81: What's your name?

At the company, a fat man in a suit with large ears looked impatient as he continued messaging Editor.

[Zeng Xu: If it's a matter of price, we can raise it a bit more. How about 2.5 million?]

[Editor: I'm sorry, but the author said it's not about the price. Why don't you take a look at our other works? Besides "romance of the three kingdoms," there are many other excellent works.]

Zeng Xu wanted to flip the table. "What the hell use are those other works?!"

He had his eye on romance of the three kingdoms because the animated version of romance of the three kingdoms was so popular and had made so much money.

If they could secure the film and television adaptation rights for the novel, their company would surely make a fortune.

Then, wouldn't a promotion and a raise be a given?

"What's wrong?" his colleague asked.

Zeng Xu looked dissatisfied. "Buying copyrights. Tell me, is two million low? They won't even sell at that price!"

"Two million..." His colleague was silent for a moment. "A newcomer?"

"Yeah," Zeng Xu said. "It's his first book."

"People nowadays really have high expectations but little ability. I'll see if he can even sell it later."

His colleague glanced at the computer screen, his lip twitching, and then secretly contacted Editor.

[Sister, five million for the film and television rights to that animated version of romance of the three kingdoms. Ask the author if they're interested in selling.]

[Editor: Sorry, it really isn't about the price. The author has no intention of selling.]

Editor replied extremely quickly.

She was also helpless; if the author didn't want to sell, they couldn't force the deal.

To be honest, if two million were offered to her, she probably wouldn't have been able to resist selling.

Sigh.

It was a pity she couldn't write such an amazing work.

But it was true; two million was far too low for this work.

She heard that "romance of the three kingdoms" would even get a front-page recommendation soon.

By then, there would likely be even more readers.

Also, heaven knows what the author was thinking. Updating one chapter a day would have been great; it could have lasted at least half a year.

Instead, he just registered an author account and posted everything at once—and even made the whole thing free!

"Sigh," Editor sighed and continued coordinating with other entertainment companies.

On Ye Bai's end, he also hadn't expected someone to want to buy the film and television adaptation rights.

Of course he wouldn't sell; he was saving it to film a live-action version of romance of the three kingdoms himself later.

And... two million?

Who are they looking down on?

Ye Bai called Yu Sanxing, and the two met in a holographic space.

"This is the script I wrote. Take a look."

Yu Sanxing was stunned. "So fast?"

He hadn't even finished his own writing yet. Since this kid was so fast, the quality could well be imagined.

"Yes," Ye Bai said. "It's an anthology series about female characters in the feudal era intertwined with supernatural forces. It has elements of romance, horror, mythology, and so on."

Yu Sanxing took the script, a question mark appearing over his head.

Feudal era... supernatural forces.

What the hell is all this?

And how can romance be blended with horror?

He was already prepared to see a pile of crap.

He glanced at the title of the script: "strange women of liaozhai."

Ye Bai hummed in affirmation and began to explain, "The first chapter is Lian Cheng..."

Before he could finish, Yu Sanxing interrupted him, "I'll read it myself."

He felt the thick stack in his hands and began to read carefully.

The opening passage made him freeze for a moment.

[Languid hair in a high bun, green shadows swaying; early by the orchid window, she embroiders green lotuses. Stitching the mandarin ducks until her soul nearly breaks; secretly she stops the needle and thread, her brows furrowed.]

"What is this?"

Yu Sanxing frowned, suddenly realizing something was off.

He recognized the words, but why were they so hard to understand when put together?

This reminded him of the romance of the three kingdoms he had been reading recently.

Yu Sanxing looked up at the person in front of him. The person had a faint smile on his face, looking quite confident.

He pursed his lips and continued reading.

[Qiao Sheng, a native of Jinning, was renowned for his talent from a young age...]

Something's wrong.

Something's very wrong.

Cold sweat had broken out on Yu Sanxing's forehead at some point.

He flipped a few more pages and continued reading.

After an unknown amount of time, he looked up at Ye Bai. "You... what is your name?"

Ye Bai raised an eyebrow. "Haven't I introduced myself? My name is Ye Bai."

Yu Sanxing slowly put down the script. "Ah—"

He leaned back, his face full of despair. "Ye Bai..."

"So you are Ye Bai."

"Let me ask you, did you write romance of the three kingdoms?"

Ye Bai hummed in affirmation.

Yu Sanxing suddenly burst into loud laughter, covering his face with his hand. "Hahahaha, to think I... sigh."

Stupid. How could he be so stupid?

He had even self-righteously written a script, thinking the person in front of him just wanted to make a movie to show off.

Now it seemed he was the arrogant one.

Ridiculous, truly ridiculous.

Ye Bai's lip twitched. "Director Yu, are you okay?"

Yu Sanxing shook his head. "I'm fine."

He just felt that he truly had no face to face Ye Bai.

Thinking back to a few days ago, he was still praising the animated version of romance of the three kingdoms as a work that completely surpassed the current level of animation.

And after reading romance of the three kingdoms, he felt that Ye Bai was truly someone special.

He even fantasized about how happy he would be if he could one day film a live-action version of romance of the three kingdoms.

He would certainly do his absolute best to film it well!

But now, Ye Bai, the author of romance of the three kingdoms, was right in front of him, and he had actually treated Ye Bai as someone seeking fame through deception.

Looking at it now, this was the true irony.

He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Please forgive my previous rudeness. I was too arrogant."

He really didn't know what to say now.

Yu Sanxing rubbed his hands, feeling uncomfortable all over; he wished he could find a hole to crawl into.

Just thinking about his initial haughty attitude and the piece of crap script he had written made his face flush instantly.

Ye Bai saw his face turn bright red, even his bald head was flushed.

He smiled. "It's fine. You're a talented person, and I didn't think you were arrogant. I've seen the movies you've directed; they're great."

Hearing him say this made Yu Sanxing feel even worse.

"Actually, I really love the animated version of romance of the three kingdoms you produced, and I've also read your novel, romance of the three kingdoms. I just didn't expect you to be so young."

He regretted it deeply—regretted not properly asking for the name of the person in front of him.

If he had known earlier, he definitely wouldn't have had that attitude!

"But, you just finished journey to the west, right? Why did you write another script and want to film a TV series?"

Clearly, the script Ye Bai gave him was for a TV series, given its length.

The script was even done very professionally.

This made him unable to help but wonder if Ye Bai was a screenwriter.

No, looking at the animated version of romance of the three kingdoms he produced, he should be from the animation production department?

Regardless, Ye Bai was not simple.