Chapter 145 Too Greedy!
Chapter 145 Too Greedy!
At noon, in a not-so-ordinary teahouse.
The reason why it is unusual is that many celebrities have stayed here. Photos of Lao She, Guo Moruo, Cao Yu and others are hung on the wall of Changting Teahouse. At that time, photos were not yet in color, and Gu Lu had seen the works of these great masters.
The feelings after reading "Four Generations Under One Roof" and "Thunderstorm" are different. And when Gu Lu finished reading Guo Moruo's poetry collection, he felt that it is not good to follow the crowd. Guo's poetry level is definitely not as good as some collectors say, even worse than that of children.
"Didn't Xiao Gu ask his parents to come along?" Mr. Qian recognized him at a glance, stood up, and looked behind him.
"As for copyright cooperation, I am the author and I am over 16 years old, so I can make the decision," said Gu Lu.
For something as big as a collaboration, Mr. Qian subconsciously thought that the parents would definitely be invited. He never expected that the talented writer would come alone. This is really - great!
Students are definitely easier to fool than adults.
"What kind of tea would you like?" Mr. Qian asked.
"It's all right. I don't usually like drinking tea." Gu Lu said. He also observed the other person inconspicuously. He was in his fifties, with a protruding face and belly.
If I had known that there were only children, I should have chosen a more casual place to talk. Mr. Qian thought about it and then called for Tuocha.
"Our company has close cooperation with major stationery brands such as M&G and Deli." Before the guests' tea was served, Mr. Qian began to praise the company, "Student Gu should know these two brands. If you are a student, you must have used pens from these two brands."
"Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf and Diary of a Laughing Cat have both collaborated with stationery brands and gained popularity among students," said Mr. Qian. "And this year's Boonie Bears produced by Huaqiang Fangte was licensed as soon as the animation was aired."
During the conversation, tea was served, and Gu Lu took the cup and thanked him. He understood that everything that Mr. Qian said before was just a prelude, and the following words were the key.
“Although The Little Prince has illustrations, it has no animations, and the length of the book is not enough to support animation.” Mr. Qian said, “Xiao Gu, you are the same age as my child, and I, as an uncle, will not lie to you. Fairy tales cannot last long without animations. If the surrounding development lags behind, it will be completely out of reach.”
Gu Lu was in deep thought, not about what Mr. Qian said, but rather, if he didn't know the upper limit of "The Little Prince" at the beginning, would he believe what Mr. Qian said?
"Five hundred thousand. Our Chenyu Company is willing to pay five hundred thousand to buy out the agency rights of The Little Prince." Mr. Qian said generously. In his opinion, five hundred thousand was enough to shock a student. If there were parents, he would have offered one million.
Mr. Qian said, "After we get the agency rights, we will cooperate with Morning Glory and Deli. It won't be long before The Little Prince will catch up with Pleasant Goat in terms of fame."
This cake is too big and a bit dry. In the past life, The Little Prince was definitely more famous than Xiyangyang in the world, but in China, it is not as well-known as Xiyangyang.
"We are very sincere. Although the sales of The Little Prince have exceeded 200,000 copies, it is not very impressive among the books published this year. It is even more impossible for others to offer such a high price of 500,000 yuan." Mr. Qian started talking in KTV. "I am just investing in your potential, Xiao Gu. It is a pleasure to cooperate with you this time. We can cooperate again in the future."
The words are half true and half false. The truth is that The Little Prince has only been on sale for half a month and is indeed insignificant. The lie is that the money is always earned by looking at the "good reviews", that is, buying The Little Prince will give you a book cover with patterns such as "a small planet planted with roses", "the fox and the little prince sitting together", "the little prince watching the sunset", etc.
To put it more bluntly, Mr. Qian has never read the novel. He focuses on the illustrations. He would not even find Gu Lu if the illustrator was someone else.
"I do have a question." Gu Lu said, and Mr. Qian gestured for him to speak.
He asked: "Mr. Qian said that I am the same age as your child. I am sixteen years old this year. Is it so late for Mr. Qian to have a child?"
"?" Mr. Qian's mind didn't come to his senses for a moment and he changed the subject a little too quickly.
"Well, Mr. Qian, I'm sorry, I also want the 500,000, but the publishing house has already spent 200,000 to buy the agency rights for The Little Prince." Gu Lu was just making up stories, mainly to avoid future troubles. Look at his sincere eyes.
Damn, I'm late. They only offer 200,000. Damn, they're even more ruthless than me.
The above two thoughts flashed through Mr. Qian's mind. Looking at the simple-minded student sitting opposite him, he didn't think much about it.
Gu Lu continued, "Mr. Qian, why don't you go talk to the publishing house and ask them to give you the copyright? In this way, I will only charge you 400,000 yuan."
"..." Mr. Qian is not crazy. Children's Publishing House is directly under the Central Communist Youth League. He is not crazy to snatch food from the mouth of such an official tiger!
"Ahem." Mr. Qian was thinking about how to refuse tactfully.
"Anyway, it depends on my potential. I just happened to have a book serialized in "Years of Reasoning". Mr. Qian, why don't you consider it?" Gu Lu said again.
Looking at the student in front of him, Mr. Qian looked calm and said, "No problem. What's the name of the other work? Tell me the name. I'll go back and research it with the company, and then we'll talk in a few days."
"Mr. Sherlock Holmes." It was originally a secondary creation, and the copyright was restricted. Gu Lu knew it very well. It was like you couldn't authorize the image of Sherlock Holmes, even if he was 93 years old.
Because Lao Fu is also based on Conan Doyle's works.
"I will study it carefully with the people in the company."
Mr. Qian then paid for the tea and left early, citing company matters as an excuse.
Even though the deal failed, Mr. Qian still saved his face. He is indeed a seasoned businessman, but he is too greedy.
Finishing the tea and snacks on the table is a good habit that should be developed since childhood. Gu Lu looked at his mobile phone as he had classes in the afternoon. It was already past one o'clock, so he ate faster.
After eating, it’s time to call it a day!
"Classmate, when I was serving tea just now, I accidentally heard that you are a writer?" The tea shop owner suddenly asked when Gu Lu was leaving and passing by, "You are the author of The Little Prince, right?"
"That's right." This was not the first time that Gu Lu was recognized.
Perhaps due to the strong support of local media, the sales of The Little Prince in Fog City ranked third among all cities, only behind Beijing and Shanghai. Under normal circumstances, Fog City would only rank about 10th among all cities in terms of sales of a book.
It can even be said that Gu Lu is a level more famous in the Fog City than in other cities.
The tea shop owner was in his forties, dressed smartly, "Can we take a photo together? Take a photo with our tea shop sign."
Changting Teahouse is really a pavilion, with a large stone tablet with the inscription: Changting.
"Boss, you're not going to hang me on the wall, are you?" Gu Lu reacted.
"I wonder if Teacher Gu would be so kind as to leave a photo in our Changting Teahouse." said the tea shop owner.
The black and white photos are all big shots, and the color photos on the wall also feature powerful figures, such as Mo Huaiqi.
"I'll definitely do it next time, definitely next time. Forget it this time. I'm going to be late for school." Gu Lu said.
"Okay, I'll do it next time for sure." The tea shop owner made one of the most regrettable decisions in his career and let Gu Lu, the pigeon spirit, go.
(End of this chapter)