Training the Heavens

Chapter 54 Campus Star
"Teacher's surname is Tang? Is your family's surname San?"

"No, I just want to choose a pen name that can earn more money."

Feng Jie couldn't figure out what the pen name had to do with earning more royalties. He said a few perfunctory words and picked up the manuscript to read it quickly. The review speed for this kind of popular novel is much faster than that for traditional literature. He scanned ten lines at a glance. As long as there were no taboos and the story flowed smoothly, it was fine.

Gao Jialin drank two cups of tea. Feng Jie had already finished reading the novella, which cost just over 100,000 yuan. He stood up with the manuscript in his hand and said, "Teacher Tang, please wait a moment. I'll go find the editor-in-chief. Your work is so highly regarded. I'll ask for a little more royalties for you."

After another cup of tea, Feng Jie invited Gao Jialin into the editor-in-chief's office. The editor-in-chief came out from behind his desk to greet him, "Teacher Tang, your work is so well written. I can't stop reading it. We need good stories like this!"

In the editor-in-chief's opinion, Gao Jialin's "Records of Enmity and Revenge" is much more down-to-earth than Jin Yong's martial arts novels. The readers of "Story Club" will definitely like it after reading it. Moreover, after listening to Feng Jie's retelling of the joke "Tea on tea, good tea on tea", the editor-in-chief felt that this man must have many good stories.

So he directly offered a high price, "Teacher Tang, how about 18 per thousand words? This is the highest standard we can offer to new authors!"

The current national regulation on the remuneration for articles is 10 to 20 yuan per thousand words, and 18 yuan per thousand words is close to the highest. "Story Club" is sincere in being able to get such a price for the first cooperation.

"Okay, that's it for this time. If I contribute to you again next time, can I get 20 yuan for every thousand words?"

"If these two stories are popular with readers, and the next works are of the same quality, twenty cents per thousand words will definitely be no problem!" The editor-in-chief directly guaranteed Gao Jialin.

"Story Club" sells millions of copies per issue, and a large number of township enterprises seek advertising from them. They make a lot of money, so what does this little fee mean? If it weren't for the national standard, they could afford to pay 50 or even 100 per thousand words.

"Sure, I have so many stories in my head, I can even provide you with manuscripts for every issue! Then I'll come over next month to give you the manuscripts!"

If running a magazine wasn't so troublesome and the money wasn't coming in so slowly, Gao Jialin, like Zheng Yuanjie, would have no problem running a magazine on his own. Each issue of "Fairy Tale King" has only 90,000 words, which is nothing compared to the updates of online writers.

The editor-in-chief approved the note quickly, and Feng Jie took Gao Jialin to the finance office to collect the money. The full text of "Jianghu Envengeance" was more than 110,000 words, and it earned him about 2,000 yuan in royalties. Together with the royalties from the story about Zheng Banqiao, Gao Jialin got exactly 2,100 yuan.

Feng Jie just told a story, but people paid him the royalties before he even started writing. "Story Club" is really generous.

Feng Jie accompanied Gao Jialin to the bus and repeatedly emphasized to him before he boarded, "Teacher Tang, next time you submit your manuscript, please call me first. I will make tea and wait for you! If the journey is too long or troublesome for you, I can come and pick it up!"

"I'll come over and buy some things by the way!" Pujiang College is located in the suburbs and there is nothing fun around. Gao Jialin wanted to take the opportunity to relax while delivering the manuscript.

"If you need to buy something, come to me. I know which mall in Shanghai has the most complete selection!" Feng Jie said, lowering his voice. "Even if you want tickets, I can get them for you!"

"Really? You can get industrial coupons and watch tickets? I've always wanted to buy a watch. I have enough money for a long time, but I've never gotten the tickets!" Gao Jialin stopped. Watch tickets were in short supply, and Niu Xinliang was not easy to find.

"No problem, leave me your phone number and I'll let you know when I find one!" Feng Jie promised confidently. As long as he could serve Gao Jialin well, he would be able to get more high-quality manuscripts. With more manuscripts, his bonus would be guaranteed. So, this was also making money for himself, so how could he not be motivated? "Okay." Gao Jialin gave out a number, "I'll pay whatever you want, just help me contact them."

After getting on the bus, I didn't rush back to school. I turned a corner and went to No. 675 Julu Road. These two places are actually quite close, less than three kilometers, and only two bus stops away.

After calling Niu Xinliang, the two of them went out to have a delicious meal together, and Gao Jialin returned to school feeling satisfied.

When he reached the bottom of the dormitory building, the dormitory manager, Mr. Dong, quickly stopped him and placed a whole box of letters in front of him. "This box is full again. You should take it back quickly. If you don't take it, my dormitory management office will be full!"

"I'm really sorry to bother you. Someone just stuffed a pack of cigarettes into my pocket. I don't smoke. Can you help me out?" Seeing that there was no one around, Gao Jialin quickly stuffed a pack of Mudan cigarettes into Uncle Dong's pocket.

During this period, not only did people write to him, but many young artists wanted to come to the dormitory to discuss literature. If it weren't for Uncle Dong's help, Gao Jialin would never have had the time to write novels. So it was only right to give them a pack of cigarettes.

I climbed up to the fourth floor with the cardboard box in my arms, and saw a piece of paper stuck on the door of dormitory 404. On the paper was a famous quote by Qian Zhongshu: Eggs are delicious, but you don't need to know the hen that laid them; I am still a student and busy with my daily studies, so I am sorry that I cannot receive enthusiastic readers.

When he opened the door and walked in, his roommates were no longer surprised. Since the publication of "Young Friends Come to Meet", Gao Jialin has become a campus star of Pujiang College and even the entire Shanghai university community.

People kept coming to him to discuss literature with him, not only from his own school, but also from other schools. Some even took the bus for several hours to get here.

There are even more letters. Letters from other schools can be sent with stamps. Letters from our own school are more convenient. You don’t even need stamps. You can just seal the envelope and put it directly in the mailbox outside the dormitory office.

There were even many bold girls who enclosed photos in their letters to express their admiration for Gao Jialin. When Ma Chuanjie and others saw these photos, their eyes almost popped out.

They also once fantasized about having a romantic campus romance, but until now, they didn't even have the courage to talk to girls alone. As a result, so many of their roommates confessed their love to them.

Gao Jialin was not interested. Firstly, none of these photos could make him feel amazing; secondly, he didn't dare to provoke them.

In the 1980s, she dared to write letters and send photos to confess her love to a stranger she had never met. Such girls are similar to the fanatical fans of later generations. If you get along with such people, you can't guarantee that something extreme will happen.

For the sake of his own future and life, Gao Jialin didn't even dare to reply to the letter, for fear that these girls would misunderstand and come to Pujiang College to find him.

Gao Jialin stuffed the box under the lower bunk, but it was a little hard to push in as the space inside was already filled with letters.

How about I follow Teacher Zheng’s example and buy a few houses to store the letters?

(End of this chapter)