Chapter 208 Facing Those Questions

Xin Zixing: We can take this opportunity to announce the book "Jump Up: Our Student Days" to everyone. This will allow us to make the most of the buzz surrounding this event and achieve better promotion than other methods. Yan He, I understand that you don't want this book to be a book with a strong fan base, but look, the authors of this book include several artists such as Jiang Yuqian, Li Zhibai, Song Linxin, and Yan Lianghao. Even if it has a fan base, it's not just focused on you. Please consider this, okay?

-

Lu Yanhe looked at the message sent by Xin Zixing, remained silent for a moment, and then showed it to Chen Siqi.

After reading it, Chen Siqi asked, "What do you think?"

“I think what she said makes a lot of sense. However, the most important thing is something else. I’ve been thinking about this for the past few days. Rather than whether it’s a book with a strong fan base in other people’s eyes, I care more about whether it can survive,” Lu Yanhe said. “We all have such high expectations for ‘Jump Up.’ If the first episode doesn’t do well, it will definitely be difficult to continue. Sister Zixing wants to take advantage of this popularity, and so do I.”

“But this exposes you to everyone, and all the problems that may arise with ‘Jump Up’ will be blamed on you,” Chen Siqi said.

“I know, but since we are the ones who edited this book, we should be responsible for all the problems that may arise in ‘Jump Out’,” Lu Yanhe said. “Since Lu Yanhe is my name, it would be very beneficial for the book to have my name written on it, so let’s just put Lu Yanhe’s name on it.”

Chen Siqi looked at him helplessly and said, "You could actually wait until 'Jump Up' is really finished before announcing to everyone that you are the chief editor of this book."

"It's alright." Lu Yanhe shook his head. "I haven't done anything shameful, so why hide it? Besides, aren't you here with me as editor-in-chief?"

He said with a smile.

Chen Siqi was taken aback and looked at him in surprise, "To be editors-in-chief together?"

"Mm." Lu Yanhe nodded.

-

"Two editors-in-chief?" Xin Zixing asked in surprise on the phone.

“Yes.” Lu Yanhe nodded and said, “Is it okay if the editor-in-chief's name includes both my name and Chen Siqi’s name?”

Xin Zixing remained silent for a while before saying, "It's very rare to see a dual editor-in-chief situation in China, and it's actually very rare worldwide."

The editor-in-chief is the one who makes the final decision, much like the director of a movie. It's rare to see two people holding the same position at the same time; otherwise, how would disputes be resolved? Whose opinion should be considered when there are disagreements?

Lu Yanhe: "This is based on the actual situation. I am also an artist, and I will have various jobs such as acting and performance in the future. I cannot devote all my time and energy to this book. If we really want this book to continue and become a book series, we must have someone to edit this book with me. I hope it is her."

“Yan He, don’t misunderstand. I really like your classmate. Although she’s still young and inexperienced, she’s very driven and energetic, which is the type of person I admire. It’s just that putting her in the editor-in-chief’s name might cause controversy,” Xin Zixing said. “She’s just a recent high school graduate. Of course, I know that she, like you, is one of the people who made this book possible. She could be the content director or the deputy editor-in-chief, no problem. Putting her in the same position as you will raise questions.”

"What are you questioning? Are you questioning her ability, or are you questioning my pretense?" Lu Yanhe directly pointed out Xin Zixing's concerns. "Sister Zixing, since this book is a collaboration between the two of us, let's be realistic and put both of our names in the editor-in-chief positions. That's what I hope for. If Yemai.com wants to announce this at this time, then let's announce it together."

Xin Zixing felt somewhat helpless.

Only eighteen or nineteen-year-olds would say such things, leaving no room for negotiation, with a passion and idealism that adults cannot understand.

However, Xin Zixing was unable to persuade Lu Yanhe.

This book is not from Yemai.com, but rather by Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi.

YeMai.com can only offer suggestions, not make decisions, regarding what they want to do.

In fact, deep down, Xin Zixing actually quite admired Lu Yanhe's attitude—after all, there are always more people who want to claim all the credit and fewer who are willing to share it.

Xin Zixing said, "Okay, I understand. But Yan He, regarding the book 'Jump Up,' have you and your classmate reached a clear division of responsibilities and profit-sharing plan? I've seen many partners who can work together as a team when they're doing business, but then fall apart when it comes to dividing the spoils. Have you discussed these things?"

Lu Yanhe said, "We've discussed it. It's very simple: a 50/50 split."

Xin Zixing was stunned.

Lu Yanhe said, "Sister Zixing, we are just high school graduates. More than the specific benefits, we care about the significance of this book to us. It may sound a bit idealistic to you, but that's really how it is. It doesn't matter if we don't make this book. We want to spend time and energy on it because we are willing to do so."

After hearing what Lu Yanhe said, Xin Zixing wanted to laugh, but she held it in.

Sure enough, children are children. You can't really communicate with them because they don't understand that "human desires grow slowly," and they haven't experienced "every man for himself when disaster strikes." But when you listen to these childish words, you feel a little amused, yet also a little envious. They are still so innocent and radiant, and you even feel an urge to protect their innocence and radiance.

"Okay, good luck." Xin Zixing heard herself say this.

-

YeMai.com's official account posted a message: "We heard that our two editors-in-chief of our upcoming themed Mook, 'Jump Up,' are trending?! *pouts* We were actually planning to secretly prepare a big surprise for everyone, but it's been leaked already? Okay, okay, let's officially announce that YeMai, together with Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi, who just graduated from high school, has edited a themed Mook for all young internet users, 'Jump Up,' which will be available on YeMai.com. Everyone, come and pre-order it on YeMai.com! Link attached~"

Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi were finally tagged by the official account.

Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi both forwarded this post.

Lu Yanhe sent a smiley face and said: "Making a themed Mook with my classmates is an experience I've never had before. Every day I face new areas and new problems, but doing what I want to do, even if it's tiring, is also a happy thing."

Chen Siqi: Yes, a meal costing 27 yuan solves a crucial problem, so it's a worthwhile meal.

Then, Yemai.com spent money to get Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi trending on social media.

On that day, YeMai.com's search volume surged threefold, and its website traffic increased by 160%. The reservation link for "Jump Up" opened by YeMai.com saw over 1,300 reservations, nearly half of which were made by newly registered users.

Whether this data is high or low depends on how it is evaluated.

For those within the leaf vein network, this was a number that was within their expectations, yet they were quite satisfied with it.

The book "Jump Up" currently has nothing but the name of its editor-in-chief, yet it immediately received 1,300 pre-orders, which shows that Lu Yanhe has quite a few fans who are interested in the book simply because of his name.

However, some marketing accounts and media outlets unfamiliar with the market were quick to predict Lu Yanhe's downfall. After all, this is an era where a celebrity's cover can lead to tens or even hundreds of thousands of copies of a magazine selling out instantly. The amount of sales a celebrity can generate has become a litmus test for their popularity. Lu Yanhe's mere 1,300 pre-orders were incredibly disappointing, completely unworthy of his recent surge in popularity.

A columnist for the magazine "Art News" wrote that no matter how high Lu Yanhe's college entrance examination score was, he could not convert it into a corresponding fan appeal in the idol artist market.

-

Many media outlets are questioning Lu Yanhe's act of editing the theme Mook itself.

Most people who work in the media have some understanding of the industry.

They questioned how Lu Yanhe, a recent high school graduate, could become the editor-in-chief, and criticized Yemai.com for prioritizing traffic and celebrities while disrespecting professionalism.

Some former print media workers also complained that Lu Yanhe hadn't even settled on one path before he started venturing off to another.

Most of those who hold an optimistic and supportive attitude towards the book "Jump Up" are casual observers.

Lu Yanhe and his team had anticipated this situation, but they hadn't expected it to be this fierce.

Some people went to Lu Yanhe's social media comment section to criticize and question him, saying in a sarcastic tone that being a celebrity is great, that everything is easier than for ordinary people, and that they can do whatever they want.

The situation was even worse on Yemai.com. Many people went to the comments section of Yemai.com to pour cold water on the idea, questioning how much they had paid Lu Yanhe to become their editor-in-chief, and saying that they had misjudged the market and that the book would definitely lose money and not sell, and so on.

Yemai.com's official account gave a brief reply in its comment section, saying: "We did not invite Lu Yanhe to be the editor-in-chief of 'Jump Up,' but rather we learned that Lu Yanhe and his classmates had this idea, so we approached them for collaboration. We did not provide any remuneration, but only covered the production costs of the book."

After YeMai.com responded, many people started mocking Lu Yanhe for being so incompetent, saying that YeMai.com didn't even intend to offer him any compensation for their collaboration.

"..."

The sheer volume of pessimistic voices caught YeMai.com off guard.

Lu Yanhe's initial indifferent attitude gradually turned into some worry.

He was even somewhat puzzled and confused as to why so many people were against this.

Instead, Chen Ziyan said to him, "Yan He, you need to slowly learn to accept this. You are an artist, and there is no denying that you have benefited a lot from this identity and have many resources that ordinary people cannot obtain. So, even if people do not use a fair standard to measure you, you may feel uncomfortable, but you have no right to explain. For you, the only thing you can do is to do it well and use the final results to tell everyone that doing this is the right choice and that you have not wasted these opportunities."

Chen Ziyan's words made Lu Yanhe think deeply.

The main reason was that Lu Yanhe didn't expect Chen Ziyan to say that.

Lu Yanhe has never felt that his status as an artist has brought him many advantages; in fact, in the past year, he has faced far more doubts and troubles than benefits.

The real convenience he got was after his college entrance exam results came out, when he suddenly had a lot more work. That was because his fame had increased, not because of his status as an artist.

However, Lu Yanhe also admitted that if he were not Lu Yanhe, he would never have had the opportunity to edit such a book.

He hadn't seriously considered the contradiction between these two ideas before, but Chen Ziyan had pointed it out incisively.

"So, because I'm an artist, whatever I do will be seen as me taking advantage of my celebrity status, right?" Lu Yanhe actually felt a little wronged deep down.

Chen Ziyan sighed.

She could tell at a glance that Lu Yanhe was just being impetuous and hadn't really thought things through.

“Yan He, whether or not you take advantage of a certain status is not important at all. In this world, every young person wants to prove that their success is 100% due to their own efforts, but that is simply unrealistic, because from birth, people are involved with all sorts of people and all sorts of things,” Chen Ziyan said. “Rather than taking advantage, I hope you can truly realize that when we have the ability to legitimately obtain more resources and more convenient conditions from our status, family, and interpersonal relationships, we can accept it calmly. We can calmly accept that behind our success there are benefactors, assistants, and luck. Only by acknowledging our specialness can we calmly face our success. Otherwise, the more we deny it, the more we fear it, the more we cannot let go, and the more we cannot take things lightly.”

Chen Ziyan's words lingered in Lu Yanhe's mind, remaining there for a long time without disappearing.

-

On Yemai.com, due to the controversy surrounding Lu Yanhe's editor-in-chief "Jump Up," the project was brought up at a meeting to discuss whether it should continue.

One of the senior editors in the editorial department said, "I was not very optimistic about this project to begin with. To be honest, celebrities certainly have a fan effect, but we all know that building a book series is a long-term project. It is difficult to persevere if you are not someone who truly loves books and has an emotional connection to them. Lu Yanhe came to do 'Jump Up' because he was just doing it for the novelty and created a book series that generated a lot of buzz. Of course, this will achieve temporary success and attention, but how long can it last? You see, this project did not even get a lot of support at the beginning, which shows that everyone knows that having a celebrity as the editor-in-chief is just a gimmick. How can they possibly focus on the content?"

"Teacher Chen, and all the teachers here, I need to clarify one thing: the book 'Jump Up' wasn't a project we at Yemai.com came up with ourselves and then approached Lu Yanhe to produce. Yemai.com had always wanted to create a book series like this, but for various reasons, we couldn't get it done. It was only at this time, when Lu Yanhe expressed his desire to do it, that we proactively sought cooperation," Xin Zixing said earnestly. "Without Lu Yanhe, when would Yemai.com have been able to create its own book series?"

The person she called Teacher Chen shook his head. “Zixing, I know that the documentary ‘City Travelogue’ has recently given you and Lu Yanhe a great collaboration, and you trust him. But we haven’t been able to produce our own book series for many reasons. Lu Yanhe wants to make ‘Jump Up,’ and I don’t actually object to that. Regardless of whether it will be successful in the long run, it will definitely attract some of his fans in the short term. However, do we really want to use ‘Jump Up’ as our brand book series for Yemai.com’s e-reading? This is something we need to seriously consider. An e-book that has tens of thousands of subscribers every month but has a very low social reputation will damage and affect the overall reputation of Yemai.com in the long run.”

“Indeed, the biggest difference between YeMai.com and other websites is the development of our user community atmosphere. The reason we have been slow to launch an entertainment star section is that we don’t want the fan culture to affect the online community atmosphere of YeMai.com. Now that we’ve introduced Lu Yanhe and his song ‘Jump Up’ to YeMai.com, we need to seriously consider what kind of impact it will have,” another person said.

Xin Zixing shook her head. “Dear teachers, Lu Yanhe is indeed an artist, but is he the same as an ordinary artist? Is there another idol artist with such a high social reputation? Right now, only some people are questioning Lu Yanhe’s ability as editor-in-chief. Is that considered a very negative evaluation? As long as ‘Jump Up’ is well done and wins everyone’s praise, these doubts will be resolved.”

"Who knows how well 'Jump Up' will be received?"

“Indeed, we don’t know how well ‘Jump Up’ will be received, but we’ll never know if we don’t try,” Xin Zixing said. “Both Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi are working on this book with a very serious attitude. Putting aside Lu Yanhe’s status as an artist, isn’t he suitable to be the editor-in-chief of ‘Jump Up’? This is not a serious literary journal; it’s an e-book aimed at young people in the internet age. Lu Yanhe’s age, experience, and ability are all very much in line with our expectations for the editor-in-chief of such a book. Only someone like him can truly create a book that can attract a lot of people.”

“But he is an artist, and we cannot discuss this matter without considering his identity as an artist.”

The two sides in the discussion on this matter were deadlocked and unwilling to compromise.

In the end, the meeting room was filled with two groups of people with completely different attitudes. One group, led by Ms. Chen from the editorial department, believed that the matter should be carefully considered, while the other group, led by Xin Zixing, believed that the opportunity should be seized.

At this moment, Liu Qiao, the content editor-in-chief of YeMai.com, spoke up.

"Yemai.com is indeed not a data-driven website. We value people's impressions of us and how they perceive Yemai.com."

As soon as Liu Qiao opened his mouth, a slightly smug look appeared on the faces of Teacher Chen and his ilk.

"However, do you all know how many pre-orders there have been since we announced the news of 'Jump Up' today?" Liu Qiao asked.

In the conference room, everyone was stunned.

"So far, more than 1,800 people have made reservations," Liu Qiao said. "People who don't know the industry will say that this number of reservations is very small, but we know that we require all those who make reservations to have a YeMai.com account with real-name authentication in the backend. This means that we cannot inflate the numbers. We have not done any internal promotion or recommendation within YeMai.com. We rely entirely on traffic from social media platforms, and half of the accounts are newly registered."

"I'm not saying this to say the data is good or bad. I want to point out that while many people online question Lu Yanhe's role as editor-in-chief, there are also many who believe in him and are interested in his books," Liu Qiao said. "We've always wanted to launch our own brand, but we haven't been able to. Why? There are many reasons, but frankly, after our evaluation, we found that launching it wouldn't achieve our goals. We wouldn't be able to be self-sufficient and would have to rely on the website to keep going. Now that Lu Yanhe's book has the potential to achieve this, should we put it on hold because of some online criticism? Everyone should think about it carefully."

He smiled, stood up, and said, "I'm going out for a smoke."

After he left, the group led by Teacher Chen all looked rather grim.

Xin Zixing, however, did not show any smugness.

She silently looked at the documents in her hands, knowing that the overall situation had been decided at today's meeting, and "Jump Up" would continue to move forward.

That's enough.

She didn't want to say anything more.

No matter how much you talk, nothing beats making "Jump Up" well and presenting it to everyone.

(End of this chapter)