Chapter 859: Having had afternoon tea, how about some dessert afterward?

Li Luo saw Ying Chanxi off at 5:30 p. m.

The elevator was empty; Ying Chanxi secretly poked Li Luo's waist a few times and grumbled, "My lips are numb."

"Then kiss a few more times?" Li Luo leaned his face closer. "One kiss and it'll be sweet again."

"Hmph, no way," Ying Chanxi pushed his face away. After the elevator reached the first floor, she waved goodbye to Li Luo. "I'm off to find Lin Yi and the others. Bye."

"Go ahead," Li Luo said. After seeing Ying Chanxi off, he checked his phone, followed her out of the hotel lobby, watched her get into a taxi, then waited a few more minutes.

Soon after, a car pulled up to the hotel entrance, and Xu Youyu stepped out.

"Did you have fun today?" Li Luo took Xu Youyu's hand and asked with a smile.

"It's okay," Xu Youyu yawned, leaning half against Li Luo. "It'd be perfect if my mom weren't here."

"What's wrong?"

"It's just that she's such a buzzkill," Xu Youyu scowled. "She nags me about everything. Annoying. Lin Yi's way better."

"How's my mom any better?" Li Luo laughed. "She nags me all the time too."

"Then let's swap," Xu Youyu grinned.

"Swapping wouldn't change anything," Li Luo said, leading Xu Youyu back into the hotel toward the second-floor restaurant. "Mothers only nag their own children."

"You've got some deep sayings," Xu Youyu snorted.

As they chatted and walked, they soon reached a private room on the second-floor restaurant.

Editor Hongdou was already waiting inside, along with several Qidian staff members.

Li Luo and Xu Youyu greeted everyone, sat down, and Hongdou said, "The managing editor will be here in a bit. Let's wait a little."

"These people here, you might not know them—they're from operations and tech."

"They helped plan this event, so we invited them here for direct discussion."

"Oh, hi," Li Luo greeted each one in turn. After mutual introductions, Managing Editor Nanfeng arrived just then.

This was called a restaurant private room, but it was essentially a meeting hall, with a ready-made screen and projector on the wall.

During dinner, they only chatted casually. After they finished eating, the operations staff pulled out their PPT and displayed it on the screen for Li Luo and the two editors to review.

"Our current event plan is roughly like this."

The operations staff said, "Here's the event page, with several entry methods."

"Including a one-week screen flash, a month-long bookshelf recommendation, event page pinning, three days of homepage top promotion, one week of second-page promotion, and over a month of tail-page display."

"Also, at the end of every chapter of 'Great Patrol of the Night Corps,' the book's introduction page, and the pinned comments section, there will be corresponding event entry points."

"The event content is simple: mainly monthly vote submissions, tips, and new readers' collections and subscriptions."

"After completing these tasks, you'll earn some lottery chances to win prizes and merchandise."

Li Luo listened intently, and after hearing it all, he had a general understanding of the event.

In plain terms, this event plan could be pulled together by any college student—there was no real value to it.

After all, the more you do, the more mistakes you make. Revising old event plans slightly and making something passable was just enough to get by.

But for Li Luo, this clearly wasn't satisfactory.

Still, Li Luo didn't rush to dismiss the staff's efforts.

After all, they were just hired hands. His ten-thousand-average-subscription royalty fee didn't give them a single cent more, so he didn't expect them to do anything exceptional.

So after listening, Li Luo glanced at the managing editor, saw him nod slightly as if to say go ahead, then stood up, pulled out a USB drive, and opened a PPT.

"What's this?" the managing editor asked in surprise. "You came prepared?"

"Just something I threw together last night. Use it as you can," Li Luo smiled, then showed his ideas to everyone present.

"The event arrangements he just described don't have major flaws, but I have a few small ideas of my own—I'm not sure if the company can accommodate them."

"Go on," Managing Editor Nanfeng tilted his chin, curious what Li Luo intended.

He'd heard of Li Luo's style. Though the quality of 'I Am Really Not a Star' was indeed top-tier among entertainment novels, the genre itself had a hard ceiling.

Usually, an average subscription of twenty to thirty thousand was the genre's upper limit. The reason it couldn't grow further wasn't due to poor quality—it was simply that the audience was that small.

But Li Luo had forcibly pulled in a wave of new readers by marketing himself and his newly composed songs, binding them with Yuan Wanqing, and paved his path to godhood.

So when Li Luo said he had a few small ideas, Managing Editor Nanfeng's expression turned interested—he was eager to hear his insights.

"Here's what I'm thinking," Li Luo cleared his throat. "Didn't you all see the opening of my new book already?"

"So I was wondering—could we, while celebrating 'Great Patrol of the Night Corps' reaching ten thousand average subscriptions, also promote my new book at the same time?"

"After all, I plan to launch the new book before finishing the current one, so it'll smoothly redirect old readers to the new one."

Managing Editor Nanfeng nodded slightly, glancing at the operations and tech staff beside him.

The operations staff member who had presented the PPT nodded too: "That's not a problem, but when exactly does Divine Flame plan to launch the new book? Isn't promoting it a month early too soon?"

"Probably after the Lunar New Year, around mid-February," Li Luo tapped his chin, estimating. "That's less than a month away."

"We've never done this before," the operations staff member said hesitantly. "Previously, new book promotions never started a month in advance. If readers know too early and don't see the actual chapters, they tend to drop off in large numbers."

"I'd still recommend promoting three days ahead—that's enough."

"Promoting too early risks burning out reader enthusiasm."

The operations staff member had a point, but Li Luo clearly had his own plan.

"No problem," Li Luo said. "Since my current book isn't finished yet, promoting a month ahead won't hurt. Plus, I have a matching event content to go with it."

"Continue," Managing Editor Nanfeng tilted his chin. "Say it all at once—so they can evaluate properly."

"Saying it all at once is a bit messy," Li Luo chuckled, then advanced the PPT to the next slides. "Look here."

"While wrapping up 'Great Patrol of the Night Corps,' I deliberately added extra worldbuilding and foreshadowing."

"In my conception, the story of 'Great Patrol of the Night Corps' takes place in a region collectively called the Eastern Continent."

"Across the endless sea lies another landmass, which can be called the Western Continent."

"Between the two continents, only the absolute strongest can cross."

"And my new book's story takes place on this Western Continent; its leveling system will resemble that of 'Great Gan Night Patrol Corps,' but wrapped in a different skin."

"Take this, for example."

Saying this, Li Luo turned another page of the PPT, which displayed two tables: the left one showed the leveling system of 'Great Gan Night Patrol Corps,' the right one, his new book's.

One could say that had Li Luo not laid the two tables side by side before everyone's eyes, no one would have guessed these two leveling systems shared the same origin.

"That's interesting," Nan Feng suddenly realized upon seeing the table. "I was wondering why you suddenly switched to a Western fantasy setting—turns out the core's still the same."

"But... I remember you told me the protagonist of your new book is a modern-day person who's reincarnated."

"So is the protagonist from Earth or a native of the Eastern Continent?"

"That should count as part of the worldbuilding," Li Luo smiled. "You can simply think of Earth as the ancient era of this book's world—similar to the design of 'Qing Yu Nian.'"

"Oh, I get it," Nan Feng, who had read 'Qing Yu Nian,' instantly understood and nodded. "Go on."

"My idea is simple," Li Luo said. "The activity page for my new book can have a participant cap."

"For example, once the number of people who pre-order reaches a certain threshold, I'll unlock some preliminary information."

"When the number hits the final target, the new book will be unlocked, taking readers directly to its detail page."

Nan Feng listened, stroked his chin in thought, then turned to the tech department staff: "Can this be done?"

"Technically, no problem," the tech department employee nodded.

"But if we do this..." the operations department employee added, "won't it conflict with the promotion for the old book's 100,000 average subscriptions?"

"Then separate them," Nan Feng chuckled. "Run the celebration for the 100,000 average subscriptions for three days first, then roll out the new book's pre-launch campaign."

"That works," Li Luo nodded. "But I haven't finished yet."

"Besides the activity plan I just mentioned, I have another request—whether the tech department can fulfill it."

"Speak," Nan Feng said immediately.

After all, Li Luo was the first author on Qidian's main site to hit 100,000 average subscriptions; if Qidian could meet his demands, it was only ideal.

So Li Luo didn't mince words: "I want to modify my comment section and Chapter Talk, integrating my cultivation system into them."

"What do you mean?" Nan Feng asked, puzzled.

"It's simple," Li Luo smiled. "I remember Qidian launched a title system—readers earn interesting titles by participating in events, completing tasks, or spending money."

"My idea is to design a series of titles in my comment section, each corresponding to the rank names along each of my cultivation paths."

"When readers enter the comment section, they can choose one cultivation path and receive the corresponding lowest-rank title."

"To advance to higher levels, readers must either subscribe more, tip more, cast more monthly votes, read more, increase reading duration, or post more comments and Chapter Talk."

"Only through these actions can they acquire cultivation resources and elevate their own cultivation."

Nan Feng listened, stunned—he hadn't expected Li Luo to come up with something so elaborate.

But after a moment's thought, he sensed potential, and his gaze returned to the tech department staff.

"This..." the tech department member frowned slightly. "Technically, it's doable—but..."

"Isn't this a bit too unconventional?" the operations department employee picked up. "What if other authors demand the same thing after this?"

"Let them write a book with 100,000 average subscriptions first," Nan Feng waved his hand. "If it's technically feasible, go back, discuss it, and draft an implementation plan."

"I'm not done yet," Li Luo blinked. "I mean, we should first test this system on 'Great Gan Night Patrol Corps,' then apply it to my new book."

"Agreed," Nan Feng nodded. "I'll hold a meeting after this to discuss the best approach."

"But your comment section idea isn't urgent—we'll prioritize implementing the celebration for the 100,000 average subscriptions first."

"Then comes your new book's pre-launch."

"Only after that will we tackle your idea just now."

Li Luo nodded: "Of course—thank you all for your efforts."

The communication went smoothly; after dinner, the operations and tech department staff bid farewell and left first.

Li Luo then kept Xu Youyu beside him, chatting with the chief and senior editors; after discussing his new book, he brought up Xu Youyu's new book idea for further talk.

After receiving affirmation from both editors, Xu Youyu felt even more confident about his new book.

"How did you even think of that?"

After bidding farewell to the two editors, Xu Youyu linked arms with Li Luo as they returned to the room, grinning. "Where do you get all these weird ideas? You really want readers to cultivate together in your comment section?"

"To increase reader immersion," Li Luo smiled. "When my new book launches, readers will start at the same lowest level as the protagonist."

"As the story progresses, their rank will grow alongside the protagonist's."

"What do you think of that effect?"

Just hearing it, Xu Youyu felt the concept had real potential: "You're turning it into a game."

"As long as it works," Li Luo said, then shared further: "Your 'Gu Dao Changqing' copyright now has some momentum—what happens next depends on Penguin's interest."

"So should I thank you?" Xu Youyu pushed Li Luo onto the bed, grinning.

"Cough... not really..."

"Hmph~" Xu Youyu smirked at his reaction. "Did you feed it to Chanxi?"

Li Luo: "... More like afternoon tea."

"How about some dessert then?"

"I'm a bit full—can we have late-night snacks instead?"

"Your appetite's kinda small~" Xu Youyu teased—then in the next second, she gasped as Li Luo pinned her down hard.