"What are you looking at?" Su Hai approached, feeling a bit uneasy under Ningningās gaze.
"Nothing," Sheng Ning dared only think to herself.
"When will you give me the manuscript?"
"Are you talking about the manuscript for the Phoenix novel?" Sheng Ning had been working overtime every night, and the plot and outline were already etched into her mind, making the writing process smooth. However, handwriting was inevitably slow compared to typing on a computer. Moreover, she also spent quite some time practicing dance and yoga each day, so she had only completed half of the text in this period.
"I havenāt finished it, and Iāve submitted it to Zhi Yin magazine."
"Why hasnāt it been published?" Su Hai frowned. He seemed to remember her saying so last time, but Zhi Yin had not published it after such a long wait. Strange, with the current fame of āRebirthā, it couldnāt have gone unnoticed.
"Perhaps it wasnāt selected?" She had sent the beginning part before returning to her hometown to get married; there had been no response until now, so she guessed that the magazine probably thought this kind of novel was not mainstream enough to catch their eye.
"Heh heh..." Su Hai let out a cold laugh, "They must be blind. Give me the manuscript, however much you have."
"Why should I give it to you? Havenāt you been transferred from the Inspection Department? Plus, our Song and Dance Troupe canāt make use of a novel." Sheng Ning was deeply wary of Su Hai, that sly fox. The memories from her past life were too vivid, and she couldnāt easily categorize him as a good person.
"What do you want?"
Su Hai touched his face. Did he really look like a villain with ill-intent? Many office girls admired him; why was it that Ningning disliked him so much? She still refused to even call him āuncleā.
"Iām now overseeing culture and sports, itās only fitting that you give it to me. I can help you with promotion for free, are you really unwilling?" Su Hai made a disgusted face, reluctantly saying, "If it werenāt for the old man asking me to look after you, would I need this?"
"Really?"
"Iām the Vice President now, would I need to scam you? Besides, with the old man as your backing, who would dare to scam you?" This darn girl, he thought, always needed him to resort to mean and shameless coercion before sheād agree. A straightforward request always failed.
Sheng Ning thought it over and it indeed seemed reasonable. The future President wouldnāt bother with small schemes. She didnāt want to change her current life, and to prevent anyone from finding out she was the āRebirthā, the best choice at present was to collaborate with Su Hai.
"Wait for me, Iāll get the manuscript, but we need to set down some ground rules."
"Speak!"
"Firstly, we can maintain a long-term partnership. We can split the profits eighty-twenty, and Iāll give all my future manuscripts to you. However, you cannot disclose this to anyone, nor can you threaten me."
"Agreed! Iāll take eighty, you take twenty."
Sheng Ning was about to head back to her dormitory when she heard this remark and stopped dead in her tracks. Was there such a shameless person in the world, boldly claiming eighty percent?
"And you have the nerve to request eighty as the Vice President?"
"I was joking. I wonāt take a single cent; Iām a public servant and canāt be engaged in business."
"Thatās unacceptable." Sheng Ning insisted, "Thereās no such thing as a free lunch. If you donāt take it, Iāll feel uneasy."
"Alright! If it really makes money in the future, weāll donate twenty percent of it."
Sheng Ning gave him a peculiar look, thinking to herself that he truly was a politician, never forgetting about crafting his political image.
On the way back, Sun Gan said with a smile, "Vice President, Comrade Sheng Ning seems to really look down on you, doesnāt she?"
"As if I didnāt know that," Su Hai replied irritably, "That girl has such a strong prejudice against me! Itās all because of your terrible attitude when you first met her; what do you expect?"