Chapter 37: Over 30,000 More in Earnings, Song Chao Reads a Book

"Cao Sheng, I have more good news to tell you. Because the publishing house has decided to increase the first print run to 50,000 copies, your advance royalty payment has also been increased. This payment was deposited into your bank account today; please check it, and if there are any issues, please provide me with feedback in a timely manner.

Additionally, the number of pre-orders for your book has increased by over 10,000 in the past few days. The total number of pre-orders currently stands at over 33,000. Our finance department's staff can no longer keep up with the tallying, and several of our editors, including myself, have been reassigned to help out over the last few days, haha.

By the way, there is one more thing I need to tell you in advance. The publishing house is currently considering whether to continue increasing the number of copies for the first print run. If they do continue to increase it, the subsequent promotional efforts will certainly be strengthened, and you may need to accept some media interviews at that time.

Also, in view of the current popularity of your book, the publishing house is considering whether to hold a few book signing events for you, hoping to use this method to stimulate sales. If we really do hold signing events, I hope you can cooperate and go on a few business trips. Don't worry, you won't be working for nothing; there will be travel expenses provided for you. It just so happens that summer vacation is coming up soon, so you should have time. I'm telling you this now so you can mentally prepare; try to keep your schedule clear this summer and avoid making other arrangements if possible.

Finally, congratulations once again.

——Wang Jing"

Reading through this email word for word, Cao Sheng’s eyes and brows were filled with a smile.

He hadn't expected to receive the second royalty payment for this book so soon.

Last time, the publishing house decided on a first print run of 5,000 copies, and after deducting the commission for Banyan Tree, the amount that reached his hands was only about three thousand yuan.

It wasn't even as much as the payment he received for one episode of a manuscript from Xinchang Publishing House.

At the time, he had thought to himself: if these 5,000 copies don't sell out, there won't be any subsequent royalties, and this book would likely be a loss.

With 280,000 characters in total, earning only about three thousand yuan, while the "I Wish to Become an Immortal" he published in Baodao earned him four thousand yuan for every 65,000-character episode.

Which one was more cost-effective to write was clear at a glance.

But now?

The first print run of 5,000 copies had increased to 50,000; the quantity had increased tenfold.

Logically speaking, the royalties should also increase tenfold, which would be over thirty thousand.

About an hour later.

At the campus ATM of Huizhou Teachers College, Cao Sheng saw that the total balance in his account had indeed increased by over 30,000.

The total amount on this card had now become over 70,000 yuan.

This speed of earning money was no lower than his income from typing before his rebirth.

Is eating alone this satisfying?

As he withdrew his bank card, this thought flashed through his mind.

Before his rebirth, he was just one of many authors on Qidian; when his performance was good, he could earn about two hundred thousand a year, and when he was a failure, his annual income was only a few tens of thousands.

And the books he wrote were always more often failures than successes.

But what about now?

As the first person in this space-time to write web literature, it seemed he had eaten the first bite of meat. He should be the first to have web literature published in traditional characters, and he should also be the first to have web literature published in simplified characters.

Although the two books he wrote after his rebirth hadn't earned a single cent on the internet, in just half a year, his publishing royalties plus the signing fee from his contract with Banyan Tree had already earned him over 70,000.

If this isn't eating meat, what is?

In '98, 70,000 yuan could perhaps buy two or three 100-square-meter apartments in Huizhou City, or if building a house in his hometown, it could build at least ten three-bay bungalows, or even more.

If buying a house in his hometown's county seat, he could probably buy seven or eight.

He estimated that at the current rate of earning, perhaps this year he would not only have the money to rebuild his house in his hometown, but might also have enough left over to buy a small courtyard he liked here in Huizhou.

If he were content with small wealth, he could use half of this money to build the house in his hometown, and save the rest until he graduated from college, so he could go home and use it to marry a beautiful wife.

With so much money, plus his junior college degree, the beautiful girls from the surrounding villages in his hometown would probably be his to choose from.

He remembered that the bride price in his hometown was very low in these years.

He had never heard of a bride price reaching ten thousand from the time he was a child until now.

Some people didn't have to pay a cent in bride price when they got married.

Those with better conditions only gave a few thousand yuan.

Of course, having lived a second life, although he didn't have the ambition to beat Ma Huateng or step on Jack Ma, he wouldn't be so unambitious as to be in such a rush to live the life of "a wife, children, and a warm bed" so early.

……

Midnight that day.

Song Chao, who slept in the bunk below Cao Sheng, went to an internet cafe outside the school for an overnight session. Ever since he heard that Cao Sheng had written a novel and published it on Banyan Tree, Song Chao had learned to go online.

At first, he learned to go online just to find Cao Sheng's soon-to-be-published book, "Days of Living with a Flight Attendant," on the internet.

He wanted to see if Cao Sheng's book was really popular online, and to what extent?

But the internet fees during the day were too expensive.

Five yuan an hour; he couldn't bear it.

His family background wasn't very wealthy either.

So he learned from Cao Sheng to go to the internet cafe for an overnight session. He had asked Cao Sheng and learned that an overnight session at the internet cafe only cost 15 yuan.

Although 15 yuan wasn't a small amount, he felt that it was fine for him to come and play overnight occasionally.

Tonight, he came to the internet cafe because he wanted to read Cao Sheng's book from start to finish to see how it was actually written and why it deserved to be published.

He had grown up without ever meeting a writer in real life.

Now there was one in his dormitory, and he happened to sleep in the bunk above him; his curiosity had long since exploded.

A few days ago, he had asked Cao Sheng for the manuscript.

Cao Sheng wasn't stingy and gave him a stack of handwritten drafts. Not only did Song Chao read them, but the others in the dormitory also read them.

But...

It was all like reading a heavenly book.

Except for the title, "Days of Living with a Flight Attendant," which was written quite neatly, all the other characters in that draft notebook were like ghost talismans.

It was too sloppy!

He could barely recognize some by guessing, but there were still many characters he couldn't recognize no matter what.

He asked Cao Sheng: "You don't usually write so illegibly! How did this manuscript end up like this?"

Cao Sheng's answer left him speechless.

Cao Sheng said: "It's a draft, I just need to be able to recognize it myself. Being a bit sloppy makes it faster to write. When writing, the speed of the hand must try to keep up with the speed of thought. If you write slowly, your train of thought will be interrupted, and once the thought is broken, it's hard to pick it up again. If you want to read my book, wait until I receive the sample copies from the publishing house, and you can read it slowly then."

Song Chao had intended to wait until Cao Sheng's sample copies arrived to read it.

But he had underestimated his own curiosity.

These past few days, his curiosity about Cao Sheng's book had grown stronger and stronger.

Finally, he couldn't hold back anymore, so he gritted his teeth and took out fifteen yuan to come here for an overnight session, intending to read Cao Sheng's book on the internet cafe computer.

Time slipped away bit by bit.

Song Chao flipped through "Days of Living with a Flight Attendant" chapter by chapter.

The more he read, the more surprised his expression became.

He was surprised by Cao Sheng's seasoned writing style, the fluidity of the plot, and even more surprised by the vividness of the male and female protagonists.

The various comedic situations that arose during the male protagonist Ding Yang's attempts to pursue Ran Jing always made Song Chao smile involuntarily.

The beauty, gentleness, and tolerance of the female protagonist Ran Jing, as well as the sorrow that always appeared in her eyes when she was alone, stirred up Song Chao's desire to protect her.

More than two hours later, when he finally finished reading all the chapters of the book currently serialized on Banyan Tree, he discovered that the subsequent plot was gone...

Gone?

Song Chao's expression was stunned; he was just getting into it!

That it was gone left him stunned and feeling a sense of loss.

There was also anger toward Cao Sheng—this guy had clearly finished writing this book long ago, and the manuscript was locked in the drawer of his desk in the dormitory. He had actually hoarded it without posting it; was this something a human would do?

What made him most angry was—he had gritted his teeth and squeezed 15 yuan out of his living expenses to come here for an overnight session, but it was only 2 o'clock in the morning, and it was still a long way until dawn. How was he supposed to pass the remaining time?

Wasn't this 15-yuan overnight fee a waste?

If he had known, he might as well have come to the internet cafe during the day to read for two hours. If he read faster, he could have finished these chapters in two hours and saved 5 yuan!

He prepared to go back tomorrow morning and settle the score with Cao Sheng.