N-M Chapter 48 1. Eat More Fish
Chapter 48 1. Eat More Fish
Before Yu Zhen could even get back to his home on Shangxie Road, he was intercepted halfway by another official vehicle from the city.
Sitting in the car were Selena Feng and the third brother of the municipal party committee member, a deputy director in charge of foreign affairs and investment promotion.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't expect Old Mark to take it upon himself to wait for you at the exam site entrance, causing you a lot of unnecessary trouble..."
Selena von apologized profusely upon their first meeting.
The deputy next to him was an old acquaintance of Yu Zhen, having dealt with him many times before. He quickly echoed this sentiment and took the bicycle from Yu Zhen. He rode the bicycle himself, but let Yu Zhen get on the bike first and leave with Selena Feng.
That said, Yu Zhen is still completely unaware of the recent news that four other North American publishers have flocked to Shanghai in the last few days.
These days he's busy preparing for the college entrance exam, keeping all sorts of other things out of his sight.
So the news has already spread like wildfire.
He, as the person directly involved in this specific incident, had not heard a single detail of the inside story.
Otherwise, he should have understood why Old Mark would act so "respectfully" and go directly to the exam site to block him in front of hundreds of people, even staging a scene where a well-dressed white man with flowers was there to welcome him back from the exam.
"Vice President Zhang, how can we let you ride a bicycle while I, a young man, take a car? Hmm... are we in a hurry to get back to the city government compound? Or are we going to another hotel or somewhere else?"
"Uh, it's like this..."
Zhang Fushi briefly introduced the new situation, implying that with five publishers arriving, he, as a science fiction writer, could no longer keep putting off seeking partners.
Suddenly, they flew to Shanghai to visit four North American publishers.
This news truly shocked Yu Zhen.
At this moment, he roughly understood why Selena Feng and Zhang Fushi had driven halfway to intercept him.
"Writer Yu, mainly regarding Ms. Feng, I'd like to give you a separate report on the specific situations of the five publishers. Of course, you can rest assured that, in principle, the city will absolutely not interfere with which company you ultimately choose to cooperate with. The city will always be your strongest support, Writer Yu. Shanghai is now your home city..."
"Oh, then I completely understand what you mean."
Yu Zhen nodded, still declining the offer to get into the car.
Seeing this scene, he finally understood. It was clear that Selena Feng had lost her composure after seeing five publishers flocking to Shanghai. She was now picking and choosing, worried about losing the big picture for small gains.
In short, it's like wanting more after getting what you want.
Greed overwhelmed his reason, which allowed him to accurately grasp new developments in the situation, and he became somewhat unaware of who was truly in control.
As for Old Mark, the reason he rushed to the exam site to block him and put on that disgusting show was because of this.
It seems that he was mostly provoked by Selena von's cold attitude, and thought that his side did not intend to cooperate anymore, so he became anxious.
"Zhang Fushi, and Selena, don't panic. It's good that five publishers have all come together, but we are the clients. As for who will ultimately get the copyright, we don't necessarily have to make the five publishers fight tooth and nail. We can create conditions to attract multiple clients, and the problem will mostly be solved..."
"One fish, multiple ways to cook it? How do you mean one fish, multiple ways to cook it? Writer Yu, you... have already thought of an even more perfect solution?"
"Well, I guess so! As for whether it's perfect or not, we still need to consider it carefully..." Yu Zhen was confident, but he didn't make any absolute statements.
The main problem is a lack of familiarity with the current rules of the North American publishing market.
Is the global copyright package that works in another timeline so easy to implement?
Zhang Fushi was extremely excited. All those who came to his door were guests, and in accordance with the city's opinion, he was naturally eager to please all five North American publishers so that they would not leave disappointed.
After all, the current discussion is only about the overseas copyright ownership of Yu's works.
But there are still so many excellent writers in Shanghai's literary scene.
Looking across the country, there are also countless other promising young talents in the literary world.
Who knows when more outstanding domestic creative talents will emerge, such as writer Yu, as a powerful science fiction story creator.
Or it doesn't necessarily have to be science fiction. If domestic writers have the opportunity to introduce their works to these North American publishers, one or two, or even more, might be selected...
If such a promising situation were to emerge, it would undoubtedly be a major innovative measure for Shanghai's overall reform and opening-up environment, right?
Therefore, we cultivated good relationships with all five North American publishers.
In the future, the city will coordinate efforts to allow more new works by domestic writers to be exported to North America and earn foreign exchange.
If this business could truly be built into a sustainable, long-term venture, wouldn't that be even more wonderful?
Selena Feng was also greatly encouraged, her beautiful eyes sparkling as she stared at Yu Zhen with admiration.
Yu Zhen smiled and took the opportunity to explain how to cook a fish in multiple ways.
"For now, this idea is just a rough outline. I'll have to calm down and think about it carefully later."
Actually, it's not that complicated. After all, the world is so big. Besides our country and North America, literary works should also be in French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and so on. There should be at least a dozen mainstream language versions.
In addition to the simplest and most direct novel text copyright, there is also the issue of copyright.
Copyrights such as comic book rights, film and television rights, and audiobook rights are all natural derivatives of an excellent literary work. So, satisfying only five North American publishers should be more than enough…”
Zhang Fushi listened intently, his eyes wide with amazement. It was as if a single word had awakened him from a dream. The admiration and emotion that welled up in his heart in that instant was like the Yellow River, surging and overflowing.
Selena von also had her horizons broadened.
Good heavens, she was an international student from the developed capitalist world. Although she came to Dongguo to study Chinese and research Eastern civilization, she always looked down on everything with a high attitude.
What they have always been most proud of is undoubtedly their self-proclaimed vision and international observer's perspective, which they claim to have at least half a century ahead of the people of East Korea.
But now, in front of Yu Zhen, she felt like an ignorant country bumpkin.
Moreover, she should have been used to all of what Yu Zhen was talking about in her upbringing in North America, so how come she didn't think of these things beforehand, and only suddenly realized them after Yu Zhen said them?
As the third-ranking official in Shanghai, Zhang Fushi, although he had never had the opportunity to go to North America for study and inspection, had been sent abroad by the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries on several occasions, and was a cadre who had seen the world.
Therefore, upon first hearing Yu Zhen's "one fish, multiple ways" theory, I immediately grasped its core essence.
In practice, this matter is indeed not difficult at all.
And the most interesting situation is that there are currently five North American publishers competing for the rights to Yu's next sequel.
Under such a premise, as the party that has complete control over the negotiation, the matter can certainly be handled in a way that satisfies all parties.
"Writer Yu, I understand what you mean. Your idea of making the most of one thing is truly insightful. I need to hurry back to the city government and meet with other people to carefully study the relevant policies."
Having said that, Fei first glanced subtly at Selena von, whose eyes were already brimming with seductive allure, and then smiled again:
"In that case, I won't disturb your private life any longer, Mr. Yu. Goodbye..."
"Okay, goodbye!~~"
"Goodbye."
So Yu Zhen waved goodbye to Zhang Fushi.
Selena von, with the air of a clingy little girl, just as Zhang Fushi had predicted, wasn't in a hurry to get back in her car to get involved in some kind of legal battle with the five publishers.
She shamelessly sat on the back of Yu Zhen's bicycle, put her hand on Yu Zhen's waist, and refused to get off.
Alright!
With such a display, Yu Zhen knew perfectly well that this woman wanted to inspect the quality of the bed board with him again.