@ Mute While I do not agree with a chunk of your comments, your general view is not wrong - these practices are blatant dopamine pumps that are making readers frustrated en masse at the same time.
It doesn't matter whether a novel is good or bad. I can put up with good trial novels not being chosen as well. No big deal. But the problem is, even if a novel gets chosen, no matter its quality, THEY WILL DROP IT SOONER OR LATER due to drop in popularity. I've used to follow a couple of novels on daily basis. Some get dropped at 200-300 chapters, others at 400, 600 and 700.. out all of them they didn't drop just a single novel - Legendary Mechanic (and if not its mob popularity it'd have been long dropped too - this is sad).
Once a novel dropped, forever dropped and all that is left is mtl.
This "rant" or however you call it comes from a frustrated seasoned reader. I have touched whopping 1008 novels so far and finished perhaps 5.
I have also stopped visiting Qidian site for almost a year. I know I'll never be able to follow the adventures of my favourite characters for long so why bother.
I have also found new sources for reading and discovering that give me a long-lasting happiness and even better feeling than reading best of best chinese novels.
It's lke in the chinese novel plot: if your water source is monopolized and oppressed, you can fight for it if you're braindead MC but you don't really need to if you're smart. The solution is easy: Just find another and don't look back. I will not miss chinese novels. Good luck being oppressed by Qidian. All you will be able to do is getting a beating. Have fun guys