Chapter 76 - 67: After Finishing the Official Business
The head of the National Publishing House in Carterburg was an old man with a white beard. His secretary led Malin and his companions into the office. The old man, wearing thick, black-framed glasses, gestured for the three to sit down and then motioned to his secretary to go to the liquor cabinet, "What would you like to drink?"
"Coffee, with two sugars," Faye chose.
"Sweet milk," said Maya, followed by a yawn. The little Cat Girl had found the journey here to be deadly dull and it looked like the boredom was going to continue. Plus, she couldn’t enjoy her brother petting her head to comfort her, and she was on the brink of boredom induced explosion.
"Black tea with a splash of brandy," Malin felt he should have some style, like ordering the special beverage of some admiral whose leg artery had been shattered by an assassin’s bullet.
"Children should not drink alcohol," the white-bearded gentleman remarked—not addressing Malin directly, but gesturing to his secretary to just make a cup of black tea, then he looked at Malin with an air of detachment. "Speaking of which, Mr. Yang Wenli, even though we’ve already met, the thought that the Holmes detective series was a collaboration between you and... Miss Philétte Liger, is still quite incredible."
Clearly, the white-bearded old man recognized Faye, but within the National Publishing House, only the president was allowed to know the author’s real name; all other communications were conducted under the author’s pen name.
"No, actually, it was all written by Yang Wenli alone. I just provided some information about the Central Administrative Province," said Faye, shaking her head with a smile.
"And this would be..." The old man was curious, noticing the addition of the little Leopard Girl from their last meeting.
"My sister, the model for the protagonist’s appearance. Don’t mind her," Malin finished speaking and pulled out a stack of manuscript pages from his bag: "This is the second volume, and the general direction of the third and fourth volumes. Please take a look," and then he placed them on the desk.
The old man took them and flipped through, reading with attention, which gave Malin the chance to sip his black tea.