The following morning.
In a Brooklyn apartment.
Lily had already prepared a sumptuous breakfast for everyone.
However, the atmosphere at the dining table was slightly off and a bit strange.
Gene was still in high spirits, talking about last night's party.
Wang Jian occasionally looked up, somewhat guiltily eyeing everyone.
Lily acted as if nothing was wrong, reminding Gene to participate more in group activities at school.
Only the red-haired woman examined Lily and Wang Jian with a quizzical gaze.
A dozen minutes later, breakfast ended.
Wang Jian ran out of Lily's apartment as if escaping, preparing to head back to the Bronx District.
He sat on the bus, thinking about last night's events, feeling...
Too weird!
What was going on between him and Lily!
Wang Jian vigorously scratched his head, feeling that things were getting more and more bizarre.
Forget it, forget it.
No more thinking...
Today he still had to make a trip to the publishers to collect the first period's royalties.
That would keep him busy.
He lifted his head, looking out of the bus window at two groups of young black men wearing bandanas, pointing guns at each other.
He nodded to himself.
Ah, the Bronx District was here.
After getting off the bus, Wang Jian quickly ran back to his apartment and, after freshening up and changing clothes,
took another ride to Scholastic Publishers in Manhattan.
As always, there was a group of people in front of Scholastic Publishers, distributing copies of the first half of their manuscripts and story outlines to passersby.
These were people who had been rejected by various publishers but did not want to give up their literary dreams.
They hoped their manuscripts would be discovered by another editor with an eye for talent, followed by their works being published.
And that they could become best-selling novelists with just one book.
But the reality...
Well, let's just say New York has the most publishing houses and music companies in the entire United States.
So, it also has the most literary and musical dreamers.
And among all the major cities' homeless in the United States,
those from New York have the highest literary and musical literacy.
Just like how the homeless in Los Angeles average in highest beauty.
Wang Jian kindly refused manuscripts offered by several middle-aged people and quickly walked inside Scholastic Publishers.
After registering his name at the front desk, he went to Roy's office.
But this time, Wang Jian's mood was different from the last time.
And his relationship with Roy had also changed since the last time.
However, Roy, as if nothing had changed, smiled, stood up, and shook hands...
As if he hadn't been the one threatening to shelve "I'm a Great Mage" at the café last time.
Is this what they call "Business is business"?
Wang Jian awkwardly shook hands with Roy, thinking to himself.
Indeed, he did not have the talent to become a successful businessman.
He lacked their thick skin and cold hearts!
"Congratulations, Wang," Roy said with a smile, "To date, 'I'm a Great Mage' has sold 170,000 copies."
"The French and Latin editions will also be released in a week."
"You've truly become a best-selling novelist," Roy said, clapping his hands nonchalantly.
But Wang Jian did not feel like engaging with him and just watched quietly.
Seeing no reaction from the other side, Roy simply shrugged.
Artists, eh?
Who doesn't have a little quirk?
He had dealt with best-selling authors more than once.
And it wasn't a small number whom he had tricked.
But in the end, most of these rebellious "artists," aside from those who really made it as famous authors,
would come back obediently, publishing their works with Scholastic Publishers, right?
After all, unlike other publishers who aggressively raised book prices to consume book royalties,
Scholastic Publishers hadn't used that method for whatever reason.
You know, the so-called best-selling author's royalty split percentage ceiling was no more than 18%.
The major earnings actually came from signing bonuses and various intellectual property incomes.
And it was the publishers who profited from royalties.
Hardcover versions, anniversary editions, special editions, collector's editions... all these were concepts from the publishers.
Scholastic Publishers just hadn't resorted to this method yet.
Roy looked at Wang Jian sitting across from him, firmly believing that if the other party had good works in the future, they would definitely come back to him.
Because the quality of work like "I'm a Great Mage" couldn't support the pricing of other publishers at 30 US dollars a pop.
Wang Jian wasn't in the mood to care about what Roy thought, his mind was completely preoccupied with money.
"Weren't we supposed to settle the 4% royalty share today?" Wang Jian asked.
"Of course." Roy cheerfully took a document and handed it over.
"Take a look, and if you have no objections, sign it. After that, you can go to the finance department to collect your check."
Another damn document?
Wang Jian frowned.
As he took the document, he wondered whether he should find a lawyer after receiving the royalties.
But when he looked down, he was relieved.
This was a sales report from various bookstores at the time of distributing the 4% royalties.
Wang Jian glanced at the total.
110,000 copies.
Yes, that was the total number of copies for the 4% royalty contract.
Then, without scrutinizing the specific sales data, he signed his name.
It wasn't that he wasn't worried about Scholastic Publishers committing fraud.
The main reason was that every book was taxed.
And the agency responsible for collecting taxes was none other than the Internal Revenue Service.
If even the IRS couldn't find out, Wang Jian was willing to accept it.
And so, he collected a check from Scholastic Publishers' finance department, representing 4% of the royalties for "I'm a Great Mage," a total of 110,000 copies, amounting to 44,000 US Dollars.
When Wang Jian walked out of the publisher's door with the check in his pocket, he finally felt that his online writings in his past life weren't for nothing.
They really could be cashed in!
So, what to do with the money?
Invest?
Bitcoin? Google? Facebook?
Those were his only vague memories from his previous life.
However, when Wang Jian inquired about them during community service,
not a single person knew what those were.
He felt he might have either crossed into a parallel world, or those companies hadn't been established yet.
If he couldn't make money from money, then the first step would be to get a new apartment.
Since his roommate El knew that "I'm a Great Mage" was written by him,
it was equivalent to letting him know that Wang Jian would have some money and was no longer broke.
And when it comes to keeping secrets and facing money, his Black brother's threshold was particularly low.
Next was the Bronx District environment.
Gunshots all the time, occasional explosions.
And there were even more Black brothers.
Sometimes Wang Jian even felt like he had moved to Africa.
Of course, the most urgent task was to go to the bank to cash Scholastic's check.
Then, to collect his own checkbook.
Ha...
Finally, no more worries about being thrown out onto the street by the landlord someday.
Wang Jian walked cheerfully towards a nearby bank.
At the same time, on the other side of Manhattan,
the largest advertising company in the United States, the Omnicom Group's PHD media subsidiary, was holding a meeting.
A balding, portly middle-aged man shouted loudly, "Our subsidiary's performance has been declining for three years!"
"Our clients say our work lacks originality, still clinging to the old tricks from the '80s..."
Meanwhile, a red-haired woman sat below, listening disinterestedly, her mind filled with thoughts of her best friend Lily and that Asian boy.
They,
got together?
The boy was still a broke thief.
This...
Should she intervene?
The middle-aged man suddenly slammed the office desk, bringing her attention back to the present.
He then said loudly, "So, we need to keep up with the trends. The book 'I'm a Great Mage' is very popular lately, and many food companies really like it."
He looked around the office and finally made up his mind.
"Lynn!"
The red-haired woman immediately raised her hand to show she was ready.
"Contact the author of 'I'm a Great Mage,' and try to get the advertising rights for the book." As he spoke, he handed her a piece of paper, "This is the contact information for that writer."
"Remember, by any means necessary."
Lynn nodded and said, "Understood."
She then flipped open the printout.
It read: Author of "I'm a Great Mage": Wang Jian.
Phone: xxx
And beneath the sunlight, her red hair seemed especially spirited.