Back to the teenage years

Chapter 571 Broker
Feng Yuannan's hand froze as he took out the check.

This "Cultural Bureau" meal took him about an hour, and it was not until this moment that he began to carefully look at the young man sitting opposite him.

It's no wonder that he ignored this young man. This guy hardly spoke a word and seemed to have no presence. It was obvious that he was just here to eat with his classmates. He was useless except for being annoying. The girls who came today were really too good, especially the one who came at first sight. She immediately captured the attention of everyone.

Now it seems that this guy is not simple. He can get through to Sun Xiangyun, the director of the Yanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture with just a casual phone call. The Municipal Bureau of Culture is the competent authority of the publishing industry, and all the "book numbers" are in the hands of Director Sun Xiangyun. Feng Yuannan has no chance to recognize this father.

Of course, Feng Yuannan was not fooled by this phone call. Who knows whether it is true or not? Anyway, before he knew the background of his opponent, he was able to keep his composure and said, "Don't worry about this. Our Chutian Culture is a formal company with legal procedures. It's just that Director Wei..."

Zhang Yunqi told the truth: "Director of the Xiangnan Regional Office in Beijing, but there is a red-topped official every three steps under the imperial city. This small department-level official is nothing. I still need to learn more about your company through this channel. However, if your company is very powerful, then we can talk about Chujian's cooperation with your company in publishing."

Feng Yuannan said: "I would like to hear the details."

Zhang Yunqi said, "You just took out a check for 10,000 yuan and gave it to Chu Jian. What is this money?"

Feng Yuannan said: "Of course it is the buyout fee. Of course, this will not affect the subsequent share of the co-publishing with Chu Jian classmate."

Zhang Yunqi nodded and said, "So the way your company cooperates with Chu Jian is through co-publishing? Rather than regular publishing?"

Feng Yuannan was quite annoyed by Zhang Yunqi's question. He was too unprofessional. "Of course it's co-publishing. Chu Jian is a newcomer, and she can't get much money from regular publishing. My classmate, you don't seem to understand the rules of publishing. With Chu Jian's qualifications and appearance, and the reputation of a talented female writer from Peking University, we promise to provide a book number, and we have the exclusive distribution channel of Chutian Culture, which means at least 20 copies will be distributed! What a huge sum of money! If it's regular publishing, Chu Jian won't get a penny of the royalties for these print runs! I'm considering it for her!"

At this point, Feng Yuannan turned his head and looked at Chu Jian. His bald head shone brightly under the chandelier, and his expression became more friendly: "Classmate Chu Jian, I see that your boyfriend doesn't understand the publishing industry either. How about we communicate properly?"

Qian Hui took a sip of the tea and said in a sarcastic tone, "That's right, that's right. Experts know the ins and outs while laymen just join in the fun."

Before the first meeting, she still had high hopes for the publication, but Feng Yuannan's words that she could find a ghostwriter had completely shattered her thoughts. Now she had not even considered cooperating with Chutian Culture for publication. Hearing these words, she slowly stood up, but her voice was still polite: "Thank you Mr. Feng and reporter Qian for your hospitality and attention to me tonight, but there is no need for communication. Regardless of whether Yunqi understands or not, his opinion is far more important than your words."

Everyone was stunned.

Zhang Yunqi reached out and pulled Chu Jian. This girl who looked quiet and clear was actually very upright in her heart. “It’s okay. Let me talk to them.”

Chu Jian looked at Zhang Yunqi's gaze, then nodded and sat down again.

Zhang Yunqi smiled, turned his head and said to Feng Yuannan, "Mr. Feng, I am an outsider and I really don't understand the rules here, but since it is a cooperation, the problems here must be discussed clearly before proceeding to the next step. If it is a cooperative publication, I have three things I would like to ask you."

Feng Yuannan lit a cigarette and said, "Ask."

Zhang Yunqi said: "First, you promised to provide Chu Jian with a book number, which should mean that you can get the book number, but will this book number for Chu Jian be charged or free?"

Feng Yuannan took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Well... book numbers are very scarce, so they cost a certain amount of money. I don't want the money, but I also want the connection channel."

Zhang Yunqi nodded: "Since book numbers are very scarce, my understanding is that you are charging a lot of money for a small fee. I think there should be nothing wrong with my understanding. The second question is, since it is a cooperative publication, are the printing costs, editing and design fees borne by the author?"

Feng Yuannan hesitated for a moment, and the reporter Qian Huiqian took over and said, "The rule of cooperative publishing is that the author bears these expenses. But you have to believe in Mr. Feng's operational ability. He can provide an exclusive distribution channel. With Chujian's conditions, he can guarantee that Chujian will become a hit. The printing fee is not worth mentioning compared to the number of copies and the manuscript fee, so there is no need to worry about this small issue." Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "Okay, you provide an exclusive distribution channel. I just want to ask what this exclusive distribution channel is like? Are there specific and detailed data descriptions? How is the distribution responsibility divided? Is your Chutian Culture fully responsible for the distribution? If it is fully responsible for the distribution, do you have a preliminary distribution plan or successful cases for Chujian to refer to? If you only distribute a symbolic amount, will all the sales pressure be given to Chujian?"

This barrage of questions seemed to hit a sore spot. Qian Hui was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head to drink his tea without saying a word, feeling quite speechless. Liu Zhenming had not said a word the whole time, but seeing this scene, his mouth closed as tight as his anus.

Feng Yuanshan's face had turned dark. "The information about the distribution channels can only be provided after a contract is signed."

Zhang Yunqi nodded and said, "Then can you at least provide previous examples? If not, can I understand that your promises of 'exclusive distribution channels' and 'a minimum print run of 20 copies' are empty promises? I know that under this kind of cooperative publishing model, publishers usually do not pay royalties to authors. Mr. Feng, your Chutian Culture should be the same, right?"

Zhang Yunqi said, "According to reporter Qian, your contract stipulates that you will give Chu Jian a high share of the sales. But if the actual sales are dismal, will the 'generous royalties' you mentioned be almost impossible to achieve? Chu Jian took the 10,000 yuan buyout fee, but she has to bear almost all the economic risks. If you say that she wants to print a lot of books, how much will she have to pay for printing? And what about the sky-high book number fee? As a newcomer, it is very likely that her novel will not be published! Once she is heavily in debt, will she become a fish on your chopping board?!"

Zhang Yunqi pulled out a chair and sat down. He also lit a cigarette and stared at Feng Yuannan, who had a very dark face across from him. "So can I understand it this way? Your kind of rubbish company takes advantage of young literary people's desire to publish and their dream of becoming a writer. In the name of cooperative publishing, you charge high book number fees and printing fees, and promise false distribution and royalties. In the end, the books may be printed, but they are piled up in the warehouse or distributed symbolically. You make money, but the author loses all his money or even becomes heavily in debt! If the author is a woman and is a little prettier, will she become your plaything and sell her body to pay off her debts?"

As soon as these words were spoken, you could hear a pin drop in the entire private room.

Several female college students who were not well-versed in the world were awakened by Zhang Yunqi's words and realized how deep the waters of publishing were! If Chu Jian believed Feng Yuanshan's promise, took his signing fee, and went for the so-called cooperative publishing, she would most likely face the ending of paying for the book, the book not being published, no royalties, and being heavily in debt.

This is a typical scam of the "publishing profiteers" in the 90s! Using extremely scarce book numbers, they gradually led those young literary people who dreamed of becoming writers into the abyss!

The cigarette butt in Feng Yuannan's hand was already hot, but he seemed not to feel it.

The young man's impeccable logical reasoning ability seemed to have stripped them of their underwear completely, leaving them completely humiliated. The filthy and dirty nature behind the intellectuals was clearly revealed to the girls.

Although we don't know how powerful this sharp-tongued young man is, he is definitely not a simple person and is not someone who is easy to deal with. I'm afraid he can really get in touch with Sun Xiangyun, the director of the Municipal Cultural Bureau.

Feng Yuannan thought of this, cold sweat broke out on his back, and his voice trembled a little: "Don't be too harsh!"

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "That's because you haven't seen what is truly excessive. The fraud has come to me. You'd better pray that your publishing company is clean and not wait until Monday to be wiped out by the Cultural Bureau."

After that, Zhang Yunqi stood up and said to Chu Jian, "Let's go."

Chu Jian's face turned pale and he nodded, "Okay."

Zhou Linlin glanced at Zhang Yunqi, and quickly stood up along with Liao Qi and Jiang Yun. Only Jiang Bin reluctantly put down the half-eaten fish head and wiped his mouth.

The group left the private room, and Zhang Yunqi walked at the back. When he stretched out his hand to close the door, he looked at Feng Yuannan, whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and said, "Boss Feng, if your company is clean, my people will come to your house next Monday to conduct a due diligence and discuss the transfer of your company with you. Is a 50% discount too much? If you think it is not too much, then we can start the discussion with a 70% discount. Don't tell me that you don't want to sell the company, or I guarantee that your company will not get a book number in the future."

There was a "pop" sound!
The door closed, isolating the suffocating silence inside and the embarrassed figures of the three cultural brokers.

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