Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 335 "The Legend of Xiao Qiao" and "The Legend of Erlang Shen"

Urged on by her, Cao Sheng sat down at the computer and looked at the outline of the new book she had brought.

She hasn't come to see him for a while now; it seems she's been spending her time preparing her new book.

If she were just a friend, he would appreciate her dedication to writing. But since she's his girlfriend and her mind is more on her writing than on him, the feeling isn't as good.

Cao Sheng, feeling somewhat conflicted, didn't say anything, but instead squinted at the outline she had prepared.

The outline is titled: The Story of Xiao Qiao

Type: History

The synopsis is: She is a nationally renowned writer, yet of average appearance. She is Xiao Qiao, a famous beauty from the Three Kingdoms period of Eastern Wu, whose heart belongs only to her love for Zhou Yu.

Upon waking up, she found herself transported to the body of Xiao Qiao in the Three Kingdoms period, possessing a stunningly beautiful face. Zhou Yu was in love with her, Cao Cao of Cao Wei also desired her, and many men in the world coveted her, including her brother-in-law Sun Ce.

She comes from the modern world and wants to take control of her own destiny. Can she do so?

Look at this unique Xiao Qiao!

……

In front of the computer.

Upon seeing this, Cao Sheng glanced at Huang Qingya beside him.

He felt that Huang Qingya was fantasizing that she had transmigrated into Xiao Qiao's body, because the female protagonist's identity before transmigrating—a nationally renowned writer—was somewhat similar to Huang Qingya's.

As for her plain appearance... perhaps it was Huang Qingya's self-deprecation, or perhaps it was to give readers a better sense of identification. After all, most of the girls who read novels are plain-looking. Perhaps Huang Qingya felt that she was plain-looking compared to Xiao Qiao.

Why are you looking at me like that? Read it properly! Finish reading and give me your feedback!

Huang Qingya urged him on.

Cao Sheng hummed in agreement and continued reading her outline.

In her outline, he did see a different Xiao Qiao.

She saw through Zhou Yu's love for her; it wasn't as genuine as she thought. In Zhou Yu's heart, his true ambition was to lead the Eastern Wu army to conquer the world and leave his mark on history.

They also saw through Sun Ce's lustful nature.

Sun Ce, her brother-in-law, was always lustful towards her and would try to take advantage of her whenever he had the chance. In order to have a chance to make a move on her, he deliberately entrusted Zhou Yu with important tasks, keeping Zhou Yu busy with military affairs and so that he had little chance to go home and meet her all year round.

Although her older sister Da Qiao was also very beautiful, she always put Sun Ce first. Whatever Sun Ce said, Da Qiao would listen to him and repeatedly create opportunities for Sun Ce to get close to her.

The most cunning was Sun Quan.

Sun Quan was outwardly polite to her, but in order to win her over, he first arranged for an assassin to kill his elder brother Sun Ce, plotting to seize power and become the ruler of Eastern Wu.

She later caused Zhou Yu's death, leaving Xiao Qiao a widow.

Even Prime Minister Cao, who had only seen her portrait, couldn't forget her. He not only built the Bronze Sparrow Terrace for her, but also led hundreds of thousands of troops south to launch the Battle of Red Cliffs.

While these men were still obsessed with her, she transmigrated into Xiao Qiao's body and gradually built up a huge business, earning countless riches. With this money, she bribed a group of civil and military officials and secretly raised three thousand assassins.

In order to bring her business to Jingzhou, she acted as a matchmaker for Liu Bei and Sun Shangxiang, and from then on, Liu Bei's business in Jingzhou opened its doors to her.

In order to open up the market in Yizhou, she bribed Zhang Song, the governor of Yizhou, to present Liu Bei with a map of the situation in Xichuan, giving Liu Bei the opportunity to obtain Yizhou.

……

This outline is very rough.

The total word count is around two thousand words.

Cao Sheng remained silent.

This far-fetched plot made him feel that the heroes, civil and military officials of the Three Kingdoms period were all sycophants.

Whatever the motivation, it was all for Xiao Qiao.

After reading this outline, Cao Sheng really wanted to ask: Are all these men so thirsty?

"Have you finished reading?"

Seeing Cao Sheng lower his head in thought, Huang Qingya asked him a question.

Cao Sheng turned to look at her and hummed in agreement.

Huang Qingya: "What do you think of this outline? Is it okay? What parts need to be revised? Please give me some feedback!"

Looking at her expectant expression, Cao Sheng suddenly wanted to see if her new book would flop, and wonder if she would still be so enthusiastic about writing after it did.

Perhaps, once her book flops, her ambition will wane?
With this in mind, he gave her a bad idea.

"Based on the plot style of your outline, I think we can add some more plot elements."

Huang Qingya's eyes lit up. "For example? Tell me quickly!"

Cao Sheng: "I suggest you continue to use your imagination and be a little bolder. For example, since Sun Ce, Sun Quan, and Zhou Yu all like Xiao Qiao, why can't Sun Jian like her too? And Liu Biao and Huang Zu of Jingzhou can also like her! I think we can set it up so that all these people like Xiao Qiao, and then Xiao Qiao, in order to protect herself, instigates Sun Jian to attack Huang Zu, and finally dies under Huang Zu's arrow. Once Sun Jian dies, Xiao Qiao is temporarily safe."

Once Xiao Qiao discovers that her brother-in-law Sun Ce also harbors feelings for her, she will then incite Sun Quan, who secretly loves her, to arrange for assassins to kill Sun Ce.

Huang Qingya was stunned.

"This is too outrageous! Sun Jian is much older than Xiao Qiao, isn't he? And Liu Biao and Huang Zu are also much older than her, right? How could they possibly like her? The age gap is too big."

Cao Sheng shook his head: "When it comes to love, don't be too rigid about gender or age. Don't you know that in ancient times, old men in their fifties and sixties liked teenage girls? Besides, this is a novel. As long as you dare to write it, readers will dare to read it."

Huang Qingya blinked, then asked hesitantly, "Really? You really think it'll work if I write it like this?"

Cao Sheng: "I think it's a good idea."

Huang Qingya nodded and asked, "Anything else? Do you have any other suggestions? If so, please tell me quickly!"

Cao Sheng thought for a moment, "Since your Xiao Qiao is a time traveler, she can't be too soft-hearted. I think we can add some plot points about her being ruthless and selfish."

Huang Qingya: "For example? How do you cultivate such a personality?"

Cao Sheng: "For example, in order to divert trouble and temporarily dispel Cao Cao's thoughts about her, she tried to send a portrait of Zhang Xiu's aunt to Cao Cao, so that Cao Cao would launch the Battle of Wancheng in order to get Zhang Xiu's aunt. Well, before this plot, we can lay the groundwork, for example, arrange for Zhang Xiu to be rude to her, or for Zhang Xiu's uncle to be rude to her, so that she would hold a grudge and send the portrait of Zhang Xiu's aunt to Cao Cao in order to take revenge, thus triggering the Battle of Wancheng. Zhang Xiu's uncle was cuckolded by Cao Cao. In anger, Zhang Xiu surrendered and then raised an army again, almost killing Cao Cao and causing Cao Cao to lose his eldest son Cao Ang and his general Dian Wei."

Huang Qingya listened with a look of surprise on her face.

After Cao Sheng finished speaking, she asked in surprise, "Do you know so much about the history of the Three Kingdoms? You can recite all these characters and plots off the top of your head? Do you know how much research I've done recently to write this outline? Lately, I've been researching, watching the TV series 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms,' and reading 'Records of the Three Kingdoms.' I'm dizzy from all the research. You've never written a novel about the Three Kingdoms before, have you? How do you know so much about it?"

Cao Sheng smiled.

He casually remarked, "I've read Romance of the Three Kingdoms many times."

She said "Oh," looked at him, thought for a moment, and suddenly asked, "What about Ma Chao? Ma Chao killed Cao Cao so badly that he cut off his beard and abandoned his robe. Do you have any way to involve Xiao Qiao in this historical story? For example, that this war happened because of Xiao Qiao?"

Is she trying to have "Xiao Qiao" capture all the famous figures from the Three Kingdoms period?
Cao Sheng thought for a moment and smiled, "Since you can arrange for Xiao Qiao to act as matchmaker for Liu Bei and Sun Shangxiang to open up the JZ market, and you can arrange for Zhang Song to present Liu Bei with a map of Xichuan to open up the Yizhou market, why can't you arrange for Xiao Qiao to instigate Cao Cao to kill Ma Chao's father, Ma Teng, to open up the Xiliang market? And then have Ma Chao lead the Xiliang army to attack Cao Cao?" He paused, and before she could reply, Cao Sheng continued, "Or, to get revenge on Cao Cao, after Xiao Qiao has learned about Ma Chao's personality, martial arts skills, and the strength of the Xiliang army, she could deliberately instigate Cao Sheng to kill Ma Teng, thereby provoking Ma Chao's anger. She wants to use Ma Chao to kill Cao Cao or weaken his strength. What do you think?"

"You really thought of that? This...this seems like it could actually work!"

Huang Qingya was surprised by Cao Sheng once again.

This storyline sounds a bit far-fetched.

However, the outline she prepared beforehand was essentially an attempt to force Xiao Qiao into having more scenes. Otherwise, how could Xiao Qiao's charm as the female lead be highlighted in the Three Kingdoms period?
You can fall in love anywhere.

Since the female protagonist of this book is set in the Three Kingdoms period, she should be associated with those historical figures.

She felt the best arrangement was to let Xiao Qiao participate in the major events of the Three Kingdoms period and play an important role.

……

Huang Qingya is gone.

Cao Sheng returned to his study, sat in front of the computer, and looked at the completed outline of "The Story of Xiao Qiao." As he looked, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Huang Qingya had already incorporated all his suggestions into the outline, made a copy and took it with her, and kept the other copy on her computer.

From his aesthetic point of view, this outline is incredibly melodramatic.

But as he read on, he suddenly realized that if she wrote this story down, it might actually be loved by many female readers.

Because female readers' tastes are definitely different from male readers' tastes.

He remembered that there was a time in the original timeline when TV series and movies with strong female protagonists were very popular, especially TV series.

The female lead is the main character throughout the entire TV series.

In TV dramas, the male lead, second male lead, third male lead, etc., are almost all simps for the female lead.

Cao Sheng couldn't stand watching those TV dramas at all; he found them disgusting.

But many female viewers really liked it and enjoyed watching it.

Influenced by these TV dramas, many young women have become arrogant, hoping that every man around them can be an asset. Some women have even started to consciously cultivate "simps" (men who fawn over women), hoping to continuously gain benefits from them.

However, Cao Sheng did not regret giving Huang Qingya the suggestions he had made on the outline.

If her new book becomes a hit, it won't be a loss for him.

It simply means she might become more enthusiastic about writing in the future.

……

The weather is getting hotter and hotter.

Time passes day by day.

Cao Sheng went out even less often.

Every morning, I still research and write the outline of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," and in the afternoon and evening, I write "The Romance of the Primordial Era."

Sometimes, I would call Zhao Wenzhuo, who was in Hong Kong, to ask him for advice on martial arts.

Occasionally, when the mood strikes, I'll try writing the beginning of a chapter of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" or a fight scene to get a feel for it.

As the weather got hotter, one afternoon he suddenly thought of building a swimming pool on the rooftop of the villa.

Having plenty of money, he quickly put this into action.

He moved back to the school's teachers' dormitory and entrusted the task of finding someone to build a swimming pool to his assistant, Cui Xinyu.

Thinking that after a while, when I go back to the villa, I can swim in the rooftop pool when it gets hot, and the hot weather won't seem so hot anymore.

He felt that there were several advantages to building the swimming pool on the rooftop.

First, the blazing sun will heat up the pool water, so you won't catch a cold while swimming.

Secondly, when swimming on the rooftop, especially when doing backstroke, you can see the blue sky and white clouds, and that exhilarating feeling is very similar to when you used to swim backstroke in the river as a child.

Secondly, the rooftop is quiet and the air is fresh; after swimming, you can also sunbathe.

With these thoughts in mind, he had an idea and incorporated this plot into the outline of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts".

To give one of the villains such a comfortable life.

This makes readers envious of the villain's carefree life.

This way, when the protagonist kills the villain, it should make the reader feel even more satisfied.

……

During his time in the teachers' dormitory, Cao Sheng would occasionally log onto the Qidian website and discover that the book "Tales of the Heavenly Demon God" was currently very popular on Qidian.

Previously, it was only at the top of the new book charts.

By the end of July, the book had appeared on both the click and recommendation lists on the homepage of Qidian.com.

Furthermore, its ranking is getting higher and higher.

In addition, Cao Sheng also noticed another very popular new book - "The Legend of Erlang Shen".

The author's pen name is "The Schoolteacher".

This new book first appeared on the Qidian New Book Chart, and soon after, it topped the chart.

Shortly after "Tales of the Heavenly Demon" topped the Qidian click and recommendation charts, "The Legend of Erlang Shen" also entered the click and recommendation charts.

The popularity of "Tales of the Demon God" was within Cao Sheng's expectations.

The popularity of "The Legend of Erlang Shen" was beyond Cao Sheng's expectations.

Neither this book nor the pen name "Teacher" appeared in Cao Sheng's memories before his rebirth.

At least he doesn't remember that there was ever a very popular "teacher" on Qidian.

Out of curiosity, he opened the book and read more than ten chapters.

I was surprised to find that this author has a deep foundation in writing, a rich vocabulary, and a very rigorous writing style, which is quite different from the writing style of most online writers.

It looks a bit like the writing style of traditional writers.

The plot of "The Legend of Erlang Shen" progresses very steadily. After reading more than ten chapters, although the plot has not advanced much, it has made Cao Sheng want to continue reading.

Both the writing style and the plot impressed Cao Sheng, who felt the book was excellent and that the author was very talented.

(End of this chapter)