Chapter 96: No Name on the List

  He Mu's birthday wish is to lie on the same bed as Zi Lin, and he promises not to do anything but just lie quietly.

  Jian He Mu was already lying in bed. Zhang Zi Lin could only call him a few names, "You're the biggest on your birthday, okay?"

  Helpless Zhang Zilin lay on the bed, keeping a certain distance from He Mu, and his spirit was highly concentrated. With just a slight movement, he covered his clothes and looked at He Mu. However, more than an hour passed, and He Mu didn't make any moves. Zhang Zilin stared at He Mu's face in the darkness, and it seemed like he had really fallen asleep.

  Girls are always so contradictory, if He Mu really wants to do something to her, she must refuse, but now that He Mu is sleeping soundly, she feels a little lost, has her charm decreased?

  Blinking in the darkness, Zhang Zilin muttered to himself, "It should be safe tonight, go to sleep."

  It's already winter now, and although the room is warm, human nature makes He Mu and Zi Lin get closer and closer, finally snuggling up together, neck to neck, intimate and inseparable.

  The next day when Zhang Zilin woke up, she felt like there was a stone pressing on her chest. When she opened her eyes, she found that someone's palm was placed on her chest. At this time, the two of them were already entwined together. He Mu's breath directly sprayed onto Zhang Zilin's neck, making her feel ticklish.

  Glaring at He Mu for a moment, Zhang Zilin removed her hand that had been firmly pressed against his chest and wanted to get out of bed to change clothes. However, she ended up startling He Mu awake instead. Seeing Zhang Zilin trying to leave, He Mu wrapped his arms around her waist, pinned her under him, and rubbed his face against hers, "It's still early, let's sleep a bit more, I'm exhausted from last night."

  "How can I be tired?" Zhang Zilin's face was slightly red, they didn't do anything last night, but He Mu's expression seemed like he had been through a fierce battle all night.

  He Mu pinched her cheeks, "I'm so tired of holding back, having such a beautiful woman sleeping beside me, yet I can look but not touch."

  "You also said you didn't touch her, where did your hands go in the morning?" Zhang Zilin glared at He Mu.

  "That's not my fault, you can't blame me." He Mu said with a smile, then kissed Zi Lin's lips again. This time his hands didn't wander much, but Zi Lin could clearly feel the existence of He Mu's **that thing**, she knew it was a normal physiological phenomenon, so she couldn't blame He Mu, but her face was still flushed and she felt shy.

  ——————

  "I still have to go to work today and can't accompany you during the day." Zhang Zilin said to He Mu at breakfast.

  "It's almost New Year's, don't you guys take a break?" He Mu said gloomily.

  "It's the last day today, I'll accompany you to celebrate your birthday tonight." Zhang Zilin coaxed He Mu like coaxing a little kid.

  He Mu suddenly had an idea, "How about this, I'll introduce you to my friends tonight?" They've been together for more than half a year and have lived together for over ten hours, but He Mu didn't know Zhang Zilin's friends, and Zhang Zilin didn't understand He Mu's circle, except for one Liu Shi.

  "Alright, let's set a time and place for tonight. I'll come find you after I'm done with work. Are all your friends from the entertainment industry?" Zhang Zilin asked in response.

  "Friends outside the circle." He Mu thought of Li Wen Hua Zhang Yueyue and others, as well as his older brother He Zao, on the condition that he could get in touch with him.

  After seeing off Zong Lin, He Mu took a taxi to Tiandi Xuanhuang. He now has over 200,000 yuan and plans to buy a new car, which he will drive back home for the New Year.

  Now, Tiandi Xuanhuang has more than a dozen formal employees, and the office space has expanded by one-third. The outstanding performance in 2006 has made the company famous in the industry, and Tiandi Xuanhuang has become a brand with unlimited potential. With the recommendation of Xiao Fang's sister Xiao Mei, Li Wen participated in a cross-strait book cultural exchange conference. "Air Stewardess" and "Heart-pounding Steps" were selected by publishers from Hong Kong and Taiwan, and are expected to be published in traditional Chinese characters. Although the biggest beneficiary is the original author, the company can also gain some benefits.

  The company's development momentum is very strong, and the sales of several new books that were just listed this year are also very good. Li Wen Hua finally felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders, and he seemed much more relaxed. This year, he plans to return home for Chinese New Year and spend some quality time with his mother. Now all the company employees have gone home, leaving only him and his cousin working on the last tasks, but today his cousin asked for leave to go out and play, when asked who she was going out with, she evaded the question, really don't know what her boyfriend does, it's so mysterious.

  Li Wen looked at the newspaper nailed on the wall by him, gained momentum, and continued to examine the company's financial statements. He hoped to squeeze out over a million to acquire a small printing factory, but it seemed a bit difficult looking at the accounts.

  At this time, He Mu walked in, and Li Wen Hua let him play by himself first, as he still had some work to attend to.

  He Mu saw several new books recently published by the company on the company's honor bookshelf.

  "My Beautiful Boss" and "How Much Love Can Be Reckless" were launched by Beth, the two books went on sale in January, they have a certain foundation online, now the sales volume has broken 50,000 one after another, the market performance is not bad.

  "The Grave Robbery Notes" is a new book by Li Wenhuang on Qidian, following the popularity of last year's "Ghost Blows Out the Light", another tomb-raiding novel. The first volume was released in February and is currently being tested in the market, along with the company's flagship product "The Ming Dynasty Stories 2".

  "The Legend of Zhen Huan" is the last book discovered by Beth, divided into three volumes. Due to limited company resources and strength, this book has been made, but the release date has not been set yet, probably still have to wait a few more months.

  "What's this?" He Mu suddenly found a newspaper nailed on a snow-white wall.

  Li Wenhua raised his head and took a glance: "Isn't it written there? Look for yourself."

  This is a December issue of the Financial Times last year, the entire page is talking about "the first China Writers Rich List", a self-proclaimed global first list that records the current wealth status of Chinese writers and reflects the direction of China's national trend.

  He Mu skipped the lengthy introduction and went straight to the rankings. Yu Qiuyu was ranked first, with an income of 14 million from his book "February River". Han Han was third with an income of 9.5 million. Seeing Han Han's name, He Mu couldn't help but look for Guo Jingming, who was ranked fifth with an income of 8.5 million. Further down the list, He Mu saw that his favorite authors Zheng Yuanjie, Jiang Rong and Yu Hua were also on the list. Even Xia Moyan, who was ranked last, had an income of 23 million, far surpassing He Mu's meager film salary.

  Logically speaking, being a writer is a relatively noble profession. Now there's this list that measures things with money, and He Mu always feels it's a bit strange.

  Li Wenhua finished his work and walked over to He Mu: "Do you have anything to say about this list?"

  "Is this really okay? After all, they are writers." He Mu asked.

  Li Wen said firmly, "I think it's great. I pinned this newspaper on the wall to motivate myself. One day, the authors who cooperate with me will also appear on this list." This year, three authors cooperated with Tian Di Xuan Huang, although their sales were not bad, but still far from reaching the minimum standard of the rich list.

  He Mu looked at himself with a puzzled face, and Li Wen explained: "Don't think this is coppery. I think it's a good thing. The national reading rate is getting lower and lower, and now the kids don't read much anymore. If this list can make more people care about books, care, and pull those young people from in front of their game consoles and computers back to their desks, I think Wu Huaiyao has accumulated great virtue."

  Then Li Wen further elaborated on the benefits of this list from multiple angles:

  First, it allows people to see that engaging in writing and literature can also be profitable, attracting more people to devote themselves to literary creation and producing more and better works.

  Second, because the income on the list is calculated through terminal sales, the numbers on the list can be used to investigate whether publishing companies are underreporting print runs and harming authors' interests.

  Third, authors need to pay attention - you have Forbes celebrity lists in the entertainment and sports worlds, why can't authors have a wealth list?

  "Last year, the Chinese Forbes celebrity list was released, with Yao Ming's annual income exceeding 100 million, which is equivalent to the total of the rich writers' list. There are more than a dozen people on the list with an income of over 10 million, and compared to you guys, it can be seen that writers are living a very difficult life. By the way, I also hope that social people will pay more attention to this industry," Li summarized, and finally asked He Mu, "Can you make it onto the list next year?"

  He Mu shook his head: "My annual income is only a few million, that's not enough to make the list." The celebrity list for 2007 will be released next month, and He Mu definitely won't make it.

  He Mu turned and asked Li Wenrui: "Do you think you can create a writer who can make the list this year?"

  Li Wenxue confidently said: "Given the popularity of 'The Things of Ming Dynasty', Mingyue still had a chance back then. Ah, what did you look for me about?"

  "Two things: first, go with me to buy a new car and drive it back home for Chinese New Year."

  Li Wenhua's face turned red, He Mu's car had been occupied by him all along, and now it was his. He Mu had no choice but to buy a new car because of this.

  "Secondly, after buying a car, I'll take you to meet my girlfriend, and also invite Xuehe Jie and Yueyue to join us."

  "Is that the model who's over 1.8 meters tall?" Li Wen Hua asked.

  "182, no water content, you don't have to be under pressure at that time."

  "For people who don't weigh more than me, I'm not under any pressure," Li said confidently. "Oh, and my sister probably won't be able to make it, she took a day off today to accompany that mysterious boyfriend of hers, she wouldn't be interested in your girlfriend."

  "You still don't understand where that kid came from?" He Mu said with disdain.

  "It's mainly because my sister doesn't show any signs, and there aren't even any suspicious numbers in her phone," Li Wen Hua said helplessly. "I'm really worried that the friends she hangs out with are bad people."

  He Mu was about to say something when he happened to see the time on his watch. He thought of something and immediately took out his phone and placed it on the table.

  "What's wrong with you?" Li Wenhua was puzzled.

  "The moment of witnessing miracles has arrived!"

  ……

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