Chapter 197: Taming
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
“The point that I was trying to make is not about the harem.” Ye Shuang was slightly annoyed. “Do you mind not interrupting me first?”
The genre and plot of Qing Tian Mo Yun’s works aside, they did have their commercial appeal. The young man had a good grasp on the current trend and knew how to follow it. People might criticize him for being too lazy and vulgar, but from another perspective, it also meant that it was suitable for the mass market.
He and Xiao Zhu Hou could be said to be complete opposites. Xiao Zhu Hou’s writing was good but not popular; he was the type of writer who had a good reputation but normal popularity. In contrast, Qing Tian Mo Yun’s writing was mundane but popular. He enjoyed a good stream of income and had a great number of works read by the public, but none of his readers would say that he was a good writer.
If viewed from the potential of a scriptwriter, Xiao Zhu Hou had the potential to write those works that would be immortalized in television history while Qing Tian Mo Yin was the type that could produce popular series. Of course, both of them needed more training before they were capable of doing something like that. Ye Shuang saw this and realized that it was quite interesting. It looked like the company arranged for these two authors to share the same room for a reason. Ye Shuang did not believe that the room arrangement was just a mere coincidence; the possibility of it being done on purpose was much higher.
“Okay, I will not beat about the bush. I’m pretty sure you have heard about the general idea from the editor and Xiao Zhu Hou.” Ye Shuang opened the laptop, and as she typed on the keyboard, she explained to Qing Tian Mo Yun. “The cooperation between Tian Mo Media is not contradictory with your website. Basically, as long as you consider the issue of a series or movie adaptation before starting a new book, it’ll be fine. Other than that, we might ask for a script from you directly. Perhaps your plot is suitable for a script adaptation or perhaps we think you have a suitable topic. Currently, I suggest you try out the route of a series script. One, your writing has enough filler, and two, your writing is menial enough.”
Qing Tian Mo Yun listened to Ye Shuang ramble as she easily came up with a plan for him to follow. The script fee was quite alluring, but… were the examples she came up with compliments‽ It did not sound like it.
…
After she finished dealing with Qing Tian Mo Yun, and after introducing the job scope and benefits, Ye Shuang disappeared with Mo Xiao Xia. After all, she was only there to introduce the policy to the authors and get a feel for their response. She was not there to force them to sign the contracts immediately. After giving them the details, the authors would consider it on their own in the next few days. Then, on the last day, the list would be confirmed, and Ye Shuang would have further discussions with the website and writing company.
The interaction with Qing Tian Mo Yun was not bad. After all, with Xiao Zhu Hou as a roommate, Qing Tian Mo Yun would have asked his roommate for plenty of details already before he met up with Ye Shuang. Furthermore, he had played with Mo Xiao Xia for a whole night, and with the feeling of closeness, the discussion went quite smoothly.
However, this was not the same with the other authors. They had only heard about it during the meetings and knew that Ye Shuang was not a scammer and was interested in a cooperation. But what kind of cooperation? What were their responsibilities and rights‽
These writers came from all walks of life. Some of them stayed cooped up at home just to write while others had day jobs. Other than that, they also had varying personalities. Some were clever and smart, others honest and trusting… In any case, after Ye Shuang met with all of them, she felt like she had met with every type of individual in the world.
After the discussion with Qing Tian Mo Yun, Ye Shuang moved to a guest room to meet with two writers. The two writers specialized in writing about face-slapping, and they were incredibly cautious. They almost forced Ye Shuang to a dead-end.
“There are many types of scriptwriters. Will our names be shown, or will we just be ghostwriters? There are currently so many horrible things happening in this industry, and it is not common for others to steal our hard work.” Author A had probably read too many web novels.
“How long will the contract last? How will the fees be calculated? Do we have a say if the director or some other people want to change our plot? Can I request to be part of the shoot?” Author B had plenty of worries.
“Nowadays every industry has its hidden rules. If our legal rights have been violated, will your company step forth to protect our rights? What if our copyright has been stolen? What if…” Author A continued to confuse Ye Shuang.
“Will the script only be approved once, or will there be multiple edits‽ What if the director is still not satisfied after endless edits? What if the leader’s opinion is different from ours? For example, I feel like the death of the main character will be impactful to the plot, but what if the director wants a happy ending?” Author B continued with his worries.
Ye Shuang, who had not been given a chance to breathe a word since she entered the room, rubbed her cheeks and coughed as she picked up the coffee pot. A bunch of scratching and twisting sounds later, the stainless steel pot was twisted into a flower under the cautious and shocked gazes of the two guys.
Ye Shuang smiled lightly. “Please let me explain then.”
“S… sure!” The two authors subconsciously went to grab each other’s arms to provide each other comfort through physical contact.
The next room housed two authors that were famous for writing historical works. Similar to Xiao Zhu Hou, these two had done plenty of research for their works. Their works were authentic, and their personalities were the soft and gentle kind.
Ye Shuang sighed in relief. It was definitely much better dealing with people with a good personality. Therefore, after learning from the previous room, once she sat down, she cut straight to the point and introduced the details of the contract. During the process, the two authors were very polite and did not interrupt Ye Shuang once.
After finally having the chance to state her intention, Ye Shuang was satisfied and concluded, “…That is basically the content of the cooperation. Do you have any questions‽”
Author C looked at Author D, and Author D nodded before he opened his lips to ask slowly, “Do you know about the law put forth by Tang Tai Zhong?”
“Do you know the truth behind the collapse of Shang Zhou?”
“Do you know in which era women had the lowest rights and which era they had the highest rights?”
Author D was extremely worried and sighed. Author C added, “Since you don’t know anything, what if our works are edited to become something that we cannot recognize? Earlier, I saw a series where the courtesans in the palace were acting like a bunch of schoolgirls and had some kind of singing competition in the palace.”
Author D shook his head. “That is the fault of fast food media. The education of the future generation sure is worrying.”
Ye Shuang was silent for a while. “I’m sorry, I just thought that these questions had nothing to do with the contract earlier, but since you have these worries…” As she shut the laptop, Ye Shuang changed her posture. “Xiao Xia, contact the assistant and tell him to delay the rest of the appointment for today. I shall stay to discuss the long history of China with these two gentlemen.”
F*ck me! I don’t believe I cannot tame these exotic minds!
“Okay!” Mo Xiao Xia cheered excitedly. “But wait for me to come back before you start the class!”