Zhuo Chuan touched Chu Li's hair and sighed, "I feel like a small writer kept by a domineering CEO. I am about to reach the pinnacle of my life without any reason. I have done nothing from the beginning to the end, but I just had a hair..."

One of what?

Chu Li reached down and caught the so-called "one".

Then he sighed: "Teacher Zhuchuan, do you still remember the day we confessed our love to each other, you were so shy that you locked yourself in your room and refused to come out to see me? During those days, you even buried your head in your meals and didn't dare to look at me more than once..."

Chu Li retracted his hand: "Why are you acting like a gangster now?"

Zhaochuan thought for a moment, "Last night I lost to a 1991 Ferrari at Akina Mountain. She used inertia to drift around the corner. Her car was very fast. I only saw a sign that said she was an editor of Yuanyuesha. Do you know who she is? If you know who she is, please tell her. From now on, I will be at Akina Mountain every night, take off my pants, and wait for her."

"..." Chu Li raised his hand and slapped him on the face.

The right side of his face was numbed by the slap. Zhuo Chuan grabbed Chu Li's wrist with his backhand and said sternly, "After we just did it, don't try to seduce me again. I am so young and you have squeezed me dry. How can I write books in the future and become a man who stands shoulder to shoulder with Herman?"

"Speaking of Herman... haven't you always envied Herman for being born with divine help, and rising to prominence with every book he wrote?" Chu Li patted the man's chest, "Your god is lying in your arms, worship him."

Zhuchuan patted her back with the same frequency: "Pass."

"..." Chu Li nodded, "Oh."

At this time, Zhuchuan looked at his phone——

Since he announced the existence of "Fated with Peach Blossoms and Swords" on Weibo, major publishing houses have been in action.

Those who are a little more honest would ask: "Master, do you have the outline and the first 30,000-word draft of the new article you mentioned on Weibo? We are very interested!"

The more experienced drivers asked: Teacher, is the book mentioned on Weibo still available? We really want to make it here.

The slightly more shameless ones don't even ask, and just leave a message: We want "Fated with Peach Blossoms and Swords". You decide the first print and the number of points. We will give one more point than other companies.

The excitement was comparable to the one when he was being blackmailed and ghostwritten, when Qunchao went out of their way to cancel the cooperation.

Zhuchuan didn't even bother to pay attention to them. He just picked out a few publishing companies that didn't take advantage of him when he was attacked and still negotiated business with him honestly. Then he temporarily dismissed them with excuses such as "We haven't thought about how to do this book yet."

Chu Li watched him operate the phone, countless souls died under his fingers, and then he put down the phone call callously and turned it off.

She pressed the head of the person in her arms against her chest and said simply, "Go to sleep."

Without the light from the cell phone, the room suddenly became dark.

Zhaochuan lifted the quilt and covered the two of them.

In the darkness, the two were silent for a moment. Chu Li thought about the tone of the way Zhechuan responded to the bookseller just now, and suddenly felt a little unsure... It was obvious that this book was of great significance to Zhechuan, and he would definitely not just casually decide which book publishing company or publisher to publish it.

"You can return it to them directly, starting from 500,000. There is no upper limit." Chu Li said as he grabbed the man's fingertips, thinking that it was this evil finger that shattered the dreams of countless editors... and now it is being held in my hand.

Zhuo Chuan was silent for a moment and said, "...You know better than me how bad the publishing industry is right now. For half a million dollars, you let them sell their underwear to publish my book?"

Chu Li said, "...What? Did you think I was joking and trying to scare Liang Chonglang? Actually, I wasn't trying to trick him. I am still the editor of Yuanyue Publishing House after all. How could I possibly betray them? It's just that now, there have been so many things surrounding this book "The Love Story of Peach Blossom and Sword". The topic was made out of nothing and the popularity was there. Yuanyue Publishing House even played the ugly role on the stage and made a lot of noise. Tell me, is it too much to ask for a print run of 500,000 copies for this book? No matter how lonely the physical book industry is, are there still a small group of people who are desperate to stand at the top of the pyramid? There have been one or two books that have sold millions of copies in the past two years, right? Wake up, your career is almost ruined..."

“…”

"So don't worry about it. No matter if it's Yuanyue Society or Xindun, you should offer 500,000 to anyone who comes to you. Just bite the bullet and take it or not."

"I'm thinking so far ahead. Liang Chonglang may not even agree to print 500,000 copies."

"He must agree, unless he doesn't want to do it anymore. To show his sincerity in reconciliation, Yuanyue Society will bite the bullet and sign your book to give an explanation to the bigwigs of the Writers Association." Chu Li was very confident. "Liang Chonglang didn't answer immediately now, it's just that his nature is hard to change. His stingy nature is deeply rooted in his bones. He still thinks he can bargain?"

"You love to bargain too. You forced me to sign a first print contract worth less than 50,000..."

"Yes, it's hard to change the nature of a stinky businessman - so I'm using 500,000 to compensate you now, right? What are you talking about... Take your hands away, where are you touching when you're asleep? You have to go to work tomorrow!"

“…”

Zhuochuan thought about it and felt that what Chuli said made sense.

The physical book industry has been in decline until now. For example, even a romantic novel with good online serialization performance can only print 20,000 to 30,000 copies at most.

Book publishing companies went bankrupt one after another;

Countless once-glorious physical book printing factories also collapsed and had to be restructured...

These people are becoming the tears of the times.

The smell of corruption permeates the grassroots.

However.

The air at the top of the pyramid should be fresh. The authors who are truly at the top have not been affected that much...Are you saying that there are really no books with a first print run of over a million copies nowadays?

Yes, there are.

It was only a flash in the pan as a top IP for two or three years.

So the question is, if others can do the same thing as talking, why can't he?

"Okay, five hundred thousand is five hundred thousand."

"Hmm?" Chu Li, who was already drowsy and about to fall asleep, raised her head. "...So, why did you suddenly announce this in a tone of 'It's decided, we're going to rob a bank tomorrow'?"

"Five hundred thousand," Liang Chonglang agreed immediately. "This already belongs to Yuanyue Society, so I can let bygones be bygones."

"Oh," Chu Li yawned, "good night."

"Um."

…

The next day, Monday.

All present.

Zhuchuan and Yuanyue Society are both under control. Chu Li is in high spirits with a God's perspective. Compared to the other people in Moonlight Magazine who are a little distracted, she and Yu Yao, who is about to resign, are the two calmest ones.

On the way to the conference hall, Ah Xiang was still mumbling: "Do you think this wave is the fault of the art editor? I don't think so. I'm just an artist, an artist who knows nothing!"

...Generally, the cover designers of publishing companies are very stubborn. They prefer to be called "art editors" rather than "art designers". There are even cases where a "art designer" feels disrespected and gets furious. Now, in order to distance himself from the matter, Ah Xiang is so reckless and greedy that he lowers his status to that of an "art designer". Chu Li is amazed.

Chu Li: "How big of a deal can it be? Didn't Boss Yu Yao persuade Liang Chonglang to speak up for Zhechuan? He didn't do it! He even wanted to cover it up, but he didn't even know what he was covering up..."

As he was saying this, someone stepped on his heel.

She staggered forward two steps, and turned around to see Xiaoniao, who was holding a folder and looking flustered... Seeing Chu Li looking back at her, she quickly apologized, detoured and jogged forward.

"What's going on? She's so distracted." Ah Xiang stretched his neck. "Why didn't I know she was so timid before? Isn't she just trying to create chaos in the world?"

Chu Li put one hand on Ah Xiang's shoulder, bent down and put on his shoes. Hearing this, he looked up at Xiao Niao's departing figure, and was silent for a moment.

The meeting started at ten o'clock sharp.

It was a rare occasion for the president to be in person, so he held a regular meeting centered around the "Zhechuan Incident." Before the meeting, he analyzed specific issues and talked a lot, which was nothing more than scolding the editorial department and the marketing department - Yuanyue Society's listing evaluation was currently underway, and they could have caused such a big thing. If it ultimately affected the evaluation results and hindered Yuanyue Society's listing, then everyone present should forget about it and pack up and get out.

After the boss vented his anger, everyone looked depressed.

Yu Yao had a blank expression on his face;

Liang Chonglang and his men were wiping their sweat;

Ah Xiang and Lao Li wanted to use Photoshop to put the words "I am an artist, what do I care about?" on their faces;

The little bird lowered its head and played with the ballpoint pen by pressing and releasing it.

Chu Li lowered his head and kicked Yu Yao under the table.

"It's not that there is no solution to this problem," Yu Yao said. "Yesterday at noon, I went to visit Teacher Zhachuan. He made it very clear. First, he wanted Yuanyue Publishing House to help him find the culprit and sue him for bankruptcy. Second, for the book "The Love Story and the Sword" that is being discussed on the Internet, Teacher Zhachuan gave Yuanyue Publishing House a 9-point discount for the 500,000 copies he had printed."

Liang Chonglang: "Yes, yes, the lawyer's letter has been sent to the media platform... It's about this book. We didn't know whether the content was good or not, but we rashly spent 500,000 and 9 points to buy it. I think it's inappropriate."

The gentle "click" and "click" sounds of the ballpoint pen pressing next to my ear paused.

Xiao Niao raised her head and glanced at Liang Chonglang, then paused and said, "It seems to be a bit high."

Boss: “Is it high?”

Liang Chonglang: "High."

Boss: “Did you bargain?”

Yu Yao: "...At this time, everyone wants to kneel down and talk to Teacher Zhuchuan, and they still want to bargain?"

Boss: “…”

There was a moment of dead silence at the table - 500,000 copies were a bit high, and Liang Chonglang didn't need to explain it clearly, the boss himself would have calculated how much money it was, and whether this book could still make money... Forget about making money, it seemed that there were only two options at the moment: "bite the bullet and swallow it" and "leave it to fate and not sell the book and think of other ways, such as hoping that the big boss of the Writers Association would give him leniency."

In the end, as the boss was wavering, the entire meeting seemed to be stuck on the number of "five hundred thousand", and there was no further progress... and Chu Li said nothing. She was the first one to bring up the number of "five hundred thousand" to Liang Chonglang, not Zhechuan himself. If she said one more word at this moment, Liang Chonglang would probably retort: ​​You are working so hard, are you in cahoots with Zhechuan?

Although, in all conscience, she really doesn't have one.

——She doesn’t produce corpses, she just acts as a porter to help people climb up the river.

So what was finally confirmed was to wait for the Weibo platform to give a reply and then see what to do next... During the meeting, the Weibo platform also called to say that they were still evaluating and asked for a slight delay. They would definitely give a reply during the afternoon working hours. Yuanyueshe had no choice but to agree.

After Liang Chonglang hung up the phone, everyone breathed a sigh of relief as if a death row inmate had received a pardon to hang himself a few hours later.

Then the meeting was adjourned.

Chu Li was the first to stand up, push the door, and invite Ah Xiang to have lunch.

After the two left, others also left one after another.

Everyone was in a dilemma of losing their jobs, and their faces were pale, so no one noticed that Xiaoniao left in a hurry after the meeting. She gave up the restroom on the third floor where the conference hall was located, and hurried to the restroom on the first floor where there were fewer people, and opened the door.

I pushed open the three tightly closed doors of the front compartments.

The sound of door banging rang out in the empty bathroom, and there seemed to be anger in it!

She pushed the fourth door halfway, and then she irritably said "tsk", and did not push the remaining doors. Instead, she turned back to the sink. She looked at herself in the mirror, and her delicate makeup could not hide the haggardness on her face...

In just one weekend, her whole face seemed to be sunken, with dark circles under her eyes. She took out her cell phone and dialed a number. When the call was picked up, she put the phone to her ear and said "Hello" anxiously.

"The lawyer's letter from Yuanyue Society has been sent, and the platform is still evaluating... They haven't contacted me yet. I'm going to take a leave this afternoon so that I won't be in the office when they contact me." She changed her clear voice in front of people to a hoarse and gloomy voice, "Didn't you say it was just an interview and it was okay? Why did it turn out like this? Chu Li didn't contact anyone else but the person who did the video interview..."

Xiaoniao paused and said in a dry and fearful voice, "Do you think she will know something?"

I don't know what was said on the other end of the phone. Xiaoniao just said, "If something really happens, I will definitely give you up. I don't want to be sued" and then hung up the phone.

After hanging up the phone, I looked at myself in the mirror with a gloomy face.

She raised her hand and slammed the sink hard, then turned around and walked away in her high heels.

What Xiaoniao didn't know was that three minutes after she left, the last toilet cubicle was pushed open, and Chu Li walked out of the toilet cubicle at a leisurely pace.

...What a familiar scene.

A year ago, Chu Li was also curled up in the bathroom cubicle, trembling as he listened to Xiao Niao say that she had completed the task with the help of Lao Miao, just waiting to see the joke on her when she failed to complete the task in the front matter. He was still full of confusion and fear.

She was still a newcomer at that time.

Now, she just walked to the sink with an expressionless face, looked at her paralyzed face in the mirror, washed her hands, took out her powder and lipstick, and slowly put on some makeup... Then she tidied her clothes until every detail was neat, turned around, and left the bathroom.

Ah Xiang was waiting at the gate of Yuanyue Society. He saw Chu Li from a distance and waved: "Didn't you say 'Dai-dai'? Why did you take so long?"

"I just caught up with the time to listen to a play," Chu Li smiled. His eyes became two crescents. "What do you want to eat for lunch? To celebrate, I'll treat you."