Return to Hong Kong Island for a Century

Chapter 114 Revenue Exceeds 20 Million (First Update, Please Subscribe and Vote)

"Everyone, this is our boss, Mr. Li Song, who is also the author of Ghost Blows Out the Light, Beipai Sanshu!" In the conference room of Ghost Blows Out the Light magazine, all the employees looked at Li Song, who was wearing a Gucci suit, and they could hardly believe it.

Because in everyone's impression, Beipai Sanshu should be someone who is at least thirty or forty years old, wearing a long gown, round crystal sunglasses, with long hair and a small mustache, well, he looks a bit like those feng shui masters.

Unexpectedly, he turned out to be a tall and handsome young man.

"Hello everyone, because of my creative work, I don't have time to manage the magazine. This is our first meeting. I'll treat you to lunch later. Please don't talk about me to others, as it might affect my creative work," Li Song greeted everyone in Cantonese.

"Boss, you look so beautiful!"

"Yeah yeah!"

"Boss, could you please sign this for me?"

"No problem, boss!"

"Thank you, boss!" The magazine now has nearly twenty employees, and everyone chimed in.

“Okay, a maximum of two books per person.” Li Song nodded.

"thank you boss!"

After the meeting, Li Song went to his office. Although he hadn't come, Liu Jiale had still prepared an office for him.

"Boss, how about we hold the interviews for these selected readers this Sunday? After all, many of them still have jobs," Liu Jiale said.

"Then Sunday morning, you can come to the interview with me."

"Also, don't reveal my identity later. Use the editor's identity first, so they don't get nervous or complain about not being hired and go around telling tabloids. The main thing is that I'm too young," Li Song said.

"Ok."

"This is the itinerary and arrangements for receiving the inspection team from the mainland," Liu Jiale said.

"You can decide what to do. In cooperation, everyone is equal. If we can cooperate, then we will; if not, we'll find another way." After reviewing the arrangements, Li Song arranged the hotel and the content of the inspection, and even left half a day for the group to tour the place.

As for the gifts, they were things like pens, ties, and the first issue of the Ghost Blows Out the Light magazine, as well as the two standalone novels of Ghost Blows Out the Light.

Liu Jiale then presented Li Song's recent earnings, which were calculated up to March 23rd, and today is April 28th, a period of five weeks.

The fixed revenue from TV dramas is HK$14 per day, totaling HK$490 million over 35 days.

In addition, the revenue from TV dramas exported from Hong Kong Island to Southeast Asia was HK$400 million, but the dramas broadcast in Southeast Asia were a month behind those in Hong Kong Island.

The Ghost Blows Out the Light standalone book sold 250 million copies in Hong Kong. Because the publisher also acquired the Chinese distribution rights in two Southeast Asian countries, they sold the novels directly there, totaling HK$250 million.

Wanwan Publishing also acquired the Chinese distribution rights for Singapore, Southeast Asia, and several Western countries, printing a total of 350 million copies, totaling HK$490 million.

The novel serialized in the New Evening Post costs HK$5, but the word count varies each day and is not always 4000 words.

The film adaptation rights for "The Lost Tomb" were priced at 320 million yuan. After Li Song paid Zhang Dehua 224 million yuan last time, there was still 240 million yuan left.

As of April 28, 1980, Li Song's income reached 2195 million.

Of course, the magazine also charges an agency fee, since Li Song's copyrights are managed by the magazine.

The actual income is even less.

My biggest recent expense was buying a house—the house where my future bodyguards will live—and also paying the remaining balance for Andy Cheung's project. That's all.

Of course, this data is somewhat lagging. For example, the second volume of the novel "Hong Kong Island" is said to be reprinted, and preparations for the third volume will begin next month, with the third volume to be released in June.

Li Song left the Ghost Blows Out the Light magazine office with the financial documents Liu Jiale had given him. The magazine would reply to the selected readers today, asking them to come for an interview at the Ghost Blows Out the Light magazine office at 9:00 AM on Sunday.

Because many readers do not have phones, it is impossible to notify them by phone. In some cases, the call is forwarded to them, and in others, it is at their workplace.

Li Song returned home to continue writing, preparing to go to the mainland next week. As for the blueprints for the marine outboard motor, he said there was no rush to hand them over to the mainland.

Li Song now just wants to finish writing the novels about Ghost Blows Out the Light and Interstellar Mercenaries as soon as possible.

On the other hand, Zhang Dehua has been busy applying for international patents for Li Song's marine outboard motors, which is actually a collaboration with patent application agencies in different countries.

The other partner institutions in several countries expressed great satisfaction with Zhang Dehua's cooperation, as the patent application materials were prepared perfectly, which increased the efficiency of the institutions.

Zhang Dehua also knew that Li Song's authorization of Xiaobenzi's motorcycles was dispensable, so he just let the company's people accept the consulting fees.

Currently, Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki, three Japanese companies, are in contact with the company. Suzuki, in particular, seems quite eager and has already begun substantive patent licensing negotiations.

Zhang Dehua's side simply followed international practice, making exorbitant demands and stalling for time. For example, the fees varied from country to country for licensing, and there were also derivative patents, licensing to third parties, and a minimum licensing fee guarantee, meaning that a minimum licensing fee must be reached in a year, and if it is not reached, the difference must be made up.

Anyway, who knows how long a patent negotiation will take? Maybe it will last for several years and then fall apart.

Anyway, we'll just charge by the hour; Zhang Dehua's company is knowledgeable about patents.

Meanwhile, Suzuki had to consult with headquarters when faced with a series of problems. The Japanese company was quicker to respond, but headquarters also had to consider various aspects when faced with one problem after another.

Since Suzuki and the others haven't come up with a preliminary proposal, Zhang Dehua won't bother Li Song.

Moreover, Andy Cheung was 100% certain that Li Song was a front man on the mainland. It's important to know that Hong Kong Island is very close to the mainland, so Andy Cheung dared not be careless when he did things.

On Tuesday, April 29, 1980, Liu Jiale personally led a vehicle to Luohu Port to pick up the mainland inspection team, which mainly consisted of members from the Shanghai Animation Film Studio.

There are also members from the cultural sector and some other departments.

Liu Jiale first led everyone to check into the hotel, which is located in Central and offers a view of the night view of Victoria Harbour.

That evening, we treated everyone to dinner at a restaurant.

The next day, we visited the magazine office. The people who came this time were all screened because some people are too conservative and strongly oppose feng shui and tomb raiding.

Liu Jiale prepared a lot of newspapers for everyone to see how newspapers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia evaluated the boss.

Of course, the newspapers exaggerated a lot, such as the author of Ghost Blows Out the Light earning hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars, so it was normal that the boss did not appear in person.

This is something that people on the mainland find unbelievable.

Then I read Ghost Blows Out the Light comics and Star Mercenaries comics to understand their styles.

The discussion continued the following morning, mainly to have the Shanghai Animation Film Studio understand the style of the two animated films, and also to read the novels.

First, have the Shanghai Animation Film Studio produce a ten-minute sample film. Regardless of whether it's successful or not, the two sample films will be worth 200,000 Hong Kong dollars.

A typical animated film has around 1,000 frames in ten minutes, but "Havoc in Heaven" has over 500 frames per minute. It is precisely because of this that it has become a classic.

As for how many frames per minute the Shanghai Animation Film Studio uses, that depends on their own ideas; they use whichever method produces the best effect.

On Thursday afternoon, I took the inspection team on a tour, and on Friday morning, I sent them back to the border. Of course, I also gave them small gifts and various things that the inspection team had purchased.

Liu Jiale was extremely nervous on Thursday because today is May 1st, the first issue of Ghost Blows Out the Light magazine.

(End of this chapter)