Reborn with Consumption System-Chapter 418 - 204: The Goddess’s Cucumber

Ham Swaps Cucumber, "Congratulations! The Goddess CEO’s success isn’t just mine, it’s yours too—we are a team! So, what are your plans?"

Xi Luting was touched by the question.

ALonelyCucumber, "I haven’t thought it through... Master, do you have any suggestions?"

TCH! What does she mean she hasn’t thought it through? She just lacks confidence, right? Brother Lie chuckled inwardly, graciously offering her a way out.

Ham Swaps Cucumber, "The popularity and fanbase you’ve garnered are quite rare. It would be a pity not to make good use of them. Do you want to strike out on your own and write a new book? I can promote it for you."

Han Lie deliberately mentioned the word "promotion," which immediately struck a sensitive nerve for Xi Luting. Promoting for Han Lie was precisely what she had been preoccupied with recently. When she first took over as head of the promotion department, she didn’t have a clear concept of it. But after working in the role for a while, she suddenly realized that promotion and hype could truly accomplish great things.

Moreover, Brother Ham had previously painted a grand picture for her—no, promised her a full Manchu Han Imperial Feast. This included the idea of her focusing on writing, and once the timing was right, starting to build hype around the "beautiful female author" persona. At that time, she needed to focus on wrapping up The Goddess CEO and hadn’t thought deeply about it. Now that she finally had some free time, her ambition was rekindled.

"Really? But... can I really do it?"

Little Cucumber, where’s your confidence? Without the conviction of certain victory when you write, how can you become the top author in the female-oriented genre? That scoundrel knew just what to do and immediately worked to energize her.

Ham Swaps Cucumber, "You have to believe in yourself. In the later stages, I only provided you with a first draft, yet subscriptions kept rising steadily. Wasn’t that all your doing?"

Ham Swaps Cucumber, "Look at the current performance, the royalties... HOLY COW! The royalties have exploded to over 1.1 million?!"

Han Lie opened the backend to take a look and was immediately startled. He knew The Goddess CEO was performing quite well with subscriptions, but he’d never expected it to make so much money just from subscriptions and reader rewards. It was somewhat incredible.

Xi Luting brimmed with pride as she boasted, "That’s not all! The royalties from the Mobile Digital Base are paid three months in arrears, so they’ll only show up in the backend next month. According to Editor Little Qilin, it seems to be selling exceptionally well and might be several times our royalties from the main site!"

After some recollection, a thought suddenly struck Han Lie— Goodness me! With just this one book, could Little Cucumber actually be on her way to basic financial freedom?!

Newcomers might not be aware of the power of the Mobile Digital Base, lacking knowledge of this channel that has long since faded into history, but Han Lie knew all about it. Before the mobile internet wave truly peaked, the biggest channel on mobile phones was the Mobile Digital Reading platform.

How exaggerated was it back then? Battle Through the Heavens by Potato sold over 200 million in sales each year on mobile alone. Around 2018 or 2019, Potato revealed on a forum that even after nine years, Battle Through the Heavens was still earning him over 400,000 a month from the then-floundering mobile channel. During its peak, it easily brought in forty to fifty million a year.

Female-oriented fiction is typically shorter; ten such books might barely equal the length of one from male-oriented genres. However, the paid readership rate for female-oriented fiction is much higher. Therefore, on mobile platforms, the peak sales figures for popular female-oriented fiction were around 80 million a year. While not comparable to legendary books like Battle Through the Heavens, it was still quite astounding.

Consider authors like Fei Wo Si Cun, Ding Mo, and Tang Qi. They would maximize earnings from their primary platform, then from mobile distribution, then from adaptations. Finally, they’d benefit from the boost provided by film and television projects. Individually, the annual earnings from each stream might not seem enormous, but this steady, cumulative income meant a hit book could easily be a cash cow for ten years. So, whether in male or female-oriented genres, authors who persevered for another couple of years would see their top talents amass fortunes exceeding a hundred million—this was an indubitable fact of that era.

The income from The Goddess CEO on its primary site was nothing spectacular, but if the earnings from the Mobile Digital Base were several times higher, then it was indeed poised to be a massive hit. If adaptations into film, comics, or other media took off, in turn driving subscriptions and the author’s fame, Little Cucumber could truly achieve financial freedom.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? For a moment, Han Lie genuinely couldn’t decide.

But regardless of whether it was good or bad for himself, for her, this was truly a rare opportunity. Therefore, Han Lie was very willing to give her a push.

To personally cultivate a beautiful female author, perhaps even a screenwriter, and maybe even have her transition into the entertainment industry to play a character he himself had written—how fascinating would that be?!

If Xi Luting were always just a vine clinging to him for growth, she would never be able to face Pan Ge in a head-to-head battle, forever suppressed by the dominant Pan. A bird in a gilded cage, no matter how beautiful, lacks a certain allure and cannot radiate its most stunning luster. There are plenty of ordinary girls with looks comparable to Qian Qian’s, but only Qian Qian herself is the true "Fairy Sister," radiant and shining. That is the combined effect of fame, her body of work, charisma, independence, and worldly experience.

Let’s do it! I’ll push her to the top! Han Lie instantly made up his mind: he would cultivate Little Cucumber into the new-generation literary goddess.

Of course, she wasn’t truly worthy of the "literature" part, but boasting is all about method and technique. Why settle for the title of a mere web-fiction beauty when "literary goddess" sounds so much more impactful?

As for whether netizens would accept it... Han Lie wasn’t just boasting; he knew that if Xi Luting simply posted a photo of herself in her daily black tights on Weibo, overwhelming approval would follow.

Doubts? They’re sorely underestimating the Strength of us seasoned admirers!

But before the photo reveal and the ensuing hype, other preparations were necessary—such as producing another bestselling book.