The Art of Negotiation

"Yuanguang, I hope you can remember that these are just your temporary achievements. You can't rest on your temporary laurels and stop striving.

Your mother is not someone who likes to pour cold water on things. Seeing you achieve considerable success in both scientific research and writing, I am certainly genuinely happy for you. It just reminds me of your father.

After your grandparents' house was demolished back then, our family suddenly became wealthy. We had houses, storefronts, and cash. He quickly quit his job, which in today's terms means he became a 'salted fish.'

I don't want you to go down the same path as your father.

Life is a process of continuous striving." Chen's Mother sounded a little lost in thought.

Chen Yuanguang nodded silently and said nothing more. He didn't want to provoke his mother into recalling unpleasant memories.

In his memory, his parents were very much in love when he was young. It wasn't until the family became wealthy after the demolition that his parents started arguing constantly, until his father had an affair and they divorced. He stayed with his mother, who was busy with her career, and he was raised by his maternal grandparents.

People from different eras have different ideas and perspectives.

The Post-70s Generation caught a good era: the college entrance examination, the rejuvenation of cadres, the real estate dividend, and China's rapid economic development for thirty years. They were completely riding the wave of the times, precisely catching every era's dividend.

So, for them, they feel that there is nothing in life that cannot be achieved through hard work and striving.

By the time of the Post-90s Generation, the dividends were gone. Even with the same effort, the sense of gain has significantly decreased. This is like playing a game where the drop rate for the previous generation of players was 10%, but for current players, it's 1%, and it might even have been secretly changed, with a 0.5% drop rate being advertised as 5%.

As a writer, Chen Yuanguang's observations were more acute. He had already realized this at the tail end of the 2018-2019 golden age, while the general public wouldn't widely realize it until three years later.

Considering the other party was his mother, Chen Yuanguang outwardly agreed, but in reality, he felt that his father's 'lying flat' mindset was more suitable for the current era.

If you've already achieved financial freedom, why still work nine to five every day waiting for opportunities to come your way? What's the point?

As for his father, because his father later remarried and their relationship wasn't very good, Chen Yuanguang only had dinner with him once. His father wasn't as nagging as his mother; he just told him to take care of his health and then kept talking about his fishing experiences.

Chen Yuanguang was driving back in a used Volkswagen that his mother had phased out. His father sent him a map of the best fishing spots in Yangcheng and the surrounding areas.

It seems he had spent all his skill points on eating, drinking, and having fun over the years.

While Chen Yuanguang was back accompanying his parents, Lin Jia was arguing with Goose Factory over every clause.

It wasn't until Goose Factory's internal information system discovered that Chen Yuanguang had already signed a contract with Goose Factory.

Jenny saw the email Guo Wei sent her. Her mood, which was already good because of the huge success of Kuala Lumpur Affairs, improved even further.

She called Guo Wei: "David, you represent me in the negotiations with Lin Jia. Just show her the contract Chen Yuanguang signed with Yuewen.

The operating rights for his works are already with Goose Factory; it's just a matter of whether they belong to Yuewen or Goose Factory Pictures. There's no way they can bypass Goose Factory and sign with other companies."

Jenny was very pleased. Lin Jia's unyielding attitude earlier had annoyed her.

She couldn't manipulate Lin Jia like she would a typical author. Although the company Lin Jia represented was far less influential and powerful than Goose Factory, she couldn't afford to offend Lin Jia herself.

Moreover, according to the information she had gathered, Lin Jia had the ability to turn around and cooperate with Ali or Enlight Media.

Facing a negotiation threat from someone with both strength and willingness, Jenny had to compromise to buy time.

Finally, during the process of buying time, she discovered Chen Yuanguang's loophole. In the contract Chen Yuanguang signed with Yuewen, the operating rights for all his works had already been granted to Yuewen.

When Guo Wei handed the contract to Lin Jia, Lin Jia knew she had lost this round: "David, right? Tell Jenny to send over the terms.

If the terms aren't suitable, we'd rather not cooperate, and there won't be a sequel to the Kuala Lumpur Affairs IP.

This will be a lose-lose situation.

As for whether you find other screenwriters to ghostwrite and release sequels with the same settings and background stories, we'll see you in court. Even if we can't win in the end, just dragging you on for a few years, let's see who can afford the loss.

I have the capital to play with Goose Factory. The large number of corporate lawyers I employ are just looking for something to do."

This was the last resort. Lin Jia knew she had lost her bargaining chips.

"Yuanguang, the subsequent copyright operations for Kuala Lumpur Affairs have been negotiated. Considering you signed a writer authorization agreement with Yuewen, we were very passive in the negotiations.

Finally, we signed for five years, releasing one sequel each year, with a fixed copyright fee of one million and a two percent investment share.

This is the best I could negotiate. If you think it's okay, I'll have Goose Factory send over the contract. You can take a look first, then sign," Lin Jia informed him over the phone.

Chen Yuanguang quickly calculated in his mind. The salary increased, but the investment income was halved. "Okay, let's sign it like this."

For Chen Yuanguang, this money was just start-up capital, like getting an angel round of financing from Goose Factory.

A novella of less than 100,000 words per year was incredibly easy for a web novel author.

Chen Yuanguang just treated it as a release for his desire to express himself. In the future timeline, he hadn't seen many real people.

Considering the potential threats, Chen Yuanguang had not left the University of Malaya.

Lin Jia put down the phone and reviewed the gains and losses of this negotiation in front of her computer.

She realized that she shouldn't have been too aggressive and should have left some room for the other party. If she had compromised slightly in the early stage, Jenny would have signed long ago.

It wouldn't have allowed her to discover this loophole.

Lin Jia gained a new understanding of surrounding three sides and leaving one open, advancing by retreating. She even extended it to relationships, where completely not leaving space for the other party and having too strong a desire for control were more likely to lead to problems.

"Lin Jia, you really have good judgment. When you brought Chen Yuanguang to meet us before, we all thought he had no other advantages besides being handsome.

We didn't expect him to make a name for himself so quickly. Although it's not enough compared to your family's background, at least there's hope.

Taking the academic route is also a glorious path. There are many examples of those who excel in academics becoming officials these days.

First, secure an administrative level in a university, and then be parachuted into a position of power.

By then, you two will be a strong alliance."

Because the negotiation ended earlier than Lin Jia expected, Chen Yuanguang was still in Yangcheng, so she went to Shenhai to find her best friends.

She hadn't lived on campus when she studied at Jiang University, and she was too aloof to make friends other than Chen Yuanguang. The few friends she had were daughters of her parents' friends from childhood.