Fuchunjiang Hotel.

He Qiuyang prepared a sumptuous dinner for colleagues in Taiwan's publishing industry.

However, everyone had no appetite, just ate a few bites hastily, and then put down the chopsticks.

The clock on the wall walked unhurriedly, and time slipped away quietly. Li Junru yawned, but he couldn't hold it anymore. Gu Shunfeng's face was tired, and he had some backache and leg pain, and he had been sitting all day.

"It's a quarter past zero, and it looks like that cunning boy won't call us!" Someone spoke.

He Qiuyang stood up and said to everyone: "I have already arranged a room for everyone, why don't you all go and rest!" Tomorrow at seven o'clock in the morning, we will meet here again! ”

"I still have some important documents in the hotel, and I really don't feel at ease if I don't go back." Li Junru said.

Someone continued: "My secretary is still there, and it won't work if he doesn't go back." ”

Everyone was gossiping, and no one wanted to stay here to rest anyway. Only Gu Shunfeng didn't speak, and sat there silently.

He Qiuyang was a little strange and asked, "President Gu, are you willing to stay?" ”

Gu Shunfeng said calmly: "It doesn't matter where I stay, it depends on what everyone means!" ”

The crowd gradually dispersed, leaving only the expressionless He Qiuyang and the resentful female secretary Li Qiuye.

He Qiuyang's face sank, and he asked Li Qiuye next to him, "How are you doing?" ”

"I have secretly conveyed our kindness to Chen Yuan, and also increased his remuneration to 22%, but he did not agree......" Li Qiuye said cautiously.

"What?" He Qiuyang was furious in his heart, "22% royalties are not good, he really thinks that someone will agree to the 25% overlord contract?" ”

Li Qiuye saw that He Qiuyang was angry, and her heart was even more worried, she hesitated for a while, but still reminded: "Mr. He, now that the representatives of the major publishing houses have dispersed, will they contact Chen Yuan privately?" ”

"Needless to say? These guys can't hold their breath anymore! He Qiuyang said angrily.

On January 12, 2000, at nine o'clock in the morning, the doors of the Blue Bird Coffee Shop opened on time. The hostesses walked out one by one and stood quietly on both sides of the store. These hostesses are all clerks in coffee shops, and the dresses are rented by Li Bing. The six security personnel who arrived early were each in place and began their work.

Reporters from major newspapers who had been waiting outside the store for a long time rushed in to seize the most advantageous position.

The interior of the café has been transformed into a meeting place. At this time, there was no one in the chairman's seat, but there were many guests sitting in the seat. Li Bing and Ye Yun each performed their duties, one entertaining the media reporters present, and the other entertaining the publishers from Taiwan.

These publishers from Taiwan entered the coffee shop almost at the same time. He Qiuyang, Li Junru, Gu Shunfeng, all publishers are not absent.

The time came to ten o'clock in the morning, and Chen Yuan, Chen Qingjiang, and Chen Qingshui entered the venue.

Li Bing took on the role of host, first with an opening remark, and then into the main topic. I saw her smile and said: "At today's special signing ceremony, Mr. Xiao Chen is going to sign the traditional and simplified copyrights of the best-selling novel "The Sealed Demon". Thank you to all the friends from the media for witnessing this signing ceremony. ”

As soon as the voice fell, a reporter asked: "Hello Mr. Chen, I am Zhou Jun, a reporter from Xinhua Daily. It is rumored that the contract to be signed today is worth more than 100 million, is there such a thing? ”

Chen Yuan smiled faintly and replied: "Since Reporter Zhou is from Xinhua Daily, he should have paid attention to yesterday's Yangcheng Evening News. The Yangcheng Evening News gave detailed data. "The Sealed Demon" has sold more than 20 million copies in the Taiwan market, that is, more than 1.8 million copies! This novel will probably make it to episode 432, maybe more. Judging from the current sales volume, the final sales volume is likely to exceed 100 million! ”

Speaking of this, Chen Yuan stopped talking. He didn't seem to answer the question, but he seemed to have answered.

Another reporter asked: "Mr. Chen, I am Cheng Yuan, a reporter from Entertainment Weekly. You said that this novel will be able to come out with 432 episodes. As far as I know, traditional Chinese novels are generally about 60,000 words for an episode, and 432 episodes are more than 26 million words! Writing 10,000 words a day means writing more than 2,600 days, does Mr. Chen plan to write for seven or eight years? ”

"After the Chinese New Year, I was only 18 years old. By the time I finish this novel, I'll only be 25 or 6 years old. Chen Yuan's answer was a bit off-topic.

Cheng Yuan of Entertainment Weekly still wanted to continue to ask, but someone had already preemptively said: "Hello Mr. Chen, I am Shen Hong, a reporter from Guangming Daily." I heard that the contract signed today will pay Mr. Chen an unprecedented 25% royalty. Is this true? ”

"In view of the amazing sales of the novel "The Demon", the publisher deliberately increased my remuneration share. Here, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the publishing house! Chen Yuan bent down to thank him.

Another reporter asked: "As far as I know, Kim Yong, Xi Juan, Sanmao and others, who have the highest remuneration in the novel industry, are only 15% of the royalty share." Is it a break from the norm that the publisher gave Mr. Chen such a high remuneration? ”

Chen Yuan smiled indifferently and said, "I'm sorry, this is a question from the publishing house, you should find them to answer." ”

There is a 30-minute time limit for the Q&A session. When the time came, Li Bing took the stage again, and the signing ceremony entered the next link, and Chen Yuan, the author of "The Sealed Demon", signed a traditional publishing contract with a publisher from Taiwan.

After Li Bing went down, no one came to the stage. The small venue suddenly became lively. He Qiuyang was sneering, Li Junru was waiting to see the joke, and the other publishers were gloating.

Finally, a reporter couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Chen, may I ask why the representative of the other party who signed the contract did not come to the stage, is it not there yet?" ”

Chen Yuan smiled faintly and said, "Who said he wasn't there?" Isn't he already here? ”

The reporters were surprised. Taiwanese publishers are wondering who Chen Yuan is talking about.

After a short silence, two figures suddenly stood up on the guest seat, it was Gu Shunfeng and his secretary Cheng Xiaodie!

The faces of He Qiuyang, Li Junru and the others became extremely unnatural, although they were angry and annoyed in their hearts, they couldn't and wouldn't show it on the spot. In front of many media reporters, they also have to maintain their demeanor and image.

Gu Shunfeng and Cheng Xiaodie, the two of them walked onto the rostrum together. Gu Shunfeng was in a very bad mood, but in front of media reporters, he could only keep smiling. Cheng Xiaodie's face was slightly red, her eyes rolling, and she didn't know what she was thinking.

Chen Yuan approached Gu Shunfeng and said in a low voice: "I thought President Gu didn't dare to come to power......"

"Fame and fortune can't be obtained, and it's good to be famous." Gu Shunfeng said slowly.

At the moment when he signed his name, Gu Shunfeng sighed inexplicably, and his heart was a lot more relaxed. The 25% royalty rate is unprecedented, not a little much, but too much! The profit that a publishing house can make is minimal. If you want to make a profit of 9 million in the first two months, it will be impossible in the future.

After Chen Yuan signed, Chen Qingjiang, as Chen Yuan's guardian, also needed to sign his name on the contract. For this signature, Chen Qingjiang practiced all day. As a result, the three words signed are still a bit unsightly. But compared to a day ago, it is a huge improvement. Forgive him, he was just a semi-literate man who dropped out of school in the third grade of elementary school.

The contract came into effect, and applause rang out.

The next day, Chen Yuan and his novel "The Sealed Demon" made headlines in major newspapers.

Xinhua Daily

"A contract is worth more than 100 million, which is a miracle created by middle school students!"

Yangcheng Evening News

"Chen Yuan said wildly, the sales of "Sealing Demon" will exceed 100 million!"

Guangming Daily

"Unprecedentedly, Chen Yuan, the author of "Feng Demon", will receive 25% of the royalty remuneration, surpassing Kim Yong Kim, Xi Juan, Sanmao and other famous artists!"

Kyoto Evening News

"There is a golden house in the book - Chen Yuan, the author of "The Sealed Demon", became rich overnight!"

Entertainment Weekly

"The 26 million-word masterpiece has been published, is it a wild talk, or is it really true?"

……

The major newspapers and magazines reported on the incident, and most of them focused on the 25% royalty fee.

Many well-known writers dismissed the report, believing it to be untruthful. But as the follow-up report progressed, everyone realized that this should be true! No one knows who this Chen Yuan who suddenly popped out is sacred, but the 25% royalty remuneration he received has made countless novel authors red-eyed.

After the bombardment of public opinion in the newspaper, Chen Yuan and his novel "Sealing the Demon" became completely popular!

People who have read newspaper reports, regardless of whether they are interested in novel readings or not, have a strong interest in "The Sealed Demon", which is worth more than 100 million. This directly led to the shortage of "Sealed Demons" even more.

Out of stock, out of stock, out of stock, booksellers are struggling. In order to get the goods as soon as possible, the clever bookseller drove directly to the truck and stopped at the gate of the publishing house. The printing workers of the publishing house worked in three shifts, and the printing press almost never stopped. The print run of the simplified Chinese version of "The Sealed Demon" has increased from 50,000 copies to 100,000 copies, 200,000 copies, 300,000 copies, and 500,000 copies, and the number has been increasing, but the number of trucks parked at the door has not decreased, but has increased.

It is worth mentioning that Li Wenxiang, editor-in-chief of Jiuhuang Publishing House, finally persuaded Chen Yuan to change the contract. The price paid was to pay 1 million liquidated damages and pay 3 million in advance. There is also an additional condition to resolutely resist and combat piracy!

When the new contract officially took effect, Li Wenxiang breathed a long sigh of relief. Although the difference between 30% and 25% is only 5%, the royalties of this 5% are likely to be tens of millions, or even more than 100 million! "The Sealed Demon" is a huge work, and the 26 million text content is too terrifying! That's 108 volumes! If the final circulation is calculated in 500,000 sets, there will be 54 million copies, and the 5% royalty is 75.6 million! The 1 million liquidated damages are worth it!

After talking about the mainland, let's talk about Taiwan.

The traditional novel market, which was judged by He Qiuyang to be close to saturation, once again sent out tension, and the sales of "Sealed Demon" soared by nearly 100,000 copies! A staggering 300,000 sets! Such phenomenal sales have left major publishers jaw-dropping.

Gu Shunfeng has gained less profits, but the reputation of Lin Bai Publishing House has greatly increased! Sales of other fiction books from the publisher skyrocketed. The profits earned in it made Gu Shunfeng wake up with a smile in his dreams. He thought that he could only gain one name, but he didn't expect to put the profit in his pocket.