Chapter 92: New Website, 2 Million Yuan Investment

For several days in a row, Cao Sheng didn't see Wei Dongming in class.

Song Chao told him Wei Dongming had moved out of the dorm, apparently renting a place off-campus, and no one in the class seemed to know what Wei Dongming had been doing these past few days.

It wasn't until several days later, at noon in the cafeteria, that Cao Sheng heard a bit about Wei Dongming when Ai Qian sat down across from him with her tray and struck up a conversation.

Ai Qian: "Senior, eating alone again? There are so many beautiful girls on campus—haven't you dated anyone?"

Cao Sheng smiled. "No time for dating."

Ai Qian laughed. "How's that? I heard from Wei Dongming that your classes aren't heavy—you've got plenty of free time, right?"

She paused, before Cao Sheng could reply, and added: "Oh, I get it—you spend all your other time writing, right? Let me think… you're only a sophomore, yet you've already written two novels, over a million characters altogether? Come to think of it, you really don't have time for a romance! Hehe."

Cao Sheng had no interest in this topic, so he followed up on her earlier words: "By the way, has Wei Dongming come to see you these past few days?"

Ai Qian frowned slightly, smiled, and nodded. "Yeah, he came to see me once. Why?"

Cao Sheng obviously wouldn't tell the truth—that he needed Wei Dongming's story to shape a character in his new book.

"Just curious. Can you tell me what happened when he came to you? What did he say?"

At this moment, Cao Sheng seemed a little gossipy.

Ai Qian pursed her lips, glanced around, saw no one was paying attention, then whispered: "A few days ago, early in the morning, I'd just stepped out of the dorm building when he suddenly appeared beside me—I was startled. He had a hat on and a mask over his face. I was hungry, about to go out for breakfast, when he suddenly stopped me and confessed—he said he really liked me, that he'd even fought with all his dorm mates for me. Then he pulled down his mask to show me his face—his nose and cheeks were black and swollen. I took one look and didn't dare look again…"

As Cao Sheng listened to Ai Qian's description, a new inspiration formed in his mind.

He thought: The character based on Wei Dongming must not only fight a group of friends, but also show up with a bruised, swollen face to confess his love to the girl he likes—she's hungry, wants to rush off for breakfast, and dares not even look at his face.

Hmm… this character's identity could be a disciple of some academy or sect, and the girl he loves could be a female disciple of the same academy or sect—that way, he could plausibly fight his entire dorm room.

And…

"Senior? Senior?"

Ai Qian called out to Cao Sheng twice, waving a hand in front of his face.

Cao Sheng snapped back, smiling: "What's up?"

Ai Qian: "Senior, that's not very nice. You asked me about Wei Dongming, then you spaced out. By the way, what were you thinking about just now?"

Her eyes were full of curiosity.

Cao Sheng shook his head. "Nothing. Just thinking of a new plot for my book."

Ai Qian's eyes lit up. "New book? Are you writing another one? When will it be published?"

Cao Sheng: "Not writing yet. Just preparing an outline. Publication's still far off!"

Ai Qian: "Oh, I see. By the way, Senior, you said you rented a place on Binjiang Road—what's the address? When I'm free, can I come over to ask you about writing?"

Cao Sheng politely refused: "That wouldn't be appropriate. Any questions—you can ask me anytime in the cafeteria or at our class."

Ai Qian pursed her lips, puffed out her cheeks, looking thoroughly annoyed.

…

Days passed one by one.

Cao Sheng attended classes during the day and silently typed on his computer until midnight, living a quiet yet fulfilling life.

Occasionally, Huang Qingya would come to him, and they'd satisfy each other's needs.

One was fully mature, the other at the peak of youthful vigor—they were perfectly matched, each a worthy opponent, and every encounter left them thoroughly satisfied.

Very calming.

When Wei Dongming's facial injuries had mostly healed, he finally returned to class.

He always sat far away from Cao Sheng, Pang Yunhai, and the others.

The weather grew colder.

One morning while jogging, Cao Sheng felt the cold wind cut into his lungs like knives, and realized he should stop morning runs.

But he didn't want to stop exercising.

So during the weekend, he bought a set of fitness equipment and placed it in another room on the first floor of his residence.

The first floor had three main rooms: one divided into dining area, bathroom, and washroom; one as the main living room; and the third, formerly a bedroom, now converted into a gym.

He bought seven or eight items: a treadmill, dumbbells, barbells, punching bags, and so on.

While buying the fitness gear, he also bought himself two complete sets of winter clothing—inside and out.

He also bought two sets for his parents.

This had become his habit: whenever he bought new clothes for himself each season, he always remembered to buy two sets for his parents.

He'd developed this habit before his rebirth.

Back then, he was in his thirties or forties, unmarried. Every time he visited home and saw his parents still wearing their old clothes and shoes, he felt that since they had no wife to buy for them, and they themselves wouldn't spend money on new ones, it was his duty to provide for them.

Fortunately, during those years, his income was decent, and his royalty earnings were more than enough for him alone—he gradually formed the habit of buying them clothes.

Now, it seemed he'd brought this habit with him.

…

The quiet days didn't last long before final exams arrived.

This semester was ending.

Cao Sheng prepared for a few days and completed his final exams methodically.

Before heading home for the New Year, he bought a laptop, spending over ten thousand yuan, planning to use it during the holiday to write.

The laptop he'd previously hesitated to buy, deeming it poor value, he now purchased without much thought.

Because his bank account held hundreds of thousands—he no longer cared about this amount.

Besides, bringing a laptop home meant he could earn at least the cost of several laptops during the holiday.

The night before leaving, he tested his new laptop and, while logging into his email, saw an email from Wang Jing on Rongshu Xia.

It read: "Director Cao! I have two good pieces of news for you. First, based on the three design sketches you gave us, our tech team worked overtime and finished the test version of the new website. I'm sending you the URL—please try it out and give us your feedback. Thank you so much, hehe.

Second good news: Boss Zhu recently secured an investment of two million yuan. He asked me to ask you—would you like to invest more to maintain your current equity stake? If you're willing, Boss Zhu will contact you directly."

— Wang Jing."

The two characters "President Cao" at the start of this email made Cao Sheng pause, only then realizing this was Wang Jing's new way of addressing him.

Immediately, his interest shifted to the new website under the banyan tree.

What does the beta version of the webpage look like?

Is the deviation from the design drawings I gave them significant?

Carrying these curiosities, he clicked the URL Wang Jing attached to the email.