“Of course I’ve been alive the whole time! Not only alive, I’ve done so much for the company!”
Wen Ying protested. Yuan Fenghui humoured her with a nod. “Yes, yes, you’ve worked hard. I’m not saying you haven’t done enough. I’m just worried you’ll exhaust yourself~”
Wen Ying probably wouldn’t get tired. Sometimes being busy was the best way to escape.
But the rest of the company was on the verge of collapse.
Zhang Guangzhen’s new drama, Love Across the Sea, had premiered with only average ratings, far from the explosive success of last year’s Star River With You. After all, it didn’t have Li Mengjiao, Yun Chen, or Zhang Yangning, nor any other top star… but a high-quality drama never needed traffic stars to prop it up.
No traffic stars, but excellent actors.
A superb production team.
A wonderful story and script.
Word of mouth for Love Across the Sea spread slowly, and the ratings climbed steadily.
“This time everything went perfectly smoothly. No one caused trouble!”
Director Guan and Liang Dan would certainly hate to see a Tianjiao drama succeed, but they had no energy to interfere. Zheng Zhihe had taken Wen Ying’s plagiarism lawsuit against Blue Whale, and these past few days Wen Ying had been completely focused. She had no idea the internet had already gone wild.
The Thorn Crown had been sued for plagiarism!
Though the court had only just accepted the case and the trial would take time, the TV adaptation project was immediately suspended.
Director Fan righteously informed Guan Zong that the station would never pay for a plagiarised drama. The 5 million they had invested would not be released. If The Thorn Crown lost the case, the station would demand breach-of-contract damages from Guan Zong!
Guan Zong’s company had made plenty of money.
For The Thorn Crown project, his company had invested 20 million, Hu Man 5 million. Shooting was nearly finished, and the money was mostly spent.
Now the entire project was frozen. If they could finish post-production and sell the rights later, Guan Zong and Hu Man might break even. If not, their money would be sunk forever.
Yuan Fenghui’s voice practically sang with glee. “I hear Hu Man is furious with Guan Zong, demanding her money back. Guan Zong is losing his own shirt, how can he refund her? They’re at each other’s throats.”
Cao Bo had been lucky. He jumped ship before the project died, quitting as producer before investing a cent.
Netizens used to mock him as “love-addled”, saying he offended Guan Zong and lost his job just to clear his ex-fiancée Xu Mei’s name.
Now they called him “the clearest-headed man alive”, the luckiest romantic in the world.
Hearing Yuan Fenghui say the internet was full of people rooting for Xu Mei and Cao Bo to reconcile, Wen Ying’s mouth twitched. “Xu Mei will never agree.”
Yuan Fenghui laughed. “You know it, I know it, but the thousands of onlookers don’t! They’ve even started following Cao Bo. You can see how big this lawsuit is. It’s not just any plagiarism case.”
Wen Ying’s readers had been waiting for Blue Whale to be sued.
The rest of the internet just loved the drama and fanned the flames.
Reporters swarmed to interview Blue Whale and Bao Lixin.
Since it was still summer break, Blue Whale’s university hadn’t reopened, so Blue Whale was lying low and avoiding journalists. They really couldn’t track her down for now.
Bao Lixin had nowhere to hide. Universities get summer vacation, publishing houses don’t. He still had to go to work.
So the reporters camped outside his office.
Bao Lixin had the thickest skin imaginable. The classic “won’t cry until he sees the coffin” type. Even now he insisted The Thorn Crown was not plagiarised and accused Wen Ying of bullying him with power and hiring water armies.
Wen Ying was so amused by his shamelessness she laughed. “Ignore him. Let the court decide.”
Tomorrow was the book club meet-up. Wen Ying suddenly remembered the reader who had bought the No. 600000 copy still hadn’t shown up and quickly asked Yuan Fenghui, “That number hasn’t been claimed?”
“Funny you mention it. The reader with that number contacted the publisher this afternoon. Tomorrow you’ll meet all six lucky readers at once.”
Wen Ying asked no more.
These past days her heart had been in knots. Tonight, for the first time she could sleep peacefully.
The next morning, Kiki came to the hotel to do her makeup as usual. Ding Chao, editor-in-chief of Shanghai Literature Publishing House, personally accompanied her to the venue.
The book club space was decorated warmly and intimately.
A crowd of reporters blocked the entrance, all wanting to ask about the plagiarism case. In front of them Wen Ying did not curse, only said she trusted the law to give her justice.
“Is 5 million in damages too much?”
A reporter asked, “I hear Blue Whale didn’t even earn 5 million in royalties from The Thorn Crown.”
Wen Ying had almost entered the venue, but she stopped. “Whether Blue Whale earned 5 million has nothing to do with me. The court will decide if the amount is reasonable. From my standpoint it’s hard to feel sorry for a plagiarist. If I didn’t sue, or pretended to be noble and waived compensation, that would only encourage plagiarism! That’s terrible. You copy me, I copy you, the whole industry’s atmosphere would be ruined.”
Sweet-looking, but her answer rang like steel. The reporter who asked felt a little embarrassed.
Applause already sounded inside the venue.
A girl’s hands were red from clapping, so excited she grabbed the person beside her for validation. “Xiao Yu is so cool! No wonder she’s my favourite author—no, she’s my favourite person! For Xiao Yu I could give up every other celebrity!”
Long-legged oppas, boy-band leads, none of them had Xiao Yu’s brains!
This girl was the one who, unable to win the lottery herself, had bought a copy of Finding Yong from Old Wen.
The lucky reader she grabbed was also young, but his expression was stiff, his smile forced.
“Sorry everyone, interview time is over.”
Ding Chao blocked the reporters, and Wen Ying finally entered smoothly.
Six lucky numbers.
Six lucky readers.
Five of them looked ready to faint from happiness.
They had prepared so many questions, but the moment they saw Wen Ying, words failed them.
Only one reader looked at Wen Ying differently.
When their eyes met, Wen Ying was genuinely shocked.
Why was Zhao Qian here?!
Wen Ying did not believe Zhao Qian would ever become her reader. Even if she won the Nobel Prize, she might not move Zhao Qian. Wen Ying suspected Zhao Qian didn’t even read books.
Compared to the delinquent Yang Xi of the past, Yang Xi probably had deeper literary appreciation.
So why was Zhao Qian here?
Wen Ying quietly asked Ding Chao. He looked surprised. “Is there a problem with this reader? She only contacted us this afternoon. We verified the copy of Finding Yong she brought. It’s authentic, so we let her come.”
The book was fine. The person was the problem.
Wen Ying was suddenly worried for her safety. Ding Chao thought she feared an obsessive fan and whispered, “We’re more worried about that than you are, Teacher Xiao Yu. Only six readers, our security checks were very strict. To prevent anyone bringing anything dangerous, we even provided uniform clothing.”
Outfits printed with the Finding Yong poster.
Male readers got short-sleeve shirts and shorts, females short-sleeve tops and skirts. Summer clothes already hide little, and these outfits didn’t even have pockets.
Wen Ying glanced at Zhao Qian again.
Hm. Wearing the Finding Yong fan uniform, even Zhao Qian looked a little cuter.
Seeing Zhao Qian forced to play the part of a fan and posing no threat to her safety, Wen Ying instantly felt cheerful.
When it was Zhao Qian’s turn for a photo, she reluctantly held Finding Yong against her chest and gritted her teeth. “I heard something happened to Xie Qian. Is it true?”
Wen Ying’s smile vanished. “Who did you hear that from? I haven’t heard anything.”
Zhao Qian was surprised. “You really don’t know? I thought Xie Qian liked you a lot. Looks like it’s nothing special—”
Wen Ying cut off her gloating. “Whether Xie Qian likes me or not has nothing to do with you. Even if he doesn’t like me, he definitely wouldn’t like you! Where did you get that winning number?”
Zhao Qian gripped the book tighter.
Where did she get it?
Zhuo Yue gave it to her.
Zhuo Yue said something had happened to Xie Qian.
She couldn’t explain clearly, so she told Zhao Qian to test whether Wen Ying and see if she knew anything!
