Chapter 24

"Thank you, Mr. Dave, I've already made my decision."

"Oh, you've made a decision? That's good."

Since Jin Xiantai had already made his decision, Dave didn't continue to introduce other options but brought up another matter.

"By the way, Xiao Jin, you mentioned a few days ago during our call that you've written a new novel, right?"

In the United States, Dave was one of the few people Jin Xiantai was familiar with. Apart from Dave, he didn't know many others.

So, Jin Xiantai would call Dave from time to time to chat about work and life.

During these calls, Jin Xiantai mentioned that he was 'writing' a new novel, which immediately caught Dave's attention.

However, Dave never had the chance to ask in detail until now.

"The sales of 'A Song of Ice and Fire' haven't exploded, but they are very stable. It's already mid-October, and it's almost November. This month, the sales of 'A Song of Ice and Fire' have remained steady at 1.8 million copies. By the end of the month, it should reach the 2.1 million copies sold last month, and even exceed it slightly."

Therefore, how could Dave not be excited about Jin Xiantai's new novel, which had the potential to be another bestseller?

"Maybe it will be another bestseller."

When Dave asked, Jin Xiantai didn't hide anything and replied, "It's a fantasy novel."

A fantasy novel?

Dave's eyes lit up, and he felt a tingling sensation.

In recent years, the market for fantasy novels in the United States had become increasingly popular, and many people enjoyed buying such books.

If Jin Xiantai's novel was of good quality, the publishing house could make a significant profit.

The possibility was high, so Dave couldn't help but take this matter seriously and find an opportunity to bring it up.

So, Dave said to Jin Xiantai, "How much have you written? Is it enough to publish a volume? If so, I hope you will hand the novel over to the California Publishing House for publication."

Jin Xiantai smiled and said, to be honest, he didn't plan to hand the novel to any other publishing house. The novel 'The Lord of the Rings' had already been pirated, and even 'The Hobbit' had finished pirating and started pirating 'Harry Potter'.

However, Jin Xiantai didn't say he had completed the entire novel, as that would be unwise.

Just like 'A Song of Ice and Fire', Jin Xiantai had pirated the entire series, but he only submitted enough for three volumes to Dave's publishing house, not the entire series.

These three volumes alone were enough to be published for three to four years.

In another timeline, 'A Song of Ice and Fire' took twenty years to publish all seven volumes.

So, Jin Xiantai expected his three volumes of 'A Song of Ice and Fire' to be published and sold for at least three to four years by the California Publishing House.

"I'll go back and check. If the word count is enough, I'll send it to you via email."

This response essentially meant he would hand it over to the publishing house, so Dave was very pleased.

"Great! When you have time, come to the publishing house with the manuscript, not via email. If the manuscript is good, we'll sign a publishing agreement."

Jin Xiantai didn't object to this.

"Alright, I'll come to the publishing house tomorrow or the day after."

After ending the call with Dave, Jin Xiantai set off with his daughter to buy a car.

In the United States, there are many ways to buy a car, depending on what kind of car you want.

Most young people choose the used car market, buying cars that are affordable and still in good condition. Used cars are much cheaper than new ones, sometimes as low as 20% of the price of a new car.

If you're lucky, you might even find a luxury used sports car in the used car market.

However, the used car market had no appeal to Jin Xiantai because he wasn't short of money.

With his current income, buying a new car was not a problem.

After paying 35% personal income tax, Jin Xiantai had 2.73 million dollars left in his bank account.

Even this 2.73 million was a significant amount, especially for an average American family.

It's important to note that the United States is a credit-based society where people are accustomed to spending in advance. Over 40% of American households have no savings and live paycheck to paycheck.

This is very different from Asia, especially China, where most families have savings for emergencies.

So, Jin Xiantai's 2.73 million in savings was quite impressive.

This indicated that he had a high credit rating and strong purchasing power, making him a desirable customer for various businesses.

Although Jin Xiantai lived in the United States, he still adhered to traditional Chinese values regarding wealth management and consumption.

He didn't use credit cards, didn't overspend, and saved a portion of his earnings, using the rest for consumption.

Life is unpredictable, and in his previous life, he had encountered an alien elementary school student. Who knows what strange things might happen in this timeline.

So, he needed to have some savings in case of emergencies, to ensure his daughter would have some wealth to live on if something unexpected happened.

Additionally, Jin Xiantai was not accustomed to spending in advance.

With a large amount of cash, Jin Xiantai didn't find buying a car a headache or a hassle.

Unlike most American families, who carefully select and compare prices and other aspects before making a decision, Jin Xiantai easily bought the car he liked.

A black luxury business sedan, the Audi A8.

This car had ample space, making it very comfortable to sit in, and it was equipped with top-of-the-line features. The total price was only 260,000 dollars, which was incredibly low.

The same model in China would cost over 7 million yuan.

(Due to the larger area and longer transportation distances in the parallel timeline, as well as other factors)

With his driver's license and the immediate California license plate from the dealer, Jin Xiantai could drive away after paying.

Since he paid in cash, the dealer even provided a free tank of gas.

Jin Xiantai was very excited to sit in his new car, as it was the first car he owned in both his past and present lives.

Similarly, his daughter, Keke, was also very excited. She danced and looked around curiously, making 'oh oh oh' sounds and 'ah ah ah' screams.

Unlike her father, who was happy to have a car and the ability to buy one, Keke was clearly excited by the new toy.

Since she had learned traffic rules, Keke was sitting in a 'eggshell' car seat, placed in the back seat.

According to U.S. traffic rules, children cannot sit in the front passenger seat.

Jin Xiantai, who had a driver's license, was well aware of this and would not violate the rule.

The dealer provided a set of CDs with various types of music. Jin Xiantai flipped through them and chose a CD with only light music.

After all, he needed to consider his daughter's feelings and couldn't listen to loud or noisy music.

The soft and soothing music played through the car's surround sound system, sounding very high-quality and pleasant.

Instead of taking his daughter home immediately, Jin Xiantai drove to a local hot dog fast-food restaurant near the Hollywood theme park, which had a clown as its mascot.

The clown was very different from the McDonald's clown in Jin Xiantai's original world, and the restaurant sold hot dogs, not burgers. However, it also provided interactive games for children, attracting many parents with their kids.

Jin Xiantai knew about this place and had brought his daughter there today.

There was no separate play area for children or slides, but there were staff dressed as clowns interacting with the children in a designated area.

In both worlds, there were fast-food restaurants that catered to children's play needs.

After parking, Jin Xiantai carried the 'eggshell' car seat and took his daughter into the hot dog restaurant. He ordered a hot dog meal at the counter.

After a short wait, he received the meal and sat down near the clown interaction area, placing the 'eggshell' car seat in a good spot so his daughter could see the clowns' funny performances. The little girl was clearly very interested and watched intently.

Most of the people around Jin Xiantai and his daughter were parents with children, though the children's ages varied.

Of course, there were also nine-month-old babies like Keke, but they were few. Most were three to four years old.

The children played and ran around with the clowns, creating a lively atmosphere.

Here, children could play and make noise without worrying about being scolded by their parents. This was their territory, where they could release their energy and express themselves freely.

Jin Xiantai opened his hot dog package and took a gentle bite, smiling as he watched his daughter, who was captivated by the clowns.

At the next table, a white couple in their thirties was reading a fairy tale to their three- or four-year-old son, with the mother reading the story aloud.

Jin Xiantai listened for a while and couldn't help but twitch his lips, as the fairy tale he heard was quite bizarre and even a bit dark.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

He had learned that the fairy tales in this world were often dark and bizarre.

Jin Xiantai hadn't deeply explored the fairy tales of the various countries in this timeline, as he didn't think it was relevant to him.

But at this moment, a spark of inspiration flashed in his mind. He thought he could make a significant contribution in the realm of fairy tales.

Thinking about this, Jin Xiantai shifted his gaze from the couple to his daughter, thinking to himself, "I don't want my daughter to read these dark and bizarre fairy tales when she grows up. As her father, should I try to change this?"

Of course, if successful, not only could he provide better fairy tales for his daughter, but he could also use them to create greater benefits for himself and his daughter.

Originally, he had just planned to bring his daughter out for a change, but he never expected to get inspiration here, a new idea for creating wealth...