The sunlight was somewhat dazzling, and it was already nearly ten in the morning.
Liu Zhou was still fast asleep in bed. It was a rare day when he didn't wake up early, and everyone else in the dorm was also snoring away soundly.
This time, there was no need to worry about the killer whistle at four or five in the morning suddenly sounding and startling you out of a deep sleep.
The freshman military training had officially ended yesterday.
During yesterday's training parade, Liu Zhou's platoon won first place.
Actually, there weren't that many platoons at the Central Academy of Drama to begin with, and everyone's performance was pretty much on par. Liu Zhou felt that the reason they won first place was simply because their on-the-spot execution was a little better.
Still, no matter how unconvinced the people from other majors were, first place was first place, and this was Liu Zhou's very first honor since entering university.
During the military training, everyone had constantly wailed and groaned, but now that it was over, they couldn't help feeling a twinge of reluctance.
It was a very strange sentiment. They had complained about being exhausted every single day, yet when it actually ended, they felt a bit down and reluctant to let go. But on second thought, considering that practically everyone here was in the prime of their youth, this kind of feeling was actually quite normal.
The military training was indeed grueling. In just this short half-month, the instructors' impressions had been deeply etched into everyone's minds; they would probably remember their instructors' faces even more clearly than those of their classmates.
When parting ways, Liu Zhou even noticed that two of the more emotional girls had somewhat moist eyes.
However, Liu Zhou figured that if the instructor had announced another half-month of military training, those same girls would have bolted without a second thought.
Sleeping until he woke up naturally, Liu Zhou didn't open his eyes until almost eleven o'clock.
Liu Zhou had cultivated the habit of going to bed early and rising early since childhood. Even after he started working later in life, that hadn't changed—he just hadn't paid as much attention to his diet back then.
This time, immune to the effects of his biological clock, Liu Zhou had slept until now. That half-month of military training had truly worn him out a bit.
There was no point in even dreaming about air conditioning in the Central Academy of Drama dorms. Waking up from his sleep, Liu Zhou felt sticky all over.
Taking advantage of the remaining time before lunch, Liu Zhou decided to take a shower.
The mere mention of showering gave Liu Zhou a bit of a headache.
This era was far from being as comfortable for college students as later generations would be. In the future, many dorms would come equipped with private bathrooms and showers, but in this day and age, everyone had to wash up in the public bathhouse, and what's more, you needed bath tickets to use it.
The weather in Yangcheng was hot and humid, and in the summer, people generally showered at least once a day. Yet around here, many people only washed every few days, a fact Liu Zhou found rather hard to accept.
Consequently, Liu Zhou ended up spending way more on bath tickets than anyone else.
That wasn't even the half of it; what he was least accustomed to was bathing in a public bathhouse.
Liu Zhou was extremely unaccustomed to completely exposing himself in front of other people—even people of the same sex.
It wasn't that Liu Zhou had an inferiority complex; his equipment was plenty impressive. He simply wasn't used to it, nor was he comfortable with members of the same sex being completely exposed in front of him.
But since he had come to Beijing to study, he had to adapt to everything.
The weather had to be adapted to, the lifestyle habits had to be adapted to, and the food had to be adapted to as well.
By the time Liu Zhou finished his shower and returned, the people in the dorm still hadn't gotten up.
Only Wang Qingshan, hearing the commotion and seeing that it was Liu Zhou, mumbled sleepily:
"Liu Zhou, you're awake so early?"
"It's not early anymore, lunch is almost ready. Are you coming along?"
"I think I'll sleep a bit longer, don't really feel like eating."
"All right, then keep sleeping."
Liu Zhou tidied up and headed out alone to get some lunch.
The cafeteria at the Central Academy of Drama was rather small, but it offered plenty of dishes, along with a Halal station.
Today happened to be Sunday, so there were fewer people around; otherwise, the cafeteria tended to get a bit crowded during normal meal times.
Just as Liu Zhou was halfway through his meal, two people suddenly sat down across from him at the table.
Liu Zhou looked up and saw that it was none other than the inseparable Zeng Li and Yuan Quan.
"How come it's just you by yourself?" Yuan Quan asked.
"The others are still sleeping, so I just came over alone."
After half a month of getting along, Liu Zhou had developed a basic understanding of the two girls and wasn't as reserved around them as before.
Once they sat down, Zeng Li suddenly caught the scent of shampoo. Taking a closer look at Liu Zhou's clean and neat appearance, she remarked:
"Liu Zhou, did you take a shower?"
"How did you even know that?"
"Southern people really do love being clean. You wash up much more often than we girls do."
"Can't help it, used to it."
"What do you guys usually do after class?"
"Do you want the truth or a lie?"
"What's the lie?"
"The lie is that we usually stay in the dorm reading books, appreciating and analyzing classic plays and movies."
"And the truth?"
"Discussing which girls in school are the prettiest!"
"Then which girl in our school do you think is the prettiest?" Yuan Quan suddenly interjected.
"I generally don't participate in such superficial discussions," Liu Zhou replied with a straight face.
"As if I'd believe you. So, who did you guys decide is the most gorgeous?"
"Uh, Zhang Tong from your class."
If the boys of the Class of 96 were asked to vote on the campus belle, stunning beauties like Zeng Li and Hu Jing wouldn't actually be their top choices at the moment. Zhang Tong was the one they found the prettiest—with her long braided hair, delicate facial features, eyes full of spiritual vitality, skin so tender it seemed like it could squeeze out water, and an ethereal, fairy-like aura.
Two years later, once the girls learned how to dress up, the boys had more exposure, and their aesthetic standards improved, Zeng Li's looks would skyrocket in everyone's estimation.
"So do you think Pear is pretty?"
"Pretty. Actually, if you ask me, Pear is the prettiest. Their aesthetic standards leave much to be desired."
Hearing this, Zeng Li tried hard to suppress the corners of her mouth, which were curving upward faster than an AK-47, and said:
"Flatterer!"
"Why would I lie to you? In a year or two, everyone is definitely going to spontaneously vote for you as the campus belle of our Central Academy of Drama!"
"And what about me?"
Liu Zhou looked over at Yuan Quan. Seeing her large, blinking eyes fixed on him, he answered honestly:
"You're a girl with a tremendous amount of presence!"
"Drop dead!"
"I'm complimenting you, why are you cursing?"
"Doesn't your comment just mean I'm not pretty?"
"I never said that, those were your own words. I'm done eating, you guys take your time."
With that, Liu Zhou picked up his meal basin and scurried off.
The most fatal thing to do was discuss which girl is prettier right in front of girls!
Back in the dorm, seeing that everyone was still asleep, Liu Zhou suddenly found himself with nothing to do.
There wasn't much going on right at the start of the semester anyway, and the homework assigned by their head teacher was already finished.
Wasting time wasn't in Liu Zhou's nature. Since he had free time, he might as well put some thought into his grand enterprise of making a fortune.
That's right, what Liu Zhou had been pondering earlier was the exact same way countless time-travelers secured their first pot of gold: writing novels.
This wasn't because Liu Zhou's transmigration allowed him to perfectly recall every single piece of text he had ever read in his past life, but rather because he genuinely possessed the foundation for it.
In his past life, he had been a screenwriter; his talent for crafting stories was decent, and his writing skills were solid. Writing novels was undoubtedly the best way to rake in cash.
Besides, the earning potential of bestselling novels was by no means low!
Liu Zhou had no intention of writing serious, realistic fiction—that was probably beyond his grasp, as such novels truly required a certain level of cultural accumulation. Plus, he was only eighteen years old, and that genre didn't match his age.
Therefore, Liu Zhou chose youth romance novels.
Initially, Liu Zhou had considered writing martial arts stories, but there was nothing left to write in that genre; Jin Yong, Gu Long, Liang Yusheng, and Wen Ruian had practically exhausted every single martial arts trope.
Most importantly, modern wuxia fans were already old veterans who weren't easily fooled!
On the other hand, youth-oriented novels were rarely written at the moment, yet Liu Zhou knew this field held massive potential.
In later generations, Han Han and Guo Jingming made a huge splash with their youth novels, even briefly becoming youth leaders and idols to countless youngsters.
Liu Zhou didn't care much about being a youth leader; what he cared about was that those two had made a ton of money through their novels.