Huayu: Were you ever a top star before writing nonsense?

Shen Can drank the hand-drip coffee that Xu Xinran had given him.

To be honest, I enjoy having a hot coffee occasionally while I'm writing.

Don't ask me how high the sun is, I'll tell you how genuine I am.

Don't ask me how many stars there are, I'll tell you there are many.

—Yang Gangli, "Gently Tell You"

Shen Can's phone suddenly rang.

When Xu Xinran heard the ringtone, she blinked and thought to herself, "He's quite nostalgic, that's good, old songs have a certain charm."

Shen Can picked up his phone and glanced at it. He recognized the caller ID; it was from the editor at Dianping, "Ruthless."

Although he didn't specifically save the number in his contacts, he still remembered it very clearly because he already possessed the talent of "super memory".

Shen Can answered the phone.

"ruthless?"

"Great God, you still remember me?" Qin Shu's surprised voice came from the other end of the phone.

Originally, she was quite uneasy because she had made many phone calls to get in touch with Shen Can last time, and the subsequent communication between them was not pleasant.

She was worried that Shen Can wouldn't answer her calls, or that even if he did, it would be difficult to communicate.

She found this little boy to be particularly difficult to deal with.

Unexpectedly, Shen Can still remembered her.

This is a good start.

Shen Can took a sip of coffee and asked, "You called me because you changed your mind?"

When he heard the editor, "Ruthless," refer to him as a "master," he immediately guessed that Ruthless must have already heard his songs, otherwise his attitude wouldn't have changed so drastically. Look, he's even using a respectful term now.

He never received this kind of treatment from the editor at Dianping in his past life.

Qin Shu hummed in agreement, her voice carrying a slight lisp:

"Yes, congratulations, your book has been accepted. Please send me an address and I will mail you the contract."

Shen Can nodded slightly. Early novel websites did indeed sign contracts in this way, unlike the convenient online contracts of the future.

Shen Can pondered for a few seconds and said, "I can sign a contract, but I have three conditions."

"Tell me about it."

Qin Shu's heart skipped a beat. Three conditions?!

Please don't ask for anything outrageous, like asking her to post photos, meet up with you, or start a relationship. Her male authors know she's a female editor, and it's not uncommon for people to do things like that.

There were even some struggling authors who wanted to invite her to have "textual sex" together.

That's completely out of line.

Love you my foot! She's a proper editor, a virgin, why would she want to have "textual love" with you?

Shen Can's voice came through the phone again:

"First, regarding the revenue sharing for novels, I want the revenue sharing treatment you platinum authors receive."

Second, all copyright rights to the novel belong to me.

Third, editors and reviewers must not modify my novel without my permission.

At this moment, in the editors' office, everyone knew that Qin Shu was calling Shen Can, and some of them were quite concerned about it.

In their eyes, Qin Shu seemed to have listened to a long phone call, and then she quickly opened her mouth wide and stared wide-eyed, as if she had been frightened.

"No..." Qin Shu suddenly stood up from her chair, her face pale, and exclaimed, "Are you crazy? How could I possibly agree to such a condition?"

That's insane!

Qin Shu felt that Shen Can was too arrogant. How dare a new author make such domineering demands!

Take revenue sharing as an example.

The revenue split between the website and platinum authors is 30/70, with the website taking 30% and the platinum author taking 70%. However, that's the treatment for platinum authors. For regular contracted authors, the split is 50/50.

Secondly, there's the copyright of the novel.

What Dian Niang wants is the copyright agency and operation rights for the author's novel, but Shen Can's implication is that he won't even give Dian Niang that right?

It's fine if he doesn't allow editors and reviewers to change the content of his novel, as long as his content doesn't violate the rules.

However, considering all these conditions, Qin Shu felt that if she agreed to them, the outside world would think that Dingniang had lost the battle and signed an unequal treaty with Shen Can.

"Why don't you just buy Dian Niang out?" she said, her chest heaving with frustration.

The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.

Shen Can rested his chin on his hand as he pondered, and this reminded him that it might not be a bad idea after all.

He recalled that in 15, when Tencent acquired Shanda Literature (including Dianzian.com), it cost approximately 50 billion yuan.

Given the number of copyrighted IPs controlled by Dianniang, it's actually a worthwhile deal.

Of course, he doesn't have the funds to acquire Dian Niang right now, but he can set it as a goal to strive for.

He felt that as an online novel author, he should indeed have the ambition to acquire the largest novel website in the industry.

As for the three conditions he proposed to Wuqing, they were not just wishful thinking.

As mentioned earlier, in this era, Dianping has a powerful competitor, which we'll call Digital Station for now.

In an attempt to challenge the dominance of Dianping (the company behind the digital website) in the industry, the website went on a spending spree, which actually threatened Dianping's position.

—What kind of shonen anime is this anyway?

However, in the second half of 07, thanks to Shanda's investment, Diaoniang stabilized the situation.

At this point, is the digital station willing to accept this?

When it sees a good opportunity, will it once again invest heavily and go all in?

Would you dare to gamble, Mom?

This is the source of Shen Can's confidence to make demands of Dian Niang.

He was certainly loyal to Dian Niang, but he also wanted to gain more benefits.

"Seize the opportunity and create chaos!" Shen Can thought to himself.

On the other end of the phone, Qin Shu heard a long silence from Shen Can, and her heart grew increasingly uneasy.

This little boy is such a troublemaker.

She secretly lamented to herself, wishing she had signed Shen Can's novel contract decisively back then.

Unfortunately, there's no medicine for regret in this world.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Qin Shu asked nervously.

She was praying that Shen Can would agree soon and sign the contract quickly; she was so anxious that she was about to have her period.

Shen Can said, "Okay, beautiful lady, please pass on the conditions I proposed to your boss. If you change your mind, please feel free to call me again anytime."

Although Shen Can calling her "beauty" made Qin Shu secretly pleased, when she heard Shen Can's familiar words afterward, Qin Shu felt like she was going crazy and about to cry.

"Don't do this to me, big brother!" Qin Shu was on the verge of tears. She wanted to reach through the phone line and hit him.

Even if Shen Can is a super handsome guy, she still wants to pin him down and rub him against the ground.

Shen Can's voice was very gentle:

"Let's talk next time. I look forward to your reply."

Beep.

The phone hangs up.

Qin Shu held the phone, completely bewildered.

Her colleagues stared at her in astonishment, and one colleague from Northeast China couldn't help but ask:

"What's wrong, girl? You couldn't convince him?"

My colleagues were all puzzled.

That shouldn't be the case. It's just signing a novel contract, right? It's a very simple task.

Qin Shu stood there for more than ten seconds, her expression changing rapidly from anger to dejection, and her body was trembling slightly.

She admitted that during the phone conversation, she was completely overwhelmed by the man and left sweating profusely.

It was a nightmare!

"I wish I could really convince him."

Qin Shu left those words and walked toward the editor-in-chief's office.

She was prepared to be scolded severely.

"It's really tough being a worker," she sighed softly, her legs trembling slightly again.

Her colleagues stared at her retreating figure, exchanging bewildered glances.

What heinous crime did the author, who used the pen name "Lin Yuan," commit against Qin Shu?

How could a beautiful flower be destroyed in an instant, leaving it with no will to live?