In his previous life, when Li Rui looked through various financial news, he paid special attention to events happening in Haizhou.
One such event seemed to have occurred at this very expo: the famous "the celestial body" copyright incident!
"the celestial body" is an excellent science fiction novel. Its author, Zhang Haixin, is an electrical engineer by profession who wrote dozens of novels in his spare time, with "the celestial body" being one of his representative works.
At this time, although Zhang Haixin was already a prominent figure in the domestic science fiction community, his income was not substantial, and the awareness of developing copyrights was not strong in those years, leading him to make a decision he would regret for the rest of his life.
At this expo, Zhang Haixin sold the copyright for "the celestial body" for a mere 100,000 yuan.
In 2010, 100,000 yuan was already a sky-high price, and it was said that many people congratulated Zhang Haixin for selling it at such a high price after the copyright was sold.
No one expected that five years later, "the celestial body" would win the highest award in the science fiction world, the Hugo Award!
Ten years of arduous study goes unnoticed; once famous, the world knows!
From the moment it won the award, the copyright price of "the celestial body" soared, and various development projects were launched, making it one of the most important IPs in China, with immeasurable value!
But all of that had nothing to do with the original author, Zhang Haixin.
Even when the film and television development of "the celestial body" repeatedly encountered setbacks, the copyright was still resold for a sky-high price of over 100 million in 2018!
From 100,000 to over 100 million, an thousand-fold profit in eight years!
This was only the book value; subsequent profit shares had not yet been calculated!
Although buying the copyright for "the celestial body" didn't earn as much as speculating in bitcoin, since he encountered it, he couldn't miss out, could he?
Not only "the celestial body," Li Rui also wanted to snatch the copyrights for Zhang Haixin's other works.
He remembered that in 2019, two films adapted from Zhang Haixin's works were simultaneously released in Spring Festival cinemas, grossing nearly 10 billion in box office revenue!
They were all cash cows, and not a single one could be let go!
"Let's go, let's take a look!" Li Rui didn't even bother to eat and headed straight for the expo hall.
Although Chen Qinglian didn't know what was happening, out of professional courtesy, she quickly followed closely.
Entering the venue, huge posters were everywhere. Li Rui glanced around and quickly found his target.
【Science Fiction Author Zhang Haixin, representative works "the celestial body," "Flight to Jupiter," "Special Post Teacher," "Zonal Lightning," etc. . . Autograph session location: Expo Booth C65】
He made his way to booth C65, and compared to other crowded booths, this one was much quieter, with only a few readers browsing books.
Li Rui looked into the booth, and his brows immediately furrowed.
Zhang Haixin was talking to a man and a woman, and on the table were several contracts and a bundle of hundred-yuan bills.
He was too late!
Inside booth C65, Zhang Haixin nervously fiddled with the pen in his hand. In front of him was a contract and 100,000 in cash. As long as he signed the contract, he could immediately take the cash.
Zhang Haixin urgently needed money, but when he thought that after signing, "the celestial body," which he had poured years of effort into, would no longer belong to him, he still hesitated.
Wang Yikai, who was opposite him, said somewhat arrogantly, "Teacher Zhang, don't hesitate. I can guarantee that no one will offer a higher price than this!"
Wang Yikai's girlfriend, Jiang Lele, also smiled, "As far as I know, the first two parts of 'the celestial body' only sold a total of 30,000 copies, and the royalties combined are less than 100,000. This transfer fee is already very generous."
Zhang Haixin smiled bitterly, "I understand. I just feel a little regretful. It's like my son..."
Jiang Lele said, "I am a loyal reader of 'the celestial body' and love 'the celestial body' more than anyone. Moreover, our Kaile Film and Television has very strong capabilities and already has a series of very mature ideas for the development of 'the celestial body.' You can rest assured and entrust it to us!"
"Hmm..." Zhang Haixin looked at the bundle of cash again.
100,000 yuan was indeed a lot!
Just as Zhang Haixin raised his pen, ready to sign his name, Li Rui and Chen Qinglian walked into the booth.
"Teacher Zhang, please don't rush to make a decision. I'm also very interested in the copyright of 'the celestial body.' Would you like to hear my offer?" Li Rui said.
Zhang Haixin was stunned.
What was happening today?
"the celestial body" had been published for several years, and no one had shown interest before. Why were two groups of people coming to buy the copyright today?
Wang Yikai and Jiang Lele frowned, not expecting someone to compete with them for business.
Even Chen Qinglian was confused. Wasn't he supposed to eat? Why did he suddenly come to buy copyrights?
Are rich people's lives always so whimsical?
"I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Li Rui," Li Rui said. "I've loved reading science fiction novels since I was a child and am a loyal reader of Teacher Zhang. After reading 'the celestial body' a while ago, I was amazed. In my opinion, this is a classic that can be passed down forever. So I want to buy the copyright for 'the celestial body' series to develop it and let the whole world see that we Hua people can also write good science fiction stories!"
Zhang Haixin blushed a little from the praise and mumbled, "It's not that good, it's not that good..."
Wang Yikai interjected, "'the celestial body' is indeed a good work, which is why I'm willing to pay 100,000 to buy the copyright. What, can you also come up with 100,000?"
Li Rui was too young. In business, youth is not an advantage but a disadvantage; being too young can give people an unreliable feeling.
Originally, Li Rui was also a student who had just graduated. Most people his age, let alone 100,000, probably couldn't even come up with 10,000 yuan.
Li Rui smiled and said, "I'll offer double."
Double!
Zhang Haixin's mouth fell open: "Tw-tw-two hundred thousand? Are you serious?"
100,000 yuan was already enough to satisfy Zhang Haixin; 200,000 yuan almost made him dizzy.