Chapter 4: Emergency Rescue, Is the Draft Fee Coming?

  At this time in the rich people's hotel manager room, "Fang Jie, this is a sister of mine, called Lin Fengjiao, something happened at home and she wants to come work at our hotel."

  After Lü Lihua finished speaking, Fang Yue glanced at Lin Fengjiao who was standing beside her with her head down and hands clasped together, holding the hem of her clothes. Lin Fengjiao felt Fang Yue's gaze on herself, mustered up the courage to lift her head, and looked at Fang Yue. Fang Yue sized Lin Fengjiao up and down, and couldn't help but think to herself, what a beauty! Looks like another goldmine has appeared.

  Thinking of this, Fang Yue said: "You're called A Jiao, right?" "Uh-huh," Lin Fengjiao replied in a soft voice. "Your situation, Lihua has already told me about it. I can advance you 2,000 yuan now, but you have to work for me for free for one year, think carefully." "Sister Fang, I've thought it through, I'll work hard and do my best."

  "Here, this is two thousand dollars, you can go now." Fang Yue took out a stack of new Taiwan dollar bills from the drawer with the Bank of Taiwan printed on them and handed it to Lin Fengjiao.

  "Thank you, Sister Fang." Lin Fengjuan held the two thousand yuan and expressed her gratitude to Fang Yue, "Alright, no need to thank me. Just do a good job in the future." "Mm, I definitely will, Sister Fang."

  Lin Feng finally felt relieved when he got the money, and he rushed to the hospital to pay for his father's surgery. The hospital immediately arranged for Lin's father to have surgery tomorrow afternoon after receiving the payment.

  Lin Fengjiao arrived at her father's ward after handing over the money. She found Wang Wei sleeping soundly in a chair beside the bed, his face flushed with sleep. Lin Fengjiao didn't disturb Wang Wei, but quietly took off her own jacket and covered him with it. Then she squatted down to examine him closely, seeing that his small face, which was already showing signs of handsomeness, had two straight eyebrows that were sometimes furrowed and sometimes relaxed, as if he had dreamed of something. Lin Fengjiao thought back to when her father was ill at noon, when everyone else was in a panic, but Wang Wei remained exceptionally calm. She also remembered how for the past month, Wang Wei had been hiding at home, not even coming out to play with Ah Sheng and the others. She had thought he was sick, but when she went to his house to visit, she found him practicing calligraphy instead. Lin Fengjiao suddenly felt that Wang Wei had changed, but couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. In any case, he had become better. Thinking of this, Lin Fengjiao suddenly remembered a conversation between her parents three years ago, which she had overheard by chance. Her face suddenly turned bright red, like a red apple.

  At this moment, Wang Wei's eyes suddenly opened, scaring Lin Feng to lean back abruptly, but was held in Wang Wei's arms.

  Wang Wei had just had a strange dream, in which Lin Feng was taken away by a group of fierce and evil-looking men. He went to stop them but was knocked to the ground. Just then, a wave of heat suddenly came over him, and Wang Wei woke up with a start. As he sat up, he saw that Lin Feng was squatting right in front of him, staring at him intently. Without thinking, he threw his arms around Lin Feng.

  Lin Feng was suddenly held in Wang Wei's arms, originally a bit uncomfortable, struggled for a few times, but where could she resist the full-strength Wang Wei, so after struggling for a few times, she didn't move anymore, just quietly lying in Wang Wei's arms. At the same time, a strange feeling rose from her heart, warm and happy.

  Just as the two were enjoying this happy feeling, a discordant voice suddenly sounded, "Cough... cough..." Upon hearing the coughing, the two of them instantly separated like children who had been caught stealing candy. Lin Feng stood up and saw that it was his mother, and he felt his face burning with embarrassment. It took him a long time to weakly call out: "Mom."

  Mrs. Lin saw that the two were embarrassed, and she smiled lightly, not saying anything. She just said to Wang Wei, "Ah Wei, you should go home now, your mom is waiting for you at home for dinner. Tonight, I'll stay here with Jiao to keep your uncle company." Hearing Mrs. Lin's words, Wang Wei quickly responded, "Yes, Auntie, I'll head back then." He said this and turned to Lin Fengjiao, "Fengjie, I'm heading back." "Mm," Lin Fengjiao softly replied.

  After Wang Wei left, Lin's mother put down the lunch box in her hand and let Lin Feng sit beside her. She said softly: "Ah Feng, there is something that your father and I wanted to tell you, but we have been considering whether or not to tell you. Today, seeing how good your relationship with Ah Wei is, I decided to tell you."

  "Uh, mom, you go ahead and say it." Lin Feng nodded. "Okay, I'll tell you, actually, this is a promise that your father and I made with your Uncle Wang and Auntie Wang back then. When your uncle saved your father's life, we agreed that if we had a daughter, we would marry her to one of their sons. At the time, both I and Auntie Wang were pregnant. But who could have predicted... Auntie Wang miscarried due to exhaustion, and it took six years for her to get pregnant again. Your father and I thought the age gap between the two children was too big, so we didn't mention it. We planned to wait until Ayu grew up a bit before marrying her off to Awei. But yesterday, Awei brought it up first, so... mom has decided that after your father recovers from his illness, she'll discuss this with Auntie Wang about you and Awei. Today, I'm just asking you..."

  As soon as Lin Fengjiao heard her mother say that she should marry Wang Wei, her face suddenly flushed with two red clouds. Thinking of the scene where Wang Wei had just held her tightly in his arms, a strange sweetness suddenly appeared in her heart, but when she thought that they were more than six years apart, she began to worry again. "He won't mind my age, will he?" After a long time, she finally said, "But I'm six or seven years older than Ah Wei, I'm afraid Ah Wei won't agree." Lin Fengjiao's mother heard her daughter's words and replied with a nonchalant expression, "As long as you're willing, that kid Wang Wei will definitely have no problem. Although you're a few years older than Wang Wei, my daughter has this face and figure, whoever marries her will be smiling all the way to the bank. Besides, in the past, some child brides were ten or eight years older than their husbands, but it's not like they had any problems. As the saying goes, 'a woman is like a golden brick at 30, and a woman is happy at 60'."

  As soon as Lin Feng heard her mother say this, the worry in her heart gradually dissipated, and the confident, optimistic, and strong Lin Feng returned. In her heart, she called out: "Hmm, yes, it's Wang Wei's good fortune to be able to marry me, if he dares to be dissatisfied..." A strange scene floated into Lin Feng's mind, an eleven or twelve-year-old girl using her fingers to flick a small boy who was still wearing open-crotch pants and had a runny nose.

  After returning home, Wang Wei hastily ate a meal and fell onto his small bed, sleeping until the next afternoon. If no one had knocked on the door, Wang Wei would have definitely slept until evening.

  Wang Wei opened the door with sleepy eyes and saw a middle-aged man standing at the door, wearing a flat head with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and holding an old-fashioned leather wallet.

  "Hey there young fellow, hello. Is your elder at home?" The middle-aged man said, habitually adjusting his glasses with his right hand as he saw Wang Wei open the door.

  "I'm the only one at home, what's wrong, is there something?" Wang Wei said subconsciously while still in a daze.

  "Ah, I see. I'm an editor at Zhen Shan Mei Publishing House. Yesterday, I received a manuscript with your address on it, so I came to find you. Since the adults in your household aren't here, never mind. I'll come back this afternoon." The middle-aged man said with a disappointed expression.

  Wang Wei immediately sobered up when he heard that the other was an editor from a publishing house. "Are you an editor at Zhen Shan Mei Publishing House?" "What's wrong?" "Did you come to discuss the copyright fees for Datang Shuanglong Zhuan today?"

  "Really?" The middle-aged man asked in doubt. "Good, I am the author of Datang Shuanglong Zhuan. We can talk." Wang Wei said with a smile.

  "Are you saying you're the author of 'The Legend of the Twin Dragons of Tang'?" The middle-aged man's eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, his tone laced with skepticism. "What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Wang Wei blinked calmly, having long been prepared for such reactions since he'd decided to take on this unconventional life path.

  The middle-aged man regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth, but it was too late. Fortunately, Wang Wei didn't get angry. The middle-aged man, being an editor from a big publishing house like Zhen Shan Mei, quickly regained his composure after a moment of regret. He smiled apologetically and said, "No problem, Mr. Wang. I was just surprised by your age." "What's there to be surprised about?" Wang Wei replied with a smile. "In ancient times, Kong Rong yielded a pear at the age of four, Sima Guang broke a vase at nine, and Gan Luo became an official in the Qin state at twelve. My achievements are nothing compared to theirs."

  The middle-aged man was convinced that Wang Wei was indeed the author of "The Legend of the Double Dragons" after hearing his words. He secretly called him a genius and adjusted his glasses, smiling as he said, "Since Mr. Wang is at home, I'll be the host. How about I invite you to dinner?"

  "Wait for me for a moment, I'll go in and change into some clothes."

  The two came to a restaurant near Wang Wei's home and sat down in a corner. After ordering two dishes, they began discussing the manuscript fee issue.

  "Mr. Wang, my name is Xue Bing, I'm an editor at Zhen Shan Mei Publishing House, and I'm in charge of your book. Regarding the issue of your manuscript fee, what I want to say is that for a new author, the standard fee for publishing a book is generally 500 yuan, which is a widely recognized price in the publishing industry."

  Wang Wei smiled and shook his head after hearing Xue's words: "Editor Xue, what you said is a bit too absolute. Although I'm just a new author, the quality of this book can definitely match Gu Long and Zhuge Qingyun's level. This book will definitely be popular, so 500 yuan is too little. At least it should be 1,500."

  Xue Bing shook his head after listening to Wang Wei's words: "It's impossible, 1,500 is almost as high as Gu Long's price. Mr. Wang, you should know that Gu Long is now a famous wuxia author in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the manuscript fee is only slightly higher than this price. Moreover, you are just a new author, even if your book is very good, we still need to do publicity, so our highest offer for you is 650 yuan.

  If you think it looks good, vote for a recommendation ticket. Recommendation tickets seem to be free, and those with accounts have them. You can also collect them by the way. Your support is my greatest motivation.