Super Wingstorm

You could say I’m a real old-timer here on Qidian.

Back in 2005, on a whim, I published my very first book on Qidian. It was a soccer novel, but you can’t find it anymore.

After that, I wrote a few more books off and on—urban fantasy, xianxia, xuanhuan... I had a little success, but I was too young back then. I didn’t know how to seize opportunities and missed out on a lot.

I also wrote a book about a soccer agent during that period, but it wasn’t very good, and now it’s gone too... (wry smile).

I started to doubt myself. I wasn’t familiar with the online world, and my friends and family kept urging me to get a regular job, so I did.

During those two or three years, I met my wife. When she found out about my passion, she was incredibly supportive and encouraged me to keep writing. So I found a different job and started writing part-time again. But the results were dismal, and I grew incredibly frustrated.

Just as I was about to give up again, my wife encouraged me. She told me that since things were already so bad, I should just write what I loved, even if it was only for my own enjoyment after work.

And so, I started another soccer novel: *Red Rebel Army*.

If I said I didn’t care about the numbers while writing *Red Rebel Army*, I’d be lying. A novel is like an author’s child; who wouldn’t want their child to excel?

But what I cared about more at the time was myself.

*Red Rebel Army* had a very slow start. Its performance was terrible at first. It was featured on a recommendation list, but the effect was minimal; it didn’t meet the requirements for a Strong Recommendation, which would allow it to go premium. Many people urged me to give up, feeling there was no hope for a novel like this. They told me I’d be better off just ending it quickly and starting something new. Even my wife began to suggest I drop it, saying it was too exhausting to write every day after work.

I’ve never been a stubborn person, but I don’t know what got into me back then. I didn’t listen to anyone’s advice. I just thought to myself, ’Even if this book never makes it to the premium section, I’m going to finish it.’

My readers also constantly encouraged and supported me in the review section, giving me the motivation to keep going.

After a few months and nine hundred thousand characters, I finally received a "consolation prize"—a Strong Recommendation.

Barely making it to the premium section meant its performance was poor at first, but I still didn’t give up. My readers continued to encourage me. Who would have thought that six months after going premium, its performance would steadily improve? Average subscriptions broke one thousand, and it even earned a spot for a Banner Recommendation.

To this day, I still clearly remember the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction I felt when I received the news about the Banner Recommendation.

You could say that *Red Rebel Army* completely changed me. It made me grow up.

After that, I wrote *Super Coach*. Thanks to my readers’ support, this book became my most successful one ever. Not only did it enter the "Boutique" channel, but it also won the New Author Monthly Ticket Championship. This made me even more determined to press on.

After finishing *Super Coach*, I signed a buyout contract. In the blink of an eye, five years went by.

For these past five years, I’ve been under immense pressure. I carried a heavy sense of guilt, not just toward the platform, but also toward all the readers who had supported me all this time. I once again found myself in a state of feeling lost and helpless.

I’m the kind of person who hates to trouble others, and I especially hate feeling indebted to anyone. But during those five years under the buyout contract, I constantly felt that I was deeply letting down both the platform and my readers. I had failed to live up to everyone’s expectations. It got to the point where I didn’t even have the courage to ask my editor how my books were doing.

While writing *Superstar Coach*, my mental state got so bad at one point that I couldn’t write at all. My stockpile of unreleased Chapters kept shrinking. Eventually, when my father fell ill, I had no Chapters left to post and was forced to go on hiatus.

Then one day, my editor, Huihui, was chatting with me when she suddenly told me something. It turned out that *Superstar Coach*’s performance wasn’t nearly as bad as what I was seeing on my author dashboard. In fact, the book was selling quite well on Qidian. She even sent me a screenshot to prove it. At that moment, I felt a huge sense of relief. The great weight that had been pressing on my heart for years was finally lifted.

I told Huihui right then and there that after I finished *Superstar Coach*, I really didn’t want another buyout contract. I wanted to switch to a revenue-sharing model. I would rather bear the risks of poor performance than carry that profound sense of indebtedness again.

After I finished *Superstar Coach*, many people tried to persuade me to stick with a buyout. They argued that soccer novels were becoming more and more of a niche genre, with income only from digital subscriptions. The pressure to perform would be immense. A buyout, they said, offered a guaranteed income regardless of performance, allowing me to focus solely on writing. But I had already decided on the revenue-sharing model.

A buyout contract certainly offered comfort and security, but it also brought a heavy sense of guilt. The revenue-sharing model frees me from that psychological burden. The pressure to perform will push me to improve, and I want to use that competition to hone my craft and write even better stories.

For me, this is a fresh start, just like when I first decided to write *Red Rebel Army*.

Since I’m determined to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself, it’s only natural that I won’t be writing about management or coaches this time. I want to write about a player.

I never dared to write from a player’s perspective before because I was afraid I couldn’t do it well. I was worried I couldn’t capture the heart-pounding passion of the matches. But now, I’ve decided to give it a try.

I’m going to write about a player based on my own understanding of soccer. I’ll write about his hard work and sweat, his joys and sorrows.

I’ve always believed that behind every great player lies a powerful spirit.

I spent March researching and organizing the outline. In April, I started writing. I rewrote the beginning four times; the one you’re seeing now is the fifth version, which I’m personally quite satisfied with. I’ve been stockpiling Chapters since May.

I’m telling you all this because I hope you will see my dedication. I will do everything in my power to write a story that I can be proud of and that all of you will enjoy.

Finally, I want to thank all my readers for your constant support. Please continue to support *Super Storm*.

Thank you!