27: Chapter 27 Physical Publishing

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

Time arrived at Friday.

That evening, just as Chen Fan returned home, Wang Mei walked up holding a postal document envelope.

"Son, a postal courier delivered a package for you today. It looks like some kind of document."

"Yeah, it's for me. It's a contract."

"What kind of contract? Don't go signing random contracts."

"Don't worry, Mom." Chen Fan took off his jacket. "This is the contract for the physical publication of my novel."

"Physical publication? Son, are you going to be an author? Like that author, Jia Pingwa?"

Chen Fan was amused by her question.

In Wang Mei's mind, anyone capable of publishing a physical book was a famous author like Jia Pingwa or Yu Hua—names printed on the cover, displayed in the most prominent spots in bookstores, and interviewed on newspapers and television. She had never imagined that her own son, someone who wrote novels on the internet, could become one of them.

"Mom, you've misunderstood. Those great authors write literary works. The novels I write are about gods, immortals, and various monsters. People read them for fun and entertainment; they don't count as serious literature, they're just for leisure."

"I see." Wang Mei had a sudden realization, then looked at Chen Fan. "You rest for a while. Your dad will be back soon. We'll eat as soon as he returns."

Chen Fan went to the sofa, opened the document envelope, and took out the contract inside.

After reading it carefully and confirming there were no issues, he found a pen and signed his name.

Just as he finished, the sound of the door opening came from the living room.

Chen Fan turned his head to see that Chen Jianjun had returned.

"You're back. Hurry and wash your hands. It's time to eat." Wang Mei urged quickly.

After sitting at the dining table, before Chen Fan had taken a few bites, Wang Mei couldn't wait to share the news about his novel's physical publication with Chen Jianjun.

After hearing this, Chen Jianjun asked, "Did you negotiate with the publisher yourself? Is there any issue with the contract?"

"It wasn't me; it was Qidian. I handed over the copyright for them to manage. They handle all the subsequent coordination, and I just wait for them to send me the money. However, the cost is that I have to give them a 10% royalty fee."

"That's good!" Chen Jianjun nodded, relieved. "You're still young, after all. Having the Qidian company look after it is more reliable than you negotiating it yourself. That 10% is just like paying someone to do a job; it's worth it."

Chen Fan was stunned for a moment; he hadn't expected his dad to have such a broad perspective.

"By the way, Dad, how is the renovation at the new house going?"

"It started a few days ago." Chen Jianjun put down his teacup. "The plumbing and electrical work are almost done, and the tilers will be starting in the next couple of days."

He paused, then added, "By the way, do you really not want solid wood for the flooring?"

"No need, tiles are fine."

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

"When do you estimate the renovation will be finished?"

"We can finish the hard renovation before the New Year." Chen Jianjun calculated, "Ten days for the tilers, seven or eight days for the carpenters, and about ten days for the painters. It should be finished around the beginning of February."

Chen Fan thought about it. After ventilating it for a few months after the New Year, they could move in around May.

...

At 11:58 PM, Chen Fan lay in bed and opened the wealth store.

Why did he choose this time? Because Chen Fan had never refreshed the item he wanted, so he wanted to try some metaphysics today.

After opening the store, the [Secondary Bone Development] he was hoping for did not appear, as expected.

However, he wasn't annoyed; he was waiting for the refresh at 12:00 AM.

The countdown began.

59s, 58s, 57s ... 3s, 2s, 1s.

The last second passed, and the wealth store refreshed right on time.

Chen Fan immediately focused his consciousness and began to check.

The next moment, a look of disappointment appeared on Chen Fan's face.

There was no [Secondary Bone Development].

There were only two special items: one was the common [energy potion].

The other was the [High School English - Mastery] that Chen Fan needed.

However, there wasn't much surprise on Chen Fan's face. This item wasn't the most necessary thing for him right now; even if it hadn't appeared today, there would be plenty of opportunities for it to refresh later.

But since it had refreshed, Chen Fan naturally wouldn't let it pass, so he clicked to purchase it immediately.

The next second, a massive amount of vocabulary, grammar, and other English-related knowledge flooded into Chen Fan's mind.

A few seconds later, Chen Fan opened his eyes.

Now, aside from Chinese, he had mastered all other subjects.

In fact, it wouldn't matter if he didn't take the Chinese exam now. With his current level, scoring over 600 or even 700 points wouldn't be a problem.

It was enough to get into any university in Qin Province.

Thinking that he would also be able to get into a prestigious university, Chen Fan gradually fell asleep with a satisfied smile.

The next day,

Chen Fan went to his homeroom teacher, Lao Zhou's, office early in the morning to ask for a half-day leave.

Because Lao Zhou had noticed Chen Fan's diligent studying lately, and given that his grades had improved significantly, Lao Zhou simply asked a few questions and then readily issued the leave note.

After leaving the school, Chen Fan went to a post office branch, spent 20 yuan, and chose EMS express to send it to Qidian.

After sending it, he conveniently sent the EMS tracking number to Xinghe, reminding him to keep an eye out for it.

...

In the afternoon, during class, a system notification suddenly appeared in Chen Fan's mind.

Wealth points + 1,321,359.

Hearing this prompt, Chen Fan's eyes lit up; his royalties had arrived.

This time, it was actually 1.32 million.

The phone in his pocket vibrated at the right moment. He took it out and looked; it was indeed a text message notification informing him that the royalties had arrived.

His royalties last month were nearly 980,000. He spent 220,000 on the house and 160,000 on the car. Chen Fan didn't spend money on the new house renovation, but later, fearing his parents didn't have enough money, he insisted on transferring 100,000 yuan to them. He had about 490,000 left from last month.

Adding this month's 1.32 million, Chen Fan's bank card balance had now reached 1.8 million.

And with the royalties arriving, his wealth points had also reached around 2.04 million.

The pity was that while he had many wealth points, there was nowhere to spend them. The wealth store refreshed every day, but Chen Fan couldn't use the items that were refreshed.

For example, [Ballet Mastery], which refreshed once, cost 5,000 wealth points. Even if Chen Fan had plenty of wealth points, he would never buy this. Just thinking about himself wearing tight thermal underwear and spinning on his tiptoes made Chen Fan shudder.

"Chen Fan, you come up to the stage and solve this problem." Just then, the homeroom teacher, Lao Zhou, on the podium called his name.

Ever since he started pretending to study diligently, and coupled with his improved exam results last time, he was now considered to be in the upper-middle range in his ordinary class, so teachers would occasionally call on him to answer questions.

Unlike before, when even if Chen Fan slept on his desk for the entire class, the teachers wouldn't even bother to care.

Chen Fan walked up to the stage and took a look. Given an ellipse C: x²/a² + y²/b² = 1 (a > b > 0) with an eccentricity of √3/2, and passing through the point (2, 1). (1) Find the equation of ellipse C; (2) Let the line l: y = kx + m intersect the ellipse C at points A and B. If the circle with AB as the diameter passes through the origin, prove that 1/k² + 1/m² is a constant value.

The chalk paused in his hand. In the past, for a big analytical geometry problem like this, he would have written "Solution" at most and then given up. But now—

He raised his hand and wrote on the blackboard: (1) From the eccentricity e = c/a = √3/2, we get c² = 3/4a², and since c² = a² - b², therefore... Therefore, the ellipse equation is x²/8 + y²/2 = 1. (2) Let A(x1, y1), B(x2, y2). ... Conclusion: 1/k² + 1/m² = 5/8 is a constant value.

Looking at the problem-solving process that filled more than half the blackboard, Lao Zhou nodded with satisfaction.

"Not bad, both the process and the answer are correct." He pushed up his glasses and looked at Chen Fan. "It seems you have indeed been studying diligently during this time."

After finishing, Lao Zhou looked at the rest of the class, saying with a serious face, "I hope some students can learn from Chen Fan."

The classroom fell silent.

"Do you think how Chen Fan's grades improved during this time?" Lao Zhou tapped the podium. "I have seen Chen Fan's performance during this time, and other teachers have also told me that Chen Fan has been studying very seriously during this period. Whether in class or after class, he is working hard to study. As for some of you, whenever you have a little time, you only know how to huddle together to chat or read magazines and novels."

"I don't require all of you to get into a top-tier university, but at least you must have an attitude toward studying." Lao Zhou scanned the room. "You are all in your third year of high school; if you don't put in the effort yourself, who will do it for you?"

He paused, his tone softening, "Alright, look at the next question."