Chapter 205: Huge Money

Chu Ge felt that these things didn’t happen so quickly; the project had to be evaluated thoroughly. Just carefully reading through his book would take several days, not to mention the other follow-up matters.

But it so happened that this matter was a bit special.

Initially, Old Zhu could have been even more efficient.

He quickly transferred Cai Zhijian’s film and television company back to his name. With this foundation, he could have personally acquired the rights and offered whatever price the other party quoted. He could have bought the rights and left them in storage, and it wouldn’t have mattered much; he could have considered it as repaying a favor to Chu Ge.

But things took an unexpected turn.

It was actually Zhu Mengmeng, who was still in the hospital and hadn’t been discharged, who reminded her father, “I don’t think they want money; if they wanted to store it, they probably wouldn’t want to sell it at all. They clearly want to shoot it as soon as possible. Dad, your company can’t handle this project.”

Old Zhu remembered Chu Ge’s intention and indeed, it was true. He himself had promised “If I can’t secure you a good deal, it would be a disgrace!”

So he gave up on the idea of purchasing the rights and opted for investment.

In order to promote the “IP” to an old friend, he also took the time to understand Chu Ge’s book and unexpectedly found that it was much simpler than he had originally imagined…

The book’s performance itself was already impressive, and that alone was enough. The key was that it had gained considerable popularity, and the two authors were seemingly more famous outside the literary circle than their book…

Old Zhu was delighted. He immediately called an old friend, “Old Xie, you’ve been worried for the past two years about not finding a good project for development, right? How about I recommend a web novel IP to you?”

“Web novel IP, huh…” Old Xie understood. “Is it targeted towards male or female audiences?”

“… Male audiences.”

“In recent years, there have been quite a few losses from adapting male-oriented web novel IPs. I think I’ll pass… If it was for female audiences, I might consider it…”

“But there are also some big hits, like that ‘Qing Something’ novel?”

“Old Zhu, you don’t understand. That’s a grand project for their group, carefully crafted, and they’re willing to invest. The quality is outstanding. Besides, that novel is a rare male-oriented story focusing on character relationships rather than the typical battle-oriented plot. It’s much easier to adapt than most male-oriented novels… Female-oriented novels are easier to adapt, too, for the same reason, and considering the main audience for TV is still female… Your male-oriented IP may be better suited for the animation industry.”

Old Zhu knew that it’s not easy to convince professionals nowadays. Everyone knows the ropes; it’s not the era when you can just brag with a few PowerPoint slides and get away with it. However, this only made him more convinced, and he smiled, saying, “The one I’m recommending to you, it actually fits your requirements quite well.”

Old Xie was not very interested, but he couldn’t brush off his old friend’s face, so he reluctantly said, “Oh? Tell me about it.”

“It’s a character-driven ensemble story, although it also has an upgrade as the main plotline, the overall tone is relatively light, mainly focusing on various characters… Oh, by the way, the most popular character is a big female lead.”

“Oh?” Old Xie smiled, “Is it really as good as you’re saying? Is an ensemble piece popular in web novels? And writing a big female lead in male-oriented fiction… Could it be that some relative of yours wrote a flop of a book to fool you? When you say ‘most popular,’ how many people are we talking about? Is the character even in double digits in terms of popularity…”

Old Zhu summed it up in five words, “Top eight on the bestseller list!”

“Oh…” Old Xie was taken aback.

Now he was genuinely interested. Everyone knows that writing multiple character story is challenging, and many claim they want to write one, but the vast majority fail miserably. To be able to reach the top ranks, the writing must be quite impressive.

And the fact that there’s a big female lead character, and she’s the most popular… If Old Zhu wasn’t just boasting, then it might be worth investigating.

Old Zhu continued to build up the case, “Regarding the female audience, actually quite a few of them are aware of this book. It has its own following, even though it might not have as much influence as TV shows require, it’s still quite remarkable. Some small pop idols are even less popular than them…”

“Haha? You seem like you’re joking with me, Old Zhu…”

“You can go online and check ‘Chu Tian Wu Ji,’ it’s quite popular….”

Old Xie: “???”

He had actually heard of “Chu Tian Wu Ji”… His son was a marriage-fearing gaming enthusiast who never went on blind dates, but recently, he surprisingly agreed to go on one because he said he was moved by “Chu Tian Wu Ji” and yearned for romance…n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Of course, Old Zhu might have exaggerated its popularity compared to a pop idol, but it did have some notable popularity. Old Xie asked, “After all this talk, don’t tell me this author wants to debut?”

“No, no, I can guarantee that’s definitely not the case.”

“Could it be that you really think it has potential and that’s why you’re recommending it to me?”

“Why not? I believe in its potential, that’s why I recommend it. I’m not only recommending it; I’m also investing. At least half the investment.” Old Zhu smiled, “How about it, am I misleading you?”

Old Xie started taking it seriously and said, “Wait a moment, let me have the risk control department evaluate it.”

Old Xie’s film and television company is quite well-known in China, and it’s not a hasty decision by a bunch of inexperienced people. Logically, even the evaluation process itself would take a while. Surprisingly, when he asked for an evaluation, he received this response, “Mr. Xie, the copyright department previously recommended this book to us, and we’ve already evaluated it.”

Old Xie curiously asked, “What’s the result?”

“The team gave it an A rating… It’s good in all aspects, meets our needs and plans, and there are no censorship risks. But the main problem is that if we want to make it into a successful film, the investment is too high, and there’s a significant risk in that area. After our evaluation, we decided to shelve it…”

Old Xie nodded slightly. This was a common problem for male-oriented works. No matter how good the book is, if the cost of production is high due to large scenes and many special effects, the risk becomes significant. And if they try to control costs, the end result often lacks charm, and no one watches it.

So, Old Zhu didn’t mislead him. An A rating from their own team was not easy to achieve, and the decision to shelve it was not due to the quality of the work itself. Also, when Old Zhu mentioned “fits your requirements”… that meant it fit their company’s annual filming schedule, which includes historical dramas, fantasy, and ensemble pieces… It couldn’t be a better fit, right?

The cost issue… Old Zhu promised to invest half, sharing the risk… although Old Xie suspected that Old Zhu might not be able to come up with half of the investment if they followed the budget. It didn’t matter; they didn’t have to rely on just one investor. At least, Old Zhu’s commitment eased his mind a bit.

Regardless of whether they made the film or not, based on this evaluation, acquiring the copyright would be valuable… compared to the massive production budget, purchasing the copyright was a drop in the bucket.

With this in mind, Old Xie made a decision and directly rejected the evaluation department’s recommendation to shelve the project. “Go and get a quote, we’re acquiring this copyright. By the way, not just the film and television rights, try to get the full copyright as long as the other party doesn’t make an outrageous demand!”

With a simple decision from the higher-ups, the project that could have been shelved indefinitely was now set in motion.

This is the difference between Old Zhu’s recommendation with investment and the company’s copyright department pushing for it themselves. Even if the work itself is excellent, the top-down push and conventional evaluation and review are two completely different concepts, leading to different results.

After negotiations, quotations, offers and counter-offers that went through two or three rounds, the editor informed Chu Ge, “Chu Ge, Chu Ge, we have a quote of three million for the full copyright, five years. The other party has agreed, we need your approval, and this deal will be sealed!”

This is the author’s right to be informed and veto, and that’s the extent of their power; they have no say in the negotiation process… but even this level of involvement was achieved through the collective efforts of many authors.

The three million might be a drop in the bucket for capital, but for an author, it’s a massive sum… and with just a five-year contract, it was an excellent deal.

However, Chu Ge was indifferent to the three million. He made one condition: “I must be involved in the script adaptation; otherwise, I won’t sell the rights.”

The editor held back for a while and replied with two words, completely shattering her cute image: “Damn! Impressive!”