After seeing off Murphy, Yang Yi welcomed a new set of guests the next day. The deputy manager of Qiyue's copyright department, along with several publishing house managers he accompanied, arrived at Yang Yi's coffee shop. This time, Yang Yi didn't treat them to his best coffee—his prized Blue Mountain and Mandheling were tucked away. A simple mocha mixed with milk and sugar cubes surprisingly earned widespread praise. Clearly, there was a lot of flattery involved! Yang Yi smiled without saying a word, inwardly feeling relieved.
When it came to negotiations, Yang Yi was no expert, and his best ally, Guo Ziyi—that chubby kid—had already finished his college entrance exams. He cheerfully gave Yang Yi a call but then went off on a graduation trip with his classmates, so he couldn't be counted on. However, despite his lack of negotiation skills, Yang Yi had brought a remarkable ability from his past life—acting. And he could pull off any role convincingly. As soon as the talks began, he put on a confident demeanor, asking the publishers to submit their proposed terms in sealed bids for him to review.
"I hope we can all be straightforward. Based on your terms, I'll choose the final publisher and then proceed with detailed discussions. That way, we avoid wasting everyone's time," Yang Yi said with a smile at the end.
The publishing managers exchanged glances. They had never encountered an author who played it this way!
"Manager Huang, isn't this a bit problematic?" one manager couldn't help asking the Qiyue representative.
"I don't think it's okay!" another manager chimed in.
Huang, the deputy manager of Qiyue's copyright department, shook his head with a wry smile. "I think it's fine... ahem, here's the thing. Since we've discussed it with Mr. Yang Yi, he retains the final say on the physical publishing rights deal. So, everyone, let's proceed as Mr. Yang Yi requests..."
"You can think it over. If you're not willing to participate in this bidding, that's fine too. Even if we don't strike a deal, the goodwill remains," Yang Yi said, showing no sign of backing down.
He didn't know what terms the other side could offer, but Yang Yi was convinced of one thing: whether it was *Soldiers' Sortie* or *Bright Sword*, once they hit physical shelves, they were bound to be bestsellers! These were works tested by the market in his past life! In an era rife with piracy, *Bright Sword*, published in the early 2000s, still sold over 400,000 copies in six or seven years—proof of its immense value! In this world, where copyright awareness was strong, Yang Yi could already foresee the soaring sales of these so-called "web novels" in physical form.
With that confidence, he wasn't afraid of anyone walking away from the table.
Sure enough, after the managers exchanged glances, the loudest one grabbed a pen and paper first, and the others scrambled to follow, almost jostling for position.
The sealed-bid selection process went without a hitch. In the end, Yang Yi picked up an envelope and, like a stock exchange broker, announced loudly, "Sahara Publishing House, Mr. Lu, congratulations! We can now move on to detailed discussions!"
A thin man with messy hair stood up in surprise, raising his hand. "I, I'm Mr. Lu!"
But Yang Yi's choice caused an uproar. Even Huang from Qiyue looked stunned.
"Are you kidding me?" The loudest manager jumped up again, fuming. "What terms did Sahara offer you? I don't believe a small publisher like them can match what we big ones put forward!"
"Sorry, I'm not at liberty to disclose that," Yang Yi said with a polite smile, declining.
Huang couldn't help standing up. "Mr. Yang Yi, I know it's not my place to interrupt, but should you reconsider? In terms of scale, Sahara is indeed smaller than the other three. Even if their current terms are better, in the long run, the royalties from sales won't compare to what the others can offer!"
"Exactly, that's shortsighted!" The other three managers chimed in.
The thin Mr. Lu, who had already given up hope seeing the three competitors, was now overjoyed at being chosen! But hearing Huang and the others, he grew anxious, afraid his prize might slip away. He quickly said, "Though our publishing house is small, we're sincere, Mr. Yang. The terms I wrote earlier—we can still negotiate!"
Yang Yi raised his hand to quiet them and said calmly, "Actually, the reason I chose Sahara isn't just because their terms were sincere. There's another key factor: they have an advantage the others don't."
Everyone was baffled. Wasn't Sahara smaller than the rest?
"What?" the loudest manager blurted out.
"Sahara has an additional channel for selling physical books online," Yang Yi said flatly.
In truth, Yang Yi wasn't as calm as he seemed. In this world, online shopping was just emerging, nothing like the massive platforms like Taobao from his past life. But Sahara's foresight surprised him. Their boss had set up a website for selling physical books online. Readers could pay via registered mail or bank transfer, and the books would be shipped from the warehouse. This model closely resembled the early days of Joyo, 99, and Dangdang from his past life! It was essentially the prototype of an online bookstore.
"How is that different from web novels? Hah, with that kind of online sales, you'd be lucky to sell a few books a month. Readers have to go through the hassle of mailing payments. It's nowhere near as good as our connections with major chains like Far East and Zhonghua..." Some were still stuck in old thinking, mocking Yang Yi's choice.
But Yang Yi didn't waver. He calmly apologized to them.
In the end, only Yang Yi and Mr. Lu remained in the coffee shop. The others stormed off, and even Huang, with a wry smile, cupped his hands at Yang Yi before chasing after them. Huang figured the profit from Yang Yi's physical books wasn't a big deal, but he needed to maintain good relations with these publishers. After all, web literature was still the underdog, and publishers held significant resources. Qiyue had plenty of reasons to collaborate with them!
"So, we..." Mr. Lu, with his messy hair, fidgeted nervously, not daring to touch the fresh coffee Yang Yi had set before him.
"So, let's talk about what conditions I need to invest in your publishing house," Yang Yi said, waving his hand with a slight smile.
The sheer audacity of it stunned Mr. Lu into silence.
If Mr. Lu knew that Yang Yi's savings were down to less than a few hundred thousand, yet he was still boldly trying to buy into someone else's publishing house, what would he think?