Chapter 27: Admitting to Having a Girlfriend

Cao Sheng’s mouth curled up as he listened, his curiosity piqued by Tan Lei’s words. "What’s there to be embarrassed about? Go on, tell me! What happened after that?"

Tan Lei wore a self-deprecating smile. "After I recovered, I wanted to come join you for a morning run, but I always felt too embarrassed. I felt like I didn't have the face to see you again."

Cao Sheng: "Why?"

Tan Lei gave a bitter smile. "What do you think? The first day I came to run with you, I said I’d come every single day, but then I didn't show up the next day. Just thinking about it makes me feel so ashamed! How could I have the nerve to come see you?"

Cao Sheng chuckled.

"Then how did you have the nerve to come today?"

Tan Lei: "..."

After a moment of silence, she said, "Because I finally gathered the courage today! We’re old classmates after all, and we’re bound to run into each other at school. When it’s time to go home, I still want to take the same bus as you! If I kept avoiding you, wouldn't it be even more awkward if we suddenly bumped into each other at school?"

Cao Sheng smiled.

After running in silence for a while, he suddenly asked, "Are you coming tomorrow?"

Tan Lei gave a bitter smile. "Why are you asking me that again? I don't dare to boast this time. What if I say I’ll come tomorrow, but then I don't show up? I’d die of embarrassment!"

Cao Sheng was amused.

Afterward, both of them tacitly stopped talking; after all, it takes a lot of energy to chat while running.

Tan Lei’s presence caused Cao Sheng to slow his pace; she couldn't run fast, so he had to slow down to accommodate her.

The result was that after finishing the one-kilometer run today, he felt much more relaxed than usual, with little sweat and steady breathing.

As for Tan Lei, she was much like last time: gasping for air, drenched in sweat, and pale-faced.

Seeing this, Cao Sheng did as he had before, letting her sit by the edge of the track while he went to a nearby kiosk to buy two bottles of water.

He handed her a bottle and sat down beside her.

By now, there were significantly more people exercising on the track than before, and the sky had brightened considerably.

"Exhausted, aren't you?"

After taking a sip of water, Cao Sheng asked with a smile.

Tan Lei’s breathing had leveled out by now, though her face remained a bit pale. She glanced at him, nodded, and laughed, "Yeah! I never had the habit of morning runs, so starting suddenly is really tiring. I’m truly impressed by you—to think you’ve been able to keep this up for so many days."

Cao Sheng smiled.

Tan Lei turned to look at him and sighed, "You’re so handsome, why do you still insist on working out? Even without working out, you should be able to find a girlfriend easily, right? Who are you trying to charm?"

Cao Sheng laughed. "Do you think I work out to charm someone?"

A smile appeared in Tan Lei’s eyes. "Isn't that the case?"

Cao Sheng: "Of course not!"

Tan Lei was silent for a few seconds, then gave a faint smile and asked, "Hey! Old classmate, we’ve been at this school for almost a year now, and you’re so handsome—you must have a girlfriend by now, right?"

Asking me this?

Cao Sheng looked at her, wondering if she was trying to pursue him.

It was also possible that, as an old classmate, she was just asking out of curiosity.

But he didn't want to date recently; he only wanted to focus all his energy on writing and making money.

So, after a moment’s thought, he smiled, nodded, and gave a hum of affirmation.

Regardless of whether she wanted to pursue him, as long as he admitted he already had a girlfriend, she wouldn't confess her feelings to him.

As long as she didn't confess, the relationship between them wouldn't become awkward.

The smile on Tan Lei’s face seemed to stiffen for a moment, then she beamed and said, "That’s great! Congratulations! By the way, is the beauty pretty? What’s her major? Is she a freshman like us? When will you bring her out for me to meet?"

Cao Sheng: "Thanks, I’ll introduce you when there’s a chance."

Tan Lei: "Okay! It’s a deal then! I’m very curious."

After chatting for a while longer, she stood up to say goodbye and left.

Cao Sheng also got up and headed back to the dormitory.

On the way, he decided that from now on, no matter who asked if he had a girlfriend, he would admit that he did.

There was no other motive; it was just to avoid falling into the vortex of romance and wasting his time and energy.

He remembered a saying that circulated among the top writers in the web novel circle: "One cannot succeed without being obsessed."

Every great writer who had reached the pinnacle seemed to have gone through a long period of writing with single-minded devotion.

During this period, the stories they wrote occupied their entire hearts and minds, as if they were possessed.

In this state, the quality of their work improved, and gradually, their works became regarded as masterpieces by many readers.

Therefore, good work requires total concentration.

No one succeeds easily.

This saying is clearly reflected in the web novel industry.

Authors whose focus is not pure and whose energy is not concentrated, even if they write every day, can only achieve mediocre results, year after year, with no possibility of standing out among countless other authors.

In his original timeline, after he, Cao Sheng, started writing full-time, he spent many years in obscurity—neither starving to death nor making any real fortune.

It wasn't until he proposed to his girlfriend that she, while taking off his pants, laughed and said to him, "Don't propose to me. I don't want you to be responsible for me, and you don't need to treat me as your marriage partner. When I find someone suitable, I’ll get married, and I hope you do the same."

Not long after, she took the initiative to break up with him.

He was stung by this, and afterward, he poured his heart into writing a book. Once it was published, he updated over ten thousand words every day for several months.

During that time, he had only the characters and the plot of the book in his heart.

And the performance of that book did not disappoint him.

It was the first time he tasted the feeling of earning over ten thousand a month.

After that book, his income was no longer as low as before, and he gradually saved enough money to buy a house and a car.

It was precisely because he had earned money by writing novels before his rebirth and truly improved his life that, after his rebirth, the first way to make money that came to mind was writing novels.

And he had always felt that with his ability, starting to write novels in 1997 should earn him quite a lot of money; at that time, he hadn't thought about how to improve his writing skills.

He only wanted to take a shortcut—every time he started a new book, he would bring out a brand-new theme.

But recently, he had developed greater ambition.

He hoped that the quality of his work would get better and better, so that the name "Zhongyuan Yidianhui" would be remembered by more people.

Therefore, he wanted to seize the time while there weren't many people writing web novels, work hard to improve his writing skills, and do his best to increase his first-mover advantage.

During this period, he didn't want to date.

He wanted to wait for those great writers from his memories to enter the industry and then compete with them.

That was what he thought, and that was what he did.

Throughout May, his heart was filled only with the characters and plot of the book *I Wish to Become an Immortal*.

He only returned to the dormitory after meals and when it was time to sleep.

The rest of the time, he was either in class or writing in the adult education building, uploading his manuscripts every Friday and Saturday night.

By the way, after he admitted he had a girlfriend that day, Tan Lei never came to the track to run with him again.

In mid-May, he accidentally saw the title *First Intimate Contact* in his book review section.

Searching online, he was surprised to find that Pizi Cai’s *First Intimate Contact* had already been published online, and the time of publication was not much later than his *Days of Living with a Flight Attendant*.

His *Days of Living with a Flight Attendant* was published in February of this year.

*First Intimate Contact* was published in March of this year.

The publication dates of the two books were less than a month apart.

Previously, he had always assumed his book was published much earlier than *First Intimate Contact*, and he hadn't expected the publication dates to be so close.

It wasn't until recently, when both books were becoming increasingly popular online and people mentioned *First Intimate Contact* in his review section, that he realized this reality.

He wasn't sure if *First Intimate Contact* in the original timeline was also published in March of '98.

But in this current timeline, with the publication dates of their two books being so close, Cao Sheng was a bit worried: if the popularity of *First Intimate Contact* surpassed his *Days of Living with a Flight Attendant*, would the public in this timeline still think that *First Intimate Contact* was the first web novel?