Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 331 Top of the charts on major websites, it's alcohol again!
"Boss Cao!"

Jiang Xiaoshuang's teasing voice came from behind him, and Cao Sheng, who was wiping the sweat off his neck, looked up in surprise.

Upon seeing Jiang Xiaoshuang in her white tracksuit, Cao Sheng smiled and asked, "What are you doing here? When did you arrive?"

Jiang Xiaoshuang walked over and sat down on the bench where he was sitting. She raised her hand to brush her bangs from her forehead, looked at him with a smile, and said, "I was just about to ask you what you were doing here. Isn't this place a bit far from our school? There should be a fitness center near our school, right? What brings you here?"

Actually, she had already found out that the gym was owned by him.

Cao Sheng didn't doubt the truth of her words. Hearing this, he casually pointed to the floor and said, "Didn't you notice the name of the internet cafe downstairs? It's a branch of mine. This fitness center is also an investment of mine. As for you, the TV station is even further away from here, right? What are you doing here?"

Judging from her workout clothes and the sweat stains on her forehead, Cao Sheng guessed that she had just been working out here.

Jiang Xiaoshuang smiled without saying a word.

After a few seconds of silence, she changed the subject again, "Your novels have been doing really well lately. Every time I visit the website where you write your book, I see it at the top of all the bestseller lists. And it seems that your book has broken sales records in mainland China, right?"

This is a fact.

In recent months, his novel "The Legend of the Primordial Era" has been incredibly popular, not only in terms of the number of updates each month, but also in terms of its various achievements.

Not only has it consistently ranked at the top of various ranking lists on the websites it has signed with.

It also ranks first on most pirate websites and various lists.

Pirated websites are despicable.

However, in this era, since all novel websites offer free reading, pirated websites at this time do not actually pose much of a threat to authors. In fact, they can expand the number of readers and increase the fame of authors and their works.

It will only affect the traffic of the official website.

It's worth mentioning that during this period, the data from official websites might not be accurate in determining whether a novel was truly popular.

For example, some works are written by an editor under a pseudonym, who acts as both contestant and judge, arranging many recommendation slots for their own work and managing to push up various data points of their work.

For example, some authors create their own cheats to secretly boost the data of their works over a long period of time, making their works look impressive.

In such cases, the data on pirated websites often appears more authentic.

Because no one would manipulate the data on these websites.

Moreover, these websites generally only repost popular works.

In the past six months or so, Cao Sheng's "The Legend of the Primordial Era" has almost topped the charts on every pirate website.

If these rankings are of little value...

Its sales of simplified Chinese books published in mainland China have successively exceeded one million, one and a half million, and even two million copies, which is of great significance.

When this topic came up, Cao Sheng chuckled and waved his hand, "Just a little bit of empty fame, not worth mentioning!"

Before Jiang Xiaoshuang could reply, he changed the subject, saying, "It's been a while since we last saw each other. How's work going lately? Are you still working as a reporter at the TV station?"

Jiang Xiaoshuang nodded, "Yes, still a reporter."

Cao Sheng: "Did you get a promotion and a raise?"

Jiang Xiaoshuang smiled and nodded slightly, "I guess so! But I definitely can't compare to you. You're Cao Sanlou now!"

"Huh? What third floor?"

Cao Sheng thought he had misheard.

Jiang Xiaoshuang smiled slightly, "Cao Sanlou! Don't you know? Now a lot of people call you Cao Sanlou because they all know you bought three buildings! What? You don't like this nickname?"

Cao Sanlou?
Cao Sheng was both amused and exasperated.

This was truly the first time he had ever heard of this nickname.

“This nickname isn’t very stable!” he said.

Jiang Xiaoshuang asked in confusion, "What do you mean? What do you mean by 'not very stable'?"

Cao Sheng: "When I buy the fourth or fifth building, will 'Cao Sanlou' still be suitable? Will it need to be changed then? Do you think it's not very stable?"

Jiang Xiaoshuang exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? You're going to buy more? Do you really want to be a landlord?"

Cao Sheng put down the towel in his hand, picked up the bottled water next to him, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and laughed: "Money will keep depreciating if it's kept in the bank, so it has to be invested! I don't feel at ease buying anything else, so buying a house is better. If you have the money, I suggest you buy two!"

Having known each other for so long, he suddenly wanted to give her some valuable advice.

Whether she listens or not is up to her.

Jiang Xiaoshuang chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Where would I get the money to buy a house? By the way, do you come here to work out at this time every day?"

Cao Sheng shook his head, "No! Sometimes I come a little earlier, sometimes a little later, it depends on my mood."

Actually, it's not just a matter of mood.

It's also for their own safety.

Ever since news reports revealed that he was worth over 100 million, he has been paying close attention to his personal safety.

For example: try not to go out at night, and if you must go out at night, do not go alone.

For example, if someone comes to the gym at irregular times and leaves at irregular times, it is not easy for others to figure out their daily routine and then target them in a specific way.

and many more.

"Have you had dinner yet? It's been so long since we last met, shall we go out for a couple of drinks?"

Jiang Xiaoshuang made the suggestion with a smile.

Cao Sheng hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Many people know him, but he has very few true friends.

Jiang Xiaoshuang is one of them.

After not seeing her for several months, he wanted to have a meal with her.

"Sure, but it's still early, do you want to practice a little longer?"

He glanced up and gestured towards the gym equipment, then asked her.

Jiang Xiaoshuang chuckled and shook her head. "Forget it, it's so hot. If we practice any longer, we'll both be covered in sweat. When we eat together, we'll both smell each other's sweat. Let's go now. We can drink slowly if we go early."

Cao Sheng frowned. "Isn't there a shower here? You can just take a shower if you're sweaty."

Jiang Xiaoshuang shook her head again, "I didn't bring any change of clothes. Did you? Why don't you take a shower first? I'll wait for you here."

Cao Sheng looked down at the sweat on his body; he had worked up quite a sweat just from hitting the sandbag. "Okay! Wait for me, I'll go take a shower."

"Go ahead! There's no rush."

……

Cao Sheng went to the changing room, took a change of clothes, and took a shower.

A moment later, he and Jiang Xiaoshuang left the gym. As for the dinner the manager had ordered for him, Cao Sheng asked the manager to distribute it to everyone as a working meal before he left.

First floor of the old street.

Cao Sheng and Jiang Xiaoshuang arrived here, ordered a private room on the second floor, ordered a few dishes, and at Jiang Xiaoshuang's suggestion, also ordered half a case of ice-cold beer.

The two chatted as they ate. Jiang Xiaoshuang said, "You're amazing now! Your muscles are so well-developed. I saw you hitting the punching bag, you were very skilled! Have you been practicing for a long time?"

Cao Sheng nodded, "Yeah, just practicing for fun when I have nothing to do."

Jiang Xiaoshuang chuckled, "Really? You have classes every day and you also write novels, and you say you're just practicing for fun? Do you even have that much time?"

Cao Sheng smiled and said, "There's always time if you squeeze it in. Besides, my typing speed is pretty good, and writing novels doesn't actually take up much of my time. As for classes at school... you graduated from our school, so you should know, right? Our school usually has very few classes in the afternoon, mostly just two classes, and sometimes those two classes are physical education. You know how it is with physical education, you just run a couple of laps, and then the teacher lets us have free time. If you're in a bad mood, you can even skip two classes, and nobody will care. It's very relaxed."

Jiang Xiaoshuang smiled and nodded, somewhat wistfully saying, "Yes! What you said reminds me of my school days. Before I graduated, I always looked forward to graduating as soon as possible. Now that I've actually graduated, I'm starting to miss the days of studying in school. Why are we humans so fickle?"

Cao Sheng wanted to laugh, "I'm not nostalgic! I'm still in school!"

Jiang Xiaoshuang looked at him in surprise, "You mean... only I'm despicable? Not you?"

Cao Sheng chuckled and quickly waved his hand, "I didn't say that!"

Jiang Xiaoshuang also chuckled.

Time passes slowly.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened.

Before I knew it, the city lights were already shining brightly outside the window.

Before they knew it, Cao Sheng and Jiang Xiaoshuang had drunk half a case of beer. "Is that enough? Shall we call it a day?"

Cao Sheng shook the last beer bottle on the table and made a suggestion with a smile.

Jiang Xiaoshuang's cheeks were fair with a rosy glow, like a ripe peach, reminding Cao Sheng of the phrase "as beautiful as peach blossoms and plums."

"Okay, shall we go?"

She picked up her handbag and got up to leave. As she stood up, she swayed and quickly grabbed the dining table to steady herself.

Cao Sheng stood up and said with a smile, "You seem to have had a bit too much to drink. Shall I help you?"

"Alright! Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Cao!"

As she spoke, she reached out and placed her hand on his arm in a very natural and generous manner.

With a broad smile, Cao Sheng helped her out of the private room and casually asked, "Why do you keep calling me Boss Cao today? When did I get that nickname?"

"You're the boss now!"

She answered with a light laugh.

Cao Sheng: "What do you mean, 'become a boss'? I only own three internet cafes and a gym. Is that what you call being a boss?"

"How can you say that doesn't count? You already have four stores. By the way, you just said you opened three internet cafes? Where's the other one?"

"Oh, the other one is near No. 1 High School. You know No. 1 High School, right?"

"No. 1 Middle School? I know! My current job requires me to travel around every day; I've practically covered the entire Huizhou region."

……

After leaving the store, Cao Sheng, who had been drinking, didn't want to drive. He helped her out of the old street and to the roadside to wait for a taxi.

The night breeze blew, stirring Jiang Xiaoshuang's clothes and hair, and seemed to stir her heart as well.

Her hazy, drunken eyes gazed in the direction of Huizhou Teachers College. After a while, she looked at Cao Sheng, smiled, and said, "Cao Sheng! I want to go back to my alma mater for a visit. Will you take me there?"

Cao Sheng was a little surprised and turned to look at her, "You're going back to your alma mater like this? You should wait until you're sober!"

Jiang Xiaoshuang shook her head. "No! It's precisely because I'm a little drunk right now that I'm really missing my old life, and I really, really want to go back to my alma mater. I haven't been back for so long. Don't you think walking through the campus of my alma mater under the night sky like this would evoke a special feeling?"

Cao Sheng: "???"

After looking at her for a while, Cao Sheng nodded and said, "Alright! Since you want to go so much, then go ahead!"

Perhaps due to his profession or personality, he also enjoys the night. For example, before his rebirth, he liked to go out for late-night snacks and shopping.

Therefore, Jiang Xiaoshuang felt a special connection when walking on the campus of her alma mater at night, and he thought that made sense.

A moment later, the two of them got into a taxi and went to Huizhou Teachers College.

While dining at the restaurant, Jiang Xiaoshuang's alcohol hadn't yet taken effect.

I felt a little unsteady on my feet when I got out of the taxi.

Cao Sheng advised her to go back and rest, or to find her a hotel to rest, but she refused and insisted that he help her walk around the campus.

She, who is usually quite easy to talk to, became unusually stubborn after drinking.

Cao Sheng had no choice but to comply with her wishes.

He half-supported, half-carried her into the campus. The campus wasn't very big, and there wasn't much to see. At her suggestion, Cao Sheng helped her to the grove of trees next to the school playground.

Sitting here, you can see almost half of the campus.

In front of you is a football field, next to it is a basketball court, and behind the grove of trees are a volleyball court and some cement ping-pong tables.

The teaching building is on the left.

Across from the football field is the library, and behind and next to the library are student dormitories.

Under the cover of night, people were playing ball on both the football field and the basketball court.

Some girls were also watching the boys running on the court from the sidelines.

Cao Sheng himself had no interest in basketball or football. Sometimes he even suspected that these two sports originated from poverty, because it took more than a dozen people to afford one ball, so many people fought over one ball to play with. Then, in order to balance everyone's emotions, basketball rules and football rules were gradually created.

If people who initially enjoyed playing ball weren't so poor that everyone had a ball, these two sports probably wouldn't have developed so rapidly.

He was a little distracted when he suddenly noticed that Jiang Xiaoshuang beside him seemed to have been quiet for a while. Could she have fallen asleep?

Cao Sheng turned to look at her, only to see her dazed, drunken eyes staring blankly into the distance.

He followed her gaze.

I witnessed an appalling scene—on a long stone bench not far away, a girl was sitting on a boy's lap, holding his head and gnawing on it with relish, like a zombie eating a person.

Cao Sheng chuckled, raised his hand to cover Jiang Xiaoshuang's eyes, and whispered, "Be careful not to get a sty!"

Jiang Xiaoshuang pulled his hand away, turned to look at him, stared straight at him, and said softly, "I want to try."

Cao Sheng: "???"

Her words made his heart skip a beat. Jiang Xiaoshuang had jokingly confessed her feelings to him before, and he already knew what she meant to him.

The key point is that he also admires her quite a bit. Not only is she beautiful, but she was also known as the most talented woman in the whole school when they were in school.

But he has a girlfriend.

Although he had cheated on his girlfriend with Joey Wong before, he didn't want to keep cheating.

So, suppressing his impulse, he joked with her, "Want to try it? Would a girlfriend let you try it with her boyfriend?"

Jiang Xiaoshuang didn't say anything, but grabbed his collar with one hand and pulled him towards her. Cao Sheng was a little surprised by her boldness and subconsciously wanted to reach out and block her chest to keep their distance, but as soon as he did, the whole atmosphere changed.

He recoiled as if burned, and before he could apologize, Jiang Xiaoshuang pulled him close and kissed him on the lips.

(End of this chapter)