Luo Yaxi: "Brother Qi, we meet again!"
Qi Tongwei snapped out of his daze as well: "Hello! Is Handong really this small??"
Hahaha...
Luo Yaxi: Brother Qi, Handong is not small at all, there are thirteen cities...
It was just that Luo Yaxi happened to be an editor at the provincial publishing house, and the manuscript Gao Yuliang had brought over was sent directly to their review department.
The moment Luo Yaxi saw the contact address, she realized it was Qi Tongwei, and at first she had marveled at how coincidental fate could be.
Qi Tongwei was her benefactor, so she had hastily taken on the project herself, which led to today's chance encounter...
Qi Tongwei was also somewhat surprised that someone so young was already an editor at the provincial publishing house.
It seemed this young girl likely had influential backers behind her; ordinary people could never be born right in Rome without ever needing to stand at a crossroads.
However, Qi Tongwei quickly reined in his thoughts. No matter how good other people were, they were still other people, and Qi Tongwei remained nothing more than a farmer's son.
"Thank you, Editor Luo, for taking an interest in *Those Things About the Ming Dynasty*. I am truly flattered."
Watching Qi Tongwei speak like that, Luo Yaxi laughed, her shoulders shaking with mirth.
"Brother Qi, what you wrote is really good. Many editors read it and all wanted to sign you."
"I came here today specifically to sign the contract with you!"
A look of joy crossed Qi Tongwei's face. He hadn't expected that a book written by him could still get approved for publication in this era.
Qi Tongwei had assumed readers' tastes varied across eras, but it seemed that classic works were bound to be popular everywhere.
Qi Tongwei hurriedly asked: "May I ask what kind of contract Editor Luo has prepared?"
Every type of contract meant different things for Qi Tongwei's interests. What if the publishing house tried to buy out the copyright for the book? Given the quality of *Those Things About the Ming Dynasty*, it was bound to become increasingly popular later on, but by then it would have nothing to do with Qi Tongwei.
Therefore, Qi Tongwei naturally wanted a royalty contract, ideally with an advance payment on the manuscript for the early stages, so that it could provide him with a steady stream of income.
Luo Yaxi had no idea what Qi Tongwei was up to. Ordinary authors were usually overjoyed just to be signed by a publishing house; who would ever care about the specifics of the contract—unless they were already famous writers, of course.
Yet Qi Tongwei was still an absolute nobody at present.
Luo Yaxi said: "Brother Qi, writing is something that builds up over time. For now, the press can only sign a royalty contract with you; buyouts generally only apply to works that have already proven themselves!"
"However, I believe Brother Qi will definitely write better and better in the future."
Hearing that, Qi Tongwei felt a momentary pang of discouragement, even though this was practically pie falling from the sky!
Qi Tongwei quickly said: "Alright, alright, alright... We'll sign the royalty contract then, I'm willing!"
Luo Yaxi was also puzzled. Royalty contracts relied entirely on the quality of the book—was Qi Tongwei really this confident?
"Brother Qi, it seems you have a lot of confidence in your work. But the press also specially approved an extra ten thousand yuan for you because of your work."
Luo Yaxi took an envelope out of her bag. Looking at the crisp green bills, Qi Tongwei suddenly felt a wave of suspicion.
No matter how well Qi Tongwei had written, they wouldn't just hand out a reward of ten thousand yuan, would they?
After all, Qi Tongwei currently had zero achievements to show for himself, and ten thousand yuan was no small sum nowadays...
Unless there was something else going on behind this!
Just to be safe, Qi Tongwei declined: "Editor Luo, this is too much. I haven't achieved anything yet, so how could there be such a huge reward?"
Luo Yaxi was also baffled. When the leadership at the press handed the task to her, she had also thought it was incredible.
However, the leadership kept insisting that it was a work of potential and was worth this much money.
Although Luo Yaxi remained half-skeptical, since the leadership had explicitly said so, she certainly had to deliver the money to Qi Tongwei.
Luo Yaxi: "Brother Qi, the leadership specifically instructed you to take this. It wouldn't look good for me to go back without it, and they must be giving it to you because your writing is just that good."
After that, the two of them politely declined and deferred to each other for a long time. Eventually, Qi Tongwei couldn't hold out against her persistence and had no choice but to accept it. After all, he could just think of this as an advance on his royalties!
Luo Yaxi: "Brother Qi, leave me your pager number so it'll be easier to contact you!"
Qi Tongwei scratched his head. Although pagers weren't as expensive as the "Big Brother" mobile phones, Qi Tongwei still didn't own one and always used his office telephone.
Qi Tongwei: "Editor Luo, to be honest, pagers are a bit expensive. Once I have some money from this, I'll definitely buy one and let you know!"
Luo Yaxi hadn't expected Qi Tongwei to be in such financial difficulty, but thinking of what Qi Tongwei had accomplished, she couldn't help admiring him even more.
"I'm off then, Brother Qi. See you another time..." said Luo Yaxi.
Qi Tongwei waved goodbye.
Gazing at the bundle of crisp green bills in his hand, Qi Tongwei felt a surge of excitement. At the very least, he could now be considered a ten-thousand-yuan millionaire.
However, Qi Tongwei didn't plan to save this money; he intended to buy some liquor stocks, as the returns on those were phenomenal.
As for why he wasn't buying anything else, Qi Tongwei would just say that tech stocks and liquor stocks from future generations were the only ones he knew...
As for which stocks in the 1990s would skyrocket, Qi Tongwei certainly couldn't remember.
While Qi Tongwei was daydreaming:
In a white building inside the Provincial Party Committee compound:
Liang Qunfeng was on the phone: "Is this the Yantai City Procuratorate? I am Liang Qunfeng from the Provincial Party Committee. There is a Qi Tongwei in your system who has met the seniority requirements. Governor Luo's intention is to transfer him to Jinshan County to serve as the mayor of Qingping Town. You need to follow up on this and get his organizational ties sorted out as quickly as possible."
"Right, this needs to be done fast..."
Chief Prosecutor Qiao was completely dumbfounded at this moment. Didn't you say just a short while ago that you wanted to temper and train Qi Tongwei? How did things change in the blink of an eye...
Besides, organizational ties were managed by the Organization Department; how was Qiao Renliang supposed to handle that?
Yet he couldn't disobey the leadership's orders. Qiao Renliang instantly felt a splitting headache—he was in the judicial system and couldn't just meddle in the Organization Department!
He had no choice but to borrow the tiger's might to intimidate people...
Qiao Renliang could only bite the bullet and take a trip to the Municipal Party Committee Organization Department...
Qiao Renliang also played a clever little trick of his own.
To his surprise, using Liang Qunfeng's name made things move at lightning speed. Regardless of what system he was from, the moment he additionally dropped Governor Luo's name, the processing efficiency took off like a rocket.
Qiao Renliang had truly witnessed the efficiency driven by power.
Cross-regional transfers required the consent of the Provincial Party Committee, the release of personnel by the local authority, and the approval of the receiving locality.
Yet with two provincial-level leaders making the calls, nothing posed a problem anymore.
Soon, Jinshan County Head Li Dakang also received the notification, and he expressed a certain degree of dissatisfaction.
Li Dakang had originally intended to keep this position for his own trusted subordinate.
However, an arm cannot twist a thigh, and in the end he had no choice but to compromise.
Within a few days, Qi Tongwei's new appointment came down: Notice on the Appointment of Comrade Qi Tongwei
"To all party committees and departments of the county committee, township party committees, county-level direct organs, and party leadership groups of people's organizations: Pursuant to the notification from the County Party Committee Organization Department dated March 28, 1994, Comrade Qi Tongwei is hereby appointed as the Deputy Secretary of the Qingping Town Party Committee of Jinshan County, and is nominated as a candidate for the principal leadership position of the township government (one-year probationary period)."
Wang Xianhai stared at Qi Tongwei's transfer report on his desk, lost in thought. Although Qingping Township was a remote area, it was still a genuine second-in-command position and wielded real power, certainly much better than the narcotics squad.
Could Qi Tongwei have found a new path to the top?
Wang Xianhai felt a sudden wave of lingering fear. If Qi Tongwei had bypassed the connections of the third-in-command of the Provincial Party Committee, then he was definitely not someone Wang Xianhai could afford to offend.
The more Wang Xianhai thought about it, the more worried he became, a chill creeping down his spine.
Wang Xianhai hurriedly summoned Qi Tongwei to his office.
Qi Tongwei assumed Wang Xianhai was urging him to leave as soon as possible, so he ignored the person sent to deliver the message; he was leaving soon anyway.
Qi Tongwei went about packing his things unbothered.
Seeing that Qi Tongwei still hadn't shown up, it was now Wang Xianhai's turn to panic. He came to the office in person to find Qi Tongwei.
Upon seeing Qi Tongwei, Wang Xianhai did a complete about-face.
He grasped Qi Tongwei's hand and said: "Little Qi, you've finally come through the hardships! Didn't the squad lack an establishment slot? So I filed a report with the Municipal Bureau, and the approval from the Municipal Party Committee has also come down. They want you to go to Qingping Town to serve as Deputy Party Secretary."
"You mustn't let down the squad's painstaking efforts on your behalf!"
Qi Tongwei froze for a moment.
His transfer order had indeed come out...
However, he certainly didn't believe that this fat man in front of him had helped him. It must have been Gao Yuliang, and Wang Xianhai was merely taking credit for someone else's deed.
Yet given Wang Xianhai's rhetoric and the fact that he had personally come to find him, Qi Tongwei couldn't openly reject him and disrespect him to his face either; otherwise, he would undoubtedly be slapped with the label of lacking organizational discipline.
Qi Tongwei offered a couple of flattering remarks...
Suddenly, warm cheers of congratulations erupted in the office. Ordinarily, people kept their distance from Qi Tongwei out of fear of power, but at this moment, congratulatory voices surrounded him on all sides.
At this moment, Qi Tongwei's heart was thumping with excitement. The gears of fate were finally turning, and he, Qi Tongwei, had finally taken his very first step.
Blood rushed through his entire body, filling him with vitality.
Before leaving, Qi Tongwei even had a drinking session with the people from his unit... A transfer could convey far too much information, and given that Qi Tongwei had always been bold and hard-working, people didn't hold a bad impression of him—they had simply been constrained by power.
Qi Tongwei drank a bit too much this time and ended up howling and vomiting quite a bit in his dormitory.
The next day, as Qi Tongwei looked around his office, he knew he was about to embark on an entirely new journey...