Chapter 8

After checking his email, Jin Xuntai found it empty, with not a single message. It was clear that none of the publishers he had submitted his work to had responded yet.

However, Jin Xuntai was not at all disappointed. After all, it had only been a few days, and it was unrealistic to expect a response so quickly.

One must understand that in this timeline, the Earth Federation, even in the United States, has a population of over 4 billion. Therefore, the publishers must receive a large number of submissions, which would take a considerable amount of time to process.

Finding his manuscript among so many submissions and then addressing the issues would clearly not be possible in a short time.

Jin Xuntai was not a famous author and had no special channels or treatment to expedite the process with the publishers.

Knowing this, Jin Xuntai was not at all disappointed or discouraged by the current situation.

The scenario of a novel submission receiving a response within hours, followed by a contract and a bestseller, is something that only happens in web novels. In reality, such a thing is impossible unless Jin Xuntai had already published several bestsellers and had a certain level of fame.

But now... well...

At this moment, his daughter had stopped crawling around. After testing herself, she found that she could not stand yet, so she gave up on the idea of standing and walking. After crawling for a while, the little one had hidden in a corner and was playing by herself.

Children can play with anything, even without toys. The little one was now sitting in a corner of the living room, leaning against the wall, and playing with the carpet.

Since his daughter was playing happily, Jin Xuntai was content to let her be and took the opportunity to do some of his own things.

He closed his email and opened a web page to browse some current news.

The variety of online news in the United States was rich, covering all kinds of information, but most of it was from Europe and America, with less about Asia, and more about entertainment gossip.

Jin Xuntai had always used online news to understand this timeline, as it was very convenient.

Although online news sometimes contained false information, as long as one could carefully discern, using this method to gather information and understand the timeline was still a good choice.

The "American Post" reported that a Japanese heavy industry company had spent a huge amount of money to purchase 60% of the high-rise buildings in New York's Times Square, almost monopolizing the 'advertising sign buildings.' The sour tone of the article made Jin Xuntai chuckle.

It also gave Jin Xuntai a small understanding of the wealth of the Japanese in this timeline.

Other online news from various newspapers and media outlets were also filled with stories of the Japanese waving their money around in the United States, buying up companies and real estate.

After half an hour, Jin Xuntai closed the news pages and opened an entertainment gossip website to read some tabloid news and celebrity scandals.

However, although he opened the entertainment gossip page, his mind was not on it. Instead, he was pondering why the historical events in this timeline did not match a certain period.

This doubt had arisen when Jin Xuntai bought a used laptop and could access the internet.

When he first realized this, Jin Xuntai was very surprised.

After all, the timeline in this world was 2015.

However, in this timeline, many historical events that occurred in his original timeline before 2015, up to 1949, had not happened at all.

This made the timeline seem somewhat strange to Jin Xuntai.

For example, Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq, was still alive and well, and the Iran-Iraq War had never broken out. According to the news, he was even planning to pass power to his son in a few years.

Similarly, Colonel Gaddafi of Libya was still alive and well, and his female bodyguard team was still making sacrifices for him. In this timeline, Colonel Gaddafi, like the Gaddafi in the other timeline, was a staunch anti-American fighter.

The Soviet Union had never invaded Afghanistan, and although the country was not in good shape and was still a monarchy, it was relatively stable compared to the other timeline.

The African countries, though independent, had not escaped the influence of European countries like France, Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands, which still had a significant impact in Africa.

This strange history and timeline had indeed shocked Jin Xuntai at first.

However, after living in this timeline for half a year, Jin Xuntai had come to accept it.

His daughter was starting to teethe and no longer wanted to be held in his arms or carried in a baby carrier. As the child grew, Jin Xuntai was both happy and worried.

After all, if his daughter no longer wanted to stay still, how would he be able to work and take care of her in the future?

As a single father, he really couldn't take care of everything and earn a living at the same time.

Hiring a nanny to take care of his daughter was a good option, but the risk of hiring an unreliable one was too great.

In this multi-racial immigrant country, Jin Xuntai had no confidence in hiring a nanny to take care of his child so he could work in peace.

Looking at his daughter, who was playing happily, Jin Xuntai's face was filled with worry.

"Ah! I hope the publishers can give me a response soon, and if my novel is published and I can earn some money, I can change my current living conditions and have a stable economic situation. This way, I can quit my two jobs and take care of my daughter in peace."

Jin Xuntai could only pin his hopes on the publication of his novel, hoping that it would change his current situation. Thinking about other things was just a waste of time.

Without money, life in this timeline and country was truly difficult.

After that, Jin Xuntai got up to prepare dinner for himself and his daughter. After dinner, he played with his daughter for a while, then, as usual, took her to the Chinese restaurant for his second job. After finishing work in the middle of the night, he went home to rest, and the next morning, he took his daughter to the car wash.

Although he had hope, Jin Xuntai still had to grit his teeth and continue working and taking care of his daughter until the novel was published.

As he had feared, his daughter was becoming more difficult to manage. The little one no longer wanted to be carried on his back and instead wanted to crawl around on the ground.

But as a father, Jin Xuntai could not allow that.

After all, the car wash was a dangerous place for a child to crawl around. No matter how much the little one fussed, Jin Xuntai would not give in to her wishes.

As a result, Jin Xuntai's work became more difficult, and the little one's fussing also caused some complaints from his coworkers.

Thus, during this period, Jin Xuntai worked hard, endured the cold eyes and ridicule, and spent a month waiting for a response from the publishers.

Finally, in mid-August, one of the dozens of publishers he had submitted to gave him a response.

The email from 'California Cultural Publishing' clearly stated that they were very interested in his novel and were willing to sign a publishing agreement with Jin Xuntai. They hoped he would contact them after receiving the email to discuss a meeting and the contract.

They also assured him that if the publishing agreement was finalized, they would provide the most favorable terms.

Jin Xuntai did not take the final assurance in the email seriously, as he knew that such promises were often false. However, it was clear from the email that the publisher was very interested in his 'knockoff' novel.

They were clearly determined to get it.

Great! Excellent!

As long as the publisher was interested in the novel, everything would be fine.

This was what Jin Xuntai cared about most.

At least, it meant that if both parties could negotiate in good faith, he could finally escape his current life and improve his financial situation.

The issue of whether the novel would make money was not something Jin Xuntai was worried about, as it was not a problem.

After all, the pirated version of "A Song of Ice and Fire" was a very popular novel in the other timeline, selling millions of copies in English alone over ten years, and it had been adapted into a TV series, a game, and a comic, bringing in substantial profits for the author.

In this parallel timeline, with a population ten times larger, Jin Xuntai could foresee that the novel would bring in even more revenue than in the original timeline.

Therefore, after checking his email and calling the number left by the publisher in the middle of the night to confirm the matter, Jin Xuntai immediately took leave from the car wash and the Chinese restaurant, preparing to go to 'California Cultural Publishing' the next day to discuss the publishing contract.

Because he had saved some money over the past half year, Jin Xuntai was not worried about financial pressure after taking leave. However, with the soul of a man in his thirties, he would not cut off his own retreat until he was sure the novel would be published.

That was not a smart move, so Jin Xuntai only took leave, not resigning.

But once the publisher finalized the deal, Jin Xuntai would definitely resign, without a doubt.

He saved a thousand dollars every month, and after half a year, he had six thousand dollars in cash.

With this six thousand dollars, he and his daughter could live comfortably for several months, so as long as the publisher finalized the deal, Jin Xuntai could manage for a while after resigning.

That night, Jin Xuntai was so excited that he couldn't sleep, so the next day, he had to go out with his daughter with dark circles under his eyes to head to the publisher.