Chapter 144 Don't Leave Him Any Hope
This publishing house was jointly run by Xu Hongwen and Xue Yuanming, who had once been sent to the countryside as educated youth and later both entered university.
After graduation, the school originally assigned them jobs, but neither of them liked them very much. With the reform and opening up, the two combined their resources and hit it off to open this publishing house.
Xue Yuanming's family was not from Kyoto, but it was not far from Kyoto. He had an aunt who had settled abroad for many years and was engaged in publishing abroad, so he had the resources of foreign books.
Xu Hongwen's family is from Kyoto, and his father works at the Ministry of Culture, a powerful official. With this connection, their publishing house's books have no problem finding their way onto the shelves of bookstores nationwide.
So, even though their publishing house is private and hasn't published a single book, it still has some strength. In this day and age, connections are power.
Now that they knew what they needed to know, Gu Jianguo checked the time and saw it was eleven o'clock, so he suggested they go out for dinner together. Xu Hongwen and Xue Yuanming had originally planned to discuss the publishing details with Gu Siqing today. If there were no problems, they would sign the contract and start publishing their first book right away.
Although their first book wasn't a foreign classic, they expected strong sales based on the popularity of "Whose Childhood Wasn't Troubled" during its serialization. Normally, such a book wouldn't be published by a privately-owned publishing house, a startup like theirs.
They had found a bargain, so they took it very seriously. They wanted to quickly sign the contract and get on with the next steps. Unexpectedly, they had been sitting here for over an hour without discussing any business, and now the other party was inviting them to dinner.
They knew that Chinese people like to discuss things at the dinner table, so even though they were anxious to sign the contract quickly, they still agreed to have dinner together.
We didn't find a particularly good restaurant, so we ordered a few dishes at a state-owned restaurant not far from the publishing house. We all sat together and ate while chatting.
Gu Jianguo had been doing business for such a long time and had practiced a lot of skills in chatting with people. After a meal, Xue Yuanming and Xu Hongwen decided to move the publishing house to the newly purchased house of the Gu family next to the Forbidden City. Of course, they had to pay rent every month.
After dinner, the two sides got to know each other better and discussed some details, such as the royalty rate and settlement period. The rate was 10%, which was the result of their negotiation. When Gu Siqing told Yu Jianbai that the royalty rate was 15%, it was deliberately high.
With the contract signed and the book published, the family spent the next few days exploring various attractions in Kyoto. After a week, having had enough, they planned to return to Kurishu.
I was invited by the Ye family when I came here, so I naturally had to tell them when I was leaving. Gu Jianguo called the Ye family, and it was Ye Xingjian who answered the phone. He sounded listless.
They were not very close to begin with, so even though Gu Jianguo heard it, he did not ask any further questions and just told them that they were going to leave Kyoto.
Ye Xingjian hadn't been feeling well these past few days. Ye Chi had been recalled to the army the day after their conversation, and he had been looking into what Ye Chi had told him. In fact, he didn't need to look into it, as he believed what Ye Chi said was true.
If Ye Chi, who was still a little kid, had told him those things, he wouldn't have believed them, but the current Ye Chi had no reason to lie to him.
Although he has two sons, Ye Lei is basically useless, and the future of the Ye family will depend on Ye Chi. Even if Liu Yuzhen is still in the family, it can't stop him from using all his resources on Ye Chi.
Moreover, Ye Chi is now fully capable of getting rid of him, and he can also develop well. In addition, it is easy for Ye Chi to get rid of Liu Yuzhen now, it just takes a longer time.
Therefore, there was no need for Ye Chi to lie to him.
But he still checked. Things that happened too long ago were difficult to check, but things that happened in recent years could still be checked, like Ye Ling's marriage.
Knowing that Ye Ling was plotted by Liu Yuzhen to marry her current husband, he asked Ye Ling why she didn't tell him at the time. Ye Ling sneered and said, "I told you, but you treated it as an accident."
"Why don't you just say she did it?" he asked.
Ye Ling replied coldly: "If I had said that at the time, would you have believed it? You believe Ye Chi's words now because he has the ability to force you to believe his words."
That night, he sat in his study all night, thinking about what had happened over the years. He had to admit that he had underestimated women, and underestimated Liu Yuzhen. The next day, he decided to divorce her. Liu Yuzhen was naturally unwilling to do so, and she had been crying for the past two days.
Hearing Gu Jianguo say they were leaving, Ye Xingjian instinctively tried to persuade them to stay. He knew that the reason Ye Chi was so anxious to deal with Liu Yuzhen was because of Gu Yimin. He wanted her to meet Ye Chi again before Gu Yimin left Kyoto.
Ye Chi was a soldier with few vacations. If they didn't meet this time, who knows when the next time would be. By then, the girl his son liked might belong to someone else.
"Originally, Ye Chi said he would accompany you around Kyoto, but the army suddenly called him back. He should be done with his work in the next two days, so let him see you off." Ye Xingjian said.
Gu Jianguo naturally declined. He smiled and said, "Ye Chi's work is important. We can just go to the station by ourselves."
"No, I have to send you there. I'll ask Ye Chi to come back and send you there." Ye Xingjian hung up the phone without waiting for Gu Jianguo to refuse. Gu Jianguo's brows were furrowed. He really didn't want to marry into the Ye family.
Leaving aside Ye Chi's stepmother and his sister, even Ye Xingjian, Gu Jianguo didn't really want to deal with him. How should I put it? He was too utilitarian.
After hanging up the phone, Gu Jianguo called Gu Yimin aside and said, "If you don't want to be involved with Ye Chi, tell him the truth when you see him again. Don't give him any hope."
Gu Yimin pursed her lips and nodded. In fact, she felt that she had made her words very clear to Ye Chi last time. However, their conversation was interrupted by Zhang Zijun later, and it ended in vain.
Before leaving, Gu Jianguo asked Yu Jianbai to have dinner with him. He had asked him out once before, but Yu Jianbai didn't have time then, so this time he asked him out in the evening. Yu Jianbai also suggested inviting Xu Hongwen and Xue Yuanming, so Gu Jianguo naturally wouldn't refuse.
Having agreed, Gu Jianguo began looking for a restaurant. This time, he wanted something upscale. Yu Jianbai, Xu Hongwen, and Xue Yuanming would all be his mistress's connections in Kyoto, so he naturally had to maintain those connections before leaving.
The family discussed it and finally decided to have the dinner at the Kyoto Hotel. This hotel is not the best in Kyoto, but it can be ranked second or third, so it is of high enough quality.
When the agreed time was approaching and the family was about to leave, Ye Chi drove up.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com