Chapter 658

When Gong Ao pulled out that acceptance letter, not only did Li Luo freeze in surprise, but the viewers watching the livestream also instantly fell silent.

【？？？】

A flood of question marks scrolled across.

Then the number of comments exploded.

【Laughed me to death】

【Hahahaha! Look at Ran Shen's expression!】

【Bro, you're awesome—sent a book across a thousand miles just to make him update? So touching】

At this moment, viewers watched as Li Luo stood up to verify its authenticity.

【Still don't believe it, huh?】

【Trying to weasel out of your promise?!】

【Laughed to death—why not write a chapter right here and now?】

But after confirming it, Li Luo actually pulled out his phone and posted an immediate update.

【Huh?】

【Dude, you're serious?】

【Holy shit—he actually updated!】

【This kid has stockpiled drafts!】

【No wonder he's so calm—he's got tons of reserves】

【My score's good enough for a 985 school too, but I haven't even received my acceptance letter yet—can I get Ran Shen to update if I send mine in?】

【Update! Must update! We're counting on you, bros!】

【What's going on? We promised to be slacker students together, but now none of you are acting anymore?】

【What have I done to deserve reading the same book as you geniuses?】

After returning to his seat, Li Luo signaled the host to wait, then picked up the microphone and spoke to the livestream camera:

"I'm a man who always keeps his word."

"So during this summer break, any reader who has been accepted into a 985 university—"

"As long as you join the full-subscription group for Night Watch of Great Qian and send your acceptance letter to the group admin to prove it's yours, I'll add one extra chapter."

"This is a gentleman's promise—I will not break it!"

"Oh, by the way, since I'm working so hard to update, don't forget to support me with monthly votes!"

After saying that, Li Luo smiled and set down the microphone, nodding to the host.

The host then picked up the microphone and smiled: "I've felt your deep affection for Chongran's work."

"After sitting here so long, you must all be eager to get your hands on Chongran's personally signed copy of Little Joy."

"Let's end today's interactive Q&A segment here."

"Next, please line up in order from the left side of the audience seating to receive your book and merchandise from Chongran."

"Please hold onto your purchase receipts and claim your items according to them."

The long-waiting audience rose and headed to queue.

Before entering, they had already chosen their preferred physical book edition at the entrance, completed payment, and received their corresponding receipts.

Now, as they queued, they approached Li Luo one by one.

At this moment, two girls beside Li Luo stood up—one collected receipts and handed out the corresponding physical books based on them.

The other waited until fans finished taking photos with Li Luo, then presented them with small merchandise gifts.

Li Luo himself was far from busy—just standing there as a mascot, obediently posing for photos.

But occasionally, some female fans would come up too close for photos, making the two girls slightly annoyed.

Especially Xu Youyu!

Pretending not to recognize them, she somehow got a receipt and came up to take a photo with Li Luo too.

During the photo, she nearly shoved herself into Li Luo's arms!

Over the line!

Meanwhile, the host faced the livestream camera and began introducing the collector's edition and regular signed editions available at this signing event.

Little Joy was released in three volumes—each single volume priced at 35 yuan; buying the full set cost 99 yuan.

Today's regular signed edition was priced at 168 yuan, with a total of one thousand sets available—over seven hundred still left.

The collector's edition, signed on all three volumes, was priced at 208 yuan, with just over a hundred sets remaining.

The entire signing event began at 1:30 p. m. —Li Luo's sharing segment lasted fifteen minutes, the interactive Q&A lasted over half an hour.

The final queue for photos and signings, even though Li Luo had pre-signed all books, still took nearly three hours to complete.

But by the time the signing reached the one-hour mark, viewers in the livestream had already ordered all signed editions.

When the last signature was finally done, Li Luo posed with the remaining dozens of fans who hadn't left, taking one final group photo in front of the poster before seeing them all off—finally ending the signing event.

After learning from Manager Zhang that all signed editions had sold out, Li Luo let out a long breath and smiled along with the man's beaming face.

"Chongran, it's been a pleasure working with you," Manager Zhang said, gripping Li Luo's hand firmly, "We've arranged a dinner tonight—please join us, let's celebrate properly."

"Sure, I have three friends—"

"Everyone comes! Everyone comes!" Manager Zhang immediately added enthusiastically, "Let's just tidy up and go?"

"Alright, let's go," Li Luo smiled. "I'm a bit hungry."

At dinner, wine flowed freely; both Li Luo and Xu Youyu drank some. At around eight p. m., they left the restaurant, and the driving duty fell to Ying Chanxi.

Yan Zhusheng took the front passenger seat, leaving the back seats for the two drunkards.

"I told you to drink less," Ying Chanxi said, glancing at Li Luo in the rearview mirror as he clutched his head and rubbed his forehead, scolding him, "Look at you now."

"It's fine, I'm okay." Li Luo only felt slightly dizzy, a light floating sensation in his body, but not drunk yet.

Xu Youyu, sitting beside him, had drunk about the same amount and showed no signs of intoxication; she smiled and said, "You're weak—got drunk from just this much?"

"I'm not drunk..."

"Everyone who's drunk says that."

Li Luo rolled his eyes at her: "I just got carried away, drank a bit too much."

"Because of the reprint?"

"Sort of." Li Luo smiled, still feeling a bit dizzy, and lay flat on Xu Youyu's thigh. "Let me rest here."

Xu Youyu reached out and supported his head; seeing his eyes close in her lap, her slender fingers unconsciously brushed across his brow.

"The royalty from physical books isn't nearly as high as the 50-50 split for online novels, and you're Platinum-level now—your royalty split with the publisher is already 70-30, right?" Xu Youyu continued.

"But physical books sell in much larger quantities," Li Luo said, eyes closed in her lap. "Besides, I signed a tiered contract with the publisher."

"Huh?" Xu Youyu paused. "Tiered?"

"Kind of like a performance-based agreement," Li Luo smiled. "Since the physical book has to hit shelves during the TV drama's broadcast, the publishing deal had to be negotiated before the drama aired."

"At that time, the publisher had no idea how well the drama would do. Even though my online novel performance was outstanding, I had no prior track record for physical book sales."

"So we settled on a tiered contract."

Li Luo then explained the terms of the tiered contract.

Simply put, royalties were divided by sales thresholds.

The publisher initially printed 50,000 copies at a 5% royalty rate.

Once sales surpassed that, the royalty increased to 6%.

If sales broke 100,000 copies, the royalty rose to 8%.

200,000 copies meant 10%.

400,000 copies meant 12%.

And so on, capping at one million copies with a maximum royalty of 15%.

Although Li Luo had no prior physical book sales history, he was undeniably a top-tier Platinum online novel author.

So under normal negotiations, the publisher would have offered around 8%.

But Li Luo knew the power of "Little Joy," so he had Tian the lawyer represent Chongran Culture to negotiate this tiered contract.

The publisher naturally agreed—it was a low-risk move. Since the drama hadn't even aired yet, if sales were poor, a 5% royalty still let them profit a bit more.

If sales later broke tens of thousands, it would prove Chongran's physical book value was high; they could afford to give slightly higher royalties as a gesture of goodwill.

The result was pleasing.

Just days after "Little Joy" premiered, before the physical book even launched, Zhang, the publisher's manager handling "Little Joy," sensed the drama might go viral.

So the initial print run of 50,000 copies was urgently increased to 100,000.

After the physical book launched on July 15, leveraging the massive traffic from "Little Joy," the publisher ran heavy advertising both online and offline.

Marketed as the "Provincial Top Scorer's Gaokao Notes," it truly drew a huge wave of attention.

After all, in today's market, the best-selling physical books are never novels—but educational guides, children's books, or motivational self-help titles.

People in China usually buy books with clear, specific purposes.

A book must offer tangible value to be sold.

Children and young adults are the main readers.

But financial control rests with their parents.

So to sell well, you must trigger parents' purchasing desire.

The massive popularity of "Little Joy," combined with Li Luo's identity as a provincial top scorer, created an irresistible pull for parents.

They simply couldn't resist!

So shortly after launch, within half a month, the initial 100,000 copies of "Little Joy" sold out.

At dinner, Manager Zhang told Li Luo—another 100,000 copies would be reprinted.

That already guaranteed a base of 200,000 copies.

Under the tiered contract, Li Luo's royalty had now risen to 10%.

That meant for each set of "Little Joy" priced at 99 yuan, he earned 9.9 yuan.

For 200,000 copies, that was nearly two million yuan in royalties!

If it eventually sold one million copies at 15% royalty, that would be a full fifteen million yuan in real cash!

Though Li Luo wasn't short on money now, having this long-tail income stream greatly boosted his inner sense of security and satisfaction.

As Yu Hua once said, he lived off "To Live"—though it sounded like a joke, it was sincere.

After all, this steady annual royalty income truly gave him the wealth freedom to lie back and count money.

Li Luo's "Little Joy" couldn't compare to "To Live," but among physical books, it was undeniably a blockbuster.

Compared to his past life's "Little Joy," this version carried far more buffs.

From early promotional warm-ups, multiple theme songs, to Huayue Film and Television led by Ying Zhicheng, and the promotional network of Wenxue Group—including Tencent Video behind it.

Added to that, Li Luo's own top scorer hype.

This life's "Little Joy" had far greater traffic and momentum than its past-life counterpart.

"I should've bought a bigger villa," Li Luo mumbled sleepily, drifting off on Xu Youyu's thigh as he imagined his future life.

Xu Youyu heard this and burst out laughing.

Ying Chanxi in the driver's seat snarked: "Sky Ridge Elegant Residence is already huge—if it were any bigger, going to the bathroom would feel like commuting to work."

Xu Youyu chuckled, then immediately covered her mouth, noticing Li Luo asleep and softly snoring. She raised a finger toward the front seat and whispered: "Shh—he's asleep. Be quiet."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng instantly fell silent, not a word spoken.

An Audi A6 sped down the highway, following the route between Changning City and Yuhang City, soon returning to the Bihai Lanting community in Yinjiang District.

At 9:30 p. m., Ying Chanxi smoothly parked the car in the spot below the building.

In the back seat, Xu Youyu gently patted Li Luo, who lay curled in her arms.

"Mmm… home?"

"We're home," Xu Youyu whispered with a smile. "You don't expect me to kiss you awake, do you?"

"That wouldn't be bad," Li Luo said, deliberately closing his eyes again.

Just then, the car door was pulled open.

The next instant, Li Luo felt Xu Youyu's lips press against his.

But this sensation felt different—not like Youyu's—thin, faint, more like…

Li Luo opened his eyes to see Yan Zhusheng leaning in from outside the car, kissing him on the lips. He could only laugh and groan in exasperation.

Xu Youyu also looked speechless: "Alright, alright, kiss done—get up now."

But the moment Xu Youyu pushed Yan Zhusheng away, before Li Luo could even sit up, she leaned down again and kissed him firmly.

By now, Ying Chanxi had already reached the stairwell entrance. Seeing the three still hadn't moved, she called out in confusion: "What are you three doing? Hurry up and come inside!"

"Coming, coming!"

At last, Li Luo sat up in the car and opened the other door to step out.

Xu Youyu followed him out, and the three walked toward Ying Chanxi at the stairwell entrance.

"Hurry up—I still have work to do tonight," Ying Chanxi urged.

"What work?" Li Luo asked, puzzled.

"You forgot? I'm the group admin for your new book's full-subscription group," Ying Chanxi shot him a look. "On the way home, my phone kept vibrating—all those acceptance notices coming in."

Hearing this, Li Luo's face went pale with shock: "How many already?"

"Uh… let me check?" Ying Chanxi pulled out her phone, glanced at it, then froze. "Hmm… it looks like… there are at least fifty already…"

(End of Chapter)