Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 47: A steady stream of fans

"Wow, so handsome?"

"Is he really the most handsome guy in the Central Plains? Isn't he too handsome? I thought the author of this book was a wretched man!"

"Shit! I really doubt that what this guy wrote is his own personal experience. With this appearance, can he really pick up a stewardess?"

"This bastard must be the most handsome among the writers, right?"

……

While Cao Sheng was busy signing autographs for the "book fans", the "book fans" in the queue were whispering to each other and looking at Cao Sheng, who was dressed in black, with different expressions.

Today Cao Sheng wore black suit pants, a black shirt, and black leather shoes. He was as black as a crow, but extremely handsome.

Sometimes, there's really not much to say about him except that he's handsome.

But what book fans today see is his handsomeness.

However, there were too many people talking, and all the voices mixed together, making it difficult to hear what they were saying.

Cao Sheng only vaguely heard words like "handsome" and "this guy".

Hearing this, he felt very uncomfortable.

I thought: These people can’t say anything else except criticizing me.

He didn't hear anyone discussing the plot of his book.

This disappointed him.

Just before getting off the bus, he saw a queue hundreds of meters long outside the bookstore. He was quite surprised and felt that there were more book lovers coming today than he expected.

The line is hundreds of meters long, and if there are two book lovers every one meter on average, there are probably about two hundred people.

It’s not particularly much, but it’s not particularly little either.

But the answer from Zhao Ping, a staff member of the publishing house, was like a basin of cold water poured on his head, which immediately made him feel chilled to the bone.

Looking at the team that was hundreds of meters long, he noticed that the distance between some people was more than one meter.

That is to say, in such a long line, there may be only about a hundred people queuing.

Judging from Zhao Ping's tone, most of these more than 100 people are probably hired as agents.

There are only a few dozen real book fans at most.

tens of……

His book, "Living with a Flight Attendant," has recently been read by more than two million people on Under the Banyan Tree.

Shanghai is at the forefront of domestic fashion and is probably the place with the largest number of Internet users in China. It also probably has the largest number of young people who have read his novel.

In a place like this, there are probably only a few dozen real book fans who come to his book signing event. How can he not be disappointed?
So, he became disheartened.

I just tried my best to keep a smile on my face and speed up the signing process, hoping to finish the signing session as soon as possible.

He no longer had any expectations for the next few book signing sessions.

only……

Why hasn’t it been signed yet?
I've been signing books for over an hour, right? Why are there still people outside with new books asking me to sign them?

Cao Sheng gradually felt that something was wrong.

He thought that based on his signing speed of more than an hour, the one or two hundred people outside the bookstore should have finished signing long ago. Why were there still people queuing outside? Why hadn't they finished yet?

He looked up at the line in front of him. There were twenty or thirty people queuing inside the bookstore, and he didn't know how many people were queuing outside the store.

What's going on? Are those people who just signed going to the back to line up again?

Is that how you play?
Will this ever end?

He frowned and turned to look at Zhao Ping, wanting to ask her when it would be over.

Zhao Ping met his eyes and looked at him puzzledly, not knowing what his look meant.

Cao Sheng: “…”

At this time, the book fan who was standing in front of him, waiting for his autograph, started talking to him.

Many book fans have talked to him before.

Cao Sheng also tried his best to respond with a smile.

"Hey! Zhongyuan Yidianhui, are you and Ran Jing still together?"

This question drew Cao Sheng's attention back. Cao Sheng looked up at the young man in front of him, smiled and shook his head, "Ran Jing is a character in the book. I don't have Ran Jing."

The young man frowned, his eyes filled with doubt. "Is this true? What you wrote in this book is not your real experience?"

Cao Sheng smiled and shook his head.

He casually signed the book for the man and handed it back to him.

……

At this moment, from an angle that Cao Sheng could not see - at the end of the queue outside the bookstore, people kept running over and joining the queue.

Some are book fans who came here specially.

Some were passers-by who saw so many people queuing here. They heard that a particularly popular novel was being signed and they could buy the author's autographed book, so they came over to queue up.

Today is Sunday.

Students and office workers, if they want to come today, they usually have time to come.

It’s just that the traffic in Shanghai is congested and not everyone can make it here early.

Cao Sheng, who was sitting inside the bookstore signing autographs, couldn't see the queue outside and thought it was someone else who had signed before. After he went out, he queued up at the back of the line again.

……

In addition, there was another situation that Cao Sheng was completely unaware of at the moment.

Under the Banyan Tree, book review section for "Living with the Air Hostess".

Early this morning, some new posts appeared in this book review section.

The content of the posts is basically related to today's book signing event in Shanghai.

Such as:
"Today is the book signing day in Shanghai. Friends in Shanghai are in luck. If you go to buy a book today, you can not only get the author's autograph and meet the author in person, but you can also read all the plots of the book in one go. If I were in Shanghai, I would definitely buy a copy today."

“Why is the first stop of the book signing event in Shanghai? Do you look down on us, Guangzhou?”

"Friends in Shanghai, when you go to the book signing event today, can you bring a camera and take a photo of Zhongyuan Yidianhui for us? By looking at his photo, we should be able to know whether this book is about his real experience."

"I want to know the plot of this book now. Friends who bought the physical book today, can you tell me what the plot of this book is like? Is it interesting?"

"Why isn't Nanjing included in the autograph session this time? The ancient capital of six dynasties, don't you think highly of it? Isn't that a bit too much?"

"Is it about time? Today's book signing should start? Are there any friends here who can tell me what the author looks like?"

"Are there many people attending the book signing today?"

"How is the ending written? Are Ding Yang and Ran Jing still together at the end?"

……

Shanghai, signing event.

It was already past noon, and Cao Sheng was still signing autographs. People continued to stream in from outside the bookstore, and Cao Sheng's stomach was already growling with hunger.

I could only pick up the teacup at hand and take a sip from time to time to fill my stomach with tea.

However, his mood was much better at this time.

Because he had long felt something was wrong.

Ever since he started to suspect those who had taken his autographed books and went to the back of the line, he started to pay attention to every "book fan" who asked him for an autograph.

After looking around for a long time, he didn't see a familiar face.

I never found anyone coming to him for an autograph a second time.

What does this mean?
He felt a lot better when he thought that the people queuing behind him might be real book fans.

My heart finally no longer feels so cold.

At 1:30 in the afternoon, the desk where he was signing was finally empty and no one came to him for his signature.

Zhao Ping, the bookstore manager, and the staff all gathered around.

The store manager led the applause with a smile on his face.

Zhao Ping and others followed suit and applauded.

Although the number of people was small, the applause was loud.

Everyone looked at Cao Sheng with smiles on their faces.

(End of this chapter)