Chapter 107: The King of the Universe

In the elevator, the two women—one fat, one thin—chatted and laughed, but Fang Hong had no idea what they were saying, so he kept his eyes down and his mind still.

But he noticed Liu Tianxian's face was slightly flushed, and he couldn't help but ask: "What are they babbling about?"

"Why do you care so much? What's it to you?" Liu Tianxian didn't want to tell him.

"I'm serious. Tell me what they said—you know, any piece of information here could be a chance to make money."

Fang Hong's curiosity grew stronger, and he started wheedling.

In truth, he was just curious what Liu Tianxian had heard—nothing more.

Seeing Fang Hong's serious expression, Liu Tianxian paused before saying: "They're discussing a pornographic novel. That fat woman is apparently the author."

With that, she said not another word, feeling the topic was too explicit.

So it was a porn novel. Fang Hong asked: "Did they mention the title?"

"No, just talking about the plot and story." Liu Tianxian's expression was uneasy.

She had overheard them discussing the story—and also the sexual desires of the male and female protagonists.

That level of explicitness was beyond what she could handle.

Fang Hong, watching her demeanor, deliberately said: "Help me listen carefully—see if there's any key info, like the title."

Westerners are so open—they talk about porn in elevators. Liu Tianxian should listen closely, really listen.

For future practice!

"Stop being so boring. What's the point of listening to porn novels?" Liu Tianxian refused to relay the information—it was too crude.

"Look at you, so shallow and dirty-minded. We must look beyond appearances. Do you think I'm asking you to listen to porn? No—I'm asking you to grasp the underlying ideas." Fang Hong made up nonsense.

"Underlying ideas? Underlying ideas? I'll give you underlying ideas."

Liu Tianxian slapped him twice—total nonsense.

Fang Hong was just joking; seeing she wasn't willing, he let it go.

The elevator quickly reached the first floor. The two white women said goodbye, waved, and parted ways.

Only after they left did Liu Tianxian dare speak: "I heard them say the novel's title is… The King of the Universe!"

"The King of the Universe?" Fang Hong's tone was startled.

"Yes, that's the title—but you're not allowed to read it. It's none of your business," Liu Tianxian warned.

Fang Hong ignored her, lowering his head to think deeply, as if recalling something.

"What's wrong?" Liu Tianxian noticed his odd behavior.

Fang Hong suddenly looked up, staring in the direction the fat woman had walked. Seeing she hadn't gone far, he grabbed Liu Tianxian's hand and chased after her.

"What are you doing?"

Liu Tianxian was yanked into a run, unprepared.

Fang Hong didn't answer. He spoke rapidly: "Ask her—does her novel's plot involve a domineering CEO and an ordinary girl becoming sexual abuse partners?"

They reached the fat woman just as she turned.

The fat woman, startled by two East Asians suddenly appearing before her, gasped: "Oh, my god!"

"Sorry, ma'am."

Liu Tianxian stopped there, embarrassed, and looked at Fang Hong.

Fang Hong gestured for her to continue—he didn't understand why this was hard to say; they weren't asking to experience it.

Besides, they were adults—grown people!

"Ma'am, I'd like to ask—does your novel's plot…" Liu Tianxian, seeing how much he cared, reluctantly summarized his question.

Mostly, she wanted to know what he was up to.

"Oh, God—you're my fans too!" The fat woman patted her ample chest, calming down.

Liu Tianxian nodded at Fang Hong—yes.

"Tell her we're from Yutu Film Industry and want to buy the adaptation rights. We can talk over coffee." Fang Hong was relieved.

The King of the Universe is Fifty Shades of Grey!

The novel is currently serialized online and hasn't been published yet—it won't be released until May this year, about a month from now.

The title was changed to Fifty Shades of Grey only upon publication.

Fang Hong had planned to buy the rights right after publication, but he never expected to meet the original author here.

That meant the price wouldn't be too high—and no competition. Truly fate's blessing!

After Liu Tianxian relayed Fang Hong's words, the fat woman nodded enthusiastically.

She didn't think they were frauds—anyone coming out of Warner had some status.

Besides, rights couldn't be faked so easily!

The three agreed to meet at a café. The woman's name was James—currently just an entertainment producer, living an ordinary life, far from her later wealth.

She wrote Fifty Shades of Grey under the influence of Twilight, transplanting its male and female leads into a sexually explicit novel.

That was it—a very ordinary incident!

Her serialized novel online had gained considerable popularity, but she'd failed to get it published because the explicit sex scenes kept getting rejected.

But Fang Hong knew, soon an Australian publisher would take notice.

After publication, it sparked massive global attention, selling over a hundred million copies, surpassing Harry Potter and Twilight.

Now James was eager to sell the adaptation rights—she thought her novel was beneath notice and had no idea it would become a hit.

If a film studio showed interest, she'd be thrilled!

Not everyone is a prophet, nor does everyone have long-term vision.

"You really want to buy it?"

Liu Tianxian felt uneasy inside and didn't want Fang Hong to get involved with such things.

"You must buy it," Fang Hong said with certainty.

"Don't you think it's vulgar?" Liu Tianxian checked the novel on her phone.

The female lead, a virgin in her twenties, is caught by a dominant general manager with sadistic tendencies; the two engage in whipping, binding, and wax dripping.

She couldn't go on—anyway, it's extremely vulgar.

"I'm doing this to make money; don't think so dirtyly, okay!" Fang Hong said as if it were obvious.

"Who's thinking dirtyly?!"

Liu Tianxian spat: "Don't you have any other thoughts?"

"What else could I think? I'm truly doing this for the money—I have zero interest in the content. Besides, even if it's adapted into film, I'm not directing it, not starring in it, and I won't even put my name on it."

Fang Hong explained clearly and plainly.

Watching this kind of Western stuff is worse than watching Japanese stuff—it's more entertaining!

"Then let me ask you: how do you know about this novel? And how do you know its content?" Liu Tianxian stared at him intently.

"Actually, I didn't know—I just heard about it. Yu Xian told me."

Fang Hong's explanation was weak, but he couldn't think of a better one—he couldn't say he'd seen the movie in his past life!

Seeing Liu Tianxian wasn't convinced, he added: "You know I don't understand English—I can't even read the content."

That was true, and Liu Tianxian believed him. Even if this man wanted to watch, he had a language barrier. Liu Tianxian pointed at him and warned: "Don't listen to any more of that nonsense from Yu Xian!"

"I won't listen anymore."

Fang Hong raised his hand in pledge, then leaned close to her ear: "You translate it to me."

"Get lost!"

Liu Tianxian made as if to hit him; Fang Hong instinctively dodged.

It was just a threat—she didn't really hit him. There were outsiders around; how could she really hit him?

James didn't know what this young couple was talking about—he just watched quietly and waited.

Liu Tianxian temporarily ignored the white man and continued with Fang Hong: "Let's be serious—you could shoot other kinds of films. Horror films are fine too; they make money. Why go for this kind?"

She didn't want Fang Hong to buy this pornographic novel—she wanted him to do well.

If word got out later that you, Fang Hong, made a porn film, how embarrassing would that be? You'd feel ashamed to hold your head up.

Horror films are fine—after all, they don't involve stripping or anything like that; they just scare people. She herself liked watching them.

This one? It's actual stripping, actual sex—extremely pornographic!

"Do you think I don't want to make films like Avatar, Transformers, The Avengers? The problem is—I don't have the ability. Horror films don't have that many creative ideas." Fang Hong sounded utterly helpless.

When he came to the United States, he never planned to make any proper films—either horror or thriller, or thriller or erotic.

You can't compete with proper films—they invest hundreds of millions, in U. S. dollars, and he can't afford it.

And he can't compete with Hollywood giants on big projects—he simply doesn't have the credentials!

These oddball films require low investment and yield high returns—they're the ideal choice, and you don't offend anyone.

You're just playing with low-budget, niche themes—you're not even on the radar.

Hearing him say this, Liu Tianxian had no rebuttal. Indeed, there was no choice. Sometimes she had no choice either—how much less could Fang Hong?

Who with money and power wouldn't want to make good films?

Actually, those films aren't necessarily noble—they're all just milking the herd, just different methods.

Liu Tianxian stopped worrying. As long as Fang Hong didn't put his name on it and didn't watch it, it didn't matter!

She turned to James: "Madam, we'd like to buy the adaptation rights to your novel. How much would be fair?"

"One million!"

James nervously held up one finger.

In his past life, Universal paid five million U. S. dollars—but that was after the book became a huge hit.

How big was the hit? On Amazon, a copy sold every two seconds—it was wildly popular.

But right now it's still a web novel—it can't possibly match the value after publication.

After hearing this, Fang Hong immediately agreed.

But he insisted that all future serialization and publication adaptation rights must belong to him.

That means, no matter how much James writes, as long as it's part of this series—including spin-offs—the adaptation rights belong to him.

That way, even if the novel changes its name or continues with new content later, the copyright ownership remains unchanged.

James hadn't expected this Eastern man to be so straightforward—he thought the man would haggle—and immediately nodded in agreement.

After finalizing the deal, both parties went to a law firm, drafted an agreement, and signed it.

But the copyright ownership wasn't Fang Hong's—it belonged to Yutu Film Industry in the United States!

As for the one million U. S. dollars, it would be paid in full within one month.

Fang Hong had settled another matter—this was at least equivalent to one billion U. S. dollars in hand.

In his past life, the Fifty Shades Series earned over one billion U. S. dollars in total box office, not counting ancillary income like secret pay-per-view streams and streaming platforms.

You could say this series was absolutely explosive!

After finishing the matter, the two went to an outdoor bubble tea shop.

Liu Tianxian wore sunglasses, sat under a sun umbrella, watching the white people passing by—no one recognized her; it was a rare moment of ease and comfort.

In the United States, she was just like an ordinary person.

"Treat for you!"

Fang Hong bought a cup of iced bubble tea and placed it before her, then sat across from her.

Liu Tianxian sipped the bubble tea and teased: "It's rare for Principal Fang to treat me—truly a sight to behold."

After all that negotiating, translating, and teaching us the local customs, all I get is a cup of bubble tea.

This was the first time I treated her to a drink—really generous of me!

Chasing a girl and ending up broke while she pays me hundreds of thousands—makes me feel worthless!

"You gonna drink it or not? If not, give it back," Fang Hong reached out to snatch it, tone dripping with sarcasm.

Liu Tianxian leaned back, teasing: "This is mine."

Seeing her adorable expression, Fang Hong felt deeply satisfied—apparently, his mindset had improved since coming out.

The two rarely had the leisure to stroll around like this.

Fang Hong looked at the woman across from him: "Yifei, are you going to invest in that novel? Let me count you in—I promise you, we'll make money!"

He wasn't unable to afford the million—he just wanted to pull Liu Tianxian into making money together.

After all, she'd helped him so much!

"No need, you keep it. Don't give me any," Liu Tianxian shook her head.

"Why? You think it's porn? Don't worry—we're just investing, no names attached, and the drama won't air in China anyway, no one will find out," Fang Hong said.

"It's not that. I only earn money within my capability—I don't do investments," Liu Tianxian said.

"Huh?!"

That left Fang Hong deeply curious: "You've earned money for years—never made any investments?"

"Sure, my mom did—I didn't," Liu Tianxian said.

This stunned Fang Hong!

It seemed that in the entertainment industry for decades, Liu Tianxian had only bought houses, bought luxury cars, and raised cats—never done any other investments.

Other stars dabbled in restaurants, finance, all kinds of investments—she had no reports of such activities.

To her, buying a house wasn't investment—it was consumption. Overseas, property doesn't appreciate much.

It's strange: you'd say she doesn't care for money, yet she never misses acting, endorsements, appearances, or events.

She just takes the money she's entitled to—and refuses what she isn't.

Fang Hong had even suggested buying Tesla and Nvidia stocks for Liu Tianxian—after all, her money was just sitting idle. But since she felt that way, he dropped it.

Still, it's great—pure!

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(End of chapter)