Chapter 10

Jin Xuantai was completely unaware of Annie's existence, and even less so of the fact that the novel he had submitted had received more attention than other submissions due to Annie's instructions, and that the publishing house would later smoothly sign a publishing agreement with him and provide strong promotional support.

To say that this sounded quite mysterious.

On the night Jin Xuantai saw the email, he immediately contacted the other party using the contact information provided, and arranged to meet the next morning for a detailed discussion.

Due to the instructions from the top boss, Annie, the publishing house naturally did not dare to be negligent, and responded very politely, chatting amicably with Jin Xuantai.

Jin Xuantai's identity was something the people at the publishing house did not fully understand, but they knew they had to treat him well.

Some secrets were not something people of their status could inquire about.

The other party's sincere attitude, without any arrogance, made Jin Xuantai very comfortable, and he felt that the publication of the novel could be settled during the face-to-face meeting.

What he didn't know was that if it weren't for a certain woman's intervention, he wouldn't have been treated so politely at all.

The next morning, Jin Xuantai tidied up his daughter and himself, dressed neatly, and then left home to head to the publishing house.

He had already taken leave from his jobs at the car wash and the Chinese restaurant the previous night, so he didn't have to worry about them for now.

After leaving home, Jin Xuantai rode his second-hand bicycle for about an hour and finally arrived at Hollywood Boulevard, located at the foot of the Hollywood Hills, a bustling and prosperous area near the edge of Beverly Hills.

Hollywood Boulevard is world-renowned, a holy place for countless young people with dreams, especially those who consider themselves artists or have artistic talent, who dream of starting their careers here.

On this 8-kilometer-long street, you can see countless handsome men and beautiful women, who make the luxury shops and high-end clothing stores on both sides of the street even more dazzling.

Of course, in addition to the handsome men and beautiful women, there are also many tourists.

As the world's most developed center for film and entertainment, Hollywood has driven tourism in Los Angeles, bringing in large sums of money from tourists worldwide each year.

In the central section of this street is the famous Chinese Theatre, where dozens of movie premieres are held annually. Most Hollywood movies that premiere here have good box office results globally, which makes the Chinese Theatre highly sought after by Hollywood figures who hope their works will one day premiere here.

Beautiful women, celebrities, tycoons, and socialites are a significant part of Hollywood Boulevard. Without these people, the place would lose much of its allure.

Due to the presence of these people, there are many nightclubs and bars on both sides of the street in addition to the numerous luxury shops and high-end clothing stores.

During the day, Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles is mostly the domain of tourists from around the world, but as dusk falls, it becomes the territory of handsome men and beautiful women, luxury cars, and the rich and famous, including the children of the wealthy.

In Los Angeles, as long as you have money, you can get any service you want, yes, any service, as long as you have money!

For the rich, this place is heaven.

For the poor, it is also a place full of wealth and opportunities, the difference being whether you can seize and smartly grasp these opportunities.

If you can seize and grasp the opportunities, the poor can become rich in a short time, even starting from scratch to become a regular at high-end nightclubs and clubs, living a life of luxury surrounded by beautiful women.

Therefore, for those with dreams and hoping for an opportunity, Los Angeles is indeed a good place, especially for young people who aspire to fame, making it a place they dream of.

Unfortunately, beneath the glamorous facade of Los Angeles, there are many dark sides that are unknown to the general public, dark to the point of being unbelievable.

Drugs! Minors? Girls? Pornography? Trafficking! Even more heinous, the trade in human organs, all hidden under the dazzling neon lights of Los Angeles, and happening all the time.

The reason these issues exist in Los Angeles is simple: there are many rich people here, and because they have money and enjoy thrilling experiences, this provides opportunities for those with ulterior motives.

Where there is demand, there will be suppliers, a simple truth.

As for those so-called handsome men and beautiful women, and artists, are they really here to achieve artistic value and recognition?

Nonsense!

In reality, they are here to achieve fame and make a lot of money, to live a luxurious and thrilling life.

Jin Xuantai, with the soul of a middle-aged man, was very clear and aware of this.

So, when he arrived on Hollywood Boulevard and saw the handsome men and beautiful women passing by, he had no interest at all.

On the surface, they all looked good, but in reality, you couldn't tell if they were drug addicts or girls exploited by the rich.

But Jin Xuantai also acknowledged that this city offered many opportunities, and he was about to seize and grasp one of them.

As for whether he would become rich, he was quite confident.

However, Jin Xuantai was clear that he wouldn't become rich overnight.

Compared to the young people who hoped to achieve fame overnight, Jin Xuantai had a very good attitude and was very confident, after all, he was someone with a "cheat code."

If even with a "cheat code" he couldn't compete with normal "players," wouldn't that be a failure?

On both sides of the 8-kilometer-long street in Los Angeles, there are countless small film production companies. These companies are far smaller in scale compared to the five major Hollywood film companies, and most of their productions are adult content.

But even so, every day, there are countless young men and women queuing up at the doors of these small film production companies, hoping to get a role in these adult productions.

Of course, while they say they are doing it for art, in reality, most of them are doing it out of financial necessity.

In Los Angeles, reality can shatter everyone's dreams, forcing you to recognize the harshness of the world.

Relying solely on dreams, you cannot survive in this city.

On the streets of Los Angeles, who can say that the ragged, dirty, and smelly homeless people, drug addicts, and beggars once didn't have dreams?

Perhaps, they were once like those handsome men and beautiful women.

Jin Xuantai held his daughter in his arms and walked past the doors of dozens of small film production companies, where long queues of aspiring actors waited for auditions.

For these people, Jin Xuantai could only wish them well in his heart, but he couldn't do much more.

The California Publishing House was located next to the Chinese Theatre.

The company's building covered 30 acres and was five stories high, with a somewhat surrealistic design that was very eye-catching.

Jin Xuantai had researched this publishing house. Although it was a publishing house in California, its scale was not small, ranking among the top three in the U.S. publishing industry.

The California Publishing House mainly handled the publication of various types of novels, not professional books, and had its own direct bookstores in cities and towns across the United States.

In short, the California Publishing House had a large and complete sales network and various partners. Once he and the publishing house reached an agreement and signed the publishing contract, Jin Xuantai wouldn't have to worry about the rest.

What more could Jin Xuantai want from such a publishing house?

Of course, the information about the publishing house was what Jin Xuantai had learned from the internet. As for the claims that the publishing house had larger capital and backing, Jin Xuantai didn't pay much attention, as it didn't concern him much.

Now, Jin Xuantai had arrived at the entrance of the publishing house, standing in front of the large steel-reinforced revolving glass door.

All he needed to do now was walk in, announce his name to the receptionist, and tell her that he had an appointment with the boss, Dave, and then the face-to-face meeting would follow.

To say that Jin Xuantai wasn't nervous would be a lie; he was a bit nervous at this moment.

After all, while the phone conversation went well, would the other party still be so polite during the face-to-face meeting?

Jin Xuantai had no certainty about that.

Standing at the entrance, Jin Xuantai gave himself a pep talk, repeatedly telling himself: "Try to have a good conversation with the other party, be humble, and strive to smoothly negotiate the publication of the novel. I'm a newcomer, so don't ask for too many conditions. As long as they offer an 8% royalty, it's worth signing.

"Also, ensure I retain the film rights, and we can discuss the foreign language rights if the conditions are right."

After giving himself a pep talk and reviewing the conditions he had set in his mind, Jin Xuantai straightened his back, pushed the revolving glass door, and walked into the publishing house.