Chapter 66: Interview Site

Nearby students instinctively fell silent, watching the scene with varied expressions, and more and more people gathered around.

Cao Sheng looked at the smiling school administrators before him and Lu Xiangwei and others, and was momentarily speechless.

He had just reflected on himself last night, deciding to keep a low profile, keep a low profile, and again keep a low profile, devoting more time and thought to his own work.

And yet… the TV station came to interview him today?

The tree wishes for stillness, but the wind won't stop, is that it?

He rose with a complicated mood, nodding to the people before him,

"Good morning, leaders, Miss Cai!"

Cao Sheng greeted them.

Department Head Wu Chengping was also there, nodding with a smile; the other school leaders likewise smiled and nodded.

One of the school leaders spoke: "You're Cao Sheng, right? This Miss Cai is our city TV station's star hostess—she never does on-location interviews, but today she came specially to interview you. You must uphold our school's fine traditions and cooperate fully!"

Cao Sheng glanced at the leader.

He thought: What fine traditions does our school even have?

At that moment, the tall Miss Cai stepped forward with a radiant smile, extending her slender hand, "Hello, Zhongyuan Yidianhui! I'm so glad to meet you—I'm Cai, Cai Yuhua, a pleasure!"

Cao Sheng reached out and shook her hand, then withdrew it, "Hello, Miss Cai!"

Another school leader interjected: "Miss Cai, there are too many people here—would you prefer to conduct the interview in the office building ahead?"

Cai Yuhua nodded and smiled at Cao Sheng, "Would that be alright with you?"

Cao Sheng scanned the surrounding alumni; many had gathered now, all watching the spectacle.

He didn't want to be interviewed in front of so many people.

So he nodded in agreement.

The group chatted and laughed as they walked to the nearby office building.

At Cai Yuhua's request, the school leaders allocated a small conference room.

The school leaders, all tactful, did not follow further.

Cao Sheng followed Cai Yuhua toward the conference room, with a staff member leading the way.

Soon, Cai Yuhua, the cameraman, the makeup artist, and Cao Sheng entered a conference room on the second floor.

Someone brought in several bottles of mineral water.

Cai Yuhua apologized to Cao Sheng, saying she needed to touch up her makeup and asked him to wait a moment.

Then Cao Sheng saw the young makeup artist applying makeup to Cai Yuhua at a distance, while the cameraman adjusted his equipment.

Cao Sheng lowered his head, opened his mineral water, and sipped it intermittently.

He wasn't in a hurry.

After all, his original task for today was welcoming new students—he hadn't come here to sit comfortably.

He merely felt a pang of reflection: novel writers are truly contradictory—when unknown, they long for fame; when famous, they resent the intrusion of fans and media, fearing it disrupts their own mental state and hinders writing.

He thought again of that saying: wanting love, yet fearing being fucked.

As the phrase flashed through his mind, he unconsciously wore a self-deprecating smile.

Cai Yuhua, who was touching up her makeup nearby, had been subtly observing Cao Sheng all along.

As the city TV station's star hostess, though she rarely did on-location interviews, she occasionally did—selecting interviewees based solely on whether they were worthy of her personal attention.

Each time she conducted an on-location interview, she used the time of touching up her makeup to quietly observe the interviewee, gauging their mood, personality, and other details.

Now she noticed Cao Sheng had smiled faintly, as if lost in thought; she blinked, and curiosity stirred in her heart.

So when the interview officially began, her first question was: "Zhongyuan Yidianhui, hello—I noticed just now while touching up my makeup that you seemed to smile wryly. Could you share with me why you smiled like that? Did something unpleasant come to mind?"

Thus, once the interview officially began, the first question she asked was: "Zhongyuan Yidianhui, hello. Just now, while I was touching up my makeup over there, I noticed you seemed to give a bitter smile. Could you share with me why you smiled bitterly at that moment? Did something unpleasant come to mind?"

Cao Sheng: "Did I?"

Cai Yuhua nodded, "Yes—you may not have noticed, but I saw it. I found it strange: you're currently successful and famous from a young age, so you should be in high spirits. So I'm curious—what made you smile like that just now?"

Cai Yuhua nodded. "Yes, you might not have noticed it yourself, but I saw it. At that time, I found it very strange. Logically, you are now enjoying both fame and fortune, and you became famous at a young age, so you should be in the height of your success. Under normal circumstances, your recent mood should be very good. So! I am very curious about what made you smile bitterly just now?"

After a pause, Cao Sheng looked at her in surprise—he felt this woman played by no rules; her first question was completely outside his expectations.

"Nothing. You can begin your questions now."

He skipped over her question.

Cai Yuhua slightly frowned, then smiled again, turning to the microphone: "Alright! If so, let's talk about yesterday's events—I heard that while welcoming your school's new students, you were recognized by one of them, triggering a crowd of over a hundred people demanding your autographs. Is that true?"

Cai Yuhua furrowed her brows slightly, then immediately resumed her smile, and asked into the microphone: "Alright! Since that's the case, let's talk about yesterday's events! I heard that when you were welcoming new students at your school yesterday, you were apparently recognized by one of them, which triggered over a hundred people at the scene asking for your autograph. Is that true?"

Cao Sheng nodded, "Yeah, that happened."

Cai Yuhua asked again: "Could you share how you felt then? More joy, or more annoyance?"

Cao Sheng paused for several seconds, "About half and half."

Cai Yuhua's eyes lit up; she instinctively leaned forward slightly, pressing: "So you've already felt the troubles of fame, right?"

Cai Yuhua's eyes lit up; her upper body instinctively leaned forward slightly as she pressed on: "So, does that mean you have now felt the troubles of fame?"

Cai Yuhua's smile widened, continuing: "Oh? So can I infer you're an introverted personality? Because you're usually quiet, you're unaccustomed to being surrounded by fans demanding autographs—and because you're unaccustomed, you feel both joy and annoyance, equally?"

The smile on Cai Yuhua's face became radiant as she continued to press: "Oh? If that's the case, can I speculate that you are an introverted personality? Because you are usually introverted, after suddenly becoming famous, you are very unaccustomed to being surrounded by too many fans asking for autographs? Because you are so unaccustomed, you feel both happiness and trouble, half and half?"

Did you come here specially to interview me just to ask how I felt about fans asking for autographs yesterday?

You came specially to interview me just to ask me how I felt about being asked for autographs by fans yesterday?

If he'd encountered reporters outside school asking such questions, he'd have ignored them and walked away long ago.

If he encountered reporters outside the school constantly asking such questions, he would definitely be too lazy to answer and might have turned around and left long ago.

And several school leaders and counselors had already intervened, so he could only endure and continue answering, "Something like that—I'm not usually talkative."

Moreover, several school administrators and counselors had just stepped forward, so he could only grit his teeth and keep answering, "Something like that—I'm not usually talkative."

Cai Yuhua nodded repeatedly with a beaming smile. "I understand! You creators are always thinking about your work in your heads, right? And I imagine it's hard for you and your classmates to find many common topics, isn't it? After all, your interests and hobbies are so different!"

Cao Sheng shook his head.

He didn't want to admit in front of the media that he and his classmates had nothing in common; that would affect his future relationships.

"That's not it! I just want to save up the things I usually want to say and write them into my novel, turning all my desire to express myself into words. Do you understand?"

Cai Yuhua was very surprised.

Tang Weiwei frowned slightly, tilted her head slightly, and looked at Cao Sheng for a moment before nodding slowly and smiling. "I get it! I truly didn't expect someone so young to have such ideas. Saving up the things you usually want to say and writing them all into your own novel... that really shows great thought!"

As she spoke, she even gave Cao Sheng a thumbs-up.

Perhaps Cao Sheng's words had an effect; for the rest of the interview, her attitude became much more formal.

The questions she asked became much more formal as well.

Such as: "When did you first start trying to write novels?"

"Is 'Living with a Flight Attendant' your first work? Besides this book and 'I Wish to Become an Immortal', have you published any other works?"

"Is 'Living with a Flight Attendant' based on your real experiences, or is it purely a fictional story?"

"How did you come up with the idea to write a story like 'I Wish to Become an Immortal'? When writing this book, were the cultivation levels, magical treasures, and heavenly materials and treasures inside your own fabrication, or did you reference any ancient texts?"

And so on.

That evening, the scene of Cai Yuhua interviewing Cao Sheng appeared on the "Huizhou Evening News".