Among those popular alumni, there was this popular author in particular –
Ou Yang,
who had the full attention of the spotlight.
Many mistook Ou Yang as his surname, expecting it to be tailed by additional names. In actuality, his surname was Ou, and a single name Yang.
Ou Yang was already in his forties; he was a popular author who wrote thrillers. He came from an average family, and had an ordinary student life. After university graduation, he became an electrical engineer, and wrote after his working hours.
During his time, the internet was not commonplace yet; there were no suitable places for web novels to thrive. Fortunately, there were many literary prizes in this world’s China, especially detective novels, which sold better than others. They also carried heavier price tags, which was why many publishers were willing to publish such novels, as they were far easier to sell.
Ou Yang spent five years to finally make his appearance in the thriller domain. Finally, when he was 29 years old, his novel,
Prisoners
earned him the famous newcomer award. From thereon, his career as a novelist kicked off.
However, his career as a professional novelist was not an easy one. For ten years, his works did not sell well; he barely made a living out of it. At one point, he felt lost, and started doubting if he should continue writing novels…
His thriller novels did not have any plot twists, delicate layouts, nor were they full of mysterious and suspicious hints. He only focused on the morality and ethics of mankind in his thriller novel, which had always been his main focus.
He did not only know how to write pure literature, but still, he loved to describe characters who were haunted by self-conflicted ideals as they wrestled with their humanity. This author gave his all in making sure that his readers would be struck with shock as they read his novel…
Ou Yang failed as an author for ten years; but his fame finally grew after a great selling of his novel,
Winter’s Journey.
This had also heated up the sales of his previous novels, and his royalties shot up. His following novels all sold rather well, and some of them were even adapted into movies. He finally attained fame as a legend. Now, whenever he started a new book, filmmakers would be willing to stake their careers on their adaptations, even if nothing else but the title had been released.
This was Ou Yang, an ordinary author; he had persevered for more than ten years to become a famous author. Last year on the author’s wealth rankings, he entered the third place, earning a royalty of thirty million.
His income could not be compared to these new web novelists, but his status in the literary field was at a legendary status. Of course, he found some web novels interesting, but traditional literature occupied his heart before all else.
Ou Yang was truly reputable, even among web novels; he gained genuine respect from students, as he gave his speech in Lu Xun College.
He was a minority. Most traditional authors still looked down on web novelists, and vice versa. The sales of books had been dwindling over the years, most conventional authors still had to depend on national subsidies and work part-time to make a living.
If one were to approach Zhao Youyue’s mother, Wang Hua, another traditional author, and ask how much she earned, things would quickly get awkward…
Ou Yang was an alumnus of this high school. During his years as a student, he had been a quiet student, and still remembered getting caught by his homeroom teacher whenever he wrote novels during classes. More often than not, he ended up getting severely scolded by his teachers. His teachers did not believe that novelists had bright futures. Graduating from a university and getting a decent job was the correct thing to do.
Ou Yang never opposed his teacher, but he did not give up on his dreams either. Today, he saw his teacher who was now an old man. The elder man had congratulated him for being the most successful person in his class. Obviously, the old man had already forgotten the events of the past lifetime.
Many of his classmates congratulated him as well; they were also considered successful VIPs of this event, but their accomplishments momentously paled in comparison to what he had achieved.
Of course, it was a most enjoyable experience. During the old days he was just a nobody, but now, he was one of those main characters in the spotlight. He had even been invited to give a speech.
Life was indeed unpredictable, thought Ou Yang, as he sighed emotionally.
He was well aware that he lacked talent. He was average at best, having no ability of dishing out bombastic words nor sentences, but his books were always known for raking through the hearts of those who read them.
He did not have any remarkable experiences to share either; as a high school student, he had already decided to spend the rest of his life writing novels. Ideally, he had hoped that writing alone would be able to place food on his table, but if he couldn’t make it, then he would just pick up another job as he continued writing.
He was still single, and was without any lovers. His writings were his wives, his lovers, as long as he could write, that would be sufficient.
Ou Yang sat among the audience, feeling the nostalgia of returning to his high school era, but this New Year’s Eve party was on a much larger scale than it once was.
When he saw the male and female emcees on stage and hosting the party with passion, he was just like all the other males, focusing their gazes on the long-haired female emcee.
Makeup had turned the long-haired Zhao Youyue into a Goddess. The gorgeous evening gown only completed the image! The school had originally intended to rent a gown for her, but she had one of her own. So she prepared the gown herself, and even put on the makeup herself. The makeup artist hired by the school was not a professional either, it would have only made it worse.
Zhao Youyue was a person who emphasizes on looks; she would not allow a tiny flaw to blemish her appearance, on this grand event’s stage. If things go as planned, this would be the biggest chance for her to really increase her sense of presence during her career as a high school student…
Today is the day for her to transform into the main protagonist!
Zhao Youyue claimed the stage in her gorgeous gown. Without a doubt, she was the spotlight of this venue. She couldn’t care less about her partner, Wang Zongchao’s feelings. In fact, when Wang Zongchao saw the beautiful Zhao Youyue, he felt nothing but honor, to be able to be Zhao Youyue’s partner. This would earn him the envy of every other male student, because they were not even qualified to stand beside her.
When Ou Yang came back to his senses, the first performance was already in play, but he only found it dreary. He would rather have the female emcee continue talking.
Such a young and beautiful female high school student. The very sight of her seemed to restore his very youth.
For the first time ever, Ou Yang felt a tinge of regret. Most of his youth had been burned off by his obsession with writing. He quickly remembered that he could not be blamed for that. During his time as a student, there were no brilliant, sparkling female protagonists.
