: This book is from our Group Seven! Editor Daxian just asked me for a chapter push for this book last week!

[Favorite jk White Stockings]: Daxian asked you too?

[No Wind]: He asked you as well?

[Want to Trade pg for Big Shot Chapter Push]: Me too!

[No Wind]: He can’t have drained all the few 10K-subscription ongoing books in our Group Seven, right?

[Favorite jk White Stockings]: I think it’s quite possible.

[No Wind]: No wonder this book is so strong — I guess I contributed a bit!

[Want to Trade pg for Big Shot Chapter Push]: Don’t flatter yourself. Does the big shot really need your little traffic? (smiles)

[Want to Trade pg for Big Shot Chapter Push]: Damn, I made a big profit. At the time, Daxian said the book would sacrifice a wave of promotion in the author remarks after launch. I didn’t take it seriously!

[Dream Yang]: Didn’t expect that one day you’d have a chapter push without needing to trade pg!

“Mystery?”

In a small county in the northeast, a young man in his twenties was peeking at the chat logs.

“This book’s growth is even stronger than my Skybreaking Chaos?” Curiously, he opened Yuedian Reading and found the book atop the new book chart.

“This is amazing. I need to learn from this…”

…