Capital cared only about the value you could create.
Whatever happened with this book or the next, the importance Xie Wenyuan attached to the project was value in itself.
And Chu Ge seemed to have some connections, too. Was he a relative of Xie Wenyuan's...? Otherwise, the boss could hardly imagine why Xie Wenyuan would personally meet a little-known internet-famous writer, make tea, and chat for over an hour. No matter how highly he valued the work, surely that was going too far.
In truth, Chu Ge himself had no idea how much of it was down to Old Zhu's influence, how much to that hundred million, and how much to Xie Wenyuan's own interest.
But whatever the case, from now on, whether or not they treated him as a figurehead, they certainly couldn't fall out with him at this point. Winning him over was standard practice.
"We'll be working more closely with Mr. Xie on this project, investing and bringing in our own team as joint producers," the boss was saying. "Old Xie really has an eye for these things. To think we overlooked a treasure and had to wait for someone else to discover a good IP under our own banner..."
You've overlooked plenty of good IPs, Chu Ge thought. How many books has your rights department actually read...? Forget it. I can't be bothered arguing with you about this.
He merely smiled. "Mr. Xie told me. We'll collaborate on the animation and release it on our own animation site."
Perhaps "our own" sounded particularly pleasing, because the boss broke into a smile and nodded. "Exactly. So this now counts as our group's own business, too. With us involved in the collaboration, we'll strive for even better quality. Keep in touch with the editorial team if anything comes