"Five yuan per thousand words is five yuan per thousand words." Cheng Shufen frowned slightly, thinking of Mr. Cha's stingy nature with money. If Mr. Cha really came forward, it would really be as Editor Li said. Five yuan per thousand words is indeed a small amount for someone of Xingchen Dahai's status.
But Editor Li and Editor Zhu both don’t know that the novel was written by Xingchen Dahai. They probably think they wrote it themselves?
"Okay, I'll have my assistant deliver the contract to Huaxing this afternoon." Editor Li breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Cheng Shufen agreed.
"What are the royalties for your Hong Kong Publishing House?" Cheng Shufen turned and looked at Editor Zhu.
"Five percent royalty is the highest price I've ever offered.
New writers usually receive a 3% royalty. I set the royalty at 5% out of consideration for Mr. Cheng and because I also think highly of this book.
"Five percent is already a very generous offer. After all, the market is risky, so you need to be cautious when investing!" Editor Zhu touched the bridge of his nose, his tone unquestionable.
Editor Zhu thought that since they had paid Ming Pao 500 yuan to advertise the book, and Ming Pao paid 5 yuan per thousand words for the right to publish and serialize the novel, they were the only ones who would pay royalties for the novel.
"Okay, it's settled. The contract will be delivered this afternoon. Once the contract is officially signed, you can do whatever you want." Cheng Shufen said, and nodded gently.
"Mr. Cheng, should this novel be signed with your name?" Editor Zhu asked when he thought of this.
"Signature? The author's name is written at the beginning of this novel. You just need to write this name." Cheng Shufen pointed to the end of the first line of the manuscript, where the author's name was written as the world's number one author.
Then he got up and walked out of the coffee shop.
........
Zhang Qiurui didn't know how many copies of Deng Lijun's new Cantonese songs had been sold, or whether her new novel would be published in Ming Pao and Xiangjiang Publishing House, because Cheng Shufen had not yet written to her.
Time slowly passed and it was the start of the school year in September 1976. Zhang Qiurui was twelve years old this year.
"Zhou Tan, Wang Shi, let's go to the canteen. I'll treat you to some popsicles. By the way, I'll introduce my eldest nephew to you." On September 1st, the first day of school, after cleaning the classroom and collecting books, Zhang Qiurui called Zhou Tan and Wang Shi to go to the school canteen together.
The sunlight shines through the gaps in the leaves and falls on the figures of four people walking side by side, adding a touch of warmth to the beginning of this new semester.
"Aunt, sister, this way." Before they arrived at the school canteen, they saw Zhang Mingren standing at the door of the canteen waving to Zhang Qiurui and the others.
"You are Brother Wang, and you are Brother Zhou, right? Hello, my name is Zhang Mingren, my uncle's nephew is Zhang Qiurui, and my eldest sister's younger brother is Zhang Mingqi." As the eldest son and grandson of the third generation of the Zhang family, Zhang Mingren did not have the temperament of her eldest brother. Instead, she was a bit like her second brother. She was extroverted, observant of people's words and expressions, and smart. She immediately came forward and greeted Wang Shi and Zhou Tan in a familiar manner.
"Hey! How do you know us?" Wang Shi asked curiously.
"My eldest sister mentioned you to me. She said I should be polite when I see you two and treat you like my own brothers." Zhang Mingren said with a grin.
"You have the same personality as me, and I like it. Today you call me brother, and I will treat you to popsicles today." Wang Shi liked Zhang Mingren's personality very much. He walked forward, put his arm around Zhang Mingren's shoulders, and like good brothers, he walked towards the convenience store first.
As Zhang Mingren walked towards the convenience store, he turned his head slightly and gave his aunt and elder sister a smug look.
It seems to be saying that today, because of me, our family saved money to treat people to popsicles.
Zhang Mingren didn't know that Zhang Qiurui made money by writing novels, otherwise he wouldn't be so proud.
In 1976, the canteen didn't sell many things, just a few packets of hard candies wrapped in oil paper, spinning tops, canned fruit, bubble gum, shredded figs, sour plum powder, Jianlibao, dried fruits shipped from afar, candied fruits, and so on.
A foam box filled with various popsicles, wrapped in a cloth to prevent the ice inside from melting.
"Boss, give us five milk popsicles." At this time, Zhang Qiurui came from behind and took out twenty-five cents and handed it to the owner of the convenience store.
"Here, one for each person. Eat quickly, or it will melt if you eat slowly." The store owner took out five milk popsicles that were emitting a hint of cool air from the foam box and handed them to Zhang Qiurui and the other four people.
"Please treat us next time." Zhang Qiurui interrupted Wang Shi when he saw he was about to speak.
Zhang gently tore open the popsicle wrapper, and a rich milky aroma instantly hit her nose. She couldn't wait to lick it, and the cool and sweet feeling instantly spread from the tip of her tongue to her whole body, as if even the summer heat was dispelled a little by this coolness.
"It's so delicious! This milk popsicle is the perfect match for summer!" Zhang Mingren carefully tore open the paper. Seeing that the paper was stained with popsicle crumbs, he licked the paper and closed his eyes as if he was enjoying it.
I couldn't bear to look at Zhang Qiurui.
However, Zhang Mingqi, Wang Shi, Zhou Tan and others were not surprised, as if they had done these things before.
........
"Qiu Rui, the film greenhouse has been built. The labor and material costs have cost 400 yuan.
When it comes to raising seedlings, which summer vegetables should we choose to plant? "During dinner that day, Zhang Wenfu reported to his younger sister about his busy greenhouse planting work during the day, fearing that he might miss something and delay the greenhouse planting experiment.
The mushrooms he had previously cultivated at the Agricultural Bureau were all growing well. Strangely, when he went to the countryside to teach other production brigades how to grow mushrooms, except for the mushrooms in the Agricultural Bureau and their production brigade, the mushrooms cultivated in other production brigades did not grow well.
Zhang Wenfu also went to the production brigade many times, but did not find any problems during the inspection. The leaders of the Agricultural Bureau thought that he was keeping the technology for himself and was unwilling to pass it on to others.
As for the good mushroom cultivation of the Zhangli Village Production Team, it is because they are from that area and their roots are there.
Zhang Wenfu was at a loss for words. He knew he hadn't held back, following the standard procedure at every step. So, what was the problem? He was baffled.
Finally, members of other production teams went to the Zhangli Village Production Team to ask for advice on mushroom cultivation. They found that the cultivation methods of the Zhangli Village Production Team were exactly the same as theirs, so they thought it was their own problem, and Zhang Wenfu was cleared of suspicion.
Therefore, Zhang Wenfu was so concerned about this film greenhouse planting experiment and wanted to prove himself.
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