A twenty-thousand-reward submission: let us chat for a few moments.

At the outset, the idea was to write a romantic-entertainment novel about a jilted engagement and a chance meeting with a class monitor after winning the lottery. Even now, the working title in my writing notes is still “Starting with a Five-Million-Win,” not “I Can See the Return Rate.”

So many readers said the opening felt too cliché, too outdated, too off-putting, and so on. But from my perspective as a first-time author, it did not seem nearly that absurd at the time.

Later, when I settled on the protagonist’s profession, I thought of finance, and of course I needed some kind of special advantage. I had never written a story that began in the workplace, so I did not think too deeply and just kept writing. Only then did I realize the conflict I had created.

I admit it: the consideration was insufficient.

Looking back now, there were two cleaner approaches. Either do not have the lottery win at all, and let the protagonist, short on money, use his special advantage at work to build connections with clients; then, after quitting, follow the usual path of financial novels by managing clients’ investments and quickly earning the first bucket of gold.

Or keep the lottery win, but if he has startup capital, then he should resign immediately and not place any restrictions on the special advantage, allowing him to freely recommend stocks and operate as he pleased.

Either of those two choices, as long as they were not combined, would not have led to the severe opening conflict we have now. Tragic.

Still, since I wrote it this way, I accept whatever the outcome is, good or bad. It is just that I keep getting mocked from every direction.

The comments on the first few chapters, saying it is toxic or a turn-off, are fine. I explained what needed explaining. But even ten or twenty chapters later, people are still in the comments sneering, saying that if he has money why not open an account himself, or that taking clients’ money makes him some amazingly noble saint, and so on.

I am speechless. The main text made it perfectly clear.

He cannot open an account while employed; that was mentioned in the chapter notes and in the author notes too. But none of that matters. In any case, not using his money himself is automatically “toxic,” and the ridicule keeps coming nonstop.

With the protagonist’s special advantage already activated, is making money really that urgent? In the original owner’s hands, the clients lost quite a lot. Isn’t it better to finish things properly before leaving?

There are readers who strongly support the book too, but compared with those tearing it down, they are less than a tenth as many. It really messes with the mood.

As for the emotional line, after reading the previous section about the book’s initial inspiration, I’m sure everyone understands. At the beginning it was just the usual chance encounter. I admit I did not shape Luo Man well, and I do not deny that the emotional thread is a mess. You can skip it, or read it halfheartedly.

In the original setup, after Luo Man had interacted with Zhang Long a few times, they were supposed to go to bed together, and then Liang Xue would happen to be Luo Man’s cousin, setting up a full-on women’s showdown.

I did not write it that way because, frankly, I knew I could not pull it off. Without the brushwork of a true master, the more I wrote, the more toxic it would become.

So I changed it: Luo Man came to Shengxin to apply for a credit card, they met secretly for the first time, and she quietly helped Luo Man pursue Zhang Long.

But as Zhang Long’s workplace abilities became increasingly impressive, Liang Xue gradually becoming attracted to him was only natural, and that led to the recent plot, with hidden currents beneath the surface.

As for how the emotional line develops from here, if it is readable, then read it. If not, skip ahead quickly; it does not affect the core story.

I only write about making money and building a career, and without women to balance things out, it loses some flavor. I will try not to make the later chapters too toxic.

My scene-based chapter breaks are very obvious. Once the ellipsis appears, the scene is changing, so it is easy to skip ahead quickly. Thoughtful, right? Haha.

There are also plenty of people who say my writing is weak and my transitions are clumsy. I usually just pass by quietly.

I cannot really argue with that. I bow my head and accept it.

And whatever should be improved, I will improve. In chapter 72, when the protagonist clashed with Du Hong in a bar, his reaction was more intense than when he had recently failed to help Qian Caiying earnestly. That same night, I went back and rewrote it, bringing the futures plot forward.

Originally, the plan to make a killing in the futures market was meant as retaliation against Du Hong’s company. But after thinking it over, I decided against it. Keeping a low profile while making money is the real way, so I simply overhauled the whole thing.

Of course, if something is hard to revise, then so be it. Since the book is doing fairly well for now, I will just keep writing and make do.

As for recommendations and results, to be honest, before the book went live, there was a fifty-thousand-word trial run that flopped and never advanced, so ten thousand favorites was already the finish line. If I could get five hundred first-day subscriptions after publication, I would be more than satisfied. There is even a featured post in the review section showing an interaction between me and a reader.

If the book had fewer than ten thousand favorites at launch, I would finish the three-month site subsidy period and probably end up around five or six hundred thousand words.

If it had more than ten thousand favorites, I would write a million words on the guaranteed minimum.

Now it is actually about to reach twenty thousand favorites. I honestly did not expect that. After the intelligent recommendation and reading guide started at one hundred and ten thousand words, the daily average collection count nearly reached a thousand for half a month straight. It feels unreal.

Although chapter comments and paragraph comments have not been very active all the way through, the fact that the recommendation slots have advanced twice is real.

After all, if the results were bad, how could there be promotion?

It is just a bit unfortunate that we still have to wait another week for the next major recommendation slot. The editor said the results were already very stable and there was no problem, but there have been too many breakout hits recently. That is also why the postscript at the end of chapter ninety-two said it counted as a successful advance, and that we would have to wait until next week for the opening.

In any case, there is no rush to put the book on sale. If the next major recommendation comes next Wednesday, then the book will probably go on sale on Friday the twenty-second. The first chapter of this book was released on February twenty-second, so that would make exactly two months.

By my estimate, that would put it at around two hundred seventy thousand words.

So I would like to trouble everyone to continue following and voting from tomorrow, Monday, through Wednesday.

Once we securely advance to the next major recommendation, you can let things go with the flow. That slot gets mocked a lot as trash, but making it there is still an honor for a book. It is the final boost before going on sale, alongside the homepage strong recommendation, and it can greatly improve the results.

We are just one step away now, and it would be hard to accept not taking it.

That is also the main reason my mindset has cracked a little these past few days. On top of being mocked repeatedly for the protagonist not quitting at the start, for having money but not using it himself, for the emotional line being a turn-off, and so on, I figured I might as well open a single chapter and say a few words, letting out a little of the pent-up air.

Writing this much has already helped my mood a lot. What remains is to finish the book well. The main storyline about futures trading is basically nearing its end, and there is not much left.

After that, it will be a fast transition: how much was earned today, how much will be earned next week, and then the next stage of the story begins.

All right, enough rambling. Dawn is almost here.

I humbly ask everyone for one final great push tomorrow and the day after, Monday and Tuesday, to help me realize the dream of advancing to the major recommendation slot.

That slot is lovely and tender; once we get there, let us savor it properly.

Finally, I offer my heartfelt thanks and deepest respect.