Chapter 280: Wen Leyu: Give It to Me, Give It All to Me

Professor Ke could joke with Wen Leyu, but when she spoke to Li Ye, she became far more serious and earnest.

Li Ye: "Wu Jinyuan certainly didn't come here specifically because of me—she's the deputy general manager of the Nanyang Wu Cultural Communication Group, and she's probably drawn to the vast domestic film and television market."

"But she met me in Hong Kong—I suspect she already suspects I'm connected to the author of A Song of Ice and Fire."

Professor Ke: "So she's just suspicious? You haven't told her anything?"

Li Ye: "No, I haven't said a single word to her."

Professor Ke: "Then it's fine—you just deny it, and no one can take what's yours."

Li Ye smiled and said: "This book isn't just mine—it's the result of all three of us: me, Wen Leyu, and you, Professor Ke. If anyone ever accuses me of being selfish and ignoring the bigger picture, Professor Ke, you'll… hehe."

"Hao, you're dragging me into this, aren't you?"

Professor Ke chuckled, then said: "All the money is yours. If you really feel guilty, just pay me the national standard of ten yuan per thousand characters as royalty."

In 1983, the national standard for translation royalties was seven to ten yuan per thousand characters—a decent supplementary income for ordinary people, but for someone like Professor Ke, it was practically an insult.

Li Ye shook his head seriously: "Professor Ke, that's not right. If you've contributed, you deserve compensation. Many writers today don't get their rightful share—you should set an example."

"Hahahahaha~ Set an example?" Professor Ke laughed heartily for a long while before saying: "Then let Xiao Yu hold it for me for now—I won't meddle in your affairs."

Behind Professor Ke, Wen Leyu was making frantic eye signals to Li Ye, gesturing wildly: "Give it to me, give it all to me!"

She knew her mother always kept her word—if Li Ye agreed now, hundreds of thousands or even millions of U. . dollars would be entirely under her control.

Professor Ke, unable to see Wen Leyu, added: "You said writers don't get their due—what do you mean?"

Li Ye replied: "Here's the thing—Wu Jinyuan has already discussed the copyright of A Lone Army's Homeward Journey with the school, but the main writer and contributors are still back home and haven't come to Beijing! Our domestic awareness of copyright protection is almost nonexistent."

Professor Ke paused thoughtfully, then said: "I'll pay attention to this issue, but it won't be solved overnight."

Li Ye knew this was true—domestically, personal rights were still weak; people belonged to their units in life and death, and many things were simply unclear.

But Wen Leyu immediately added: "Mom, what if someone else wants the rights to Li Ye's Northern Wind Soaring? That book is also popular in Nanyang."

Professor Ke smiled and said to Wen Leyu: "Go to my study, take the yellow envelope from the second drawer of my desk."

Wen Leyu padded over in her slippers, slap-slap-slap, and brought it back.

Professor Ke handed it to Li Ye: "Your five-thousand-dollar donation had a note attached—it was for the overseas royalties of Northern Wind Soaring, so you needn't worry."

The next day, when Li Ye arrived at school, he met Li Huai, Yang Yu, and Sun Xianjin.

They had all been summoned by telegram and rushed here overnight.

Yang Yu handed Li Ye a manuscript: "Li Ye, take a look at what I wrote this summer—how long do you think it'll take to finish A Lone Army's Homeward Journey? Can we wrap it up in twenty chapters?"

Li Ye didn't look at the manuscript; he asked instead: "Why rush to finish? We've always taken our time to produce quality work—you know how crucial the ending is. We can't leave flaws or regrets."

Yang Yu nodded: "I know that, but the school is pressing us—the overseas film and TV companies are interested in adapting our book and want to co-produce with the mainland. How can they shoot without an ending?"

Li Ye thought for a moment: "Then how should the co-production fees be divided? To the school? To the Literature Society? Or… to individuals?"

Li Huai and Yang Yu both froze, glanced around, then whispered to Li Ye: "Don't say things like that! We can try to secure some subsidies, but never say 'to individuals'—you're an active member now!"

"Alright then!"

Yang Yu was the main writer of A Lone Army's Homeward Journey; Li Huai was the supervisor during its creation. Since neither of them was pushing for personal gains, Li Ye, the one who suggested the idea, didn't care either.

At 9: 0 a. ., the school teachers notified the members of the Lone Army Literature Society to attend a meeting.

When Li Ye and the others arrived, the venue was already crowded, and more people kept arriving—Li Ye even recognized a few familiar-looking actors.

Li Ye whispered: "Is this a big event?"

Yang Yu nodded: "It's a big one. Let Old Li speak—we'll just watch."

At ten o'clock, Li Ye saw Wu Jinyuan.

She sat on the stage, right next to the center seat, clearly receiving serious attention from several mainland departments.

"Everyone's here? Good. Today's a simple preparatory meeting—to meet the public's demand for film and television arts, we've decided to partner with the Nanyang Wu Cultural Communication Group to launch production plans for A Lone Army's Homeward Journey and Northern Wind Soaring."

"This collaboration is vital, deeply meaningful, and will bring much-needed foreign exchange and funding for our development. Everyone, please embrace the spirit of sacrificing personal interests for the collective, and give your all toward this shared goal."

"Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap~"

The speaker on stage was skilled—he quickly stirred the audience's emotions and earned plenty of applause.

Li Ye glanced at Li Huai and Yang Yu beside him; both seemed proud to be part of this "international cooperation."

But Li Ye's feelings were harder to describe.

Li Ye didn't look down on "sacrifice"—because it was precisely the sacrifices of that generation that brought Huazhong to where it was today.

Back then, Huazhong lacked sufficient machinery and struggled to achieve large-scale industrialization.

So the world witnessed its only nationwide mobilization: hundreds of millions of people used their own small human labor to replace machines and ensure basic industrial construction.

Later, experts concluded that without that generation's sacrifice, Huazhong's industrialization would have collapsed—and the comprehensive, full-chain industrial system of later generations would never have had a chance to develop.

But sometimes, the word "sacrifice" had become inappropriate.

Like the woman on stage, Wu Jinyuan—she was a businesswoman. Some of the fruits of Li Ye and others' sacrifice would flow into her pocket.

It was just like how corporate bosses in the future loved to talk about "corporate dedication"—fine, dedicating to the state made sense, but dedicating to you so you can drive luxury cars, live in mansions, and marry beautiful wives? What the hell?

And then there's that crap: "The company nurtured you—you should be grateful." Would you nurture me if I just showed up to work and did nothing but collect my salary?

It's all an exchange of interests—who's being PUA here?

"Everyone understands the situation now. Please voice any concerns quickly—don't obstruct this important collaboration."

"We have no objections—we'll perform every role to the best of our ability."

"We have no problems either—the props and costumes are already being designed to match historical accuracy and aesthetic standards."

Li Ye: "..."

In just a few days, you've already started casting? This is what you call "international speed"?

"What about the Lone Army Literature Society? Can you guarantee you'll finish soon?"

Li Huai was about to stand up, but Li Ye pressed his shoulder down.

Li Ye raised his hand first and said: "I'm sorry, but I need to report an issue—the copyright for Northern Wind Soaring isn't in our hands. If we're to co-produce, we need the copyright holder's consent."

"You don't need to worry about that," Wang Jiyuan smiled from the stage: "You're Li Ye, right? We've already contacted Lanhai Publishing—they confirmed they only bought your text and comic rights; the film and TV rights don't conflict."

"Of course, we'll negotiate a fair royalty payment for you personally—your individual interests are fully guaranteed."

"Speaking of which, I've learned something new, young student—selling the same book's rights three times? I've never heard of that!"

The fifty or sixty people in the room all turned to look at Li Ye—many with envious, even fiery, gazes.

Holy hell, this kid's young, and he's marrying his book off to three different families.

Sold the text rights once, the comic rights once, and now the film rights again—you're going to get rich!

Li Ye exhaled and said: "I've already sold the film rights for Northern Wind Soaring to the Treading Waves Literature Publishing House in Hong Kong. So I have no authority to decide whether it joins this collaboration."

Wang Jiyuan was stunned: "You sold the film rights to Hong Kong?"

Li Ye: "Yes."

Wang Jiyuan frowned: "How could you just sell rights overseas like that? You're only thinking of your own interests, harming..."

"Cough-cough~"

Li Ye coughed, then pulled out the envelope Professor Ke had given him.

He didn't want to argue about personal property rights in this setting—he was too tired to waste time.

"This is why I sold the rights to Hong Kong."

Li Ye handed the envelope to Principal Xiao.

Principal Xiao glanced at Li Ye, then opened it.

Then he exclaimed: "Li Ye, you donated five thousand U. . dollars?"

Li Ye blushed slightly: "Yes. I heard we urgently needed foreign exchange, so I quickly sold the rights—even though I sold them cheaply, it solved the immediate crisis, didn't it?"

Li Ye's five thousand U. . dollars had indeed solved an urgent crisis for the education system—otherwise, Professor Ke wouldn't have taken her future son-in-law's money. So Li Ye was telling the truth.

Principal Xiao couldn't help laughing: "You think five thousand U. . dollars was cheap? Good heavens, how much more did you want?"

Li Ye turned to Wu Jinyuan and smiled: "Ms. Wu is an industry insider—she'd know the real value best."

Everyone turned to Wu Jinyuan.

Wu Jinyuan smiled slowly and nodded: "It was sold far too cheaply—by a lot."

Principal Xiao returned the donation certificate to Li Ye and sat back down, smiling broadly.

【The terms of the deal must be renegotiated. You think you can just brush me off with peanuts? Not a chance.】

After leaving the meeting room, Li Ye was called back by Wu Jinyuan.

"Mr. Li, could we talk for five minutes?"

"Of course. Ten minutes is fine."

Li Ye agreed casually and walked aside with Wu Jinyuan.

He assumed he'd ruined her plans and forced her to spend more.

But Wu Jinyuan said: "Mr. Li, let me explain—I originally only planned to co-produce A Lone Army's Homeward Journey."

"But the TV station noticed the backgrounds are nearly identical, so filming both together would save on props, costumes, and locations. Of course, I'd need to pay more foreign exchange."

Li Ye looked into Wu Jinyuan's eyes, trying to tell if she was telling the truth or lying.

Wu Jinyuan's gaze shimmered, then she smiled: "Don't doubt me—you know what I truly want. So I wouldn't dare lie to you."

Northern Wind Soaring's value wasn't on the same level as A Song of Ice and Fire, so Wu Jinyuan's words made sense.

But after locking eyes with her for several seconds, Li Ye smiled gently: "Sorry, I don't know what you mean."

"Is that so? Hehe~"

"Hehe~"

Want to grab a meal together sometime?

Sorry, my girlfriend is waiting for me to go home for dinner.

She's very beautiful!

Thank you to the reader 「」 for the coin tip, thank you to the reader 「Shenjing Xianren」 for the 500-coin tip, thank you to the reader 「Huo De Zi Zai」 for the tip, thank you to the reader 「adad」 for the tip, thank you to the reader for the tip, thank you to the reader destined for the tip, thank you to the reader 「Ying Min」 for the tip, thank you to the reader 「Lian Xing Zhe」 for the 200-coin tip, thank you to the reader 「Dou Lai Kan Shu」 for the tip, thank you to the reader 「Ye Linran」 for the tip, thank you to the reader 「Qiu Bin Ke」 for the tip, thank you to the reader 「Yu Guo Jiu Tian Qing」 for the tip.

(End of chapter)