198 Job Done

Even with the help of the personal assistant to arrange the schedule, due to the many different things that popped up, Ye Shuang still had to work until 11 pm to make sure she met everyone.

The next morning, learning from her mistake from the night before, Ye Shuang knew waiting until night would not be enough. Therefore, she decided to go grab people at the hotel restaurant early in the morning. Her first target was the editor. The poor editor was dragged to the front door of the restaurant to have breakfast. As long as the people on her list came to the restaurant, after they were recognized by the editor and Ye Shuang confirmed that she had not talked to them, they would be invited to their table to talk and have breakfast.

That morning, she settled another four cases. In the afternoon, people went out to play while Ye Shuang stayed in her room to deal with the information. After dinner, she continued the discussion…

After three days, she finally talked to everyone on her list. The rudimentary confirmation was twenty-two authors were interested in the cooperation. The others either did not have the time or they were hesitant to introduce change into their current lifestyle. The end result was almost as she expected. For the first cooperation, Ye Shuang was quite satisfied with the result.

…

"Please take a seat. This is the final confirmed author list‽" The main editor from the publication and writing company also remained in his room to deal with things remotely. Even though the symposium could be considered a holiday, it did not mean that he could run away from work; occasionally, he would still receive emails about work from the company.

Since Ye Shuang picked a time when they did not have group activity to come visit, she saw the man also busy with work. The main editor knew about the news of cooperation between Tian Mo Media and their authors, but he did not ask for Ye Shuang's schedule. Therefore, he was quite surprised when he accepted the list from Ye Shuang. "These… Erm, are you sure you want these people‽"

"Yes, that's enough for the first batch." Ye Shuang sat down with a nod. "After all, this is just a trial. Writing a novel and a script are two different things. Even with these twenty plus people, I doubt we can get a script instantly. I only picked some scenes for them to try. I can contact the others after we have a product to show."

The main editor was silent for a while. "Perhaps you'll find my question abrupt, but why aren't there any platinum authors on the list?"

"Too expensive." Ye Shuang expressed sadness. The directness of her reason almost made the main editor cough blood. Seeing the conflicted expression on the editor's face, Ye Shuang thought about it and elaborated. "Platinum authors have their specialized plots, and forgive my directness, but most of their stories are too fantastical—adapting them would be too difficult."

This reason sure is… Thinking about the various gods and fighters penned by his authors, the main editor sighed with a nod. "You're right."

These topics would be hard to edit.

"Furthermore, the works of these platinum authors are normally directly adapted into games or other products, and they already have a lucrative income from that. Even if there are novels that can be adapted into scripts, the payment provided by Tian Mo Media would not have interested them."

Ye Shuang thought it was better to explain everything clearly upfront; therefore, she continued to explain patiently. "If we express the intention to cooperate with them, it'll make things awkward for both parties. For example, if we wish for them to expand their synopsis into a series script, how do we pay this writing fee? If it's too high, it'll be a losing deal for us, but if it's too low, the money will be less than half of the fee they get from the monthly income… To put it simply, they do not need this, so cooperation is very different. If they have a product that we're really interested in, it's just easier to buy the adaptation rights."

To make an analogy, if someone went to a person who had a monthly income of 10,000 to start a business and promised they would earn 50,000 monthly… Okay, good news for everyone! However, if that person approached someone who had monthly income of 1,000,000 to start a business and promised a monthly income of 50,000, then of course the person would laugh.

The main editor just was not satisfied that his beloved authors were kicked off the list from the very start, but then, after he thought about it, he realized that this was a good thing because it would not affect the platinum authors' update speed.

Then he nodded and went to the hotel reception to ask the staff to help fax the list back to the company and wait for the lawyer to send back the drafted contract. Then he collected the copy of all the authors' identity cards to go with the contract. Many details later, the last step was to sign the contract and the cooperation could be concluded happily. Ye Shuang turned and handed a copy of the contract to Elder Mo, and her work was done.

…

"Sister Ye is not staying behind to play for a few days‽" Mo Xiao Xia hugged Ye Shuang's arms, she was close to shedding tears.

I do intend to stay, but after changing gender, it won't be that convenient to play with you anymore… Ye Shuang dragged her luggage and said seriously, "I still have work to do. I'll see you back in Shanghai."

Mo Xiao Xia pouted and grumbled, "Fine, how about I send you to the airport‽"

"That won't be necessary." Ye Shuang gave a lie without batting an eye. "I'm going to meet some of my friends in Chaohai this afternoon, and I'll leave at night. You should go accompany your family."

"Okay, fine…"

Finally peeling Mo Xiao Xia off her body, Ye Shuang pulled the luggage out from the girl's teary gaze and left the hotel lobby. She had just left the hotel entrance when she heard a voice, which she had gotten unfortunately familiar with from the past few days, crying and moaning, "No wonder you refuse to stay in the same room as me, no wonder you want me to stay outside—it's because you are keeping a woman with you here!"

Then it was a bunch of guys who had become expert at breaking up fights… trying to console the woman. Xiao Zhu Hou, who stood beside the fountain at the door, looked real bleak. No one dared walk within one meter of the man in case they attracted the rage of the mad dog.

Ye Shuang was also speechless. She had run into this scene over the past few days who knew how many times already. Xiao Zhu Hou was technically her first contracted writer, and she should have the most interaction with the man. Unfortunately, there was a guardian dog around the man. As long as a female got close to Xiao Zhu Hou, they risked being bitten. Ye Shuang was not afraid of fighting the girlfriend, but she did not fancy the idea of being followed by a mad person every day, and she could not use the same method she used to tame Zhou Yue on this woman.

Therefore, Ye Shuang stood to the side to watch the movie. After they finally dragged the woman away and left Xiao Zhu Hou to deal with his own emotions alone, Ye Shuang pulled her luggage and walked over. She patted Xiao Zhu Hou on his shoulder, and that gave Qing Tian Mo Yun, who had stayed behind to support Xiao Zhu Hou, quite a shock.

"Miss Ye‽" Xiao Zhu Hou was embarrassed.

Ye Shuang sighed. "What are we going to do with you? Don't tell me you plan to greet me with this event and run away from me when I arrive every time?"

Actually, that was indeed his plan. Xiao Zhu Hou even planned to evade all form of public events in the future; it was just too embarrassing.

Ye Shuang looked at the time. She stood there and said, "I'm leaving in a bit, so I'll just say a few words. Technically, this is your private business, and other people have no say, but this cannot be allowed to continue. Either you find a chance to communicate with your friends to figure out a way everyone can accept to coexist or just call it quits."

Xiao Zhu Hou was awkward. "You also know our situation. Her personality… is very willing to make things big."

"Even so, you'll need to do it." Qing Tian Mo Yun had almost been made deaf by the constant banshee scream. He sighed. "That sister of yours already stopped giving you face a long time ago."

"When we met for the first time, she was already like that. Didn't your university leader say anything?" Ye Shuang said seriously. "People might pity you in the beginning, but if this repeats itself, slowly, it'll turn into annoyance and resentment."

Of course, Xiao Zhu Hou knew about that. At his university, there was a dwindling number of female friends who dared get close to him. If they wandered too close, they might get themselves injured. Even the teacher's assistant, who was almost forty, had to give him a wide berth. One would think Xiao Zhu Hou was some kind of disease carrier.

"And your job in the future… Perhaps she might go to your company to do this. Actually, we don't need to look so far in the future. Tian Mo Media is cooperating with you on the script—does that mean we will have to assign a male worker to come talk to you every time‽" Ye Shuang pointed everything out. "You are not so good that you're irreplaceable. If there is indeed too much trouble surrounding you, then people might just find another person to collaborate with. Work aside, don't you realize even your relationships with people have gotten worse‽ So many authors came to this symposium, and they got to know each other, but other than Qing Tian, who shared the same room with you, who dares get close to you?"

Qing Tian Mo Yun coughed violently. "Sister Shuang! Please keep it low-key…"

"I'm not trying to break up your relationship, but I really think this should not be allowed to continue." Ye Shuang frowned and sighed. "If this problem is not solved, one can imagine what will happen in the future. Either drag this out and follow her into hell or be a man and let her beat you up and get it over it."

After a pause, she added, "There's no need to worry about face. After all, you've already lost all the face you had."

Qing Tian Mo Yun just wanted to find a hole to hide in. Can you please talk about this after I'm gone‽

Xiao Zhu Hou's face was gloomy. "I plan to move to Shenzhen City or Beijing after graduation and change my phone number."

"Good idea!" Qing Tian Mo Yun praised.

Ye Shuang looked at the man with pity. "Have you considered her going after your parents‽"

Wait, that's possible‽