Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 372 received extremely high praise.
Seeing Chang Qingshu looking at him, Cao Sheng smiled and asked, "Finished reading?"

Chang Qingshu nodded, a smile spreading across his face. He subconsciously got up and walked towards Cao Sheng, saying with emotion as he went, "Ah Hui! You've amazed me again. To be honest, I was amazed by this work. When I read the first chapter, I thought it was pretty ordinary, but from the second chapter onwards, I was completely captivated."

At this point, he sat down next to Cao Sheng and continued with a complicated expression, "With a work like this, you still say you're not completely confident? In my judgment, I think this book will definitely be a hit, and its performance will definitely be good. You can rest assured!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Sheng smiled faintly.

When he said he wasn't entirely confident about the book, he wasn't referring to whether it would be a hit.

He believes that as long as his writing isn't too bad, the first book on the theme of Chinese martial arts in this time and space will be successful.

He just said in the cafeteria that he wasn't entirely confident about this new book, which actually meant that he wasn't entirely confident that he could make it reach the level of "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake".

In the original timeline, before the publication of "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake," novels about traditional kung fu in the urban fiction category were always a niche genre.

Although there is a group of readers who enjoy reading this genre, and some high-quality works have been produced with an average subscription of over 3000, the overall number of readers who like this genre is not large, so the performance of works in this genre has never been very high.

Let alone the major rankings on Qidian, it's difficult to even break into the top ten of the category rankings.

However, after its release, "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake" not only dominated the top of various urban fiction charts for a long time, but also frequently topped the overall charts of various Qidian websites.

It's worth noting that before writing this book, Shenji, who had just finished writing "The Black Mountain Demon," was already far less popular than before. Many people thought that Shenji's peak was "Buddha is the Way," and that "Buddha is the Way" had exhausted Shenji's talent.

Although some readers defended Shenji, saying that "Black Mountain Demon" was quite good and of decent quality, it is an undeniable fact that "Black Mountain Demon" is far less popular than "Buddha is the Way".

It was under these circumstances that Shenji wrote "The Romance of the Dragon and the Snake".

According to Shenji himself, in order to write this book, he visited many martial arts masters. Moreover, he also personally retraced the Long March route to experience the spirit of martial artists.

It is precisely because he prepared this book so thoroughly that "The Legend of the Dragon and the Snake" is excellent in every aspect, especially possessing a unique spirit and energy.

This is the charm of classic works.

Many classic works are supported by a unique spirit between the lines, rather than just being a collection of words.

Therefore, even though Cao Sheng had been preparing for this book for a year or two in advance, and had even learned several sets of kung fu, prepared the outline and detailed outline for a long time, and recently even silenced his phone for half a month in order to write this book, he was still not confident that his book "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" could surpass Shenji's "The Romance of Dragon and Snake".

That's why he said he wasn't entirely confident about the book.

However, Chang Qingshu thought that Cao Sheng was not entirely confident that the book would be a hit.

They were talking about completely different things.

Therefore, Cao Sheng did not heed his encouragement.

He simply smiled and asked, "Do you think it's alright?"

Evergreen nodded quickly, "Of course! If a new book like this isn't good enough, then what kind of work would be considered good enough?"

Before Cao Sheng could reply, Chang Qingshu asked somewhat nervously, "Hey! Ah Hui, our collaboration over the past two or three years has been pretty pleasant, right? What do you think of this new book? Will you still sign it with Xinchang?"

Although he felt that since Cao Sheng had shown him the manuscript of this new book, he must be willing to sign it to Xinchang, he was still a little nervous.

He was afraid Cao Sheng was just showing him something.

They were also afraid that Cao Sheng would make exorbitant demands this time and impose harsh conditions again.

He wouldn't be so nervous if the new book were of mediocre quality.

The problem was that the quality of this book, "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts," far exceeded his expectations.

If he can't sign a contract for a book like this for Xinchang, and another publisher comes along, then... once Xinchang headquarters sees the quality and sales of this book, even if he isn't dismissed, he'll definitely be transferred back to headquarters, and he'll never have any hope of promotion again.

Cao Sheng looked at Chang Qingshu and said calmly, "Give me two percent more royalties! Two percent more and I'll sign it for you."

Although the royalties Xinchang gave him were already the highest in the industry.

However, he believes that the book "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" is entitled to request two more points.

Moreover, he hasn't asked Xinchang to increase the royalty share for a long time.

As the author with the highest royalty rate in the industry, he does not demand an increase in royalty rates, which also limits other authors and publishers from demanding higher royalty rates.

The publisher could easily say, "Look at Zhongyuan Yidianhui, they only get this much of a share. Why should you get more? Do you think you're better than Zhongyuan Yidianhui?"

Evergreen: "..."

A wry smile appeared on Evergreen's lips.

Although he also felt that the book "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" deserved a higher royalty share, Cao Sheng's royalty share was already in a class of its own, much higher than that of other authors. Why would he want to raise two more points now?
Will headquarters agree?

"Would one point be okay?"

Evergreen asked tentatively.

Cao Sheng shook his head, "At least two points!"

Although his collaboration with Shinchang has always been quite pleasant, he has signed all of his most popular works in recent years to Shinchang, which can be seen as a way of repaying Shinchang for the treatment he has received.

His previous book, "The Legend of the Primordial Era," was also a work that pioneered a new genre, and he didn't ask Xinchang to increase the royalties.

Therefore, if he cannot increase the revenue share by two percentage points this time, he feels that it wouldn't be considered dishonest of him to switch to another publishing house.

He believed that there must be a publishing house in Taiwan willing to meet his requirements.

Evergreen gave a wry smile.

He nodded. "I understand. Could you please give me a copy of the manuscript for your new book? I think if headquarters sees the manuscript, I'll be more confident in persuading them to agree to your terms. Don't you think so?"

Cao Sheng nodded slightly, "Okay! But you'll have to wait a few days. I'll send it to you after I've finished revising the manuscript."

Evergreen: "Okay! Sure! I'll wait for you here for a few days. Please try to hurry, okay?"

Cao Sheng was a little surprised, "You're going to wait for my manuscript in Huizhou?"

Chang Qingshu smiled and said, "Well, my job mainly involves receiving manuscripts. Authors from all over the country usually send their manuscripts to my email address. Being in Huizhou doesn't really interfere with my work. It's just that you haven't been answering my calls lately. I'm waiting here so that I can communicate with you promptly if there are any issues at headquarters. What do you think?"

Cao Sheng smiled.

"It seems I really need to hurry up and revise the manuscript."

Evergreen smiled and said, "That would be best!"

……

As they were talking, Cui Xinyu arrived. She knew that Chang Qingshu had come to Cao Sheng's dormitory to see Cao Sheng's new book manuscript, so after finishing lunch in the cafeteria, she didn't rush over. Instead, she took care of some work first and then came to Cao Sheng's place when it was almost time.

When Cao Sheng saw her arrive, he instructed her to take Chang Qingshu to a hotel and help arrange Chang Qingshu's accommodation.

More than half an hour later.

In a hotel room in Huizhou, Chang Qingshu, having settled in, saw Cui Xinyu off, walked to the window, looked at the scenery outside, and after thinking for a moment about what to say, took out his phone and dialed the office number of the boss, Lan Tianhu.

As soon as the call connected, he quickly said, "President Lan! I've met Cao Sheng and read through the manuscript of his new book."

Lan Tianhu: "Oh? How's the quality of his new book? Using your professional eye, give me a score. If it's out of 100, how many points would you give his new book?"

Evergreen thought for a moment and exclaimed, "President Lan, if 100 is a perfect score, I think this new book deserves at least 95, or even a perfect score! It's at least 90 points or higher, it's excellent! Truly excellent!"

Blue Sky Guardian: "???"

Lan Tianhu, far away in Taiwan, frowned slightly, his expression one of doubt and skepticism.

This is the first time he's asked Evergreen to rate a new book like this.

So he didn't know just how good the quality of the work that Chang Qingshu was talking about with such high scores was.
Is it better than ever before?
Is it slightly better than a typical good book?
What kind of work would be considered a 90-point work in the eyes of an evergreen?

After a moment of silence, Lan Tianhu asked, "A-Shu! How many points would you give the book 'The Legend of the Primordial Era'?"

He wanted to use this question to judge the level of the work that Chang Qingshu mentioned as receiving 90 points.

Evergreen: "It's about the same score as 'The Legend of Chinese Martial Arts'! It should also be a work with around 95 points."

A look of doubt appeared in Lan Tian's eyes. "What? You said it has a similar score to which book? 'The Legend of the Primordial Era' has a similar score to 'The Legend of the Primordial Era'? Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Chang Qingshu suddenly realized he hadn't told his boss the name of Cao Sheng's new book yet, and quickly explained, "No! No! President Lan, I meant 'The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts.' Cao Sheng's new book is called 'The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts.' Personally, I think the creativity and novelty of this new book are in no way inferior to his recently completed 'The Romance of the Primordial Era'! Really! If you read this new book, you will be amazed."

Blue Sky Guardian: "..."

He didn't know which two characters were specifically used in the "National Arts" mentioned by Chang Qingshu in "The Romance of National Arts," or what they meant.
But in his mind, "The Legend of the Primordial Era" is the most amazing novel in recent years, without exception.

Yet, Chang Qingshu actually said that Cao Sheng's new book is no less creative and novel than "The Legend of the Primordial Era".

Blue Sky Guardian had some doubts.

Under normal circumstances, once an author creates an excellent work, it becomes very difficult for them to create a work of similar quality in the following period of time.

Many authors never even manage to write a work of comparable quality.

Because a truly excellent work often exhausts an author's years of accumulated inspiration and life experience, as well as all the writing material they've gathered.

This is practically a rule in all art industries.

After all, surpassing oneself is the most difficult thing.

Surpassing one's peak performance is even more difficult than climbing to heaven.

Cao Sheng had just finished writing a classic work like "The Legend of the Primordial Era," so how could he possibly write a new book of similar quality?
Yes!
Since his debut, Cao Sheng seems to have been constantly surpassing himself.

However... in Lan Tianhu's opinion, the quality and creativity of "The Legend of the Primordial Era" clearly surpass any of Cao Sheng's previous works.

This is already Cao Sheng's masterpiece.

After reaching the peak, is it possible to avoid any decline?

After a long silence, Lan Tianhu said, "Then send me his new book so I can take a look! I want to see if it's really as good as you say."

Chang Qingshu: "Uh... I'm sorry, Mr. Lan, Cao Sheng said that his new book is not yet finalized and is not the final version. So he needs a few more days to revise it before he can submit it to us. I have decided to wait for him here in Huizhou for a few days until he has revised the manuscript and given it to us before we can discuss the contract for this new book. So, Mr. Lan, please be patient and wait a few more days, okay?"

Blue Sky Guardian: "???"

A curse word welled up in my mouth, and I just had to say it.

Chang Qingshu had just praised Cao Sheng's new book to the skies, successfully arousing his curiosity. But what happened? He wanted to see the contents of the book, but Chang Qingshu told him to wait a few more days.
I'm the boss, why should I need patience?

Which boss has the patience?

Lan Tianhu suppressed the urge to curse, took a deep breath, and smiled, "It's okay! If it's not revised, it's not revised. Have him send it over so I can take a look. Once he's revised it, we'll use his polished manuscript when we publish it."

Evergreen: "Oh, okay! I'll call him and ask him to send me a copy first, and then I'll forward it to you, alright?"

Lan Tianhu: "Okay, sure! I'll wait for you then."

Evergreen: "Okay, Mr. Lan!"

……

As a result, Lan Tianhu waited until it got dark.

He received a call from Chang Qingshu after dark, long after he had finished get off work and gone home.

"Damn it! You've kept me waiting!"

Before answering the phone, Lan Tianhu, who was sitting alone in his study, uttered a curse.

After answering the call.

"How's it going? Ashu, did you send the manuscript to my email? Why are you only calling me now?"

That afternoon, ever since he hung up on Chang Qingshu, he kept logging into his email to check if Chang Qingshu had sent him Cao Sheng's new manuscript.

After getting off work and returning home, he went to his study after dinner. Every now and then, he would refresh his email page, thinking that perhaps Chang Qingshu had already sent him Cao Sheng's new book manuscript.

But he never saw any manuscript.

The flowers have almost withered from waiting.

Chang Qingshu didn't answer immediately. After a few seconds of silence on the phone, his voice came through, "I'm sorry, President Lan, I... I couldn't find Cao Sheng. He... he hasn't been answering my calls or anyone else's lately. Around noon, I first found his assistant, who took me to his school cafeteria, and that's how I found him. But now even his assistant can't find him. He's not answering his calls, so... so..."

Blue Sky Guardian: "???"

disappeared?
Because he didn't answer the phone, how could the mighty Zhongyuan Yidianhui have disappeared?
Lan Tianhu was at a loss for words.

Hard to comment.

(End of this chapter)