Mixed in 1980

Chapter 142 The Matrix Strategy
As a critic and screenwriter, Chen Fan is successful in Hong Kong, and his identity as a critic is extremely well-known.

But neither of these two identities counts as a novelist!
Readers of his novels do not recognize his identity and naturally will not buy his novels.

Moreover, in Hong Kong, the current mainstream is martial arts novels, romance novels and serious literature.

Martial arts novels have the most classics, with the four great masters Jin Liang, Wen Gu producing numerous works; romance novels are represented by Qiong Yao and are also very popular in Hong Kong; serious literature is represented by Sanmao and Xu Murong, and mainly reflects realistic themes.

As for science fiction, it is a niche genre.

Science fiction novels like "The Matrix" which are set in the Western world are a niche among niches, so it is normal that no one is interested in them.

Li Hongying made a bad move. If she had first published "Chen Fan's Editorial Collection" or "Chen Fan's View of the World" and moved closer to serious literature, the sales would definitely not have been so dismal.

These articles already have a large number of readers.

Xu Jinqiu took the telegram and took a look at it. A trace of worry flashed in her eyes. This had never happened before in any of Chen Fan's books. "How about you go to Hong Kong again?"

In the letter, Li Hongying asked whether Chen Fan had any good publicity plan. After all, he had appeared in several advertisements in Hong Kong and had some unique ideas in promotion.

"I'll go back to the house and think about it for a while!"

Chen Fan frowned, stood up and went back into the house, closed his eyes and began to think.

The first book of the new year is a failure?

Chen Fan is still very confident about the book "The Matrix". It is a super IP that has been verified by later generations and there are many highlights in it.

Whether it is the creativity of the story background, the imagination of future science fiction, or the exploration of various social forms, they are all very high-quality content.

The question now is how to arouse readers' interest and make them pick up the book.

"Qiu'er, what's going on?"

Zeng Ali and Zhao Yuanyuan came over, and Xu Jinqiu handed the telegram to them. The two took it and looked at it together. They looked at each other, and a hint of worry flashed in their eyes.

This is a blow to Chen Fan, right?

In the mainland, Chen Fan has always been smooth sailing, starting from the earliest "The Most Beautiful Youth", to the later "Chen Fan's Editorial Collection", "Chen Fan's View of the World", and the recently serialized "Awakening Age", there has never been any problem.

Every book he wrote sparked heated discussions and was a bestseller. He was the most popular writer of the moment, but I never expected that his first book would encounter such a situation.

Is this due to acclimatization?
Zeng Ali pursed his lips and said, "Qiu'er, make a cup of tea and bring it to Chen Fan."

Xu Jinqiu shook her head gently: "Wait a moment, let him be alone for a while, don't go in and cause trouble for him, so as not to interrupt his train of thought."

After thinking for a while, he added: "And I think Chen Fan must have a way."

Zeng Ali was stunned. Is Qiu'er so confident?

Having said that, Chen Fan is indeed such a person. He has many tricks and a set of methods for doing everything, but he always manages to handle things well.

"Chen Fan's face didn't look very good just now, and his brows were tightly furrowed."

Zhao Yuanyuan pushed aside her bangs and curled her lips: "I've known him for so long, but this is the first time I've seen him like this. This must be something serious."

"If the books don't sell well, it's not a big deal. The main issue is the publisher."

Xu Jinqiu frowned slightly and sighed, "The publishing house was acquired by Chen Fan and Sister Ying together, and Sister Ying paid the money first. If it goes wrong, Sister Ying will have to pay a large sum of money."

"Own publishing house?" Zhao Yuanyuan was surprised.

After returning from Hong Kong, Xu Jinqiu never told anyone about this matter. Unexpectedly, the two of them went to Hong Kong and quietly accomplished something big.

Xu Jinqiu hummed and said, "Chen Fan originally wanted to find a publishing house to publish his book when he went to Hong Kong, but things didn't go smoothly, so he decided to just set up his own publishing house."

Zhao Yuanyuan was secretly shocked, how brave he was.

After thinking about it carefully, he couldn't help but worry: "Did Chen Fan borrow money from someone? If the publishing house doesn't work out, won't he be in debt?"

Xu Jinqiu was stunned. Is that so?
Before he could say anything, Zhao Yuanyuan looked sad and said, "Well, at worst I can give him Qi Baishi's painting, and add his own to it, that's enough to pay off his debt. My painting hasn't even warmed up yet."

Zeng Ali said, "Take my paintings as well. We can pay off our debts eventually."

Hearing this, Xu Jinqiu felt warm in her heart. After all, they were sisters who grew up together. But she couldn't help laughing and shouted into the room, "Chen Fan, come out. I have something to tell you."

Chen Fan came out soon, and Xu Jinqiu said, "Eldest sister and Yuanyuan have told each other that if the publishing house fails, they should sell their paintings and pay off the debt owed to Sister Ying first."

Chen Fan felt warm in his heart, but he was very upset. He reached out and pinched Xu Jinqiu's face: "Classmate Qiu'er, you can't be so evil towards your own family, right?"

Zeng Ali and Zhao Yuanyuan realized that something was wrong and stood on Xu Jinqiu's left and right.

Watching with eager eyes!
Xu Jinqiu slapped Chen Fan's hand away, looked at the two sisters, and smiled bitterly: "Sister, Yuanyuan, I didn't say anything, you said it yourself."

Zeng Ali and Zhao Yuanyuan each held one of Xu Jinqiu's arms: "Xiao Qiu'er, you'd better tell the truth, don't force us to torture you."

Xu Jinqiu smiled awkwardly: "Sister, I didn't lie. It was indeed Sister Ying who paid for the publishing house first, but I didn't say that Chen Fan would be in debt. You made it up in your imagination."

Seeing that the two had no intention of letting go, Xu Jinqiu explained, "Chen Fan's money is all in the futures market, so Sister Ying paid for it first." Zeng Ali then remembered that the last time Li Hongying came, she also brought a person named Yu Jing, who worked from the bank. Chen Fan used one million Hong Kong dollars to buy futures.

Thinking of this, Zeng Ali glanced at Zhao Yuanyuan, and the two sisters carried Xu Jinqiu into the house. This girl deliberately did not explain clearly, so she must be taught a lesson.

Boom!dong dong!

There was a knock on the door. Chen Fan ignored the girls and walked quickly to open the door. He was stunned when he saw the person outside: "Sister Ying, why are you here?"

"Something happened at the publishing house. I couldn't sit still in Hong Kong, so I came here specially to ask for your opinion." Li Hongying smiled bitterly.

"I just received the telegram, too, and was planning to write you a reply tomorrow."

Chen Fan asked Li Hongying to enter the house first, and then shouted to the inside: "Qiu'er, Sister Ying is here, you guys hurry out."

The noise of frolicking came to an abrupt end!

The three girls came out quickly. Li Hongying took a look at the three girls. They were all very pretty, but their temperaments were completely different.

Xu Jinqiu has a weak and broken feeling, Zeng Ali has a strong and royal sister style, and Zhao Yuanyuan has a cute and girlish style, each with her own beauty.

Li Hongying looked at Chen Fan strangely. Living with three beautiful girls, this boy was so lucky. She didn't know if he could control himself.

After saying hello, Li Hongying stepped forward and took Zhao Yuanyuan's arm. "You are Yuanyuan, right? I've always heard Xiaoqiu talk about you, but today I finally saw you in person. You're so cute."

Zhao Yuanyuan narrowed her eyes and said, "Sister Ying, you are beautiful and have a good temperament. When you stand here, you look like a strong woman."

Li Hongying was amused. This girl has a really sweet mouth.

Chen Fan brought the tea set and brewed the tea first: "Sister Ying, what's the situation now?"

Li Hongying took the hot tea, took a sip, and took a breath: "To sum it up, it rains but it leaks. Sales were already low, and now someone is targeting us."

"Target? The banana man?"

Chen Fan immediately thought of Ke Meilin. Apart from him, he shouldn't have offended anyone in Hong Kong, except his third brother.

It seems that he has offended all the third brothers in Hong Kong!

"It's the banana man." Li Hongying sighed and recounted the incident in detail.

After the traditional Chinese version of "The Matrix" was released in Hong Kong, it only sold more than 3,000 copies in the first three days, which was a languid state.

But someone bought it anyway.

If word of mouth is good, after a period of fermentation, it may be able to increase sales.

But starting from the fourth day, some Hong Kong media began to publish articles attacking Chen Fan and "The Matrix", causing the book sales to drop by half.

Li Hongying asked someone to check and soon found the cause, and they traced it back to the banana man.

"I'll find another chance to deal with that banana man later."

Chen Fan picked up the teapot and refilled Li Hongying's tea. "However, the sales of books have increased. In the final analysis, science fiction is still too niche. The mainstream in Hong Kong is still martial arts novels, romance novels and serious literature."

Li Hongying took another sip of tea and said with a wry smile, "That's true. I was too impatient this time. I should have published the editorial collection first."

“Even if the editorial collection is published first and The Matrix is released later, the situation is not expected to be very good. Readers do not accept science fiction novels, so it is useless to say anything.”

Chen Fan took out a cigarette and lit it up: "If science fiction novels want to sell well in Hong Kong, they must break through the circle and enter other circles, so that readers will buy it."

"Break the circle?" Li Hongying was stunned.

What a fresh word!

If you think about it carefully, you will understand the meaning of this word, but it is not an easy thing.

Circles are often closed, and there are not many successful cases of being able to break out of a circle and spread influence to another circle, or to many circles.

"Everything depends on human efforts. I have drawn up two plans. If both plans can be successfully implemented, we should be able to break through the circle."

"Tell me more details," Li Hongying urged.

Chen Fan took another puff of cigarette, pondered for a while, and organized his words: "Both plans belong to viral marketing, creating an event that spreads quickly among the crowd, especially among young people, and can arouse discussion and spread quickly."

He flicked off the ash from his cigarette and continued, "This incident must be related to the book. It is also the core. What is the core idea of The Matrix?"

"Is the world fake?" Li Hongying asked.

"Yes, that's it. We want to create an event that will make people doubt that the world we live in is not real, and thus spark debate."

"Chen Fan, can you say something serious?"

Zhao Yuanyuan sat opposite Chen Fan and fanned the smoke: "The world is not real, the world is fake? Any normal person can't think of such a question, and you still expect someone to believe it?"

PS: The second update is here~
(End of this chapter)