Volume 1, Chapter 162: Discussing Copyright Repurchase

Cherry was completely dumbfounded.

Having worked as an editorial assistant for two to three years, she had never once encountered a reader who demanded to buy back all the copyright of a novel.

"Guoba-dada, are you saying you want to buy back the portion of the copyright currently held by the company?"

Generally speaking, web novel copyrights are split fifty-fifty between the author and the platform. For a hit novel like *Jade Immortals*, the copyright was by no means a small sum.

"Are you joking with me?"

Jiang Yu smiled. "No joke. The main reason I wanted to meet with you today is precisely because of this matter."

Cherry fell silent for a moment, then looked up at Jiang Yu. "I probably don't have the authority to make a decision on this. I need to call my superior and ask for instructions."

"Alright, sorry for the trouble."

Cherry picked up her phone and dialed the number on the spot.

"Hello?"

A dignified voice came from the other end of the line.

"Editor-in-chief, I've met Turkey-Flavored Guoba."

"What did he say? Is he planning to start a new book?" the editor-in-chief asked.

Cherry replied, "Yes, he says his main job has been a bit busy lately. Once he gets through this busy period, he will start a new book."

"Tell him not to drag it out for too long. After all, his pen name has just started to gain traction, and the internet has a very short memory. Readers will forget him soon enough."

"Got it!" Cherry answered, then fell silent.

Seemingly sensing Cherry's hesitation, the voice on the other end asked, "Is there anything else?"

Cherry gathered her thoughts and relayed everything Jiang Yu had said, including his desire to reclaim the full copyright of *Jade Immortals*, as well as the copyrights to all future books written under the pen name Turkey-Flavored Guoba.

This time, it was the other end of the line that fell silent.

Even the editor-in-chief was encountering such a situation for the very first time.

Currently, web novel copyrights generally consist of online serialization rights, physical publication rights, and film and television adaptation rights. For a novel as successful as *Jade Immortals*, there was certainly no doubt about the potential of the latter two.

However, those latter two copyrights still required the platform's cooperation and coordination. What kind of resources could a lone author possibly have on their own?

Cherry hadn't mentioned Jiang Yu's identity, which made the editor-in-chief all the more curious!

As for the second request—securing the full copyright of all future books under the pen name Turkey-Flavored Guoba—the editor-in-chief wasn't particularly worried.

*Jade Immortals* was undeniably a massive success, but while authors often managed to write one breakout hit, consistently churning out hits was extremely rare. This Turkey-Flavored Guoba was being rather arrogant.

After much deliberation:

While the commercial value of *Jade Immortals* on the platform looked enormous, it was essentially limited to physical distribution and cinematic adaptation, and no one knew how it would actually perform in the broader market. Since he wanted it, they could just sell it to him at a high price.

As for the future books, the editor-in-chief didn't care much either. After all, nobody could predict whether the next book would be a hit, but making a bit more money upfront was always good.

"One hundred million."

The editor-in-chief's voice came through, making Cherry's eyes go wide. This was entirely too exorbitant.

"Tell him that if he truly wants the full copyright of *Jade Immortals* and the copyrights to all subsequent works under his pen name, we can do a buyout for one hundred million. However, we require him to grant us the right of first refusal for online serialization rights for his future works."

The editor-in-chief finished speaking.

Cherry stood there in a daze.

Jiang Yu frowned slightly. "Cherry? Cherry?"

Hearing the call, Cherry snapped back to reality. She looked at Jiang Yu and bit her lip.

Although *Jade Immortals* was wildly popular on the web, its total revenue up to that point had only been around thirty million. Now, the editor-in-chief was actually asking for one hundred million.

She felt too embarrassed to even say it out loud.

"Cherry, what did your editor-in-chief say?"

Hearing Jiang Yu's repeated question, Cherry sighed and passed along the editor-in-chief's words verbatim.

Upon hearing the figure, Su Muyu frowned. The editor-in-chief was clearly making an exorbitant demand; such a sum was astronomical even within the entire entertainment industry.

The copyrights for bestselling books by veteran authors had never commanded such a price.

She originally wanted to say something, but ultimately closed her mouth to let Jiang Yu make his own decision. She only needed to support him because she trusted Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu also frowned.

He hadn't expected the editor-in-chief to quote such a number.

Yet, upon careful reflection, one hundred million was actually worth it.

The potential copyrights of a novel went far beyond just online, television, and physical publications—they simply hadn't been fully developed yet.

In his previous life, the copyright of a single novel could be subdivided into numerous categories: online serialization, television drama adaptations, movie adaptations, physical books, audiobooks, and animation.

There was even a ruthless author known as "Third Uncle" who sold the rights volume by volume.

And most importantly:

There had once been an era where everyone was obsessed with *Jade Immortals*, with client-based online games and mobile games generating revenues that would easily make one hundred million an incredible bargain.

Even though he thought this way, he still wanted to shave off whatever he could.

After deep consideration, Jiang Yu spoke.

"Fifty million, and I'll give you the online serialization rights."

Cherry relayed the offer to the editor-in-chief.

The corners of the editor-in-chief's mouth ticked upward slightly. "Turn on the speakerphone. I'll talk to him directly."

That was for the best. Being caught in the middle of a game between two big shots was far too difficult.

Cherry placed her phone on the desk.

A steady, calm voice came through the speaker. "Hello, Guoba-dada. I am the editor-in-chief of Cat-Cat Website."

"Hello," Jiang Yu replied, his tone equally commanding.

"You mentioned buying back the copyright for fifty million and only giving us the online serialization rights. That doesn't sound very favorable to us—after all, whatever online sales we make still have to be split fifty-fifty with you. Guoba-dada, you are quite shrewd."

Jiang Yu smiled. "You throw out a high price, I counter with a low one. Isn't that how business is done? Let's not beat around the bush and keep it straightforward. Give me your bottom-line price."

The man on the phone chuckled. "Alright, let me name a figure. Let's not reach nine figures; let's negotiate in the eight-figure range. Seventy-five million net, after deducting your share of earnings—that gets you the full copyright of *Jade Immortals* as well as the copyrights to all future works under your pen name. That price is reasonable, isn't it?"

"Putting it that way, you've already taken half of what this book earned, which can be considered the revenue I generated for your esteemed platform. The money I'm giving you now is pure profit for you. How about this, I'll add another ten million—sixty million. That price should be acceptable."

The editor-in-chief's laughter came through. "Guoba-dada, you're still underestimating yourself a bit. Furthermore, for a book to become a hit, we also incur operational costs; we invested a lot of effort into *Jade Immortals*. Let's do a final price: eighty million. Eighty, eighty, eighty—let's go with a lucky number."

"Seventy million. That's my bottom line."

Jiang Yu gritted his teeth.

All his previous earnings combined came out to about fifteen million, and selling songs had brought in another fifteen million.

Add in TV show appearances, other sung tracks, and television theme songs, everything altogether came to around seven or eight million. After giving his parents some pocket money and buying a house, he only had a little over thirty million left in hand, meaning he would still have to borrow money.

"How about this, you come up a bit, and I'll come down a bit. Seventy-five million, the online serialization rights remain ours, and for your future books, the online revenue split will be six-to-four in our favor. How does that sound?"

Jiang Yu's gaze sharpened.

"Deal! I'll have someone draft the contract and we'll contact you for signatures then."