Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 389 The Battle for Simplified Chinese Publishing Rights
When Qidian was having a meeting to discuss paid reading...

Huizhou Teachers College.

Cui Xinyu had just finished breakfast at the school cafeteria when her phone rang.

She took out her phone and saw that the caller ID showed an unknown number, but she still answered it because she was Cao Sheng's assistant. Cao Sheng could ignore calls from unknown numbers, but she, as his assistant, didn't have that right.

Sure enough, as soon as the call connected, a woman's voice came through the phone.

"Hello! I'm from the Copyright Department of Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. Are you Ms. Cui, Mr. Cao Sheng's assistant?"

Cui Xinyu continued walking towards Cao Sheng's dormitory building, and nodded, "It's me! Hello! Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Oh, Miss Cui, hello! My surname is Yuan. I'm contacting you on behalf of our publishing house. We noticed that Mr. Cao has recently published a new book called 'The Romance of Chinese Martial Arts,' right?"

Cui Xinyu smiled. "Yes, that's right! He published a new book, the one you mentioned. What's up?"

Ms. Yuan: "Um, our company has wanted to cooperate with Mr. Cao for a long time, but unfortunately, Mr. Cao has never given us the opportunity. I wonder if we can discuss it this time? Ms. Cui! Don't worry, our company is very sincere. No matter what conditions Mr. Cao has, we can discuss them. What do you think?"

Cui Xinyu thought for a moment, "Okay! I will report your company's intentions to Mr. Cao. But could you please state your company's conditions first?"

Ms. Yuan: "Sure! We know Mr. Cao hasn't been receiving a fixed fee for a long time, right? As for royalty sharing, we can add two percentage points to the percentage that Changjiang Literature & Art Publishing House gives to Mr. Cao. If Mr. Cao has any other requests, we can discuss them."

Cui Xinyu's smile deepened. "Oh, I see. I understand. I'll go and tell Mr. Cao what you mean in a bit."

……

Shortly after ending a call with Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, Cui Xinyu received another call from Huacheng Publishing House.

"Hello! Are you Ms. Cui Xinyu, Mr. Cao Sheng's assistant?"

"Yes, that's me. May I ask who you are?"

"Oh, I'm from Huacheng Publishing House. I heard that Mr. Cao Sheng has published a new book. I'd like to talk to you about the publishing matters. I hope Mr. Cao can give us another opportunity to cooperate."

……

It takes less than ten minutes to walk from the canteen to Cao Sheng's residence.

Because Cui Xinyu answered two phone calls in succession, it took her more than half an hour to walk to the entrance of Cao Sheng's dormitory.

She knocked on the door, but no one answered. At this time, she guessed that Cao Sheng should have gone to class.

He took out a bunch of keys, opened the door, went inside, rolled up his sleeves, and started cleaning for Cao Sheng. He also had to wash Cao Sheng's clothes later.

This is also part of her job as an assistant.

To outsiders, she is Zhongyuan Yidianhui's assistant. People who know her identity respect her. For example, the staff from those two publishing houses were very polite to her on the phone.

But in reality, her job involves a wide variety of tasks.

Not only did she have to help Cao Sheng with his work, but she also had to take care of his personal life; she was practically the only thing missing was to warm his bed.

In fact, she had long been mentally prepared to warm his bed.

After all, she was a young and beautiful girl who came to be his assistant. She must have thought about whether she should obey or not if he made a move on her.

only……

When she first started working there, she felt conflicted and was always wary of Cao Sheng.

But as time went on, seeing that he still didn't make a move on her, she felt a sense of relief, but also a bit of inexplicable disappointment.

Occasionally, when she thinks about this, she can't help but wonder if she's not pretty enough.

As a result, I've lost my confidence.

But precisely because she didn't offer bed-warming services, she worked very hard in her other jobs, afraid of making any mistakes.

Even though she disliked cleaning and washing clothes, she still forced herself to clean Cao Sheng's place thoroughly every day and wash his clothes until they were spotless.

She felt that her only value in staying by Cao Sheng's side was in terms of work.

If she cannot perform these tasks to Cao Sheng's satisfaction, Cao Sheng will definitely replace her.

……

noon.

After having lunch, Cao Sheng returned to his dormitory.

I walked over to the shelf, picked out a can of Pu'er tea from the dozen or so kinds of tea, took out the teapot, and brewed some for myself.

He had been drinking tea for many years. Before his rebirth, he liked to keep several different kinds of tea at home. After his rebirth, he kept even more kinds of tea.

Drinking different kinds of beverages regularly keeps things fresh.

He had just started brewing the tea when there was a knock on the door.

He walked over and opened the door; Cui Xinyu was standing outside.

Cui Xinyu smiled and said, "Boss! I have some work to report to you."

Cao Sheng nodded and turned to walk towards the computer desk.

Cui Xinyu followed him in, closing the door behind her. She began her report: "Boss! This morning I received calls from six publishing houses, including Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, Huacheng Publishing House, and Rongcheng Publishing House. They all heard you have a new book and want to acquire the simplified Chinese publishing rights in mainland China. Their terms are very attractive. For example, Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House directly said they could add two percentage points to your original royalty percentage. The other publishing houses also said they are very sincere and asked us to name our terms. What do you think?" As she spoke, Cao Sheng had already sat down at his computer and turned it on.

Cui Xinyu followed beside Cao Sheng, waiting for Cao Sheng to make a statement.

Cao Sheng did not turn to look at him. Recently, he has gradually returned to the stern and brooding state he had been in some time ago.

He was intentionally experiencing or simulating the mindset of Wang Chao, the protagonist of the new book.

After listening to Cui Xinyu's report, he waved his hand and said calmly, "You are in charge of negotiating with those publishers regarding the simplified Chinese publication. In the end, select the three most suitable publishers and let me choose."

Cui Xinyu responded with an "oh".

After thinking for a moment, he said in a low voice, "Boss, I think since so many publishers have contacted us today, and there will probably be quite a few more contacting us tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and in the coming days, I don't think we need to rush to decide who to cooperate with. Let's wait and see what quotes these publishers give us. What do you think?"

Cao Sheng hummed in agreement.

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

Cui Xinyu shook her head, and seeing that Cao Sheng didn't turn to look at her, she quickly said, "No, that's all. That's the main thing for today."

Cao Sheng: "If you don't have any, then get out! I need to get to work."

He doesn't have a long lunch break each day, and he still has classes in the afternoon. If he wants to write a chapter during his lunch break, he can't waste any time.

Cui Xinyu knew about his habit, so she nodded, said goodbye, and left.

Hearing the dormitory door open and close, Cao Sheng opened the documents on his computer containing the draft, outline, and detailed outline.

The mouse clicked on one of the three documents from time to time, while looking at the latest chapter's ending plot in the draft, thinking about the settings in the outline and detailed outline, and brewing in the mind how to write the new chapter.
only……

He's been quite busy lately, and even though he doesn't want to spend time thinking about those things, he still can't quite control his thoughts right now.

Will Qidian's shareholders agree to launch paid reading?

We've already collaborated with Yangtze River Literature and Art Publishing House on several books. Are we really going to switch to them this time?
When will Chung Hsin-Tung and Tsai Nao-Yan come to the mainland? Will they come to see me?
And... will Wang Zuxian be able to get pregnant this time?

and many more.

No matter how hard he tried to drive away the various thoughts, he couldn't get rid of them.

He felt this might also be one of the reasons why the quality of works by those great writers in the original timeline declined significantly after they became famous.

There are too many things in life that distract them.

Many people want to benefit from them.

Thus, each resorted to their own methods.

Some people imitate the demons in "Journey to the West," treating them like Tang Sanzang and trying to have romantic relationships with them.

Some people try to acquire the copyright to one of their works and offer various incentives to lure them in.

Some people wanted to learn writing from them and tried every means to create opportunities to contact them.

……

In addition, they might want to start a side business or make some investments to make their money grow.

With so many things intertwined, how could they possibly write with the same single-minded focus they had before they became famous?
It seems that Cao Sheng is now facing the same problem.

Of course, as a seasoned loser, he still has the ability to adjust his state.

The difference is that before his rebirth, the troubles affecting his writing mainly came from the pressure of life after his book flopped. For example, if the book he was serializing was performing poorly, he didn't want to give up on it early and wanted to finish it to give the readers an explanation. So every day before he started writing, he needed to adjust his state and try to write various plots in a low mood.

It's hard.

Especially when he wanted to write chapters in a light and fun way, but he himself was not happy at all, the challenge became how to write a happy story when he was unhappy.

And now?
His worries are mostly happy worries.

But the methods for adjusting one's state are similar.

His method was simply to write it down.

Feeling restless and having a jumble of thoughts?
Never mind!
Write down whatever plot ideas come to mind.

Regardless of how well or poorly you write, just start writing.

Once it's finished writing, I'll revise and adjust it little by little.

Sure enough, before long, as he wrote, he gradually got into the zone, his mind slowly immersing himself in the plot of the new book, and all sorts of distracting thoughts disappeared without him even realizing it.

……

It's around 4 p.m.

While Cao Sheng was sparring with Sun Liang at his gym, he received a call from Bao Jianfeng.

"Mr. Cao! You finally answered the phone. I have some good news to tell you. This morning, all of our shareholders discussed the issue of paid reading. Although everyone was surprised at first and many felt that we shouldn't try paid reading so easily, I gradually convinced them, using almost all the reasons you told me last night. In addition, your new book being among the first to be released for sale gave them a lot of confidence. In short, all of our shareholders have agreed to launch paid reading."

(End of this chapter)