Back to 17, My Brother is the Cult Leader

Chapter Ten: Signing the Contract

"And this one too,"

Jiang Shan pointed to another one,

"Adaptation rights. If you want to adapt this novel into a movie or TV series, you need the magazine's permission."

But the profits are still yours; the magazine only takes a 10% commission.

"Ten percent?" Fang Yuan frowned.

Li Minghao explained:

"This is industry practice. We help you make connections, so we always charge a small fee for our help."

Of course, if you don't want to go through us, you can talk to film and television companies yourself.

In any case, you still own the novel.

But to be honest, very few new authors can actually close a deal on their own.

Fang Yuan thought about it and felt it made sense.

I worked in the film and television industry in my past life, so I know the ins and outs.

As a new author, if you hold the adaptation rights, nobody will pay any attention to you.

But if it's endorsed by "Mengya" magazine, then it's a different story.

"Okay, I understand."

"There's something else, Teacher Li," Fang Yuan hesitated for a moment.

"I'd like to ask, if I adapt this into a screenplay later, can I publish it in other magazines?"

Li Minghao paused for a moment, then turned to look at Jiang Shan.

"Oh my, Teacher Jiang, your student is quite something."

"Stop talking nonsense."

"Your idea is acceptable."

"You own the novel, and if you haven't authorized anyone else to adapt it, you can adapt it yourself."

"After the novel is published, the screenplay can be submitted to other magazines."

Whether it can be published depends on the quality of the script.

Fang Yuan nodded.

"One last thing," Li Minghao said, looking at him.

"You've finished writing this one, are you writing a new one?"

Fang Yuan was taken aback. Was this a request for an article?

"I'm working on it," he said vaguely.

"What genre?"

"I haven't decided yet."

Li Minghao nodded:

"You've written it down. Show it to us first. Your teacher, Ms. Jiang, has my phone number; feel free to contact me anytime."

He stood up and extended his hand: "Fang Yuan, welcome to the team of authors for 'Sprout'."

Fang Yuan stood up and shook hands with him.

Teacher Li's palms were very dry, and she gripped them quite tightly.

After seeing Li Minghao off, Jiang Shan called Fang Yuan to her office.

"I've reviewed the contract for you, and there are no problems."

Jiang Shan handed him the document.

"Take it back and have your dad sign it. You're a minor; the contract needs your guardian's consent."

Fang Yuan nodded.

His dad happens to be home these days, so he can sign.

"And another thing," Jiang Shan said, looking at him.

"A new project? Any ideas?"

"Yes, I should be able to finish it during summer vacation."

"Hmm? Show me when you're done writing."

And don't forget to study; next semester you'll be a senior in high school.

As he spoke, he took a piece of paper from the drawer.

"This is a reading list I've compiled. Take a look at it when you have time; it should be useful for your art exams."

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Jiang." Fang Yuan's nose tingled with emotion.

"Alright, go back now. You did well on the final exam, 138 in Chinese!"

"As expected, but I still wonder if Chen Xia would beat me up if she knew I wrote such a terrible picture of her."

Jiang Shan glared at him, but there was a smile in her eyes.

Fang Yuan left the school and rode his bicycle home.

In summer, the sea breeze blows through Qingdao, carrying moisture and a salty, fishy smell.

He carried the contract in his backpack and rode very slowly.

My mind is a mess.

Regarding the serialization, the standalone volume, and the "new work".

Ten thousand yuan.

Twenty thousand yuan.

Publish a book.

These words swirled in his mind, making him a little dizzy.

I wrote screenplays for over a decade in my past life, and I still didn't earn this much money.

In this life, he was only seventeen years old, having just finished his second year of high school.

Fang Yuan rode to the seaside, stopped, and parked his bike on the side of the road.

Sitting on the seawall, looking at the sea in the distance.

As darkness fell, a layer of golden light spread across the sea, so dazzling it hurt the eyes.

He took the contract out of his bag and read it again.

Then he laughed.

It wasn't because I was happy, but because I felt the whole thing was a bit absurd.

A high school sophomore wrote a novel, which is about to be published in the magazine "Mengya" and also published as a standalone book.

Who would believe that if I told them?

Fang Yuan put the contract away, stood up, and dusted off his pants.

I hopped on my bicycle and rode home.

"New novel, let's write something even more intense."

I pedaled my bicycle and disappeared into the twilight.

That evening, Fang Jianguo unusually cooked four dishes.

There are several days of concentrated leave each month.

During the meal, Fang Yuan casually said:

"Dad, I've written a novel and I want to publish it. I need you to sign it for me."

He then found the contract and handed it over.

Fang Jianguo was stunned, and it took him a while to take the contract and pen back.

After looking through it for a while, I looked up again, my eyes already red.

"Okay, okay, where should I sign?"

With trembling hands, he finally managed to sign the papers under Fang Yuandi's direction.

He turned around and grabbed a bottle of wine. "I'm in a good mood today, want to have a drink?"

Fang Yuan looked at Comrade Jianguo's excited face; this was the first time he had seen him so happy since his mother passed away.

"Alright, have a drink."

He had a serious alcohol addiction in his past life, which is probably one of the reasons he died so early.

This is the first time I've drunk it since I was reborn.

I don't feel good.

Watching my dad down the glass of wine in one gulp, I felt a mix of emotions.

The father and son rarely communicated in their previous life.

A year after Fang Yuan graduated, his stepmother and younger sister arrived, and the father and son communicated even less.

To be fair, his stepmother treated him very well.

But he's just hard to get close to.

His younger sister, on the other hand, was very affectionate with him.

Looking back now, the only people who can handle his funeral arrangements after I'm gone are Huang Xiaoming and his sister.

I wonder how my dad will feel when he finds out about my death.

Both of them drank too much that day.

Return to school in three days.

The first thing Fang Yuan did was to give the signed contract to Teacher Jiang Shan.

The teacher will send it to Li Minghao.

Then the teachers of each subject gave each other curls.

Fang Yuan did well on the final exam, which was basically as expected.

Chinese 138, English 141

Fang Yuan scored 55 in math. The math teacher stared at him for a long time without saying a word.

Other aspects have also seen little progress.

He scored a total of 488 points, which puts him exactly 15th in his class.

Liu Kai did well too, finally scoring over 500 points.

Chen Xia's score also increased significantly, though not as dramatically as Fang Yuan's.

After tidying up my desk and belongings, I filled my backpack to the brim.

My holiday has begun.

"Chen Xia, wait a minute," he called out to Chen Xia.

"what?"

"Come to my house on the 10th, I need to talk to you about something."

"What's up?"

"I can't say now, it's a big deal."

"I'm not going." Chen Xia said without turning her head.

"Don't forget!" Fang Yuan shouted to him from afar.

Chen Xia made a gesture towards him from a distance.

It feels like the thumb is pointing downwards.

Alright, my second year of high school is over.

The only important thing left is Comrade Xiaoming's college entrance examination.

The 1996 college entrance examination was held on July 7th, 8th, and 9th, during the hottest time of the year.

Comrade Xiaoming is going to suffer.

With only a few days left, Fang Yuan had a full schedule planned.

First, go to the bookstore to buy books. Teacher Jiang gave us a list of quite a few books.

I'll finish writing the script for the movie "Flying Colors" tonight.

This is simpler to write.

Story summary, character list;

The main text is about 10,000 words long and is ready for publication.

Take your time with the new works, no rush.