Chapter 34: Rejecting the Leader!

At work.

Zhang Ye began working, so off to the recording studio he went.

This matter was neither really trivial, nor huge. There were hosts on television stations who had cursed using vulgarities on Weibo, too. In the end, they were also fine. They, too, were given a warning and some disciplinary measures were meted out. After finishing writing the self-reflective essay, this matter was considered to have a simple end to it. Of course, it was not that simple. For a short period of time, Zhang Ye still had to behave himself by tucking his tail between his legs to slowly let the effects wear off. There was no other way out. Did anyone ask him to curse on Weibo so vehemently? He had even cursed to the point of Tian Bin being hospitalized. He had to pay the cost of having so much fun.

One hour…

Three hours…

Zhang Ye ended the first “Ghost Blows Out the Light” book. As for the sequel, “Ghost Blows Out the Light 2”, Zhang Ye was not prepared to narrate it. This was because he felt it was a lot worse than the first one. Zhang Ye did not want to take the risk, as it could affect his listenership rates. So he decided to just call it a day.

It had finally ended.

Phew, Zhang Ye felt like a huge burden had lifted off his chest. The remaining recording tapes were enough for “Late-night Ghost Stories” to be broadcast for the next one to two months. He no longer need to work overtime from day to night. He could finally take a break.

Lunch time.

At the canteen downstairs, it was crowded.

“Master, I want fried eggplant, fried meat and two bowls of rice.” After Zhang Ye received his wage and bonus, he decided not to eat instant noodles anymore. Finally, he was able to order a big meal at the canteen. Actually, their canteen’s food was pretty good and cheap. Furthermore, there was a meal allowance in their salary. Zhang Ye was not in need of that cash. When he handed the 11 Yuan to the chef, Zhang Ye felt like he was like a tycoon spending lavishly. This meal was so extravagant!

“Little Zhang.” a person called out.

After Zhang Ye received his meal, he looked towards where the voice came from, “You are?”

The secretary of the station’s Leader called him over, “Station Head Jia invites you over.”

Zhang Ye was puzzled. As such, he followed the secretary to a small cafeteria at the back. It was also a large lobby, but there were small partitions that separated the spaces. Right, it was similar to restrooms. Typically, only station leaders or channel directors or deputy directors had the right to sit in these small dining rooms for their meals. Previously, the small cafeteria was given special treatment. Things were done more exquisitely and fine, but as the higher-ups sent a note down to promote thriftiness, the special cafeteria was removed. The Leaders shared their meals together with everyone.

In a partition.

Zhao Guozhou and Deputy Station Head Jia were sitting opposite one another. There was another Leader sitting beside whom Zhang Ye did not know.

“Station Head Jia, Director Zhao,” Zhang Ye stood there holding his meal, “Are you looking for me?”

Zhao Guozhou pressed his hands down, “Sit down, Little Zhang. Let’s eat together. Station Head Jia has something to discuss with you. Let’s talk as we eat.”

Deputy Station Head Jia was a little old man. Back when Zhang Ye participated in the recording of “Talk About the World”, encountering the suicide problem, Deputy Station Head Jia had also come. He had thus met Zhang Ye once. Hearing Deputy Station Head Jia put down his chopsticks as he smiled like a chrysanthemum flower with his wrinkled face, “I saw you queuing up for lunch when I was walking over. So, I got my secretary to call you over. How is it? I heard your program is almost done recording?”

Zhang Ye said without inhibitions, “It’s already done recording.”

Zhao Guozhou praised, “Little Zhang had worked overtime for quite a number of days. He recorded dozens of episodes continuously. He’s very hardworking.”

Deputy Station Head Jia acknowledged tersely before changing his tone, “The only thing that wasn’t well-done was yesterday’s matter, right? Weibo may be your private zone, but your verified status also indicates our radio station. You are a public figure, so everything you say and do must be done with propriety, in consideration of the possible effects!”

Zhang Ye admitted his fault, “Leader, it won’t happen again.”

After criticizing Zhang Ye a bit, the leader sitting by the side, who Zhang Ye did not know, pulled out a document.

Deputy Station Head Jia took it and gave a look before nodding. He handed the document to Zhang Ye, “I was looking for you because of the publication of “Ghost Blows Out the Light”. You are also lucky, as the station has decided to help you deal with matters of publication.”

Zhang Ye was surprised, “Publication? Our radio station has a publication division?”

Deputy Station Head Jia said, “We don’t, but we do all the work with helping you connect with publishers. This is the power of attorney. Take a look. If you are fine with it, then sign it. A staff specially in charge of contracting the publishing and marketing for “Ghost Blows Out the Light” will contact you when the time comes. You do not need to worry much. Also, we will give you quite a high price. 20,000 for the book!”

Zhang Ye was shocked, “20,000? Selling all the copyright?”

Deputy Station Head Jia did not seem pleased with Zhang Ye’s reaction, “Of course, we are buying the copyright. A rookie usually would not even be given any royalties. Also, as the risk is greater, how is 20,000 little? You are a rookie who has never had any experience publishing. 20,000 for the book’s copyright is a very high price. If you get to know the market, you will understand.

Understand my ass!

You think I’m a f**king retard?

In fact, Zhang Ye was not intending to publish his novels in the short term. He knew his roots were in the radio station. He wanted to do his job well at the radio station, producing good results and becoming famous. There was no hurry in publishing until further in the future. But even if he was not in a hurry to publish, he was also a bit unhappy. Why isn’t anyone contacting me for the publication of such a good novel? Are the publishers dumb? Only through Deputy Station Head Jia’s words did Zhang Ye finally understand. It was not that the publishers did not eye his novel. They had definitely gone through the radio station first, but the station had never informed him about it. They did not seek his opinion and wanted to first create a power of attorney. The power of attorney had many words. It was about seven to eight pages long. Upon scanning it, the general meaning of it was to hand all the copyright of “Ghost Blows Out the Light”, including, but not limited to, the simplified and traditional Chinese movie adaptation, as well as the television drama adaptation, to the radio station. Finally, Zhang Ye would receive a one-time copyright fee of 20,000 Yuan for each novel.

Give it to you? Do you think I’m sick!?

You do not have a publishing division and are just an intermediary. You are taking my copyright to sell to another publisher to earn the intermediary fee for nothing. Why wouldn’t I look for a publisher myself? And 20,000 for the book? I would not sell even if it was 200,000 for the book! Are you trying to wave off a beggar?

Zhang Ye knew the station was conning him. Deputy Station Head Jia must have already made an agreement with the publisher. For example, after obtaining Zhang Ye’s copyright, they would sell it to the publisher for ten times or more. They might also sign a royalty agreement with the publisher, obtaining revenue according to the sales. From the results of “Ghost Blows Out the Light”, it was definitely not a problem to sell at least 200,000 copies of the simplified Chinese edition. How much money was that? Also, if the copyright was in the hands of the radio station, then the revenue would be all theirs. Zhang Ye would have no right to receive any royalties. The most maddening thing was that they were even grabbing the copyright to the movie and television drama versions of “Ghost Blows Out the Light”. Isn’t this a rip-off?

Zhang Ye said in a euphemistic manner, “Sorry, Leader, I do not intend on publishing it.”

Deputy Station Head Jia’s no longer no happy, “This is for your own good. We are trying to help your book do well and also make you famous!”

Zhao Guozhou frowned, “Little Zhang, are you thinking of contacting a publisher yourself?”

The faces of the other three Leaders by the side turned ashened, as they said bluntly towards Zhang Ye, “You are still in your probationary phase. The station thinks highly of you, so we are giving you a platform for your development, yet you are ungrateful towards it? Don’t forget that your “Ghost Blows Out the Light” was promoted by our station’s programs. Our station has already produced a lot of momentum for you. You want to skip over the station to publish? Then shall we count how much the publicity costs?” There was no doubt that there was a threat in his tone!

If Zhang Ye did not hear this, it would have been fine. But upon hearing this, he was further angered. Aren’t your words a bit unreasonable? Publicity costs? Then let me ask you, how did the novels in “Late-night Ghost Stories” come about in the past? Weren’t they all very popular supernatural novels on the market? The station was using their novels’ momentum to hold on to the listeners. They had even paid a considerable amount of copyright fees to the novel’s author. So why have the roles been reversed when it came to me? You aren’t paying me money, but now, I have to pay? Right, I’m a staff of the station. I have the responsibility and obligation. That was why I used my novel to help draw in the audience for the station. From the beginning to the end, did I say anything about the copyright fees? I did not want the money, but how did it end up being me needing to pay publicity fees? And you are forcefully buying all my copyright?

Zhang Ye suppressed all his anger in his heart. He also knew that it was not good to go against the Leaders, so he could only say, “I do not intend to publish myself. I’ve already said, I really do not intend on publishing.”

The Leader stared widely, “Then you can think about it now!”

Zhang Ye in a thick-skinned manner, “I do not have any such plans in the short term. Sorry, Leader!”

Zhao Guozhou looked at him, “Little Zhang! Have you really thought through it?” He was actually not surprised that Zhang Ye would not sell his copyright. This rascal was a person who said he would rather die than write a self-reflective essay. However, at the moment the mention of his bonus being deducted, this money-faced man had handed over a self-reflective essay in two minutes. To pull money out of a miser’s hands would surely be extremely difficult.

As they were speaking, they got the attention of quite a number of people nearby. Those people were listening to them talk.

Deputy Station Head Jia laughed and seemed to be magnanimous, “Young people are indeed stubborn. Alright, the copyright is yours. If you do not want to use your copyright, the station will not force you!”

Since the three of them had finished their meal, they stood up and left.

Zhao Guozhou pointed at Zhang Ye and said softly, “You man, you!” Only he knew how much thought the station had gone through regarding the “Ghost Blows Out the Light” copyright. In the past, the scope of miscellaneous business was limited to the copyright of audio books or copyright agreements with some websites. They would sell the radio station’s high-quality audio resources; however, the revenue obtained from this was not a lot, so it was not a major development. This time, with Zhang Ye’s novel being so popular, the station’s leaders had seen another opportunity. As such, they created this false pretense of the power of attorney, hoping to gobble down the copyright to “Ghost Blows Out the Light”, so that they could develop and expand their other forms of income, other than advertising. But who knew that Zhang Ye refused without a second thought!

Deputy Station Head Jia may have made it sound unimportant, but Zhang Ye knew that things were not that simple. He was afraid that the station was about to apply some underhanded punishment!

But so what?

If I’m not selling, it means I’m not selling!

Are you trying to steal the fruits of my labor without spending anything? Isn’t this robbery!? Even if the station found a reason to fire Zhang Ye, Zhang Ye still had something left to say, which was the line in “The Song of the Stormy Petrel” – Let the tempest come strike harder! I don’t give a f**k who you are!