Asking the Price

The phone rang. Wang Yi, whose internet had just been connected, swiped across the screen.

"The internet's working now, thanks."

But as soon as Wang Yi finished speaking, a question came from the other end.

"May I ask if this is Teacher Wang Yi?"

The question made Wang Yi realize there had been a misunderstanding. Still, he had only just returned, and it had only been a day since he renewed his phone plan. There probably weren't many people who would call him.

They call me Teacher? Something to do with music? But I only registered the copyrights for my songs on the computer. I don't even have any finished versions worth listening to.

"Who is this?"

"Hello, Teacher Wang Yi. I'm the person in charge of Vida Music in Hong Kong, Vida Li. I happened to notice that you registered copyrights for two new musical works yesterday, so I took the liberty of contacting you."

So it really was about music. Wang Yi had checked on the songs he had sold before, and their reception and popularity had both been quite good.

However, the prices for lyrics and compositions themselves really weren't that high, so there was nothing to regret.

Besides, there were plenty of people more popular than him. It was unrealistic to think anyone would specifically keep an eye on him just because of a few "children's songs."

The other party was polite and claimed to be the person in charge of some company from Hong Kong, but Wang Yi had never even heard of that company. What kind of executive had the time to watch two copyrights he registered, then rush to contact him the very next day?

He had only uploaded the lyrics, melody, and a purely computer-generated audio track. His reputation was nowhere near enough for this kind of attention...

After quickly figuring out a few things, Wang Yi immediately labeled Li Vida as a copyright middleman.

Only people like that would regularly monitor newly registered works in the copyright database.

This world had excellent copyright protections, and registration fees were not expensive. It cost only 300 yuan for a single song, or 100 yuan for each subsequent song in the same series.

As such, a huge number of professional and amateur musicians registered works every day. Some might only be a melody and accompaniment track.

Many middlemen liked to watch this place and snap up bargains.

Even if lyrics and compositions became popular, their impact was limited. At this point, songwriters were nowhere near as influential as singers. Wang Yi naturally had not changed his account either, still using the abbreviation "Yi," since he had originally wanted to make use of his previous influence and channels.

His personal information could be found through the website backend, but that did not matter. It was not anything shameful. Wang Yi used an abbreviation purely to reduce potential trouble and harassment.

If someone with the connections and influence to obtain his information from the backend found out, then so be it. No one would be bored enough to spread his private information everywhere. That would get them sued.

So, since the other party knew he was a somewhat famous musician and had contacted him so urgently, they were most likely trying to pick up a bargain again. Still, being able to find his name and phone number meant they had some real ability.

Were music copyright fees expensive? They could be extremely expensive. The secondary licensing rights to all of Jay Chou's songs could bring in tens of millions each year, while exclusive rights for three years could reach 570 million. But that was a complete exception.

Even though Wang Yi had a few songs with decent reputations, his ceiling was only around the hundred-thousand range.

He chose music simply because he was familiar with it and the money came quickly.

He had never expected some sky-high copyright fee.

A song had to sound good, fit the singer, and be promoted. Many bar singers and street performers often came up with songs that made people's eyes light up, yet remained unknown.

Talent shows could help with promotion, but they could also obtain the copyrights to songs singers wrote and used during the competition. That alone showed the disadvantage faced by independent musicians. Agencies and distributors holding resources would always take the biggest share.

Sky-high copyright prices were the result of later operations, not the value of a work at the time of creation.

It was like opening a blind box. Before the market tested it, everything was unknown.

Even if Wang Yi brought out proven quality goods, whether they could achieve the same glory again still depended partly on luck. Plenty of good songs were only discovered much later. So if someone was willing to pay cash outright, he did not mind selling the rights completely.

Songs were merely a way for him to gather initial capital.

"Teacher Wang Yi hasn't released any works in three years. However, considering your previous reputation, our company is willing to offer 50,000 per song to buy out the copyrights in your hands."

Wang Yi did not think much of the offer. He even felt the other party was fairly sincere.

After all, even top musicians could produce average works. Since he had only registered the copyrights and had not even made proper recordings, the other party's opening offer of 50,000 was naturally quite sincere.

It seemed his earlier judgment had been somewhat off. Perhaps they were not ordinary middlemen, but the well-funded kind.

"Neither song is worse than 'Lone Brave.' Two hundred thousand each. If you agree, I'll give you priority in the future."

Wang Yi did not bother with false pleasantries. He was making songs for money, and he wanted money quickly. It was not as if he intended to truly enter this industry. Being straightforward would save everyone time.

The other end fell silent for a moment after hearing Wang Yi's price, then said,

"Then where are you currently, Teacher? Shall we meet and discuss it?"

Their willingness to come over from Hong Kong already showed their sincerity.

Since they were taking the initiative to come and seemed sincere, Wang Yi naturally had no objections.

"I'm in Shudian right now."

"Shudian? Is Teacher Wang Yi doing music for some Film Crew? I know some people in the film industry too. I can—"

"No, I do research."

"..."

Well, that killed the conversation immediately. After roughly confirming the itinerary, the other party hastily ended the call.

Since they were coming here personally, the deal would most likely go through. They were only coming because they were uncertain about the quality of the music and genuinely wanted to make the purchase.

As finished songs already proven by the market, there was naturally no need to worry too much about quality.

With the money from these two songs, Wang Yi could consider renting a storage space and buying servers. He had checked earlier and found that there were quite a few vacant rooms on the top floor of his building because it had no elevator. It was more than enough for a server room.

After all, his starting capital was limited. It was still too early to buy his own land. Besides, Uncle Li, the landlord, was a decent man. Renting here would save him a great deal of trouble.

As for rent and value for money, the top floor without an elevator was not expensive to begin with. There was also an industrial park and a large number of electronics factories near Shudian. Failing to make it as a Shudian drifter and going to work in a factory was standard procedure. If he really wanted a plot of land in the future, the area was not bad either.

Wang Yi had originally planned to read a few papers that interested him, but he soon left his room and headed for Uncle Li's small duck blood and vermicelli soup shop.

He could have another bowl of duck blood and vermicelli soup to fill his stomach. The baozi from earlier had digested too quickly...

"You want to rent three more rooms?"

Uncle Li, who was preparing ingredients in the kitchen, paused slightly before frowning at Wang Yi.

"What are you renting them for? Young man, there are some things you mustn't get involved in. After suffering a loss, you need to stay on the right path. Don't think about taking shortcuts."

As a landlord, Uncle Li was highly alert to tenants suddenly asking to rent additional rooms. It was common for people to use rental rooms as dens for prostitution, gambling, drugs, and scams.

Wang Yi was a young man, and suddenly doing this made it easy to suspect the source of his money.

"Don't worry, Uncle Li. I know what I'm doing. I'm just putting a few computers there."

"Oh, I get it. It's for that mining thing, right?"

Uncle Li wore an expression that said he understood. His thinking was quite modern, or perhaps he had encountered tenants like this before.

The virtual currency craze had only just begun in this era. The central bank's December 5 notice had not yet been issued, a single Genesis Coin had already surpassed one thousand US Dollars, and professional ASIC mining rigs had begun to appear. The culprits behind rising graphics card prices and the carnival of unscrupulous merchants had begun their overture.

"Not exactly. Don't worry, Uncle Li. I got the money from selling songs. It's money I earned before."

Knowing Uncle Li's personality, Wang Yi had come prepared. He showed Uncle Li the transaction records and the dates the money had entered his account, immediately putting him at ease.

As for virtual currency, Wang Yi knew that if things continued according to a similar trajectory, it could still rise dozens of times by the time it peaked. But he was not particularly interested in it. Once national-level opposition appeared, its previous mad upward momentum would be hampered. The later surges would come from international capital entering to harvest suckers and launder money.

It was a rootless zero-sum game with platforms that could shut down at any moment. It was simply a game of passing the parcel controlled by others, and receiving payments could even involve money laundering. Wang Yi had no interest in touching it.

This was a parallel world. It would be perfectly normal for the currency to be crushed into permanent decline once the authorities began cracking down.

"I never expected you could write songs too. You're a talented young man. There happen to be two rooms on the top floor rented to a small band right now. Maybe you'll have something in common..."

After seeing the information Wang Yi showed him, Uncle Li smiled, completely setting aside his earlier concern as he cheerfully began looking for the keys.

After renting the rooms, Wang Yi contacted the telecommunications company to arrange for fiber internet installation. He also went online to look for servers.

The Hanwei BH640 V2, a four-way Blade Server based on the Mote E5-4600 series processors, had excellent value for money and was convenient to expand and combine.

Having picked out the equipment, all he needed to do was wait for the music copyright dealer to come and deliver the money.

Wang Yi then casually checked the status of the submission he had sent in.

Damn, they were efficient. It had not even been twelve hours before the result came out.

Reject. Submission rejected.

Looking at the reply time, it seemed they had rejected it not long after starting work. That was practically an instant rejection...

First update. Chapter comments still can't be displayed, though they can be seen. The mobile transfer has been completed, but the real-name verification has not synced to the contract platform yet. Ahem...