Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 393 Cao Sheng, a Gentleman
Cao Sheng, who was eating breakfast, turned to look at Cui Xinyu in surprise, swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth, and asked, "Feng Xiaogang? Is he coming today?"

As for the Beijing Pillow Book Publishing House that Cui Xinyu just mentioned, Cao Sheng didn't pay attention to it.

Firstly, he had never heard of the publishing house before.

Secondly, there are quite a few publishers who want to contact him recently and sign the simplified Chinese distribution rights for his new book. With so many publishers, it's hard for him to pay attention to one little-known publisher.

Cui Xinyu nodded.

Cao Sheng frowned.

He could roughly guess why Feng Xiaogang had suddenly come to Huizhou to find him—it was nothing more than for the script.

Especially after he recently wrote two screenplays for Hong Kong, "Drishyam" and "Infernal Affairs," Feng Xiaogang is a bit restless, which is understandable.

After all, his previous excuse to Feng Xiaogang was that he hadn't had any inspiration lately.

If he hadn't recently written those two scripts for Hong Kong, Feng Xiaogang might have been able to barely believe his explanation.

But he wrote it, and he wrote two.

But none of them wrote to Feng Xiaogang.

What must Feng Xiaogang think of this?
Can we still believe he's been lacking inspiration lately?
Was it my fault?
These three words flashed through Cao Sheng's mind, but he was unwilling to admit that he was in the wrong. He didn't owe Feng Xiaogang anything, so what was wrong with not writing scripts for him?

"Boss, do you think... could you spare some time to meet with him? After all, he's a big director."

Cui Xinyu asked from the side.

Cao Sheng glanced at her, remained silent for a few seconds, and nodded slightly. "If he really comes, please entertain him for me first. I'll make time to go over later."

If Feng Xiaogang calls again to invite him to write a script, Cao Sheng will definitely decline politely, giving him the runaround if possible.

But Feng Xiaogang came in person this time.

Regardless, he felt he should go and meet them.

He was just a little annoyed. He was currently focused on writing his new book and really didn't want to divert his energy to writing a screenplay. So, although he agreed to meet her, he was still thinking about how to brush her off.

Just like the sentence written at the bottom of a certain list on Qidian before his rebirth: There's nothing more below, there has to be an ending, right?
He felt that his collaboration with Feng Xiaogang should come to an end, and if he couldn't refuse this time, Feng Xiaogang would come looking for him again next time.

But he never dreamed that Director Feng would come this time, and bring with him a beautiful woman—Fan Jinsuo.

This evening.

When Cao Sheng arrived at a five-star hotel and was led into a private room by Feng Xiaogang's assistant, he was momentarily stunned to see Feng Xiaogang and Fan Jinshuo.

Fan Jinshuo?
The woman from the original timeline once said: "A wealthy family? I am a woman from a wealthy family."

Before Cao Sheng was reborn, Fan Jinshuo had already been removed from the 404 directory.

But after being removed from search results, he gained another nickname: "Fan the Eight Hundred Million".

She paid 800 million in back taxes simply because of it.

It's easy to imagine how much money she made in the entertainment industry.

No wonder she calls herself "I am the elite".

And now?
She was still quite inexperienced and lacked makeup skills, but her face was full of collagen, with a fox-like facial contour, beautiful eyebrows and eyes, and a tall, slender, and well-proportioned figure.

She had clearly dressed up carefully tonight; despite it being December, she was wearing a long red dress. Luckily, the heating in the private room was on full blast, otherwise she would have been freezing.

Her beauty is universally acknowledged.

Otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many internet celebrities getting plastic surgery in the original timeline, using her as a template to create their own V-shaped faces.

"Brother Cao! It's been a long time! Tonight, we brothers are going to drink until we drop!"

Upon meeting, Feng Xiaogang laughed heartily, stepped forward, and shook hands with Cao Sheng, his enthusiasm surpassing that of brothers meeting.

Fan Jinshuo, who was standing next to him, looked at Cao Sheng with bright eyes and sweetly called out, "Brother Cao Sheng! I am Fan Jinshuo. It's nice to meet you. You can just call me Jinshuo."

Brother Cao Sheng?

Cao Sheng got goosebumps on his arms from being called out.

But I felt inexplicably a little pleased.

Indeed, it depends on who is doing the flattery.

The same flattery can produce vastly different results depending on who does it.

Cao Sheng was a little confused as to why she had come with Feng Xiaogang. What was going on? At her age, she shouldn't have acted in any of Feng Xiaogang's films yet, right?

He tried to recall Fan Jinsuo's film works from the original timeline, but couldn't remember that Fan Jinsuo had acted in any of Feng Xiaogang's films during the early years of his career.

but……

unimportant!
We'll find out how they got together when we ask them later.

After exchanging pleasantries, the three took their seats at Feng Xiaogang's suggestion.

Cao Sheng was seated in the main seat, with Feng Xiaogang and Fan Jinshuo sitting on either side of him. They sat down after Cao Sheng did.

Feng Xiaogang's assistant went out to urge the food to be served.

Feng Xiaogang had already ordered some dishes in advance, and now he picked up the menu on the table and handed it to Cao Sheng, insisting that Cao Sheng order a few more dishes.

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Cao Sheng casually ordered two more dishes.

Following Feng Xiaogang's advice, we ordered a bottle of Moutai.

Soon, the food and drinks were served, and the three of them ate and chatted. Feng Xiaogang was very talkative, and Fan Jinshuo was good at playing the straight man. Whatever topic Feng Xiaogang brought up, even if she didn't understand it, she could still chime in with a few words. As a result, although Cao Sheng didn't say much tonight, the atmosphere in the private room never cooled down.

Before Cao Sheng arrived, he thought that Feng Xiaogang would focus on discussing the script with him tonight.

But when they actually met, he gradually realized he was wrong. From beginning to end, Feng Xiaogang didn't mention the script at all.

We talked about Beijing, the days when we were frustrated and unsuccessful, some gossip in the film and television industry, and even China's successful bid for the Olympics this year, as well as the plane crashes that hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the United States, and so on.

They talked about this and that, but never about the script.

Cao Sheng never had a chance to utter the perfunctory excuse he had prepared on the way.

Feeling relieved, he tried his best to give face to Feng Xiaogang and Fan Jinshuo's frequent toasts.

Before I knew it, a bottle of Moutai was empty.

Cao Sheng became a little wary when Feng Xiaogang opened the second bottle of wine himself.

The problem is that he's too prone to losing control of his belt whenever he's drunk.

After his rebirth, almost all the women he encountered were women he got involved with while he was drunk.

When he's sober, he can refuse them.

When he drank too much, his rationality disappeared, and he seemed to return to the state before his rebirth. At that time, his love life was very unstable. He was always wandering in the dating scene, and often fell into a state of heartbreak, whether actively or passively.

Therefore, at that time, he often needed to pick up girls again to satisfy his physical needs.

Over time, he developed a habit of cherishing every opportunity to flirt with girls. If there was an opportunity, he would seize it; if there wasn't, he would create one.

The mindset is: Pluck the flower while it blooms, for there will be no flowers left to pluck.

But after his rebirth, he saw hope for his path online.

I believe that I will never lack money or women in this life.

Therefore, he began to restrain himself when it came to women, not wanting to distract himself too much with messy relationships.

In addition, Huang Qingya had just come to his place last night and fed him.

Therefore, when Cao Sheng saw Feng Xiaogang open another bottle of wine, he became alert. After that, no matter how much Feng Xiaogang and Fan Jinshuo urged him to drink, he paid attention and only took a small sip.

At first, neither Feng Xiaogang nor Fan Jinshuo noticed Cao Sheng's fraudulent activities.

It wasn't until Fan Jinshuo noticed that Feng Xiaogang's glass was empty that she subconsciously got up, picked up the wine bottle to refill Feng Xiaogang's glass, and while refilling Cao Sheng's glass, she noticed that Cao Sheng's glass was still almost full, and that she realized Cao Sheng had only drunk very little.

"This... why is your wine glass still full, Brother Cao Sheng?"

Her surprised words drew Feng Xiaogang's attention to Cao Sheng's wine glass.

Feng Xiaogang paused for a moment, then pouted and said with dissatisfaction, "Brother Cao! How can you drink like this? Didn't we agree to drink until we drop tonight? Your glass is so full, are you raising fish in it? No way! Drink it all up! Drink it all up!"

Fan Jinshuo's eyes darted around, and he quickly put down the wine bottle, picked up his own wine glass, and offered it with both hands, saying with a smile, "Brother Cao Sheng! I'll drink with you! Let's down it in one gulp, shall we?"

"Show some sincerity, Jin Suo! This won't do!"

Feng Xiaogang feigned dissatisfaction as he spoke, and when Cao Sheng and Fan Jinshuo looked at him, he added, "Have a toast with your brother Cao Sheng! Look, he doesn't even want to drink anymore, he must think drinking alone is boring. I think he'd be interested in a toast, right, Brother Cao?"

Cao Sheng chuckled.

Fan Jinshuo smiled, her cheeks slightly flushed, and she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, saying crisply, "Sure! I definitely wouldn't want to drink the nuptial wine with anyone else, but I'd be happy to drink with Brother Cao Sheng!"

After saying that, she looked at Cao Sheng with her big, watery eyes, feeling shy and timid, and said softly, "Brother Cao Sheng, shall we have a drink?"

As she spoke, she leaned over, holding a cup in her right hand, and extended it to Cao Sheng.

"You city folks really know how to have fun!"

Cao Sheng chuckled and made a casual joke.

Feng Xiaogang and Fan Jinshuo were taken aback for a moment, but quickly chuckled twice.

Cao Sheng waved his hand, "Forget about the nuptial wine!"

Then, Cao Sheng looked at Feng Xiaogang. Now he could see that although Feng Xiaogang hadn't mentioned the script tonight, he had been urging him to drink, clearly hoping to get him drunk so he could get the script.

Cao Sheng considered two possibilities.

One method involved getting him drunk and obtaining his promise to write a screenplay.

In the original timeline, it's said that the copyright of Tianxia Bachang's "Ghost Blows Out the Light" was sold entirely to Qidian after he was drugged.

Another possibility is: after getting him drunk, she would make Fan Jinshuo offer herself to him. Afterwards, would he still have the nerve not to give her a script?

Regardless of the possibility, Cao Sheng did not want to be drunk by them.

Having just been fed by Huang Qingya last night, he wasn't very interested in Fan Jinshuo at the moment.

He said to Feng Xiaogang, "Director Feng! Don't try to persuade me to drink. I know what you're after. You just want to work with me on another script. Keep it simple! Don't play these tricks. I'll write one for you when I have some free time, right?"

Feng Xiaogang was overjoyed. "Really? You really agreed?"

Fan Jinshuo, standing to the side, was surprised, but her expression turned somewhat disappointed.

After meeting Cao Sheng Zhenren today, she really wanted to curry favor with him and even wanted to officially start a relationship with him.

And now? Cao Sheng actually wants things to be simpler? He doesn't want to drink anymore, and he doesn't even want to drink the nuptial wine with her.

(End of this chapter)