Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 315 Income Exposure
Not only Yu Bing, but everyone in the entire Huizhou Tax Bureau who knew about Cao Sheng's second remittance income was stunned.

It's a staggering 8200 million RMB.

Including the previous remittance of over 2000 million, the total remittances from the United States to Cao Sheng reached over 1 million in just a few days.

Even robbing money isn't this fast.

The bureau leadership ordered that this be kept secret and not leaked, as it was Cao Sheng's personal privacy.

However, the rumors still got out.

However, no one dared to come forward to confirm the news, so it remained just a rumor.

After receiving so much money, Cao Sheng's mindset underwent some changes.

On the one hand, I'm quite happy with the current exchange rate; the USD to CNY exchange rate is as high as 1:8.2, which is very favorable.

On the other hand, although he had previously estimated that the script he sold to Disney and Fox would fetch around $1 million.

But actually receiving so much money, that feeling of sudden wealth, still made him a little unsettled.

I always feel like I have so much money that I don't need to work hard for the rest of my life.

This reminded him of a famous saying by Du Fu: "Great talent is often accompanied by misfortune."

This saying is widely circulated.

It was regarded as a profound truth by many disillusioned writers.

The gist of this saying is: those with outstanding literary talent often have tragic fates.

Many people interpret this statement in reverse: only those who have experienced hardship can write good articles.

There are countless real-world examples as well.

Cao Sheng used to think this statement made a lot of sense, especially in the original timeline. After seeing how the quality of the works written by those industry masters generally declined after they made a fortune, he felt that this statement made even more sense.

After becoming wealthy, many top writers lose their motivation to write as much as they want, since they're not short of money and can enjoy life.

Now that he has so much money in his account, he feels a change in his mindset and becomes very wary, worried that he will lose his motivation from now on.

He's still young; he shouldn't start enjoying life so early.

The golden age of online literature has not yet arrived!
The days of making big money are yet to come.

Having been given a second chance at life, he didn't want to settle for a modest life; he still wanted to leave a significant mark on the history of online literature.

He spent the whole night adjusting his mindset.

He didn't write anything that night.

He simply sat on the second-floor balcony, prepared some cold dishes, poured himself a drink, and drank half a bottle of Moutai.

While drinking, I looked at the night outside and thought about the bits and pieces of my past and present lives.

He thought of the hard times he had as a child, how he didn't even have a sweater, let alone a down jacket or a cotton-padded coat, in winter. During the Spring Festival, when relatives saw him dressed so thinly and asked him if he was cold, he would sniffle and stubbornly say that he wasn't.

I remember when I was a child, every winter, if he said he was cold, my parents would assign him chores and make him do them, saying that only lazy people would freeze to death in winter, and that doing more work would make him feel less cold.

It seems that this is indeed the case; doing more work makes you feel warm and even sweat.

He remembers that many people in the village praised him for being hardworking back then.

Actually, he didn't want to be so diligent. Who isn't lazy?
But it's really cold in winter if you don't work.

Thinking about the past, his heart gradually calmed down.

He knew that as long as he could rediscover the mindset he had when he was going through tough times, he wouldn't drift too far away.

……

Before we knew it, it was the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Cao Sheng packed his luggage, took the New Year's gifts he bought for his parents, and drove back to his hometown to prepare for the Spring Festival.

the same day.

Hong Kong.

Surrounded by his assistants and bodyguards, Jackie Chan walked out of Hong Kong Airport.

As soon as he stepped out of the arrival gate, he was surrounded by a group of reporters, who held out microphones to him and bombarded him with questions.

"Brother Jackie Chan! Brother! Has filming for 'The Hunger Games', in which you starred, been finished? Did you finish filming when you came back this time?"

"Brother! Brother! I heard that you're filming on an island in the Pacific Ocean this time. Is the environment there harsh?"

"Brother! There's a rumor circulating online that Zhongyuan Yidianhui recently sold scripts for over 100 million yuan. Is that true? Are you aware of this news?"

……

Cheng Long was surrounded by the group of reporters and couldn't leave.

Even with a lot of bodyguards around him, he couldn't squeeze out.

Actually, he didn't want to squeeze out either.

After filming on a secluded island for several months, which was practically equivalent to disappearing from the entertainment industry for a few months, he and his agent felt that they should give some media interviews and generate some news, otherwise fans would think that he was no longer popular!
So he listened to the reporters' questions with a smile on his face.

He answered some questions casually.

When a reporter asked about Zhongyuan Yidianhui's recent script sale of over 100 million, he became interested, looked at the reporter, and smiled, "You've come to the right person! As you all know, Zhongyuan Yidianhui and I are very good friends. I helped him contact the Hollywood buyer for his 'Pacific Rim' script, and I'm honored that I also helped him contact the Hollywood companies for the two scripts he recently sold..."

Before he could finish speaking, a reporter eagerly pressed on, "So, did his script really sell for over a hundred million? Are you aware of this, sir?"

"Yeah! He really did sell over 100 million worth of goods recently?"

……

The reporters bombarded him with questions.

Cheng Long raised his hand several times to signal, which finally calmed the scene down a little.

Jackie Chan: "That's right! He did earn over 100 million in script fees recently. Of that, over 2 million came from Disney, and the other 10 million came from Fox. I was the one who introduced him, so I know all about it!"

When talking about this, Jackie Chan seemed to feel very proud.

As the introducer, he did call Cao Sheng a few days ago to ask if the script had been sold.
I heard it was sold, and I couldn't help but ask how much it cost.

Cao Sheng didn't hide the amount from him and just told him casually.

Because he knows that this number might be very large for other celebrities, and they might be jealous.

But Jackie Chan probably wouldn't.

Because Jackie Chan has starred in several Hollywood movies in recent years, and his salary is not low.

What Cao Sheng didn't expect was that Cheng Long, who was returning to Hong Kong for the Lunar New Year, would leak this information as soon as he got off the plane.

Cheng Long had his fill of talking, the reporters got their news, and both sides were satisfied.

That afternoon, numerous media outlets in Hong Kong began to manipulate public sentiment.

News articles related to Cao Sheng are being published one after another.

It has attracted the attention of the Hong Kong public.

For example: "Mainland boy earns over 100 million RMB with his writing! He's called 'Zhongyuan Yidianhui'!"

"After conquering the Hong Kong film industry, Zhongyuan Yidianhui has now conquered Hollywood with its scripts!"

"Two screenplays grossed over 100 million yuan. Which mainland writer can compare?"

"'Little Huang Yi' is growing too fast; the real Huang Yi's income is far behind!" "There's no smoke without fire! Zhongyuan Yidianhui has really made over a hundred million!"

"The literary star moved from Hong Kong to the mainland, and he is now a rising star writer with an impressive talent!"

"The younger generation is surpassing the older generation; the younger generation in the literary world is excessively strong!"

Cheng Long said: "I was the middleman, and he really made over 100 million!"

"A touch of gray in the Central Plains, a new banner for the literary world!"

"How valuable are the diplomas from mainland China's junior colleges? Is the case of 'Zhongyuan Yidianhui' an isolated case?"

……

and many more.

The news articles attracted the attention of countless people in Hong Kong.

Zhang Lin is a top student at Hong Kong University. With the Lunar New Year approaching, he has been relaxing at home, surfing the internet. While browsing, he came across a news article like this.

When he saw the news that two scripts by Zhongyuan Yidianhui had sold for over 100 million RMB, his eyes widened in disbelief.

My feelings are very complicated.

Because he was about the same age as Zhongyuan Yidianhui and was still relying on his family to pay for his studies, he never dreamed that someone his age had already earned so much money through his own talent.

In the past, when he saw news reports of so-called young talents earning a lot in a year, he could scoff at them because he knew that those young talents relied on their family's wealth or connections, or more often than not, both.

Every time he sees news like this, he feels nothing but envy and jealousy.

I feel that if I had a family background like that, I might be more successful.

But the success of Zhongyuan Yidianhui left him with no excuse.

Because Zhongyuan Yidianhui is truly awesome.

It's not about using family money to start a business and get rich.

It wasn't through family connections or by trickery or coercion.

Instead, he earned so much money by writing novels and screenplays with just a pen.

That's real skill!
So hard!
It was so hard it made him panic.

Compared to others, he felt like trash. If there were more peers like him, plus those who relied on their families, how could someone like Zhang Lin ever get ahead?

……

Wang Tian is the owner of a convenience store.

He was over forty, a little overweight, and his life was neither good nor bad. Overall, he was quite satisfied, with a virtuous wife and a handsome son.

I feel quite happy with my life.

He had a habit of reading newspapers while sitting in the convenience store.

This afternoon, he saw a report about Zhongyuan Yidianhui in the newspaper.

Just as he finished reading, his son ran in from outside, shouting, "Dad! Quick, give me some money! I've run out of pocket money."

Before he could finish speaking, his son stretched out his hand, demanding money.

Wang Tian looked at his son's hand, then at the newspaper—the news that Zhongyuan Yidianhui had recently earned over 100 million RMB from two scripts, and then at Zhongyuan Yidianhui's photo in the newspaper… he was even more handsome than his son.

An unnamed anger suddenly flared up in his heart.

He couldn't suppress it even if he wanted to.

Unable to contain himself, he slapped his son's hand and yelled, "You brat! You're such a grown man, and you still ask your old man for money! Look at him! He's better looking than you, and he makes so much money. He earned over a hundred million from just two scripts. And you? All you do is sponge off your parents! Aren't you ashamed?!"

The son of the assailant was completely bewildered, wondering what had gotten into his usually accommodating father. Why was he not only refusing to give him money but also resorting to violence?
……

After get off work, Huang Yifeng, like a walking corpse, wandered through the streets and alleys to his wife's fish stall, ready to help her with the work as usual.

The burdens of life had long since numbed him.

As soon as I sat down at my wife's fish stall, ready to help clean the fish, she said, "I'm not busy right now, I have something to tell you."

Huang Yifeng nodded, grunted, and lowered his head to put on a glove on his left hand, preparing to scale and gut several dead fish. The dead fish meat could be used to make fish balls.

Fish balls sell very well in Hong Kong.

He reached for a dead fish, about to eat it, when he heard his wife say, "Have you seen the news? I saw on the news that a screenwriter in mainland China has recently earned over 100 million RMB from two scripts! Do you have any ideas?"

Huang Yifeng looked up at her in surprise, frowned, and asked, "What does this have to do with me?"

As he spoke, he bent down and began to scale the fish.

His wife replied, "How can it not be a problem? I remember the love letters you wrote to me back then, they were so well-written! And those ghost stories you told me, I thought they were really exciting! Don't you think you could try writing screenplays?"

Huang Yifeng: "..."

His wife's thought process left him speechless.

He looked up at his wife again, and she looked at him expectantly.

He smiled wryly and said, "You're overthinking it! I copied that love letter from a book, and I read the ghost story in a book. Do you think I'm qualified to write them into a script?"

The wife was stunned.

After a long while, she kicked him in a fit of rage, "You liar! You've lied to me for so many years! I always thought you were very talented, and that's why I liked you. It was all a lie! You...you're going to make me so angry!"

……

At that time, Hong Kong's economic level far surpassed that of the mainland.

The living conditions of most Hong Kong people are far superior to those on the mainland.

But every single one of these Hong Kong people was shocked by the script fee charged by Zhongyuan Yidianhui. It's easy to imagine how the mainland public reacted when they saw this news after it was reprinted by the mainland media.

Qidian Headquarters.

Bao Jianfeng and his editors, who hadn't yet gone home for the holidays, were all shocked to see in the news that Cao Sheng had recently earned over 100 million yuan in script fees.

The office area, which was originally quiet because most editors had already gone home for the holidays, became noisy because of this news.

All the editors couldn't help but whisper among themselves, discussing the matter animatedly.

"Wow! Our CEO Cao is just too amazing! He's more capable than our entire company!"

"Go away! What nonsense are you talking about? Can our company's revenue compare to his? Our company hasn't even turned a profit yet, okay?"

"Is President Cao really going to switch careers and become a screenwriter? He's making so much money..."

"Hey! Do you think Mr. Cao will invest more money in our company now that he's made so much money? I never knew our company had such a big investor!"

"Tsk tsk, writing novels to this extent, there's probably no one like it before, right?"

……

Bao Jianfeng, sitting in his office, frowned upon hearing the commotion outside. He instinctively got up and left his office, heading out to the outer work area.

As soon as he appeared, the editors who had been discussing things enthusiastically immediately scattered and returned to their workstations.

But Baojianfeng was still very dissatisfied.

He couldn't help but ask, "What were you all talking about just now? It was so lively! Yes! It's almost Chinese New Year, and many colleagues have already gone home for the holidays, but you haven't gone home yet, have you? It's not appropriate to chat like this during work hours, is it?"

(End of this chapter)