"We are their parents."
Comrade Lao Du greeted the young people and introduced the next few people.
"Hello, nice to meet you. Please come in. Our deputy editor-in-chief is waiting for you in the office."
"Okay, comrade, what's your name?"
Lao Du and his family followed the young man to the office and asked him a few questions.
"Hey, look at me. No matter my surname is Sun, you can just call me Xiao Sun."
"Come to think of it, I was the one who reviewed Du Chen's first essay!"
Xiao Sun slapped his head and said with a smile.
A few people came to the office while chatting.
"Ding ding ding... Editor-in-Chief Yang, Du Chen and his family are here."
Xiao Sun knocked on the open office door.
"Hello, please come in, Xiao Sun, and pour tea for the guests!"
Du Chen looked closely and saw that Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yang looked to be in his fifties, with an easy-going face and simple clothes, and he had the demeanor of a scholar.
The office is not very big. There is a large bookcase against the wall, which is filled with books. It seems that the books are often flipped through, and it doesn't seem like they are just for show.
In front of the bookshelf is the desk, on which are piles of stationery, probably manuscripts that have been submitted. In the corner, there is a small table with teacups and a kettle on it.
Directly opposite the desk is a row of sofas and a coffee table. On the side of the coffee table are two small sofas, and there are two electroplated chairs against the wall by the door.
Du Chen had never been to a leader's office of this era, so he took a good look around after entering and found that the decoration was similar to that in period dramas. It turned out that art comes from life.
The only difference is that there are two pots of green ivy on the windowsill of the office. They have lush branches and leaves, and they must have just been watered. They are even more green and lovely under the sunlight.
"Hello, I'm Yang Xiong, the deputy editor-in-chief of 'Student Times'. Are you Du Chen's parents?"
Editor-in-Chief Yang introduced himself and asked Comrade Lao Du.
"Hello, Editor-in-Chief Yang, we are Du Chen's parents."
"This is my second child, Du Chen, and the older one is Du Bin."
"Oh, you two are amazing. You've raised both of your little classmates so well. I've also read Du Chen's fairy tales. They're full of childlike fun and reflect the style of a modern elementary school student!"
"Du Bin is also amazing. Someone showed me his illustrations. The two brothers complement each other perfectly!"
"Thank you so much! These two kids still have a lot to learn, so I can't praise them like that!"
We are drinking tea together and praising each other, but we can't just get straight to the point. According to traditional concepts, doing so is quite rude.
"Student Du Chen, what are your plans for the future story?"
After chatting for a while, Editor-in-Chief Yang suddenly asked Du Chen, and it seemed that he was ready to get to the point.
"Uncle Editor-in-Chief, the main plot of my outline is still the process of Tao Xiaotao from Class 2, Grade 3 learning and growing up in the new era. Although there will be difficulties waiting for us, we, the successors of the new era..."
This question was not difficult for Du Chen. Du Chen introduced the subsequent plot and the main idea in great detail...
"In short, as long as readers like it, I plan to continue writing about Tao Xiaotao and grow with him slowly."
Finally, Du Chen gave a summary. Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yang was also very patient and did not interrupt Du Chen's argument, but listened to Du Chen's speech with confidence.
"Not bad, really good. I hope to continue seeing your work, Du Chen."
"Our magazine has also received many letters from primary school students, saying that they really like your work and feel that it reflects things around them, or even themselves."
"Since your work is so popular, our magazine would like to compile and publish a collection of your works, Du Chen. What do you think?"
"Uncle Editor-in-Chief, of course I am willing. I am also very grateful to my readers and friends who like me. It is also my honor to be able to publish a collection of your works!"
Du Chen spoke sweet words without hesitation.
"Okay, let's discuss publishing then."
At this time, Editor-in-Chief Yang said to Du Chen's parents.
"Editor Yang, just discuss this with Du Chen. We parents all support our child, and he wrote the book, so let him communicate with you."
Comrade Lao Du had already made up his mind and decided to let Du Chen communicate directly about the publishing matter. He didn't understand it, but Du Chen would definitely not suffer any loss anyway.
"Oh well!"
Editor-in-Chief Yang looked at Comrade Lao Du in surprise, and then agreed.
"Uncle Editor-in-Chief, I'd like to ask how much royalties I can get for publishing the collection?"
The child was naive and had no problem asking for money, so Du Chen didn't hesitate and asked. Instead, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yang was stunned by Du Chen's question.
"Student Du Chen, the magazine can give you 5,000 yuan this time."
Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yang thought about it and quoted a price.
He felt that it was already a lot, as he, a section-level cadre, only earned more than 800 yuan a month.
"Uncle Editor-in-Chief, can you give me a little more? My dad is the only one working in my family, and we're in debt. I write stories just to earn some royalties to supplement our family income."
Du Chen was in a miserable state as he was not satisfied with the price.
"Student Du Chen, I admire you for helping to support the family, but the magazine has its own rules, right?"
Seeing that the other party was not buying it, Du Chen prepared to change his tactics.
"Uncle Editor-in-Chief, I still have more than 30 manuscripts for 'Class 2, Grade 3'. And I think 'Elementary School Times' from Jiangsu and Zhejiang is pretty good too. Many of my classmates have subscribed to that journal."
Du Chen was telling the truth. If Longcheng's "Student Times" magazine could not satisfy him, why didn't he change to another magazine?
"Do you have more than thirty articles saved?"
Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yang asked in surprise.
"That's right, Uncle Editor-in-Chief. Anyway, the magazine can only publish one article per issue, and I have nothing better to do, so I've saved this much so far."
"How much money are you going to ask for?"
Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yang asked Du Chen with great interest.
He thought this kid was quite interesting. Most people would be extremely excited to hear that they could publish a book, but Du Chen was not satisfied with the offer from the magazine and even threatened to change magazines.
"Uncle Editor-in-Chief, my request is not high. Just 20,000 yuan. After that, all the articles in this book have nothing to do with me!"
Du Chen's statement meant he had relinquished the copyright to these stories! Firstly, Du Chen had no way of defending his rights. Even great writers couldn't do that well these days, let alone a grassroots author like him. Secondly, this collection only contained about thirty stories at most, so it wasn't a big deal.
"Really? Are you sure?"
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