Chapter 7

The saying "men and women working together makes the work less tiring" probably refers to the current situation.

Originally, the simple room had become more colorful with the addition of a pretty girl, and Yan Shao even felt more energetic when he worked.

On the other side, seeing Yan Shao typing away with concentration, Eleanore, who was translating the manuscript, secretly felt relieved.

It wasn't that she was worried Yan Shao would assault her, but rather, if such a thing were to happen, how could she hurt him without causing too much damage—after all, Uncle Talis's publishing house was counting on this manuscript to save it, and Eleanore was very clear about this.

As for other things? Although she was somewhat curious about Yan Shao, the Chinese, her primary concern at the moment was still the work.

After typing for a long time on the typewriter, Yan Shao moved his fingers around.

"Still not as convenient as a computer..."

Although the typewriter was definitely faster than handwriting, it was far less convenient than the computers of the future—especially the input method, which, once you got used to it, allowed you to type some words with just a few letters, making it hundreds of times better than the typewriters of this era.

Moreover, if you made a mistake on the typewriter, there was no way to correct it; you had to start over. By the end of the day, not only were Yan Shao's hands tired, but his mind was also a bit confused.

"Here..."

Just as Yan Shao was sitting there rubbing his forehead, Eleanore handed him a cup of coffee.

Seeing Yan Shao look back at her, Eleanore smiled slightly.

"Have a cup of coffee to perk up..."

Although Eleanore's role was just a translator, in a sense, she was also an assistant. Plus, since Talis's publishing house needed this manuscript to save it, as Talis's niece, Eleanore also had a responsibility to help Yan Shao improve his work efficiency.

So...

When Yan Shao was tired, helping to brew a cup of coffee was a natural thing to do.

"Thank you..."

Yan Shao took a small sip of the coffee and set it aside.

Seeing this, Eleanore frowned slightly in surprise.

"What, doesn't it suit your taste?" Then she realized, "Right, I forgot you're Chinese, you should have a cup of tea instead..."

Seeing the misunderstanding, Yan Shao shook his head with a bitter smile.

"No, actually, I don't really like coffee, tea, or alcohol..."

This was one of the few truths Yan Shao had told. Before he came to this era, he didn't like these three things, and that hadn't changed.

Eleanore could tell that Yan Shao wasn't lying, so she frowned slightly.

"Then..."

"Cough, actually, I like fruit juice..."

Saying this, Yan Shao felt a bit embarrassed, after all, he was 20 years old.

In fact, at some gatherings in the future, while everyone else was drinking alcohol, he would drink fruit juice or other drinks with the kids, which made him feel a bit out of place. However, those who knew him understood that he didn't like drinking, so they usually wouldn't force him. If it was something he couldn't avoid, Yan Shao would pinch his nose and drink, but fortunately, he just didn't like drinking, and his tolerance was good, so he didn't encounter any major problems.

Hearing this, Eleanore's eyes showed a hint of surprise.

"What kind of fruit juice do you like?"

"Huh?"

Yan Shao, who was feeling a bit embarrassed, looked up, a bit confused.

After a bit of conversation, Yan Shao learned that Eleanore, like him, also preferred fruit juice and other drinks, rather than coffee, tea, or alcohol. She was often teased by her classmates at school for this, and because of this, she was quite happy to hear that Yan Shao also liked fruit juice—she had found a kindred spirit.

Because of this, their relationship became much closer.

Eleanore didn't know what she was thinking, but Yan Shao was quite happy. After all, Yan Shao wasn't a saint. If he didn't have any thoughts about a beautiful woman sitting next to him, he would be abnormal, even possibly having some issues with his sexual orientation.

Now that he had an excuse to get closer to Eleanore, Yan Shao was naturally pleased.

————————————————————

A good start made their relationship a bit closer.

Of course, "a bit closer" just meant moving from strangers to friends. As for other things, Yan Shao could fantasize about them in his dreams, but when he woke up, he would face the harsh reality...

Cough...

With Eleanore's help, Yan Shao's work went much more smoothly. In a short time, the first manuscript was translated by Eleanore and sent to Talis's publishing house.

Upon receiving the manuscript, Talis treated it like a treasure and quickly arranged for its publication.

As for Yan Shao? He started working on the third part of "Tarzan" and the second part of "The Lord of the Rings"...

At this point, Yan Shao had some ideas, such as using some of the money he earned to support revolutionary parties at home and abroad—though, according to his knowledge of the future, such support might be wasted...

Regardless, what Yan Shao needed most at the moment was money and fame, and both of these could be brought by the manuscript in his hands. Plus, with a beautiful woman urging him on, Yan Shao's typing efficiency increased more than twofold...

Yan Shao typed, and Eleanore translated, and their cooperation was quite默契 (默契 means默契, but in English, it's "smooth" or "in sync").

On the other side, after the first part of the trilogy, "The Fellowship of the Ring," was successfully published, everything went as Yan Shao and Talis had expected. The novel quickly became a bestseller, and the first print run of over ten thousand copies sold out in just over a month. Although the publishing house had to work overtime to arrange for additional prints, everyone's faces were filled with smiles during the busy times.

With the additional prints, a large sum of francs flowed into Yan Shao's wallet. Including the income from the first two books, Yan Shao now had a fortune of over a thousand pounds.

A thousand pounds might not seem like much, but if converted to silver dollars, it would be tens of thousands, making him quite well-off. Moreover, Talis had clearly stated that after this print run, there would likely be several more to meet the demand. Adding the income from the first two books, Yan Shao wouldn't have to worry about money for a while.

After receiving the Nth payment, Yan Shao, now a wealthy man, invited Eleanore to a nearby restaurant for a meal—after all, when one is well-fed and warm, one starts to think about other things. Now that the basic needs were met, Yan Shao naturally began to think in other directions.

Eleanore did not refuse Yan Shao's invitation.

When the two entered the restaurant, the waiters were clearly surprised, as it was rare to see an Asian, let alone one accompanied by a very beautiful woman.

Although it was a bit awkward to let an Asian in, the waiters still gave them a good seat because of the large amount of francs.

Yan Shao's stomach was most suited to Chinese food, and French cuisine was just a novelty, so the second half of the meal was mostly up to Eleanore. When they finished eating and were about to leave, they encountered a small problem.

Although "Tarzan" was good, it didn't bring Yan Shao much fame beyond the immediate financial gain. However, "The Lord of the Rings" made Yan Shao a minor celebrity in Marseille. At least a few people in the restaurant recognized him.

When Yan Shao and Eleanore were about to leave, a few people even approached with copies of "The Lord of the Rings" to ask for autographs.

Faced with the enthusiastic fans and the whispers around them, Yan Shao's vanity was satisfied, and he naturally didn't let them leave disappointed—although, from start to finish, he was just a copier...

Money, fame, and a few enthusiastic fans asking for autographs when going out—things were going quite well for Yan Shao.

While perfecting "The Lord of the Rings," Yan Shao didn't forget to create a few works of his own.

Isn't there a saying that if you read three hundred Tang poems, you can recite them even if you can't write them?

After copying several classic works, Yan Shao was somewhat inspired.

While working on "The Lord of the Rings," Yan Shao also submitted a few short science fiction stories to Talis's publishing house. For the people of this era, Yan Shao's original era was like a world from science fiction, and even more fantastical than what the science fiction writers of this era could imagine.

So, despite his poor writing skills, he still received some praise, and he didn't disgrace the greats Edgar Rice Burroughs and J.R.R. Tolkien...

"Phew, finally finished..."

Putting the manuscript away, Yan Shao stretched in his seat.

Because of the repeated reprints, Yan Shao had lost count of how many times "The Fellowship of the Ring" had been reprinted. However, due to the success of "The Fellowship of the Ring," Talis's urging for the second part, "The Two Towers," became even more urgent.

It must be said that when choosing an assistant for Yan Shao, Talis had considerable foresight, selecting Eleanore as Yan Shao's assistant, or rather, translator...

After a period of time, Yan Shao and Eleanore's relationship had become quite good, and Eleanore was a rare beauty. So every time Yan Shao wanted to slack off, facing the diligent Eleanore, he had to pull himself together.

Although J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy was famous, the word count wasn't very high, with the three parts totaling only a few hundred thousand words, and each part only a hundred thousand words. Since the content was already memorized by Yan Shao, despite the typewriter being less convenient than a keyboard, he only took a little over a month to finish the hundred-thousand-word "The Two Towers." In the future, this wouldn't be much to boast about, as writing ten thousand words a day was normal when you knew the content, but in this era, it was quite astonishing...