Chapter 915: Contract Finalized

April 7, Yuhang City, Provincial Writers Association conference hall.

Li Luo sat upright in his councilor's seat, exchanging glances with Xu Youyu beside him as he listened to the Writers Association secretary and chairman speak.

Midway, Li Luo was invited onstage to speak—nothing but boilerplate remarks; he casually crafted a passage in his Memory Palace and delivered it effortlessly.

After stepping down, the potato beside him leaned over with a grin: "Not bad—you even spoke without notes?"

"Can't compare to you, the Hundred-Star King," Li Luo bowed mockingly and teased back with a smile.

"I originally thought your little stunt was nonsense—after all, online novel authors live-streaming are slacking off, always gaming, and their reputation couldn't be good."

"But I found everyone was just playing along, joking around—no one actually criticized me."

"Damn, the moment I start writing, they yell at me to log in and play; once I game, they yell at me to write, saying 'this little word count means nothing to anyone.'"

Li Luo replied: "That's exactly the effect we want."

"Next time, duo with me," said the potato. "Help me boost my popularity."

"You need me to boost your popularity?" Li Luo blinked in surprise.

"You've got hundreds of millions of followers on Douyin—I've barely got a million. Isn't it normal for you to give me a hand?" the potato said confidently. "Stop dilly-dallying."

"I don't play Honor of Kings."

"I'll teach you step by step," said the potato. "That'll make it more entertaining—bro, I'll carry you."

"Fine," Li Luo chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Just don't regret it later."

"Why would I regret it?"

"My novel Night Watch of Great Qian just ended, but I'm still dual-updating—I'm churning out four thousand words daily for I Am Really Not a Star, and The End of the Sequence is hitting ten thousand words a day," Li Luo kindly warned. "When we compare later, readers will pounce on you for months."

"So what?" the potato laughed. "I've been in the online novel scene for years—other than that, my skin's thick enough. Readers can scold me all they want."

The potato then winced at Li Luo: "But you—writing this much every day? Are you even human? Doesn't your brain get tired?"

"When I used to hit ten thousand words daily to climb rankings, after each session my brain felt drained, like I was sleepwalking through life."

"Yet you still look so energetic—how do you keep it up?"

"Maybe it's just youth," Li Luo said, touching his face.

"Tsk," the potato had no reply for this shameless claim.

He'd always said this to others—never imagined karma would come full circle and land on him.

Honestly, even now, the young prodigy Potato was still fairly young.

At least the old guard in the Writers Association couldn't compare—all of them were pushing forty or fifty.

He was twenty-eight—still very young.

But beside him, this Li Luo guy was even more absurd.

Under twenty, already achieved such success.

Back when he was nineteen, his novel Warcraft Sword Saint's Cross-Dimensional Journey exploded onto the scene, winning that year's Newcomer King—it was already incredible.

But Li Luo, at this age, didn't just hold several online novel blockbusters—he had a hit TV drama to his name, and was even a nationally famous lyricist and composer.

Just thinking about it was terrifying.

"By the way," the potato suddenly asked, curious, "how many average subscriptions does your new book have?"

"Almost eighty thousand," Li Luo said.

"Damn! That's insane," the potato muttered. "I swear when it first launched, the first-day subscriptions were over sixty thousand?"

"Yes."

"You'd only say this to me," the potato rolled his eyes. "Any other author would hate you for this flex."

After all, in other areas he might fall short, but in subscription numbers, he could still easily outmatch them.

He'd long left Qidian, founded his own company, and pursued a full-network, multi-channel promotion strategy.

In short, any online novel platform would likely have Yuan Zun listed.

If you summed up all subscription numbers across every online novel platform, Yuan Zun's average subscriptions probably reached several hundred thousand.

That's not something Qidian's main site alone could match.

Li Luo was still getting along well with Tencent, so he had no intention of fully breaking away from Wenxue Group's system like the potato had.

But Chongran Culture was thriving—technically halfway independent already—and Li Luo himself had gained considerable autonomy over copyright operations.

"So with this growth rate," the potato asked again, "will you break a hundred thousand average subscriptions this month?"

"Probably," Li Luo nodded. "No sign of slowing yet—and it's partly tied to my two new albums."

"Oh, I've listened," the potato nodded immediately. "They're really good."

Not just good—behind these two albums by Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng were Yuan Wanqing's connections at work.

Over the years, Yuan Wanqing had built strong ties in the industry, allowing their albums to easily bypass exclusive monopolies on every music platform, enabling simultaneous full-network releases while preserving revenue.

Douyin originally wanted to exclusively acquire both albums, but Ying Chanxi refused; after discussing with Yuan Wanqing, this arrangement emerged.

Although Yuan Wanqing was pregnant, she hadn't shown yet, so she hadn't canceled any work—pre-scheduled variety show appearances were still happening.

"Ruo Meng" and "Jie Guo Yi Xia" appeared on major variety shows thanks to Yuan Wanqing's resources, gaining considerable exposure.

Combined with Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng's Douyin traffic, plus Yuan Wanqing's reposts across Douyin, Weibo, and other platforms,

and backed by Wenxue Group's resource allocation, the two albums finally broke through.

Especially the free-listening feature, which greatly amplified their spread.

Ying Chanxi also contacted various Douyin, Bilibili, and Kuaishou influencers behind the scenes, using these two songs to create numerous videos.

For example, matching lyrics to clips from other TV dramas or animations—the effect was quite strong.

As Li Luo mentally tallied it all, he finally realized Chongran Culture was no longer just an ordinary small company.

Though its corporate structure still looked simple, the latent power behind it was truly formidable.

After the Provincial Writers Association meeting ended, the list of candidates for the National Writers Association membership was announced and put on public display.

After the list was publicly displayed for a period of time and no one raised objections, those on the list could become members of the China Writers Association upon approval by the association.

Li Luo's name was prominently on it.

"Pity I didn't submit your name," Li Luo said to Xu Youyu, glancing at the newly posted list on the bulletin board, sounding regretful.

"It's fine," Xu Youyu said indifferently. "I can apply again next year—it makes no difference."

The Writers Association's promotion rules are actually simple: from city association to provincial association, then to the China Writers Association, you can apply only once per year.

After joining the city association, you must wait a year before applying for the provincial association.

The same applies to the China Writers Association.

But Li Luo is an exception.

Because he is not only an online novel author, but also a screenwriter in the film and television industry, and a very famous lyricist and composer.

His current influence no longer remains confined to the online novel field alone.

That's why the association gave him a backdoor, allowing him to enter the China Writers Association directly.

In fact, based on Xu Youyu's current achievements, joining the China Writers Association would certainly be more than sufficient—but rules must still be followed, so he must wait another year.

"Do you have anything else planned today?" TuDou asked from beside them. "My wife asked if I should invite you over for another meal."

"Not today," Li Luo shook his head, declining TuDou's invitation. "I have an appointment this afternoon—to sign a contract with Tencent Video. Probably need to have lunch too."

"Oh?" TuDou nodded in understanding, then smiled. "Already finalized the contract?"

"Yeah, the outcome was satisfactory," Li Luo smiled. "I achieved most of my original goals."

"Alright, then let's leave it for today," TuDou patted Li Luo's shoulder and waved goodbye. "I'm heading back. Come over to my place another time."

"Let's find a time for you and your wife to come over for dinner too," Li Luo offered.

"No problem," TuDou gave an OK gesture and took his leave.

After watching TuDou leave, Li Luo took Xu Youyu to meet Ying Chanxi at a restaurant.

Over dinner, Ying Chanxi briefly explained: "I thought Tencent Video would drag things out longer, but it seems they just wanted to wait until your new book launched."

"What do you mean?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow.

"They want to see if you can consistently produce blockbusters?" Ying Chanxi propped her chin, thinking. "Their main demands are priority renewal rights for the Five-Year Copyright of Night Watch of Great Qian, and priority purchase rights for your new book, The End of the Sequence."

"It looks like they're very confident in The End of the Sequence."

"Then again, The End of the Sequence is already nearing eighty thousand average subscriptions—more impressive than Night Watch of Great Qian at its peak."

Hearing this, Li Luo finally understood and nodded slightly.

In the end, it all comes down to real strength.

"The outcome is perfect," Ying Chanxi continued. "The final offer for Night Watch of Great Qian is 45 million, covering full rights: film, animation, audiobook, and more."

"Gu Dao Changqing also sold for 12 million—a higher price than I expected. It feels like they've got a lot of budget."

"This afternoon, we'll go together. The company's legal team will be there, along with Lawyer Tian. There'll be a signing ceremony."

"Got it," Li Luo nodded in understanding.

That afternoon, he and Xu Youyu followed Ying Chanxi to participate in the signing ceremony.

In addition to the copyright fees, Chongran Culture also secured approximately 20 million in project investment funding.

This investment amount will be used by Li Luo as leverage to exchange for shares in Huayue Film and Television, helping Yin Zhicheng secure full veto power over Huayue Film and Television.

It's also fulfilling his father-in-law's dream.

"Ah~ So the money won't arrive for months?" Xu Youyu sighed from the car on the way home. "I really want to pay off my mortgage soon."

"You don't need to rush paying off your mortgage after the copyright fee arrives," Ying Chanxi, driving, reminded her. "Pay part of it, but don't clear it entirely—mortgages can be used for tax deductions."

"Your annual income is already very high now. The tax benefits from keeping the mortgage will exceed the savings from paying it off early."

"The remaining copyright money should be invested in simple, low-risk options."

Li Luo had been nodding along as Ying Chanxi spoke, but when he heard the last part, his expression changed. He coughed twice and interrupted: "Xixi's right, but let's skip the investing—I'll handle it myself."

"What do you mean?" Xu Youyu glared at him. "Do you doubt my investment talent?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Li Luo looked exasperated. "Have you ever made a profit from stock trading?"

"Of course I've made money—" Xu Youyu puffed out her chest, trying to sound confident, but her voice weakened. "I once made over ten thousand in a single day."

"And then?"

"Then… then…" Xu Youyu's voice dropped. She twisted her fingers nervously, muttering, "It just dropped thirty thousand the next day."

"You know it well," Li Luo tapped her head. "Alright—I'll give you a yearly budget of one million for investing. Do what you want with it. The rest I'll handle."

Xu Youyu had thought Li Luo was restricting her investments entirely, but hearing she'd get a million yuan, her eyes lit up. She nodded eagerly, hugging him affectionately. "Honey, you're so good~"

Ying Chanxi, driving, glanced in the rearview mirror and silently gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Xu Youyu, why don't you drive?"

"Are you jealous?"

"I'm not!"

"Haha~" Xu Youyu laughed, then leaned forward from the back seat, poking her head toward the driver's seat. "I'll let you drive when we get home."

"I don't care," Ying Chanxi huffed.

"Enough, enough," Li Luo interrupted their bickering, then turned to Xu Youyu. "The row houses you bought—aren't the renovations nearly done? Should be nearing the interior decoration stage soon."

"Remind Aunt Cui, and tell Aunt Yuan on Xixi's side too—ask when they're free to come over and consult with my mom."

"Once the renovations finish and the formaldehyde dissipates, we should be able to move in by year-end."