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Chapter 366 concludes "The Legend of the Primordial Era".

After that day, with the official release of "The Wishing Tree" just around the corner, not only did director Mak Yiu-fai miss out on the promotional work, but screenwriter Chong Man-keung also went absent.

No matter how much the investors and the publishing company urged them to participate in the promotional work, the two of them said they were sick and couldn't go.

Fortunately, this film also has another screenwriter, Chan Kiu-ying, as well as producer Chan Mok-sing, and stars Chan Koon-hei, Simon Yam, and others.

Otherwise, no one would do the publicity work for this movie.

However, the director's absence struck the other key members of the production team as odd.

Logically speaking, this should be a good opportunity for the director to promote himself. After working so hard to make a movie, it's time to reap the rewards, but the director's absence is strange to anyone.

……

"Mr. Cao, there's something I'd like to tell you. I know a very talented screenwriter who has written several excellent crime drama scripts. So, I'd like to ask him to help me write the script for 'Infernal Affairs.' What do you think?"

One evening, Mai Yaohui called Cao Sheng to talk about this.

After listening, Cao Sheng frowned slightly. "Which screenwriter are you talking about?"

Mak Yau-fai: "Oh, his name is Chong Man-keung. He wrote 'Sunshine Police,' 'Gen-X Cops 2,' and 'Tokyo Raiders.' All three scripts were made into movies and released. I wonder if you've heard of him, Mr. Cao? He really knows police and gangster films. If he had helped, the script for 'Infernal Affairs' would definitely have been even more exciting. I can guarantee that!"

Cao Sheng: "???"

Cao Sheng was very surprised.

He didn't approach Felix Chong for the script of "Infernal Affairs," but unexpectedly, Mak Yiu-fai asked Felix Chong to help write the script, just like in the original timeline.

Is this the inertia of spacetime?

Or is it that Mak Yiu-fai and Chong Man-keung had frequent contact? Therefore, it would have been difficult for Mak Yiu-fai to hide the script for "Infernal Affairs" from Chong Man-keung?
Cao Sheng had no idea.

But he felt that this should also be considered a good thing.

With Zhuang Wenqiang's help, Cao Sheng needed to worry even less about the script for "Infernal Affairs." Even if he didn't exert any effort, Mai Yaohui and Zhuang Wenqiang could still write a very good script.

Thinking about it carefully, he practically got the script for "Infernal Affairs" for free.

After they painstakingly wrote the script, the first screenwriter was still Cao.

This is such a good thing, it's simply outrageous.

If the authors whose works he stole could all work this hard, how easy and wonderful would Cao's life be?
“Okay! Since you put it that way, Mr. Mak, let’s ask him to co-write ‘Infernal Affairs’! You can tell him that once the script is finished, he can also be credited.”

Cao Sheng's words greatly surprised and delighted Mai Yaohui.

Mai Yaohui was initially hesitant to bring up the issue of authorship, but Cao Shengxian did bring it up first.

"Okay! Okay! Thank you, Mr. Cao! Thank you for giving us this opportunity. We will do our best to write the first draft of this script."

Cao Sheng smiled and said, "You're too kind! It's you two who have helped me. Next time I come to Hong Kong, I'll definitely treat you to a couple of drinks!"

Mai Yaohui: "Great! Great! We'll drink until we drop, but we should treat you!"

……

After this phone call, Cao Sheng felt more at ease with the script for "Infernal Affairs".

With both original scriptwriters in place, why should he, a reborn individual, need to worry about anything?
He focused his energy on finishing the book "The Legend of the Primordial Era".

He writes one chapter every noon and one or two chapters every evening. In this era, his word count surpasses that of most full-time writers.

Of course, there are very few full-time writers in this era.

Only those writers who are already famous and have no trouble finding publishers to publish their new books dare to write full-time.

Time flies, and it's already the end of October.

Cao Sheng finally finished writing the last chapter of "The Legend of the Primordial Era".

On the night he finished writing, he didn't finish the last chapter until after 1 a.m.

Actually, the last chapter is not very long, only a little over three thousand words.

At his usual pace, he could finish in two hours.

But tonight he thought about it for a long time before he started writing. Before he started, he went through the whole plot of the book in his mind again and again.

After careful consideration, are there any unfilled holes that have been dug?
Should a certain character be given some explanation in the final chapter?
and many more.

Every aspect needs to be considered.

After finishing the last chapter, even though it was past 1 a.m., he was not sleepy. He sat in front of the computer for a long time, squinting as he recalled the plot of "The Legend of the Primordial Era", especially the characters in the book.

What are the shortcomings of this book in terms of its writing?
Have it?

There must be.

When any book is finally finished, it will differ somewhat from what the author initially envisioned.

Definitely.

No author can avoid this situation.

This is not something that can be avoided by one's own subjective will.

It's a very simple principle: just like painting, when you hold paper and pen and face a model, every painter hopes to paint a picture that looks very much like the model, lifelike.

But how many artists can actually achieve this goal?
This isn't a question of whether or not we want to, but rather whether or not we can do it.

The same applies to writing novels.

Every writer imagines their new book to be amazing, otherwise they wouldn't write it. But because of their limited abilities, as they write, the quality of their work deviates further and further from what they envision.

As Cao Sheng finished writing "The Legend of the Primordial Era," there were many parts that he regretted.

For example, the opening plot was a bit slow and didn't immediately get into the exciting part.

For example, in order to make the plot more compact, he compressed the length of the entire text. Although the padded plot was removed, the whole text also seemed a bit dry, and the characterization of many characters seemed a bit stereotypical and not vivid enough.

For example, to improve the pacing of the work, he focused closely on the main plot, cutting many subplots. While the overall enjoyment was good, the lack of subplots reduced the book's imaginative scope. It's like painting: an overly realistic style lacks negative space, leaving less room for the viewer's imagination.

Cao Sheng sat in front of the computer for more than an hour, until almost 3 a.m., before he got up to take a shower and prepare to rest.

Reason told him that there is no perfect work. No matter how you write it, there will be imperfections. Moreover, "The Legend of the Primordial Era" is already finished. He can go back and learn from the lessons of this book, but he cannot stay immersed in its afterglow forever.

—It's time to clear your mind and detach yourself from the plot of this book.

This is his habit after he finishes writing each book.

Clear your mind, treat yourself like a novice who has never written anything before, and start preparing for your new book with a light heart.

Because he stayed up too late that night, he skipped class the next morning.

I slept until after 10 a.m. before getting up to wash up.

I ate lunch at the cafeteria as usual.

While we were eating, a girl suddenly sat down across from us.

"Senior! Long time no see! How have you been lately?"

Wang Mei's voice reached Cao Sheng's ears.

Cao Sheng looked up and saw Wang Mei's smiling face. Her smile was sweet, her eyes were bright, and she was wearing a simple white T-shirt. What caught Cao Sheng's eye was the thin red ribbon on both sides of her neck.

Is this the style of her underwear? Cao Sheng recognized it at a glance. When he was young, whenever he saw a beautiful woman wearing this style, and saw the knot of the thin strip of fabric tied behind their fair necks, he always had an urge to tear that knot open.

Of course, the difference between a decent person and a rogue in this kind of thing is that a rogue will reach out and pull if he wants to, while Cao Sheng, although he had thought about it many times, had never pulled it apart unless they agreed.

"I'm still the same as always. How about you? Are you adjusting well to life here?"

Cao Sheng shifted his gaze to her eyes and asked.

As a freshman this year, she must be experiencing some difficulties adjusting to her studies and daily life.

Wang Mei still had a big smile on her face. "I'm fine! I can adapt to anywhere. The only thing I'm not used to is that a lot of the dishes here are a bit spicy, especially on such a hot day. Let alone eating them, just smelling the chili peppers makes my scalp sweat. By the way, senior, how many years have you been here? Have you gotten used to the food here?"

The food in Huizhou is indeed spicier than the food in their hometown.

This is a fact.

When Cao Sheng first arrived, he also couldn't get used to the food.

But now I'm used to it.

When this topic came up, Cao Sheng subconsciously looked at the food on her plate.

The meal was quite light: stir-fried mushrooms and greens, stir-fried celery and dried tofu, stir-fried lotus root slices, and a small bowl of complimentary seaweed and egg soup.

Cao Sheng guessed that she deliberately chose to serve non-spicy dishes.

But what he noticed at that moment was how cheap her food was.

There wasn't a single meat dish.

They're all the cheapest.

"You eat so vegetarian food? Is it enough nutrition?"

When Cao Sheng asked that question, he began to understand why she was so slender.

With food like that, I doubt anyone but a pig could gain weight.

Wang Mei smiled, lowered her head and shoveled a couple of mouthfuls of rice into her mouth, saying as she ate, "Eating vegetarian is healthy! Isn't vegetarianism very popular now? Besides, I also like to eat meat, hehe."

is it?

Cao Sheng recalled the last time he invited her and Tan Yu to dinner, she didn't seem to eat vegetarian food at all; that night, she ate quite a bit of every meat dish.

Cao Sheng guessed that her monthly living expenses were probably not much.

He had also lived frugally back then, so he naturally knew the reason why people said they didn't like eating meat.

"I haven't had much of an appetite these past couple of days, and I suddenly feel like eating something vegetarian. Can we have something different?"

Cao Sheng smiled and made the suggestion.

His plate was full of meat dishes: twice-cooked pork, beef stew with potatoes, and braised ribbonfish. The only vegetarian dish was a cold shredded dried tofu salad.

Wang Mei looked at him in surprise, then at the food on his plate.

"Then why did you order so many meat dishes?"

She asked.

Cao Sheng: "When I was getting the food, I got distracted and habitually ordered a few meat dishes. When I came to my senses, the food was already served. I didn't want to waste it, so I ate it in a very painful way. Can you help me?"

Wang Mei looked at him with some skepticism, then smiled and nodded, "Sure! What dish would you like to change to? Go ahead and pick!"

Cao Sheng took some of the meat from his plate and some vegetables from hers.

Perhaps because he has never received much help from others growing up, he rarely thinks of helping anyone on his own initiative. He only lends a hand when he encounters someone in need.

Just like after he was reborn and became rich, his hometown village wanted to build a road and asked him for funding, which he agreed to. But if no one in the village asked him for money, he probably wouldn't have thought of building a road for the village.

As for Wang Mei in front of us?
Although Cao Sheng could tell that she didn't have much money for living expenses, he only wanted to get her some meat to eat a better meal this time. As for the future? He had no intention of helping her.

He didn't feel he had a responsibility to help her.

To reiterate—he has always been a believer in the Taoist philosophy of non-action.

Wang Mei, who had just said she didn't like eating meat, was now eating with her mouth full of oil, looking very happy.

Cao Sheng smiled and continued eating with his head down.

While they were eating, Wang Mei suddenly said, "Senior! I recently wrote the beginning of a novel, and I've already written over 30,000 words. Could you take a look at it when you have some free time? If you could give me some feedback, that would be great. Is that alright, senior?"

Did she also write the beginning of a novel?
Cao Sheng looked up at her, recalling the beginning of the novel Tan Yu had asked him to read a few days ago.

He still remembered the name of Tan Yu's novel—"Our Love".

He still remembered the introduction and pen name at the beginning of that novel.

That was clearly a love letter disguised as a novel.

So, when Cao Sheng heard Wang Mei say that she had also written the beginning of a novel, he began to wonder if what she wrote was similar to what Tan Yu had written.

However, she just said that the beginning she had written was already more than 30,000 words, which surprised him a bit.

It's not easy for a new author to write more than 30,000 words when they first start writing.

"Okay! What about the beginning? Did you bring it?"

Cao Sheng did not refuse.

Wang Mei smiled and said, "It's in my dorm! I didn't expect to run into you here today. Why don't you stay and enjoy your meal while I wait for you? I'll go to my dorm and get it now."

As she spoke, she put down her chopsticks and went to get them.

Cao Sheng chuckled, "No! No need! You finish eating first, then go get it. No rush!"

Wang Mei stopped in her tracks, a little hesitant, "Will you wait for me to come and get it?"

Cao Sheng, who had just finished writing "The Legend of the Primordial Era" last night, was in a relaxed mood today and had plenty of time, so he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll wait for you. Hurry up and eat! Go get it after you finish eating!"

Wang Mei then sat back down and quickly ate her meal.

Because she ate too fast, she choked while eating. Cao Sheng heard her choking and looked up to see her slender, fair neck stretching out as she choked. Cao Sheng almost laughed.

"Hurry up and have a sip of soup!"

He reminded quickly.

Before she finished speaking, Wang Mei picked up her own seaweed and egg soup and took two sips.

That stopped him from sobbing.

She glanced at Cao Sheng shyly, her cheeks flushed, and lowered her head slightly, saying, "I'm sorry! I ate a little too fast just now."

Cao Sheng: "It's alright, don't rush! Eat slowly."

……

After the meal, the two left the cafeteria together. Cao Sheng sat down at the stone table in front of the adult education building, waiting for her to get the beginning of her new book.

She jogged away, then jogged back.

After running back and forth, I was covered in sweat and panting heavily.

(End of this chapter)