Chapter 45: Interviews and Signing Events

On the way to the dormitory to pick up the sample copies, Lu Xiangwei explained the situation to Cao Sheng.

Cao Sheng was quite surprised and felt like laughing.

He thought: He might truly have good intentions, but do I need this opportunity to stay at the school? In my previous life, I wrote full-time for over a decade, didn't starve, and even bought a house and a car with my royalties. Could it be that now that I've been reborn, I still can't support myself through writing?

However, although he had no interest in staying at the school for a future position, he was still grateful for counselor Lu Xiangwei's kindness.

Therefore, when Lu Xiangwei asked him to take the second volume of "I Wish to Become an Immortal" to show the department head for a few days, he did not refuse.

When Lu Xiangwei asked him to meet the department head, he agreed.

Taking the sample copies, he went with Lu Xiangwei to the department's office building and met the department head, Wu Chengping.

In his previous life, he had studied here until graduation, yet he had only seen Wu Chengping from a distance a few times.

Such a face-to-face interaction had never happened before.

Wu Chengping, who was stern and rarely smiled, would likely make any ordinary student very nervous. Even a dog might tuck its tail upon seeing him.

But Cao Sheng didn't care.

He had no desires or demands regarding the department head and didn't mind the opportunity to stay at the school.

Moreover, before his rebirth, he had already lived to be forty; his mental age was not much younger than Wu Chengping's in front of him.

So, when speaking with Wu Chengping, Cao Sheng was very composed.

Wu Chengping asked him when he started writing.

He said it was this semester.

Wu Chengping asked him what made him think of writing a novel.

He said he was bored and just wrote for fun.

Wu Chengping asked him how he thought of publishing the work directly on a website instead of submitting it to a publishing house.

He said he hadn't initially thought it would be published; he just wanted to post it online to see if anyone liked it.

The two chatted for over half an hour, and Cao Sheng took the initiative to take his leave.

Because Wu Chengping's wife had arrived with chicken soup.

Lu Xiangwei and Cao Sheng left the director's office together.

When they walked out of the office building, Lu Xiangwei stopped and said to Cao Sheng: "Cao Sheng! The director really likes your 'I Wish to Become an Immortal'; he has a good impression of you! Next semester you'll be a sophomore; sophomore year will pass in a flash. By junior year, you'll have to go on an internship; time passes very quickly, so don't think graduation and work are far away from you. As your counselor, I still suggest you strive to stay at the school. University jobs are very relaxed; many teachers have side businesses. If you stay at the school, it won't affect your writing. If your writing goes poorly in the future, the job at the school will at least ensure you have a bowl of rice to eat. Think it over carefully?"

Cao Sheng smiled and did not refute, "Okay, thank you, teacher. I will consider it carefully."

Inside the department head's office.

While serving the soup, Wu Chengping's wife asked, "The novel you read last night was written by that student just now?"

Wu Chengping hummed in affirmation.

The woman chuckled lightly. "What do you think Lu Xiangwei is thinking? That student of his is only a freshman, yet he's already rushing to ask you for that child's opportunity to work at the school? That student isn't his relative; why is he so invested? Is there something wrong with his brain?"

Wu Chengping glanced at her. "Do you think Little Lu has something wrong with his brain?"

The woman retorted, "Isn't that so?"

While speaking, she placed a freshly served bowl of chicken soup in front of Wu Chengping.

Wu Chengping picked up the spoon, took a sip, and said calmly, "Little Lu is much smarter than you imagine!"

The woman was surprised. "What do you mean?"

Wu Chengping said, "What do you think?"

The woman replied, "If I knew, would I be asking you?"

Wu Chengping said, "Think about it. Recently, by using the matter of his student staying at the school as an excuse, he has often come to see me. Hasn't that given him many more opportunities to meet and talk with me privately?"

The woman's eyebrows twitched slightly. "You mean he is using this reason to deliberately come before you to show off?"

Wu Chengping said, "Think again. Will that student of his be grateful to him now?"

The woman nodded.

Wu Chengping smiled. "He is a counselor; by being so invested and running back and forth for his student's matter, regardless of the final outcome, he can win a good reputation for himself. Leaders will think he is good and responsible; colleagues will feel respect for him; that student of his will be grateful, and other students will respect him because of it. In the future, if that student really stays at the school, he will become his assistant. Yet in your eyes, he actually has something wrong with his brain? If you were Little Lu's colleague, and in the future he became your leader, and you didn't know how he rose to that position, would you still think he has something wrong with his brain now?"

The woman was speechless.

A few days later.

Time arrived in July.

The final exams arrived as scheduled.

Cao Sheng completed all the exams in an orderly manner.

On the afternoon when the last exam ended, he went to an internet cafe to update a chapter of "Living with the Air Hostess," then tomorrow he would take a train home to bring back the clothes and shoes he had bought for his parents a few days ago, and also hand over the funds for rebuilding the old family house to his family.

Just...

When he logged into his email account to retrieve a stored chapter from his inbox, he saw an unread email.

Clicking to open it, he saw it was sent by Wang Jing.

The content read: "Cao Sheng, I just received a call from the publishing house. Your book is already being printed around the clock, and the release date has been set for July 12. The first print run has been increased to 100,000 copies because our pre-sales on Rongshu Tree have already exceeded 40,000.

Additionally, the publishing house has upgraded the promotion plan and needs your cooperation.

Currently, a signing tour in five cities has been tentatively scheduled: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chongqing.

Our website is preparing to announce the signing plan on the homepage, hoping to attract a group of book fans to the signing venues.

The current promotion plan requires you to arrive in Shanghai by the 10th of this month. The media will be arranged to interview you there. Before the book is officially on sale, the media needs to help expand your fame. We hope you can cooperate well.

By the way, can you arrive in Shanghai on the 10th? If your schedule has no issues, we will make arrangements accordingly.

Finally, as a friend, I personally want to tell you some news. Given that the pre-sale figures for your book on our website are so outstanding, Huacheng Publishing House has high hopes for the final sales of your book. They hope to make this book a bestseller of the year and also prepare to make you a representative figure of new domestic writers. Therefore, I personally suggest that when you participate in this promotion and signing tour, you try your hardest and strive to make a name for yourself completely by taking this opportunity."

— Wang Jing under the banyan tree

After Cao Sheng finished reading this email, he couldn't quite say what he felt.

Happy?

Yes.

But mostly pressure.

Before his rebirth, he was a shut-in writer.

He had no experience being interviewed by the media, nor any experience with book signings.

Thinking that in two days he would have to accept media interviews and appear at a signing event, facing all kinds of book fans, he felt pressure rushing at him.

He was unsure if he could handle these situations.

A phrase flashed through his mind: The sword is not yet sheathed, but stepping out already puts one in the Jianghu.

He wasn't mentally prepared yet!

But could he retreat now?

Did he want to retreat?

Isn't becoming famous through one's work what I have always longed for?

Now that fame is about to arrive, how can I be afraid to face the media and book fans?

What's the difference between wanting to fall in love yet being afraid of being dated?

He closed his eyes, and after a while, slowly opened them again; when he opened them, his gaze had already calmed, and he smiled as he replied to Wang Jing with a single "Okay".