It is gone, it is all gone; there is truly not a single drop left!

Ha! Li Qingquan from *Yanjing Literature* had guessed right. When you’re all in the same circle, you know exactly how everyone else thinks!

The tea at his mother-in-law's office, usually so excellent, suddenly lost its flavor. Cheng Xuemin set down his teacup, glanced at his mother-in-law, who was trying to avoid his gaze, and said directly to Liu Xinwu, "Teacher Liu, that novella has already passed the final review with Teacher Li’s side. They’ve already given me the payment voucher."

"The payment voucher? When? Old Li told me just yesterday that it was still in the final review stage!" Liu Xinwu’s hopeful expression froze; he shook his head repeatedly, insisting to Cheng Xuemin that it was impossible.

"Teacher Li waited for me at the entrance of the People's Literature Publishing House first thing this morning to hand it to me," Cheng Xuemin said with a sheepish shrug.

"What? This morning?! And Li Qingquan actually waited at the entrance? I knew it, that Old Li... sigh!" Liu Xinwu slapped his thigh hard. It was a classic case of taking one step too slow and losing everything. Originally, both manuscripts were in the hands of his *October* magazine, theirs for the taking. But in the end, everything had slipped through his fingers. It was infuriating!

"It’s fine, it’s fine! There’s plenty of time. With you, Xuemin, as our good son-in-law at *October*, we don’t have to worry about running out of good manuscripts!" Liu Xinwu put on a carefree facade. He knew the first two were gone, but he had to keep a close eye on the future ones and make sure no more slipped away.

"Teacher Liu, you’re too kind, too kind!" Cheng Xuemin waved his hands, quickly adding modestly, "Actually, Teacher Liu, I came here today because I..."

"Xuemin, you really do need to pick up the pace with your writing. It would be best to get a replacement manuscript written before our next issue goes to print," Mother Feng interrupted, sensing that Cheng Xuemin was about to bring up returning the payment. She quickly took control of the conversation, adding, "Haven’t you finished the film script for *Herdsman*? Why don’t you focus on writing a manuscript next month?"

"Ah! Right, right, I understand, Mom!" Cheng Xuemin glanced at his mother-in-law. Why was she winking at him? Did his earlier gesture not show enough sincerity? Was she asking for even more? That wouldn't work; he truly couldn't manage it.

Li Qingquan at *Yanjing Literature* was commissioning work, he owed a favor to *Shanghai Literature and Art*, and he still had to coordinate with *People's Literature* for their follow-up promotional work. He couldn't possibly provide more manuscripts. Providing one or two to *October* in the near future was already the limit of his sincerity. Squeezing him any harder wouldn't produce a single extra word!

Besides, all of that was on the record and offered no benefit to his personal "little treasury." He still needed to save some energy to pad his private funds.

"Xuemin, you're still writing a script? Are you adapting *Herdsman* into a film yourself?" Liu Xinwu, who had been listening in, asked with surprise.

"Yes! I had some free time recently, so I learned from my older brother and tried my hand at it," Cheng Xuemin said, nodding modestly.

"And? How is it?" Liu Xinwu asked, stunned.

"Director Xie said it was decent. He sent it to the Beijing Film Studio for review, and I'm waiting for news from them."

"If Old Xie says it’s decent, then it’s more than decent!" Liu Xinwu slapped his thigh again. "Incredible, Teacher Gu, our son-in-law is truly remarkable. He’s even this talented when it comes to scripts!"

"Old Liu, don't praise him too much. It's better to specialize in one field than to be a jack-of-all-trades!" Mother Feng, Teacher Gu, felt a bit smug that her son-in-law was such a versatile talent, but she still felt the need to be humble.

"I'm not just flattering him!" Liu Xinwu waved his hands. "We all know what Old Xie is like. He’s famously strict about scripts—a perfectionist! If he just arrived in Beijing a few days ago and already greenlit Xuemin’s script for final review at the studio, it proves that Xuemin is truly brilliant at scriptwriting. He’s an all-rounder! Whether it’s prose or scripts, I think Xuemin can handle both. He has the ability!"

Xie Jin’s reputation in the industry was well-known; if a script were poor, he would be the first to stand up and curse at it. The fact that he’d approved Xuemin’s work so quickly meant the quality was undoubtedly high.

"Teacher Liu, you’re too kind. It’s just something I do for fun; it’s not exactly high art," Cheng Xuemin said, standing up. He decided to hand over the approval letter from Elder Wu to Liu Xinwu and leave immediately—he couldn't take much more of this!

Wait, was he doing it again? Seeing her son-in-law about to bring up returning the payment, Mother Feng tried to cut him off, but Liu Xinwu was faster. "No, no, Xuemin, don't be so self-deprecating. Your name is already well-known to Elder Wu and Elder Mao! Even Ba Jin wants to use your manuscript as a template for future submissions!"

*Say it, just say it! You’re here to return the payment, tell Old Liu already!* Cao Aiqin and the others watching from outside were getting anxious. *Slap him in the face with the truth, Old Liu!*

"Teacher Liu, please, no more praise! I’m so embarrassed my face is burning!" Cheng Xuemin quickly interrupted to stop the flattery. "And speaking of Elder Wu, I actually brought an approval letter from him today!"

"An approval letter?! You brought one from Elder Wu? What kind of letter?"

"Xuemin, you went to see Elder Wu again today?"

Liu Xinwu and Mother Feng blurted out the questions, both of them looking utterly stunned.

"Mom, I submitted the review together with Teacher Zhang from *People's Literature* today! Elder Wu asked about how you were doing and asked me to deliver this to you," Cheng Xuemin said, nodding as he took the document out of his briefcase and handed it to Liu Xinwu.

"This is...?" Liu Xinwu took it, looking puzzled. A moment later, his eyes widened, and he jumped up in excitement. "Elder Wu has approved us to print an extra issue? And we get to reprint that 'Atomic Bomb' piece from *People's Literature*?"

"Old Liu, let me see, let me see!" Mother Feng was equally shocked and hurried to grab the letter.

"We can print an extra issue?" Wang Shimin, the head of the editorial team who had been eavesdropping, rushed into the room.

"Yes, yes, Teacher Gu, Old Wang! Elder Wu has approved it. *October* can print an extra issue and reprint that 'Atomic Bomb' piece!"

"Good, good! Wonderful! The date is next Monday. It’s only a few days after *People's Literature* publishes it, which is effectively the same as a premiere!"

*People's Literature* was publishing tomorrow, Friday. By following up on Monday, the three-day gap was negligible. The only difference was that while it was originally going to be an *October* exclusive, now it would share the spotlight with the more influential *People's Literature*. Still, *October* had successfully detonated this "atomic bomb!"

"We can really print it?"

"Old Liu, should we rush to produce a sample issue for Elder Wu’s final approval?"

After reading the letter at a glance, Mother Feng was also incredibly excited, urging Liu Xinwu to get the sample issue ready. Once Elder Wu gave the final nod, they could go to print and hit the shelves by Monday.

"Right, right, you're right, Teacher Gu! Let's get the samples out immediately! Old Wang, get to work, get to work!"

The entire editorial department of *October* burst into action. In the chaos, no one even noticed when Cheng Xuemin slipped away.

"Where’s Xuemin? Xuemin! Come help us check the layout—is the gap between ours and *People's Literature*'s too big?"

"And what are Elder Wu's requirements for the final print? You submitted it with Old Zhang today, you have the experience!"

Before Liu Xinwu even reached his office, he was shouting, but once he entered, there was no sign of Cheng Xuemin.

"Teacher Gu, where did Xuemin go?" Liu Xinwu asked, bewildered.

"It’s getting late, and he had to pick up Jiayou from school, so he left without bothering you," Mother Feng replied. "Oh, by the way, this is the payment voucher he wanted to return. He said since *People's Literature* already issued a payment, he couldn't accept ours."

"Old Zhang issued him a payment again?!" Liu Xinwu stared at the voucher from *People's Literature* and froze. Then, coming to his senses, he said, "Xuemin is really... why return it? Aren't we going to publish his 'Atomic Bomb' piece anyway?"

"We're reprinting it, not publishing it exclusively, so how could we pay him?" Mother Feng said, trying to decline on her son-in-law's behalf.

"Reprinting requires payment too!" Liu Xinwu waved his hand. "Give it back to Xuemin. Who uses his work without paying?"

"But the reprint fee shouldn't be this high!" Mother Feng continued to decline, but seeing Liu Xinwu’s persistence, she compromised. "If you must pay, pay according to industry standards—three or four yuan per thousand words. But seven yuan per thousand? That would reflect poorly on him!"

Paying the top-tier exclusive rate for a reprint had no precedent in the industry. It wouldn't be a compliment to her son-in-law; it would be a "killing with kindness."

"Oh! You're right, Teacher Gu. My apologies, I didn't think it through," Liu Xinwu nodded repeatedly. "Fine, let’s go with four yuan per thousand words. We can't let people gossip about us."

...

Cheng Xuemin pedaled his bicycle through the Yanda campus. Seeing a particularly eye-catching female student, he whistled boldly; he was clearly riding high.

And why shouldn't he be? How many payment vouchers did he have in his pocket?

Early this morning, Li Qingquan from *Yanjing Literature* had given him the voucher for the novella—over 1,600 yuan. Then, Li Shuguang from the People's Literature Publishing House gave him over 300 for the standalone edition. Following that, an art editor named Old Pan had suddenly appeared and given him 300 for the illustrations. Finally, Old Zhang from *People's Literature* had given him a voucher for over 200, though he had just returned that to his mother-in-law at *October*.

By his count, he was carrying over 2,300 yuan in vouchers!

Most importantly, those 300 yuan for the illustrations were his private "little treasury," which he kept hidden separately. Even excluding that, he had over 2,000 yuan!

He wondered if Feng Jiayou would go crazy when she saw so much money.

Still no reply?

Passing the mailroom, Cheng Xuemin took an extra look. Still nothing from *Harvest* in Shanghai. He was puzzled—was *Harvest* not reviewing or approving any manuscripts while Ba Jin was in Beijing?

Whatever, he wouldn't dwell on it. If it passes, it passes; if not, so be it. Now that he was wealthy and riding high, the payment from *Harvest* was the least of his concerns.