Chapter 61: The Sincerity of Xinchang Publishing House

The next morning.

Cao Sheng received a reply email from Chang Qingshu.

"Zhongyuan Yidianhui, your message has been received. However, your expected manuscript fee far exceeds the range I can decide upon. I have reported your opinion to the President; please wait patiently.

Personally, I do not think the President will agree to the price you proposed. Increasing from four thousand RMB to ten thousand RMB is too large an increase; our publishing house has never had such a precedent. I hope you can be mentally prepared. ——Chang Qingshu"

After reading this email, Cao Sheng was not very surprised, nor did he feel any anger.

Ten thousand per volume was not his bottom line to begin with.

After all, one asks for a sky-high price and negotiates down to the ground!

Since Chang Qingshu asked him to state an expected manuscript fee, he naturally had to aim high to leave room for the other party to counter-offer.

One certainly couldn't reveal one's trump card right from the start.

His psychological bottom line was eight thousand per volume.

If that really didn't work, seven thousand or six thousand would also be fine.

His bottom line in this regard was quite flexible; in any case, it was still better than the original four thousand per volume.

But...

Baodao, Xinchang headquarters.

After President Lan Tianhu finished reading Chang Qingshu's email and learned of the manuscript fee Cao Sheng expected, he frowned slightly, but there were no signs of him getting angry.

After frowning and pondering for a moment, he picked up the phone on his desk and dialed the number for the Nanjing office.

A moment later, the call connected.

Chang Qingshu's voice came through the phone: "President? Do you have any instructions?"

Lan Tianhu wore a smile, his tone gentle, "I have just read your email. Zhongyuan Yidianhui's expected manuscript fee is ten thousand RMB, correct?"

Chang Qingshu: "Yes, President! His appetite is too big. I have already replied to him, telling him that our house has no such precedent. I have already prepared him mentally; I estimate that giving him seven or eight thousand per volume at most should be enough. I..."

Lan Tianhu interrupted him, "No! There is no need to haggle with him. Agree to his request! If he wants ten thousand, we will give him ten thousand."

Chang Qingshu: "Ah? President, I am confident that I can get him to agree with seven or eight thousand at most..."

Lan Tianhu interrupted him again, "No! Do not haggle."

Chang Qingshu: "..."

Lan Tianhu paused, then continued: "I believe what you said; seven or eight thousand should indeed be enough to get him to agree, maybe even five or six thousand. However, A-Shu! He is worth this price, at least his current book, *I Wish to Become Immortal*, is worth this price. You know that this book has earned us the monthly sales championship for several consecutive months. The value of this championship title alone is worth us giving him a higher manuscript fee. Moreover, I believe we need to show him our sincerity now. Only in this way is there a greater possibility that he will still choose us for his next work. Do you want to see his next work signed away by our competitors?"

Chang Qingshu: "..."

After a moment of silence, Chang Qingshu let out a soft sigh and said with emotion: "President, you are right. I only considered the immediate situation; you truly have long-term vision! Then I will tell him... that we agree to his expected manuscript fee?"

Lan Tianhu: "Mm, tell him this good news as soon as possible! We need to make him feel that cooperating with us is very pleasant."

Chang Qingshu: "Yes! I understand. I will write the email to inform him right now."

Lan Tianhu hesitated slightly and added: "However, to prevent him from using such an outrageous method to demand a raise again after a while, hmm... have him sign an additional agreement! Require him to write at least another one million characters, and during the period of writing these one million characters, he cannot demand another raise."

Chang Qingshu: "Yes! I understand. I will have him sign this agreement as soon as possible."

When Lan Tianhu mentioned signing this additional agreement just now, he thought to himself: According to his account, the first nine volumes belong to the first part, which is already about 600,000 characters. If we agree on another 1 million characters, the full text will be 1.6 million characters. It should be able to conclude at such a length; as a new author, he shouldn't be able to write anything longer.

But what he didn't know was—before Cao Sheng was reborn, the works he wrote that performed slightly better were all two or three million characters long, and his best-performing one exceeded five million.

The call ended.

The office here in Nanjing.

Chang Qingshu sat blankly for a long while before coming back to his senses.

He did not expect the President to be so generous this time. For such an outrageous demand from Zhongyuan Yidianhui, the President did not suppress the price at all; it simply didn't fit the identity of a businessman.

But the reasons the President gave just now did indeed convince him.

Zhongyuan Yidianhui, who could write a book like *I Wish to Become Immortal* that topped the sales charts across the entire Baodao publishing market, was indeed worth currying favor with and winning over.

After all, a sales champion is priceless, and the publishing house that hosts the sales champion will inevitably see its reputation soar, thereby attracting more famous authors to sign with them. This kind of benefit cannot be brought by ordinary works.

Noon.

Cao Sheng stewed an old hen for himself.

The weather in September was too hot; he didn't want to spend a long time cooking in the kitchen, yet he wanted to eat something delicious and nutritious.

Stewing old chicken soup became a good choice.

Go to the vegetable market to buy a slaughtered old hen, bring it back and wash it clean, no need to chop it into pieces, just put it directly into a large clay pot, add water, old ginger, and salt, and stew it for two or three hours, and it's done.

The finished old chicken soup, whether eaten with white rice or made into chicken noodle soup, tastes great.

You can also add some small green vegetables or mushrooms to the chicken soup; this way, you have both meat and vegetables, and the nutrition is balanced.

Moreover, stewing one pot of chicken soup is enough for him to eat for at least two days.

For these two days, he doesn't need to be busy in the kitchen for long periods.

This was a life experience he learned from being lazy while living alone for a long time before he was reborn.

This day at noon, he ate old chicken soup with white rice.

There were mushrooms in the chicken soup.

When stewing the chicken soup, he cooked some rice in the rice cooker at the same time. Neither required him to watch over them in the kitchen; during this time, he could just sit in the living room drinking tea and reading books.

When the time was up, he could start eating.

It's just that...

Perhaps the chicken soup was too fragrant; while he was eating rice with the chicken soup in the dining room, he heard the little girl next door crying and shouting that she wanted to eat old chicken soup.

The woman next door coaxed her for a long time but couldn't stop her. In the end, the woman seemed to compromise. Cao Sheng faintly heard the woman say she would take the little girl out to eat old chicken soup, and he also heard the sound of the courtyard gate next door opening and closing.

Listening to these movements, he couldn't help but smile all over his face.

After lunch, he went to the study on the second floor, opened his computer, and logged into his email.

He saw the email sent by Chang Qingshu.

"Respected Zhongyuan Yidianhui, hello. Your expected manuscript fee has been approved by our President. The President hopes you can see the sincerity of our cooperation with you.

Such a large increase in manuscript fees is extremely rare.

But our house is willing to give you such treatment because we hope to make you feel that the cooperation is pleasant.

We can sign the specific agreement at any time. However, this time we hope to stipulate that your *I Wish to Become Immortal 2* must be at least 1 million characters long, and before writing 1 million characters, you cannot demand a manuscript fee increase again. If you have no other opinions, please trouble yourself to print two copies of the contract, sign them, and mail them over.

If you have other opinions, please inform us in time.

Finally, I wish you family happiness and a fountain of inspiration.

——Chang Qingshu"

Below this email, there was also an electronic contract sent over, waiting for Cao Sheng to download, print, and sign.

Did they really agree?

They agreed to ten thousand per volume in one go? Without haggling at all?

Cao Sheng was very surprised.

He remembered that in the original timeline, top gods like Tomato could get over ten thousand per volume for publications in Baodao, but that was in the early 2000s.

And now it is 1998.

Is Xinchang Publishing House so generous?

Did I ask for too little by wanting ten thousand per volume?