My Years as a Copyist in Taiwan

Chapter 92 The Dragon's Head

Just between you and me, at this time, it's impossible for British nobles to receive official receptions and accompaniment when they come to Taiwan. They can only discreetly arrange for a sufficient number of civilian groups and security forces to accompany them.

The Cavendish family is one of the top aristocratic families in the UK, with ties to the royal family, and their wealth ranks among the top three of the UK's aristocratic families.

Their Chatsworth House is like the British version of the Grand View Garden, with tens of thousands of books and mountains of artworks, and has been a mecca for European literature and art for centuries.

Olivia is the youngest daughter of the 11th Duke of Devonshire. She grew up on the manor and graduated from Oxford with a degree in British Literature. She received a proper aristocratic elite education, but it produced a slightly rebellious non-heir.

At the age of 28, she took over a small, nearly bankrupt publishing house in London and renamed it "Plantago y Pontifical," a name that exudes aristocratic elegance and directly uses the name of the most glorious dynasty in British history.

Olivia's greatest strength is her eye for choosing books.

In the late 70s, the British publishing industry was focused on serious literature and classic works, believing that only those had taste. She, however, set her sights on children's literature and popular novels. As a result, the dozen or so children's fantasy novels she published all became bestsellers, and several new writers she discovered became the backbone of the British literary scene.

In just a few years, Plantagenet Publishing has transformed from a small, nearly bankrupt publishing house into a dark horse in the UK's popular publishing industry.

In her words, "Literature has no hierarchy, only whether it's good or bad. A good book is one that readers are willing to pay for."

So when Alan Thorne and Shuji Fujino found her, they hit it off immediately. After Olivia Cavendish read the sample copy of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," she immediately ordered an initial print run of 10 copies, more than three times the initial print run of New Direction.

After only two days of positive word-of-mouth, the 100,000 copies of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" were reprinted, and it hasn't even lasted three days before they started going back for more. It has now been reprinted eleven times.

Olivia really wanted to acquire the film and television rights to this book, which is why she rushed over from Hong Kong after learning about Mr. Snail's itinerary.

She knew that the film and television rights and related merchandise rights for Mr. Snail were not for sale, and several Hollywood studios had already been turned down.

But what if Mr. Snail is just unhappy with those septics? Or maybe the septics are just too stingy, only offering a few hundred thousand US dollars – how ridiculous!

As Zhao Wen emerged from the passageway, thousands of people erupted in various shouts, except for one group carrying a banner that read "Home of the Snail," who chanted in unison, "Welcome home, Mr. Snail!"

"Mr. Snail, you've worked hard!"

"Mr. Snail, we love you!"

'

This formation had about a thousand people. Being organized makes a difference; even though there were clearly fewer people, their shouts were steadily suppressed.

Other miscellaneous troops.

This made the ragtag group very envious, and they all asked the members wearing "Snail House" armbands who were maintaining order how they could join the organization.

As Zhao Wen walked, he waved, then half-squatted down to catch Zhao Wenwen, who was rushing towards him.

Zhao Wenwen has grown quite a bit in the past year. A year ago, she was 13 years old and looked like a 10-year-old girl, but now she is a real young lady. Zhao Wen lifted her up, spun her around, and then put her down. She's really heavy.

Zhao Wen gave Wu Deng a big hug, then punched Rong Ge. He even wanted to bump fists with Sha Yi, but was rejected. Chen Erfeng remained stubbornly still.

Editor Gao stayed far away, maintaining order for the "Snail House" contingent together with his niece, Yi'an.

Holding his younger sister's hand, Zhao Wen high-fived the nearest members of the "Snail House" with his right hand. This novel way of showing affection to his fans instantly made the members of the "Snail House" go wild. In particular, Zhao Wen called out the names of several group leaders, which caused a burst of screams.

The reporters next to him were taking photos and sketching. One of them, "Mr. Snail," even remembered the names of many members of the Snail House!

Those standing in the front row were almost all group leaders of "Snail House," which is an abuse of power for personal gain.

While high-fiving his fans, Zhao Wen called out, "Sister Zhizhi!", "Han Baoyun!", "Qian Baihui!"

Yes, it's Qian Baihui, with songs like "Walking Through the Coffee Shop" and "When I Miss You." The aroma of coffee may have faded, but her voice remains. Do you guys still remember her?

The first celebrity in Taiwan to receive a mainland Chinese ID card—not a residence permit, but the kind of ID card that everyone has! Accompanying Olivia to the airport to pick her up were several high-ranking members of the Taiwan Cultural Association, along with a few local Tainan arts groups. Seeing Zhao Wen finally separated from the "Snail House" group, they approached with beaming smiles: "Mr. Zhao Wen, thank you for your hard work! I am Chen Li, Chairman of the Taiwan Cultural Association. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Chairman Chen, hello!" Zhao Wen had refused a dinner invitation from the Literature and Art Association last time and thought they would never talk to him again, but he was surprised that they came to pick him up at the airport this time.

"This is Lady Olivia Cavendish, from the Dukes of Devonshire, England."

"Mr. Snail, I'm Olivia from the Golden Flower Publishing House. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Olivia interrupted Chen Li's introduction, stepped forward, and extended her right hand to Zhao Wen.

Zhao Wen knew that "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was published in the UK by Plantagenet, but he didn't know who the publisher's owner was. Editor Gao was too lazy to tell him such a "minor matter".

The owner of the Golden Plants is actually from the Cavendish family?

In later legends, the most mysterious of the twelve animal heads, the dragon head, is said to have originated from her family!

Cavendish.

The House of the Dukes of Devonshire.

Zhao Wen remained expressionless as he extended his hand to shake hers: "Ms. Cavendish, I've heard so much about you. Plantagenet Publishing House, so we are—collaborators?"

"Oh! Of course! But Mr. Snail, please just call me Olivia."

Olivia speaks fluent Mandarin with a slight Cantonese accent: "I've been in Hong Kong for several days now. I heard you were returning to Taiwan today, so I pestered my friends from the Cultural Association to bring me to the airport to pick you up. Please forgive any intrusion."

"We're collaborators, Olivia, it's not abrupt at all!" Zhao Wen said, "Actually, I'm an actor!"

He really wanted to take this opportunity to invite this person to Snail Literature and Art Museum, and he started to organize his thoughts. Just as he was about to speak, Chen Li, the chairman of the Writers' Association, spoke first: "Mr. Zhao Wen, Mr. Wu Shanlian has prepared a banquet, firstly to entertain guests from afar, and secondly to arrange a meeting with Mr. Snail. You see..."

'

Chen Li knew Zhao Wen's character all too well. Last time, Zhao Wen had simply refused their dinner invitation without offering any explanation, so this time he was being very careful with his words.

Mr. Wu Shanlian, a true big shot in Tainan!

Actually, even without considering the matter of scheming against Olivia, Zhao Wen certainly wouldn't have refused upon hearing that it was Old Master Wu. He immediately said, "I don't have that kind of influence. Old Master Wu, you're too kind!"

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