Chapter 096: One Joy After Another

Since the mainland and Taiwan had only just achieved limited direct links in 2001, the trip was not an easy one. Chen Xianmin decided to stay in Wuhan for a few more days.

Zhang Quanshun rarely got the chance to leave his hometown, so he also planned to spend a few days sightseeing in Wuhan. It was the perfect opportunity to go around the city with Chen Xianmin and visit the various scenic spots.

He did, however, tell Zhang Tan to head back early.

Adults were allowed to have their fun; children were not. It was still the same overbearing parental style.

Zhang Tan had no intention of lingering in Wuhan anyway. Being with his father made even the simplest thing feel constrained. Better to return to Shuangdun Town, where he was on his own turf.

Of course, he would not leave until the signing was definitely and successfully completed.

The traditional Chinese edition of The Four Great Constables Gather in the Capital was formally signed with Xianxian Culture. Since Zhang Tan had already proven that his work could attract readers, the royalty terms for this novel were raised to fifteen percent of sales revenue. The full novel was expected to run to more than four hundred thousand words and would be divided into three volumes: upper, middle, and lower.

The rough plan was to release the first volume in May, containing mainly the first part, The Killer, and the second part, Blood Hand. Both of these sections had already been serialized in the Wuxia Edition.

The middle volume would come out in June, containing the third part, Poison Hand. Poison Hand would be serialized in the April and May issues of the Wuxia Edition, so by the time the book was published, the serialization would just be finishing.

If things moved quickly, and Zhang Tan managed to finish writing The Four Great Constables Gather in the Capital in its entirety by June, then the lower volume could be published smoothly in July, containing mainly the fourth part, Jade Hand, and the fifth part, Meeting in the Capital.

At Zhang Tan’s writing speed, the whole novel would probably be completed by the end of May.

His second book was about to be published.

In high spirits, he returned to Shuangdun Middle School.

A day later, his mood improved even more. Wang Guohua called to tell him that the simplified Chinese edition of The Four Great Constables Shake the East had sold out its second printing of one hundred thousand copies. The third printing, another one hundred thousand copies, had already nearly sold through as well, and they were preparing one final run of fifty thousand.

In other words, the simplified edition of that novel had a total print run of two hundred and sixty thousand copies.

Calculated using a mix of list price and actual sales price, it would bring Zhang Tan close to four hundred thousand yuan after tax at the very least.

“Once the royalties arrive, I’ll be able to buy an apartment in the center of Hefei.”

“And once the simplified edition of The Four Great Constables Gather in the Capital comes out, maybe I’ll be able to buy a villa inside Yuanyi Golf Course!”

“Buying a villa, playing golf, fishing at Twin Phoenix Lake—one of the great goals of my life is about to be realized!”

“Oh, right, I’ll need to buy a car too. Too bad I’m not an adult yet, so I can’t get a driver’s license.”

His mood was so good that he even felt like singing.

He was just about to pick up his guitar and sing a song when his phone rang again, bringing yet another piece of good news.

The organizing committee of the Lobster Festival called to invite Zhang Tan to come to their office and discuss the creation of the theme song, Mala Little Lobster.

“So they’ve already decided to choose Mala Little Lobster as the theme song?”

Zhang Tan’s thoughts stirred, and he quickly worked out the contact address and time with them.

He asked Yu Na for leave during evening study.

Outside the classroom, Yu Na leaned over the railing and frowned at him. “Why are you asking for leave again? Didn’t you just take time off to go to Wuhan? Did something go wrong with the publication?”

“The publication’s going very smoothly. The contract with Taiwan has already been signed, so nothing can go wrong. This time I’m asking for leave because I have to go into the city tomorrow… Teacher, do you know about the Lobster Festival?”

Yu Na blinked in confusion. “The Lobster Festival? Never heard of it.”

“It’s like this: people in Hefei love eating crayfish, right? The city plans to make crayfish into a major industry. This year they’re holding a Lobster Festival and collecting theme songs. I wrote one and sent it in, and somehow it was chosen as the theme song. So the festival committee wants me to go over there and discuss how to arrange and perform it.”

Looking at Zhang Tan, who seemed to have a million social engagements and never enough time, Yu Na was left beyond shock and speechless.

Writing novels and getting them published was one thing. Now he could even write songs.

Yu Na truly wanted to ask him, “Are you really a student?”

Fortunately, the restraint of being a homeroom teacher kept her composed. “You can write songs too?”

“Teacher, my music class wasn’t for nothing. I also specially asked Teacher Zhu Yunfei to teach me music theory one-on-one.”

“Fine. How many days do you need?”

“I’m not sure. At least one or two, I suppose. I still don’t know what their attitude will be. I’d really like to sing the theme song myself, but I don’t know whether the committee will agree. In any case, I’m going over to take a look first.”

What could Yu Na say? There really was nothing to say.

Nothing Zhang Tan did seemed like the kind of small matter that could simply be stopped.

Singing.

Being a singer.

Writing.

Being an author.

For one person to have even one of those identities was already remarkable.

And Zhang Tan had them as side jobs.

His main occupation, astonishingly, was merely that of a student.

With a student like that in her class, as a homeroom teacher, all she could do was express her amazement and let him go his own way. A student like this could not be taught by ordinary methods. After all, however beautifully one spoke about schooling—about shaping a person’s outlook, values, and worldview—those were empty words. Plainly put, studying was simply about learning knowledge so that one could survive and stand firm in society later on.

Zhang Tan had already completed that stage of survival and standing firm with flying colors, earning enough money to live very well.

After a long pause, Yu Na said in a tone full of grievance, “Fine. The teacher grants your leave. Go early and come back early.”

The next morning, Zhang Tan slung his guitar over his back, took a bus into the city, and smoothly found the committee’s office.

“You’re Zhang Tan?”

Liu Yicheng looked at the young man before him, pushed his glasses up hard on the bridge of his nose, and was shocked.

He could never have imagined that the music expert he had in mind would turn out to be only a half-grown boy.

He wasn’t tall, not even one point seven meters, and his frame was a little thin. His hair, cut to a short half-inch length, gave him a fierce, energetic air. He was dressed with taste: the season’s most fashionable sleeveless leather jacket, paired with black casual trousers. His expression was calm, his gaze composed, and only the faint downy whiskers around his mouth slightly lowered the score of his overall appearance.

“Yes, I’m Zhang Tan. May I ask who you are?”

“Hello, Zhang Tan. I’m Liu Yicheng, a judge invited by the organizing committee. I’m mainly responsible for the call for submissions for the Lobster Festival theme song.”

“Hello, Judge Liu.”

Zhang Tan greeted him politely.

He soon met several other leaders from the organizing committee as well.

After exchanging pleasantries for quite a while, they finally got down to business.

“Xiao Zhang, we really like both of your songs, Mala Little Lobster and Hefei’s Stone. In the end, the organizing committee decided to adopt Mala Little Lobster as the theme song, though personally I prefer Hefei’s Stone.” Now that they had been introduced, Liu Yicheng no longer stood on ceremony and simply called Zhang Tan Xiao Zhang.

Being young was a disadvantage in that respect; anyone could casually call him Little Zhang.

Zhang Tan had long since grown accustomed to his tender, youthful identity and did not care about the way he was addressed. He nodded and smiled. “Thank you. Is there anything you need me to cooperate with?”

“Myself and the other judges discussed Mala Little Lobster. It has a brisk, clear rhythm and feels very relaxed. When you submitted the song, you said you wanted to sing it yourself, right? That happens to be good, because I’d also like to understand more about you as the lyricist and composer, and how you positioned this song… I saw that you brought your guitar. You came prepared, didn’t you?”

“Heh, I suppose so.”

“All right, then get ready and sing it once first. Let us hear how it feels.”

“Sure.”

Zhang Tan cleared his throat and forced down the faint trace of nervousness in his heart.

This was the first time he had sung in front of strangers, and it was tied to whether or not he could sing the theme song at all. For Zhang Tan, who in his previous life had been an ordinary person and had never made a living by performing, nerves were unavoidable. But as his career had flourished, his confidence had risen day by day. Facing a scene like this again, there was little left to fear.

Once his mind was steady, he lifted the guitar.

Strum.

After the intro, Zhang Tan began slowly.

“Every time I hold your hand, walking down this street…”

Thanks to Xiaolongdi for the ten-thousand-point and one-thousand-eight-hundred-eighty-eight-point rewards.

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Thanks to Shiye Di, Office Automation, Greater China Federation, Liang Yufei, Leave the Green Hills, Zhou Yezi, Zeroo7o7, Qu Jingming, Suppress Emotion, Great Path Without Edge, Law, C938516, Book Friend 151118221918009, Q Qiangqiang008, Loneliness and I, Passing Through Your Whole World, Returning to the Countryside, Wind and Rain Stirring, ggq, Sun Kaidi, Bing Xiayu, Scarecrow, Liu Shi, My Dao Goes Where, Fool Talking Nonsense, Reading the Big Dipper Star, Suddenly the Sky Turned Blue, Friend O Health, Ciba Doll, Dragon Empty Wings, Shi Ning Tinghj, and Chuantian Hou for their rewards.

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