Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 459 Everyone’s Attention
It's 2002 now.

The purchasing power of the RMB is still very strong.

Currently, a typical two-story house facing the street in a small town costs about 5 yuan.

Cao Sheng's investment of over 5000 million yuan in Tencent could, based on current purchasing power, buy 1000 houses in a typical township. In other words, 5000 million yuan could buy all the street-front shops in several smaller towns.

Nowadays, women generally don't dare to ask for more than 50,000 yuan in betrothal gifts. In Cao Sheng's hometown, for example, women generally don't dare to ask for more than 50,000 yuan in betrothal gifts. Most of them only dare to ask for 10,000 or 20,000 yuan.

If you calculate it that way, his 5000 million is probably enough to marry two thousand wives.

For most people in this era, a million is a huge sum of money, and tens of millions is an astronomical figure. Many people would never even dream of having the opportunity to possess tens of millions in wealth in their lifetime.

Unlike before Cao Sheng's rebirth, when many houses in first-tier cities were worth tens of millions.

Therefore, it's easy to imagine how many people were shocked when the media reported that Cao Sheng had invested more than 5000 million yuan in Tencent.

People in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen are all astonished by the figure of more than 5000 million.

—How much does Zhongyuan Yidianhui actually cost?

This question has become a source of curiosity for many people.

In real life, some people chat with each other and discuss how much money a speck of gray dust in the Central Plains is worth.

For example, when the villagers in Cao Sheng's hometown heard that Cao Sheng had recently invested more than 5000 million yuan in a company, they couldn't help but talk about it during their leisure time in the village.

"Hey! How much money do you guys think Ah Sheng has now? He just invested over 50 million in some company I've never even heard of. Last year I heard he was worth over 100 million. Does he have 200 million now?"

"Two hundred million? If you had two hundred million, would you be willing to buy three buildings in Shenzhen and invest another 5000 million in a company? I think he has at least five or six hundred million!"

I think it could even reach a billion!

……

The villagers generally have low levels of education, and many are illiterate. The figures of tens of millions or hundreds of millions are far beyond their calculation ability, and they have few channels to know about Cao Sheng's income, so they can only guess.

Anyway, making wild guesses isn't illegal, and it's quite satisfying to talk about it.

……

Many people are discussing Cao Sheng's wealth online.

Several related posts appeared on the Qidian (a Chinese online literature platform) author forum.

For example: "I'm very curious about how much wealth Zhongyuan Yidianhui has now. Everyone is welcome to come in and discuss!"

"Now I finally understand why I've never been able to earn any royalties—it's because all the money has been taken by Zhongyuan Yidianhui!"

"Does Zhongyuan Yidianhui have a net worth of 500 million?"

and many more.

Many related posts have also appeared in the book review section of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts".

For example: "Holy crap! Really? Ah Hui actually invested in Tencent? My QQ account has his shares now?"

"The author is amazing! He's the same age as me, and I currently earn 400 a month. Not only did he buy three buildings, but he also invested more than 5000 million. It's outrageous!"

"Every time I think about Ah Hui's approximate net worth, I find it quite unbelievable. Such a rich guy actually writes novels for me to read every day. Do I really deserve him?"

"Ah Hui must be the strongest post-80s generation in China, right? He started from scratch and relied entirely on his talent to create so much wealth. He's amazing!"

"Everyone, did you know? I'm incredibly audacious. I actually insulted a billionaire. By the way, this billionaire's pen name is Zhongyuan Yidianhui. I insulted him for updating too slowly."

"Investing over 5000 million yuan in QQ? Are you kidding me? QQ doesn't even make money, why would you invest in it?"

……

Huizhou.

Huang Qingya, sitting in front of her computer, looked at the posts in the book review section of "The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts" with a complicated expression. Her inner emotions were even more complex than her expression.

This once again proves that her taste in men is absolutely brilliant.

She had her eye on this outstanding man before he became famous, and they started dating.

Cao Sheng, who has already broken up with her, is still dazzling.

They usually keep a low profile, but every now and then a big news story breaks.

His investment spending is as astonishing as ever.

Previously, entire buildings were purchased at once.

Now he doesn't buy houses anymore, but invests in other people's companies, spending over 50 million yuan at a time.

It's worth significantly more than her older brother's company.

Unfortunately, we've already broken up.

Huang Qingya gave a self-deprecating smile.

She instinctively squeezed her legs together; she missed him.

After hesitating for a moment, she picked up her phone, found Cao Sheng's number in her contacts, and dialed it.

A moment later, the call connected, and Cao Sheng's voice came through the phone, "Hello?"

Huang Qingya bit her lip and asked softly, "What are you doing?"

Cao Sheng: "Reading books and drinking tea."

This is what he usually does every morning, regardless of what he reads. Sometimes he reads novels written by others; sometimes he reads ancient books he bought from bookstores; and sometimes he even calmly looks at some famous erotic works.

For example, Rosemary's "Flirting Scholar".

For example, "White Deer Plain".

and many more.

Sometimes, he felt that some of the colors used in writing were very valuable for reference.

These books are often very good at evoking readers' emotions, and the plots they write are often things that readers love to read.

As a reborn professional writer, Cao Sheng has experienced all stages of online literature and has read many interviews with famous online writers. He knows that after online literature developed to a certain stage, some people proposed a writing method that abandons all writing skills.

—The Emotion-Driven Approach!

After this writing technique was published, it gained recognition from many writers.

This writing approach essentially states that while there are countless writing techniques, the techniques themselves are not the most important thing. What matters is that the plot you create should evoke the reader's emotions and create a progressively unfolding effect. All writing techniques should serve this purpose.

Cao Sheng felt that some well-written erotic books did a good job in this regard.

This is where he sees himself learning.

"Are you... still living at the school?"

Huang Qingya asked hesitantly.

Cao Sheng: "No! I don't have any classes this semester, so I don't need to live at school anymore."

Huang Qingya: "So, you live with your parents now?"

Cao Sheng: "No, not either!"

Huang Qingya frowned. "So where are you living now?"

Cao Sheng: "Why are you living in my old villa?"

Huang Qingya: "I...I need to talk to you about something. Can...can I come to your villa to find you?"

Cao Sheng, who was sitting on the second-floor balcony, drinking tea and reading a book, was a little surprised when he heard this. After a moment's hesitation, he agreed. "Sure! Come on over! When will you be coming? Today?"

After all, she was once his girlfriend.

She was the only girlfriend he publicly acknowledged after his rebirth.

The reason for the breakup wasn't because she cheated on me.

So when she heard that she needed to see him and wanted to come to him, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.

"Okay! I'll come right now, is that alright?"

"Well, okay."

……

call ended.

Cao Sheng put down his phone, picked up the purple clay teapot on the folding table next to him, took a sip of tea from the spout, put down the teacup, and continued to read the "Collected Works of Maupassant" in his hand.

He was reading "Bel Ami" from this collection of essays.

The storyline is absolutely explosive.

It could almost be read as a coloring book.

But this set of books is a classic.

In this story, the protagonist is a veteran who bumps into an old friend on the street. This friend is now a famous writer, and he then meets his friend's beautiful wife.

Not long after, this friend, due to poor health, was hung up on the wall.

The male protagonist, relying on his handsome looks and tall stature, took over the work of his friend's widow and quickly became a rising star writer. This was because his deceased writer friend's published works were all written by his wife, and now that the male protagonist had taken over his friend's wife, he naturally took over his friend's career.

Later, with his handsome looks and tall, muscular physique, the male protagonist not only captivated the beautiful daughter of the publishing house owner but also slept with the owner's wife...

Is this what you call a classic?
As Cao Sheng read this story, this thought kept flashing through his mind.

He tried to understand why this story could become a classic: the protagonist's messy private life and the shady way he infiltrated high society and became a winner in life, did it reflect a social phenomenon?
Then, he thought of the four great classical novels of China.

It seems that quite a few less-than-glorious plot points were also written.

For example, in the novel *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, Prime Minister Cao Cao was fond of married women.

For example, in "Dream of the Red Chamber", the male protagonist Jia Baoyu likes to mingle with women.

For example, in the novel *Water Margin*, the story of Lin Chong, nicknamed Leopard Head, is extremely cowardly.

and many more.

As a professional writer, Cao Sheng often gains insights into writing from certain books, people, or other events.

At this moment, he seemed to be deep in thought, as if he had grasped something.

what is it then?

Is the most vulgar the most elegant?

Or is it the unconventional male protagonist who gives readers a kind of eerie charm?

Or perhaps it's like viewing mountains—you don't like flat landscapes? You'd rather write an extraordinary plot than a mundane one?

These thoughts floated through his mind as he frowned and pondered deeply.

In fact, he knows a lot about writing techniques and theories.

But sometimes, even if you understand something, you may not be able to apply it to your own work.

Because writers' mindsets differ at different times, and each writer's thoughts are constantly changing, the focus of their works will also differ at different times.

The focus is often on the new things that one has recently learned.

Sometimes, I realize that a novel subject matter is more important than any writing technique, so I want to start a book with a very original subject matter.

Sometimes, I think that playing with gimmicks in terms of subject matter is ultimately a minor approach. It may bring temporary fame, but it cannot last. So, I want to start a book with a more conventional subject matter, where the real talent lies in the details.

Sometimes, you might feel that the subject matter and details are not important; what matters most is the flirtatious writing style. You might think that including more beautiful women in the book and writing more suggestive scenes is the easiest way to achieve success and make the writing process easier. So, you might want to start a book like that.

……

and many more.

Cao Sheng sat on the second-floor balcony, reading and considering writing techniques.

The outside world is still reeling from his news.

Zhongguancun, Beijing.

Liu Qiangdong, who founded Jingdong in 1998, was sitting in a shop when he saw an online news article about Zhongyuan Yidianhui investing in Tengxun. He looked surprised and stared at the article for a long time without moving.

Currently, Jingdong only has a few stores, mainly selling CDs, disks, computers, printers and other products.

The number of stores has not exceeded 10.

You could say he's still just a small business owner.

But he harbors an ambition that is not content with the status quo.

Instead of focusing on other small business owners with similar net worth, they often pay attention to business news across the country.

Today, he saw the news that Zhongyuan Yidianhui had invested $700 million in Tencent.

He certainly knew about Tengxun.

He had long heard of the ash in the Central Plains.

He just never expected that these two things would one day appear in the same news article.

After reading this news article, Liu Qiangdong couldn't help but search for information about Cao Sheng online.

"Zhongyuan Yidianhui, real name: Cao Sheng, male, Han nationality, born in 1980 in Caojia Village, Wuhu City, Anhui Province..."

"From 1980?" Liu Qiangdong squinted and muttered to himself.

Cao Sheng's birth year surprised him.

Because Cao Sheng is several years younger than him; he was born in 1974, and Cao Sheng is 6 years younger than him.

What they have in common is that they both come from rural areas.

His university was far more prestigious and of a completely different level than the Huizhou Teachers College that Cao Sheng attended.

But now Cao Sheng is famous throughout the country, his net worth has long exceeded 100 million yuan, and any investment he makes is a $7 million investment.

This was a bit of a blow to him.

I also felt a sense of urgency, realizing that I had fallen too far behind and needed to catch up quickly.

About the same time.

Hangzhou.

Jack Ma, who was patrolling the office area, faintly heard people talking in hushed tones, seemingly mentioning phrases like "a touch of gray in the Central Plains" and "fifty million".

Jack Ma's gaze followed the sound.

My curiosity was piqued.

(End of this chapter)