Chapter 207: So Much Money, How to Spend It! (Guaranteed 2-in-1)

Wei Ming told Zhu Lin that Liu Liu Zhenyun and Guo Guo Jianmei were the first people he met when he entered Peking University, and they met on the way to Peking University.

"Afterward, we have always maintained a very good friendship. My first poem, *Ideal*, was begged for by Liu Liu Zhenyun," Wei Ming said. "In the future, I will introduce my other friends to you. They are all very good people. After all, birds of a feather flock together."

"I don't think that's necessary. We are only friends after all." Zhu Lin said in a strange tone.

Under the table, Wei Ming gently rubbed her lower leg: "I'm afraid you'll be embarrassed. Then next time I'll tell them you're my partner."

"Don't~" Zhu Lin hummed lightly. She didn't believe it at all. She felt Wei Ming obviously didn't want to take responsibility.

Of course, if Wei Ming really said that, she would be very happy. She had no status now, and always had a sense of insecurity of gaining and losing. It was also her own fault for being too eager, falling into a disadvantage.

Wei Ming thought to himself: Then let her be happy. Who told him that his determination was too poor at the time and he didn't hold back, breaking the relationship.

Since the balance was lost, he could only wrong Sister Xue. At worst, he would persuade her to stay in Shanghai.

In the future, Sister Xue would be the partner in Shanghai, and Sister Lin would be the partner in Jingcheng. He would buy another old foreign-style house in Shanghai.

Anyway, they were both actresses. He would persuade them not to make their emotional lives public.

Take one step and look at one step. Wei Ming truly envied the atmosphere forty years later. Was it strange for a writer to have two wives?

Zhu Lin was coaxed into happiness by Wei Ming and added: "I've seen one of your friends before, called Xiao Mei."

"Oh, Mei Mei Wenhua. Don't look at his short stature, he has many tricks up his sleeve. He looks unreliable, but he's actually quite stable in doing things."

Wei Ming evaluated objectively. Xiao Mei and Seeing Biaozi doing business, in fact, Xiao Mei's role was greater, and now the two didn't show signs of separating, which could be considered sharing joys and sorrows.

Talking and talking, the final big dish, clay pot braised beef, arrived. Wei Ming hurriedly picked up a piece for Sister Lin.

After eating, Wei Ming suggested strolling to digest the food.

Thus, the two walked around nearby. They left the car at the entrance first. There was the Jingcheng Zoo nearby, but it had closed long ago at this time. The two walked around the zoo, and in the sections without people, they held their little hands.

Wei Ming started testing Sister Lin's oral training again.

"Your tongue is quite flexible now. Let me test you with a tongue twister."

"I have practiced tongue twisters. Eight hundred soldiers run to the north slope, artillery soldiers run side by side to the north, artillery soldiers are afraid of bumping into the soldiers, soldiers are afraid of bumping into the artillery," Zhu Lin said. She even had an extended version: eight-hundred-soldiers-run-to-the-north-slope kind of thing.

Wei Ming: "This is too simple. Follow me: Red phoenix, yellow phoenix, flying phoenix on the pink house."

Zhu Lin tried it, and she wanted to pass quickly at the beginning, and in the end, her tongue was indeed tied. Too hard!

Seeing no one in front, behind, left, or right, Wei Ming took the initiative to help her.

"Woo woo~"

Zhu Lin was scared to death. After all, this was on the street!

Wei Ming said sincerely: "If someone sees us, just say we are dating. I'm serious."

These words also made Zhu Lin completely lost. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she let him do as he pleased.

However, she had promised her parents last night that today was the Dragon Boat Festival, and she had to help her mother wrap zongzi tomorrow morning, so she finally had to obediently let him send her home.

And this was also the first time Wei Ming sent Zhu Lin home. Her father was a teacher at the Jingcheng Institute of Technology, which was the later Beijing Institute of Technology. Her home was in the faculty building in the school.

Zhu Lin, who had just ended a relationship, couldn't be that calm, and was also afraid of being seen by acquaintances.

So Wei Ming sent Zhu Lin to a distance from the school, and then watched her leave, bouncing away.

Sister Lin, you're 28, you're not very steady.

It wasn't early now, and Wei Ming didn't stroll outside, going straight home.

However, downstairs at his home, Wei Ming saw the motorcycle of Seeing Biaozi and Xiao Mei. Strange, what urgent matter did they have to come to his house to find him?

Wei Ming climbed up the stairs, and then saw a woman squatting at his door, with fiery red hair.

She turned her back to Wei Ming. Hearing footsteps, she immediately turned her head, just meeting Wei Ming's eyes.

"You finally returned." Melinda stood up and rubbed her slender beautiful legs, looking at the watch on Wei Ming's wrist that was emitting a faint fluorescence, revealing a smile.

Wei Ming: "How did you know I lived here?"

"Shouldn't you invite me in to sit first," Melinda carried her bag, "Isn't China a land of etiquette since ancient times? Why, did the inheritance break here at your place?"

Although he was a bit dissatisfied with Melinda pretending to be a stranger in public today, Wei Ming still opened the door and let her in. It wouldn't be good to be seen at the door.

However, as soon as she entered, Melinda wall-pinned Wei Ming. Only she could do this with her height.

She looked at Wei Ming, who had a tangled face, with a smile, surprised that he didn't strip her into a little white sheep at the first moment.

"Stingy. I wasn't working, and I was translating for our boss's boss. Of course, I had to show a professional appearance. That relates to whether I can reach a higher position. And didn't I come to find you as soon as I finished work?"

Wei Ming wasn't actually tangled about this, but about Zhu Lin.

His relationship with Sister Lin just had a trend of going further, but Melinda suddenly popped up, making his heart messy.

Seeing Wei Ming silent, Melinda started to attack actively.

Wei Ming: Bullying people too much, don't I have a temper!

Wei Ming turned from passive to active, and after some intimacy, he carried the one-meter-seven-plus foreign girl to the bed.

Afterward, he dug out the foreign family planning products that Melinda was very familiar with from under the bed.

Melinda was overjoyed. She didn't expect it to still be there after she left for so long. She thought Wei Ming had used it up long ago.

After all, international student girls were always very active about love, especially facing such an excellent boy as Wei Ming. Her classmates were all eyeing him like tigers. She thought someone would have taken over as soon as she left.

At this moment, Melinda's look at Wei Ming was even more affectionate. If she wasn't in the rising period of her company, and she still had ambitions not realized, she would have wanted to stay at Peking University to continue reading for a master's degree.

Wei Ming compared Sister Lin and Melinda. Chinese gentleness and British wildness were two kinds of beauty. He liked both.

Melinda also had her fill. She got out of bed, picked up her bag, and threw two stacks of banknotes at Wei Ming from inside. This scene looked very much like a wayward young man and a female guest.

Wei Ming was angry. What did she mean? What did she take him for!

However, when he picked up one of the stacks and saw the 100 and Franklin on the banknote, Wei Ming immediately hugged Melinda's leg: "You are truly rich now, giving so much service fee at once."

"You think that thing of yours is made of gold, why should it be worth so much service fee?" Melinda laughed in anger, "This is your manuscript fee. I specifically exchanged it into US dollars and brought it back."

Wei Ming slapped his head: "Oh right, my *Jumanji* has already been published. I even saw it on the donation list today."

Melinda took out a book from her bag: "Here, it's this. This is the paperback version."

Wei Ming took it. Besides the book title, he first noticed the three names on the cover.

They were author "mrwhy."

Translator "Melinda Gaskell."

Illustrator "Jill Barklem."

Saying it was a paperback version, but whether it was the cover, paper, or printing, it was much stronger than the publications in the country at this time.

Looking at the illustrations inside again, the artistic sense was very strong, and it had its own style. The strength was definitely above A-Long. A-Long hadn't formed his own painting style yet.

Wei Ming scanned it briefly and liked it very much. No wonder a paperback version could sell for 1.8 pounds. Even if it was the official exchange rate, it was almost six yuan. It was very hard for people to consume.

Wei Ming asked: "How much did this illustrator get in share?"

Melinda said: "Four-three-three. She shares the same as me. Although she is a newcomer, she has potential and talent."

Wei Ming nodded. It was truly worth it. If there were no illustrations, just a dry novella, this book wouldn't be worth half a pound. Illustrations and layout increased the market value of this book steeply.

He was more curious: "How many copies were printed for the first edition?"

Melinda said proudly: "Fifty thousand copies."

Wei Ming gasped. Britain had a population of over 50 million, about one-twentieth of China's. If converted proportionally, it could be understood as printing one million copies in China!

One had to know that *Animal Fierce* printed one million copies, but that was based on the premise that Wei Ming had already become famous, and every novella in the book was well-known to the reader group.

But *Jumanji*, whether it was the author, translator, or illustrator, were all newcomers, and it actually had this first edition achievement. Melinda definitely contributed a lot.

However, Wei Ming calculated and discovered the problem.

1.8 pounds, 50,000 first edition, so the total value was 90,000 pounds.

"What is the royalty?" He asked.

Melinda was even more proud: "12%. This is the highest percentage a new writer can get."

This was indeed very high. In the future, writers in the country who could get this royalty were all big shots.

However, if it was a famous writer, they could get up to 20% in the UK. This was her ultimate expectation for Wei Ming.

But Wei Ming had new questions. 90,000 total value, 12% royalty, so the royalty income was only a little over 10,000 pounds, converted to US dollars, it was only 20,000-plus.

And the money Melinda threw at him was almost 20,000 US dollars.

"How could it be so much?" Wei Ming was very strange. He had many moving thoughts, such as Melinda giving him her share, and even using the power in her hand to deduct the blood and sweat money of the illustrator and give it to him.

Melinda laughed: "Because besides the paperback version, under my suggestion, a hardcover version was also launched at the same time. But the hardcover version is a bit thick, I couldn't fit it. There is one in the hotel where I live, I'll give it to you next time."

Wei Ming asked about the situation of the hardcover version, how much it was priced, and how many copies were printed.

Melinda told him: "Printed 20,000 copies, unit price 5 pounds."

"Whoa!" Wei Ming exclaimed, "So expensive!?"

Knowing that the price of hardcover books abroad was expensive and the profit was high, but it was almost three times that of the paperback version, which was still a bit beyond Wei Ming's expectation.

Although they printed fewer, the total value had already exceeded the paperback version.

No wonder Wei Ming only had 40% of the rights but had an income of 20,000 dollars!

Melinda told Wei Ming: "I was in charge of the hardcover version. It was matched with the game board in the novel, and there were dice. The cost was high, so of course, it sold expensive. And after entering the market, it was very popular. Even the children of the British royal family are reading it."

Melinda talked endlessly about the sales situation and market feedback after the picture book was published. In short, this English pen name of Wei Ming had already become a bit famous in the UK. Next time, she could help Wei Ming get a higher royalty percentage.

"You are the most amazing!" Wei Ming praised. Only then did he seriously weigh the 20,000 dollars in his hand.

!

"So much money, how can I spend it!"

If this money was exchanged for RMB in the black market, it would exceed 100,000. Like the house he lived in, he could easily exchange for two sets.

This was also the first time he had received so much money for a work. Sure enough, foreign money was still easy to earn!

Melinda lay on Wei Ming's lap: "This is nothing. After returning to the UK this time, the hardcover version will definitely be reprinted, and there will be manuscript fees. After the next book enters the US market, the US branch has already started publishing. There is a population of over 200 million with strong consumption power there. The market is four times that of the UK, four times!"

Hearing Melinda's words, Wei Ming seemed to have seen a steady stream of US dollars flowing into his pocket.

And he remembered that the sales of the original picture book were at the million level, and this time it sold less than 100,000 copies.

And there was also the movie adapted from this novel, which had a very high box office, top ten in North America for the year, and filmed several sequels. This was only where it was!

For the first time since rebirth, he felt he wouldn't worry about money anymore. Wei Ming couldn't help but feel hot blood surging, and he was excited again.

"Ding-a-ling!"

At this time, the phone suddenly rang.

Wei Ming felt tight in his heart. It wouldn't be Linlin coming to check the post, right? She had a phone at home.

He put on a pair of boxer shorts and went to answer the phone.

"Hello."

"Little Ming!" It was Uncle Ping'an's voice, and it sounded quite excited, "You calm down first. Don't be too excited when you hear what I say next."

Wei Ming looked down: "Uncle, I've already calmed down. You can say it."

Wei Ping'an: "I just got home. On the way back, I got news that Melinda is back! Today she returned to Peking University!"

Just this, Wei Ming wasn't excited at all... Damn!

He was on the phone, and Melinda came out of the bedroom, but, but she was wearing Sister Zhu Lin's pajamas!

Because the size didn't fit, the silk pajamas were stretched tight, looking very sexy, as if it were a lingerie style.

"Little Ming, are you still there? Are you too excited?"

Wei Ming: "Uncle, I'm very calm. I already

"Little Ming, are you still there? Are you too excited?"

Wei Ming: "Uncle, I am very calm. I already knew. I was at the scene of the Oxford President's speech today, and Melinda was his interpreter."

"Oh my, it's good that you know. So what do you plan to do next? Have you reconnected?"

They had already reconnected.

"Uncle, we have already met. You don't need to worry about it."

"Oh, as long as you have a plan in mind. I've been too busy lately to invite you over for a meal. If you two intend to continue developing the relationship, how about your aunt and I invite her for dinner?"

Melinda had already moved close to Wei Ming, hugging him from behind, waiting to see how he would answer.

As it turned out, Wei Ming dodged the question: "What have you been busy with lately? Why are you home so late?"

"I just took office at the Production Management Office, didn't I? I've been taking inventory of the school's assets lately. I also listened to your previous suggestions and started learning about computers. You were right; Wang Wang Xuan's Chinese character laser phototypesetting technology has great potential. It's now my main focus of work."

"When can it be put on the market? I can't wait to see the revolution in the publishing industry."

Wei Pingan: "It's still difficult at the moment. We have already crossed the hardest part, from 0 to 1. Now it's from 1 to 10. The biggest difficulty is that we need to buy some foreign equipment, but we don't have enough foreign exchange."

Wei Ming asked: "Is twenty thousand enough? I mean in US dollars."

"It could be of some help, but it's far from enough. Why are you asking? What's it to you if you have twenty thousand dollars?"

"I do have it, but since it's far from enough, then pretend I didn't say anything." Wei Ming had just wanted to help Uncle Pingan and push for the establishment and growth of the Founder Group ahead of schedule.

But indeed, twenty thousand dollars was a large sum for him personally, but for Peking University and the survival of a school-run enterprise, it was a drop in the bucket.

Wei Pingan, however, perked up and pressed him: "Where did you get so much money? And in foreign exchange, too? Didn't you empty your savings when you bought the house before?"

Wei Ming gently stroked the arm Melinda had wrapped around his waist: "Didn't I say before? *Jumanji* was taken to the UK by Melinda. She wanted to see if there would be a market abroad, and the performance turned out quite well. It was published a while ago, and Melinda brought the royalties back for me while returning to China this time."

On the other end of the phone, Wei Pingan sat on the living room sofa with his mouth wide open.

That was twenty thousand US dollars! It was worth at least twenty years of his own salary!

Many masters and famous scholars at Peking University had published works in English or other languages, but he had never heard of anyone earning so much in royalties. He hadn't expected foreign children to like it so much; his nephew's power was beyond his imagination!

Of course, Melinda must have played a part in this, but being able to make a foreigner like Melinda work for him was even more impressive!

Uncle Pingan told Wei Ming to keep it for himself; twenty thousand dollars couldn't solve Wang Wang Xuan's problem, and the school could only exchange it with him at the official exchange rate, which would be a huge loss for his nephew.

After chatting a bit more with Uncle Pingan, the two hung up. Wei Ming hurriedly asked Melinda: "Why are you putting your clothes on? I like the way you look without them."

"What, are you afraid your clothes will get my perfume on them?" Melinda teased. "I thought you were still wearing my watch, so you should still be single. I didn't expect that things have changed."

Wei Ming grabbed her wrist: "Then what about my watch?"

"Don't even mention it. I couldn't bear to take it off, but it broke after I went for a swim."

Wei Ming muttered: Didn't they say it was waterproof? As expected, advertisements can't be trusted.

Melinda couldn't use Wei Ming's Shanghai-brand watch anymore, so she could only keep it at home as a collection.

Wei Ming: "Your watch is very useful, so there's no need to replace it. It doesn't mean anything else."

"Then you have a girlfriend and you still sleep with me? Aren't you afraid she'll find out?"

Wei Ming hugged Melinda: "Then we just won't let her know."

Melinda asked again: "Then should I leave now, and let you restore this place to its original state?"

Wei Ming shook his head: "It's too late. I'm worried if you leave now."

He asked Melinda to stay the night before leaving. In fact, Melinda didn't want to leave either, and she didn't care about Wei Ming's current relationship status. Anyway, she would be returning to the UK in two days. As long as Wei Ming didn't want to live abroad, they were destined to be people from two different worlds.

Moreover, she really wanted to use the time before they parted to have a good chat with Wei Ming about his next work.

"Strike while the iron is hot. Are you interested in writing a book specifically for the English market? After *Jumanji*, you can definitely raise your price. I want to build you into a gold-medal children's book author. Your success is my success."

As for why write children's books, Melinda felt that Wei Ming understood children, but not necessarily the UK and the US, so focusing on the children's market was the right choice, and children's books really sold well.

No matter where they are, parents are more willing to spend money on their children.

Wei Ming: "What kind of children's picture books are popular in the UK now? I don't know much about your market."

If he couldn't adapt to local conditions, he would have to continue writing *Jumanji 2*.

Melinda was mainly working as a children's book editor now, and she had plenty to talk about on this subject.

"Roald Dahl's *Charlie and the Chocolate Factory* and *Fantastic Mr. Fox* are very popular, as is Raymond Briggs's *The Snowman*."

These were all relatively new works by British authors. Melinda briefly introduced the plots. In fact, she didn't need to introduce them; these books were later adapted into films by Hollywood and achieved great success.

"There are also older works that are very popular, such as *Peter Rabbit*, *Paddington Bear*, and *Winnie-the-Pooh*." They were all animal series; child readers indeed liked animals more than people.

Moreover, British authors really provided more than enough material for Hollywood; the roots of many American pop cultures were actually in the UK.

"In fact, apart from the popular new works every year, old works are still very vibrant because they are classics. Parents trust them more when buying books, so different versions of *Andersen's Fairy Tales*, *Grimm's Fairy Tales*, and *Mother Goose* emerge one after another. And you don't have to pay royalties to the authors. Now there is a wave of classic fairy tale adaptations in the UK, which is both innovative and caters to the readers' psychology of trusting classics..."

The two chatted until very late. Wei Ming also thought about writing another children's book to cater to the European and American markets and earn more foreign exchange.

Only with money in his pocket could he create what he wanted to write more freely, and even go wherever he wanted.

Although the two slept very late, Zhu Lin woke up very early.

She got up early in the morning to help her mother boil zongzi.

"Why are you bringing so many?" Looking at her daughter stuffing zongzi into her lunch box, Zhu Ma asked.

"I'll eat them for lunch, and share some with my colleagues. It's not enough at all."

Zhu Ma: "Then I'll pack another bag for you."

"Mm, thank you, Mom."

Zhu Lin left early today. She rode her bike, planning to go to the Overseas Chinese Apartment first. Most of them were left for Little Wei to eat~

(Yesterday's minimum guarantee)

(End of chapter)