Chapter 79: Old Classmates at the Book Signing

Nanjing, at the book signing event.

At the front of the long line, Cao Sheng, dressed in a white casual outfit, was skillfully signing books for fans, occasionally looking up to smile and answer a question or two.

This book signing was held in an exhibition hall.

The venue was quite large.

Cao Sheng, who was signing books for fans at the front of the line, was dressed in white as pure as snow, looking dashing and graceful.

The expressions in the eyes of Sun Rong and Wu Mingjing as they looked at Cao Sheng were quite complex.

Sun Rong sighed in a low voice, "Damn! I didn't expect this 'A Speck of Dust in the Central Plains' to really be Cao Sheng. Wu Mingjing! We didn't recognize him wrong, did we?"

Sun Rong and Wu Mingjing were about the same age as Cao Sheng. Wu Mingjing was standing behind Sun Rong; hearing this, she responded in a low voice, "It can't be wrong! It should be him! Although he is even more handsome now than he was in high school and has changed quite a bit, I was his classmate for three years in high school, so I shouldn't be mistaken."

Sun Rong was silent for a moment, then said softly, "When I saw his photo in the newspaper, I didn't dare to believe it. I didn't expect it to really be him! Back in high school, I really couldn't tell; his writing was actually good enough to write a novel. Can you believe it?"

A smile appeared on Wu Mingjing's face, "You were only in the same class as him in your third year of high school, so you might not know that in his first and second years, he took first place in the grade for his Chinese exams."

Sun Rong looked back in surprise, "Really? How come I have no impression of that?"

Wu Mingjing: "That's normal, right? When we were in high school, we took at least hundreds of exams, big and small, didn't we? You weren't in the same class as us back then; would you pay attention to who got first place in every subject for every exam?"

Sun Rong frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded, "That's true! Back then, whenever the results were announced, the teachers usually only told us what the highest score in the grade was for that subject; they usually wouldn't say who got the highest score."

After a pause, he couldn't help but ask again, "Did he really get first in the grade for Chinese?"

With several hundred people in the entire grade, and their high school being the best in the whole county, it was very difficult to get first place in the grade for any subject.

Wu Mingjing nodded, "It's true. Once, after the test papers were handed back, I specifically borrowed his paper to take a look. The dozens of multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions at the beginning were all correct."

Sun Rong was astonished.

The line for signatures moved forward bit by bit.

Finally, it was Sun Rong's turn.

When Cao Sheng saw Sun Rong and Wu Mingjing behind him, he was very surprised.

Because both of them were top students in his class during his third year of high school.

And because they were top students, Cao Sheng still had an impression of them both.

If it had been other classmates, meeting again after twenty or thirty years, he might not have recognized them at a glance.

Cao Sheng smiled and stood up, extending his right hand toward Sun Rong, "Old classmates! Long time no see. I really didn't expect to see you two old classmates here today! Let's shake hands! Don't be in a rush to leave in a bit; it's rare for us to reunite, why don't we have a meal together at noon? My treat."

Sun Rong smiled and shook Cao Sheng's right hand with both of his.

Seeing this, Cao Sheng also placed his left hand on top.

Sun Rong: "Cao Sheng! I never thought that out of so many classmates in our class, you would be the first to make a name for yourself, and so quickly too—we're only in our second year of university! I really couldn't tell before that you had such great writing talent. Alright! Wu Mingjing and I will wait for you on the side; I'm definitely going to have a meal on you, the big spender, this noon!"

Cao Sheng chuckled.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Sun Rong, Cao Sheng looked at Wu Mingjing and extended his right hand to her as well.

"Wu Mingjing! Long time no see, shall we shake hands too?"

His face was full of smiles.

Seeing two old classmates here today, he was indeed in a very good mood.

Wu Mingjing beamed, walked up generously, and took Cao Sheng's right hand. She raised her other hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks slightly flushed, and said, "Sun Rong and I came today just to see if 'A Speck of Dust in the Central Plains' was really you. Now that I've seen you, I'm very happy. Congratulations, Cao Sheng! You should sign for us first; don't keep the other fans behind us waiting. We'll chat after you're done, okay?"

Cao Sheng nodded.

"Alright!"

While the three of them were exchanging pleasantries, the other fans in line were watching curiously, whispering and guessing the relationship between the three.

Those standing at the front of the line could hear their conversation and knew they were old classmates.

Those at the back of the line could only guess.

The signing continued.

After receiving their signed books, Sun Rong and Wu Mingjing went to the side to rest, where staff members brought them mineral water and chairs.

Sun Rong and Wu Mingjing waited patiently.

It wasn't until after one o'clock in the afternoon that this book signing finally ended.

By this time, Sun Rong and Wu Mingjing were already hungry, their stomachs rumbling.

Cao Sheng was also hungry long ago.

After finishing the signing, Cao Sheng spoke briefly with a few staff members and then walked quickly over to Sun Rong and Wu Mingjing.

"Sorry, sorry! Kept you waiting for a long time, you must be hungry, right? Let's go! Let's head to the restaurant first and chat while we eat!"

Cao Sheng greeted them warmly.

In the car on the way to the restaurant.

Cao Sheng asked curiously, "Are you two at the same university now?"

Sun Rong nodded, and Wu Mingjing answered with a smile, "But we're not in the same major. When I first entered university, I was also very surprised to run into Sun Rong on campus."

This reminded Cao Sheng of his high school classmate Tan Lei, who was at the same university as him.

Before he and Tan Lei entered university, neither of them knew the other had applied to the same school. It was only after arriving at the school and running into each other that they realized they were both at the Huizhou Teachers' College.

Cao Sheng was prepared to pay out of his own pocket to treat these two old classmates to a meal.

As it turned out, the bill had already been settled in advance by the staff from the Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House.

While eating together, Cao Sheng chatted a lot with these two old classmates.

They talked about past events in high school and other classmates.

They also talked about their current situations.

They even talked about Tan Lei, who was at the same Huizhou Teachers' College as Cao Sheng.

Of course, they talked most about Cao Sheng's novels; that was a ready-made topic.

As the top students of their class back then, Sun Rong and Wu Mingjing had much better college entrance exam scores than Cao Sheng and were now high-achieving students at Nanjing University.

According to the life trajectory of the original timeline, the three of them would have had no further contact after graduating from high school.

But today, both of them were very happy to see Cao Sheng again, and before leaving, they even took the initiative to suggest exchanging E-mails.

They left, and Cao Sheng's book signing also ended there. That same afternoon, he boarded a passenger plane to Huizhou.

Sitting on the plane, looking at the fluffy white clouds outside the porthole.

Thinking of the intimate state between Sun Rong and Wu Mingjing, Cao Sheng estimated that the two were likely dating; these two old classmates at the same university had naturally started seeing each other.

He couldn't help but think of Tan Lei, who was at the same Huizhou Teachers' College as him.

He also thought of his "first love" Chen Shuyun who had sent him a love letter, and even thought of the wealthy beauty Ren Xueyi who had made him sign his name on her arm, as well as Huang Qingya from the Writers' Association.

He also thought about his own choices.

Tan Lei, Chen Shuyun, and Ren Xueyi, who had come to him for romance, he hadn't accepted a single one.

As for Huang Qingya, who had nothing to do with romance, he hadn't held back.

Regarding this, he had no regrets.

Because he still didn't want to spend his time on dating; he still wanted to concentrate his energy on writing his novels.

As for romance?

He would talk about that when he had achieved success and fame.

Returning to the courtyard on Binjiang Road in Huizhou.

Cao Sheng put down his luggage, filled a kettle with water and put it on the liquefied gas stove to boil, then began to clean. Having not lived here for a week, a layer of floating dust had settled on the floor and furniture.

After cleaning, he brewed a cup of Houkui tea, carried the teacup to the second-floor study, and turned on the computer.

Having visited six cities in a row recently to attend six book signings, and having to take a plane almost every day, he was actually quite exhausted.

But he wanted to hold out until after ten o'clock at night before sleeping, otherwise his sleep schedule would be messed up; if he slept now, he wouldn't be able to fall asleep in the middle of the night.

And in his current state, he couldn't write.

So he logged into Rongshuxia and opened the page for "I Wish to Become an Immortal," wanting to see what the book review section had become during the few days he was holding his book signings.