[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-dreaming-back-to-1997-i-became-the-forefather-of":3,"chapter-dreaming-back-to-1997-i-became-the-forefather-of-dreaming-back-to-1997-i-became-the-forefather-of-chapter-2":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Dreaming Back to 1997: I Became the Forefather of Web Novels",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2348236,4589,"Chapter 2: Original Fate","dreaming-back-to-1997-i-became-the-forefather-of-chapter-2",2,"\u003Cp>Cao Sheng thought for quite a while, but he could not recall exactly which year the first web novel of his original timeline appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He only remembered that the first web novel should have been \"First Intimate Contact\" by Pizi Cai, published on the internet around the year 2000.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the more specific publication date, he could not recall it no matter how hard he tried.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a pity that he did not have a computer or a smartphone with internet access now; otherwise, he could just search for it and confirm whether this book had been published yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he could be the first author to write a web novel...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he would certainly be remembered by countless people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once he had such fame, no matter what kind of novel he wrote in the future, it would be easier to achieve success than other authors; this was certain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like Guo Xiaosi and Han Er in his original timeline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both of these people became famous because of the New Concept Composition Competition. After becoming famous, everything they did received great media attention, and compared to other writers, their lives were much smoother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, both of them were still unknown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, if he, Cao Sheng, could become famous before them, his future life might also become very smooth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who wouldn't hope for their life to be a bit smoother?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of this, Cao Sheng could not help but recall the trajectory of his fate in his original timeline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He only got into a junior college for the college entrance exam, went to the obscure Huizhou Teachers College, and studied a useless accounting major. After graduation, he worked as an accountant in several factories for a few years, dealing with endless reports. If he calculated one digit wrong, he had to comb through the ledgers over and over again. With one word from the boss, if they wanted a loan, he had to run to the bank trip after trip, prepare various materials, and even act like a companion, drinking meal after meal with people...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And his salary, because his education was only a junior college degree, could never go up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching others buy houses, buy cars, marry wives, and keep mistresses, he, Cao Sheng, could only feel envious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Occasionally, he had the thought of embezzling some money, but he lacked the guts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't until 2006, when he started using his spare time to try writing web novels and earned royalties, that his life finally saw a glimmer of hope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 2008, when his royalties exceeded his salary, he finally made up his mind to resign and write full-time, seeking freedom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had originally thought that after writing full-time, his daily output would increase significantly, but he didn't expect that after truly writing full-time, he would realize it wasn't like that at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After resigning, his whole person became slack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to write his novel well, but he was always anxious in his heart while being unable to act on it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not long after he started writing full-time, he fell into the procrastination common among old hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was always hypnotizing himself in his heart: writing shouldn't pursue speed, but quality; one must strive for perfection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a long time, he was content to be a shameful \"slow writer,\" updating only four to six thousand words every day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And laziness has its retribution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His retribution was that he could never afford a house or a wife.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had once been in a relationship; the girl was willing to date him but not marry him. She explicitly said she didn't want him to be responsible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking about it now, it was quite damaging to his self-esteem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His family had also arranged over a dozen blind dates for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girls were quite satisfied with his appearance and temperament the first time they met him, but once they learned about his job and income, their attitudes immediately turned cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps it was because he felt shame and then found courage!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After failing so many blind dates, he finally got ruthless, truly put his heart into writing a book, and persisted in updating ten thousand words a day for several months.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those few months let him taste the feeling of earning over ten thousand a month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he finally had a little bit of fame in the industry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But by then, he was already in his thirties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girls he once liked were already married to other men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And at over thirty, it was already very hard for him to truly like any girl again. When he saw a girl he didn't know, the first thing he looked at was no longer their faces, but their breasts, legs, and buttocks... only then would he look at their faces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At an age where one doesn't care much about a woman's looks, it is really hard to truly like someone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With some savings, he finally bought a house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a house, the success rate of picking up girls was indeed much higher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he couldn't find anyone he truly wanted to marry and bring home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he passed the age of 35, he wanted to get married even less.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because he did the math: if he married after 35, he would be at least 36 when the child was born. By the time the child was 20, he would be at least 56. If the child married at 30, he would be at least 66. He would spend the rest of his life struggling for the child, likely struggling until the day he died.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And as for writing novels, could he write for that many years?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twenty or thirty years later, would anyone still like to read the novels he wrote?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was he supposed to wait until he was old to go back to a factory to screw bolts? Or find a place to watch the gate for someone? To be cursed as a \"watchdog\"?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just thinking about that kind of old age made him feel afraid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, in his original timeline, after he turned 35, the thought of marriage faded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Life was quite lonely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was fine when he had a girlfriend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he didn't have a girlfriend, he could only go online alone, eat alone, and sleep alone. When he didn't want to cook for himself, he could only go out alone to eat barbecue, crayfish, or roasted meat...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he didn't want to sleep alone, he could only go to KTVs or nightclubs...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he didn't want to stay home and type alone, he could only ask people to go fishing or traveling together...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, those days seemed okay too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the loneliness and solitude in his heart were real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially when he saw others with their happy families of three or four, he would inevitably feel a sense of loss and envy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not marrying, he never had the chance to hear a child call him \"Dad.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every year when he returned to his hometown, his parents' urging for marriage and their disappointment also made him feel uneasy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, after 35, if he could meet a suitable partner, he was willing to marry her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he couldn't meet one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a homebody who wrote web novels, his social circle was already small and constantly shrinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chances of meeting strange women were very few.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was very hard to find someone suitable for marriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like that, he wasted time until he was 40, still unmarried.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although his life alone wasn't bad—he had food, drink, a car, and a house—he still had many regrets in his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that time, if someone asked him if he was happy?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He would probably say: \"Happy my foot!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A-Sheng! You can turn the fire down a bit; it's time to boil the maltose!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His father, in front of the stove, suddenly spoke, pulling Cao Sheng's thoughts back to reality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Sheng responded and looked up at his father, whose face was dark and shiny with wrinkles. Thinking of his original timeline, where he never married and saw the disappointment in his parents' eyes, he felt a bit uneasy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since he was a child, he had also wanted to be his parents' pride.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in his original timeline, he first disappointed his parents with the college entrance exam, and then for many years, he disappointed them with his marriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that he had a chance to start over, although he had no chance to redo the college entrance exam, he decided that no matter what, he would not let them down regarding marriage again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Furthermore, in this timeline, he could not be like in his original timeline, waiting until his thirties to finally earn some money and buy a house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had always been his parents' hope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he kept failing to make something of himself, they would never feel happy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his mind, he had already started to ponder what kind of work he should write next.\u003C\u002Fp>",1496,"2026-06-21T01:55:54.452Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","cccba010762ea819056cc29ab072f7d9f40b6f05ba3e82a697af2bc2d10f3af0","dreaming-back-to-1997-i-became-the-forefather-of-chapter-3","dreaming-back-to-1997-i-became-the-forefather-of-chapter-1",338,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdreaming-back-to-1997-i-became-the-forefather-of-cover.jpg"]