Invest! Invest!

"Light, impressive. Judging from the results, I don't have much left to teach you. Other PhD students might need years to make the transition from a single point to a broader field, but you seem to have figured it out without any guidance.

Being able to derive more accessible results from perovskites is a talent more important to a scientist than intelligence.

We often discuss how important it is to identify problems during research. With a good mentor, they can help you during that process, helping you find work that is within your reach and capable of producing results.

That way, newcomers to academia can rely on those results to get through their initial stage. Your ability to expand from a point to a field is a more advanced ability to discover problems.

Very good. Give me the paper. I need to look it over again. There are some algorithm designs in it that I don't fully understand, and I may need to discuss them with you at any time.

We'll publish the papers according to your suggestion. The earlier one will go to JACS, and the later one to Nature.

No, no, no. If the first two are combined into one series, they should both be publishable in Nature. This is essentially a series of results.

Let's review the papers first. As for publication, I'll contact Nature's editors when the time comes."

Bawendi looked extremely excited. He paced back and forth through the laboratory, pondering several key points in the papers.

Bawendi felt as though he had found a treasure. Compared with the Chinese PhD students he had supervised before, Chen Yuanguang had displayed abilities that none of them had shown even by the time they graduated.

Chen Yuanguang said, "Professor, I think that's fine. Once we go through the papers and Nature reviews them, when exactly can they be published?"

Bawendi said, "Probably around late May or early June. Since this is a series, and it combines artificial intelligence, computational chemistry, and materials chemistry, they may have trouble finding suitable reviewers."

Bawendi suddenly laughed. "Once these two papers are published in Nature, they'll probably invite you to serve as a reviewer. You may become Nature's youngest reviewer."

Chen Yuanguang thought, June. That timing is perfect.

"Ms. Lin, I understand what you mean, but that doesn't mean Mr. Chen, the author of Kuala Lumpur Affairs, is entitled to receive a share of the film profits.

That would be unreasonable. Offering five hundred thousand for a debut novella by a new writer is already an unusually high price in this industry.

It does not have the ready-made traffic of an online novel, nor does it have the built-in IP value of a famous author's work.

Its greatest IP value even comes from the Science Fiction World New Star Writers Contest, which we sponsor.

We expect Kuala Lumpur Affairs to be released during the May Day holiday season, or perhaps later during Singles' Day.

If its box office performance is good and it shows the potential to become a series IP, we would not mind giving Mr. Chen profit shares from subsequent film and television productions, perhaps even increasing those shares over time," Jenny argued reasonably.

It had previously been mentioned that Jenny was Guo Wei's superior, the vice president of Goose Factory Video's content production division.

When she heard Guo Wei say that the author of Kuala Lumpur Affairs had sent a fully authorized representative to renegotiate the copyright terms,

Jenny had not wanted to entertain it at all. What were they thinking? Did they take Goose Factory's legal department for a bunch of freeloaders? The copyright had already been sold, and they wanted to go back on a contract written in black and white?

Only after the film investment company under Lin Jia's family business used its connections to reach her did Jenny learn who she was dealing with. She could not afford to offend a wealthy young lady, so she arranged an in-person meeting in Hangzhou. It happened that they had a merger and acquisition matter requiring a business trip to Hangzhou anyway.

Lin Jia remained composed, radiating an aloofness that kept others at arm's length. "Jenny, as you said, an ordinary writer's first work would never be signed under a contract like this.

But Chen Yuanguang is obviously not an ordinary person. He has every quality needed to become a celebrity writer: good looks, good height, an elite academic background, and no bad habits whatsoever.

The reason the media has not discovered him yet—isn't it because Goose Factory wants to keep the awl hidden in its sack and does not want him to pierce through too soon?"

Jenny caught the implication in Lin Jia's words. "You're right. Those are potential advantages, but they do not mean he will definitely become popular.

If enough potential guaranteed fame, there would be no need for talent scouts.

You should also know that there are many examples in the industry. They have top-tier resources and decent personal qualities, yet they simply cannot become popular.

The same applies to writers. Goose Factory's offer of five hundred thousand already took Mr. Chen's potential into consideration. There is a limit to this kind of advance payment. Do you understand what I mean?"

Lin Jia said, "There is a clause in the contract stating that Party B must provide appropriate cooperation for the promotional work of subsequent film and television productions.

What qualifies as appropriate cooperation is open to interpretation. If all subsequent promotion is handled unilaterally by Goose Factory in conjunction with news coverage, it definitely will not achieve the promotional effect you hope for."

Lin Jia's words struck at the heart of the matter.

Jenny's expression did not change, but she grew nervous inside. She understood perfectly what Lin Jia meant. They wanted Chen Yuanguang to cooperate before the film's release by accepting interviews and opening a Weibo account for promotion.

Only then could they achieve the greatest possible promotional impact.

If Chen Yuanguang was unwilling, and they could only rely on the novel itself and print media promotion, the reach would be greatly reduced. Once it was tied to the film, the positive effect on the film's marketing would be even weaker.

The contract had been written that way because Chen Yuanguang had hired a lawyer to revise it before signing. He had originally wanted that clause removed, but after negotiations, both sides had left that ambiguous space in place.

Now that Lin Jia had seized on it, even if they won a lawsuit, they would still lose.

Jenny asked, "I understand what you mean. If Mr. Chen's cooperation is needed, what do you want?"

Lin Jia grinned, thinking, Did she think I didn't know what Goose Factory was planning?

Still, considering that they would be cooperating in the long term, Lin Jia did not intend to make an outrageous demand. "What we want is simple. We do not want profit shares. We want an investment allocation in the film.

We will help Goose Factory share the risk. We want an investment allocation equal to thirty percent of the total investment."

Jenny could not keep her composure this time. The demand was too ruthless. "Thirty percent is too much. At most, one million."

Goose Factory thought highly of the project internally. If Chen Yuanguang was willing to cooperate, it would have even more room to maneuver.

The two sides haggled relentlessly over the amount, fighting over every last detail, until they finally settled on an investment allocation of eight million.

Jenny sighed. "Ms. Lin, you are the toughest opponent I have ever dealt with. Still, I hope our future cooperation goes smoothly, and I also hope Kuala Lumpur Affairs becomes a huge success.

We will have many opportunities to cooperate in the future."

Lin Jia's slightly furrowed brows relaxed, and her whole body was no longer so tense. She seemed relieved after achieving her goal. "Jenny, I hope we cooperate happily in the future. Besides this matter, I have some additional requests on behalf of my client."