On the last day of September, her net profit reached four thousand yuan, of course, this was the income after deducting five hundred yuan for the stall fee, which made Gong Mingxia very happy.
In this month and a half, she had basically made up for the initial costs she had invested.
Since the Northeast restaurant was doing well, she had now given up on cold dishes, occasionally placing a bowl of spicy cabbage on the stall, offering a bit for free if needed; instead of cold dishes, she always had triangular rice balls and had added mixed vegetable rice. Those sweet and spicy sauces, chili sauces, etc., she made them herself.
At home, ten jars of spicy cabbage and dried radish were already pickled and placed on the balcony, making quick versions on the spot if they weren’t soaked well.
Being able to sell box lunches so fancily, she was probably the only cook on the street who could make Northeast specialties.
She thought that if one day she could open a restaurant, she would likely focus on Northeast specialties.
Of course, the flavors she made might not be the most authentic, because memory couldn’t be perfect, so she added her own methods; as long as she tasted them and found them OK, she would boldly introduce them to the stall. She would then improve them based on everyone’s suggestions; if there was a new dish, she would let everyone know in advance and offer it for free, getting feedback, which was an effective way of improving.
Aunt Wang now spent almost all day at their house except for sleeping at her home at night, they cooked and had meals together every day, and she even helped her with picking up the kids. Thus, Aunt Wang’s attempts to give her money for meals were always refused, and the two families lived like one, their bond growing stronger. Even her grandson Cao Yang would come to eat at her place occasionally.
If she received a letter from Cao Yuan, she took the time to earnestly reply about the aunt’s recent situation. Although they hadn’t become husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend, their way of getting along could be said to be like siblings. Aunt Wang wanted to recognize her as an adopted daughter, only waiting for the end of the year, when the family was together, to announce it, and she had agreed.
At the end of September, aside from these two pieces of good news, there were two more.
Firstly, the demo she sent to the record company received serious feedback, and they even proposed a meeting. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel_fіre.net
Secondly, after several communications, her collaboration with Meng Xiuying was finalized. To hold each other accountable, Xiuying had gotten a professional lawyer to draft a fifty-fifty contract for them. Initially, she had suggested taking only forty percent, knowing that Meng Xiuying’s writing was challenging, but Xiuying insisted on fifty-fifty, claiming that without her engaging stories, she might not come up with such a great work.
After repeated discussions from Xiuying, they finally settled on a fifty-fifty share, and they decided to name their pen name using one character from each of their names—a new identity, "Ming Xiu," was born.
The record company truly appreciated the demo she had sent and showed their sincerity by reaching out.
She had two options: a one-time outright purchase, where they would pay a one-time buyout fee of ten thousand yuan.
Or, if she chose to receive royalties, she could get one percent of the earnings.
Seeing this royalty offer, Gong Mingxia laughed, "Are you taking advantage of my lack of industry knowledge, or do you think I don’t realize the value of my song?"
"I might not understand music, but I managed to hum the tune. Although it requires more effort from your side, such inspiration is rare. You only need to fine-tune it with different musical adjustments and incorporate suitable lyrics. Comparatively, composing must be the hardest, alright, even if it’s not easy for you, my royalties shouldn’t be cheapened to this extent, right?"