Writing Web Novels In America-Chapter 258 - 263: The Right to One’s Image

Queens County, a middle-class white neighborhood.

Bonnie thought about the police who patrolled outside from time to time, then looked at the fully furnished apartment, excitedly hugging her daughter Chris.

To be honest, after what happened yesterday, she knew that the young Asian wasn’t her daughter’s boyfriend, but rather something more akin to the recently popular "sugar daddy."

But does it matter?

Her mother, due to alcoholism, didn’t realize she was pregnant and giving birth, only to wake up in the hospital one day, suddenly finding herself with a daughter.

What about Bonnie?

She probably had a slightly better situation than Chris’s grandmother, as she was sober enough for a cesarean delivery and had an anesthetic injection.

But since the age of 15, Chris had begun showing tendencies toward alcoholism too, which made Bonnie suspect that there was something wrong with their family’s genes.

Although 20-year-old Chris had started to quit drinking, Bonnie, after several failures, understood this thing wasn’t easy to quit.

She watched Chris, beaming with excitement, moving books to the bedroom, and smilingly asked, "Are you really going to study at the community college?"

"Of course," Chris said as she pushed back her sweat-dampened blonde hair, "I need to get credits quickly so I can go to law school."

"That’s the only way I can truly help Wang."

Bonnie looked at her vibrant daughter and nodded in satisfaction.

Finding a goal to strive for, to escape the emptiness when sober, was indeed the most important thing in overcoming alcohol addiction.

She thought back to the Bronx District, the terrible neighborhood environment, and the fact that the only hardworking men they could meet were probably drug dealers...

"Being a lover is also a pretty good choice."

Bonnie picked up the clothes her daughter had taken off and couldn’t bear to wear again, giving them a look.

Wide-legged pants... they covered Chris’s short leg flaw, and they were branded, with a startling price tag.

"Caring for Chris, willing to spend the money," she mused, "In that case, even if she gets pregnant, he probably won’t run off, will he?"

Holding clothes as well was Caroline, in her Brooklyn apartment.

"Hermes, Max, it’s Hermes!" She pressed her face to the dress, making a look of intoxication, "I miss this feeling so much!" freewebnøvel_com

Max glanced at Caroline with a frown, feeling a bit embarrassed.

She pushed her away, careless on the surface but careful underneath, and folded the dress, "It’s just a dress, was it that extravagant?"

"Please, it costs over ten thousand US dollars," Caroline pointed around the room, "Do all our things combined even add up to ten thousand dollars?"

"And Max," Caroline teased with a giggling laugh, "is dating a billionaire any different from your past dates?"

She pondered briefly, then strutted with her long legs and did a "power bitch" pose, "I like these items; wrap them all up for me."

"Please," Max rolled her eyes, "it’s not that flamboyant."

"Plus, compared to a billionaire, his other identity is what makes him more commendable."

She reminisced about the events of the previous day and let out a long sigh, as if lifting some weight off her shoulders.

"At least, that’s what I think."

"Come on, Max! You’re not falling for your ’artist’ quirks again, are you?" Caroline stopped short, then flopped down onto the bed.

As she kicked her long legs in the air, she yelled, "Anyway, I think the identity of a billionaire is more important."

"This time, not only do I have to let those people know that Caroline is still alive, but I also plan to shop big!"

"Ha, I do miss the days when shopping didn’t require coupons!"

...

At this moment, Wang Jian was sitting in his office, diligently updating his novel.

"I won’t change what’s already been published; going forward, I absolutely, absolutely will not trouble myself anymore!"

I don’t know if it’s because readers rarely see this kind of free-spending writing, but they are very receptive to both the process of spending money and the process of being slapped in the face.

Even the car that Wang Jian had arranged for Carl to buy in secret, subsequently stolen by Fiona’s new boyfriend, sparked discussions for half a day in the comments and topic sections.

"Why buy a Cadillac when you can get a GTA game?"

"With all that money, why get a GTA? Just go for a Porsche!"

"Ferrari, I want a Ferrari!"

"When it comes to acceleration, Lamborghinis seem even better, right?"

Wang Jian looked at the readers’ discussions and nodded slightly.

"Once I’ve finished the other waitress’s face-slapping scene, I can pad out the word count with various luxury goods."

At this moment, his phone suddenly rang.

"Wang, I’ve got news. The owner of ’Brewer’s Million Gift’ is going to sue you."

"Because of Viacom Group’s involvement, Manhattan District Court will process it quickly and has opened up the rights for a live broadcast."

Live broadcast?

Wang Jian was stunned for a moment.

Although he had anticipated the lawsuit, he really didn’t expect NBC to want to broadcast it live.

In his mind, NBC would first hype him up as a "genius writer," then ambiguously report on plagiarism, making him feel the shift from "universally chased" to "universally pointed at."

To deal with this, Wang Jian’s strategy was to leak photos to the members of the Writers Association, provided they couldn’t be definitively pinned down for plagiarism.

Then have ABC and CBS interview some of these well-known writers.

This would not only avoid concerns from ABC and CBS about starting a media war but also preserve his own largest base through the influence of these well-known writers.

No matter what, he couldn’t be deemed a plagiarist—was NBC going to broadcast the opposition’s loss?

Could he have misunderstood NBC?

No!

Wang Jian immediately thought of football games—where the referee’s rulings of fouls or no fouls are still subjectively criticized by the audience under the commentator’s lead.

At best, people might think it was a misjudgment by the referee.

"And because of what the audience sees on screen, they will be even more convinced of their own views," Wang Jian’s fingers tapped lightly on the desk, "So the explanatory power of well-known writers can be imagined."

Additionally, plagiarism cases usually involve manuscripts, which are highly technical, and not something average readers would understand.

However...

Wang Jian opened a drawer and tugged at the corner of his mouth, "But my evidence is a photograph that everyone can understand!"

"It’s okay," he said to Lehman, and then immediately thought of Caroline, "By the way, are there any gatherings on Wall Street lately? Get me two invitations."

"Do you really think it’s okay?" Lehman asked. "We can ask Manhattan District Court to choose to have a closed hearing."

"The Rodney King case was first reported by NBC. Cops who enforced the law normally are now in prison!"

Yes, the opposition is NBC, Viacom, and ABC and CBS might even buckle under the pressure and choose to ignore him!

So perhaps the only downside to a live broadcast is confirming that he’s a scumbag?

However, a writer’s character allowed him to be fearless.

"It really is okay!" Wang Jian pondered and added, "Can we request that the Manhattan District Court requires the case to be broadcast in its entirety without editing?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, Wang Jian called Matthew.

"We need to sign a new contract with those three ladies to secure their portrait rights."

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