A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

November 20th, Sunday.

The bus arrived at the stop. Lin Shubai got off the bus carrying two bags of fruit and walked to the entrance of the Children's Publishing House.

The receptionist was the same young woman with round-framed glasses, but this time she wasn't eating yogurt; instead, she was eating an orange.

She saw Lin Shubai, an orange segment lingering at her lips, "You're here! Editor-in-Chief Zhou is on the fourth floor. He said to come straight up since you're here."

Lin Shubai placed a bag of apples on the front desk. "Please have some. My mom asked me to bring these."

The little girl paused for a moment, then said, "Please thank the auntie for me."

The elevator reached the fourth floor. The corridor was quiet. Lin Shubai walked to Zhou Mingyuan's office door and knocked twice.

"Come in."

"You're here? Have a seat."

Lin Shubai sat down on the sofa and placed the fruit on the coffee table. "Teacher Zhou, my mom asked me to bring these fruits."

Zhou Mingyuan glanced at the two bags of fruit. "Your mom is too kind. My office is practically a fruit shop now. Last week, an author brought a whole box of kiwis, and my tongue is numb from eating them."

He stood up, walked to the coffee table, took an apple out of the bag, wiped it on his clothes, and took a bite.

"Mmm, crisp. Good apple."

Zhou Mingyuan chewed on an apple, picked up a book from the table, walked over, and handed it to Lin Shubai.

"Take a look at the final version."

This was precisely the purpose of Lin Shubai's visit to the publishing house. Zhou Mingyuan had called Lin Shubai that morning to say that the final version of "Charlotte's Web" had been finalized and asked him to come and take a look.

Lin Shubai took it.

The cover was still light green, with a large gray spider and a pink pig drawn on it. The spider was hanging on its web, and the pig stood below, looking up. The illustration was more refined than the sample book; a few dewdrops clung to the spiderweb, shimmering slightly in the light.

The title "Charlotte's Web" is embossed in silver, giving it a slightly raised feel to the touch.

Lin Shubai opened the title page. The copyright page read "First Edition, First Printing, November 2010," followed by "Print Run: 1-12000."

"The print run has changed? Last time it said 10,000 copies, but here it says 12,000."

"Yes, I asked the distribution department to print an additional 2,000 copies. When we were taking orders last week, the feedback from the distributors was better than expected. Xinhua Bookstore ordered 4,000 copies, private channels ordered 3,000, and online bookstores ordered 1,500, totaling 8,500. I thought to myself, we only have 1,500 copies left in stock. If it sells well and we don't have enough to restock, I might as well add another 2,000 to avoid having to reprint after the New Year."

Lin Shubai flipped through the inner pages. There were two more illustrations than in the sample book. One was of Charlotte weaving her web, the silk shimmering silver in the moonlight; the other was of Wilbur the pig waiting for spring in the snow, with a little spider crouching beside him.

"Are these two new additions?"

"Yes. The art editor said the ending was too sad, so they added a picture of a snowy landscape waiting for spring to give readers a break. I thought it made sense, so I added it."

Lin Shubai turned to the page where Xia Luo died. The illustration was still the same empty net, but the background now featured a touch of sunset, orange-red, which warmed the entire page.

"This one was changed too?"

"The art editor said the original was too cold and desolate. Adding some warm colors will at least make readers feel that Charlotte's death wasn't meaningless. What do you think?"

Lin Shubai thought for a moment, "That's good. Xia Luo's death was not meaningless in the first place."

Zhou Mingyuan walked back to his desk and sat down. He took out a brown paper bag from the drawer. "That's fine. Here are ten sample books. Take them first."

Lin Shubai took the brown paper bag. It was heavy and contained ten copies of "Charlotte's Web". He placed the bag on his lap and couldn't help but open it again to take a look.

"Teacher Zhou, when exactly will it be available?"

"It will be available nationwide on Saturday the 26th. Bookstores open at 9 a.m., so you can see it if you go after 9 a.m."

Zhou Mingyuan leaned back in his chair. "I've been an editor-in-chief for over twenty years, and this is the first time I've been this excited about a book's release. Do you know why?"

"Because it's well-written?"

"It's good writing, that's one thing. On the other hand, this book was promoted by me and Lao Chen. Lao Chen has been an editor all his life and rarely praises someone like this. If this book sells well, we won't be accused of misjudging people in the future."

Lin Shubai smiled and said, "Then I'll have to sell it even better."

"Just focus on writing well; sales are the publishing department's job."

Lin Shubai thought for a moment, "Teacher Zhou, I've finished writing 'The Little Prince'."

Zhou Mingyuan paused for a moment. "Finished writing?"

"Finished writing."

"Did you bring it?"

Lin Shubai took the notebook out of his bag and handed it over, "The manuscript, please take a look."

Zhou Mingyuan took the notebook and turned to the first page.

"Dedicated to all adults, who were once children."

"That's well written."

About twenty minutes later, Zhou Mingyuan closed his laptop and placed it on the table.

"I want this one too."

Lin Shubai paused for a moment, "Don't you want to take another look? What if 'Charlotte's Web' doesn't sell well..."

Zhou Mingyuan interrupted him, "Your 'The Little Prince' and 'Charlotte's Web' are not the same kind of books. 'Charlotte's Web' is a fairy tale, for children. 'The Little Prince' may look like a fairy tale, but it's actually a philosophical book for adults. The fox talks about 'taming,' 'mutual need,' and 'what is essential is invisible to the eye'—these things children won't understand, but adults will feel a jolt when they read them."

He took out another contract template from the drawer. "The terms are the same as last time, eight percent royalty? We can discuss it if you have any objections."

Lin Shubai thought for a moment, "Ten percent."

Zhou Mingyuan glanced at him. "You little brat, last time you said you 'had no right to haggle,' but now you've learned how to haggle?"

"Last time it was a newcomer, but not this time."

Zhou Mingyuan stared at him for three seconds, then smiled, "Okay, ten percent, but you have to promise me one thing."

"What is it?"

"From now on, all your full-length fairy tales will be given priority to our publishing house."

"it is good."

"Then it's settled. I'll have my legal department draft the contract again and send it to you next week. Go back first, print out 'The Little Prince' in duplicate, one copy for me and one for your records."

Lin Shubai stood up. "Thank you, Teacher Zhou."

Zhou Mingyuan waved his hand. "If you really want to thank me, once 'Charlotte's Web' is published, go to a few more bookstores and sign autographs for readers. The people in the distribution department said that your face has a youthful feel and can attract young readers."

"I'm selling books, not faces."

"Selling books and faces together will make them sell even faster."

Lin Shubai felt that although Zhou Mingyuan was not young, his business acumen was in no way inferior to that of young people.

As Lin Shubai walked out of the publishing house, the sun was shining brightly. He stood at the door, shifting his grip on the envelope containing ten sample books; it was indeed heavy.