Chapter 31: Signing Fee, Chance Encounter

"Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Cao Sheng asked.

He truly did not know why Pang Yunhai, Wei Dongming, and the others were looking at him that way; he did not know the short-haired woman sitting beside the desk.

Likewise, the short-haired woman did not know Cao Sheng.

She only knew Cao Sheng's real name and pen name.

At this moment, Song Chao spoke, pointing a finger at the short-haired woman, "Cao Sheng! This beauty has come to find you. She says she is a copyright editor from 'Under the Banyan Tree' and has come to discuss publishing agency rights with you."

Pang Yunhai nodded in agreement: "Yes! Cao Sheng, you have finally returned. This beauty has been waiting for you in our dorm for quite a while."

Wei Dongming looked at Cao Sheng, wanting to speak but stopping himself; the look in his eyes toward Cao Sheng was especially complex.

Toward Cao Sheng, he had always felt both jealousy and disdain.

Jealous that Cao Sheng was obviously taller than him, handsomer than him, and more popular with girls than him.

Disdainful because Cao Sheng was a country bumpkin from the countryside, and in terms of family background, he was not as good as Wei Dongming.

But today, someone had actually come to find Cao Sheng to sign a publishing agency contract for some novel; this shocked him. He never dreamed in his wildest dreams that Cao Sheng had silently written some novel. According to what the short-haired woman just said, Cao Sheng's novel seemed to be extremely popular, the most popular novel on that 'Under the Banyan Tree'.

Could Cao Sheng have such talent?

How could he possibly have such talent?

This is unscientific!

But the fact was right before his eyes; even if Wei Dongming did not want to admit it in his heart, he could only feel envy, jealousy, and hatred.

"Oh?"

Cao Sheng looked at the short-haired woman, somewhat surprised, "Hello! Are you an editor from 'Under the Banyan Tree'?"

The short-haired woman stood up, her expression surprised, and quickly walked toward Cao Sheng. While sizing up Cao Sheng, she extended both hands and said with a full face of smiles, "Hello, hello! You are Zhongyuan Yidianhui's Cao Sheng, Mr.? Hello, hello! Yes! I am the copyright editor from 'Under the Banyan Tree'. My surname is Wang, Wang Jing! Very pleased to meet you in person. I never expected that not only is your novel written well, but you also look so handsome! A great honor, a great honor!"

She was very enthusiastic.

Her hands tightly grasped Cao Sheng's outstretched right hand; while speaking, her eyes sizing up Cao Sheng were full of surprise.

Cao Sheng's handsomeness was indeed quite beyond her expectations.

Before coming here today, she had thought that a college student who liked writing was most likely unkempt, taciturn, and plain-looking.

In her impression, people who liked writing all seemed to be like this.

After all, those who are handsome and have cheerful personalities are always very popular with girls in life; even if they do not actively pursue anyone, girls will chase them, inevitably getting trapped in matters of love and affection. Where would they have the time and mind to write some novel?

So, when she saw Cao Sheng's dignified and imposing image, she could hardly believe her own eyes.

Her heartbeat even sped up several notches; while her hands held Cao Sheng's right hand, some fanciful images actually flashed through her mind.

Fortunately, she was already over thirty, and reason could keep her mind clear.

Cao Sheng felt somewhat uncomfortable because this Wang Jing did not let go of his hand for a long time, while Pang Yunhai, Wei Dongming, and the others were watching!

"A great honor! Sister Wang, right? Have you had lunch? If not, shall I accompany you to get something to eat?"

Cao Sheng wanted to take her away from the dorm.

First, he had never let his roommates know about his writing, and he still did not want them to know too much now.

Second, with his roommates present, this Wang Jing was so enthusiastic, and he felt a bit uncomfortable.

Third, it was lunchtime now; since Wang Jing represented 'Under the Banyan Tree' to find him, by both sentiment and reason, he should fulfill his duties as a host.

Ten-plus minutes later, the school cafeteria.

On both sides of a stainless steel dining table in a corner, Cao Sheng and Wang Jing sat facing each other.

Wang Jing indeed had not yet had lunch.

But Cao Sheng had already eaten.

Cao Sheng originally wanted to take her outside the school to find a small restaurant, but Wang Jing said she wanted to try the food in their school cafeteria and insisted on coming to the cafeteria.

So, he brought her here and ordered a meal for her.

The meal was quite abundant, with twice-cooked pork, braised crucian carp, and Mapo tofu, plus a bowl of free seaweed egg drop soup.

In these days, students willing to order so many dishes at once in the cafeteria were not many.

But actually, it only cost a few yuan in total.

"Sister Wang, this meal is not very well prepared. Are you not leaving tonight? If you are not leaving, I will take you out for a better meal tonight? There are quite a lot of delicacies in Huizhou; I will take you to try them?"

Cao Sheng looked at Wang Jing, who was eating with her head down, and made the suggestion.

Wang Jing looked up at him, nodded with a smile, "Sure! I indeed will not leave today. However, dinner should be arranged by me! What good food is there here? After I got off the plane today, on the way over in the taxi, I already asked the driver about some things, and also asked about a few good restaurants nearby. In a while, I will go make a reservation. When you finish school this afternoon, we will go over, okay?"

Cao Sheng laughed helplessly and shook his head, "No, no! You are a guest from afar; I should be the one to treat you."

Wang Jing also shook her head, "No! You are still a student. Although your work is written very well and is very popular on our website, you have not yet earned any manuscript fees. And since you are still a student now, you certainly do not have much money. As for me, coming here this time, the higher-ups approved public relations funds for me. Hehe, anyway, it is the company's money; we might as well spend it. If we don't spend it, we have to turn it over to the company when we return. Don't you agree?"

As she spoke, she even winked at Cao Sheng.

This...

instantly made Cao Sheng laugh.

In an instant, he felt a bit more fondness for her; he felt this woman was quite interesting, actually coaxing him to fleece their company together.

"Alright, since that is the case, then I will not stand on ceremony."

"It is only right! Anyway, it is not my personal money. Let us both not stand on ceremony tonight. Order whatever you want to eat; the most important thing is that we both enjoy ourselves!"

Evening.

The two arrived together at the first floor of Old Street.

The first floor of Old Street is a very famous restaurant nearby.

The interior environment is decorated in an antique style; the cashiers and waiters inside are all dressed in ancient costumes, and the food here is exquisite in every dish.

Cao Sheng and Wang Jing took a table by the window on the second floor, ordered a few dishes and a soup, and requested a pot of yellow wine.

The two ate and talked.

In fact, they had already finalized the specific publishing agency contract that noon, and the contract had already been signed.

After reading the stored drafts of "Living with the Stewardess," Wang Jing's eyes shone with light; during the contract negotiations, her enthusiasm was extremely high, and she voluntarily made concessions several times.

The contract they negotiated mainly consisted of a few clauses.

For example: 1. Rongshu Exclusive Agency holds the simplified publishing rights and film/TV adaptation rights for "Living with the Stewardess" for five years; within these five years, Cao Sheng himself has no right to sell these rights to others.

2. If the rights are successfully sold, Rongshu takes a 20% agency share of the proceeds, and 80% goes to Cao Sheng.

3. The signing fee is thirty thousand; if Rongshu fails to sell the above rights within five years, the signing fee will not be refunded.

Cao Sheng had never received a signing fee before his rebirth.

Back then, every time he signed with Qidian, there was no signing fee.

Even when Qidian sought him out to sign a long-term contract, there wasn't a single penny of signing fee.

Also, when he previously signed with Xinchang Publishing House, there was no signing fee either.

But this time, he managed to squeeze three thousand in signing fees from Rongshu.

This might be related to the fact that he is Rongshu's first signed author.

Previously, Rongshu had no relevant experience, so everything was negotiable.

And although this time Rongshu wanted to secure five years of exclusive agency rights for his book, and although this agency right did not include traditional Chinese publishing.

During these five years, Cao Sheng himself had no right to sell the simplified and film/TV adaptation rights; Cao Sheng originally was unwilling to agree to this clause.

But Wang Jing voluntarily brought up the signing fee.

She used the signing fee to persuade Cao Sheng.

At past 8 o'clock that night, when Cao Sheng and Wang Jing came out from the first floor of the Old Street, they unexpectedly ran into their dorm-mate Guan Zhi, and Guan Zhi's girlfriend, Xu Ling.

Guan Zhi and Xu Ling were walking hand in hand just as they passed in front of the Old Street first-floor store entrance, while Cao Sheng and Wang Jing were just coming out after settling the bill.

Guan Zhi and Xu Ling looked at Cao Sheng in surprise, then turned their gaze to Wang Jing beside Cao Sheng, their suspicious eyes darting back and forth between their faces.