Chapter 96 Sister Li Shuang, I will support you!

The next morning, when Lin Xiao woke up, Li Shuang was already up.

It's inexplicable and a bit lost.

He tried to open his eyes and struggled to get up, but fell heavily onto the bunk again.

I don't want to think about it.

After a while, Li Shuang came over and she had finished washing up.

"Hurry up and get up. The train will arrive soon. Hurry up and wash up. Don't be a dirty kid."

Lin Xiao lay there and didn't want to move, so Li Shuang put her hand with cold water into Lin Xiao's neck, which made him shiver so much that he had to get up.

"Did you bring a toothbrush?" Li Shuang asked.

"Oops, I forgot."

Li Shuang said, "Then use mine. This is a disposable towel and this is mouthwash."

Then, Lin Xiao took it and went to wash up in a daze.

It took me two minutes to find out.

I actually share a toothbrush with Li Shuang. Isn’t that a bit ambiguous?

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she returned to her bunk. Li Shuang had already put on a beautiful coat and was putting on makeup in front of the mirror.

She doesn't wear heavy makeup today.

But she seems to be born with a dark complexion.

With a little makeup, she becomes radiant and charming.

Unlike Xia Xi, who is so beautiful with makeup that people dare not approach her.

"Did you bring lipstick?"

"No." Lin Xiao said.

Li Shuang said: "If you don't wear lipstick in the winter, your lips will become dry and cracked."

Then, she took out a lip balm from her bag and gently applied it on Lin Xiao's lips.

After applying it beyond the border of her lips, she gently wiped it off with her soft fingertips.

"Don't move..." Then she scooped half a finger of expensive facial cream, applied it on Lin Xiao's face, and blended it with a little force.

During the whole process, the distance between their faces was no more than ten centimeters, and her breath sprayed directly on Lin Xiao's face.

It smells nice and fresh. She is even particular about her mouthwash.

"Your eyebrows are a little messy, let me trim them for you."

This time Lin Xiao struggled hard, it was too weird to trim his eyebrows at this age.

…………………………

The train arrived at the station and two people got off.

Li Shuang also brought a big bag, and no one knew what was inside it.

Lin Xiao carried the computer bag on one side, and helped Li Shuang carry the big bag with the other.

As a result, when I walked out of the exit.

All I saw was a man holding a bouquet of flowers and a ring box.

When he saw Li Shuang, his eyes lit up and he immediately stepped forward and knelt on one knee.

"Shuang, a few years ago I knew I wasn't good enough for you."

"I have worked hard in the past few years and now I have a house of 138 square meters in the inner ring road and a car, a BMW 5 Series."

"All these things can be given to you."

"Marry me, Frost!"

Suddenly, everyone around stopped and looked at the stunning Li Shuang and the man half-kneeling on the ground.

The one who called frequently yesterday must be him.

Lin Xiao could even come up with a complete story in his mind.

This man may also come from a small place and have an average family condition, but he is very outstanding.

When I was in college and graduate school, I had a crush on Li Shuang for many years, but I didn't dare to confess my feelings.

And at that time, Li Shuang seemed to have a brilliant boyfriend.

After several years of hard work, the man had achieved success in his career. When he learned that Li Shuang had resigned, he gave up everything to propose to her.

Lin Xiao looked at the man's face carefully. He was quite good-looking. Although he was not very tall, about 175cm tall, he was not bad.

The suit he was wearing was by Hugo Boss and his watch was a Rolex Datejust.

This was Shanghai in 2002. At this age, it was considered pretty good to have reached this level.

"Thank you. I don't want to fall in love or get married now. I just want to pursue my career." Li Shuang looked at him with a very gentle tone.

"Let's go..." Then she said to Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao carried her big bag with difficulty and followed her out of the square in front of the station.

Suddenly, the man who was half-kneeling on the ground behind her said loudly: "Shuang, when do you want to fall in love, when do you want to get married, please tell me? At least give me a chance to wait."

Li Shuang walked a long way before she stopped and looked at the busy traffic with a complicated expression.

"In this life, I may never meet a man who loves me more than he does."

"If I really want to get married, he might be the best person to do it."

“No matter what he does, he is very focused and has very clear goals.”

Faced with the infatuated and outstanding man, Li Shuang was at least moved.

Lin Xiao asked: "Is he also from Shanghai International Studies University?"

Li Shuang said, "No, he is from the Computer Science Department of Aurora University, and he was the top scorer in the college entrance examination in his city. We met at a party in our dormitory."

Lin Xiao asked: "Then do you want to get married?"

Li Shuang said: "I don't want to get married before I get what I want."

Lin Xiao asked: "Then what exactly do you want?"

Li Shuang said: "I don't know either. Maybe it's just a huge vanity."

Then, Li Shuang took a taxi and went to a large second-hand luxury goods store.

She is very familiar with Shanghai because she often comes here for shopping.

She lifted the big bag with one hand and opened it.

There are all kinds of brand-name bags inside, including Gucci, LV, Dior, and Chanel.

The packaging box and dust bag are complete.

There are more than a dozen in total.

"Sell them all..." Li Shuang said.

There are many bags in it, and they are very new, which shows that she takes good care of them.

Lin Xiao felt sad.

How happy was she when she bought these bags? How much she looked forward to them.

Now that Wu Yuan is in jail, she has lost her source of income and has quit her job at the TV station. She even has to sell bags to make a living.

"Sister Shuang, don't sell it..."

Lin Xiao zipped up the bag, put it on his back, and ran outside.

It's not how precious these bags are.

But... Li Shuang's state of mind is very precious.

Li Shuang chased out.

"Lin Xiao, stop right there..." Li Shuang shouted from behind.

But Lin Xiao ran faster and faster.

"Xiaoxiao, I'm wearing high heels. If I run too fast, I'll fall..." Li Shuang called softly from behind.

Lin Xiao stopped, turned his head and said to Li Shuang: "Sister Shuang, don't sell it."

Li Shuang said: "If I don't sell these bags, you can support me."

Lin Xiao nodded seriously and said, "Okay, I'll support you."

Li Shuang was stunned for a while, took a few steps forward, and said to Lin Xiao: "Fool..."

"You know, my sister's vanity doesn't just come from money and luxury goods, but also from social status and social aura."

"I know your company is doing well, but the more this is the case, the more I need to shine in front of you."

"It was the first time I saw you. Your amazing look made me really enjoy it."

"I left Shanghai in a very embarrassing way a few years ago, and this time I want to come back again."

"Sister must rely entirely on her own abilities, talents, and hard work to succeed once and for all."

"Otherwise, my sister's spiritual support will collapse, understand?"

"Vanity is expensive."

Then, Li Shuang took the big bag and continued walking towards the second-hand luxury goods store.

When she came out, she felt relaxed.

There were more than a dozen bags, all sold.

He had been collecting bags for several years, and sold them all for less than a quarter of the price.

"Sister Shuang, what is your goal?" Lin Xiao asked.

Li Shuang said, "One of my senior schoolmates who is a leader at Phoenix TV's Shanghai News Agency said there is an opportunity that is very rare and difficult, and I want to give it a try."

Lin Xiao said: "What opportunity?"

Li Shuang was silent for a while and then said, "Phoenix TV's overseas correspondents work in very difficult environments."

Lin Xiao asked: "The Middle East, or Africa?"

Li Shuang said: "Yes."

"Otherwise, how could someone with my background get a chance to go?"

Lin Xiao had a thousand words in his mind: it was too hard, even a little dangerous, so he shouldn't go.

But this is indeed a shortcut, just a very painful shortcut.

But it is obvious that Li Shuang has made up her mind and no one else can change it.

Even when she was drunk that night and yelling at her boss, she had already made her decision.

Li Shuang said: "If you work as a war correspondent for a year or so, you will often appear on Phoenix TV and become famous, and then you can return to the TV station to be a female host."

"The female host of Phoenix TV should be my target."

"Don't persuade me, my sister has made up her mind."

“You have your struggles, and I have mine.”

"Maybe we can't meet now, but when we both grow up in the future, maybe we will meet again."

"Kid, don't grow up too fast or abandon your sister completely." Li Shuang patted Lin Xiao's face gently.

………………

Three o'clock in the afternoon, at Professor Bai Wanqing's home.

She is forty-three years old and is an elegant woman, as if her whole body has been nourished by words.

Her house is quite big, and only one person lives in it. It is very simple and elegant.

When she opened the door for Lin Xiao, she was slightly stunned.

Because Lin Xiao has changed so much, he is really much taller than he was a few months ago. The key is sufficient nutrition and exercise, and of course the temperament nurtured by money, entrepreneurship, and success.

"Student Lin Xiao, you have changed so much, come in quickly, come in quickly..."

“These slippers are brand new.”

After Lin Xiao came in, he saw two middle-aged people, a man and a woman, in the living room.

"Student Lin Xiao, this is the editor-in-chief Wang Liang and Wen Zifei from Wanjuan Publishing House."

Lin Xiao hurried forward and shook hands with the two editors-in-chief.

"You're so young, only in the third year of high school?" Wen Zifei said, "Professor Wanqing and I were classmates in college. She has been telling me recently that there is a young literary genius and she must recommend him to me. She also showed me your essays, which are very well written, especially the one titled "Burning", which is really amazing."

"But, essays and novels are completely different."

"Professor Wanqing tried hard to recommend you to me. I asked her for the manuscript, but she said she didn't have it."

"Right now, other publishing groups are in a conservative period, but we are in an expansion period. So as long as the book is good enough, we are willing to pay 300,000 yuan in advance."

"The key... is that the book must be good."

"It should at least reach the level of Han Han's Triple Door, or even be higher. After all, it is so popular that it has a great impact on sales."

"Business is business. If your book is not good, we will definitely reject it."

"I am a master's student in Chinese. We have read a lot of books over a long period of time, and we have always been critical of them. That is to say, our eyes are very high, our comments are very sharp, and our denials are also very harsh. I hope you are mentally prepared for this."

Lin Xiao said: "Okay."

Wen Zifei said: "Then give us the manuscript."

Lin Xiao took out the manuscript from his schoolbag. He printed five copies and gave three copies directly to the three teachers.

After the two editors-in-chief and Professor Bai Wanqing took the manuscript, they started reading it without any extra words.

Time passes by every second.

Very quiet.

There is only the sound of quietly flipping pages.

"Professor Bai, can I use your home internet?" Lin Xiao whispered.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

"certainly."

Lin Xiao took out his computer and used Bai Wanqing's broadband to access the Internet. He used ADSL and the speed was pretty good, about 2Mbps.

For 2002, this Internet speed was already good, although it was not as good as the dedicated broadband in Lin Xiao's company.

First log in to the BBS.

There were a bunch of private messages again, most of which Lin Xiao would ignore.

There is new news about Gu Xin Suo Ai.

"Master Ergou, you are so awesome, so amazing. You asked me to give her a mobile phone, and I gritted my teeth and gave it to her. As a result, she really became my girlfriend. It was the first time for me to touch a woman's breast. I am so happy. Thank you, Master Ergou."

Lin Xiao could only exclaim, "Awesome!"

Next, Lin Xiao continued typing.

The pressure of updating is too great. Now most of the new monthly members who come every day are readers of the four great books.

High-intensity updates are required every day.

This high-intensity writing lasted for about three hours.

The two chief editors of Wanjuan Publishing House and Professor Bai Wanqing have been reading the manuscript.

Lin Xiao took a short break and entered the BBS again.

I found that Qianqiu Jiazhaoqi's post was always at the top and had generated very heated debate.

Hundreds of floors.

A small number of people agree with the original poster's statement, and think that Master Ergou is indeed awesome, but if he is too vulgar, he will not go far.

The other half thought that this was not a spiritual idol, so why should we have such high standards for the leader of Ergou? Just from this post, Lin Xiao felt it deeply.

In fact, everyone has the same idea in their mind: being vulgar alone is not enough.

Not cool enough.

No matter how popular the Four Great Books are or how good their reputation is, it won’t work.

Without class, it cannot be accepted by the upper class.

And the high-quality books are in the hands of three teachers.

"The Graveyard Book" swept 20 awards in another world, including the Hugo Award, the highest award in the world fantasy category.

Now it depends on the review of the three teachers.

……………………

After watching for more than four hours, it was already dark.

Wang Liang finished reading first, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he waited for the other two to finish reading.

Ten minutes later, Wen Zifei also finished reading.

Bai Wanqing was the last one to finish reading it.

"Who will speak first?" Bai Wanqing asked.

Wen Zifei said: "Let me speak first."

"It's very well written, very good, and it's the kind of book that far exceeded my expectations."

"I thought it would be similar to Triple Door, imitating the campus theme of Qian Zhongshu, but I didn't expect it to be this kind of fantasy theme."

“The story is interesting, magical, beautiful, warm and profound.”

“It’s very, very good. What’s more valuable is that it’s suitable not only for adults but also for young people.”

“It’s much better than Triple Door.”

Then, she looked at the editor-in-chief Wang Liang.

Wang Liang thought for a while and said, "Me too."

Bai Wanqing said: "I really didn't expect it to be so beautiful and interesting."

Wen Zifei said: "We are willing to publish this book and are willing to pay an advance of 300,000 yuan for the manuscript."

"Of course, other conditions are the same as those of ordinary best-selling authors. The final income still depends on sales and royalties."

Lin Xiao said: "I may have a small condition here."

Wen Zifei said: "You say."

Lin Xiao said: "I will participate in the New Concept Essay Contest in April and strive for the first prize. But... I don't want this book to be associated with the New Concept Essay Contest. I want to publish this book under a special pen name."

Wen Zifei asked: "What pen name?"

Lin Xiao said: "Second Dog Leader."

“And after it’s published, I want to use it to submit for various awards.”

"Leader Ergou?" Wang Liang suddenly called out in a low voice.

The two women next to them asked, "What's wrong?"

Wang Liang shook his head and said, "Nothing, nothing."

However, his eyes were always fixed on Lin Xiao.

Wen Zifei asked: "Why?"

Lin Xiao said: "I want to rely on my works to speak for myself, not on hype."

"Okay." Bai Wanqing said, "It's really good that you have this idea."

Wen Zifei said: "But if that happens, the sales will be greatly reduced due to the lack of topicality. Your book is so well written. If it wins the first prize of the New Concept Award, it will be very topical. You may surpass Han Han and become a popular young writer."

Lin Xiao said: "I just don't want to take this path."

"Of course, if it's purely for sales, there is actually another way."

"I will prepare an English version of this book. You can find a professional to translate it and then submit it to an American publisher."

"Once the manuscript is approved, we can promote it widely. The book will be published simultaneously in China and the United States."

Lin Xiao’s plan is more advanced.

Wen Zifei began to think, this path seems to be feasible.

Although this book uses an Eastern background, it can be used in a Western background with just a few minor changes.

It really seems to be very, very suitable for the American market, and they may be more popular.

Once a book is approved in the United States, and even if sales are quite good, it can be heavily promoted in China, which will have a huge benefit on sales.

After all, the country is not confident enough now, and a book that can conquer Americans will trigger huge patriotic enthusiasm.

If these two books can win awards in both countries in the future, it will greatly enhance the status of Master Ergou.

Lin Xiao then took out three copies of the manuscript from his bag and said, "This is the version for the Western market."

Suddenly, the three people were completely stunned.

You prepared two versions of the same book? This idea is really amazing.

Next, the three of them began to look through the foreign version prepared by Lin Xiao.

At this time, I was completely shocked.

This... this... is simply a pure foreign novel.

It's like a translation of a first-class foreign novel.

This taste is so authentic.

Do today's geniuses play so colorfully and on such a big scale?

Then, Wang Liang and Meng Zifei looked at each other and each understood what the other meant.

"Student Lin Xiao, let me explain our background." Wang Liang said, "We are a newly established commercial publishing company of Liaoning Publishing Group, and the two of us are responsible for conquering the world."

Lin Xiao understood immediately. He used to be a government employee, but now he has become independent and is venturing into the commercial market.

"We have just established Wanjuan Company, and we are very short of funds and under great pressure. We are planning to launch five books for the first time, three of which are by famous authors, and your advance payment of 300,000 is almost the maximum."

"If we really sign your book, it will be the first shot of our publishing company. If it fails, we will be blamed and it will be very detrimental to our careers."

“Originally we were planning to copy Han Han’s path, waiting for you to win the New Concept First Prize, and then hype you up in all aspects, but you rejected this and proposed another plan.”

"It's very, very risky for us, but we're willing to give it a try."

"Hopefully we're both successful and can sign the contract now."

Lin Xiao extended his hand and said, "Thank you, President Wang, and thank you, President Meng."

The contract was signed very quickly, and Lin Xiao felt very embarrassed and made a request, asking if the payment could be made within three days.

The other party was stunned. Is it so urgent? But he still agreed.

After signing the contract, several people had a meal.

In the middle of the conversation, Wang Liang came out to smoke and glanced at Lin Xiao.

"Leader Ergou? Jiangshan, Fengyue? Yangwang?" Wang Liang said.

Lin Xiao was surprised.

Wang Liang said: "I watched "Jiang Shan" and "Feng Yue" first, and then found Yangwang. I am still your monthly member."

It’s normal to think about it. After all, he is the editor-in-chief of a publication, and it’s reasonable for him to pay attention to the most popular online novel at the moment.

"Your website is developing very well. Are you so short of money?" Wang Liang said.

Lin Xiao said: "It's developing very fast and expanding very aggressively, but it will take some time for the money from China Mobile to arrive, so the funding is almost running out."

Wang Liang said: "I really like Jiang Shan and your new work Zhu Xian. They are so well written."

"I originally thought you were a middle-aged man in your thirties or forties, but I didn't expect you to be only nineteen. I was really shocked."

Lin Xiao said, "Boss Wang, you put your sweater on backwards. I had a hard time holding it in."

"Ah..." Wang Liang smiled and said, "How can we care so much? The two of us worked independently to complete 10,000 volumes. The pressure was so great that we couldn't sleep at all. Our hair was falling out in clumps. We were just about to issue a military order."

"From now on, we're counting on your book, The Graveyard Book, to make us famous."

……………………

Next, Lin Xiao did not spend the night in Shanghai, but bought a train ticket directly back to Linshan.

It was another standing ticket, so I ran to the soft sleeper to buy the full ticket.

But this time there is no Sister Shuang'er anymore.

At about 10:30 in the evening, he received a text message.

"Little thing, I have got this precious opportunity. I will follow Phoenix to the Middle East. Please wish me success."

Lin Xiao sighed inwardly, she really had to take this difficult road.

Lin Xiao replied to the text message: Wrap yourself tightly and wear looser pants, your butt is too big.

Li Shuang replied: Got it, little thing. Also, don’t think I didn’t know that you squeezed my butt crack with that naughty thing yesterday.

Lin Xiao: I...I really didn’t mean it. I was asleep at that time.

Lin Xiao really swore that he didn't do anything on purpose, he was even in a daze.

Li Shuang replied: I know, otherwise I would break it for you.

After a while, she sent another message: It seems that our child has really grown up.

Lin Xiao was speechless. This woman was elegant and dignified in real life, and looked like an older sister.

Once in the virtual world, you are extremely bold. Although I have developed, you can't tease me like this.

Then the cell phone rang again.

It was a text message from Xia Xi: Someone is trying to acquire us again, and this time they are serious, with tens of millions of dollars.

……………………

Note: Here is the first update. I can’t think of any words to ask for monthly votes, so I’ll kowtow to the benefactors, please!

(End of this chapter)