Chapter 214: Beautiful World

Because of the impact of this incident, Lu Yan He forgot to call Song Linxin. He was in a daze for a while before being awakened by Chen Siqi's call.

"Have you left yet?"

"Not yet," Lu Yan He said.

"Don't be late. Today we have an appointment for Ye Mai and Jiang Yin Publishing to sit together and communicate about *Jump Up*," Chen Siqi said.

"Oh, right, okay, I'm leaving now."

Lu Yan He hurriedly packed his schoolbag, put it on his back, and ran out.

The sun shone directly on him, and he was also thinking about when his skin tone could get a bit darker to reach Chen Lingling's standard.

The place for today's meeting was neither at Ye Mai's company building nor at Jiang Yin Publishing's building, but a compromise: they found a coffee shop in a middle location, booked a large table, and had a relatively independent area where they could discuss, without even finding a proper conference room.

Chen Siqi did it on purpose, saying: "On one hand, it's to remind them that we are both poor students, so don't treat us as proper commercial partners, lest they haggle with us later. The two of us lack this experience the most; the more we say, the more ignorant we appear. It's better to be willful and say directly that we want both fish and bear paws, and let them accommodate us."

"On the other hand, this is the only place we could choose. It wouldn't be good to put today's communication at either company." What Chen Siqi didn't say was that the matters to be discussed today were content that couldn't allow either side to have a host mentality or home-field advantage.

Lu Yan He was a bit dazed after hearing Chen Siqi's reasons; he hadn't expected Chen Siqi to think so much. He nodded and said, "You are so thoughtful."

Chen Siqi curled her lips and said, "Average, average."

Both sides brought more than one person. For Ye Mai, Liu Qiao accompanied Xin Zixing directly, while for Jiang Yin Publishing, Xu Xiaoyin invited Liu Cheng to come along.

Lu Yan He and the others arrived fifteen minutes early, but both sides dragged it out until the very last minute of the agreed time before arriving.

"..."

This wasn't Xu Xiaoyin and Xin Zixing's usual style. It seemed it was the intention of the two people beside them, both wanting to be the finale? To suppress the other side?

Just this point made Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi feel that today's negotiation wouldn't be so smooth.

As soon as the two sides met, there was a round of smiling pleasantries.

Once seated, Chen Siqi spoke up: "Thank you to the brothers and sisters for supporting Lu Yan He and my sudden whim, allowing us to really start making a book this summer. Originally, we both thought this was just an idea, an idea that would never be realized."

Lu Yan He was already somewhat familiar with and understood her. Seeing her affected tone and exaggerated body language, Lu Yan He couldn't help but ask her with his eyes, *What kind of act are you putting on? *

But Lu Yan He's trust in Chen Siqi was such that even if he didn't understand what she was doing, he would absolutely support her and not undermine her.

Chen Siqi looked at Liu Qiao and Xin Zixing on Ye Mai's side with gratitude, and then looked at Liu Cheng and Xu Xiaoyin on Jiang Yin Publishing's side with the same gratitude, saying: "I also know that making a book costs a lot of money, and we aren't sure if this book can make money. Actually, from the beginning, we just wanted to fulfill a dream from our high school days. So, Lu Yan He and I discussed it—why don't we just bear the production costs of this book ourselves? It's not good to ask you to take this risk. We are just high school graduates who have just graduated. Looking at the public opinion about our book on the internet before, it seems we really took quite a big advantage."

Lu Yan He was even more shocked internally, of course, his face remained as usual, as if he had already communicated this point with Chen Siqi.

"Siqi, didn't we say before that Ye Mai would be responsible for the production costs?" Xin Zixing immediately looked at Lu Yan He.

Chen Siqi said in surprise: "But that was because there was no plan for physical publishing at the time. Ye Mai had an exclusive nature and also had a lot of traffic-driving effects for you. Now that we are going to do physical publishing, are you still willing to bear it?"

Xin Zixing froze and suddenly realized she had been anxious. This little girl Chen Siqi, after dealing with her a few times before, was a very clever and proactive person. How could she suddenly speak to you in such an innocent tone and with such eyes, deliberately setting you up?

She smiled slightly and said: "It's not that we aren't willing to bear all the costs, but I think since Jiang Yin Publishing wants to collaborate with you, they probably wouldn't agree to just us paying, right?"

Xu Xiaoyin: "Of course. Although physical publishing really can't compare to your electronic reading—paper, printing, and transportation are all costs—we will directly prepay royalties to Siqi and Little Lu. It's not easy for two young people to make a book, so of course we will support them."

"I don't know how much royalty you plan to prepay?" Xin Zixing asked. "Before, we planned to provide 100,000 yuan in production costs directly. You who do physical publishing know best: for an e-book that originally didn't need to be published as a physical book, this should be a very high production cost, right?"

Xu Xiaoyin nodded. "Indeed. However, based on the author lineup that Little Lu has invited that I know of, just putting these authors' names together might not make everyone willing to spend dozens of yuan to buy a book, but it should be able to attract quite a few people to check out the free e-books on your Ye Mai, right?"

"The economic return generated by 10,000 people reading a free electronic magazine and 10,000 people spending dozens of yuan to buy a book is worlds apart." Xin Zixing opened her eyes wide and spread her hands. "Actually, making such a book has never been our primary goal for economic return. Lu Yan He is our partner at Ye Mai, and we will create the *City Travelogue* documentary series together. So, he wants to realize such a dream, which is why we want to help with all our might."

"Then we really thought of the same thing. Little Lu helped our publishing house's *Nineteen Years of Crime Records* and *Star Orbit* sell nearly 300,000 copies, and even sold the film and television rights for *Nineteen Years of Crime Records*. As a child who loves books, he wants to edit a book, so of course we hope to get the opportunity for physical publishing in our hands," Xu Xiaoyin said, not to be outdone.

Seeing that these two women were still going to contend with each other, Lu Yan He began to feel a headache. Chen Siqi suddenly crossed her arms and sighed: "Okay, so both sisters are so willing to cooperate with us because of Lu Yan He. We were being sentimental, thinking that we could make a good book and that we could pull in such a creative lineup, which is why you took the initiative to cooperate with us?"

Chen Siqi was pretending to be ignorant while knowing the truth.

Nonsense, the primary factor for Ye Mai and Jiang Yin Publishing being willing to make this book was, of course, aimed at Lu Yan He.

But as soon as she said it, the cooperation intention of both sides became utilitarian and not so pure.

"Siqi, you know, that's not what I meant." Xin Zixing didn't quite understand what kind of attitude Chen Siqi had today.

Why did Chen Siqi seem a bit unreasonable today?

She wasn't such a personality usually.

Chen Siqi: "Then can we put aside Lu Yan He's influence on this book for the time being and just talk about the content of this book? With the lineup of writers pulled for this book, as long as the quality of the drafts given by everyone in the end is not bad, this book should also be able to sell, it's just a question of how much it sells, right?"

Lu Yan He could tell that she was trying hard to lead the topic.

Both sides were noncommittal.

Chen Siqi said: "Actually, the production cost of a book is indeed not much. What Lu Yan He and I least want to see is two partners we think are very suitable arguing over who pays more and who pays less for production costs, and we don't want everyone to haggle over some interests. After all, it's just a book. Even if the interest is big, it's only that big. 100,000 yuan in production costs, let alone for Lu Yan He, it doesn't count for much for me either. I wasn't joking just now. If everyone is going to argue over these things again and again, I would rather neither of you pay, and I will pay this money myself."

As soon as Chen Siqi finished speaking, there was silence at the table.

At noon, Chen Siqi booked a restaurant and invited everyone to eat together.

Chen Siqi was relatively more familiar with Xin Zixing, so she took Xin Zixing's car and went to the restaurant with her and Liu Qiao.

Lu Yan He went with Xu Xiaoyin and the others.

After getting in the car, Chen Siqi suddenly fell silent, silently looking out the car window, the opposite of how she was in the coffee shop just now.

Xin Zixing more or less reacted to why Chen Siqi had such a performance just now.

She turned her head to look at Chen Siqi in this state, her mouth smiling, and then looked at Liu Qiao sitting in the back.

Liu Qiao was looking down at his phone.

She said: "Siqi, haven't you and Lu Yan He considered being together?"

"Ah?" Chen Siqi suddenly came back to her senses and looked at Xin Zixing in astonishment.

"You were being unreasonable on purpose today, right?" Xin Zixing said with a hint of teasing: "You didn't want us to argue and turn the spearhead toward Lu Yan He, so when we were contending, you took the initiative to jump out as a target, trying to remove Lu Yan He from the center of the discussion."

Chen Siqi's face flushed, and she immediately turned her head to look out the window again. "What are you talking about? I don't understand."

Xin Zixing: "You really are a student who just graduated. We were contending to divide the cake. We are too busy coaxing and winning over Lu Yan He; how could we turn the spearhead toward Lu Yan He?"

Chen Siqi still said: "I didn't think so."

At this time, Liu Qiao, who was sitting in the back, still looking at the phone in his hand, spoke up: "She is worried that you two will use your past friendship to compete for Lu Yan He's support. She doesn't want Lu Yan He to be emotionally kidnapped by you two, okay? Who is worried that you will take Lu Yan He as a spearhead?"

Chen Siqi felt as if thorns had grown on the chair and her butt had been pricked, and she couldn't help but shift.

"Huh? What kind of friendship do we have with Lu Yan He to emotionally kidnap Lu Yan He?" Xin Zixing questioned Liu Qiao's statement, unable to laugh or cry.

Chen Siqi silently thought, that's because you don't know how stupidly kind Lu Yan He is.

Liu Qiao curled his lips: "Concern leads to chaos."

Chen Siqi denied weakly: "I'm not, don't talk nonsense."

In the other car, a similar conversation took place.

"That little girl named Chen Siqi is Little Lu's classmate, right?" Liu Cheng asked.

Xu Xiaoyin was driving and nodded. "Yes."

Liu Cheng smiled gently and said lightly: "Little Lu, you must cherish her well."

Lu Yan He immediately blushed.

"Ah? What?"

"Keep pretending." Xu Xiaoyin followed Liu Cheng's words and complained, and then said something similar to Liu Qiao.

Lu Yan He then realized in shock: was Chen Siqi's side that was different from the past just now for this purpose?

He felt a bit frustrated in the morning, feeling that he had no place to speak.

He managed to say a word or two, wanting to help Chen Siqi smooth things over, but he would soon be interrupted by Chen Siqi.

So Chen Siqi had this purpose?

Lu Yan He was speechless, falling into shock and astonishment, and a complex emotion that was hard to describe welled up in his heart.

Xu Xiaoyin said in a nostalgic and envious tone: "Think about it, making a book together in the summer after high school graduation—this kind of thing is truly an unrepeatable romance."

Liu Cheng also laughed.

"Why don't you travel back?"

"Forget it, Editor-in-Chief Liu. Look at Little Lu and Siqi, and then look at me at eighteen... forget it, you can't see it, it's best not to look. Now I am a beautiful urban girl. At eighteen, I was a country girl who thought she was facing the sea in her heart, but was actually facing a sandstorm." Xu Xiaoyin said, "I don't want to travel back to that time."

Liu Cheng: "That's because you still think so now. When you reach my age, you will understand what it means to want to travel back to your youth. Little Lu probably understands even less."

"Ah?" Lu Yan He came back to his senses from his distraction and didn't hear their conversation fully.

"Saying that at your age, you simply can't understand our desire to travel back to eighteen," Xu Xiaoyin said happily.

Lu Yan He opened his mouth and smiled distractedly.

Travel... back?

Lu Yan He looked at the open sunshine ahead, the clear blue sky, raised the corners of his mouth, and said: "Yeah, although my head teacher always said when I was in school that we are always in the best age, but we don't know how to cherish it. Actually, I also think it's good now. I actually cherish it very much."

He knew Liu Cheng and Xu Xiaoyin must have thought he understood what they meant, but he knew that only he knew what he was saying.

In the end, regarding *Jump Up*, the preliminary intention reached by the three parties was:

1. The content production costs for Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi's team are responsible for 70,000 yuan by Ye Mai and 30,000 yuan by Jiang Yin Publishing. They are only responsible for the manuscript content. The layout design of the e-book is provided by Ye Mai's designers, and the layout design of the physical book is responsible by Jiang Yin Publishing.

2. *Jump Up* will open physical book e-commerce pre-sale at the same time as it is listed on Ye Mai, and will be officially sold on e-commerce and bookstores three days later. It will provide free reading for the first three days of listing, and will be converted to paid reading three days later. The pricing is one-third of the physical book price. The revenue sharing will be communicated by Ye Mai back to Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi.

3. The e-book listing page of Ye Mai provides a physical book purchase link URL, and Jiang Yin Publishing also notes in the promotional materials that electronic reading is exclusively provided by Ye Mai.

The two partners were indeed taking care of the two young people, Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi, or rather, they were willing to take care of these two people, did not let them suffer, and gave them very good conditions.

When eating lunch, to Lu Yan He's surprise, Chen Siqi raised her glass generously and toasted everyone with a small cup of rice wine: "I don't drink much, so I can only drink this little bit. I apologize to all the teachers. The performance just now was really too rude. Although I know I took advantage of Lu Yan He's wind, being able to realize such a dream would absolutely not be possible without your help. I also express my gratitude to all the teachers."

The others hurriedly raised their glasses.

Only Liu Qiao, Liu Cheng, and Lu Yan He had rice wine in their glasses.

Xu Xiaoyin and Xin Zixing didn't have any; they were drinking fruit juice because they had to drive.

At this moment, Chen Siqi finally returned to her usual generous appearance.

She had small personality and small temper in front of Lu Yan He, and didn't care about her sharp thorns in front of Liu Weian, but outside, she had always been such a girl who looked like she had received a good education since she was a child.

Lu Yan He felt that he was really not as conscious as Chen Siqi in this regard.

It was really the difference between being taught by someone since childhood and not being taught.

Be alert, Lu Yan He. ===== CHAPTER 215 =====