Chapter 10 Nanny

Wang Jian understood that the income from a novel came from a guaranteed royalty plus a share of the royalty earnings.

The share of royalty earnings for a general novel ranged from 6% to 14%, with more famous authors and better works receiving a higher rate.

The various terms proposed by Roy only highlighted one point.

That was Scholastic Publishers' attitude towards "I'm a Great Mage" was akin to buying a lottery ticket in hopes of making some change.

It was a casual attempt, just giving it a try.

This also meant that they would not put much effort into promotion after the book was published.

Roy, seeing Wang Jian's silent demeanor, spoke again, "I'm sorry, this is the best deal I could negotiate for you."

"Although I personally like this novel, I must say that publishing it is a gamble for any publishing house."

"May I take a moment?" Wang Jian candidly asked, "I want to see what other publishers have to offer."

"Of course, that is your right," Roy stood up, handing Wang Jian a business card, "Here's my contact information, I hope we have an opportunity to work together."

Then, he took his leave.

After seeing Roy out of the apartment, Wang Jian sat on the sofa holding the business card, slowly doing his calculations.

He had bought a dictionary to write the novel, spending 150 US dollars.

Two Spiderman comics, 8 dollars.

Photocopying the manuscript, 50 dollars.

Stamps and envelopes, 10 dollars.

If you included the use of the old man's typewriter and reviewing publisher information, it was worth at least 500 dollars in monetary terms.

The energy and labor he expended on writing the novel, if calculated at the hourly rate of McDonald's, was 300 dollars.

That added up to over 1000 dollars.

Yet according to Scholastic Publishers' proposal, should "I'm a Great Mage" sell out after publication, he would only make 4000 dollars.

But based on Wang Jian's understanding, except for phenomenally best-selling books, a novel would only sell about one-third of its copies within the first year of publication.

That's less than 1400 dollars.

So, did he expect to earn around 400 dollars from "I'm a Great Mage"?

Damn it!

Indeed, writing novels was a dead-end road.

It was more reliable to go to Chinatown, show his face, and find a master to learn cooking from.

Wang Jian was lamenting the times he had been deluded into thinking he could make money by writing novels.

Suddenly, his eyes caught the clock on the wall.

Unbeknownst to him, it was already seven o'clock in the evening.

Wang Jian was startled, then quickly put on his coat and dashed towards the door.

He still had to go to the house of the favor-seeking check-in officer to work as a temporary babysitter.

Meanwhile, in a middle-class neighborhood in Brooklyn, check-in officer Lily was chatting on the phone with her bestie while trying on clothes in front of the wardrobe.

"You wouldn't believe it, I changed into a new outfit today, and it completely intimidated those convicts. You were right! What does it matter that I'm divorced, or that I'm thirty? I can still steal the show!"

...

"The guy you introduced, an artist? Doesn't want to get married? No problem, I don't want to get married either. To live off some loser's alimony and find a lover on the side, that'll show him!"

...

"I bore his children, and he had the nerve to cheat!"

...

"Yeah, right, a seventeen-year-old Asian guy. No worries, it's his first theft offense, and he's very timid. He even sneaks glances at my stocking-covered legs, haha."

Just then, the doorbell rang unexpectedly.

Lily quickly said something to the person on the other end of the line and hung up the phone.

Then, wearing a black pencil skirt, flesh-colored stockings, and lace-up high heels, she walked to the front door of the house.

Peering through the peephole, she saw Wang Jian wiping sweat from his brow while checking his watch.

Lily opened the door and said to Wang Jian, "Very good, right on time. So for the next two hours, you just need to act as a babysitter to complete your mission."

"Okay, okay," Wang Jian stuttered, looking at the increasingly sexy check-in officer.

"Gene, Gene! Come out quickly."

Following Lily's call, a blond Caucasian boy ran out.

"This is your babysitter for today, call him brother," Lily said.

"Brother," the boy said sheepishly.

"Starting now, you can play video games for one hour. At 9 o'clock, you must go to sleep. Got it?" Lily said.

"Uh-huh, thank you, Mom." With that, the boy ignored Wang Jian, turned around, dashed to the sofa, turned on the TV and the game console, and began playing.

"I'll be back in two hours," Lily said to Wang Jian. "During these two hours, you are not allowed to leave the room. Understand?"

"Got it," Wang Jian responded.

"Well... see you then," Lily hesitated.

Then she turned around, grabbed her purse, and left the room.

Wang Jian felt somewhat awkward looking at the little boy engrossed in his video game.

Do I really not have to say anything, just watch this kid play games?

My two lifetimes combined, I've never really dealt with children.

The boy glanced back at Wang Jian and let out a sigh.

"Aye, you can sit down. I'm Gene. What's your name?" the boy asked with a grown-up tone.

"Wang Jian; you can call me Wang," Wang Jian replied, relieved.

"Wang?" Gene awkwardly pronounced the word and then pointed to the TV asking, "Do you know how to play?"

Wang Jian looked up to see - Contra.

This game... I'm really good at it!

"Play together?" Gene handed over a controller and asked.

"Okay," Wang Jian checked the time, only five minutes had passed, and he reluctantly agreed.

The moment he took the controller, he felt a peculiar sense of dislocation in time and space.

"Aye, you're so clumsy," Gene criticized, "You have to run first, then jump. That's how you get across."

"No, watch the back, dodge the bullets!"

"Dead again, clumsy."

Wang Jian was covered in metaphorical black lines.

How could this kid be playing so slick?

Looks like I have to use my trump card now.

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, B, A.

"You're finished," Gene said. "As I thought, as dumb as Dad."

"I still have lives," Wang Jian chuckled, watching another character appear on the left side of the screen.

Gene looked stunned at Wang Jian and then got killed by the level boss.

Wang Jian, using three lives, managed to defeat the boss and successfully moved on to the next level.

"How come you have so many lives?" Gene shouted, "Teach me, teach me quick."

"Call me 'good brother,'" Wang Jian teased Gene.

"Good brother, best brother," Gene said without any pride.

"Um," Wang Jian twitched the corner of his mouth, then took Gene's controller and set up thirty lives.

Just like that, an hour passed.

Wang Jian put away the controller and said to Gene, "Time for you to go to sleep."

"Let's play one more round, the last one," Gene pleaded.

"No way," Wang Jian thought about the check-in sheet the check-in officer was holding and refused resolutely.

"Alright," Gene handed back the controller, "but you have to tell me a story."

Five-year-old kids, really TM difficult to deal with!