500,000 yuan—400,000 after tax. From what Guo Wei had implied, the film and television adaptation of "Kuala Lumpur Affairs" was a done deal and would soon be put on Goose Factory's agenda.
Goose Factory had even proposed building him up as a public figure. If it had been Chen Yuanguang from three months ago, every single one of those developments would have left him exhilarated.
But after traveling through time and space, his threshold had risen dramatically. None of this stirred a ripple in his heart. It was nowhere near as exciting as when his monthly income from web novels had first surpassed ten thousand yuan.
When Chen Yuanguang realized that only three short months had passed, yet countless sails had already set forth and storms had swept through the world, he felt strangely wistful.
The world was still the same world as before, but he was no longer the person he had once been.
Goose Factory worked quickly. That very evening, Guo Wei gave him a reply, saying it would be no problem to arrange a private conversation between him and Levitt. The timing could not be guaranteed, but they would create an opportunity for him to be alone with Levitt.
That promise alone was enough. Chen Yuanguang was confident he could shake Levitt's convictions with just a few words.
"Let us congratulate the winner of the Gold Prize at the tenth Science Fiction New Star Award, Mr. 2477! Welcome!"
There was one Gold Prize, two Silver Prizes, and three Bronze Prizes. In previous years, the Gold Prize had only carried a 30,000-yuan reward, but because this was the tenth edition, the scale had been raised.
"Let us welcome Da Liu to present the Science Fiction New Star Gold Prize!"
After Science Fiction World joined forces with Goose Factory, this year's awards ceremony was especially grand. The first day featured a live-streamed judging session, while the second morning was the awards ceremony. Major names in science fiction presented the awards in the morning, and Michael Levitt would appear for the afternoon discussion session.
"Congratulations. 'Kuala Lumpur Affairs' is very well written. Some science fiction mystery works have excellent tricks and excellent depictions of the future, but the connection between the trick and the future technology is not particularly seamless.
"But your work gave me a sense of reality. The case felt as though it had truly happened.
"Keep it up, young man. Chinese science fiction still depends on your younger generation." Da Liu smiled as he handed the trophy to Chen Yuanguang.
As an ordinary fan of Three-Body, Chen Yuanguang sensed a fatherly warmth from Da Liu's face. Perhaps the age gap between them was simply too great.
"Thank you, Da Liu. Three-Body is an insurmountable peak in Chinese science fiction. I'll do my best to write something even better than Three-Body." Chen Yuanguang both flattered him and expressed his own lofty ambitions.
The later Chinese works that won the Hugo Award would leave Chinese science fiction fans deeply disappointed. Only then did netizens realize that the Hugo Award being given to Three-Body had truly been its honor.
"Yes. Since it hadn't been finalized before, I didn't tell you."
After Chen Yuanguang won the award, press releases immediately appeared everywhere. Jiang University's official Weibo account promptly reposted Science Fiction World's award announcement:
"Our university's fourth-year student has won the Gold Prize at the tenth Science Fiction New Star Award."
Comments from Jiang University students surpassed one hundred within a single hour:
"How does our school have a guy this handsome, and I don't even know him?"
"Impressive. Does anyone have his contact information? I'm from the Jiang University School of Literature and want to ask him for advice."
"We're both fourth-year students. I'm still struggling toward graduation, while you're already this outstanding."
It was perfectly normal for Jiang University to report on this, since it counted as a student bringing honor to the school. But other media outlets rushing to cover it was clearly the result of Goose Factory pulling strings behind the scenes.
After the film and television rights authorization agreement was signed, the project was quickly approved under Guo Wei's direction. They wanted it released during next summer's season.
Science fiction mystery, a small budget, rigorous logic, low special-effects requirements, and a Kuala Lumpur setting that allowed for a broader scale—every factor made Goose Factory internally optimistic about the project.
Of course, the most important reason they were optimistic was that there was already a successful benchmark in Detective Chinatown.
With Goose Factory pushing it, combined with the fact that the news itself was highly newsworthy, simply putting up Chen Yuanguang's photo was enough to draw attention.
"You really don't treat me like a friend at all. Xiao Su had to forward the Weibo post to me before I found out.
"If she hadn't sent it to me, how long were you planning to keep it from me? Did you think that just because I went to New York, you could go find another dog?" Lin Jia demanded over the phone. Yet there was no anger on her face; instead, she carried a faint smile.
Chen Yuanguang cried injustice. "Of course not. I've been busy all day because of the awards ceremony. I was originally going to take a photo of the trophy and send it to you after I got back to the hotel tonight. Who knew the news would spread so quickly?
"You know I've been preparing for the TOEFL and GRE while also finishing 'Kuala Lumpur Affairs.' Where would I even find the time to look for another dog?"
Lin Jia said from the other end of the line, "I didn't think you'd dare.
"I haven't had time to read your book yet. Now that you've won an award, how does Science Fiction World plan to promote you afterward?
"Do you want me to find someone to help promote it? I think my dad knows the head of CITIC Press. We could consider asking them to help.
"And regarding the rights, I think our family has a film and television investment company. I can ask them about it too and have them help handle things."
Lin Jia had not brought this up before because the web novels Chen Yuanguang wrote had all been Japanese romance stories. The rights would not sell. Would Chinese audiences really want to watch Chinese people writing and acting Japanese romance dramas in flawless Mandarin?
Or would they rely on lip-syncing and have Japanese voice actors dub them? That would be far too strange.
Kuala Lumpur Affairs was different. Lin Jia roughly knew that most of the characters were Chinese, and there was already a successful precedent. She was confident she could help Chen Yuanguang sell the rights.
Forget winning the Gold Prize—even without the award, Lin Jia was confident she could sell the rights based on the subject matter alone.
The only question was how much they would sell for.
"I've already sold them. Goose Factory bought them for 500,000 yuan. They approached me and made an offer before the awards ceremony.
"Since Goose Factory sponsored the competition, they took part in the preliminary judging. During the preliminary round, they felt that 'Kuala Lumpur Affairs' had a lot of potential, so they signed the film and television rights transfer agreement with me in advance," Chen Yuanguang explained.
"When you get back, Qun Guang can eat whatever she wants," Chen Yuanguang said.
Lin Jia made a couple of humming sounds, thinking that while she was beginning a new life in New York, Chen Yuanguang was growing quickly too.
Switching from romance stories to science fiction was a rather abrupt change.
"You have some conscience after all. One meal isn't enough. It has to be a whole week," Lin Jia said.
Chen Yuanguang said, "When you come back... are you coming back for Christmas? If not, then once I finish handling my applications, I'll come see you."
Chen Yuanguang figured that Goose Factory's money would have arrived by then. It would be more than enough for a trip to New York.
Lin Jia said, "I'll definitely come back once, but I'm not sure whether I'll return to Jiangcheng. If I don't go back to Jiangcheng, come find me in Hangcheng."
"You're still planning to apply to overseas universities? Isn't your writing career going pretty well?"
Chen Yuanguang briefly explained his grand plan to establish contact with professors.
Lin Jia's mouth fell slightly open on the other end of the phone. "So this was the method you mentioned before?"
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