As usual, Jenkins ate breakfast sandwiches with his family, drank some greasy milk, and came to Dad's place in a carriage. When he pushed the door, he found that Mr. Brow was one step ahead of him.
He took out the silver pocket watch in his jacket pocket and snapped the cover open. It was only eight o'clock in the morning.
"Good morning, you are really early!"
Jenkins greeted Mr. Bro politely, took off his coat and hung it on the hook beside the counter. And Kitten Chocolate was lying comfortably on the counter, raised his head and said "meow~" to Jenkins, and jumped onto Jenkins' shoulder. It's still small, but its balance is strong, so it can stand upright,
The old man nodded to him and told them to go upstairs to talk.
"I have to say, I really didn't expect your book to sell so well."
Naturally, there was a burst of flattery at the beginning. If Mr. Bro's respect for Jenkins the last time we met was because of his father, then this time it was entirely because of him.
According to the previously signed agreement, Mr. Bro gave Jenkins 40 pounds in cash on the spot. In fact, it shouldn't be that much, but Mr. Bro said generously that he didn't have any change.
The standard selling price of Stranger's Stories is 10 shillings, which is equivalent to a week's income of an ordinary working family. Such a high price is of course related to the exquisite illustrations, but in the eyes of really rich and high-income families, this is a very low price.
The annual income of farm workers, soldiers, and typists is 25 pounds, and the annual income of the lowest clerks, servants, and embroidery workers is 12-20 pounds. The first batch of income from Jenkins' book completely surpassed most of the working people living in Norland.
Mr. Bro has already planned to print the second batch of books, increasing the number to 2,000, and contacting bookstores in other places to promote this book to all parts of the kingdom. Although the printing house and bookstore under his own name are only in this city, he also has many friends in other places.
Jenkins discussed this matter with his father, and they both felt that this was not a bad idea. Bookstores and publishing houses connected through the relationship of the church are safe, but the identities of the two will also be exposed.
The conversation between the two lasted for nearly two hours, and Mr. Bro took a fancy to Jenkins' talent, so he sold a lot of profits. The printing of the second and third batches of Stranger Stories was decided so simply. When Mr. Bro left, he paid Jenkins an additional 100 pounds in cash as a deposit for their cooperation.
Of course, they've decided to raise the price of the book.
"Mr. William, I wonder if you have thought about the content of the next book. I am looking forward to the next cooperation with you."
"This matter is still under consideration, but you must be the partner I consider first."
After seeing off Mr. Brow, Jenkins hurriedly started to transcribe today, having wasted a lot of time.
Dad leaned over.
"Congratulations, are you ready to move somewhere?"
"I'm still thinking about it. Now that I have gold pounds in my hand, I plan to have time to take a look this week."
"It's good. There's not much business in the store recently. If you want to ask for leave, just ask."
"I will."
Jenkins was also polite, he thought for a while: "Father, do you think it is necessary for me to continue writing books? I mean, when I first wrote "Strange Stories", I wanted to make money and move out. Now that the goal has been Now, is there any need to waste time?"
"How is this a waste of time?"
The old man asked strangely: "You have this talent, and the identity of a writer is also helpful for socializing and activities, why give up? And as a benefactor, there are still many places where you need to spend money. You have also been to the black market, three Counting gold pounds is not money at all. Relying on writing books to make money is a very good way. If I had an opportunity like yours when I was young, how could I be so old and still open a shop and work on time every day?"
"I don't think your life is tiring, it's the best state after retirement!"
Of course, I only dare to think about this sentence, and my father will definitely get angry if I say it.
Now that we were talking about money, Dad remembered one more thing.
"You have been with me for a month, and this is yours."
He took out ten 10-pound notes from his pocket and pushed them to Jenkins: "The valuation of the special items we handed in has ended, and this is for you."
Jenkins was taken aback for a moment, and then remembered that there was such a thing.
"Is that much?"
"You're only getting 3% of what those items are really worth."
The old man had a rare and strange expression, "Also, the ring we received when we met for the first time came out, and the appraisal result came out, B-09-5-8392, [Ring of Giant Power], lost by the Church of War and Victory 30 years ago Now we are negotiating about repurchasing. The weird harmonica on [Flesh Puppet] has no information, and the current name is B-10-3-0123, [The Last Chant of the Suicide]. This item is now preserved In the church, if you need it, you can apply for it, but you must explain the purpose."
"Is it such a coincidence?"
Jenkins asked: "I found that most of the [Supernatural] we encountered are recorded in church materials."
"It's no coincidence."
The old man meant something, "Currently there are very few [transcendence] that can be artificially created, and the main source is the natural occurrence of strange situations and special circumstances, so most of the things you can come across are old things that are a few years old. .”
"What is the function of [The Suicide's Last Chant]?"
"Input your own spirit into it, and you can produce the music of the last ordinary owner of the harmonica. The music is similar to a spiritual attack, and there is no difference."
"Then why is [Flesh Puppet] okay? He didn't seem to be affected at the time."
"There was a mutation in the process of separating his soul from his body, and he was relatively slow to attack this kind of spirit."
The old man continued: "Except for plugging your ears, this kind of attack is irresistible, even if you use a helmet made of B-04-5-1080 [Mental Blocking Metal], it is useless. People with strong souls are less resistant to music." Strong, like the other day I fell down when I heard the sound, but you were still able to move."
Jenkins laughed awkwardly. This was the only suspicious point about that incident, but Dad didn't mention it in the report to the church.
Dad glanced at him and said nothing.
The [mental blocking metal] mentioned in the conversation between the two is a kind of artificially manufactured Class B [transcendence] mastered by the church. This technology belongs to the [Church of Ocean and Exploration]. I heard from my father that the technology is a large-scale deep sea discovered while exploring.
PS: Originally I wanted to call it telepathy alloy, but this may make some readers mistakenly think that I am involved in the foundation, after all, this name is too famous. Therefore, if it is replaced by this name, it can be considered as a combination of the Magneto helmet and the weakened telepathy alloy.