Chapter 78: Book Signing and San Shao Falls into the Pit

October 1st, National Day.

October 5th, Mid-Autumn Festival.

However, Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House set the date for the book signing on October 10th. Cao Sheng didn't know what they were thinking, but after checking an electronic calendar online, he felt October 10th was fine, as it was a Saturday, and book fans who wanted to come to his signing should have the time.

It was just that when he asked for leave, his counselor Lu Xiangwei couldn't help but ask a few extra questions.

Because there would be a seven-day holiday for National Day.

Cao Sheng, however, wanted to start taking leave after the National Day holiday; how many days did he want to rest?

Once Cao Sheng said he was going to attend a book signing and that *I Desire to Become an Immortal* was about to hold several signings, Lu Xiangwei was both surprised and pleased, and readily approved a week of leave for Cao Sheng.

……

October 10th arrived in the blink of an eye.

Cao Sheng arrived in Wuhan a day early.

This was the home base of Changjiang Literature and Art, so the first signing for *I Desire to Become an Immortal* was set in this city.

Compared to the signings he attended during the summer break for *Days of Living with a Flight Attendant*, he felt much more relaxed coming to Wuhan this time.

There was no longer any sense of trepidation in his heart.

It was just like a woman after her first experience; she was no longer afraid, and even felt a bit of anticipation.

He was also no longer worried about whether his signing event would be deserted, with few fans showing up.

What was there to worry about?

In any case, the publisher would have a contingency plan; if there really weren't many fans, they would naturally arrange for some "fake" fans to come and bolster the crowd.

Moreover, compared to the time of his last book's signing, his fame was now much greater than he knew.

*Days of Living with a Flight Attendant* remained the best-selling pure romance novel in the country to this day.

The fame of Zhongyuan Yidianhui had long since spread from online to offline.

As he expected, on the morning of the signing, the venue was bustling with people, and there were at least three or four hundred fans waiting in line for signatures.

When Cao Sheng stepped out of the business vehicle, while greeting the media taking photos, he observed the fans at the scene and noticed a detail.

—At the signings for *Days of Living with a Flight Attendant* back then, female fans were in the majority, but today, there were clearly far more male fans than female fans.

With more male fans, the volume of people shouting his name at the scene was much louder.

Surrounded by several staff members, Cao Sheng walked into the venue, waving to respond to the fans' enthusiasm as he walked, like a star, attracting many passersby to stop and watch.

In this heated atmosphere, he began today's signing.

……

After Wuhan, it was Jingcheng.

The scale of the signing in Jingcheng was even larger, and more fans arrived.

……

Then came Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kunming, and Nanjing.

Yes, Changjiang Literature and Art had arranged 6 signings for Cao Sheng this time, exactly one more than the number of signings Huachengchubanshe had arranged back then.

During these few days of signings, various large and small media outlets in the country also began to report on it one after another.

For a time, the five characters "Zhongyuan Yidianhui" appeared once again in various media outlets across the country.

It made people wonder if Zhongyuan Yidianhui's signings from the summer break had been going on until now?

Shanghai.

When Han Er saw the report on Zhongyuan Yidianhui in the newspaper once again, his first reaction was astonishment.

He couldn't believe that two or three months had passed, and the newspapers were still reporting on Zhongyuan Yidianhui's signings?

Shouldn't newspapers be reporting the news?

Were the newspapers now even reheating leftovers for news?

Puzzled, he picked up the paper and looked at it carefully for a few moments, only to be surprised to find that the report this time was not about *Days of Living with a Flight Attendant*, but about Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new work—*I Desire to Become an Immortal*.

"This? He released a new book so quickly?"

Han Er was very surprised.

He thought: Ran Jing's body isn't even cold yet, and you've already released a new book?

In his heart, there was more envy.

That guy, only two years older than him, had actually published two new books in a single year; this made him wonder if Zhongyuan Yidianhui's background was particularly formidable?

Could his family be the ones who own the publishing house?

But he had read *Days of Living with a Flight Attendant*, and the quality was truly beyond reproach.

Could it really be because of talent?

With complex emotions, Han Er arrived at a Sanwei Bookstore, found Zhongyuan Yidianhui's new work—*I Desire to Become an Immortal*—and paid to buy a copy.

As a first-year high school student, he hadn't yet developed the habit of going online, so he didn't know that *I Desire to Become an Immortal* was actually no longer considered a "new" book; this book had already been published up to the tenth volume over in Wanwan.

That night, Han Er started reading *I Desire to Become an Immortal*.

The newspaper said this was a brand-new genre pioneered by Zhongyuan Yidianhui, calling it something like "Xianxia Cultivation"...

Xianxia is Xianxia, but what does "cultivation" mean? Could there be "fake cultivation"?

Carrying these questions, he plunged into the world of *I Desire to Become an Immortal*.

By the time he saw it was midnight, he had finished the book.

When he finished, he only then noticed a few small characters below the main text—(To be continued, please look forward to the second volume).

He stared blankly at this line of small characters in the parentheses, a bad premonition in his heart—the plot seemed to have only just unfolded at this point; how many volumes would it have? Was it going to take a portion of his pocket money every month?

He felt a bit reluctant.

After all, his monthly pocket money wasn't much.

But...

Thinking of the flying swords, magical treasures, and all sorts of inconceivable spells in this book, as well as the legendary Great Vehicle stage experts, and so on, he couldn't bear not to see the subsequent plot.

At the same time, his feeling toward Zhongyuan Yidianhui already had a hint of looking up to a mountain.

He felt that on the road of writing, Zhongyuan Yidianhui had left him far behind; he had never thought of this kind of genre before, yet Zhongyuan Yidianhui had already written it, and written it so brilliantly—could he really catch up to him?

The youth Han Er stared blankly at the ceiling, feeling more and more discouraged the more he thought about it.

……

Zigong, Sichuan.

Guo Xiaosi finished reading the first volume of *I Desire to Become an Immortal*, his brows furrowed, and after a long silence, he took his most recent manuscript out of his desk drawer.

His expression was quite complex.

Because the love story he had recently been writing, imitating *Days of Living with a Flight Attendant*, was only halfway done, and the creative passion that had been so vigorous was now completely gone after finishing *I Desire to Become an Immortal*.

He had originally wanted to chase after Zhongyuan Yidianhui in the pure romance novel track.

He hadn't expected that just as he started to catch up, Zhongyuan Yidianhui had switched tracks and written this... what was it, Xianxia cultivation?

What depressed him the most was—he now wanted to write Xianxia cultivation too, but what about this pure romance novel that was only halfway done? Should he just scrap it like this?

……

San Shao, who was working at the CCTV International website at the time, inadvertently saw news reporting on *I Desire to Become an Immortal* and Zhongyuan Yidianhui online.

His curiosity was piqued.

He quite liked reading novels, but he had only read Wuxia and *Story Monthly* before.

Today, however, he saw a novel defined as "Xianxia cultivation" in the news, and looking at the hype for this *I Desire to Become an Immortal* in the news, the book seemed very good.

His current income was not low, so after getting off work that day, he turned into a bookstore as he passed one, bought a copy of *I Desire to Become an Immortal*, and prepared to take it back to read, just to pass the boring time in the evening.

He didn't yet know that this book was being serialized online.

It was past 1:00 AM that day when he finished reading this book... the first volume.

Looking at the (To be continued, please look forward to the second volume) marked in parentheses below the main text, he realized belatedly that he seemed to have jumped into a big pit, a deep pit.

The plot of this book had clearly only just unfolded a little bit; how long would he have to keep chasing it to finish the whole thing?

Could he see the ending this year?

Probably not; there weren't many months left in the year.

Could he see the ending next year?

He felt that was also a bit uncertain.

"How can there be such a long novel? Even Jin Yong and Gu Long's novels aren't this long..."

He muttered to himself, his heart extremely complex; he was both depressed that he would likely have to chase this book for a long time to finish it, and a little happy that he would be able to read such a brilliant work for a long, long time.