The next day, Lin Qiu received his manuscript fee. It wasn't much, only a few tens of thousands.
This was partly because his novel currently only had the first act, meaning less content and thus a lower price.
After the Mondstadt arc is completed, another collected edition will be released to make more money.
No, it shouldn't be said it's for making money; it's for the convenience of readers.
On the other hand, Lin Qiu was a newcomer after all.
The Steam Bird Newspaper hadn't expected such good sales, so the total number of books printed initially wasn't large.
They were now urgently reprinting, planning to release the reprinted first act together with the second act.
"You've made a fortune, shouldn't you treat everyone to a meal?"
Lin Qiu thought about it and decided he should treat his friends who usually helped him.
Speaking of which, ever since he came to Fontaine, he's been having parties every other day. He's practically a party immortal.
Just as Lin Qiu was thinking about random things, there was a knock at the door, and it was Clorinde.
Although Lin Qiu and Clorinde were acquainted now, this was Clorinde's first time coming to his house.
"What's wrong?" Lin Qiu asked curiously.
In his opinion, Clorinde wouldn't come looking for him without a reason; that wasn't her personality.
As expected, Clorinde came to him with something important.
"Mr. Lin Qiu, do you have any hobbies?" Clorinde asked directly.
This caught Lin Qiu off guard. Why would Clorinde want to know his hobbies?
Lin Qiu wasn't a narcissistic person, so he thought about why Clorinde would ask this.
Excluding the possibility that she liked him, there were basically only two possibilities left.
One was to gather information about him, which would be Clorinde's official business.
The other was to inquire on behalf of someone else, which would be a personal matter.
The latter was unlikely, as Clorinde wasn't a very sociable person.
Moreover, her attitude seemed as if she was completing a task.
After much thought, Lin Qiu thought of someone.
Furina. If this was a task Furina gave her, then it would be official business.
But why would Furina want to know what I like?
Did she find out that I've been secretly watching her every day, and now she's unhappy?
Is she planning to prank me with something I like?
Although Furina wasn't someone who held grudges, she did do some mischievous things.
When the Traveler first arrived, he almost fell for it, and Lyney was the one who helped him out.
Lin Qiu found these little girlish traits adorable, but he didn't want to be pranked.
"I like fishy chanson," Lin Qiu replied.
Go on, go report it. I'll never eat this stuff in my life. Let's see how she'll prank me.
Clorinde nodded, "Thank you for the information. I'll take my leave."
In fact, Furina hadn't intended for Clorinde to ask him directly; she had asked Clorinde to investigate.
However, Clorinde felt that one's favorite things weren't really secrets.
Since she knew him personally, wouldn't it be easier to just ask directly?
Indeed, Lin Qiu told her his preferences very decisively, and now she could go back and report.
However, Clorinde hadn't expected Lin Qiu to like this dish.
As a Fontaine native, she couldn't get used to it. Was it because he was from Liyue?
"Wait a moment, I'm planning a celebration party. Are you coming?" Lin Qiu called out to Clorinde, who was about to leave.
"..." Clorinde hesitated for a moment, not answering immediately, and instead asked, "Will Navia be attending?"
"Although I haven't asked yet, I think Navia will participate," Lin Qiu said.
He considered his relationship with Navia to be quite good.
If he planned a celebration party, Navia would definitely show up out of respect.
Navia might even want to pay the bill.
But this time, Lin Qiu had money, so Navia didn't need to pay. Next time, definitely next time.
Clorinde nodded, "Okay, I will attend."
Then Clorinde asked about the party location and prepared to leave.
First, she would complete the task Furina assigned, report back, and then attend the party.
"Ah? It's Miss Clorinde and Teacher Qiu Cheng! Miss Clorinde is here too?"
Clorinde hadn't left yet when another person arrived.
It was Charlotte, who had come to find Lin Qiu but hadn't expected to meet Clorinde.
"Eh? Navia isn't here?"
Charlotte had thought Clorinde was accompanying Navia.
Lin Qiu didn't answer Charlotte but instead asked, "Charlotte? Why are you here?"
"But you came at a good time. I was planning to go to the Steam Bird Newspaper to find you."
"Find me? What a coincidence! I was just looking for you too," Charlotte giggled.
Lin Qiu inwardly grumbled:
What day is it today? Why are people I usually don't see all coming to find me? Do they know I received my manuscript fee today, so they're here to freeload?
He was just grumbling; in fact, he was quite happy that these people could come.
Didn't this save him the trouble of going to find them? It saved time and effort.
"Well, Teacher Qiu Cheng, I'm here because of your novel."
"The story in the novel actually happened in reality! This is big news!"
"I need to go to Mondstadt, so I plan to treat you to the meal I owe you before I leave."
"Oh, please invite Miss Clorinde too," Charlotte said.
It turned out that although she was a day late compared to the others, she also received the information today.
Coincidentally, the news she had collected earlier had mostly been published.
Next, she planned to go to Mondstadt to interview about this incident.
Before a long trip, she wanted to treat Lin Qiu to the meal she owed him.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.
This time, Lin Qiu was planning a celebration party, which might cost a lot of money, so it wouldn't be appropriate to let Charlotte pay.
"Clorinde will come along, but I'm treating," Lin Qiu said.
"Teacher Qiu Cheng is treating? Why?"
Charlotte was puzzled. Although Lin Qiu wasn't stingy, he wasn't someone who loved to treat others either.
"Hmph hmph." Lin Qiu smiled proudly, "My manuscript fee has arrived! A full tens of thousands!"
Before, he was very close to Navia, and many people in Fontaine considered him a kept man.
Now, let's see who can still call him a kept man!
Besides, if he had to be called a kept man, the first meal ticket would be Hu Tao, and Navia could only rank second.
However, unfortunately, neither of the two in front of him was surprised by Lin Qiu's manuscript fee. No, Clorinde was surprised.
"That little?" Clorinde was slightly surprised, her brows furrowed.
She even suspected that the Steam Bird Newspaper had deliberately withheld Lin Qiu's manuscript fee and wondered if she should help her friend get justice.
In her opinion, Lin Qiu's writing was excellent. There were many people queuing on the release day, so why was the manuscript fee so little?
"Uh... it will be more," Lin Qiu's pride vanished.
Charlotte, on the other hand, had no reaction. She already knew how much Lin Qiu's manuscript fee was and why it was so little.
However, she didn't know that Lin Qiu received the manuscript fee today, and she certainly didn't expect Lin Qiu to plan on treating everyone.
"Ah? In that case, won't I be unable to treat again?"
Is her treating people some kind of karmic weapon? As long as she wants to treat, something unexpected will always happen to prevent her from doing so.
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Character Voice Line · Lin Qiu: About Manuscript Fee
"Don't look at how high my manuscript fee is now; at first, it was only a few tens of thousands. I was quite down and out."