Population pyramid structure control is a profound discipline. If it’s not managed well, you up with a situation where one working person has to support four, five, or even more retirees.
Daweichao had been fine-tuning its fertility policies all along, never producing the situation Zhonghuajia had in the sixties and seventies, where families had five, six, seven, or eight children. Only children were also rare.
The legal marriage age for both men and women was eighteen, and there was no concept of “late marriage and late childbearing,” so people in Daweichao generally married much earlier than in Zhonghuajia—it was common for boys and girls to marry right after graduating from high school.
As a result, anyone unmarried at twenty-six or twenty-seven was already considered an “older youth,” and someone unmarried at thirty was equivalent to a thirty-five-year-old hopeless case in Zhonghuajia.
So in Daweichao, it was perfectly normal to start going on blind dates in one’s early twenties, and for someone like Pu Ruosong, in his mid-twenties, it was even more normal.
“My Ruosong has been busy with his studies and work all these years, so he doesn’t have much dating experience. He’s just looking for a gentle, caring girl…”
“Our Xiaoyun is the same. After finishing her master’s degree, she joined the management of XX Company, and before she knew it, she’s twenty-eight. A girl a year or two older would be even better—she’d know how to take care of you…”
After sitting down, Pu Ruosong listened as his relative and the girl’s mother chatted enthusiastically, while he himself was bored out of his mind, with no desire to join in at all.
There was no helping it—the girl across from him was only a six-or-seven-out-of-ten in looks, yet she carried a subtly intimidating aura. She was clearly not an easy girl to get along with, and he felt no spark whatsoever.
“Xiaosong, when you’re done chatting, remember to walk the young lady home!”
“Okay.”
Both sets of parents left, giving Pu Ruosong and his blind date some private space.
The girl very proactively struck up a conversation with Pu Ruosong, but he responded half-heartedly, just mumbling “mm-hmm” and “uh-huh,” planning to stall for ten minutes and then leave.
This made Pu Ruosong seem aloof and cold, but the girl across from him grew more and more pleased with what she saw.
The girl wasn’t discouraged. Judging by her many blind date experiences, she had truly struck gold this time—opportunities like this didn’t come twice.
“No matter how many tricks you have, you won’t escape my grasp.”
But just as the girl was about to reveal her true self and reel him in, she noticed that Pu Ruosong’s gaze had changed, becoming somewhat blank and stunned.
The girl turned her head and, following Pu Ruosong’s line of sight, saw the Lin siblings.
“What’s wrong? Do you know them?”
“Oh, that boy in the wheelchair is one of my patients.”
“A patient? Why do I feel like… he’s more like an enemy?”
“……”
Pu Ruosong said, “He is indeed my patient. I need to go over and discuss his condition with him. Why don’t you head home first?”
The girl said meekly, “It’s raining so hard out there. Aren’t you going to walk me home? Didn’t you just promise Auntie you would?”
Pu Ruosong frowned. “Then you may have to wait for me a moment. In my eyes, my patients come first.”
“No problem at all. I’ve never seen you at work before!”
Pu Ruosong walked over toward the Lin siblings, and Xiaoyun, the blind date, followed along.
But as they approached, they heard Lin Zhe muttering to his sister: “I’ve been sitting in this café for so long, and the biggest thing I’ve learned is that there are so many scumbags—seeing two or three girls in a single day, eating from one bowl while eyeing what’s in the pot…”
Then Lin Zhe turned to look at Pu Ruosong, greeting him as if he’d only just noticed him: “Hi, scumbag… oh no, I mean Dr. Pu. What a coincidence—a blind date, huh!”
“………”
Lin Xi hurriedly said, “I’m sorry, Dr. Pu, my brother doesn’t really know how to talk. Please don’t take it to heart!”
Pu Ruosong looked a bit awkward and said sheepishly, “It’s fine. I just happened to see you here and came over to check. How’s your recovery going? Can you get out of bed and walk yet?”
“Pretty well. I can eat normally now, and my legs can move. With a wheelchair, I can get to places that aren’t too far on my own… Thank you so much, Dr. Pu…”
“Sis, you should get back to work. Besides, Dr. Pu is here for a blind date—we can’t hold him up.”
“………”
“Sorry, Dr. Pu, for taking up your time. My apologies!”
After apologizing to Pu Ruosong, Lin Xi pushed Lin Zhe out of the café. Clever as she was, she had already noticed the appraising gaze of the blind-date girl, Xiao Yun, and she didn’t want to cause anyone trouble.
But as Pu Ruosong watched the siblings’ departing figures, he felt a strange sense of loss.
……….
That afternoon, Lin Zhe received a call he’d been waiting a long time for.
“Hello, this is Hu Rui, chief editor of the wuxia department at Duanjiang Chuban She. Is this Mr. Gu Long?”
“Yes, this is Gu Long.”
“………”
Hu Rui on the other of the line was clearly taken aback. He could tell that the person calling himself “Gu Long” was a young man, which wasn’t quite what he had expected.
Hu Rui asked solemnly, “Are you certain you’re the author of The Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword? Do you hold full intellectual property rights to this book?”
Hearing the man’s tone, Lin Zhe understood immediately. He said with a smile, “Editor Hu, do you really think a book like The Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword would allow someone to impersonate its author? Would it allow plagiarism?”
“Heh heh, fair enough. That was my own preconception. To be honest, The Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword doesn’t seem like something a young man could have written, but there are exceptions to everything. Our publishing house judges the book, not the person.”
“Mm, well, I only judge the money, not the publishing house. Give me your offer. If it’s suitable, s someone over to sign the contract.”
“………”
That direct, huh?
Hu Rui had been an editor for a long time. He’d encountered arrogant authors before, but never one this direct.
Hu Rui said, “For new authors, we offer two options: a buyout or royalties. For a buyout, it’s ten to two hundred yuan per thousand characters—”
Lin Zhe cut him off and said bluntly, “I don’t want a buyout. I want royalties, at a rate no lower than fifteen percent.”
“Fifteen percent? Impossible. Even first-rate authors in the industry don’t get that much. The most I can offer you is ten percent…”
“Editor Hu, Qinghe Publishing House has already offered me thirteen percent. But they’re in the capital, and I’m in Mocheng—while your publishing house is also in Mocheng.”
“What? You submitted to multiple publishers at once? That’s no professional ethics—”
“Hello…? Hello, hello?”
The call was cut off.
Hu Rui felt a surge of frustration, like he’d made a beautiful shot only to have it viciously blocked at the rim.
He dialed the publishing house president’s internal line: “President, I’ve contacted Gu Long… Yes, the author of The Sentimental Swordsman, the Ruthless Sword, but he wants a fifteen percent royalty…”
“The other side is very firm, and very seasoned—he’s already been in touch with Qinghe.”
Hu Rui didn’t mention to the president that Gu Long was a teenager, because that might make the president come up with some new complication.
The president pondered for a moment and said, “It’s a good book, but we can’t take on too much risk. Go negotiate a betting agreement with him.”
“Alright. And the ceiling?”
“You figure it out!”
“You figure it out” is the hardest kind of order to carry out—there’s no standard for doing it well or badly; it all depends on what the boss says. No bonus if you succeed, and all the blame is yours if you fail.
Hu Rui helplessly dialed Lin Zhe’s number again, but the line was busy.
He grew anxious at once, terrified that Lin Zhe would sell the rights to another publishing house.
Daweichao only produced a handful of hit novels each year, and The Sentimental Swordsman, the Ruthless Sword was so exceptional—he was terrified someone else would snatch it away.
“Ring ring ring”
Hu Rui’s phone rang. It was Lin Zhe calling back.
“Hello, Mr. Gu Long… Do you accept the betting agreement? Seven percent to start, with the royalty rate rising as sales increase.”
“I accept. One tier per five hundred thousand copies, one percent added per tier, capped at twenty percent.” Lin Zhe laid out an industry-standard betting structure.
Hu Rui dared not underestimate Lin Zhe any further, and began calculating rapidly in his mind.
The best-selling novel in Da Wei over the past ten years had sold only five million copies, which worked out to just seventeen percent. Could a teenager’s novel really reach five million copies?
Damn it, if it really did reach five million copies, then this Gu Long wouldn’t just be a money tree—he’d be a huge boost to Hu Rui’s own career. Worth any amount of money.
Hu Rui steeled himself: “Fine then! When is Mr. Gu Long available to come to our publishing house and sign the contract? You know our address, right?”
But Lin Zhe on the other said, “Sorry, but it’s not convenient for me to come to you. You’ll need to come to me to sign the contract.”
“……”
Hu Rui gave an awkward smile, feeling as if he’d become a snake pinned by its seven-inch vital spot.
“Fine, I’ll s someone to sign the contract with you. Here’s to a pleasant cooperation.”
“Good, I’m very pleased!”
Lin Zhe smiled. This betting agreement was exactly what he’d been waiting for.
The Sentimental Swordsman, the Ruthless Sword was over seven hundred thousand characters long, priced at around thirty-some yuan. Seven percent was a bit over two yuan—meaning that for every copy sold, Lin Zhe would earn a royalty of a bit over two yuan.
But if it sold six and a half million copies, the royalty would reach twenty percent—over seven yuan per book—and Lin Zhe’s income would reach an astonishing forty to fifty million.
“How many million copies did this book sell in my past life? Twenty-some million? Or thirty-some million?”
What Hu Rui had failed to account for was that The Sentimental Swordsman, the Ruthless Sword also had overseas sales. When it swept through everything surrounding Da Wei, it truly was a money tree.
A money tree planted in Lin Zhe’s own courtyard.