Bracelet

Before he knew it, it was already Friday.

Today was also the day the narrator had said Longcheng Biology's stock would reach its peak.

Early in the morning, Guo Yuan got up, ate something, and began selling off all the stock he held.

At first, Guo Yuan had bought five lots of Longcheng Biology stock when it was 50 yuan per share. Now, Longcheng Biology's stock was 64 yuan per share.

That meant he had earned 14 yuan per share. The five lots of stock he had bought for 25,000 yuan had become 32,000 yuan—a net profit of 7,000 yuan.

The eighty lots he had bought with the copyright fees had been purchased at 54 yuan per share. Now that they were 64 yuan, he had earned 10 yuan per share, for a total profit of 80,000 yuan.

Guo Yuan was in no hurry to make his next investment. He planned to visit his second maternal uncle tonight and see whether his uncle had worked out any other stock information.

Before that, however, he first had to prepare for another meeting with Wang Qiu.

At 1:30 in the afternoon, Guo Yuan took a taxi to Wang Qiu's company, Longcheng International Publishing House.

When Guo Yuan arrived at the entrance of the publishing house, he happened to run into Su Yurou, who was carrying a stack of documents upstairs.

"Good afternoon, Secretary Su!" Guo Yuan greeted Su Yurou.

"Teacher Guo? Is it already two o'clock?"

"It's 1:53."

"So late already! I've been so busy I lost track of time. Come upstairs with me!"

Guo Yuan nodded and took the employee elevator with Su Yurou.

Wang Qiu's office was on the top floor, the twenty-second. The elevator did not stop once along the way and quickly arrived at the twenty-second floor.

After getting out of the elevator, Su Yurou led the way and brought Guo Yuan to the office.

"Boss, Teacher Guo is here," Su Yurou said after knocking on the door.

"Come in!"

At that, Su Yurou pushed open the door, and Guo Yuan followed her into the office.

Wang Qiu's office was huge. At first glance, it looked more like a large reception room.

At the moment, Wang Qiu was sitting on the sofa in the middle of the office, with all kinds of fruit arranged on the coffee table in front of him.

His nose was wrapped in gauze, and there was gauze on his head as well. His injuries clearly had not healed yet.

"Boss Wang, what happened to you?"

"It's nothing. I accidentally fell a couple of days ago. Teacher Guo, please have a seat!" Wang Qiu stood up to welcome him.

Guo Yuan thanked him and sat down on a single sofa.

"Teacher Guo, I heard you sold White Night Walk to a production company under Tokyo Television?" Wang Qiu asked bluntly.

What Wang Qiu really wanted to know was why Guo Yuan had chosen a production company under Tokyo Television, so he could gauge Guo Yuan's preferences and make an offer accordingly.

Hearing that, Guo Yuan decided to tell the truth. He also wanted to see how much Wang Qiu was willing to offer.

"Yes. I felt they were quite sincere. They suited my preferences better than the other two television stations."

"Sincere? Teacher Guo, by sincerity, you mean...?"

"Two things, I suppose. First, they respect my work enough not to meddle with it or make massive cuts and alterations. Second, their profit-sharing terms are fairly suitable. Although the copyright fee is low, the percentage is high. I believe I can earn it back later."

"It seems Teacher Guo is very confident in his work!"

Guo Yuan smiled and nodded.

"Teacher Guo, your work isn't very popular domestically, and you don't have many fans yourself. It would be difficult to sell the domestic rights on a revenue-sharing basis like you did overseas," Wang Qiu said.

"Boss Wang, just tell me your offer."

"If we can't do profit-sharing, then it would have to be an outright buyout. How about 500,000 yuan for the domestic rights, Teacher Guo?"

Wang Qiu had deliberately named a low price to test him. Personally, he believed the domestic film and television rights for White Night Walk should be worth between one million and 1.5 million yuan.

He had made that assessment because NHK had rated the book highly. They believed it had enormous potential.

However, Guo Yuan had little popularity domestically, and detective fiction was still rather niche in the country, so it could not fetch too high a price. Wang Qiu's ideal price was essentially the domestic value of the book's film and television rights.

Guo Yuan was somewhat disappointed. Even the outright buyout offer was so low. It seemed better not to sell at this stage.

"What do you think, Teacher Guo?" A few minutes later, Wang Qiu asked Guo Yuan, who had remained silent the entire time.

"500,000 is too low."

"It's not low. Teacher Guo, you're at most a minor internet celebrity in China, and the audience for detective fiction is rather limited. This is already quite a fair price."

Guo Yuan shook his head. "Lawyer Hu told me that, based on the circumstances of my book, the domestic rights should sell for around 1.5 to 2 million yuan. He said not to sign anything for less than 1.5 million."

Wang Qiu frowned when he heard that. He had not expected Lawyer Hu to understand the domestic copyright market so well.

1.5 million yuan was indeed close to his own ideal price.

Wang Qiu had planned to secure the domestic film and television rights for the book for around 1.3 million yuan, then wait for the production company under Tokyo Television to make its adaptation.

If it became a hit, he could resell the rights for 10 to 20 million yuan and make more than ten times his investment.

If he produced it himself, he might even be able to cast traffic stars, inflate the budget, then split the money through dual contracts. That way, he could launder money while attracting attention from all sides, and the returns would be far higher than simply reselling the rights.

Even if Tokyo Television's remake ultimately failed to take off, NHK's assessment showed that this book had tremendous staying power. Future sales would reach at least the tens of millions.

A bestseller selling in the tens of millions would see its film and television rights appreciate considerably even if they just sat there. Multiplying in value several times over would be no problem.

As long as he signed it, this deal would be a sure profit with no risk of loss.

That was also why Wang Qiu was willing to negotiate with Guo Yuan.

What Wang Qiu did not know was that all those thoughts had been relayed to Guo Yuan by the narrator.

Only then did Guo Yuan realize that NHK had evaluated White Night Walk long ago. No wonder Wang Qiu had reacted this way.

Unfortunately, the White Night Walk TV drama would not be made for at least another six months. By then, even if the money came in, it would be useless.

"Mr. Guo, let's speak frankly. Your asking price is too high. I can't offer you that much, but I personally really like this book. I can raise it a little—how about 600,000?"

Guo Yuan shook his head. Pretending to glance over casually, he looked at Wang Qiu's wrist and found that his right hand was indeed wearing a handmade ornament woven from red cord. Several gold beads were set into it, with a jade pendant in the center framed in gold.

Noticing Guo Yuan's gaze, Wang Qiu subconsciously pulled down his sleeve to cover the bracelet.

Wang Qiu's excessive caution caught Su Yurou's attention. Even if a handmade ornament had gold beads and precious jade, there was no need to be so nervous just because someone had looked at it.

After hearing the narrator's prompt, Guo Yuan deliberately said to Wang Qiu, "Manager Wang, your bracelet is beautiful!"

"It's just an ordinary bracelet. What's beautiful about it? Mr. Guo, let's get back to discussing the film and television rights!" Wang Qiu deliberately changed the subject.