Chapter 201: The Proactive

Regarding the intelligence capabilities of the Kexiao Hall, Akiwara Yuto had already experienced it deeply when he was at "New."

At that time, no one except a few people knew his address, but he didn't expect Kexiao Hall to use a business spy to directly obtain his address and pay him a visit.

The same went for the news of the negotiations between Dongying Society and the two TV stations. Although Editor-in-Chief Dacheng didn't say what the specific source of the news was, Akiwara Yuto pondered it carefully and believed the other party's most likely method was still a business spy.

This made Akiwara Yuto involuntarily take Kexiao Hall seriously—as one of the four major publishers, its potential methods might be more than he had imagined.

Fortunately, the other party had such methods, which allowed him to learn of this news and make arrangements—Akiwara Yuto had the editorial department find out the specific time of the other party's negotiations and took the initiative to go and talk himself.

The reason he came forward was also simple: according to the previous contract, the screen adaptation rights were entirely his responsibility and had nothing to do with Kexiao Hall.

Akiwara Yuto collected his thoughts, looked at Fuji Taishu standing opposite him, and continued to speak in polite language: "Mr. Fuji, if it's convenient, please get in the car. Let's go somewhere else to talk."

Fuji Taishu was still a bit suspicious. He looked at Akiwara Yuto, remembering that the other party's work was serialized at Kexiao Hall.

So the question was, how did his whereabouts leak out?

He thought about it and decided to have a brief talk with this Teacher Akiwara first, so he agreed to the request, got into the car, and sat in the back row with Akiwara Yuto.

The car started slowly, drove toward the distance, and 20 minutes later, arrived at a high-end Western restaurant.

Akiwara Yuto led Fuji Taishu to a private booth in the restaurant. Asano Aiko was already waiting at the table, and beside her was Awazu Hideki, an editor sent by "April Youth."

Upon seeing Fuji Taishu, Asano Aiko and Awazu Hideki both stood up, introduced themselves, and handed over their business cards.

After some pleasantries, the four of them sat down.

Fuji Taishu looked at everyone suspiciously, then asked his question: "Teacher Akiwara, let's skip the pleasantries. What exactly do you want to talk to me about?"

Akiwara Yuto nodded and replied, "Mr. Fuji, your visit to Dongying Society this time is for the screen adaptation rights of 'Detective Kamimura,' right?"

Fuji Taishu wasn't surprised; he knew the other party might have learned the specific situation the moment he saw Akiwara Yuto.

But he still didn't admit it, responding instead: "Sorry, this concerns trade secrets, so I cannot disclose it."

"Sorry, I was abrupt," Akiwara Yuto didn't mind, and said as if talking to himself: "But Mr. Fuji, did you know that Dongying Society seems to favor Asahi TV more?"

He paused and added: "It is said that a managing director of Dongying Society even went to a nightclub in Ginza with a producer from Asahi."

Fuji Taishu frowned, hearing Akiwara Yuto's intent, and asked directly: "Teacher Akiwara... if you can, please state your true intention."

Discovering that the other party couldn't hold his composure, Akiwara Yuto smiled.

"You should be very clear about what I mean. Since your side cannot get the rights to 'Detective Kamimura,' why not consider 'Furuhata Ninzaburo'?"

Fuji Taishu shook his head. "Sorry, if I may be blunt, 'Furuhata Ninzaburo' has only been serialized for...? But 'Detective Kamimura' has been serialized for over 60 issues and is still ongoing. To put it bluntly, just comparing the number of readers, there is quite a gap between the two."

Akiwara Yuto didn't refute but asked: "Then Mr. Fuji, do you have the confidence to get the rights to 'Detective Kamimura'?"

"This..." Fuji Taishu hesitated, but still said stubbornly: "I am still trying my best."

"Trying your best?" Akiwara Yuto glanced at him, then signaled Asano Aiko to take out a document, which he took and handed to Fuji Taishu.

"What is this?" Fuji Taishu asked suspiciously as he took the document.

"You'll know once you look at it," Akiwara Yuto replied.

Seeing the other party say so, Fuji Taishu opened the document and read it, discovering that it detailed Dongying Society's copyright sales situation in recent years.

Although this information was public, it would take quite a bit of effort to organize it carefully.

"Teacher Akiwara, please state your thoughts directly," Fuji Taishu put down the document.

Akiwara Yuto nodded and spoke in a solemn voice.

"Looking at the amounts, the vast majority of Dongying Society's copyright licensing in the last 3 years did not particularly exceed the industry average. But by comparing, one can find that they prefer larger TV stations or TV stations they have had business cooperation with."

"Mr. Fuji, to be honest, looking at these two points, your side is at a disadvantage."

Fuji Taishu heard Akiwara Yuto's subtext—that compared to Asahi TV, Fuji TV was far inferior in terms of both scale and history of cooperation with Dongying Society.

He frowned and retorted: "Teacher Akiwara, whether a cooperation can succeed depends on the specific conditions discussed."

Akiwara Yuto didn't mind and asked: "Then can you propose higher conditions?"

Fuji Taishu couldn't help but fall silent. The specific conditions were all set by those above and were already locked tight. What's more, his own TV station's strength was not as good as Asahi's, so it was a bit difficult to propose higher conditions.

Akiwara Yuto sighed: "Mr. Fuji, I don't expect to persuade you to give up on 'Detective Kamimura' directly, but I hope you can consider making a second plan."

"A second plan?" Fuji Taishu asked.

"Yes. Otherwise, if Asahi gets 'Detective Kamimura,' do you intend to give up on the detective drama market?" Akiwara Yuto advised in a well-meaning tone: "As far as I know, this is currently a hiatus period for detective dramas, but there is still quite a large audience base in the market."

Fuji Taishu thought carefully for a while and felt that Akiwara Yuto made sense, but he still said: "Teacher Akiwara, it's not that I don't want to acknowledge your 'Furuhata Ninzaburo,' but it's really too short, isn't it?"

Hearing this, Awazu Hideki, who had been silent on the side, took over the conversation: "Mr. Fuji, I can represent 'April Youth' and guarantee that this work will be serialized for at least 40 more issues."

Fuji Taishu hesitated. If it were 40 more issues, it would be enough to film 3 seasons. But if this kind of detective drama could be built into an IP, naturally, the longer, the better.

From this point of view, "Furuhata Ninzaburo" was still not as good as "Detective Kamimura."

Akiwara Yuto tapped the table lightly with his hand and added: "Mr. Fuji, I personally can understand your thoughts, but I want to add one point: I can serialize for at least 40 issues, not only 40 issues. If the TV station is still filming at that time, I can continue writing."

He raised his head and met Fuji Taishu's gaze: "This point can be added to the supplementary agreement. Not only that, if I don't continue writing by then, your side can arrange for screenwriters to create it themselves."

This surprised Fuji Taishu. He asked suspiciously: "Teacher Akiwara, shouldn't the specific licensing agreement for the copyright be led by 'April Youth'?"

At this time, Asano Aiko took out a document and handed it to him.

"This is the agreement signed between Teacher Akiwara and 'April Youth.' Regarding the screen adaptation rights, Teacher Akiwara has complete autonomous decision-making power."

Fuji Taishu took the document and read it. He discovered that this document was stamped with the special seals of both sides, proving the legal effect of this document.

But this also made him even more confused. What kind of trick was Kexiao Hall playing to sign such a contract?

Akiwara Yuto said with a smile: "Mr. Fuji, if you are interested, we can sign the letter of intent for authorization right now."

Hearing this, Fuji Taishu weighed the pros and cons.

As it stands, the copyright of "Detective Kamimura" is indeed very difficult to get, whereas "Furuhata Ninzaburo" can be obtained directly.

Although the latter's reader base is not as good as the former, TV dramas are something that must consider all aspects and do not rely solely on the original plot.

Besides, if he could sign the letter of intent for authorization directly with Akiwara Yuto, he would only need to negotiate the specific details of the usage fee. He wouldn't have to negotiate with the publisher layer by layer again.

Those complicated personnel public relations were already making his head spin.

He thought about it and then made a decision... ===== CHAPTER 202 =====