Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 433 Another Lunar New Year's Eve

Today's breakfast is steamed dumplings.

Because it's almost Chinese New Year, I made some dumplings yesterday.

This morning, Cao Sheng steamed some. He took a plate, picked up a dozen or so with chopsticks, and carried them to the dining room.

The dumplings with shepherd's purse and pork filling are quite delicious.

After he ate a few, Huang Qingya came over from the kitchen and brought him a cup of freshly brewed green tea, placing it beside him.

As she sat down next to him, she asked with a smile, "Your family is spending the Lunar New Year here this year. On the first and second days of the Lunar New Year, will you still go back to your hometown to pay New Year's visits?"

Cao Sheng nodded, "Let's go back! My parents want me to go back and wish our elders a Happy New Year. I plan to take them with me. They've been here for so long, they probably miss their hometown. We can go back and visit them."

Huang Qingya responded with an "oh".

Cao Sheng was eating dumplings with his head down. She looked at him, and after a few seconds, she asked softly, "So, are you planning to come to my house this year?"

Cao Sheng looked up at her with a smile, "Of course! Your parents know me. If I didn't spend the New Year here, that would be fine. But since I am spending the New Year here, it's only right and proper that I visit your home to wish you a Happy New Year, right?"

Huang Qingya smiled and said, "Okay! Let me know before you go, and I'll have my family prepare a meal for you."

Cao Sheng nodded and continued eating his dumplings.

Huang Qingya then asked, "So... around what day of the month are you coming to my house? I'll have a better idea so I can try not to go out during those days."

Cao Sheng thought for a moment, "Before the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, your family will probably have a lot of relatives visiting, so I won't join in the fun. Besides, according to the custom in my hometown, we have to visit our uncle's house on the first day of the Lunar New Year. I'll be staying for a few days this time, so how about the sixth day? I'll go to your house on the sixth day, is that alright?"

Huang Qingya had no objection and nodded, saying, "Okay! That's fine."

After a pause, she changed the subject, "By the way, I saw online that the movie you wrote, 'Drishyam,' is going to be released on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Are you planning to go see it? How about we go see it together sometime during the Lunar New Year?"

Cao Sheng nodded, "Okay! That's fine!"

Huang Qingya looked at him, remained silent for a moment, and then changed the subject, "Hey! Next semester is your last semester of senior year, right? You probably won't be doing an internship, will you?"

Cao Sheng hummed in agreement again.

Huang Qingya: "So, you'll be at home for the first half of next year? Just writing?"

Cao Sheng glanced at her, smiled, and nodded. "Is that not allowed?"

Huang Qingya smiled and said, "Of course it's okay."

Then she asked, "So... what happens after the first half of the year? What are your plans after you get your diploma? To take the postgraduate entrance exam? To continue your studies? Or to stay home and write full-time?"

Cao Sheng put down his chopsticks, thought for a moment, and said, "I haven't decided yet. I'm not interested in taking the postgraduate entrance exam, and I don't want to continue studying. I might just become a full-time writer!"

After being reborn, he completed his junior college education and then his bachelor's degree; he had had enough.

Or rather, he had had enough of his student life.

In the original timeline, he plunged headlong into the online novel industry and never changed careers because he loved the freedom of writing online novels and didn't want to be controlled by others.

but……

Humans are always a little bit perverse.

When you've lived one kind of life for too long, you always want to try something different.

Having grown accustomed to a carefree life, he longed to relive his student days after his rebirth. However, after several years of such a life, he had grown tired of it and yearned for the carefree life of a writer.

It's a bit like a middle-aged man who has been in a stable marriage for too long, suddenly wanting to go out and have some fun, but after a while, he gets tired of it and wants to go back to his stable married life.

Huang Qingya smiled and nodded slightly, "It's fine, but... full-time writing might be a very boring and tedious life, and I'm afraid you won't be able to stand the loneliness."

Cao Sheng chuckled, "No way!"

Thinking to myself: Before I was reborn, after I started writing, I gradually became a complete homebody, and I lived that kind of life for nearly twenty years.

How could I possibly not be able to stand being alone?
When I release a new book, I can basically stay at home for the entire book launch period, which is one and a half to two months, only occasionally going out to buy groceries or something.

At this moment, he didn't realize that the reason he was able to stay at home so much before his rebirth was probably because poverty limited his movement.

Yes! Ever since he gained some fame, his income has become more and more stable, and earning over ten thousand yuan a month has become commonplace. His income seems to be quite good.

He was particularly satisfied with his income whenever he saw someone on the author forum say that they earned over 10,000 yuan a month, which was more than 95% of the people in the country.

But in fact?
Can you truly escape poverty if you consistently earn over 10,000 yuan a month?

Actually, no!

Why were the marriage and birth rates so low in that era? And why was the divorce rate so high?
Logically speaking, marriage, having children, and a happy family should be the life that Chinese people generally yearn for and pursue, as reproduction is the instinct of any species.

But why are so many people able to fight against this instinct?

Is it true that you don't want to get married and have children? Don't you want to live a harmonious and happy life as a couple?
Cao Sheng had thought about these issues.

He doesn't think so!
This is because most people only earn a few thousand yuan a month, making it difficult to achieve their goals of buying a house, getting married, and having children. Even if they get married, such income is insufficient to cover all household expenses, leading to frequent conflicts between couples due to financial constraints, resulting in endless arguments and ultimately a rising divorce rate.

Although he often earns over 10,000 yuan a month, he doesn't actually earn much more than the average office worker.

After buying a house and a car, there wasn't much money left.

At that time, although he was getting older and his desire to get married was fading, he had not completely given up on the idea.

He still hoped that one day he would meet a woman he wanted to marry, so he subconsciously continued to save money, save money, and save more money.

He is a person with a strong sense of crisis at heart.

He feared that if he met a suitable marriage partner, he wouldn't have enough money; he also feared that after his child was born, he wouldn't be able to provide his child with a carefree and happy life; and he was even more afraid that he would gradually fall behind the trend of online writing, be abandoned by this industry, and stop earning money, ultimately... ending up destitute in his old age.

Therefore, after buying a house and a car, when he had 100,000 yuan in savings, he thought of what someone had said: "100,000 yuan is considered a savings account? Isn't that a balance?"

The thought of that sentence made him realize that 100,000 was not enough and he needed to keep working hard.

When his savings reached 200,000 yuan, he thought about the dowry on the market, which often cost 100,000 to 200,000 yuan. Adding the expenses of the wedding and other things, he felt that 200,000 yuan was still not enough.

When his savings reached 300,000, he thought about how his parents were getting older and would inevitably get sick and need to be hospitalized in the future. 300,000 might not be enough to save their lives, and what if he himself got sick... So, 300,000 was still not enough.

When he saved up 500,000 yuan, he thought about the prices when he was a child and then about the prices now. He roughly calculated how much the RMB had depreciated over the past 30 years and couldn't help but wonder: when I get old, this 500,000 yuan will probably have less purchasing power than 50,000 yuan today. Will that be enough for my retirement?

So, it's still not enough!

……

So, before his rebirth, he kept saving money, saving money, and saving money again.

He always felt that he hadn't saved enough money, so he not only confined himself to his home writing year after year, but also saved money on all kinds of expenses.

He often has the idea of ​​going on a trip, but he always manages to dispel it himself.

And now?
He subconsciously believed that he could be a true homebody like before his rebirth, and could definitely endure loneliness.

But he didn't think about it: In this life, his net worth has already exceeded 100 million, and he has already achieved financial freedom. With so much money, can he really stay at home?
He didn't question it.

But Huang Qingya, who was sitting next to him, looked at him with a suspicious gaze.

The beholder is clear.

From an outsider's perspective, she could clearly see his current circumstances, so she didn't believe he could endure the loneliness.

But she couldn't bring herself to say it aloud. She just smiled and nodded, "It's good that you have confidence!"

After Cao Sheng finished eating the steamed dumplings, Huang Qingya suggested, "Are you done eating? Shall we go help your uncle and aunt?"

Cao Sheng hummed in agreement.

After clearing away the dishes, I went to the kitchen with her.

Not long after, Cao Sheng's mother started heating the oil in the wok, preparing to fry the meatballs.

Cao Sheng and Huang Qingya helped roll the glutinous rice balls. The balls, made by mixing minced meat and glutinous rice, had to be rolled out one by one and then deep-fried until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, making a fragrant and delicious dish.

In Cao Sheng's hometown, every year, only families with relatively good conditions would fry enough meatballs to last for more than ten days.

For Cao Sheng, this is one of the flavors of the New Year from his childhood.

……

"So, has Xiao Cao agreed to come to our house to wish us a Happy New Year?"

That afternoon, Huang Qingya returned home with some fried dumplings. As she was changing her shoes at the entrance, her mother came over and asked in a low voice with an expectant expression.

Huang Qingya glanced at her, smiled, and nodded, "Yes, I agree."

Mother Huang's face lit up with joy. She clapped her hands together and laughed, "Good! It's good that he's coming! It's good that he's coming! Then we can talk to him and try to get him to agree to marry you next year. After all, you'll be 31 next year, and we can't keep putting it off, right?"

Huang Qingya lowered her head as she changed her shoes, remaining silent with a somewhat subdued expression.

She dislikes the constant pressure from her family to get married.

But she knew in her heart that her parents' worries were justified. She was indeed not young anymore. Although she still looked beautiful, she was becoming more and more like a married woman. Moreover, in the past two years, whenever relatives and friends saw her, they couldn't help but ask her when she was getting married.
The various words only intensified her anxiety.

For example: So-and-so, who is the same age as you, already has a child in the fourth grade.

For example: the best age for women to give birth...

For example: You're already thirty, why aren't you married yet? What are you waiting for?

For example: Your boyfriend is so much younger than you, he's probably not in a hurry, but can you not be? Can you afford to wait it out with him?
and many more.

Many things she had never thought of were enthusiastically instilled in her by her relatives and friends, which always made her smile seem forced.

……

The next day.

Lunar New Year's eve.

Another Chinese New Year has arrived.

Early that morning, Cao Sheng got up and busied himself with his parents. His mother was busy in the kitchen, while he and his father put up couplets, cleaned the house, and prepared things for the ancestral worship.

Busy before and after busy.

During this time, his phone kept ringing.

Some people couldn't resist wishing him a Happy New Year in advance.

Some people couldn't resist wanting to chat with him for a few cents.

Such as Tan Yu, Jiang Xiaoshuang, Wang Zuxian, Asa, and so on.

When Cao Sheng was tired from working, he would occasionally sit down to rest and take a look at his phone. He didn't look at the missed calls, but only at the messages that some people had sent him.

He glanced at the messages wishing him a Happy New Year in advance and didn't look at them much.

Pay close attention to the messages Tan Yu and others sent him.

Tan Yu: "Senior! What are you doing? I miss you."

Want to chat with me?
Cao Sheng skipped over it.

Jiang Xiaoshuang: "Are you spending the Spring Festival in your hometown or in Huizhou this year? What are you doing?"

Cao Sheng replied with two words: "Huizhou".

Wang Zuxian: "On festive occasions, one misses their loved ones even more. Today is Lunar New Year's Eve. Am I among those you miss?"

Cao Sheng smiled silently and replied, "I asked the breeze to carry my thoughts to you. Did you receive them?"

Asa, a member of a once-popular girl group in Hong Kong, was escorted to a hotel room by her and Zhong Xintong after Cao Sheng got drunk during his trip to Hong Kong, where he was suspected of being taken advantage of by them.

After Cao Sheng returned from Hong Kong, Zhong Xintong only sent him a few messages occasionally.

But Asa would send him one or two messages every few days.

Unexpectedly, she sent me another message today, Lunar New Year's Eve.

"My life is so tough! It's New Year's Eve today, and the company has arranged several performances for us. We can't go home to celebrate the New Year properly. How about you? Are you busy today?"

Cao Sheng replied, "Oh, I'm quite busy too."

He sent out several messages, but the first to reply was Asa.

Asa: "Really? You're a writer, busy even on New Year's Eve? What are you busy with?"

Cao Sheng: "Busy putting up couplets and cleaning."

Asa: "Huh? You call this being busy? Isn't this a wonderful thing? I want to go home and do all this, but I don't even have time to go back!"

Cao Sheng: "Yes, it's very happy."

Asa: "Hey, are you showing off to me?"

Cao Sheng smiled and replied, "Yes! Isn't it obvious enough?"

He was quite happy chatting with a beautiful woman on this special day.

As they chatted, Wang Zuxian replied to their message.

"You asked the gentle breeze to carry your longing? Are you copying song lyrics? This line sounds familiar..."

You found out?
Cao Sheng: "I'm not a singer, why would I copy lyrics? Beautiful lines are all similar, can't you trust me a little?"

Wang Zuxian: "I remember now! This seems to be a lyric from one of Andy Lau's songs. How dare you say you can make me trust you?"

Cao Sheng: You really found out?
Cao Sheng: "Really? I like watching Andy Lau's movies, but I don't listen to his songs much."

They just won't admit that they copied the lyrics.

At this moment, Jiang Xiaoshuang also replied to the message.

Guess where I am right now?

Cao Sheng's brow twitched slightly as he replied, "You mean you're also in Huizhou? You didn't go back to your hometown for the New Year?"

Jiang Xiaoshuang: "Yeah, I want to go back, but the station didn't give me a holiday for the Lunar New Year!"

(End of this chapter)