Chapter 85: Are you interested in buying shares?

According to Song Chao and the others, Wei Dongming has become increasingly ostentatious in the dormitory this semester, his mouth growing ever more vicious; he picks fights with whoever he encounters, a bit like Bao Butong in *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*—no matter what others say, he has to argue against it.

After hearing the explanation from Song Chao and the others, two words popped into Cao Sheng’s mind: "troll."

Having evolved into a troll, Wei Dongming is naturally annoying, and in the last few months, he has had several conflicts with Song Chao and the others in the dormitory.

Therefore, when Wei Dongming just said in the cafeteria that he had found a girlfriend and wanted to treat everyone to a meal, Song Chao and the others didn't want to give him the time of day.

These things never happened in the original timeline.

In the original timeline, Cao Sheng lived in the dormitory throughout his university years.

He never saw Wei Dongming undergo such a change.

Yet now it has turned out this way, which leaves Cao Sheng somewhat puzzled, thinking: Could it be that my not living in the dormitory has had this effect?

With me gone from the dormitory, must a troll be born?

Do I have the effect of sealing away trolls?

He cannot fathom how this butterfly effect came to be.

……

While Cao Sheng remains completely unaware, another butterfly effect is also taking place.

That afternoon, Tan Lei finished her two classes and school was out.

She was holding her books and notes, laughing and chatting with several roommates as they came out of the classroom, when she suddenly heard the class monitor calling from behind: "Tan Lei! Tan Lei, wait a moment!"

Tan Lei and her roommates all stopped and looked back.

The tall class monitor, Meng Gengqing, walked over with a bright smile, nodded to Tan Lei’s roommates, and laughed: "You beauties go ahead! I have something to discuss with Tan Lei privately, bye-bye!"

Tan Lei’s roommates exchanged a few jokes and then all left one after another.

Tan Lei was a bit confused, "Class monitor, what is it?"

Meng Gengqing beckoned to her, signaling for her to follow him.

Carrying her confusion, Tan Lei followed Meng Gengqing to the end of the corridor, where she saw him push open the door to an empty classroom nearby and then beckon for her to come in.

She frowned, feeling a slight sense of wariness; under Meng Gengqing’s urging, she only took one step into the room, ready to exit the classroom at any moment.

"Class monitor, you’re being so mysterious, what exactly is the matter? Can you say it now?"

The handsome-looking Meng Gengqing smiled, reached into his jacket, pulled out an apple, and handed it to Tan Lei. Looking into her eyes with a smile, he said softly: "Tan Lei! This apple is for you. I like you, will you be my girlfriend?"

For an instant, Tan Lei felt dazed, as if this scene had happened before.

What she did not know was—in the original timeline, she had accepted Meng Gengqing’s pursuit during her university years.

After all, Meng Gengqing’s circumstances were not bad; he was tall, considered handsome, and was the class monitor, while Cao Sheng, whom she liked, had never responded to her repeated hints.

In terms of education, Meng Gengqing and she were both undergraduates, while Cao Sheng was only a junior college student.

Therefore, in the original timeline, she had accepted Meng Gengqing’s pursuit.

But at this very moment, looking at the apple Meng Gengqing held out to her, and looking at his sincere yet somewhat nervous expression, the image of Cao Sheng flashed through her mind, along with the reports about Cao Sheng in various newspapers, and the way he looked on television……

Thinking of these things, she felt that although the class monitor Meng Gengqing also looked like a man of talent and was considered an outstanding boy in the class.

She could not summon any feeling of affection for him in her heart.

Her heart was as still as water.

She felt that she still liked Cao Sheng.

Therefore, she opened her mouth and gave Meng Gengqing the "nice guy" card.

"Class monitor, thank you for the apple, you are very good! Really very good, but we are not suitable. You should give this apple to another girl! I have things to do, so I’ll be going first."

Having said that, she waved her hand and turned to leave, without a hint of reluctance.

Meng Gengqing was left standing there alone, offering a bitter smile.

……

Evening.

Huang Qingya arrived at Cao Sheng’s place; Cao Sheng was making hot pot. When they last had a secret meeting, they had agreed to spend Christmas Eve together.

He had stewed a pot of old duck soup in advance today, and then used the old duck soup as a base, preparing to make a dual-flavor hot pot.

While Cao Sheng was chopping vegetables in the kitchen, Huang Qingya stood by, munching on a red apple, saying as she ate: "Hmm, this apple of yours is not bad! It’s delicious, how much did you pay per jin for it?"

She had seen seven or eight large apples in the fruit bowl on the living room coffee table earlier; they were big and red, looking quite tempting, so she had washed one to eat.

The abundance of apples made her have no suspicion that these apples might have been gifts from others.

Because this year, it was popular to give an apple to the person you liked.

Cao Sheng glanced at the apple in her hand and chuckled, "I didn't pay attention to the price when I bought them."

Huang Qingya looked at him with smiling eyes, "Great writers are truly generous! You don't even look at the price when buying things."

Cao Sheng smiled.

A moment later, the hot pot was brought to the dining table.

Cao Sheng heated a bottle of yellow rice wine in boiling water, and he and Huang Qingya began to eat.

His culinary skills weren't exactly top-tier, but with the old duck soup as a base, it would be hard for the hot pot not to be delicious.

Huang Qingya ate with great satisfaction.

Perhaps because she was satisfied with the meal, after dinner, she served him with great dedication.

Completely extinguishing the fire that had been building up in Cao Sheng recently.

That night, she did not leave, spending the night at Cao Sheng’s place for the first time.

The next morning, after breakfast, she put on her trench coat, scarf, and gloves, and as she pushed her bicycle out the door, Cao Sheng, who was seeing her off, suddenly had the thought of buying a car.

He thought that if he had a car, she wouldn't have to brave the cold wind on a bicycle when they went on dates this winter.

Before his rebirth, he had an SUV.

Ever since he had that car, it had been much more convenient for him to go fishing, travel, and go on dates.

Before buying a car, dating a girlfriend was not very convenient; in the summer, he could only choose to date at night and had to fight off mosquitoes, while in the winter, he could only choose to date during the day and had to dress in thick layers.

Because summer days were very hot, and winter nights were very cold.

And the amount in his bank account now was already more than enough to buy a sedan.

In the last two months, his income from royalties had been quite substantial.

Huachengchubanshe had been depositing a share of the royalties for *Living with a Flight Attendant* into his account every month.

For the last two months, 60,000 had been deposited each month.

Changjiang Literature and Art had been depositing even more royalties each month recently.

Because the contract he signed with them had a higher share, and it was a tiered royalty structure; the higher the sales of *I Wish to Become an Immortal*, the higher his royalty percentage would be.

There were also the royalties given to him by Xinchang Publishing every month.

For the past two months, he had submitted three episodes of manuscript to Xinchang Publishing each month, at 10,000 per episode; in the last two months, the royalties from Xinchang alone amounted to 60,000.

In this day and age, writers generally cannot earn much money.

But as the hottest new writer on both sides of the strait, he had earned no less than anyone else.

The number in his bank account was already in the hundreds of thousands.

He could afford a Mercedes, a BMW, or an Audi.

However, his reason reminded him: this money should be used for investment, not for buying a car for enjoyment. Huang Qingya had been riding a bicycle for so many years, she wouldn't mind riding for another two, and besides, blowing in the cold wind in winter and getting more sun in summer could make her body stronger, which was good for her.

Just as he was hesitating about whether to buy a car, two days later, just after Christmas had passed, the people from Rongshuxia arrived.

This time, the station master Zhu Weilian led the team himself.

Upon meeting, as Zhu Weilian shook hands with Cao Sheng, he asked: "Mr. Cao, are you interested in buying shares in our Rongshuxia?"