Chapter 344: Chapter 344: Copyright
The moment Tan You’s voice turned serious, Wang Hunv fell silent. She poked Tan You’s arm. "While you were away, I asked the Yu Min family. They want to farm our fields."
Tan You said, "If you think it’s a good idea, then let them farm it. I’m not getting involved with that. Farming has a terrible return on investment and it’s incredibly hard work, unless you’re a massive agricultural operation."
Wang Hunv replied, "I’ll think about it. We have to harvest this season’s rice first, anyway. If we lease out the family land, all we’ll have left are our private plots. I could just grow some sweet potatoes, soybeans, and peanuts on those."
Tan You chuckled. "Do whatever you think is best. It’s not like I’ve ever been strict with you, right? Do you really feel like you have to farm?"
Wang Hunv said, "If I don’t farm, I don’t know what else to do. How about I just farm less? Don’t you have a field too? What if I farm your plot for you, instead of leasing it out?"
Tan You really didn’t know what else Wang Hunv could do. If she wanted to farm, Tan You wouldn’t stop her. "Suit yourself, but don’t overwork yourself."
"I won’t. If I’m only farming your plot, it really won’t be that tiring." Wang Hunv said nonchalantly, "I’ve decided. I’ll keep the large field east of the road..."
Tan Lin was in the middle of blanching pork ribs and couldn’t help but chime in, "Why don’t we lease out our big field, too? Her mother works at the factory, and I can’t see weeds or anything. I don’t know how to farm, either."
Wang Hunv pouted, but before she could say anything, Tan You cut her off. "That’s fine too. As long as we have money, we don’t need to worry about buying food."
She was paying Tan Lin a salary, and she naturally wouldn’t meddle in what he did with it. Tan Lin just needed to be a good "full-time son." As long as he could come back a few times a week to check on the old couple while Tan You was away at school, she wouldn’t have to worry too much.
So, after meeting with Editor Chen that evening, Tan You felt it was necessary to clearly define everyone’s rights and responsibilities. For instance, how many times a week Tan Lin had to visit the old couple, how many times he had to clean the house, and so on—all of it needed to be put down on paper.
Tan You had no intention of just supporting Tan Lin indefinitely. After all, he wasn’t even forty yet. If she was going to support him in his old age, that would be a conversation for when he was over sixty.
Besides, people change. Rather than bickering about it later, it was better to get everything down in black and white now. That way, she wouldn’t end up spending money only to get no appreciation for it.
Tan Lin, of course, had no idea Tan You was plotting how to manage him. He was humming a little tune while squatting by the well to wash vegetables, looking completely carefree. Tan Deming saw the look in Tan You’s eyes, and he lowered his head and smiled. He suddenly had a feeling ’there’s going to be a good show tonight’.
「Around four in the afternoon」, Editor Chen found the Tan family’s home without any trouble. He had driven himself, and another middle-aged man was with him. Upon seeing the Tan family’s old and humble home, neither of their expressions changed; they remained all smiles.
Editor Chen greeted Tan You, "Mr. Tan, Sir, long time no see! This is President Hu from the film production company, and this is?"
His eyes glanced over Tan Lin’s glasses, and he quickly deduced their relationship. Tan You shook his hand. "This is my father, Tan Lin. He had some business to attend to last time and couldn’t meet you, which was a real shame."
Editor Chen gave a knowing smile. ’Some business? What kind of business?’
President Hu, who had come with Editor Chen, got straight to the point. "Mr. Tan, Editor Chen told me about your expected price. Our company has no issue with it, but as for the copyright..."
"The copyright isn’t for sale," Tan You said, picking up her teacup with the same smile on her face. "I know you’re a businessman and you want to maximize your profits, but the copyright is absolutely not for sale, no matter what."
President Hu paused. Editor Chen laughed and said, "I told you on the way over. Mr. Tan knows exactly what’s what. If you want to discuss a partnership, do it in good faith. Mr. Tan is very reasonable."
Tan You clinked her teacup with Editor Chen’s. "It’s a good thing you came today. I was planning to mail you the final third of the manuscript soon. You can just take it with you when you go."
Editor Chen’s face lit up. "Really? Mr. Tan, you’re incredibly efficient! Can I take a look at the manuscript?"
Tan You said, "I’ll go get the manuscript from my room. Please wait a moment."
Tan Lin, who had been all set to entertain the guests, hadn’t said a single word since they sat down. Tan You had handled the entire discussion with the two men herself. He couldn’t help but stare. ’So, am I just here to be some kind of mascot?’
Once he had the manuscript in hand, Editor Chen paid no more attention to the negotiation between President Hu and Tan You. His job today was just to connect the two of them, and if he had to pick a side, he was definitely on Tan You’s.
As for President Hu, while they had been in contact before, their relationship wasn’t nearly close enough to warrant any special loyalty.
So Tan Lin just watched as Tan You, holding her teacup and smiling, engaged in a battle of wits with President Hu. As for the content of their discussion, all the figures were in the tens of thousands, and just listening made Tan Lin’s head spin.
’If it had been him,’ he thought, ’he probably would’ve been knocked senseless by the very first number they threw out, right?’
"A pleasure doing business with you!" Just as Tan Lin was lost in his daze, President Hu was already shaking Tan You’s hand. Tan Lin was bewildered. ’It’s over already? So what did they decide in the end?’ He had zoned out for the latter half of the conversation and had barely heard a thing.
Tan You opened the contract President Hu handed her, read it through carefully, and then made corrections to a few ambiguous clauses before pushing it in front of Tan Lin. "Sign."
Tan Lin followed the order without question, obediently signing his name next to Tan You’s.
President Hu looked at Tan Lin, then back at Tan You, clearly seeing who called the shots in this family. He couldn’t help but remark, "You’ve raised an exceptional daughter."
’Raised her?’ Tan Lin thought. ’How exactly did I do that?’ But outwardly, he just chuckled. "She just turned out well on her own. Her mother and I are always busy with work, so we never had much time to guide her."
With the contract signed, Tan Lin knew it was his time to shine. "It’s about dinnertime. I started a pot of braising liquid this afternoon—Tan You prepared the spice mix herself. Would you two care to try it?"
President Hu glanced at Editor Chen, who was clutching the manuscript for dear life, and sighed under his breath. "Well then, we’d be delighted to impose. Mr. Tan, let’s chat about casting..."
Tan You tapped the table. "That’s your company’s business. I’m not getting involved. Besides, I start school in just over a week, so I’ll have to put writing on the back burner. In the future, I’ll probably only have time for this sort of thing during my winter and summer breaks."
Editor Chen immediately set the manuscript down. "Wait, Mr. Tan, what do you mean you’ll only have time to submit manuscripts during school breaks? The name Qingyou is really taking off right now! A brilliant mind like yours shouldn’t be wasted."
Tan You was amused. "We’ll see. If I can balance it with my schoolwork, I’ll consider submitting more work. The high school curriculum is pretty demanding, and I’m worried I won’t be able to do both things well at the same time."
Editor Chen grimaced, wanting to say that the money she was earning now was more than many college graduates make in several years. But thinking about it, Tan You had a point, and for a moment, he really didn’t know how to persuade her.
