Chapter 87: Bargaining

Perhaps because the terms Cao Sheng proposed were too outrageous, Zhu Weilian, Wang Jing, and Old Zhang were all struck dumb for a moment. The three of them looked at each other, much like two confused people standing under a confused tree, staring at a confused fruit.

The conditions Cao Sheng proposed had completely invalidated all the rhetoric they had prepared in advance.

Zhu Weilian gave Wang Jing and Old Zhang a look, signaling for them to speak up.

Wang Jing gave a bitter smile and said to Cao Sheng, "Cao Sheng, we really came with sincerity this time, so we hope you can also show some sincerity. We can give you the shares, and we can even offer you a discount on the price—a generous discount is fine—but you can't give absolutely nothing, right? What do you think?"

Old Zhang chimed in, "That’s right, Mr. Cao! Although you are still a student, we know a thing or two about your income; you definitely can't be considered a poor student anymore, right? Cooperation should be a win-win; one side shouldn't be laughing while the other cries! How can one buy into a company without paying a cent?"

Zhu Weilian tried his best to maintain a smile as he looked at Cao Sheng.

Cao Sheng spread his hands, "If you feel my terms are too excessive and you can't accept them, then let's just forget about this investment. It makes no difference to me."

Playing hard to get.

Zhu Weilian and his group had specifically come to find Cao Sheng to discuss this investment because they wanted to tie him to Rongshuxia, not because Cao Sheng wanted to be tied down.

Cao Sheng knew very well who held the initiative.

Wang Jing: "..."

Old Zhang: "..."

The two of them subconsciously looked at Zhu Weilian.

Zhu Weilian frowned and remained silent.

At this moment, Zhu Weilian felt a bit stifled inside.

He didn't want to agree to Cao Sheng's terms; who likes giving away their own shares for free?

But he was also very clear about the current situation at Rongshuxia.

Rongshuxia could no longer follow its original path; the entire atmosphere of the website had been led astray by Cao Sheng's *I Wish to Become an Immortal*. A perfectly good literary website focused on essays, poetry, and short stories now had few people writing those short pieces because of Cao Sheng's *I Wish to Become an Immortal*.

The vast majority had started following the trend of writing long-form serials.

Yet, few of these trend-following works could meet the publication standards of publishing houses.

The authors writing these novels could run on passion alone.

But as a website, could Rongshuxia run on passion? Rent, utilities, staff salaries, and other expenses—Rongshuxia had to pay them all on time.

Transformation and financing had become the only paths he could choose at the moment.

If he couldn't raise funds quickly and find a benefactor to support Rongshuxia, it wouldn't be long before the website's capital chain snapped and it would be unable to continue.

Therefore, the key issue now was to increase the bargaining chips for Rongshuxia's financing.

Tying the most popular new-generation writer in the country, Zhongyuan Yidianhui, to Rongshuxia was the best bargaining chip he could think of.

As long as he could bind Zhongyuan Yidianhui to Rongshuxia, he could use this chip to tell stories and paint a grand picture for investors, making them believe in Rongshuxia's bright future and thus open their wallets.

Therefore, the most critical step in his plan was to bind Zhongyuan Yidianhui to Rongshuxia.

If the binding was successful, the difficulty of subsequent financing would decrease.

Otherwise, as an internet literature website, Rongshuxia was inherently a light-asset cultural company with highly volatile value; how many investors would dare to invest?

With various thoughts flashing through his mind, Zhu Weilian sighed inwardly, squeezed out a few smiles, and said to Cao Sheng, "Mr. Cao, 15% of the shares at half price—what do you think?"

Cao Sheng: "I really don't have the money."

Zhu Weilian: "..."

Old Zhang couldn't help but ask, "Then if we can't reach an agreement this time, you won't leave Rongshuxia immediately, will you?"

Cao Sheng shook his head, "That won't happen. Since I previously promised to serialize *I Wish to Become an Immortal* for free on your site, I will certainly finish it."

Old Zhang asked again, "What about the next book? I remember you previously asked us to help you contact mainland publishers to publish your *I Wish to Become an Immortal*, and you promised that the next book would also be serialized for free on our Rongshuxia. That won't change, right?"

Cao Sheng nodded, "Of course, a verbal promise is still a promise; I won't go back on my word."

He paused, then added, "However, my next book will probably only be about 200,000 words, similar in length to *Days Living with a Flight Attendant*, so it should finish serializing quite quickly."

His originally planned next book was *Divine Grave*, which would definitely be much longer than just 200,000 words.

But starting a 200,000-word novel on the fly was no difficulty for him.

In any case, Rongshuxia didn't know that his originally planned next work was a massive epic like *Divine Grave*.

Therefore, he could fulfill his promise.

He was betting now that Rongshuxia wanted more than just the serialization promise for these two books.

Otherwise, there would have been no need for them to come here specifically to talk about him buying shares.

After all, if they didn't come to talk about shares, his previous promise would likely remain unchanged, so why would they come to talk about shares?

Now it depended on how Zhu Weilian chose.

Zhu Weilian was silent for a moment, then asked, "Mr. Cao, if we give you 10% of the shares, can you guarantee how many millions of words you will write on our website at a minimum?"

Cao Sheng countered, "What do you think?"

Zhu Weilian thought to himself: He can produce about two to three episodes a month in Baodao, with each episode being around 60,000 words, meaning he can write at most less than 200,000 words a month, or about two million words a year—this should be his limit.

Three years would be six million words.

Five years would be ten million words.

But the vast majority of domestic writers couldn't write ten million words in their entire lives. This should be his peak creative period; once this peak passes, he might not even be able to write one million words a year.

"Ten million words! If you can guarantee that from now on, you will continue to serialize at least ten million words on Rongshuxia, I will hand over these 10% of shares with both hands, without you spending a single cent. How about that?"

Ten million words?

Cao Sheng was a bit surprised by Zhu Weilian's appetite.

With a light laugh, Cao Sheng countered, "Is Manager Zhu trying to buy out my entire career? If that's the case, 10% of the shares won't be enough."

Ten million words—if he went full throttle, it would take at least three or four years.

It would be 1999 soon.

Qidian Chinese Network seemed to be established in 2002, and it launched its VIP subscription service in 2003, which was exactly three or four years from now.

Therefore, he felt that promising to serialize ten million words on Rongshuxia wasn't impossible.

Even if he went to Qidian a year or two late, it wouldn't be a big problem.

He could accept both the time and the word count.

But ten million words...

In this day and age, besides him, Cao, what other writer would dare to sign such a contract?

Who else would dare to guarantee they could write so many words in their lifetime?

"Then how many shares do you want?"

Zhu Weilian asked.

If he could bind the next ten million words of Zhongyuan Yidianhui's work to Rongshuxia, his success rate for subsequent financing would be very high.

Cao Sheng smiled, "At least 20% of the shares."

"That's too much! No!"

Zhu Weilian shook his head in refusal.

Cao Sheng smiled, "Then let's reduce the word count: 5 million words for 10% of the shares."

"5 million words is too little! No! At your speed, you'll probably finish it in two or three years. No! This is absolutely impossible!"

Zhu Weilian objected again.

Cao Sheng laughed, "This won't work, that won't work—then let's just forget it! Come! Manager Zhu, Sister Wang, Old Zhang, let me toast you all again. It's rare for you to come to Huizhou this time; you must eat well and drink well tonight! Come! Cheers!"

He could see it now: Zhu Weilian was determined to bind him to Rongshuxia for several years.

Since that was the case, what did he have to be anxious about?

At that, he raised his glass to toast, waiting to see if Zhu Weilian could keep his cool.

Could Zhu Weilian keep his cool?