Chapter 80: Mei Mei, and Two More Pieces of Good News

"I saw the author at the book signing in Nanjing today, he’s damn handsome! So handsome, and his novel is doing so well—it’s simply against the laws of nature! I’m speechless!"

"The pen name 'Zhongyuan Yidian Hui' is so misleading! It makes people think this guy is plain-looking, but after seeing him in person, I realized he should be called 'Zhongyuan Yidian Shuai'!"

"Zhongyuan Yidian Hui! I like you, do you have a girlfriend? If you do, would you mind changing one? If you don't want to change, would you like to add another?"

"Damn! I’ve already read most of the first volume online, buying this book was a waste! But the later plot is still brilliant; thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem like a waste after all."

"When is the second volume being published? They’ve already published up to the tenth episode in Wanwan, the simplified version of the second volume should be ready anytime, right? Hurry up and release it! What are you dragging your feet for?"

"Big brother! It’s me, Mei Mei. I can’t believe you’ve become a great writer. I saw your photo in the news and was stunned. It’s a pity you didn’t come to Hangzhou for this book signing, otherwise I definitely would have gone to support you. I told my coworkers you’re my cousin, but they didn’t believe me. They said I don’t look like someone who would have a great writer for a cousin. It makes me so mad! Cousin, could you reply to me? I want to show them!"

……

In front of the computer, Cao Sheng was a bit surprised when he saw this book review.

Cousin? Mei Mei?

He did indeed have a cousin named "Mei Mei." After she graduated from junior high, it seemed she went to work in Hangzhou. So, was this post really written by his cousin?

After thinking for a moment, he logged into his author account and replied to Mei Mei: "Take my advice, don't try to prove this to your coworkers, otherwise they will force you to treat them to a meal."

He had the right to speak on this matter.

Before, when his roommates found out his novel had been published, they ganged up on him and forced him to treat them.

After replying to this message, Cao Sheng continued to look at other posts.

Meanwhile.

In an internet cafe in Hangzhou.

Mei Mei, who had posted in her cousin's review section a few minutes ago, refreshed the page again. When she saw Cao Sheng's reply, she was pleasantly surprised, but her brows furrowed.

Her expression was very hesitant.

Reason told her—what her cousin said made sense. If she really proved to her coworkers that he was her cousin, they would probably force her to treat them.

Earning money wasn't easy, and she was a bit reluctant.

But in her heart, she really wanted to prove that she wasn't bragging, and that Zhongyuan Yidian Hui really was her cousin.

Should she show them her cousin's reply or not?

She fell into a dilemma.

……

The next morning, Cao Sheng returned to the school classroom. Just as he sat down in the back row, his former lower-bunk roommate Song Chao came over with books, notebooks, and other items to sit beside him.

Cao Sheng looked over. Song Chao smiled, placed a soft-cover notebook in front of him, and said in a slightly embarrassed, low voice: "Cao Sheng, I’ve written a novel. I’ve already written quite a lot. Could you help me see how it is? Please take a look."

Song Chao had told Cao Sheng before that he wanted to write a novel, and at the time, he said he hoped Cao Sheng could teach him.

Cao Sheng had an impression of this.

It was just that so much time had passed without seeing Song Chao start writing, so Cao Sheng thought Song Chao had given up on the idea of writing a novel.

He didn't expect him to suddenly bring the novel today.

Cao Sheng looked at Song Chao, smiled, and nodded, "Sure, wait a moment."

Cao Sheng opened Song Chao's notebook. Song Chao had a good relationship with him, so he was willing to spend some time looking at what Song Chao had written.

It was clear that Song Chao had written this novel seriously. The handwriting was very clear and not sloppy, unlike Cao Sheng's own handwritten manuscripts back then, which were like dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, with many characters difficult to recognize.

It’s just that……

After reading for a while, Cao Sheng discovered that Song Chao had committed the common mistake of most beginners—the speed of getting to the point was too slow. In the first five or six hundred words, there were no highlights to be seen. More than half of these five or six hundred words were actually environmental descriptions, followed by the protagonist's psychological descriptions.

Was this way of writing okay?

Actually, it was okay.

If Song Chao already had a certain level of fame and a group of die-hard fans, then he could write the beginning of his new book however he wanted; the die-hard fans would have the patience to keep reading.

But did Song Chao have die-hard fans?

However, Cao Sheng thought that there were very few authors writing novels currently, and readers who liked reading novels didn't have many works to choose from, so Song Chao's beginning wasn't that big of a problem.

It wasn't like around 2020, where if a new author couldn't quickly throw out a sufficiently attractive gimmick within the first three to five hundred words of a work, they were basically destined to flop.

Because readers at that time had too many works to choose from.

Each one was less patient than the last.

For most books, if they took one look at the title and weren't interested, their gaze would shift away.

Cao Sheng patiently read two more pages of content, then closed the notebook, turned to Song Chao beside him, and said: "It's written well! But there is still a lot of room for improvement. If you really like writing novels, then keep working hard! Keep it up!"

Actually, he had noticed quite a few problems just now.

For example: the opening plot was too flat, the plot progression was too slow, there was a suspicion of showing off literary talent, a misunderstanding of the definition of writing style, and so on.

Song Chao had committed almost all the mistakes a new author could make.

But Cao Sheng knew what a new author wanted to hear most.

—It was encouragement, it was recognition.

Perhaps his encouragement could make Song Chao persist in writing for a long time.

If he told the truth and pointed out all the mistakes Song Chao made, Song Chao might lose the motivation to continue writing immediately after hearing it.

He had also come from the beginner stage, so he understood the psychology of new authors too well.

"Really? You really think I wrote it well?"

Song Chao was very pleasantly surprised, a bit unable to believe it.

Cao Sheng smiled and nodded.

Song Chao's eyes lit up, "Then do you think my book has a chance of being published?"

Cao Sheng: "……"

After being speechless for a few seconds, Cao Sheng shook his head slightly, "I'm afraid not for now. I just said you still have a lot of room for improvement. If you really have the ambition to publish, try hard to write one hundred thousand words first and see!"

Song Chao had written twenty or thirty pages this time, estimated to be ten or twenty thousand words. Based on Cao Sheng's experience, this word count had already reached a limit for a new author.

Only by breaking through this limit and persisting in writing over one hundred thousand words could one possibly make a living as a web novel writer. If they couldn't break through, then there was nothing more to say.

While Cao Sheng and Song Chao were talking about this, several classmates smiled and gathered around, sitting in the area around Cao Sheng. After the National Day holiday that had just passed, Cao Sheng had taken another week off. The key was that everyone knew he had gone out to hold book signings again in the past week, so everyone had many questions they wanted to ask him.

For example: which cities did he go to for this book signing?

For example: how many copies of "I Wish to Become an Immortal" had been sold in the mainland?

For example: were there any particularly beautiful female fans at this book signing?

And so on.

……

That afternoon, Cao Sheng's class only had two lessons.

School was out after the two lessons were finished, and it was still a long time before dinner.

Cao Sheng rode his bicycle to the vegetable market.

Ever since he bought a house on Binjiang Road, he had bought this bicycle for transportation to make it convenient to go back and forth to school every day.

He went to the vegetable market and bought over a catty of pork ribs. After returning to the courtyard on Binjiang Road, he cleaned the ribs, added water to a clay pot, and placed it on the stove to stew.

After it was stewed, adding some rice noodles would solve his dinner for today.

Evening.

He carried the clay pot of pork rib rice noodles, which was still bubbling, to the study, placed the clay pot in front of the computer, and prepared to go online while eating.

Living here alone for a long time was quite boring.

He gradually developed the habit of going online while eating.

Time passed bit by bit.

When half of the pork rib rice noodles in the clay pot had been eaten, Cao Sheng logged into his email to see if there were any new messages.

It turned out there really were.

It was from Wang Jing again—"Cao Sheng, I have two pieces of good news to tell you. The first is that the 200,000 copies previously reprinted by Huachengchubanshe have sold out again, and they have recently reprinted another 200,000 copies. I heard that the sales of your book have surged again recently. I estimate that it was your recently released 'I Wish to Become an Immortal' that stimulated the sales of that book. By the way, Huachengchubanshe has deposited the prepaid royalties for the recently reprinted 200,000 copies into your account, remember to check it.

The other piece of good news is: the sales of 'I Wish to Become an Immortal' over the past few days have given Changjiang Literature and Art great confidence. They are preparing to strike while the iron is hot and prepare for the publication of the second volume of this book as soon as possible, so give me another 150,000 words of the manuscript! By the way, Changjiang Literature and Art has also deposited the royalties for the first volume into your account, so please pay attention and check that too."