Chapter 46

In the last two months, a total of three companies had offered to buy the TV series and web series rights of the book Great Dispute .

One of them was too low to negotiate, so Night Tour directly blocked it.

The remaining two, Mingxu Entertainment and Yuanxuan Media, were offering 10 million and 8 million respectively.

It was a nice day today.

When Li Shuoxing got off the plane, the blue sky was filled with evening sunlight and the city was enveloped in a golden-red glow, dazzling and vibrant.

At the airport, he met up with Night Tour, who came to pick him up.

Night Tour was 35 or 36 years old. He had half-length hair with slightly curly ends, drooping eyelids, heavy dark circles under his eyes, and stubble on his chin. He didn’t look like an editor-in-chief of a literary website, but rather like a young artist who played guitar in a subway tunnel.

Li Shuoxing said to the person who came up, “Long time no see.”

Night Tour: “Long time no see.”

After he said that, he sized up the person.

He was wearing sneakers, jeans, a sweater and a basic long black down jacket over it, and carrying an ordinary leather backpack on his back. Although the leather backpack was large, it was soft and collapsed, as if it didn’t contain much.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Where’s your other luggage?”

Li Shuoxing: “What luggage? I’ve got everything here.”

Night Tour reminded, “You’ll be here for at least five to seven days. Will you have enough clothes? You only spoke about the film and television matter this morning. Mingxu’s side is easy to talk to. We can see them tomorrow. Yuanxuan has just replied. We have to arrange for the fourth day. And then tossing back and forth, seven days is a conservative estimate.”

Li Shuoxing didn’t care. “If I don’t have clothes, I’ll just buy them here. I specially booked a hotel in the centre of the shopping district, where I can go downstairs to eat and buy clothes, with everything I need. I’ve got just three things in this bag.”

Night Tour was a little interested. “Phone and laptop, what else?”

Li Shuoxing: “A box of underpants.”

Night Tour gave Li Shuoxing a thumbs up.

They walked through the crowd coming and going at the airport, entered the underground parking lot, and got on the car.

The black car slowly drove out of the airport.

As time passed, the golden-red hue began to fade, and the night, along with the neon, came up from all around.

In the backseat of the car, Li Shuoxing absentmindedly watched the traffic outside the window, but the thoughts in his mind scattered to tomorrow’s meeting…

***

10am the next day.

When Li Shuoxing and Night Tour arrived at Mingxu, the project head welcomed them and said with a smile, “Hello, Eunuch.”

Li Shuoxing was stunned.

The head smiled again and said, “Mr Ximu, I’m your book friend and your fan. I was the one who recommended your book to the purchasing department. I think what you have written is very interesting and has some things not written in ordinary web novels.”

Li Shuoxing only then found his tongue. “Hello, may I ask you—”

Head: “My surname is Chen. I’m a producer.”

Li Shuoxing: “Hello, Producer Chen.”

Producer Chen greeted them. “The two of you, please sit down and have some tea first.” With that, he boiled water to make tea while continuing to speak, “Mr Ximu, when you said before that you wanted to come to the company in person to know our ideas and plans for this book, I was actually very happy. If it wasn’t for the lack of time recently, I was going to go to you in person to discuss these things with you.”

“Back to what I was saying, I think your novel is different because, in addition to having a complete worldview, it also has a very complex, very unconventional character relationship chart. And this is what I think a successful TV series must have. Mr Ximu, if you sign a contract with us, I will strive to make your work a key project for us this year and try my best to recreate the world and characters you have written in Great Dispute. We intend to make a very high-quality project.”

Producer Chen then went on to be more specific about how it would be produced, what kind of director and actors they intended to find, when it was expected to start, and the total investment amount and production time. It was very well thought out indeed.

Li Shuoxing didn’t talk much, but he listened attentively the whole time, only occasionally interjecting a few words.

It was only when it was half-past eleven and nearing twelve that Producer Chen took a breath. He looked at the time. “It’s noon. Mr Ximu, Editor-in-chief Night, shall we have lunch nearby?”

Li Shuoxing: “No, it’s too much trouble. I already understand your ideas. Thank you, Producer.”

Producer Chen invited them twice more. Seeing that Li Shuoxing wasn’t being polite, he sent them to the door of the office.

When they reached the door, he took a bag of food from his assistant and handed it to Li Shuoxing. “Mr Ximu, this is our specialty here. Although it’s from a roadside stall, it tastes really good. Have a try.”

A bag of 20 to 30 yuan snacks showed a rare thoughtfulness of the host at this moment.

Li Shuoxing was surprised. He took the bag and thanked Producer Chen again. “Thank you, Producer. I’ll think it over seriously.”

Producer Chen said one last thing. “Mr Ximu is too polite. I’ll say it again, if Mr Ximu is willing to be the screenwriter of this project, I absolutely welcome it. Having the author of the novel personally adapting the original work will definitely retain the essence of the original work to the maximum extent. If time doesn’t allow, Mr Ximu doesn’t have to worry. You can read the script as an extra staff member, and our project team will do our best to respect the opinions of the original work.”

The two of them exited Mingxu. Only then did Night Tour speak, “This producer is truly dedicated. It’s rare that he’s also your fan. How about this company? But forget about writing the script, it’s really troublesome. It’s better for you to put your energy on Nine Crossings .”

Li Shuoxing corrected him. “Not entirely.”

Night Tour: “Huh?”

Li Shuoxing explained, “He’s not entirely my book friend. He probably read Great Dispute, but maybe not very closely. When we were talking just now, I just twisted the plot a little that a reader who finished the book would never misremember, and he didn’t notice.”

Night Tour disagreed. “You’re asking too much. He’s busy with his work. How could he finish all the millions of words in your novel? He probably got halfway through it, but got busy with work and hadn’t picked up where he left off yet.”

Li Shuoxing actually accepted Night Tour’s words. “This producer is indeed great. The specialties he sent are really delicious.”

Night Tour took a look, and didn’t notice when the person walking next to him had reached into the bag to take snacks to eat, even eating them with gusto.

He was speechless for a moment and couldn’t help but lament, “Eunuch, with your status, it is not in vain to make requests and ask questions; if it were a small author instead, they don’t dare to say a word more when a film and television company comes to ask the price, for fear that the copyright will be sullied.”

Li Shuoxing honestly said, “Actually, I came over prepared to get the copyright sullied.”

Night Tour: “…”

His lips twitched. “Ximu, conduct yourself. We didn’t push the copyright for you and eat and drink with the film and television company just for you to run around and spoil it.”

Li Shuoxing smiled. “Of course it’s better to not sully it if possible. It’s a lot of money. But there’s no hurry. Isn’t there still Yuanxuan the day after tomorrow?”

***

After meeting Mingxu, Li Shuoxing declined the dinner invitations of several Beijing friends and returned to the hotel to rest.

Then he began the otaku life of reading books, watching TV dramas, going on the game to accompany the cub and occasionally writing in the hotel.

One of Li Shuoxing’s favourite things to do was to go on the game to watch the cub at five minutes to seven every morning.

Because at seven o’clock every day, the sprinklers in the courtyard would start sprinkling water. In the sound of the water, the little person would open his eyes, get up from bed, and go to the window to take a look outside.

At this time.

Every day at this time.

There would be an increase in favourability of 20~50!

That was to say, at seven o’clock every morning, as long as Li Shuoxing opened his eyes and got on the game, he could see the data of the favourability pool in the game jump up by itself without doing anything. It really was a mature favourability pool.

Happy mood.

Super happy mood.

Mood full of happiness like plucking wool ¹ 薅羊毛 refers to the use of discounts and activities to get the best deal. The idiom originally refers to workers plucking small amounts of wool from sheep to collect enough wool over time to make a wool jacket. !

In the early morning, both inside and outside of the game, the two people were eating breakfast and chatting.

Su Mingqian asked first, pretending he didn’t really care, but still caring a little, “Ximu, you haven’t shown up much the last few days. Have you been busy?”

Li Shuoxing: “Remember the film and television copyright I told you about last time?”

Su Mingqian: “Of course.”

Li Shuoxing broke the sunny side up egg on his plate and disgustedly let the half-raw yolk wash away the green onion and parsley on his plate, eating only the rest. “I’ve been running around on this the past few days.”

Su Mingqian asked with concern, “Is it going well?”

Li Shuoxing: “The film and television matter is going well. Both companies are very willing to buy. We’ll just seeing which one to sell to. It’s just that I’ve constantly been outside, haven’t been very stable, haven’t had a writer’s scramble with anyone, and have no time to write every day.”

Su Mingqian found a term he didn’t understand. “Writer’s scramble?”

Li Shuoxing: “Two or more authors write in a set amount of time, and the one who writes the most wins.”

Su Mingqian understood. “Is the purpose to stimulate the desire to write and improve efficiency?”

Li Shuoxing: “That’s right.”

Su Mingqian pondered silently and asked, “Are there any other ways to improve your efficiency?”

Li Shuoxing leisurely said, “There are, such as being locked in the Black Room. That’s a typing enforcement software. Without writing the required number of words, you can’t leave the software, go online or chat. External forces are always very strong…”

Su Mingqian was thoughtful.

At this point, Li Shuoxing’s phone suddenly rang. Night Tour had called.

Li Shuoxing: “Cub, I have something to do. I have to go first. I’ll be back to eat with you at noon.”

He closed the game and answered the phone.

Night Tour said on the other end, “I’m downstairs at the hotel. Let’s go to Yuanxuan together.”

***

The meeting with Yuanxuan wasn’t as relaxed as the one with Mingxu.

When Li Shuoxing and Night Tour arrived at their destination, they met with a project manager of Yuanxuan.

He was in his forties, an elite, and got straight to the point. “Mr Ximu, you asked two questions about the book earlier. Are you intending to be involved in the screenwriting of the TV series?”

Li Shuoxing was a little surprised that he opened with such a direct question.

He replied, “No, I don’t have the time.”

“I see.” The project manager nodded and shook Li Shuoxing’s hand. “My surname is Xu, given name Hong.”

Then, he took out two documents about Great Dispute from the table. One was the project application and the other was the project plan.

As he handed these two documents to Li Shuoxing, he played the project PowerPoint, introducing it. “The answers to both of Mr Ximu’s questions are here. The former is our reason for purchasing the project and the latter is our thoughts on the project.”

Li Shuoxing was surprised to get something so specific, much less expect to see a PowerPoint.

He and Night Tour looked at each other.

Although this company was less than enthusiastic, they had the same sincerity.

It was just a lot stronger than the first company.

Li Shuoxing opened the application first and saw the reason for the recommendation written on it.

“Imaginative and ambitious, it is a work of both world innovation and character storytelling that is suitable for adaptation. Likewise, it also has excellent performance. It helps us to open up initially.”

He then opened the plan and suddenly furrowed.

The company, regarding the TV drama market and the analysis on his novel, concluded that they needed to remove the overly complex brain-burning parts, keep the interesting characters and strong conflicts between them, and add the plots expected by the audience.

Li Shuoxing asked a question: “I saw in the plan, ‘add the plots expected by the audience’. What do you think are the plots expected by the audience, melodramatic love?”

Xu Hong smiled. This was the first time he showed this expression in the meeting up to now. “Of course not, we’re not idiots. Why would we include this content in an intellectual power struggle TV series? All our additions will be based on the language of the TV series and will be as close to the tone of your novel as possible. That’s our purpose of buying the original work and adapting it.”

The conversation took a lot of time.

From 10am, to 12pm, then to 1:30pm.

From 12pm to 1:30pm, Li Shuoxing couldn’t help taking out his phone and looking at it during the exchange. He had told the little person about having lunch together when he went out, but now it was almost time for afternoon tea.

It was just that when talking about cooperation with people, looking at your phone was no problem, but going on a game was very strange.

Li Shuoxing unconsciously put his phone on the table, his fingers subconsciously sliding around on the screen, sliding around…

The conversation followed up with Xu Hong focusing not on the book Great Dispute, but on what TV series their company produced, their successful precedent. From this precedent, they analysed various success factors.

It was a conversation full of information.

Li Shuoxing listened for a while and agreed with Xu Hong’s words, then suddenly realised that he was persuading him.

First, he took an existing success story as an example.

Then, he explained how he was going to make Great Dispute into such a successful model.

Don’t mention it, this method was really well-founded.

Li Shuoxing listened attentively to all of Xu Hong’s points, then said, “I understand what Manager Xu means. Thank you very much to Manager Xu for explaining to me.”

Xu Hong: “You’re welcome. I believe good cooperation between two parties is built in an open and transparent environment. So some words will be a little more direct. I hope Mr Ximu doesn’t mind.”

Li Shuoxing shook his head. “I don’t mind.”

He didn’t linger any longer and left Yuanxuan with Night Tour.

On the way back, Night Tour spoke as he drove, “What do you think of Yuanxuan?”

No sound came from the backseat.

Night Tour glanced at the rearview mirror and saw that the person sitting in the backseat had his head hanging and his brows slightly furrowed, with a face that didn’t look very happy.

Night Tour thought about it and said, “I think this company is one of the more sincere ones. Their plan was really clear. At the same time, they’re also very strong. If you want to work with them, I’m afraid you won’t be able to intervene on how it’s shot at all. And his offer is two million less than Mingxu’s, not a small difference.”

Immediately afterwards, he heard a game sound effect.

But the game sound effect hadn’t played for two seconds before it disappeared abruptly.

Then, Li Shuoxing uttered, “Shit!”

Night Tour: “What’s wrong?”

Li Shuoxing frowned. “My phone’s dead. Do you have a portable battery?”

Night Tour: “…”

You’re unhappy about this?

He smiled. “Didn’t bring it.”

Fortunately, the road back to the hotel wasn’t congested. As Li Shuoxing sat in the backseat and began to get irritable, the car finally arrived at the hotel.

He said a brief goodbye to Night Tour, then went straight to his room to plug his phone in.

When the familiar boot screen appeared, Li Shuoxing’s irritation was swept away.

In modern society, mobile phones were everything.

He entered the game with familiarity and saw the little person with one glance and the favourability pool with another.

It’d been long since lunchtime. He was a little worried that the little person would get impatient and start dropping favourability.

But to his surprise.

The little person didn’t drop favourability. Not only that, but the data of the favourability pool had gone up quite a bit when he was offline.

Li Shuoxing was a little stunned.

He couldn’t help but say, “Cub.”

Then he saw that the moment his voice sounded, Su Mingqian, who was sitting on the sofa reading a book, looked up abruptly.

A +10 floated out from his head.

Then, he heard his relieved voice.

“Ximu, you’re here? I just thought something had happened to you.”

Li Shuoxing: “…”

Are you sitting here, worrying while silently adding favourability because you thought something had happened to me?

H-how can you be so sweet!

Li Shuoxing was moved. He quickly explained, “Nothing happened. It’s just that this time when I went to talk to the film and television company about the copyright, it took a little longer.”

“That’s good.” Su Mingqian mused, “Ximu, can I make a request?”

Li Shuoxing: “What request? Tell me tell me~”

Su Mingqian thought about this question for a long time. “Can I have your contact information? For example, I can send and leave you messages on my own accord. If you’re caught up with anything and can’t make it to our appointment, you can send me a message and I’ll know.”

Li Shuoxing was stunned by what he said.

When he thought about it, his heart was a little moved.

If the little person can send me messages one his own accord, then there’ll be more ways to interact. Even when I’m writing, I can suck the cub anytime and anywhere. I just don’t know if this system can implement it…

The system indicated that this was easy.

System: “Your lover has put forward the request of communication messages to you. Do you agree? Yes/No.”

Does this need to be asked?

Li Shuoxing chose “yes” without hesitation.

At almost the same time, Su Mingqian’s surprise came through the game. “There’s an extra message function on the light screen, and your name is in the address book. Can I send you a message?”

Li Shuoxing: “Try it?”

Su Mingqian thought briefly and typed the first line on the new function interface: “Ximu, are you there?”

The phone dinged.

A banner flashed out on the screen.

Love Bar App:

Su Mingqian says to you: “Ximu, are you there?”

The sentence was followed by a cute reply button.

Li Shuoxing: “!”

So it’s this kind of function, which means—

He directly got off the game and returned to the screen, but the banner the game had pushed out didn’t disappear, remaining at the top of the screen. Li Shuoxing hit reply and edited the content: “I’m here.”

Another ding.

A new banner flashed out.

Su Mingqian continued, “Ximu, are you done with your work?”

Li Shuoxing loved this feature. “Yes.”

Then another ding.

Su Mingqian sent a message: “Ximu, I think this function is very good. It allows me to monitor your writing in real-time.”

Li Shuoxing: “…”

Li Shuoxing: “???”

Su Mingqian softly sent another message: “I’ll make you a good writing time plan.”

Li Shuoxing: “?????”

1

薅羊毛 refers to the use of discounts and activities to get the best deal. The idiom originally refers to workers plucking small amounts of wool from sheep to collect enough wool over time to make a wool jacket.