Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 123 Mutual Respect and Contract Signing

The next morning.

Huizhou.

On Binjiang Road, Chang Qingshu was holding two pickled vegetable pancakes in his left hand and a cup of soy milk in his right hand, eating as he walked. It seemed that he was enjoying the riverside scenery along the way, but in fact he was trying to dispel his melancholy.

Yesterday evening, he received a call from a good friend at the headquarters.

On the phone, his friend told him that at the meeting yesterday afternoon, most of the participants were opposed to agreeing to Cao Sheng's conditions and did not agree to give Cao Sheng a share of the royalties.

But these people all want to sign Cao Sheng's new book.

You want both.

They did offer a lot of suggestions to impress Cao Sheng, such as giving him a car, a house, or a beautiful woman...

It seems that as long as Cao Sheng doesn't want a share of the royalties, other conditions are negotiable.

But he had contact with Cao Sheng yesterday, and he felt that Cao Sheng was not so easy to deal with.

Could Cao Sheng, who could say "I want to set this precedent", be moved by things like cars, houses and beautiful women?
If no other publishing house had competed for his new book contract, perhaps those conditions might have impressed him.

But, don’t those people at the headquarters know that many publishing houses including Adventurer, Hetu, Shuopin, Gaia, etc. are preparing to send people to contact Cao Sheng?
After receiving this call from his friend, he did not sleep well the whole night and stayed awake most of the night. His eyes were still red at this moment.

He no longer had the confidence to sign Cao Sheng's new book.

I no longer have any hope for my future.

He wanted to laugh a little.

He discovered Zhongyuan Yidianhui in the mainland, and Zhongyuan Yidianhui's "I Want to Become an Immortal" topped the sales list of Baodao Books for more than half a year. Who could have expected that these achievements would not only make him highly praised by the company, but also completely ruin his future?
He was a little tired from walking, so he sat down on a bench by the river.

Continue looking at the river view and eating pancakes.

Suddenly, the cell phone in his pocket rang.

He was stunned for a moment before he reacted. He quickly put down the soy milk in his hand and took out his mobile phone.

Caller ID: President

Chang Qingshu suddenly became nervous. At this time, the president called him and he thought he had an answer.

Did you follow the opinions of the majority at the company meeting and resolutely refuse to give Cao Sheng a share of the royalties?
Or will the president go against the crowd and agree to Cao Sheng's conditions?

As his own future was at stake, Chang Qingshu found his heart beating faster.

His reason clearly told him that the president would most likely adopt the opinions of the majority of people at the meeting.

But he still held on to a glimmer of hope: What if the president went against the majority opinion?

The phone was connected, "Good morning, President!"

After he said hello, he didn't hear the president speak immediately. There was silence on the phone for a while before the president's voice was heard.

"Ashu! Agree to Cao Sheng's request and go sign his new book!"

"what?"

Changqingshu was surprised to hear such an instruction.

He couldn't believe his ears.

I can't believe that the president really went against the majority opinion and made such a decision.

He couldn't believe that the president actually said it so concisely. He didn't let him try to see if he could dissuade Cao Sheng from wanting to share the royalties first, but directly asked him to agree to Cao Sheng's conditions.

No bargaining at all.

He couldn't help but ask, "Boss! How about giving him a car? Or a house? If that doesn't work, then agree to his terms?"

The president: "No need! Just agree to his terms and sign his new book contract as soon as possible. Don't make any unnecessary troubles! Don't let any accidents happen!"

Chang Qingshu had a complicated expression, happy yet confused. "President, I heard that at the company's meeting yesterday afternoon, most people were against giving him a share of the royalties. Why? Do you really not care about setting this precedent?"

The president was silent for a moment, then sighed, "How could I not care? It's just... I thought about it for a long time last night, and I asked myself: If his new book is signed to our rival, and if the sales of his new book are not worse than "I Want to Become an Immortal", can I accept this consequence? Can Xinchang accept this consequence?"

Chang Qingshu couldn't help but say, "But it's also possible that the sales of his new book are far inferior to "I Want to Become an Immortal"."

President: "Yes! It is possible. But even in this case, if we sign this book, we will just pay him more royalties. At least we have eliminated the possibility that our opponents will use this book to beat us to a pulp, don't you think?"

Evergreen: “…”

Chang Qingshu suddenly understood the president's choice.

In order not to give opponents any chance.

Regardless of whether Cao Sheng’s new book sales can replicate the miracle of “I Want to Become an Immortal”, the president will not allow this new book to appear under the name of the rival company.

"Okay! But, President, how much royalties should we give him? What's our bottom line?"

Evergreen asked again.

……

Cao Sheng saw the evergreen tree again.

This time I met him in the department head's office.

Counselor Lu Xiangwei came to the classroom to find him personally and said that Xinchang’s manuscript editor was waiting for him at the department head’s place.

He followed Lu Xiangwei to the department office building and the office of the department director Wu Chengping, and saw Chang Qingshu sitting on the sofa, drinking tea and chatting with Wu Chengping.

Seeing Cao Sheng, Chang Qingshu put down the teacup in his hand, stood up to greet him, with a smile on his face, "Cao Sheng, our president has agreed to your conditions, and he said he can give you a 12% share. This is our sincerity. We only have one request, and that is to sign the contract immediately. Is that okay with you?" As he spoke, he had already come close to Cao Sheng, with both hands stretched out.

Cao Sheng was surprised.

He subconsciously held Evergreen's hands.

The president mentioned by Changqingshu surprised him again.

The first time was when he wanted to raise his remuneration from 4,000 to 10,000 per episode.

He remembered that Chang Qingshu said at the time that there was no precedent in their company and that they had never increased the royalties so much at one time.

But not long after, Chang Qingshu conveyed the president's reply, and without any bargaining, he directly agreed to his conditions.

Today is the second time.

The president once again agreed to his conditions in full and still did not bargain.

Moreover, he was directly told to get 12% of the royalties.

This share ratio is already quite high in the mainland publishing industry, as new authors can usually only get around 8% of the profits.

Originally, he hoped that this time the traditional Chinese copyright would not only allow for a share of royalties, but also that the contract would be similar to the contract given to him by Changjiang Literature and Art.

He hopes that the sales of his new book will exceed a certain number so that he can get a higher percentage of royalties.

But at this moment, after feeling the president's sincerity, he suddenly didn't want to make any other requests.

There is no other reason, it’s just because the other party’s sincerity is enough.

As the saying goes: If someone respects me one foot, I will respect him one yard.

The other party had been so generous twice and didn't bargain with him. How could Cao Sheng have the nerve to go even further?
Cao Sheng decided on other conditions, which will be discussed in the next book.

He nodded to Chang Qingshu and said with a smile, "Sure! Since you are so straightforward, there is no need to say anything, just sign the contract right away!"

The evergreen tree was quite unexpected.

He suddenly felt that he couldn't quite understand President Cao Shenghe.

The president was unexpectedly generous.

He was very difficult to deal with yesterday. No matter how much persuasion he had, he would not agree to extend the length of "I Want to Become an Immortal". And no matter how much persuasion he had, Cao Sheng, who signed the new book contract with him, could be persuaded. But today he was so easy to talk to and agreed immediately?
Wu Chengping and Lu Xiangwei standing by were also quite surprised.

They didn't expect Cao Sheng to negotiate the work contract in this way.

They had just met and the publishing house had just stated the conditions, and Cao Sheng actually agreed to it right away?

How can you talk like that?

Can't you put forward some more conditions?
Lu Xiangwei winked at Cao Sheng repeatedly.

Wu Chengping also looked at Cao Sheng with strange eyes.

But Cao Sheng had no intention of changing his mind.

Chang Qingshu said he wanted to borrow the printer here to print two contracts, and Wu Chengping nodded in agreement.

Cao Sheng guessed that Xinchang was so eager to sign his new book this time because he knew that other publishing houses were looking for him to write articles.

Although neither Hetu nor Shuopin have given him a quote for his new book yet.

But he felt there was no need to listen to the two offers.

Even if the two companies could really offer him better conditions, he would still be willing to sign with Xinchang.

He likes money and wants to get more royalties.

But he is not the kind of person who is only interested in profit.

Xinchang showed him enough sincerity and respect. If he jumped to another publishing house for a little benefit, he would look down on himself.

If the news gets out, it will also affect his image.

In less than an hour, he and Xinchang had signed the new book contract and attached a copy of his ID card. He had always kept his ID card in his wallet, and it came in handy today.

After putting the just-signed contract into his briefcase, Chang Qingshu looked at Wu Chengping and Lu Xiangwei and said with a smile on his face, "Director Wu, I'm sorry to bother you today! Thank you very much for your hospitality! Teacher Lu also took the trouble to run a trip for me to invite Cao Sheng here. So, I'll treat you at noon today. Director Wu and Teacher Lu, please be kind enough to come and have a drink with me, Cao Sheng, how about this?"

Wu Chengping and Lu Xiangwei both declined with a smile.

But Chang Qingshu, who was in a good mood and had received a contract for Cao Sheng's new book, kept inviting them to have a drink. Wu Chengping and Lu Xiangwei declined twice, but finally agreed.

They also enjoyed drinking this kind of wine.

……

at the same time.

Zhao Guobin and Lin Baohui were sitting on a train to Huizhou. They were looking at the scenery outside the window with curiosity and surprise in their eyes.

Lin Baohui sighed: "Mr. Zhao, the mainland is really huge! The train has been running for so long, but we can't even see the end. If we were to take the train like this in Taipei, the train would have already entered the sea, right?"

Zhao Guobin nodded slightly, and said with emotion, "Yes! It's a pity that our ancestors left us such a vast territory, but we can only live on the treasure island. It's only today that we come to the place where our ancestors lived."

Lin Baohui smiled and said, "We are already very lucky. In the next few years, we will all live in the mainland for a long time to collect manuscripts for the company. If you are willing, you may be able to live here forever!"

Zhao Guobin shook his head, looked at her and said, "Don't think about these things for now. Our current task is to find a way to sign Zhongyuan Yidianhui's next work, Baohui! You have the advantage of gender and appearance. When we get to Huizhou, whether we can make an appointment with him or not depends mainly on you. Don't let me and the headquarters down!"

Lin Baohui nodded and patted her chest, "Don't worry! Leave it to me!"

(End of this chapter)