I won't be a loser.

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Cherry Blossom Season: 155. I suggest you wipe it first

"Have you had lunch yet?"

When he entered the conference room, he saw Mari Fukaoka already sitting there. Next to her was a strange woman who looked a little young with glasses. She should be someone who worked in this publishing house. Xianren smiled at her, walked over to the opposite side of Mari Fukaoka, and sat down.

"I've already used it before coming here, so shall we start now?"

"This is a publishing contract. There's nothing wrong with your work. The editor-in-chief has a very high opinion of your work, so he's given you a very generous package for a newcomer. You can take a closer look and see if there's anything that needs to be revised."

Mari Fukaze handed the contract to Suzuki beside her. As a backup and newcomer, Suzuki took the contract sensibly, stood up and handed it to Kento, then returned to Mari Fukaze's side to wait.

Originally, Mari Fukaoka thought that someone would accompany the other party, but she didn't expect that the only person coming today was the other party. Looking at the boy who had picked up the contract and was carefully reading it, Mari Fukaoka seemed very calm, and she didn't think that a boy like the other party could understand these regulations.

"Royalties, only 9%?"

Just as she was about to lower her head to look at the paper cup in front of her, quietly waiting for the other party to 'pretend to' flip through it' and sign his name, Mari Fukaoka heard the question from the other party, and her eyes, which had just lowered, fell on the handsome young man.

"The normal royalty rate in the industry is around 10%, right?"

He slowly raised his head and looked at Mari Fukazaki who was sitting opposite him. Kento frowned slightly. In the past, the royalties for the works he signed basically fluctuated between 10% and 12%. It seemed that it was lower than 10%. He had never experienced such a thing.

"It seems that Miyamizu-kun has a certain understanding of the industry. Generally speaking, royalties are indeed around 10%, but Miyamizu-kun is a newcomer and his understanding of the industry is not very thorough. We are responsible for paying taxes here, and Miyamizu-kun can check it out later. So this 9% is the income after tax deduction."

"No, I know a tax accountant, so you don't need to worry about this. I can handle it myself."

Mari Fukaoka looked at Xianren for a moment. Seeing that Xianren's eyes did not waver at all, she was silent for a moment, smiled slightly, nodded, opened another contract in front of her, modified this part, and wrote it down.

"Then, Miyamizu-kun will take care of the tax matters himself. As for the rest, does Miyamizu-kun have any other questions?"

Signing a contract is a very serious matter. If you handle it well, it will be beneficial to you, but if you handle it poorly...

Without responding, he continued to read the contract in front of him. The first thing Xianren looked at was the distribution of profits and liability for breach of contract. After carefully confirming the general content, he looked at the rights and obligations part. The serious attitude of silently reading the contract made Mari Fukaoka look at the boy's profile as if he was fascinated.

"There are some parts here that I think have some problems. First of all, there is the time limit. Within two years of your publishing house publishing..."

Xianren frowned and looked at Mari Fukaoka who was sitting opposite him. He tapped the table lightly with his right index finger, and his expression looked a little serious.

"Miyamizu-kun is still new, right?"

"Yes."

He was not like that in the past, but now he is indeed a complete newcomer, without any awards or impressive publishing achievements. In the eyes of people in the industry, he is a pure 'amateur'.

"If Miyamizu-kun were a newcomer who had won an award, then the publishing house wouldn't have to worry about the 10% royalties or other factors. However, Miyamizu-kun is a newcomer, and publishing his work means the publishing house is taking risks. I hope you can understand this."

The wise man closed his eyes and looked at the woman in front of him with a very calm expression. After a moment, he flipped through the contract in front of him and looked at it carefully. There were no particularly excessive clauses.

"Then let's revise the royalties."

"Suzuki, go and revise it and prepare a new contract."

".......I see."

The woman called Suzuki by Mari Fukazaki stood up silently and walked out of the meeting room, leaving only Mari Fukazaki and Kento in the meeting room.

The meeting room was a little quiet. After Suzuki left the meeting room, Kento no longer looked at the editor named Fuuokana Mari. He sat quietly with his head down, waiting for a new contract. As for Fuuokana Mari, she looked at the boy opposite her with some curiosity.

It was a bit subtle. Although the other party looked like an ordinary high school student, during the negotiation just now, he gave her the feeling that he had been in this industry for a long time. His natural and calm reaction did not seem like that of a simple amateur at all.

"Does Miyamizu-kun's family also work in this industry?"

"Ok?"

After hearing Mari Fukaoka's question, Xianren slowly raised his head, looked at the woman opposite him, was silent for a moment, and shook his head slightly.

"No. Also, I'd like to ask how many books your company plans to print in the initial stage?"

"Because she's a newcomer and hasn't had much publicity yet, our publisher's estimate is 6,000 copies."

Staring at the editor opposite her, looking at her silently, Mari Fukaoka's eyes couldn't help but wander for a moment. She pursed her lips and answered calmly.

"Miyamizu-kun should also understand..."

"I understand, I understand. It's a new author with a new book, so the risk is too great. Printing a small number first to test the market and confirm the market reaction, then decide whether to print more based on the situation. It's also normal."

The other party's reaction was a little rude, and Mari Fukaoka couldn't help but frown. She wanted to comfort the other party, but she didn't expect that the other party was so clear about the market situation. It saved her a lot of words, but she was more concerned about why the other party could accept the reality so easily.

"Sales of hundreds of thousands of copies per book are generally for top-tier writers. Six thousand copies at the beginning is pretty good, especially since I'm a new writer. So, will your publishing house help with promotion?"

"Of course, we will do some publicity in this regard through our own magazines and weeklies, as well as in the media."

Mari Fukazeoka's answer was quite serious. Xianren smiled slightly but didn't hold much expectation. The entire conference room fell into silence again.

It is one thing to understand the reality, and it is another to accept the reality honestly.

Even though he had acted very restrained in front of Mari Fukaoka, in his heart, Kento was still a little dissatisfied with the situation. He sat silently in the conference room, thinking about the possibility of publicity.

Seeing Xianren fall silent, Mari Fukaoka did not speak again. The two of them sat quietly in the conference room. After half an hour, the door of the conference room was pushed open again.

A woman named Suzuki entered the conference room and placed two newly drafted contracts in front of Kento and Mari Kazeoka respectively.

After confirming again, both of them were sure that there was no problem, so they signed their own names and stamped them, stood up, looked at each other, shook hands perfunctorily, and then said goodbye and left the publishing house.

"That boy looks handsome and elegant, but I didn't expect him to have such a cool personality. If he holds a book signing event, he will definitely attract a lot of female readers, right?"

When Suzuki saw Xianren leave the meeting room, he looked at his editor and suddenly made a suggestion.

"How about asking him to go to the bookstore and help sign books?"

"He's still a student, so he definitely doesn't have much time. Besides, just being good-looking doesn't mean anything. The key is the quality of the work."

"Isn't his work good?"

"Yes, it can. The quality is completely average. Even if it participates in some selections, even if it doesn't win the first prize, it can still receive some evaluation such as the Excellence Award."

"That......."

After packing up, Mari Fukaoka walked out of the meeting room without answering Suzuki as to why she didn't have high expectations for the boy's work.

Mari Fuukoka returned to her desk and sat down. She looked at the pile of unfinished work on her desk, and her face once again fell into deep helplessness.

"Let's work."

After leaving Kaiying Society, Xianren returned to his apartment, threw the contract casually on the desk, and collapsed on his bed, looking at the ceiling above his head. The familiar ceiling suddenly felt strange.

Six thousand volumes.

"It's a little less, but it's still around 300,000 to 400,000 yen."

This is equivalent to an income of 300,000 to 400,000 yen in about a month, which is considered acceptable. Lying quietly on his bed, Xianren couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Never mind. At least it's published. Now it all depends on the market reaction."

Thinking back to the girl he saw in the morning, he slowly closed his eyes...

He had already signed the contract, and Xianren told Setsuna and Qingura Mai about it that night. Seeing the two of them happy for him, Xianren, who had been struggling with the number "six thousand", temporarily let go of his worries and smiled faintly with them.

"Has the specific publication date been decided?"

Qingpu Wu was a little concerned. She didn't know what the wise man had written. She couldn't help but glance at her daughter, feeling a little concerned in her heart.

"No, not yet. The cover is probably still being designed, right?"

"That's it."

"But it won't take too long. One to two months will be enough."

"June, or was it July?"

"It will take at least until July. There are still some things that have not been negotiated yet."

After hearing Xianren's answer, Qingpu Mai thought for a while. Two months didn't seem very long. She nodded and didn't ask any more questions. However, she made a note of this matter in her heart and waited for Xianren's works to be published so that she could buy some to support him.

"When the book is published, they will give me some, and you won't have to wait in the bookstore."

"Well, that's it."

Qingpu Mai couldn't help but blink, looked at the wise man opposite her, nodded, but looked at the wise man with some doubts.

"I always feel that you seem to know a lot about this aspect?"

"I've learned a little bit, and after today's discussion with the other party, I've also learned some of the industry's processes."

In response to Qingpu Mai's doubts, Xianren smiled and brought up Fuuka Mari as his explanation. Qingpu Mai also showed an expression of realization and did not ask any more questions.

Sitting aside, Sesame glanced at Qing Pu Mai and seemed to have understood. She said nothing, but after dinner, she pulled Xianren to her room alone, leaving Qing Pu Mai alone in the living room...

When Qingpu Mai, who was sitting in the living room and had already prepared herself, heard the subtle murmur coming from Setsuna's room, even though she had a premonition about it, she still couldn't help but feel deeply helpless when such a situation actually happened, and the shame in her heart was surging wildly.

He only sat there for less than ten minutes before quietly returning to his room and closing the door tightly.

After walking out of Setsuna's room, when Xianren returned to the living room, he was greeted by a brightly lit living room - this made him feel at ease.

After dealing with the publishing matters, Xianren's life became much more ordinary.

I go to school every day, and then continue working on my original sensual works when I get home. From time to time, I check the emails from Mari Kazeoka to confirm the progress of the publication and the designed covers she sent me.

"Isn't the cover design a bit too simple?"

Looking at the black and white cover, the falling black spot seemed to represent the heroine. Xianren couldn't help but be silent for a moment and sighed.

"Any suggestions or requests?"

Mari Fukaoka quickly replied to the email. Xianren looked at the other party's reply, was silent for a moment, and still made some requests of his own to the other party.

The other party did not refuse.

I received another text message from him a day later. He sent me a new cover. Just as the wise man had suggested, it looked less oppressive than before. It basically met the wise man's expectations and looked much more comfortable.

"publishing?"

In the Astronomy Club, Xianren was originally planning to look for Futaba Rio, but found that Futaba Rio was not in the laboratory today, so he came to the Astronomy Club instead, but unexpectedly found that Feng Xiaochun was in the Astronomy Club, sitting by the window. The moment he entered, the wind from the window blew up the corner of the girl's skirt, revealing the pure white edge. His still flexible eyesight caught the bright spot of that moment, and as the corner of the skirt fell, he silently looked at the girl's face.

"So you went to that publishing house recently for publishing matters?"

Feng Xiaochun left the window and slowly walked to Xianren. Looking at the boy in front of her, she opened her arms, looking forward to a hug like a child.

He picked up the girl in front of him with his outstretched hands and sat her on a chair beside him. Xianren looked at the wall on the left, which was still covered with his photos. There had been no changes during this period... No, there seemed to be more photos.

Xianren, who was almost familiar with this activity room, glanced at the wall and noticed something different from usual.

"Well, it's about time to take down the photos on the wall. It's already this late. There's no need to keep them on the wall. It would be quite troublesome if someone saw them, right?"

"This is the top floor, no one else will come here."

"in case?"

Looking down at the girl sitting in his arms, Xianren asked her in a negotiating tone. Feng Xiaochun was silent for a moment, nodded, as if he understood Xianren's distress, and chose to agree.

"I see. Well, I'll take all of these home after school today."

"......"

The original intention was to hope that the girl would destroy all of them, but...compared to leaving them in school, letting her take them home was also a solution.

“When will it be published?”

"It will take some time, probably around July, before it appears in some bookstores."

"Ah."

Feng Xiaochun nodded, noted down the approximate release date, and planned to ask his father to buy some copies when the release date came, and give one copy to each employee of the company as a token of support for the wise man.

"What's the title?"

"It hasn't been finalized yet. If nothing unexpected happens, it will be called 'Angel with a Stigma'."

"Who is 'Angel'?"

She raised her head, revealing her snow-white neck. Feng Xiaochun looked at Xianren with her lively eyes and asked with some curiosity. Xianren lowered her head to meet Feng Xiaochun's eyes, glanced away, was silent for a moment, then smiled faintly and met the girl's gaze.

"Didn't you come with me on the weekend?"

"I was discovered by my mother and locked up at home."

"..."

Looking at each other, Xianren pursed his lips and tried not to laugh out loud, while Feng Xiaochun silently shrank in Xianren's arms, not blaming him for the smile on his face...

Xianren, who had just walked out of the club activity building after leaving the astronomy club and was on his way back to the classroom, met an acquaintance on the road halfway.

Rio Futaba, wearing a lab coat, looked at Xianren who appeared in front of her, and glanced in the direction from which Xianren came.

"Societies?"