It was already late at night when they returned to B City.
After a short holiday, Lu Yanbei was back on track, working long hours for the company. Only after work was he hers, his Mrs. Lu.
On this trip to Princeton, he had helped Su He regain her lost memories. The last bit of lingering concern between them was resolved, and their relationship had developed rapidly, even sweeter than when they first started dating.
Su He rested for a few days and then opened her computer, only to find several new emails. After deleting most of the spam, only those proposing cooperation remained.
Su He's recently serialized comic, "Living with a Big Shot," had exploded in popularity online, naturally attracting a lot of attention. Once a comic becomes popular, it can be published, adapted into a drama, or even turned into a novel.
In other words, these people wanted to buy the copyright to Su He's comic.
Su He's eyes involuntarily lit up.
Could she finally get copyright fees? Yes!
Su He was so happy that she started dancing.
She hopped around on the carpet barefoot for a long time before forcing herself to calm down.
She first researched all the platforms that wanted to cooperate and finally chose two reputable ones to reply to. Soon, one of them responded.
"Some things are difficult to explain clearly over the phone, how about we schedule a time to meet and chat?" The other party, who claimed to be the person in charge from Yue Heng, had a sweet voice and clear logic. Moreover, she seemed to already have Su He's contact information, as she called directly.
Su He checked her calendar and said, "Then let's set it for ten o'clock tomorrow morning."
"I know a coffee shop that's pretty good, how about we meet there?" the female editor suggested a place close to the company.
Su He had no objections. "I'm fine with that."
"May I ask what to call you?" the female editor suddenly remembered the issue of names before hanging up.
Su He pondered for a moment and decided to use her pen name. "Call me A Miao."
"Okay, Miss A Miao, see you tomorrow." The female editor bid her farewell politely.
After hanging up, Su He noted down tomorrow's schedule in her phone calendar. Ever since she hit her head, her memory hadn't been very good, and she would definitely forget if she didn't write it down.
In the evening, Lu Yanbei returned from the company, and Su He told him about it.
Lu Yanbei sighed, wrapped his arms around her, and said, "Why don't you consider your husband's company?"
"Huh?" Su He looked up at him in confusion.
Seeing that she didn't understand, Lu Yanbei patiently explained, "Don't you remember? Lu Shi has a brokerage company under it, which ranks at least in the top three in the industry."
Su He's mouth opened slightly; she really hadn't thought of that. "But I've already made an appointment with Yue Heng..."
"You've only made an appointment to meet, there's no need to rush to sell the copyright," Lu Yanbei gently stroked the top of her head, coaxing her softly.
Su He thought about it and felt it made sense. It wasn't a done deal; she had to shop around!
The next day, Su He arrived at the coffee shop five minutes before the scheduled time, as agreed.
This way, she could show respect for others without being rushed.
However, to Su He's surprise, the other party was half an hour late. This gave Su He a very bad first impression, and she even began to doubt her choice.
"Are you Miss A Miao? I'm so sorry, there was a traffic jam." Just as Su He was hesitating whether to get up and leave, a curly-haired beauty in a Chanel-style suit and a designer bag pushed the door open and walked in.
She scanned the crowd and finally her gaze landed on Su He.
As she approached, a strong scent of perfume wafted over, making Su He feel a little uncomfortable.
She didn't usually wear much perfume, and if she did, she preferred fresh, light scents. She found this kind of strong perfume quite jarring.
After apologizing to Su He, the woman sat down directly opposite her.
Perhaps it was because Su He was wearing casual clothes, she was mistaken for a student, and Su He saw a hint of disdain in the woman's eyes. Unlike the polite voice on the phone, the woman in front of her was much more perfunctory.
"Miss A Miao, this is a contract drawn up by our company. Take a look. If there's anything you're not satisfied with, we can discuss it further." She started with a business-like attitude, seemingly certain that Su He would sign the contract.
Su He, however, didn't rush to look at the contract. Instead, she picked up the coffee on the table and took a small sip.
To be honest, she didn't quite like this drink. It was bitter and astringent, and she couldn't understand why so many people liked it. It wasn't as good as milk tea.
"I'll look at the contract later. I just want to know, what will your company do with the copyright after buying it, and for how many years will you buy it?" Su He asked unhurriedly.
The other party seemed surprised by Su He's question and paused slightly. "It's all written in the contract."
Su He lazily lowered her eyes and looked at the thin few pages, suddenly losing interest.
She had seen plenty of contract clauses before. They were all word games played by the甲方爸爸 (Party A, the client/buyer), and the interpretation was in their hands. If a dispute arose, she, as Party B, would be in a very passive position.
So, whether she read it or not didn't really matter.
Su He, mimicking Lu Yanbei, lightly tapped her fingers on the side of the cup. "There are too many clauses, I'm too lazy to read them one by one. Why don't you tell me? Wouldn't that be more direct?"
The smile on the other party's face froze. She hadn't expected Su He, who looked so naive and innocent, to be so shrewd.
She adjusted her mindset and forced a professional smile. "It's like this, our company usually signs copyrights for twenty years. As for when it will be adapted into film or television, it depends on the company's plan. Perhaps the second half of the year, or perhaps in three to five years. I can't guarantee anything right now."
"Twenty years..." Su He's heart sank at the number.
As expected, capitalists were good at calculating. While she wanted to get copyright fees, she of course also hoped that her work would be seen by more people. However, a work's popularity was limited. If they kept delaying further development, she could only worry. Moreover, once the copyright was in their hands, she couldn't sell it to other companies, and she would be the one suffering the greatest loss.
"Don't worry, I came with sincerity. The copyright fee is one hundred thousand yuan. For a newcomer, that's already a considerable income." The other party clearly didn't take Su He seriously.
Su He didn't even raise her eyelids when she heard the amount of one hundred thousand yuan.
Heh, was this how they treated beggars?
Her comic had already earned more than this in two months of serialization. Now, they wanted to dismiss her with a mere hundred thousand. Truly "full of sincerity."
Su He didn't speak anymore, and slowly drank the cup of coffee in small sips.
After all, it was quite expensive, dozens of yuan. It would be a shame to waste it.
"Miss A Miao seems dissatisfied with this amount?" Seeing that she had no intention of signing, the other party finally started to get anxious.
"I'm not very satisfied," Su He admitted truthfully. "I'm sorry, I have other things to do. I'll be going now."
She gave the other party no room to negotiate and walked straight out of the coffee shop, not slowing down even when the woman in high heels chased after her.