Chapter 64: Principal's Attention; Another Banner Pulled Under the Banyan Tree

Then she said, "Senior, I am, I am your fan. Could you please... sign my name?"

Having spoken, she let go of Cao Sheng's hand, hurriedly took off her backpack, placed it on the table, and bent her head to rummage through it for paper and a pen.

Cao Sheng: "..."

What made Cao Sheng even more speechless was that the other freshmen nearby, as if waking from a dream, also hurriedly rummaged through their bags and suitcases for paper and pens.

Cao Sheng thought: There are only a few people anyway; signing won't take much trouble.

So he sat down with a smile. When Chen Shuyun handed over the notebook and ballpoint pen she had found, he said nothing, took the paper and pen, and casually signed "Zhongyuan Yidianhui" where she indicated.

Having held five book-signing events, he was already very skilled at signing these five characters.

Flying dragons and dancing phoenixes, finished in one stroke.

"Senior! Senior, I am also your fan, look?"

Another freshman handed over a stack of draft paper.

Cao Sheng smiled and signed one for him too.

"Senior! Senior! I want one too!"

"Senior! I am your fan too, really. Could you please sign one for me as well?"

"Senior!"

One by one, the freshmen lined up consciously to approach and ask Cao Sheng for an autograph; no one knew if they were truly fans.

But their behavior of lining up for autographs attracted the attention of others nearby.

Today was the day to welcome freshmen; on both sides of this main campus road, many tables were set up, and seniors from various majors were here to welcome the new students.

Soon, Cao Sheng discovered that the number of people lining up for autographs was increasing.

At first, only freshmen came to line up; gradually, some seniors began to intersperse in the queue, and even his own classmates appeared.

What to do?

Just deal with it!

He pressed his lips together, endured with patience, and continued signing, treating it as if holding another book-signing event.

Time passed bit by bit; the number of people in line grew larger and larger. Unknowingly, there were over a hundred people, and more kept joining.

No one came to stop it.

They just watched Cao Sheng sitting there like a host receiving guests, attending to one after another.

After more than half an hour.

It was a girl with big eyes wearing a white dress. This girl's dress was very white, and her skin was so white it was dazzling.

Her big eyes looked a bit like a cartoon character. Cao Sheng looked up at her with some confusion.

Because she held no notebook in her hand, not even a single sheet of white paper.

"Hello, where do you want me to sign?"

He asked.

The girl with big eyes smiled brightly, extended her Bai Shengsheng right arm in front of him, raised an eyebrow at him, and laughed, "Just sign it on my arm! Sign the characters a bit bigger; I guarantee I won't wash this arm for the whole month."

Cao Sheng: "???"

From the queue behind her came a burst of laughter and scattered curses.

"Shameless!"

"Promiscuous!"

"Bitch!"

"The school's atmosphere is being ruined by people like this!"

Both Cao Sheng and she heard it. She acted as if she hadn't heard, still looking at Cao Sheng with a smile. Cao Sheng was too lazy to argue with her. Since she said to sign on her arm, he expressionlessly signed "Zhongyuan Yidianhui" on her Bai Shengsheng arm.

He just wanted to get rid of her as quickly as possible.

As soon as he finished signing, she leaned her face over and whispered, "Great talent! I like you. I will come find you again. By the way, my name is Ren Xueyi. Remember it! Ren from 'Ren Wuxing', Xue from 'Feng Hua Xue Yue', and Yi from 'Xin Yuan Yi Ma'! Don't forget!"

Having spoken, she raised an eyebrow at Cao Sheng again, then laughed lightly, turned around, walked away with light steps, and hummed a little tune.

So bold?

Cao Sheng glanced at her back, estimating she was either a sophomore or a junior; freshmen shouldn't be this fashionable or lively.

Her style was very fashionable, like a little Princess.

Cao Sheng withdrew his gaze and continued signing.

In an office building not far away.

Zhang Xiaoguo, with gray hair, was led by his assistant to the office window upon the assistant's reminder. The young female assistant pointed with her finger at the long queue on the main road not far away and said with a smile, "Principal, look! Those people lining up over there, do you see them?"

Zhang Xiaoguo clasped his hands behind his waist, squinted for a while, and asked in a doubtful voice, "Isn't today the day to welcome freshmen? What are so many people lining up over there for?"

The female assistant chuckled lightly. "Principal, I just asked around. Those people are lining up to ask for Zhongyuan Yidianhui's autograph! You know Zhongyuan Yidianhui, right? I mentioned him to you before; he is a young writer from our school's accounting class, very famous recently. Somehow today, so many people are lining up to ask him for an autograph."

Zhang Xiaoguo made an "Oh" sound.

He nodded slightly, a smile appearing on his face. "Not bad! A student from the accounting class can actually become a writer. The Chinese Department must be under pressure, right?"

The female assistant laughed helplessly. "That can't be helped! This Zhongyuan Yidianhui is too popular now. Judging by the momentum online, he is vaguely already the leader among young writers in our country. Let alone students from our school's Chinese Department can't compare, even looking at all universities nationwide, I'm afraid no one can compare to him in the short term!"

"Oh? Is he that powerful?"

Zhang Xiaoguo was very surprised.

The female assistant nodded with a smile. "Principal, our school has truly produced talent this time. It's a pity this student is not from our school's Chinese Department; otherwise, in next year's enrollment publicity, we could highlight him and the Chinese Department. If that really happened, our school's Chinese Department would have a chance to become our flagship major."

Zhang Xiaoguo squinted his eyes again, pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "Don't be so petty! Since you say he is already the leader among young writers in our country, then for next year's enrollment publicity, invite him to be the spokesperson. We can print his portrait on our enrollment brochure. Just right, our school has been striving to apply and actively upgrade these past two years. In terms of hardware, we will increase investment; in terms of software, we must also continue to exert effort. If we can use him to recruit more good students, it will also enhance our school's strength and help us upgrade from a teachers' college to a college."

The female assistant nodded repeatedly. "Principal! You are right. I will definitely convey your intentions to the Publicity Section later."

Zhang Xiaoguo nodded with a smile.

……

It was that afternoon.

A huge red banner appeared again at the top of the Rong Shu Xia website homepage.

It attracted countless gazes.

The banner read: "Congratulations to Zhongyuan Yidianhui's 'I Wish to Become an Immortal', soon to be published in Simplified Chinese!!!"

In the bottom right corner of this banner was a small button, and beneath the button were a few small characters— "Click here to pre-order at twenty percent off"

That night.

Cao Sheng logged into the Rong Shu Xia author backend, updated one chapter, and then habitually went to the book review section to see the recent reader feedback.

But he discovered that the sentiment in the book review section today had changed drastically; there were hardly any serious book reviews left.

Looking out, what met his eyes was almost entirely frivolous.

"Damn! You update too slowly, so I deliberately provoked you, saying if you had the guts to publish in Simplified Chinese. I didn't expect you'd actually publish in Simplified Chinese? And so fast? I was just talking! You're actually doing it?"

"Ahhh!! I have a very bad feeling right now! 'Days Living with the Stewardess' paused its online serialization due to publication. Won't our book pause its serialization too? No! Author, you can't fall into the money trap!"

"Awesome! Write one, publish one. Not only publishing Traditional Chinese, but also Simplified Chinese? Zhongyuan Yidianhui, you should just change your name to Zhongyuan Tebiehong!"

"Haha, really publishing in Simplified Chinese? Finally, I won't have to wait for updates every single day? Finally, I can read it all at once? Pre-ordered. When exactly can I get the book?"

"In just half a year, I have personally witnessed Zhongyuan Yidianhui go from being unknown to being at the peak of his fame today. What kind of monster's rise have I witnessed? Is there any young writer in the country now who can be more famous than him?"

"Zhongyuan Yidianhui, you should just change your name to Dugu Qiubai! You have no rivals now; you can't even be 'grey' anymore!"