Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 322 Unexpected Witness
It was noon at the school cafeteria.

Cao Sheng got a meal and sat down at the table to eat. When choosing a seat, he habitually chose a less crowded spot.

But after he had only taken a few bites, two girls sat down opposite him with their trays.

Before he could even look up, he heard a familiar female voice say, "Hey! Cao Sheng! You're so rich now, why are you still eating out yourself? Hehe."

Amidst the soft laughter, another girl also laughed.

Cao Sheng looked up and saw two girls in his undergraduate accounting class—Zhang Yi and Pan Yuhong.

Pan Yuhong's words made him smile.

"Can I ask someone else to eat for me?" he asked with a smile.

The two girls chuckled as they ate and chatted with him.

Pan Yuhong: "Why not? If you invite me to dinner for you, I'd definitely be willing. Zhang Yi, would you be willing?"

Zhang Yi nodded vigorously with a big smile on her face.

Cao Sheng chuckled.

Pan Yuhong then said, "Hey! Cao Sheng, honestly, you're so rich now, why are you still eating at the school cafeteria? There are so many restaurants outside, aren't they much better than the cafeteria? You earn so much money, yet you're reluctant to spend money on food. How will you ever spend all that money?"

Zhang Yi chimed in, "Would you like us to help you spend a little? Hehe."

Cao Sheng smiled and said, "I think the food in the cafeteria is pretty good! I don't care much about food."

Pan Yuhong frowned, somewhat puzzled, "You don't care about food at all? Then why do you work so hard to earn money?"

Zhang Yi also looked at Cao Sheng with a strange expression.

Cao Sheng smiled and said, "Is money only good for buying food? There are many other things you can buy, like houses and cars."

Pan Yuhong and Zhang Yi suddenly realized.

……

After lunch.

Cao Sheng returned to the teacher's dormitory he rented at the school.

Some teachers at the school have already bought houses off-campus, so they rent out the dormitories allocated by the school to students or other teachers.

When Cao Sheng first started attending the school, he rented a two-bedroom apartment.

One bedroom and one living room, with a kitchen and a bathroom.

The area is only about forty square meters.

But it's enough for him to live alone.

There are two main reasons why I rented this place.

Firstly, he was too lazy to drive back and forth between school and the villa every day and didn't want to waste time on the road.

Secondly, he was worried that since he was currently in the limelight, if he went back to the villa every day, he would easily be targeted, and his parents would also be unsafe.

By the way, the villa he recently bought wasn't purchased with his own ID card, but with his father's.

The purpose was to avoid being found out that the villa belonged to him.

Sometimes, he also felt that he was being a little too cautious.

But there was nothing he could do. Perhaps writing too many novels had made his imagination too rich. When he thought about the potential dangers that might arise after the news of his net worth exceeding 100 million spread, his mind naturally conjured up many possibilities.

Therefore, he tries his best to prevent all kinds of dangers.

Temporarily not living with his parents to reduce the risk of their exposure is one of his preventative measures.

He rented a teacher's dormitory on the second floor.

When he arrived at the dormitory entrance, he took out his key and was about to open the door when his female neighbor, whose door was open, came to the door with a bowl of rice in her hand and started talking to him.

"Hey! Cao Sheng! You're so rich, why are you still living here? Why don't you buy a house off campus?"

This female neighbor is the wife of a teacher. She usually stays in the dormitory taking care of the children, doing laundry and cooking, and is considered a full-time housewife.

Not long after Cao Sheng moved in, she heard about Cao Sheng's identity from her husband. And how could her husband know Cao Sheng? That's perfectly normal.

At present, there are very few people in the entire Huizhou Teachers College who do not know Cao Sheng.

The teachers, in particular, almost all recognized Cao Sheng.

Upon hearing this, Cao Sheng looked at her, gave her a polite smile, and casually explained, "Living at school is convenient! As far as I'm concerned, I don't care where I live."

"So what do you care about?"

The woman pressed for more information.

Cao Sheng smiled and casually said, "Food! I'm just a glutton and very interested in food; nothing else matters."

The woman believed him and didn't suspect he was just talking nonsense. She nodded and smiled, "Oh, is that so? Then I'll cook something delicious next time and get you some!"

Cao Sheng: "Okay! Thank you!"

After opening the door, he nodded to her, went into the dormitory, closed the door, and bent down to change his shoes.

After a while.

He sat in front of the computer in the living room with a freshly brewed cup of tea, pulled up the draft of "The Legend of the Primordial Era", and then pulled up the outline and detailed outline, preparing himself for writing.

After moving into this simply furnished teachers' dormitory, he gradually discovered an advantage—the simple environment and simple life here allowed him to calm his mind and easily find the state of mind to write.

The conditions here are much harsher than when he lived in a villa and ate meals carefully prepared by a nanny.

But it was this seemingly difficult life that allowed him to rediscover the writing rhythm he used to find when he was struggling to make ends meet.

That was before his rebirth, when he had only been in the industry for a few years.

At that time, he was renting a room in his hometown county town.

The environment was also very basic back then.

The house was unfinished; the landlord only did basic renovations on the bathroom and kitchen.

In addition, an old wooden bed that is 1.5 meters wide and a set of old tables and chairs were provided.

He lived in that house for three years back then.

It was also the three years he devoted himself to studying and learning online novel writing.

At that time, he stayed in that house for a long time, often not going out for a week. Occasionally he would go to the market or supermarket to buy some food and drinks, and then he could stay at home for another week or so.

Once my monthly royalties arrive, I go out for a late-night snack to treat myself and relax.

For those three years, he had no distracting thoughts.

Most of the time, I'm either reading or writing.

Occasionally, under the influence of hormones, I might think about the pretty girls I know, but it's usually just a fleeting thought.

Now, living in this teachers' dormitory feels like stepping back into those days.

At that time, he had passion, goals, and fighting spirit.

They just lack the skills and experience to write novels.

Therefore, the grades were not very good.

But whenever he thinks back on those three years, he feels that those three years were the time when he was most focused and undistracted.

He even felt that it was precisely because of those three years of focus that he was able to gain a foothold in the industry and develop a mindset that was not afraid of failure.

In the years that followed, his novel writing career fluctuated, sometimes good, sometimes bad, with two or three books failing in a row. But he never despaired, nor did he ever think of giving up. Because whenever he thought back to the achievements and perseverance of those three years, he felt that failing two or three books was nothing. Could things have been any harder than those three years?

If I could get through it back then, why can't I get through it now?
It is this mentality that makes him like an unkillable cockroach, repeatedly failing and dying in the eyes of readers, but always getting back up and strutting around in front of them.

So today, he sat in front of the computer, spent about half an hour preparing, put down his teacup, and started typing.

The clatter of typing, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, was constant, but his eyes never left the document on the computer screen; he was extremely focused.

……

late at night.

After finishing the last chapter of the day, Cao Sheng saved the chapter he had just written, turned off his computer, got up and went to his bedroom to change into a set of sportswear, then changed into a pair of sneakers at the door before opening the door and leaving the dormitory.

We arrived at the school playground not far away.

On the playground under the cover of night, only the dim yellow streetlights illuminate the space.

There were several alumni jogging at night.

Cao Sheng stretched his arms and legs and started his night run.

After moving to the teachers' dormitory, he gradually developed the habit of exercising late at night.

Run a few laps first to warm up.

Then I went to practice my boxing in the grove in front.

When he got tired from training, he would go back to his lodgings, take a hot shower, and fall asleep quickly after getting into bed. He gradually grew to like this rhythm of life.

That evening, after running four laps, he went to the grove of trees by the playground and began practicing martial arts: Tai Chi, Sanda, Baguazhang, and Xingyiquan.

He practiced all four styles of boxing one by one until he became proficient in each one.

This is the result of his daily practice.

Under the night.

His movements were unpredictable, his punches and kicks were swift and powerful, and he was very focused. At first glance, he looked like a young man practicing martial arts in the middle of the night in a martial arts novel.

Tonight, however, this scene was witnessed by a young couple.

Wang Huai mustered up his courage tonight and invited Zhang Xiaoru, a girl from his class, to this place. He wanted to confess his feelings to her. Whether it would work out or not, he didn't care anymore. He just wanted to take advantage of the alcohol to tell her what was on his mind and let her know how he felt.

Yes, in preparation for tonight's confession, and to muster his courage, he specially bought a small bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) and drank it.

At this moment, I felt dizzy.

Zhang Xiaoru frowned when she smelled the alcohol on him.

Wang Huai took a step forward, and she took a step back, afraid that he would take advantage of her drunkenness to touch her inappropriately.

As she backed away, she caught a glimpse of a boy practicing martial arts in the distance. She was surprised; how could someone in this run-down school practice martial arts in the middle of the night?
She stopped and kept glancing at Cao Sheng, who was practicing his boxing in the woods.

But Wang Huai did not see Cao Sheng.

Seeing Zhang Xiaoru stop, he opened his mouth, mustered his courage, and said, "Zhang Xiaoru! I like you! Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Shh!"

Zhang Xiaoru quickly raised her hand and put a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet.

Her gaze was still fixed on Cao Sheng in the woods.

His eyes were full of surprise.

Just as Cao Sheng turned around, the dappled moonlight filtering through the trees shone on his face, allowing Zhang Xiaoru to recognize him.

Does Cao Sheng know martial arts?
This discovery greatly surprised Zhang Xiaoru.

Upon hearing Wang Huai speak, she instinctively silenced him, fearing he might attract Cao Sheng's attention and interrupt Cao Sheng's martial arts practice.

As for why he was afraid of attracting Cao Sheng's attention?
She didn't think much of it; she just didn't want to interrupt Cao Sheng, and she wanted to take a few more glances!

Wang Huai stared blankly at her. She shushed me? Telling me to be quiet? What does that mean?
"Zhang, Zhang Xiaoru! What... what do you mean? You don't want to?"

"Shh! Don't talk!"

Zhang Xiaoru glared at him and warned him in a low voice.

His gaze, however, drifted towards Cao Sheng in the woods.

Wang Huai followed her gaze and finally saw Cao Sheng practicing his boxing.

He couldn't see Cao Sheng's face clearly. After glancing at him twice, he pursed his lips in displeasure and said to Zhang Xiaoru in front of him, "Do you know that lunatic?"

Zhang Xiaoru looked at him in surprise, "What? You mean a lunatic?"

Wang Huai pointed at Cao Sheng and sneered, "What else could that guy be but a lunatic? Why isn't he sleeping in the middle of the night? What's wrong with him? How do you know such a lunatic? I was just confessing my feelings to you! And you...you actually told me to shut up? What? You're afraid I'll affect his lunatic act? You...you don't actually like that lunatic, do you?"

In the woods, Cao Sheng, who heard voices not far away, stopped his fist and stood up, turning around to look at them coldly.

Zhang Xiaoru looked at Wang Huai in surprise, then suddenly chuckled and shook her head, saying, "You're awesome! You're amazing! You actually said Cao Sheng is a lunatic, Wang Huai! I think you're the lunatic! Anyway, it's getting late, I'm going back to rest, you should go back and rest early too! Bye-bye!"

With that, she turned and walked away.

Wang Huai was stunned for a moment, then quickly grabbed her arm and asked in surprise, "What did you say? Cao Sheng? You mean that guy is Cao Sheng?"

At this moment, Cao Sheng emerged from the woods and, upon hearing this, coldly replied, "Who just called me a lunatic? Was it you?"

Wang Huai looked over in surprise.

As Cao Sheng emerged from the woods, his face was illuminated by the streetlights outside. Wang Huai saw him clearly and immediately shuddered, a tingling sensation spreading from his head to his toes.

He stammered, "No! No! I didn't! You, you misheard, senior! I was just, I was just confessing my feelings! Really, I didn't insult you."

As he spoke, he noticed Zhang Xiaoru's disdainful gaze.

His face flushed instantly, and he lowered his head in shame, unable to look her in the eye any longer.

Cao Sheng glanced at the two of them coldly, snorted, and turned to leave.

He clearly heard that guy say he was crazy.

However, since that guy didn't dare to admit it and looked cowardly, he couldn't be bothered to argue with him.

He crossed the playground and walked towards the teachers' dormitory building.

Just as I crossed the playground, I heard footsteps behind me, along with the girl's voice, "Senior! Senior!"

Cao Sheng stopped and looked back at her with a questioning gaze.

Zhang Xiaoru ran up to him with a big smile, her face flushed and her bright eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Senior! You know kung fu? What kind of kung fu were you practicing just now? By the way, you don't practice kung fu there every night, do you?"

Cao Sheng looked at her face carefully, confirming that he didn't recognize her. He frowned slightly and asked, "May I ask who you are?"

Zhang Xiaoru quickly introduced herself, "Oh, right! Senior, my surname is Zhang, and my name is Zhang Xiaoru. I'm a sophomore in the tourism class and also a member of the student council. You can call me Xiao Zhang or Xiaoru, whatever you prefer."

Cao Sheng frowned as he looked at her, wondering what she wanted to do by calling him back.

"Oh, hello! May I ask what you need me for?"

Zhang Xiaoru still had a smile on her face. "Hehe, actually it's nothing. I was just very surprised that you know kung fu. I'm very curious, so I wanted to ask you, senior, could you satisfy my curiosity?"

Cao Sheng: "..."

In the past two years, quite a few girls at school have stopped him from confessing their feelings, but this is the first time he has encountered a girl who stopped him out of curiosity.

After a moment of silence, Cao Sheng forced a smile and said, "It's just a little farming skill. I hope you can keep it a secret, okay?"

Zhang Xiaoru nodded repeatedly, readily agreeing, "Sure, sure! Don't worry, senior, I'll absolutely keep it a secret. However, it seems my classmate Wang Huai saw it too, so I doubt he'll keep it a secret for you..."

(End of this chapter)