Huang Youyi stayed in Shengjing for two days and went back, her time is actually not free, although she is still in the stage of recuperation and recovery, and has not officially started training, but this summer, she graduated from high school and successfully entered Tongji University in Guangdong to study business administration. During this period of recuperation, she was not idle, like a normal student, going to and from class every day, and only took two days out of the weekend to come to Shengjing to visit Li Xiang.

After she left Shengjing, Li wanted to tidy up the courtyard, but some of the things left by her girlfriend, such as the pumpkin lanterns bought by the two, the newly bought change of clothes, and toiletries, and even the Totoro puppet statue brought from Yuezhou, were all left in place and did not move.

After Huang Youyi left, Li wanted to clean the room, only to find that when he didn't pay attention, Miss Huang left a lot of "careful thoughts" in the room, such as she laid a tablecloth with various small animal patterns on the dining table, and put a few bonsai trees with small pine trees in the corner, and a small label was attached to the bottle of each spice in the kitchen, and handwritten handwriting was on it......

Li Xiang locked the north wing, and no one could enter except him.

In the studio, Gu Qijing knocked on the door and came in to report on the new book: "The Old Man and the Sea has been on the shelves for three days, and now it has sold 50,000 copies in Europe. ”

"The Old Man and the Sea" has not yet been fully rolled out in Europe, only in a few major countries, such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom, etc., but even in these countries, if it is a bestseller, the sales will definitely not be so much. At this rate, it is impossible to sell 2 million copies in a month, let alone 2 million, even 200,000 is enough.

Li Xiang said: "This is not a way, something has to be done." ”

Gu Qijing said: "We have developed a propaganda plan, you can take a look. ”

Li Xiang took the plan and quickly skimmed it, the decent plan, even if it was all done, it would not make much difference, but Gu Qijing and others couldn't be blamed, this was the best and most complete plan they could think of.

Li Xiang said: "Put me here first, and then I'll think about it." ”

You can't afford to sit still, or you'll lose your bet with Larousse Publishing.

Gu Qijing said again: "The person in charge of China from Hill Publishing Group in the United States is here and wants to see you. ”

Li Xiang asked, "Now?"

Gu Qijing: "I was already sitting in the conference room, I came yesterday, I blocked it, but I didn't expect it to come again today." ”

Li thought: "What's the matter with him?"

Gu Qijing: "Let's talk about the publication of "The Old Man and the Sea". ”

Li thought about it for a while and said, "Then call him here, forget it, I'll go over and talk in the conference room." ”

Gu Qijing: "Do you want a translator?"

She knew that Li Xiang was good at English and could communicate with oral language.

Li Xiang: "No. ”

The person in charge of China at Hill Publishing Group in the United States is a middle-aged man with a big belly, a typical middle-aged and fat body in Europe and the United States, and a blonde young man with him, who is a translator.

came to the conference room with Li Xiang, as well as Gu Qijing and Xiao Zhang.

Li Xiang shook hands with them one by one and said directly in English, "Hello, please take a seat." ”

The head of the big belly of the Hill Publishing Group is called Elton?? Cice, seeing him smile and say, "Mr. Li, it has been more than half a month since we talked about the overseas publication of the book "The Old Man and the Sea", but this is the first time I have met you in person. I heard that you returned to Shengjing the day before yesterday, and we came with great sincerity to discuss the issue of publishing in the Americas with you face-to-face, but we have never been able to do so. I have visited many high-ranking government officials in your country, such as Minister Zhang of the Ministry of Culture, and I thought that the visit to them was already very complicated, but I did not expect that this time I had a new understanding, and it turned out that it was the most difficult to visit you. ”

Li Xiang thought to himself, and said quietly on the surface: "I'm sorry for this, I heard that you have been in China for nearly 10 years?"

"I've actually been in charge of Chinese literature publishing for 12 years, but I've been in North America and haven't been based in China," Elton said. Many of your literary classics have passed through my hands to be distributed in the Americas, such as many of the books of Chairman Deng Boshaw. ”

Li Xiang asked, "Are you going to talk to me about "The Old Man and the Sea" today?"

"I personally love this book and hope to release it in the Americas as soon as possible," Elton said. ”

Li Xiang asked, "What are the conditions?"

Elton said: "The conditions have been made to your people before, 5% for 10 years. Believe me, I think, this condition is definitely very good. ”

Li Xiang said: "The conditions of the French Laroux publishing house must be known that your conditions do not meet the requirements. ”

Elton said, "Do you mean 5 percent for three years? The royalty rate is the same, but the number of years is different. You shouldn't have a problem with that, because if we really think seriously about cooperation, then three years is far from enough, and it's insincere. Only by building a long-term relationship can we build trust, and we can rest assured that we can invest resources in promoting for you, which is beneficial to both of us. ”

What he said was not completely wrong, and there was some truth, but Li Xiang said: "Then let's not talk about the issue of the number of years, you know, the conditions of Larousse Publishing House are not only 5% for 3 years, but also a series of upgrade conditions, do you need me to tell you?"

Elton said, "I know, I don't need you to repeat it. As far as I know, the sales of "The Old Man and the Sea" in Europe are less than 50,000 copies, and it is almost impossible to achieve the goal of 2 million copies a month, so I thought, we should discuss this matter more practically. ”

Li Xiang asked: "If you think it's impossible, then why not add this condition?"

Elton said: "I am the person in charge of the Huaxia market, but in the end it is up to the decision-making committee of the headquarters to make sure, it is a group of high-ranking guys, they are not clear about the situation in the market, they will only listen to reports every day, I don't want to go to the trouble of flying to North America, going to the meeting to explain to them a thing that is not complicated, it is a waste of time." ”

Listening to what he meant, he was quite dissatisfied with the decision-making committee at the headquarters, and he had made no secret of it.

Li Xiang chatted with Elton for a while, and he already understood what he meant. This crooked kernel saw that "The Old Man and the Sea" did not sell well in Europe, so he wanted to seize the opportunity to negotiate as soon as possible, and the conditions were still the same as before, without the slightest change.

Li Xiang said: "Sir, if you really think that the book "The Old Man and the Sea" is not good, then, I think, it is better not to waste your time. ”

Elton said: "Think, don't be angry, I'm not belittling 'The Old Man and the Sea'. Do you know the rough diamond? Now "The Old Man and the Sea" is a rough stone with an uneven surface, and we are the top diamond sculptors who can help it shine brightly. Believe me, working with us is definitely better than Larousse. You chose them in the first place, and it was a mistake. ”

Li Xiang smiled and said, "Sir, you have been in China for more than ten years, but you still don't know much about Chinese culture. The reason why I give you the impression that it is difficult to meet is not because I am as high as the North American guys, but because the time is not ripe. There is an idiom in China called water comes naturally, that is, if the conditions for a thing to be ripe are met, then it will be very smooth to do, and it doesn't take much energy, and you, even seeing me, feel difficult, that's not for other reasons, it's because this matter has not yet reached the moment of maturity, which is destined to have no results in our meeting today, so you see, this is as you said, it is a waste of time. ”

He stood up and said, "I expect you to come with greater sincerity. With that, he opened the door and left.

Elton shouted behind him with a dark face: "I think, you missed the best time, and the next time you visit, it may not be this condition." ”

Seeing that Li Xiang didn't look back, his face darkened, and he said to Gu Qijing: "You know my office location, I hope you can come to visit me as soon as possible, and I will not visit you anymore." ”

After speaking, he left with the translator in high spirits, and when he returned to the car, he immediately called the person in charge of the Chinese department of McGraw Publishing House, briefly explained the results of today's negotiations, and then the two agreed to continue to press "The Old Man and the Sea", and no one should loosen the conditions.