My Years as a Copyist in Taiwan

According to the superstar's sister, the settlement rules for overseas issuances in Southeast Asia follow a different system.

Overseas sales are uniformly priced at 70% of the domestic price, equivalent to NT$266. Southeast Asian multi-tiered distributors take a 38% cut, resulting in a gross profit of only NT$99.92 per unit for the same production cost.

Lin Xinjun and the two editors no longer participated in the profit sharing. After deducting the 20% bonus from the queen, they paid taxes at the offshore trade preferential tax rate of 11%.

After the split and deductions were completed, Zhao Wen ultimately received a net profit of NT$71 for every vinyl record sold in Southeast Asia.

At this point, Zhao Wen couldn't help but feel sorry for the diva sister—she still had to be squeezed out of the top by PolyGram and PolyGram!

It seems I still have to start my own company.

While records were selling like hotcakes in Taiwan, Shuji Fujino, far away in Tokyo, couldn't sit still any longer.

The Japanese translation of "Love Letter" has been on the market for a week. After three days of hype, sales exploded on the fourth day, with two reprints in the first week. Sales have now exceeded 80,000 copies!

The popularity of this romance novel is phenomenal. Although it is still tens of thousands of copies less than the first-week sales of "Japan Sinks" ten years ago, it should be noted that "Japan Sinks" is a peak that no one has been able to reach to this day!

So Fujino made an overseas call to the old wooden house in Tainan every day, starting by congratulating Mr. Snail on the record's great sales, and after no more than three polite words, he immediately steered the conversation to his prepared remarks...

After Zhao Wen and others finished copying "Norwegian Wood," he feigned concern and said, "Finally finished, Mr. Fujino. See, I delivered it to you..."

"I'm coming! I'm coming! Mr. Snail, you're busy!" Fujino Shuji couldn't wait any longer. After hanging up the phone, he had his assistant book the earliest flight to Kaohsiung, and after landing, he rushed to Tainan.

In his mind now, the sooner he gets Zhao Wen's manuscript, the sooner he can make money, and make a lot of money! If he's a step late, his competitors might snatch it away. And Kodansha isn't the only company in Japan that does translation and publishing!

When Shuji Fujino saw the manuscripts for "Spirited Away," "The Alchemist," and "Norwegian Wood," the light in his eyes almost blinded him.

He didn't know about the manuscript of "The Alchemist". Last time, he read half of "Spirited Away" and was "kicked away". He has been thinking about the ending ever since. Now that he has three manuscripts, he is having trouble choosing.

"Is this 'The Alchemist' going to be combined with 'Spirited Away' into a single volume, Mr. Fujino?"

"Of course I'm very satisfied, Mr. Snail!" Fujino's hand moved back and forth between the three manuscripts, almost as if he was about to pick them up and kiss them.

Anyone who has worked as an editor knows that spending a lifetime dealing with manuscripts will gradually instill a passion into your very being.

The most important thing for someone entering the industry is the fundamental skill of filtering out good and bad writing and discerning writing style. Then, over the years, one must cultivate a unique eye for appreciating words. Ordinary readers read books for entertainment, but editors can see through the entire skeleton and core of a book at a glance.

The passion for crafting words and creating works by hand naturally became an obsession ingrained in Mr. Fujino's bones.

So when he was immersed in the world of Chihiro, Zhao Wen didn't disturb him and quietly wrote his manuscript on the side.

The manuscript had four characters on it: Huanzhu Gege (Princess Pearl).

Yes, it's that TV series, Princess Pearl.

Zhao Wen thought that using magic to defeat magic was a very interesting thing.

Auntie's books and TV dramas are full of cloaks, so I'll just write a TV drama script that's even more cloak-filled and show you if it looks familiar.

In just over an hour, Mr. Rattan Chair finished reading the remaining 20,000 to 30,000 words of "Spirited Away." Satisfied, he swallowed hard, glanced at Zhao Wen with a smug look, and took the bag from his assistant, who was sitting properly to the side.

Fujino tilted his head back and laughed: "I'd forgotten, Mr. Snail, this time when I returned to Tokyo, I specially prepared our top-of-the-line national cigarette for you—Peace!"

Then he took out a whole pack of soft yellow Peace and handed it all to Zhao Wen.

This pack of cigarettes was a gift that Fujino brought specifically for Zhao Wen on this trip.

Zhao Wen had never heard of this brand of cigarettes in either of his two lifetimes. He took it, unpacked it, politely offered one to Fujino, and then lit one for himself.

The first puff of smoke enters the lungs, its power rushing straight to the top of the head!

My goodness! This cigarette is really strong! And the smoke is rich and full-bodied, without any harshness to the throat, and it even has a hint of sweet plum and milky aroma.

Didn't they say that Japan doesn't have good cigarettes?

"Excellent cigarette! Mr. Fujino, this cigarette is superb! Please sit down and have some tea!"

Zhao Wen used to smoke Taiwanese cigarettes, but it was really just a substitute out of necessity. While Taiwanese cigarettes were comparable in strength to Black Liqun, their taste was far inferior. This Peace cigarette, in terms of aroma and power, can even rival the famous Guizhou liquor.

Seeing Zhao Wen's ease, Fujino breathed a sigh of relief. He had been racking his brains trying to figure out how to get closer to Mr. Snail, but now he had successfully taken the first step!

Because "The Alchemist" was to be combined with "Spirited Away" into a single volume, it became Fujino's second manuscript.

He read the manuscript very carefully. Although the plot was not complicated, its core was hidden in the metaphors of short sentences.

The crystal shop owner, the King of Salem, the Oasis Girl, the Alchemist—each character represents a life choice.

Paul's writing style back then was extremely restrained; every sentence was like a proverb, for example:

When you truly desire something, the entire universe conspires to help you achieve it.

For example, the fear of suffering is more terrifying than the suffering itself.

So Mr. Tengyi read the 90,000-word manuscript until dark, and only then did he finish two-thirds of it.

Aunt Chun had already prepared a table of delicious and visually appealing Minnan dishes and was waiting for him. Urged by Zhao Wen, Mr. Rattan Chair reluctantly put down his manuscript and sat down at the dining table.

Aunt Chun is the wife of the old man at the alley entrance. Zhao Wen had only casually asked the old man to help him find a reliable neighbor to come to his house and cook a couple of hot meals. Unexpectedly, the old man brought his wife to his door the next day.

Aunt Chun suffers from severe rheumatism in her legs and cannot stand for long periods of time in the wind. She cannot help Uncle with the stall every day, so she usually stays at home to do housework and take care of her nearly 30-year-old daughter, A Lai.

The food tasted really good, you could tell from how he ate in the rattan chair. Of course, he might also have been really hungry, since he hadn't eaten lunch.

Zhao Wenwen and her two little girls seem to have gained a bit of weight recently. Zhao Wenwen is pleased to make the decision that this Aunt Chun must be kept!

As night deepened, Mr. Rattan showed no sign of leaving, so Zhao Wen had no choice but to arrange for him to go to a guest room, while his assistant went to find another hotel to rest.

Seeing that Xiao Ni Hong was clinging tightly to the manuscripts of "The Alchemist" and "Norwegian Wood," Zhao Wen had no choice but to let him stay up all night.