Chapter 22

Lola was very skilled at taking care of children, and her daughter's happy giggles kept reaching Dave's office. Jin Hyuntae's lips curled slightly without showing any trace of a smile when he heard it.

Since Lola was looking after the daughter, Jin Hyuntae could focus all his energy on Dave, which made things much easier for him.

Dave was on a call, so Jin Hyuntae walked over to the sofa and sat down, beginning to wait patiently.

"Please send a lawyer and an accountant over."

While Dave did not tell the other party who the client was, the butler Nord on the other end of the phone knew exactly who could make Dave call him.

Only the Asian boy, whom Miss Annie had specifically mentioned and taken to heart, could make Dave do this.

These were matters that Miss Annie had instructed and arranged with Dave.

Therefore, the butler Nord immediately gave a positive response, telling Dave that he would send a lawyer and an accountant to the publishing house shortly.

With the butler Nord's confirmation, Dave was completely at ease.

After ending the call, Dave sat down opposite Jin Hyuntae and began to chat with him, passing the time while waiting.

On the other side, the butler Nord contacted the New York law firm and the accounting firm controlled by the Whiston family, instructing them to send representatives from their California branches to the publishing house to handle Jin Hyuntae's tax issues and provide legal services, as well as sign a service agreement with him.

These two firms, either founded by the Whiston family or directly controlled by them, were essentially under Miss Annie's name.

Once Jin Hyuntae signed the service agreement with Annie's lawyer and accountant, his financial situation would be fully and clearly known to Annie.

Of course, even without this, Annie had other ways to find out Jin Hyuntae's personal financial status.

After handling this matter, Nord reported back to Annie.

Annie's expression remained calm after hearing the butler's report, showing no significant reaction.

Annie had already learned in detail about Jin Hyuntae's income from the documents in front of her.

The author's pre-tax income of 42 million from the novel's sales in one month made even Annie's eyes light up, realizing she had underestimated this Asian boy.

What made her even happier was that the publishing house, in which she held 60% of the shares, would receive even more profits. Jin Hyuntae indirectly created a significant increase in her personal wealth.

Considering Jin Hyuntae received 42 million in pre-tax income from a 10% royalty, Annie roughly calculated that, after deducting various promotional expenses, printing costs, and labor, she would receive 50% of the pre-tax profits.

Although the money was temporarily held by the publishing house, it would eventually be distributed to her at the end of the year.

Based on Jin Hyuntae's income, Annie could easily estimate that this month alone, Jin Hyuntae had created over 20 million in wealth growth for her.

Even more, Annie felt a sense of illusion, as if her husband was giving her, his wife, pocket money in a different way.

Ah~ Pfft!

After the butler Nord left, Annie secretly stuck out her tongue, her face flushed with embarrassment.

She felt shy about her own thoughts.

What husband and wife, these were unreliable thoughts.

But regardless, the success of Jin Hyuntae's novel had created significant wealth for both him and Annie, which made Annie very satisfied.

At least, Annie believed her judgment was good, and she had not misjudged Jin Hyuntae.

He was a genius, and although his fate had been unfortunate, once the god of fate gave him an opportunity, this young man would surely become different.

Moreover, the fact that she had used his sperm no longer worried her about genetic issues. Jin Hyuntae had proven that his genetic material was excellent, ensuring that his offspring would inherit his good genes.

With these thoughts, Annie's mood was very pleasant. Her servants could see that Miss Annie's face had been glowing since the morning, making her already beautiful face even more radiant.

What influenced Miss Annie was the fax she received in the morning, which contained the sales data of Jin Hyuntae's novel.

This data file, though unknown to others, made Annie's mood very good for the entire day.

Leaving New York and turning our attention back to the West Coast in Los Angeles.

Jin Hyuntae had already signed employment contracts with a lawyer and an accountant to handle his novel's legal affairs and personal financial management.

Jin Hyuntae was very satisfied with the fact that these two professionals came from well-known firms in the United States.

Being well-known was good, at least it meant he didn't have to worry about being cheated.

After signing the contracts, Jin Hyuntae felt completely at ease. Originally, he had to file his taxes himself, but now he could leave it to the accountant. Even future issues with the novel could be handled by the lawyer.

Yes, now he had his own private lawyer and accountant.

If there was an opportunity, Jin Hyuntae could even act as he had seen in movies and TV shows, arrogantly saying, "I have the right to remain silent until my lawyer arrives."

Of course, it would be better if such an opportunity never arose, as it would mean trouble.

For Jin Hyuntae, it was best to avoid trouble whenever possible. He did not consider himself a protagonist from a web novel who, upon becoming wealthy, immediately went around humiliating others to show off his style and uniqueness.

Moreover, although Jin Hyuntae was now wealthy, his wealth was insignificant compared to that of true tycoons.

His wealth was only slightly better than that of the average white-collar elite.

In the United States, he had no influence, no status, and no reliable network of relationships. Even with his wealth, he was merely a target for certain people to "slaughter" at will.

Therefore, maintaining a low profile and enjoying the comfortable life that wealth brought in a simple manner was what Jin Hyuntae needed to do.

With the experience and soul of a middle-aged man, Jin Hyuntae was very clear about this and often reminded himself to be low-key to avoid unnecessary trouble.

The lawyer and accountant had already left, and Jin Hyuntae would mostly communicate with them over the phone in the future.

Their excellent professional ethics allowed them to perfectly complete the tasks Jin Hyuntae assigned them through phone communication alone.

Moreover, these two professionals knew that behind Jin Hyuntae was a more powerful woman.

Therefore, they would not neglect Jin Hyuntae's affairs.

However, Jin Hyuntae was unaware of this.

---

Now that he had money and found it inconvenient to go out, Jin Hyuntae decided to buy a car.

After all, his economic conditions had improved, and he now had 42 million in cash. Although this amount would decrease after taxes, it did not hinder his plan to buy a car.

In the United States, cars were generally very affordable, even those considered luxury brands in China were sold very cheaply here.

With his current financial status, Jin Hyuntae could afford a luxury car.

However, he did not have a driver's license, so buying a car would be useless.

Therefore, the most important thing for Jin Hyuntae now was to first obtain a driver's license and then buy a car to solve his transportation issues.

He was also thinking of taking his daughter to the Los Angeles Film City amusement park and traveling around with her.

After all, he had been in this American timeline for about nine months, and during this time, he had either been working to make a living or taking care of his child, never traveling far to enjoy the natural scenery and urban prosperity of this American timeline.

This was somewhat regrettable.

Especially since he felt he owed his daughter, now that he had money, he wanted to compensate her by taking her out more often.

Children should not stay at home all day; going out to play more would be better for their growth.

Moreover, Jin Hyuntae himself wanted to go out and see things.

Yellowstone Park and Las Vegas were places Jin Hyuntae wanted to visit, so having a car was very necessary.

Dave was not surprised by Jin Hyuntae's intention to buy a car.

In the United States, even 16-year-old high school students would get a car once they reached the legal age and obtained a driver's license.

In a sense, a car was a necessity for the American public.

Therefore, Jin Hyuntae's desire to buy a car was not unusual for a boy his age, and Dave would not think differently of him.

He had three children, two of whom were of the same age, and he had bought cars for them as well.

It was just that Jin Hyuntae did not have a driver's license yet.

"I plan to take the driving test. I looked it up online and know the process, but there are too many people at the testing center, and I don't want to wait in line. I was wondering if you could help me get an appointment without waiting in line," Jin Hyuntae asked, not expecting much but still hoping for a little help to reduce the hassle.

He really did not want to spend half a day or even a whole day waiting in line to take the driving test.

"This is simple. I am familiar with the head of the Department of Motor Vehicles. I can contact him to arrange a time for you to take the test without waiting in line," Dave readily agreed without much thought.

Since Dave had agreed to help, Jin Hyuntae had no other matters to attend to. He had come to the publishing house today mainly to resolve these two small issues with Dave.

With both issues resolved and answered, Jin Hyuntae had no reason to stay any longer.

After discussing the subsequent publication of "A Song of Ice and Fire" with Dave and getting his response, Jin Hyuntae got up to leave, taking his daughter from Lola and departing from the publishing house.