Chapter 20

What exactly is the relationship between Annie and that Asian boy?

Why is she so concerned about this boy?

After ending the call, Dave was left in a fog, his mind filled with countless doubts.

Unfortunately, this doubt was destined to remain unanswered.

After all, Dave was well aware that this was not something he could inquire about.

Over the past half month, Annie had been tormented in her dreams every night, waking up in the morning with an enticing blush on her face, then secretly changing her wet underwear.

The encounters in her dreams made Annie feel ashamed, and also caused a change in her mindset, especially in how she treated Kim Hyun-tae, making her very attentive to him.

Annie, being in the midst of these changes, was completely unaware of them.

During this period, Annie confirmed through a check-up that she had successfully conceived and would be able to give birth to a baby in nine months.

Since the time was still short, the fetus had not yet formed, and she had not even experienced any pregnancy symptoms. After all, it had only been a month, and pregnancy symptoms typically do not appear until three to four months.

However, because of this, Annie now spent most of her time, apart from handling official matters, observing Kim Hyun-tae.

She herself did not think much about her current situation.

Currently, Annie and Kim Hyun-tae were in different places. In this vast parallel world, one was on the west coast, and the other was on the east coast, a considerable distance apart.

Therefore, there was no possibility of any real 'interaction' between the two.

Especially since Kim Hyun-tae knew nothing about Annie.

At this time, Kim Hyun-tae was '16 years old,' and Annie was 26 years old... a 10-year age difference, and yet a very peculiar intersection occurred, with one party completely unaware.

－－－－－－Divider－－－－－－

"What! Mr. Dave, you're not joking, right? You're saying I can get 4.2 million in copyright royalties!!"

One month later, on a morning in late September, after preparing breakfast for his daughter, Kim Hyun-tae was about to continue his piracy business when he received a call from Dave at the publishing house.

On the phone, Dave told Kim Hyun-tae that he had already transferred the copyright royalties to his account, totaling 4.2 million, and reminded him not to forget to file taxes, offering to help him find a private lawyer and accountant to handle it.

Kim Hyun-tae had no objections to Dave helping him find a lawyer and accountant, and he was well aware of the importance of filing personal income tax.

What left Kim Hyun-tae utterly shocked was that he never expected to receive 4.2 million in copyright royalties in the first month. This was 4.2 million, not 420 dollars!

Originally, he had estimated that even considering all aspects, a few hundred thousand in royalties would be quite good for the first month.

He knew he was a newcomer, and his first novel, with a limited readership and not much fame, would not have a high sales volume in the first month, even with the publisher's strong promotion and the novel's excellent content.

However, the fact that he received 4.2 million in royalties told him that his estimate was completely wrong.

Ha ha!

On the other end of the phone, Dave laughed.

"There's no mistake. Last month, 'A Song of Ice and Fire' sold over 2.1 million copies, with each copy priced at 20 yuan. According to the agreement, you get 10% of the royalties, which means 2 yuan per copy. With 2.1 million copies sold, you get 4.2 million. We rounded it to a whole number and transferred it to your bank account, which makes it easier to account and file taxes. We will continue to do this every month."

At the same time, I congratulate you; this novel has really sold well. Even we at the publishing house did not expect such a high number; we had estimated a maximum of 1.5 million copies."

My goodness!

Kim Hyun-tae was shocked, holding the phone and unable to speak, not knowing what to say.

But he knew one thing: he was rich now!

This was real wealth, not just a dream.

Even after paying taxes, the remaining amount was enough to make Kim Hyun-tae extremely excited.

"Alright, I understand. Please have the publishing house help me contact a lawyer and an accountant for the tax filing. The fees can be deducted from my next month's royalties. I need to go to the bank to check."

Kim Hyun-tae, who had barely regained his composure, forced himself to calm down and said a few words to Dave.

"Go ahead, go ahead. I understand how you feel right now," Dave said with a chuckle, genuinely understanding Kim Hyun-tae's current state and emotions.

After all, if this happened to anyone, they would not be able to handle it as well as Kim Hyun-tae.

A month ago, Kim Hyun-tae was a low-income father working two jobs, earning a little over 2,000 yuan a month.

Now, he was making 4.2 million yuan a month before taxes, becoming a wealthy person and completely shedding his poor status.

To put it in perspective, even in this parallel world, the average American white-collar family's annual income before taxes would not exceed 200,000 yuan, and this figure was only possible if both parents worked.

His current monthly income was equivalent to almost two years' pre-tax income for an average family.

If he took this money and left the United States to go to China in this parallel world, it would be worth over 20 million yuan, enough to live comfortably for a lifetime.

Especially since this income was just beginning, and for a long time to come, Kim Hyun-tae would receive royalties every month, meaning he would earn a lot of money every month.

The exact amount was uncertain, but it could be inferred that even if it did not increase, it would not be too bad.

If after a year... damn, wouldn't he be a millionaire!?

Thinking about this, Kim Hyun-tae's heart began to race, making him extremely excited.

"Thank you for the vast population in this world, thank you for the absence of the novel I pirated, thank you for everything!"

Kim Hyun-tae couldn't help but praise this parallel world.

In his previous life, he was just an ordinary middle-aged man in China, and he had never even dreamed of having so much money, let alone seen a fraction of it.

But now, he actually had so much money, so it was impossible not to be excited and thrilled.

"Daddy!"

As if sensing the change in her father's aura, his daughter, who had been focused on her breakfast, lifted her little spoon and waved it, looking at her father with curious eyes and calling out in confusion.

"Ah! My dear daughter, Daddy is rich now, our family is rich now, Koko is rich now!"

Hearing her daughter call out, Kim Hyun-tae took two steps and was by her side, bending down to hug her, regardless of whether she understood.

Although the little girl didn't understand what her father was saying, she could sense his happiness and excitement, so she giggled in response.

As the little girl's laughter echoed in the living room, along with Kim Hyun-tae's excitement, the atmosphere in the house was filled with happiness and joy.

Seeing her father happy, the little girl even started tapping the table with her spoon and kicking her little feet, showing that she was also very happy, in response to her father.

"Daddy is rich now, which means Koko is rich now, do you know that?"

"Yooqian," Koko repeated, though her pronunciation was not accurate, but Kim Hyun-tae didn't mind.

"Oh, my dear, that's right, rich."

Smack!

Kim Hyun-tae kissed his daughter on the cheek, causing her to wipe it repeatedly.

Ha ha ha!

Seeing his daughter's cute actions and expressions, Kim Hyun-tae laughed heartily.

Due to the pleasant atmosphere, his daughter ate her breakfast quickly. After she finished, the patient Kim Hyun-tae quickly dressed her in a baby dress, washed her face, and changed her diaper, then placed her in the stroller and left the house.

Since Kim Hyun-tae didn't have a car, he rarely went out, and when he did, it was usually to the supermarket near the community to buy groceries.

But now he needed to go to a distant bank branch to check his account, so he had to push the stroller with his daughter and walk for about half an hour to find a place where he could get a taxi.

Fortunately, with the joy of good news, even a half-hour walk didn't feel tiring to Kim Hyun-tae, and his daughter Koko, influenced by her father's happiness, smiled at everyone they met along the way.

Successfully hailing a taxi, Kim Hyun-tae arrived at the bank branch where he had opened his account about twenty minutes later.

This was a national bank run by Jews, with over 80% of its shares held by Annie, making it, in a strict sense, Annie's bank.

Although it was just a controlling stake, it did not prevent her family from using their shares to control other banks indirectly, through significant holdings.

Especially since the direct line of the Whitson family had all met with accidents, leaving only Annie, who had inherited all the family's wealth and assets, making the bank essentially hers.

Kim Hyun-tae never imagined that opening a bank account would also involve some connection with a woman.

For a bank, a million-dollar account holder is definitely a major client.

Therefore, upon learning how much money was in Kim Hyun-tae's account, the bank assigned a manager to personally serve him, so he did not have to wait in line like ordinary customers.

In a capitalist society, the service industry, including banking, treats customers quite well.

Kim Hyun-tae had no interest in the financial products the bank manager was aggressively promoting. His purpose was simply to check his account balance, and he didn't even want to withdraw money.

So, after checking the balance and confirming that 4.2 million had indeed been transferred to his account, Kim Hyun-tae left the bank, leaving the manager disappointed at not being able to sell any financial products.

"Buy a car! Now that I have money, I'm going to buy a car!"

After leaving the bank, the first thing that came to Kim Hyun-tae's mind was to buy a car.

Of course, before buying a car, he needed to get a driver's license.

The unscrupulous alien elementary school student had provided him with an ID card, social welfare card, and even birth certificates for himself and his daughter Koko, but not a driver's license.

So, to buy a car, Kim Hyun-tae needed to get a driver's license.

Fortunately, in the United States, the law allows teenagers who are 16 years old to take the driver's license exam.

Therefore, this was not a problem for Kim Hyun-tae.

Now, Kim Hyun-tae needed to go to the publishing house and find Dave to help him introduce a lawyer and accountant to handle his tax issues.

At the same time, he hoped Dave could introduce him to a place to take the driver's license exam.

With this decision made, Kim Hyun-tae took a taxi with his daughter Koko and set off for the publishing house.

Page AD starts

Page AD ends