Chapter 100: Persuasion
Being grabbed by her, Zhao Yuyan felt a bit flustered, a blush rising on her face. She tried to break free, but found the other person held her hand firmly, not letting go. This little girl used to be quite obedient; how did she become so strong now?
“No need for drinks. I want to talk to you now.”
Luo Nan said lightly.
Since childhood, she was her follower, always walking behind her. When she was little, she firmly believed that as long as she followed Zhao Yuyan, there would always be candy to eat. Later, as they slowly grew up and became more sensible, Luo Nan began to realize that she didn’t follow her just for the candy she gave, but simply wanted to play with her.
“Alright then, let me go first.”
Zhao Yuyan could only give up the idea of getting drinks from the fridge, obediently sitting down on the sofa to chat with her. Luo Nan was very clingy when she was little; wherever she went, she had to follow. Now that she grew up, it seemed not much had changed.
“Yuyan, have you noticed that the development of the novel industry has reached a bottleneck?”
She thought she was really here to reminisce, but unexpectedly, it was about work matters. Zhao Yuyan couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed inside, but her expression remained calm as water.
“What do you mean?”
“If there are too many stories of the same type, they will eventually be eliminated by the market. Not everyone can stand out, but those who do stand out, which one hasn’t followed the routine? Yuyan, a new era will soon arrive. Do you think our generation can survive the trend?”
The current era was one of rapid development. Without making changes, one would quickly be eliminated. What Luo Nan meant was this.
Indeed, whether it was Zhao Yuyan or Luo Nan, they were both genuine super newcomers. But in the tide of the times, whether they could stand at the top was still an unknown. After all, no one knew what the future would hold.
“I don’t know what kind of era it will become in the future, but… as an author, a novelist, what I need to do is just bring my stories into reality, let more people see them. This is my thought.”
Zhao Yuyan replied lightly.
In the upcoming era of change, she didn’t know how to stand out, but she was very clear about what she wanted. In this era, to become famous, one must clearly know which direction to go.
“Guessed you would say that. Yuyan, you haven’t changed at all. That’s why I left Wenqing and turned to Qidian. You know, relying on a few pages of illustrations can’t save the quality. Readers’ eyes are sharp; ultimately, quality speaks.”
Zhao Yuyan frowned, a trace of displeasure rising in her heart. If it weren’t for her relationship with Luo Nan, she really wanted to retort a few words.
But she still said nothing, just remained silent.
She had been at Wenqing Publishing Group for a year now. She knew the situation here: market homogenization, the flood of illustrations, uneven quality. All told people that Wenqing’s development was not optimistic.
In contrast, Qidian not only harvested the super newcomer Luo Nan this year but also had a great god presiding. That great god’s royalties reached 200 million. And in recent years, great gods emerged one after another, attracting readers with their unique writing styles, adapting their works into comics, further enhancing their fame. Recently, several works were about to be adapted into animation.
“Alright, Yuyan, let’s stop here. If you feel I spoke too harshly, I apologize. But, there’s one point I hope you understand: I want to help you.”
Luo Nan stood up, took her hand, her eyes carrying a trace of deep affection, making Zhao Yuyan feel a bit overwhelmed.
“Luo Nan, you’re…”
“Trust me, Yuyan. I’m not the follower from the past. I hope to have you accompany me in the days to come. Think about it carefully. Come to Qidian.”
Zhao Yuyan smiled, but not a happy smile, rather a helpless one.
“That’s impossible, Luo Nan. You should know.”
She wouldn’t leave Wenqing, impossible. No matter how harsh Chen Xi was to her, it was still for her own good. Moreover, just thinking of that blonde girl, she felt unwilling to let it go. Staying at Wenqing at least gave her a chance to see her again, right?
That blonde girl was really special. She felt that just seeing her gave her creative inspiration. She had even thought about digging into stories based on this blonde girl.
“…”
Luo Nan said no more, her eyes becoming cold. She grabbed Zhao Yuyan’s wrists with both hands, forcefully pressing her down onto the sofa. Zhao Yuyan was startled and struggled quickly, but her feet were also locked at this moment.
“Yuyan, promise me, come with me.”
“Luo Nan, what are you doing?! Let go of me quickly! If you continue like this, I’m going to get angry!”
“I won’t let go. I won’t let go no matter what.”
In the living room with only the two of them, an atmosphere of tense confrontation permeated. Within this dangerous atmosphere contained a peach-blossom-colored fragrance. A silver needle fell to the ground with a ding. The good show was unfolding.
When Ye Zhiyun walked out of the office building, her face looked very tired, her eyes not so spirited. Although wearing a suit, and even specially wearing glasses for work needs, making her overall temperament look a few points more mature, even so, it couldn’t hide the fatigue on her body.
She just wanted to go home and sleep well now. These days were really tiring, really hard. Busy non-stop every day, sometimes even without time to eat. Such days were too difficult. Although she had gotten used to this kind of life long ago, today, she was really tired.
“Hey, Zhiyun, I came to pick you up! How is it? Tired?”
Dai Wenqian popped out from somewhere, circling her like a little kitten. With this girl bustling around her, her low mood improved somewhat.
“Yes, quite tired. Let’s go, go eat something with me. A bit hungry.”
She took off her glasses and put them away. The usually polite, proud Ye Zhiyun was gone. She was now like an ordinary little girl, just longing for comfort.
“Zhiyun, if you’re sad, you can talk to me. We’re good friends. Although I can’t help you, I will comfort you well.”
Dai Wenqian’s usual playfulness was also gone, gradually becoming quiet. Beside Ye Zhiyun, she changed her usual personality of causing trouble or dying.
“Sigh, thought there was some chance. I spent a month smoothing relations, from bottom to top, talking every day. But still failed. This is fate.”
Ye Zhiyun was a proud person. She disliked failure, but failure was laid before her, and she had no choice but to accept it.
She originally had a plan, which was to invest in an animated movie as a producer, holding all the plans in her hands. She prepared a lot of preliminary work, even prepared a sum of money to buy the animation adaptation rights of a novel, just to smoothly launch the project.
But unfortunately, her bargaining chips weren’t enough. She failed to buy the copyright, unable to adapt.
Although the name Miss Ye was somewhat famous in the industry, she was still just an 18-year-old girl, lacking rich experience, and unable to produce sufficient capital, could only declare failure. The reason her previous movie investments succeeded was often because her vision was sharp enough, finding low-investment, high-quality scripts, allowing the movies she invested in to earn several times over after release.
But large investments wouldn’t work; the profit she could offer others was too little.
Ye Zhiyun realized that compared to her father, she was still far too lacking.
“Zhiyun, don’t be sad, there are still chances. After the New Year, I’ll accompany you to talk. If you feel the chips you can offer aren’t enough, then add mine. Investing alone is not as good as two people investing together. Don’t forget I also know business.”
Dai Wenqian patted her chest confidently.
Although Dai Wenqian’s family background wasn’t comparable to Ye Zhiyun’s, she wasn’t far off either, considered a rich young lady. She started playing stocks long ago. Investment and business operations, she was quite proficient.
The two found a high-end restaurant, sat down, preparing to eat. Ye Zhiyun didn’t plan to think about these things anymore; these days were too tiring. Especially the moment failure was declared, all fatigue rushed forward, attacking her body, almost making her unable to stand firm. She wanted to go home and sleep well; she hadn’t been this tired in a long time.
“By the way, that Little Sister Linna living at your place, aren’t you planning to go back and see?”
“…I’ll go back tonight. Don’t worry. Nana is very independent; she won’t be unable to survive without care.”
Ye Zhiyun really didn’t even have the heart to joke. She ordered a few dishes and waited for them to arrive, not wanting to think about anything else.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Ye Zhiyun took out her phone and looked. It was actually her father calling her.
A bad premonition struck. Ye Zhiyun pressed the answer key, her heart pounding.
“Lost again?”
“…Yes.”
Father only said three words, but these three words made her heart tighten, blood rushing to her head.
“Don’t care so much. Life, failure is common. Just learn to accept it.”
“Accept? Hehe… Dad, you succeeded, of course you’d say that. But I haven’t. I haven’t built my career yet. I can’t fail. I’m not allowed to fail. You know me.”
“Then do you want to throw away 80 million for nothing like last time?”
“I…”
“Failure isn’t scary. What I’m afraid of is that you yourself can’t get out of it.”
Ye Zhiyun gritted her teeth and directly hung up her dad’s phone. Her eyes could almost kill someone. Dai Wenqian felt scared just looking, couldn’t help but move her stool back a bit.
“Who failed? I didn’t!”
She slammed her fist heavily on the table, making the teacups on the table vibrate slightly.
Luckily they were sitting indoors, not in the main hall, otherwise, many people would be staring at this moment.
Ye Zhiyun was proud, strong. She didn’t allow herself not to achieve, didn’t allow herself to lose. Because her dictionary only contained success, not failure. Once failed, she wouldn’t be her anymore.
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