Chapter 60: Expected Manuscript Fee

That afternoon.

Baodao.

Xinchang Publishing House headquarters.

When President Lan Tianhu saw the email from Chang Qingshu, a smile appeared on the corners of his mouth at the sight of the name "Chang Qingshu."

He was very satisfied with Chang Qingshu's work over the past half-year, especially since Chang Qingshu had secured the manuscript for the book *I Wish to Become an Immortal* for the publishing house; this book not only increased the publishing house's revenue but also greatly boosted Xinchang Publishing House's reputation over the past six months.

Therefore, seeing the email from Chang Qingshu, Lan Tianhu was in a good mood.

That was until he began reading the content of the email sent by Chang Qingshu; the more he read, the more surprised the expression on his face became. After he compared the manuscript of the ninth volume of *I Wish to Become an Immortal* with the first volume of *I Wish to Become an Immortal 2*, Lan Tianhu fell silent.

After a long silence, he let out a dry laugh and shook his head slightly.

With a complex look in his eyes, he replied to Chang Qingshu: "Tell him that the beginning of *I Wish to Become an Immortal 2* has passed our editorial review and is approved for publication. Ask him how much he wants for the manuscript fee, and report back to me later."

September 2nd.

Huizhou.

That morning, Cao Sheng went to school to complete the registration procedures for the new academic year and paid his tuition.

While registering, he ran into his roommates Pang Yunhai and Zhai Jun. Both of them were very happy to see Cao Sheng. Pang Yunhai suggested they get together for lunch and, with a grand gesture, patted his chest, saying he would treat them today, acting like the dorm leader.

Having not seen many acquaintances over the summer vacation, Cao Sheng was quite happy to see these two roommates today, so he did not refuse.

At a little past 10:00 AM, the three of them arrived at a food stall outside the school.

In this day and age, when students treat others, it is mostly at the school cafeteria or a food stall; only those from well-off families would go to a small restaurant, and only those from particularly wealthy families might go to places like hotels.

After entering the food stall, Pang Yunhai took the initiative to order a catfish with tofu, a stir-fried chive with egg, and a twice-cooked pork, then enthusiastically asked Cao Sheng and Zhai Jun to order two more dishes.

Cao Sheng didn't order, but Zhai Jun ordered a braised hairy tofu.

Here in Huizhou, many people like to eat braised hairy tofu; it tastes quite good.

Pang Yunhai added a plate of deep-fried peanuts and ordered three bottles of ice-cold beer.

As the dishes were served one by one, the three of them had already started drinking.

Zhai Jun asked curiously, "Boss, why are you so generous today, taking the initiative to treat us to a meal? Is there some happy event?"

Pang Yunhai chuckled, his face full of smiles, "There is a happy event. This summer, I found a girlfriend! She was my high school classmate, very pretty. I've already agreed with her that when National Day comes, she will come to our school to visit. I'll introduce her to you then and let you see if she's pretty! Hehe."

Cao Sheng was a bit surprised.

He suddenly remembered that in the original timeline, this indeed happened; Pang Yunhai did find a girlfriend during the summer that had just passed.

But before the semester was over, they broke up.

After the breakup, Pang Yunhai was depressed for a few days, then found a junior student at the same school. This time, before a month had passed, he was dumped again.

Both times, he was dumped by women.

For the next seven or eight years, Pang Yunhai didn't seem to look for another girlfriend, focusing entirely on starting a business. It wasn't until he had his own career—opening three tea shops and two dry goods stores here in Huizhou—that he suddenly notified everyone that he was getting married and invited everyone to come drink at his wedding.

In Cao Sheng's memory, Pang Yunhai's personality had always been relatively overbearing.

It might have been this overbearing personality that caused him to have one failed relationship after another when he was young; no girl could stand him.

It wasn't until Pang Yunhai had some career success and money that a woman could finally endure his overbearing nature and was willing to marry him.

"Congratulations! Boss! You're the second one in our dorm to find a girlfriend, right? Impressive!"

Zhai Jun gave a thumbs up with a surprised expression, praising him.

Pang Yunhai laughed heartily, but still remembered to be humble, waving his hands quickly and saying, "Average, average! It's mainly because Third Brother doesn't want to date; otherwise, with Third Brother's conditions, he would definitely have had a girlfriend long ago!"

Third Brother refers to Cao Sheng.

Cao Sheng smiled.

Having already remembered Pang Yunhai's bumpy love life in the original timeline, he couldn't help but feel a little sympathy as he looked at Pang Yunhai's happy appearance.

A life of seven or eight years without dating, focusing solely on one's career, must be very bitter.

Cao Sheng raised his glass to signal, "Congratulations! Come! I'll toast you; I wish you a hundred years of harmony and an early son!"

"Pfft..." Zhai Jun burst out laughing.

Pang Yunhai looked at Cao Sheng askance, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, but still raised his glass to clink with Cao Sheng's. "Don't curse me! I'm only a sophomore, what early son? Don't talk nonsense!"

After the meal, the three of them walked together.

When they reached the school gate, Cao Sheng stopped. "I won't go back to the dorm with you guys; let's part ways here."

Pang Yunhai and Zhai Jun stopped in surprise.

Pang Yunhai: "Do you have something to do outside?"

Cao Sheng smiled, "No! I recently rented a place outside of school, so I won't be staying in the dorm this semester."

He still wanted to keep a low profile and not mention that he had bought the house himself.

Pang Yunhai: "???"

Zhai Jun: "???"

Zhai Jun: "Did you rent the house specifically to write novels?"

Cao Sheng nodded.

Pang Yunhai nodded and patted Cao Sheng on the shoulder, "If you put it that way, I understand. There are too many people in the dorm, and it's usually messy, so it's indeed not suitable for you to write manuscripts. Alright! Then let's part ways here! Come back to the dorm to hang out often when you have time. We'll go check out your rented place later. Alright, you go ahead!"

Zhai Jun: "Bye!"

Cao Sheng returned to the courtyard on Binjiang Road.

He brewed a cup of Keemun black tea, went to the second-floor study, and turned on the computer.

The computer started up successfully.

He logged into his email to see if there was a reply from Xinchang.

As it turned out, there was.

Chang Qingshu: "Given our previous pleasant cooperation, our editorial team has accelerated the review process for your new book, *I Wish to Become an Immortal 2*. Congratulations! This book has passed our final review and can be published. We will appropriately increase the manuscript fee according to industry practice. May I ask what your expected manuscript fee is?"

After reading this email, the corners of Cao Sheng's mouth lifted slightly.

He felt he had won the bet.

Xinchang Publishing House indeed did not choose to break ties with him, but instead chose to tacitly accept the tenth volume's manuscript as his new book.

He copied the terms regarding the manuscript fee from the electronic contract previously sent by Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House and sent it to Chang Qingshu.

In the reply email, he said: "Hello! These are the conditions given to me by Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House. This publisher signed the simplified Chinese publishing rights for the first part of *I Wish to Become an Immortal* with me. Given the pleasant cooperation between your publishing house and me, the manuscript fee for *I Wish to Become an Immortal 2* only needs to be consistent with this."

At a little past 3:00 PM that day.

Chang Qingshu replied: "Sorry! Royalty sharing is the industry standard for publishers in your mainland, but our industry standard here is a fixed manuscript fee. We cannot change the rules of the entire industry for one book of yours. I hope you understand. You can state a specific expected manuscript fee, for example, 5,000 per volume."

5,000 per volume?

In the evening, when Cao Sheng saw this price, he shook his head slightly.

After pondering for a moment, he replied to Chang Qingshu: "Alright! Since you say it's the industry standard, then I respect your industry standard. For the manuscript fee of *I Wish to Become an Immortal 2*, I hope it is 10,000 RMB per volume."