Chapter 273

At nine o'clock in the morning, the four translating authors arrived at the Ta-Lang Literary Publishing House and received a warm welcome.

After the warm welcome ceremony, the staff of Ta-Lang settled the four authors in the same reception room,

and then handed copies of market sales reports and comparisons of positive and negative reviews to Jonina and the others.

This made the four translating authors who had come from afar very gratified, because the Ta-Lang Literary House had truly fulfilled its promise of "fairness and justice" and "readers are king."

And looking at the rows of data, Jonina ranked first in the European region.

The famous writer Wood was first in the Americas region, and the first in the Asian region was Wu Jinyuan from Singapore.

However, the data for the second place in these three major regions was not too bad, and the reader reviews also had their own merits.

"Gentlemen and ladies, these are the results calculated by several authoritative media outlets. Therefore, this time there are three first-prize winners: Mr. Wood, Ms. Jonina, and Ms. Wu Jinyuan. Each will receive a prize of 20,000 US dollars."

"However, we now need three translators to continue translating the three versions of the work for official global release.

So, if you gentlemen and ladies are interested, please wait a moment; we will discuss the formal cooperation terms with you."

After hearing the results announced by Pei Wencong, the four authors present had different expressions: some were happy, some were calm, and some were frowning and pondering things.

Jonina and Lu Jingyao were both very happy; after all, Jonina had had no confidence at all before, and never expected that she would actually be first.

The prize of 20,000 US dollars could completely allow Jonina to walk out of the predicament of her life.

And if they could sign a cooperation agreement next, they would receive another income, which would be the real change of fate.

Jeff, who ranked second in the Americas region, was a bit frustrated, but since the first-place Wood didn't come, he still had some expectations.

Wu Jinyuan from the Asian region was the calmest one; while waiting, she even picked up the newspapers and magazines the publishing house had prepared for her and started reading.

"Hi, are you Jonina Walls?"

Jonina was secretly happy when she suddenly heard someone talking to her.

Jonina looked at the middle-aged man with thinning hair and said politely and cautiously, "Yes, sir. May I ask who you are?"

The middle-aged man looked at Jonina and said, "I am Kibuda. I have written to you before; you should have an impression, right?"

Jonina's heart skipped a beat, and her expression suddenly turned ugly.

Because this Kibuda was the one who had written to her, sharply and fiercely attacking her for "ruining an epic" and turning historical fantasy into a "big heroine" story.

"It seems you received my letter, right?" Kibuda said with a smile, "But why didn't you reply to me? As an author, shouldn't you lose basic politeness?"

"I... I don't agree with your opinion. I think..."

"You think what? You think a woman is the entirety of a book? So many attacking articles have already pointed out your mistakes. How do you have the courage to continue writing?"

"I... my results are very good..."

"That's because you used biased writing techniques to attract votes from those low-EQ female readers. Such works are destined not to be passed down to the world..."

Jonina's stumbling appearance immediately alerted Lu Jingyao, who was beside her.

She learned from the materials at hand that this Kibuda was second in the European region and could be said to be Jonina's most direct competitor.

Lu Jingyao grabbed Jonina's hand and said to Kibuda, "Sir, could you please stay further away from Ms. Jonina?"

Kibuda said coldly, "Who are you?"

Lu Jingyao said with equal indifference, "I am Ms. Jonina's assistant. You are already affecting Ms. Jonina now. Please pay attention to your words and actions."

Kibuda said amusingly, "This lady, we are just having a normal exchange between authors. Why are you so nervous?

Oh... Jonina, why is your expression so ugly? Did I affect your mood just by chatting for a few sentences? Is your emotional state actually so unstable?"

"Sorry, please move aside."

Lu Jingyao grabbed Jonina's arm and stood up, bypassed Kibuda, and walked out of the reception room.

After leaving, Jonina said nervously, "Lu, I'm fine. If we leave now, we might lose the translation rights. It's not that I want to get more compensation; I just like translating that book..."

Lu Jingyao said while walking, "No, we are going to find the organizer to talk about the translation contract now.

They put the four authors together just to put pressure on us and make us lower our conditions ourselves. We have an allusion for this in our mainland..."

Lu Jingyao pulled Jonina to the very back of the Ta-Lang Literary House. According to the customary office layout in the mainland, the innermost office was the boss's office.

A-Min blocked the two of them and said, "Two ladies, is there anything you need help with?"

Lu Jingyao said, "Ms. Jonina wants to talk to your side about the translation rights. We don't want to maliciously compete with the others, so we want to be more direct and sincere."

A-Min was stunned for a moment looking at the overbearing Lu Jingyao, then asked Pei Wencong over the phone and quickly received a reply.

"Please come in! Our boss is very happy to talk to Ms. Jonina."

A-Min opened the office door and invited Jonina in, and Lu Jingyao also lifted her foot and followed her in.

There were three people in Pei Wencong's office: one was Pei Wencong, whom she had just seen; another was the lawyer Luo Runbo; and the last one was Li Ye.

Li Ye was very surprised. He had come early today and had been discussing the issues of registering offshore companies and speculating in the foreign exchange market with Luo Runbo in the office.

Originally, he wanted to wear down those four translating authors and let them understand the principle of "if you don't do it, someone else will."

He never expected that the one he favored most, Jonina, would come straight over, so he wouldn't pretend anymore and would just lay his cards on the table!

It was definitely impossible to hand over the copyright completely to Jonina; he had to obtain most of the operational rights no matter what.

In the future, the mainland's Xianxia and Xuanhuan literature would also need to be exported, so they had to summarize a suitable path.

Cultural infiltration—we have to do that too!

But Li Ye never expected that Lu Jingyao would be following Jonina.

【How did these two get mixed up together? Strange.】

But Li Ye's surprise was not even a ten-thousandth of Lu Jingyao's.

She was stunned after entering the room.

Just a moment ago, she was full of momentum, wanting to bargain with Pei Wencong, but now her brain had crashed, and she was at a loss.

【How could Li Ye be here? And why does he look like he has a bigger ego than Boss Pei?】

Just looking at the way Li Ye was sitting on the sofa, Lu Jingyao wouldn't be surprised at all if someone said he was Pei Wencong's boss.

"Mr. Li, is there a problem?"

Pei Wencong also realized the problem and hurriedly cast an inquiring look at Li Ye.

Li Ye waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter, start discussing the contract! Explain it in more detail."

Pei Wencong nodded, had Luo Runbo bring over the Chinese and English contracts, and began to explain them to Jonina one by one.

Lu Jingyao was dumbfounded.

Since she left the country, she had seen too much of the prosperity and arrogance outside; when had she ever seen a boss who could casually throw out tens of thousands of dollars in prize money treat a Chinese person with such respect?

And this Chinese person was still so young.

Jonina hurriedly greeted Lu Jingyao to come over and let her advise her.

Lu Jingyao was dizzy, listening to Luo Runbo's explanation, and in the end, only found a few places that needed negotiation, but the arguments were pale and powerless.

"This lady, although Ms. Jonina does not have operational rights, the copyright is still hers. All our operational profits will be distributed to Ms. Jonina according to the contract,

and if the operation is not good, we will also provide Ms. Jonina with a fixed income, and we will not let Ms. Jonina bear any losses..."

Lu Jingyao was not a professional in the first place, and her mood had been violently shaken. Coupled with the fact that Ta-Lang's contract highlighted a "guaranteed bottom line" that ensured income regardless of drought or flood, Jonina was very satisfied.

Being able to translate the work she loved and only making money without losing any—wasn't that satisfying enough?

After all, she was just a translating author, not an original creator; where would she get such great confidence?

However, in the end, Jonina asked in a low voice, "Hello, Mr. Pei, can I communicate with the original author?"

Pei Wencong looked at Li Ye.

Lu Jingyao also looked at Li Ye.

By this time, Lu Jingyao had come to her senses.

During the New Year, Li Zhongfa had been bragging in Qingshui County that his grandson, Li Ye, had been invited to Hong Kong for cultural exchange.

Now it seemed that Li Ye was here for that exchange, and looking at Pei Wencong's expression, "A Song of Ice and Fire" also had something to do with him.

Li Ye looked at Jonina and said in English, "The author is not convenient to communicate with you right now, but if you have any doubts, you can tell me, and I will have him communicate with you via letter."

Jonina said cautiously, "Alright, I mainly want to ask about the subsequent plot direction and style of this book, so it will be easier for my translation writing."

Li Ye smiled and said, "Use your imagination and keep your current style. You translated it very well. If you really must know a direction, then it is betrayal."

"A Song of Ice and Fire" was full of betrayal, and the final ending of the Dragon Mother also stemmed from betrayal.

But Li Ye's honest words were like a bolt of lightning striking Lu Jingyao's head.

Betrayal.

During the New Year last year, Wen Leyu had sternly accused Lu Jingyao of betraying Li Ye.

Jonina was also stunned for a long time, and then with moist eyes, she said, "Yes, that's what I guessed too. I will write this story well..."

Only those who have experienced betrayal can understand the taste of it. Jonina's marriage and experiences happened to give her a better foundation for creation.

Jonina began to sign under Luo Runbo's help.

Pei Wencong breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the first one was signed, the rest would be easy to handle. Western copyright awareness was not just ordinarily strong; today was unexpectedly smooth.

And Lu Jingyao stared fixedly at Li Ye, and finally couldn't help but ask in Qingshui dialect, "Do you think I betrayed you?"

Li Ye looked at Lu Jingyao and said lightly, "It's all in the past, forget it!"

Lu Jingyao bit her lip and asked again, "This is very important to me, I need an answer."

Li Ye directly asked back, "Then do you think it wasn't betrayal?"

Lu Jingyao: "..."

Li Ye could not care, after all, when he came to this world, the matter had already happened.

But if you wanted him to say "Yes, you dumping your boyfriend was right," he couldn't say that even if he were beaten to death.

Others could forgive you and not take it to heart, but you couldn't push your luck and demand that others determine you were "not wrong."

Lu Jingyao's lips were bitten until they bled.

In the end, she smiled sadly and asked calmly, "Is 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Teacher Ke's work, right?"

When Lu Jingyao tried to translate "A Song of Ice and Fire," she felt the grammar and wording habits were very familiar. Only now did she understand that it was her teacher's work.

Li Ye frowned and said, "You ask too much. It's best if you pretend not to know me in the future, otherwise, it will make other authors think it's unfair and affect Ms. Jonina."

"..."

Lu Jingyao lowered her head and remained silent for a long time, until Jonina finished signing and pulled her to leave together, did she look at Li Ye again.

"Alright, from now on, we don't know each other."

This time, she finally determined that Li Ye was serious.

Because he had already walked far ahead of her.

Lu Jingyao walked out of the Ta-Lang Literary Publishing House and took a deep breath, feeling that she didn't seem to be in as much pain, but that kind of faint tearing sensation was painful to the bone.

Betrayal, I actually am a betrayer.

The training over the past few years had made Lu Jingyao's temperament more resilient and stronger, but when Li Ye put the word "betrayal" on her head, the intensity of the damage was something she couldn't resolve no matter how she tried.

Suddenly, Jonina stood opposite Lu Jingyao and hugged her gently.

"Forget the past! I was just like you a moment ago. Now, let's forget those oppressive memories together, okay?"

Lu Jingyao looked at Jonina in shock, unable to speak.

Jonina smiled and said, "Although I don't understand your language, your eyes betrayed your heart."

Lu Jingyao sighed, "Sorry, I didn't help you just now."

"No, no, no, you have already helped me, and I will need your continued help in the future."

Jonina grabbed Lu Jingyao's hand and said, "I have now obtained a stable income, but I need a real assistant to take care of my children and my life. How about it, are you willing to take this job?"

Lu Jingyao stared at Jonina blankly for ten seconds before slowly smiling: "Then what is my salary, generous Ms. Jonina?"

"A guaranteed bottom line of 300 pounds per month. If I need an agent later, it will be 10%. Lu, believe me, I won't be stingy."

"Deal!"

(End of chapter)