Chapter 22: After receiving my royalties, I want a piece of pork worth a silver dollar!
"Grandma, let's go to the newspaper office first, and then go find Manager He."
Not having received her payment, Yao Xiaoyu felt embarrassed to face her creditors. Zhou Chunhua, however, assumed it was because her granddaughter had asked about the time to buy cheap newspapers last time and wanted to get ahead of them this time, so she readily agreed.
When Yao Xiaoyu went up to the second floor again, she was welcomed into the office. Editor Pi's face was full of fatigue, but he exuded an undeniable air of confidence.
"Are you here to deliver the rest of the manuscript?"
Pi Kangxiu's eyes lit up the moment he saw Yao Xiaoyu.
"Um."
As soon as Yao Xiaoyu answered with a single word, the manuscript in her hand was snatched away by Editor Pi. The crowd that had been surrounding Yao Xiaoyu scattered and formed a fan shape behind Editor Pi, straining to see the manuscript.
Yao Xiaoyu: ...
So love can disappear, right?
Yao Xiaoyu sat quietly in the chair, ate a piece of zongzi candy that had just been served, and thought that when she received her manuscript fee later, she could buy some sweets for her family. She had just heard the price on the street, and it wasn't expensive; one copper coin could buy five pieces.
"What happened?!"
When Yao Xiaoyu finished two-thirds of the zongzi candy, a familiar yet unfamiliar wail came from the crowd. It was familiar because she had seen similar comments many times in modern times, but unfamiliar because it was the first time she had heard it in audio format.
It feels quite peculiar.
...It's a bit dangerous.
"I really don't know what was written after that."
Yao Xiaoyu moved her chair back to avoid the excited editor Pi. Pi Kangxiu came to his senses, sighed somewhat dejectedly, and took out three shiny silver dollars and placed them on the table.
"This is the payment for the published article."
The agreed price was six cents per thousand words, and the newspaper published five thousand words, which came to three yuan.
This price isn't low for a newcomer with little fame, but Pi Kangxiu felt the story deserved more money, though he didn't have the authority to decide.
Besides, this article was only published yesterday.
He'll wait until there are more words and the serialization lasts longer before he applies to raise the royalties for this story.
“Our newspaper is very optimistic about this story, and we can have your young master write more about it.”
Editor Pi tried to urge him to finish the manuscript. In fact, putting aside the fact that he kept himself completely hidden, this author was really diligent. Especially since he had just dragged out a writer lying on a couch at the opium den yesterday, his impression of Yao Xiaoyu's young master was even better.
"I will tell you."
Yao Xiaoyu struggled to look away from the silver dollars. She had earned quite a bit at the He Family Bookstore. Even with the lowest stable income of seven copper coins per thousand words, she could still earn more than one and a half silver dollars a month, not to mention the huge sum of fifty silver dollars she had received before.
Since arriving here, she has been earning money through writing, but this time the silver dollars were the easiest to earn. As long as she writes this article well, these three silver dollars will just be the starting point for her royalties.
The editor in front of her was still urging her to update the chapter, but Yao Xiaoyu didn't want to listen, so she asked:
"You said the article has been published in the newspaper, but my young master bought a copy of 'The Complete Collection of Sayings,' which says that the article is not available. Do you know what's going on?"
Pi Kangxiu's expression froze, and a layer of fine white sweat broke out on his back.
...
"So this isn't a 'Complete Collection of Vernacular Stories,' but rather a 'Complete Collection of Vernacular Stories'?"
Yao Xiaoyu's portrayal of the mischievous girl after causing trouble was so vivid that the scene fell silent at some point, and Pi Kangxiu's face turned extremely ugly.
Where is the manuscript I just brought?
The little girl with lychee-shaped eyes pretended to search, and Pi Kangxiu said, "It was just here a moment ago," while helping to search. In fact, her hands behind her back were already moving so fast that they left afterimages. The person holding the manuscript understood and quietly put the paper into a pile of white paper in the drawer. At first glance, there was absolutely no trace of it.
While Pi Kangxiu was helping to find manuscripts, his mouth was also busy. Although he only thought about putting a rope around himself when he was trying to persuade himself, he was actually very eloquent when persuading others, and he could come up with a series of short phrases without repeating himself.
They use phrases like "Your young master is kind-hearted and definitely won't hold a grudge," "A real competition is only interesting when it's on the same platform," and "I know the editor of 'The Complete Collection of Sayings,' he's especially good at revising content"... They employ a comprehensive, high-intensity, multi-field brainwashing tactic, determined to keep this cash cow alive.
Yao Xiaoyu was just a naive young girl, and she couldn't withstand Pi Kangxiu's sharp tongue. Her attitude softened without her realizing it, and Pi Kangxiu didn't press his advantage. Instead, he chatted casually with her.
"What article did your young master's rival write?"
Pi Xiukang asked casually, "This young master's writing is so good, his rival must also have some talent, but the manuscripts we've received lately haven't been particularly outstanding..."
"He wrote a short essay, I think it was called 'Yu Nu Waist'."
Yao Xiaoyu spoke as if it were the truth, but Pi Kangxiu's expression changed after hearing it. "Yu Nu Yao" was an article he had personally collected. Putting aside the writing style, the author was clearly a decadent middle-aged man.
This young master's rival is clearly lying.
"...My young master said that he wrote this not to fight for that little bit of money, but for the sake of pride. If that person wrote 10,000 words, he will write 100,000 words."
The young girl didn't notice Editor Pi's emotional outburst. He started talking and then fell silent when he heard that it wasn't for money. Pi Kangxiu originally wanted to tell Yao Xiaoyu about the enemy lying.
He told the young master about this in order to gain favor and get the young master to continue serializing the story in "The Complete Collection of Storytelling". However, he forgot that the young master was originally chasing after his mortal enemy. If he knew that his enemy was lying, he might not be in the mood to write.
No, absolutely not! This news must be kept secret until the story is over... Oh, right!
Pi Kangxiu suddenly remembered that he had forgotten something important.
What is the name of this story?
Yes, although everyone always calls it "The Story of Ding Xian" or simply Ding Xian, it sounds as if the book's title has already been decided as "The Biography of Ding Xian," but this story actually has no title.
It wasn't that Yao Xiaoyu didn't want to think about it, but rather that she was terrible at naming books back in her modern days. Even in the era of computer writing, she never benefited from the title; she relied entirely on the quality to break into the mainstream. So, before Pi Xiukang mentioned the title, she was happy to ignore it, but now…
"Ding Xian's New Life".
Yao Xiaoyu spoke slowly, and before Pi Kangxiu could react, the little girl in front of him repeated herself:
"The book is titled 'Ding Xian's New Life'."
Pi Kangxiu felt that her ears had been polluted.
...
After several debates, the book was finally titled "Biography of Ding Xian".
"Is there anything else? If not, I'll be leaving."
Yao Xiaoyu suppressed the urge to yawn and asked, "What's wrong?" Pi Kangxiu thought of the part of the manuscript that was stuck and wanted to urge it again, but he was afraid that Yao Xiaoyu would remember how they had coaxed her into writing the damaged manuscript because the little girl was illiterate, so he stiffly shook his head.
Yao Xiaoyu clutched the three silver dollars in her hand and left.
"Why did they arrive so early today?"
Seeing her granddaughter come out empty-handed for the second time, Zhou Chunhua frowned. Yao Xiaoyu just smiled and shook her head, opening her hand and then quickly closing it again. A flash of silver light passed in front of Zhou Chunhua, startling her so much that her eyes widened.
Where did it come from?
Zhou Chunhua asked in a low voice, but Yao Xiaoyu just smiled, leaped out of Zhou Chunhua's reach in a few swift movements, and then left with a single sentence:
"I'll explain when I get back."
She was in a hurry to buy meat.
"Give me a silver dollar's worth of pork belly!"
Yao Xiaoyu arrived at the empty meat stall and slammed the silver dollar in her hand heavily onto the meat table. Last week, when she said those words, she had no money and no confidence, and could only admit that she had misspoke. Now, she no longer had to swallow her words.
Where did you get the money?
Zhou Chunhua tried to grab Yao Xiaoyu's collar again, but Yao Xiaoyu, anticipating her move, nimbly dodged. The two struggled back and forth for a while until the pork belly was cut into pieces and wrapped tightly in several lotus leaves. Seeing that the deed was done and fearing that people would find out they hadn't paid off their debt and were still eating meat, Zhou Chunhua could only quickly carry the meat away.
"Tell me, what exactly happened?"
The two walked one after the other to a quieter corner, and Zhou Chunhua asked in a low voice. She did not suspect that Yao Xiaoyu had taken the money from home, but she just wanted to know where this silver dollar, which had been spent before it even reached her hands, came from.
"This is a long story, we'll talk about it when we get home."
To make a long story short will definitely lead to further questions. Who knows if anyone is eavesdropping in this place? Writer Yao Xiaoyu is familiar with all sorts of tricks and equally suspicious of every seemingly safe corner.
"OK."
After hearing Yao Xiaoyu's words, Zhou Chunhua didn't ask any further questions. When she passed by the sauce shop, she even spent money to buy a jar of sauce, intending to take it home to stew with meat.
"Manager He, this is the money for the fountain pen from last time."
Yao Xiaoyu pushed the second silver dollar over, exchanged it for several silver coins, bought some paper, collected the money for copying books, and went back with new work.
This time, she only assigned Yao Ping'an the task of writing two thousand words a day.
"Does Miss Yao have other ways to make money?"
Shopkeeper He asked with a smile, already having some guesses in mind, recalling the ink bottle he had bought on credit before and the blank paper he had today.
"A person can't copy books for the rest of their life."
Yao Xiaoyu smiled at Manager He, revealing eight teeth, which made Manager He grin as well. He was a little jealous of Yao Ping'an's good luck—it was one thing to have an outstanding son, but to have such a remarkable daughter as well.
After leaving He Family Bookstore, Yao Xiaoyu and Zhou Chunhua did not linger on the road—mainly because Zhou Chunhua kept a close eye on Yao Xiaoyu, not allowing her to spend an extra copper coin on the road, making it impossible for Yao Xiaoyu to even find a chance to buy a zongzi candy.
The two returned home, and Zhou Chunhua put the sauce and meat in the kitchen, asking Wenrou to make braised pork.
"Mom, make plain rice, don't make porridge, and don't add sweet potatoes, potatoes, or cabbage leaves!"
Yao Xiaoyu bounced along behind, adding to the story. Seeing Wenrou nod, she followed Zhou Chunhua upstairs and explained everything clearly. Zhou Chunhua lowered her head and remained silent for a while before finally looking at Yao Xiaoyu:
"You earned three silver dollars, spent one on meat, and some on ink and paper. What happened to the rest?"
Looking at Zhou Chunhua's outstretched hand in front of her, Yao Xiaoyu sighed inwardly—this was why she hadn't revealed a single word to her grandmother before receiving her royalties.
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Author's Note: Little Fish: Eat meat! Eat meat!
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