Chapter 2: Original Fate

Cao Sheng thought for quite a while but still couldn't recall in which year the first web novel of his original timeline had appeared.

He only remembered that the first web novel should have been "The First Intimate Contact" by Pizi Cai, published on the internet around the year 2000.

As for the more specific publication time, he simply could not recall it no matter how hard he tried.

It was a pity that he currently had no computer and no smartphone capable of accessing the internet; otherwise, a simple search would have confirmed whether this book had actually been published.

If he could become the first author to write a web novel...

Then he would surely be remembered by countless people.

Once he had such fame, no matter what novel he wrote in the future, he would achieve results more easily than other authors; this was certain.

Just like Guo Xiaosi and Han Er in the original timeline.

Both of these two became famous due to the New Concept Composition Contest; after becoming famous, whatever they did received intense media attention, and compared to other writers, their lives were much smoother.

And now, both of them were still unknown.

Therefore, if Cao Sheng could become famous before the two of them, his future life might also become very smooth.

Who does not hope for their life to be a bit smoother?

Thinking of this, Cao Sheng could not help but recall the trajectory of his fate in his original timeline.

He only scored enough for a junior college in the college entrance exam, went to the obscure Huizhou Teachers College, studied an useless accounting major, and after graduation, worked as an accountant for several years in a few factories; there were endless reports to fill out, and if a single number was calculated wrong, he had to reorganize the accounts again and again; the boss would say a word wanting a loan, and he had to run to the bank trip after trip, preparing various materials, and even had to act like a three-companion, drinking round after round of alcohol with people...

And his salary, because his education was only a junior college degree, would never rise.

Watching others buy houses, buy cars, marry wives, and keep mistresses with his own eyes, Cao Sheng could only feel envious.

Occasionally, he had also had the thought of embezzling some money, but he lacked the courage.

It was not until 2006, when he began using his spare time to try writing web novels and earned manuscript fees, that his life saw a glimmer of hope.

In 2008, when his manuscript fees exceeded his wages, he finally made up his mind to resign and write full-time, seeking freedom and ease.

He originally thought that after writing full-time, his daily update volume would increase significantly, but after truly writing full-time, he discovered it was simply not the case.

After resigning, the whole of him relaxed.

He wanted to write a novel well, yet his heart was always anxious, while his actions were willing but unable.

Shortly after becoming a full-time writer, he contracted the procrastination disease of old veterans.

He also constantly hypnotized himself in his heart: writing should not pursue speed, but quality, and should strive for perfection.

For a very long time, he conscientiously acted as a shameful "hand-disabled party," updating only four to six thousand words every day.

And laziness would have its retribution.

His retribution was that he could never afford to buy a house or marry a wife.

He had also dated; the object was willing to date him but unwilling to marry him, and that Miss explicitly said she did not want him to take responsibility.

Thinking of it now, it was still quite hurtful to his self-esteem.

His family had also arranged more than a dozen blind dates for him.

The Misses, upon seeing him for the first time, were quite satisfied with his appearance and temperament, but once they learned of his job and income, their attitude immediately cooled down.

Perhaps it was because knowing shame leads to courage!

After failing at blind dates many times, he finally went all out, truly wrote a book with his heart, and persisted in updating ten thousand words daily for several months.

Those few months let him taste the flavor of earning over ten thousand a month.

And he finally gained a little small fame in the industry.

But by then, he was already in his thirties.

The Misses he once liked had all already married others.

And he, who was in his thirties, found it very difficult to truly like any Miss again; seeing an unfamiliar Miss, the first thing he looked at was no longer their faces, but their breasts, legs, buttocks... and only finally would he look at their faces.

At an age where one does not care much about a woman's looks, it is truly very difficult to genuinely like anyone.

With some savings, he finally bought a house.

With a house, the success rate of picking up girls indeed increased a lot.

But he could not find anyone he truly wanted to take home to marry.

As he passed the age of 35, he wanted to get married even less.

Because he calculated an account: if he married after 35, when the child was born, he would be at least 36; when the child was 20, he would be at least 56; if the child married at 30, he would be at least 66; his remaining life would be almost entirely spent struggling for the child, and it was highly probable he would struggle until the day he died.

And could he write novels for that many years?

Twenty or thirty years later, would anyone still like to read the novels he wrote?

Did he have to wait until he was old, then enter a factory to screw bolts? Or find a place to guard a gate for someone? To be scolded as a "gatekeeper dog"?

Thinking of such an old age life, he felt afraid even just imagining it.

So, in the original timeline, after he turned 35, the thought of marriage faded.

Life was quite lonely.

It was fine when he had a girlfriend.

When he had no girlfriend, he could only surf the internet alone, eat alone, and sleep alone; when he did not want to cook for himself, he could only go out alone to eat barbecue, crayfish, grilled meat...

When he did not want to sleep alone, he could only go to KTVs, nightclubs...

When he did not want to stay home alone typing words, he could only invite people to go fishing or traveling together...

Hmm, those days seemed alright.

But the loneliness and solitude in the heart were real.

Especially seeing the happy and perfect appearance of other families with three or four members, his heart would inevitably feel a pang of loss and a bit of envy.

He, who did not marry, had no chance to hear a certain child call him father.

Every year when returning to his hometown, his parents' urging for marriage and their disappointment also made him feel uneasy in his heart.

Actually, after 35, if he could meet a suitable partner, he was also willing to take her home to marry.

But he never met one.

He was a shut-in who wrote web novels, so his social circle was already small — and it was still shrinking.

His chances of meeting an unfamiliar woman were few.

Wanting to find someone suitable to marry was very hard.

Just like that, he dawdled all the way to forty, still unmarried.

Though life on his own wasn't bad — he had food and drink, a car and a house — there were still many regrets in his heart.

Back then, if someone had asked him whether he was happy or not,

he probably would have said: "Happy my ass!"

…

"Ah Sheng! The fire can be a little smaller now — it's time to start making malt sugar!"

The father in front of the stove suddenly spoke, pulling Cao Sheng's thoughts back to reality.

Cao Sheng answered, raised his eyes to look at his father — his face dark and shiny, already creased with lines — and thought of the original timeline, how he had never married, and the disappointed looks in his parents' eyes; his heart felt a little bitter.

Since childhood he had wanted to be his parents' pride.

But in the original timeline, he first disappointed them at the college entrance exam, and then for many years afterward, disappointed them again on the matter of marriage.

Now that he had a chance to start over, although the college entrance exam was already beyond redoing, on the matter of marriage he decided that no matter what, he could not disappoint them again.

Besides, in this timeline, he could not again be like in the original one — only finally earning some money in his mid-thirties and only then buying a house.

He had always been his parents' hope.

If he kept failing to make something of himself for too long, they would keep being unable to feel happiness.

His mind had already begun turning over what kind of work he should write next.