Chapter 56: Chapter 56 This can be!
Editor: Henyee Translations
“Oh heavens, what’s going on today?!” Director Gao was completely frustrated. He stared at Wang Hao for a long time before finally saying in utter exasperation, “Little Wang! Brother Hao! Brother Hao, did you step in dog poop today? What on earth is going on?!”
How did you know I stepped in dog poop?
Wang Hao broke into a cold sweat, “I… I don’t know either…”
“Enough, just go and browse the internet!” Director Gao said, then decisively shook his head, “No, no, take the day off. Go home and play on your computer, okay? Just don’t bring any more trouble here. There’s nothing for you to do here, so I’m giving you a day off!”
“Well…” Wang Hao asked cautiously, “So… can I come back tomorrow?”
“Come back tomorrow! Just come back tomorrow!” Gao Mingxing responded as if seeing off a plague, “I won’t see you off!”
Damn, what a close call. Good thing I took Li Fei as my mentor yesterday, or I’d be out of a job by now! If my father knew I got fired after just two days, he’d be crushed!
As Wang Hao made his way downstairs, everyone in the crew kept their distance, looking at him as if he were a harbinger of doom…
Bro, today’s bad luck is truly unavoidable…
Never mind, let’s go find an internet cafe. I remember the editor sent me a contract message yesterday!
Without another word, Wang Hao headed to the internet cafe he frequented. Speaking of which, shouldn’t Guan Yu keep this place secure?
Wang Hao hailed a taxi straight to the internet cafe, and as soon as he walked in, the owner greeted him warmly, “Hey, big bro, you’re here!”
“Yeah, I’m here,” Wang Hao nodded. Still, this place felt familiar—”Click, click,” and suddenly, a blackout!
Internet cafe owner: “…”
“I should go,” Wang Hao said, drenched in sweat. It seemed even Guan Yu couldn’t help…
Internet cafe owner: “You’re always welcome, big bro!”
Sigh, such bad luck today. Looks like another frustrating day ahead. Let’s see if my phone works… Hey? It’s okay, there’s a signal, nice!
Finding a cool spot to sit, Wang Hao started browsing the internet on his phone. First, he logged into QQ—Ju Zi had requested to add him as a friend, with the verification info: Fengyun Chinese Network Contract Editor.
Wahaha, not bad, not bad, quickly clicked confirm.
Wang Ritian: “Hello, hello, are you the contract editor from Fengyun Chinese Network?”
Ju Zi: “Hello, I’m here to discuss the contract details with you.”
Wang Ritian: “Great, go ahead.” A contract! My first one ever! So excited!
Ju Zi: “Okay, I have a form here. Please fill it out and send it back to me.”
Wang Ritian: “Sure, I’ll fill it out right away.”
The 4G network was super fast, and in a flash, the download was done… Damn it! My phone can’t open Excel!
Wang Ritian: “I’m really sorry, I need to find an internet cafe. My phone can’t edit the document…”
Ju Zi: “No problem, just send it to me once it’s done.”
Wang Hao sprinted all the way home, took the elevator… Wahaha! No glitches this time, thumbs up!
Reached for his keys… reached for his keys… keys… key…
Damn! I’m wearing my work clothes! Left the keys at the set!
Now Wang Hao faced a serious dilemma. Should he go back to the set and be a jinx again? Or find another internet cafe?
“If I go back to the set and another accident happens, I won’t be able to keep this job…” Wang Hao felt totally drained, “Forget it, let’s hit the internet cafe again. At least I can handle any issues there!”
Although the job wasn’t great, it’s still important because his parents were counting on him. If he screwed up, his dad’s hypertension would flare up.
Even if the novel hit it big and made a lot of money, it wouldn’t matter until the money was in his hands and his parents saw it. Until then, having a job they approved of was very important.
With that in mind, he decisively headed back to the internet cafe.
Thank goodness, no more mishaps. Got on a computer!
Logged into QQ successfully! This was a good start!
Uploaded the book, downloaded the form, and filled in the personal information—all smoothly done! Wang Hao almost believed his luck had changed! This was a good sign… and then the computer blue-screened!
Damn these internet cafe computers! Restoration software reset everything!
Damn it, like hell it’s going to blue screen again, right?! Redid everything, and this time it finally went through, then sent it back to Ju Zi…
Thank goodness, it went smoothly! Now onto negotiating the contract terms.
Ju Zi: “Hello, here’s the contract. Please review it.”
Contract, huh? Couldn’t understand, so Wang Hao asked directly—
Wang Ritian: “I don’t quite understand, can you explain the revenue sharing for electronic subscriptions?”
Ju Zi: “Hello, electronic subscriptions are split fifty-fifty. If the updates are consistent, there’s a semi-annual bonus given out in January and July, equivalent to ten percent of the total manuscript fee for the half-year.”
That was easy to understand. Wang Hao asked again, “How about the copyright terms?”
Ju Zi: “The copyright is also split fifty-fifty between the author and the website. Our website helps with promoting and recommending your work, but the final decision is yours.”
Wang Ritian: “I understand the price sharing. How does the promotion and recommendation work?”
Ju Zi: “If your book performs well, we can recommend it to various companies. If a company is interested, they’ll make an offer for the copyright. You have the final say and need to sign the agreement.”
Wang Ritian: “Oh, I see. Okay, I’ll take a look and ask if I have any questions.”
Saying so, Wang Hao still thought it over carefully.
As someone who half-understood crossing into different realms, Wang Hao did know a bit about novel copyrights.
In his previous life, Wang Hao knew a top IP could be worth millions! With Fengyun taking half, he’d lose a significant portion of the revenue. But could he refuse the terms?
Shaking his head, Wang Hao realized he couldn’t. He had to agree.
First, he was a newcomer without the leverage to negotiate terms with the website. Second, only the website had the channels to recommend his work to other companies, which he absolutely couldn’t access on his own.
With these two points in mind, Wang Hao had no choice but to sign the contract. Any future negotiations could be dealt with then.
The key point was that he had the final pricing authority. If a company offered too little, he could simply say no.
Wang Ritian: “This is acceptable. By the way, how do the publishing terms work?”
Ju Zi: “Publication is always negotiated by the author. Our company doesn’t interfere.”
Wang Hao nodded immediately, “Alright, it’s a deal!”