CHAPTER 147: CHAPTER 129: CANDLE IN THE TOMB PART TWO, BOSS XU CHECKS THE ROOM_3

The first part of the novel contained about 950,000 characters, and the second part approximately 1.12 million. Chu Tian had already redeemed the rights to the second part when he had an excess of Reputation Points, but he hadn’t released it simply because he had completely forgotten about it.

If it weren’t for his editor, Qiu Ye, calling him, he wouldn’t have even remembered.

Since they had brought it up, of course, he would go with the flow. However, this time he definitely couldn’t just publish it directly as he had the first time.

Previously, he had no fame and needed to leverage the platform’s popularity and traffic for promotion, so he chose to publish directly.

However, this put him at a disadvantage, as he had to split all rights with the platform equally and didn’t even have the authority to intervene.

Now, with the success of the first part, his position in subsequent collaborations was no longer so passive, allowing him to set his own terms.

After he shared his demands, Qiu Ye found the situation somewhat tricky, as she couldn’t make the decision herself. In the end, the chief editor had to step in to negotiate.

After several rounds of communication, they finally agreed to change the rights distribution for the second part from the previous fifty-fifty split to a thirty-seventy split, with the platform receiving thirty percent and Chu Tian seventy percent.

Furthermore, the rights to this book were still purchased by Hou Yichuan’s Unlimited Entertainment, at the same price as before: a bulk sale for 2.8 million.

Of this 2.8 million, the platform would take thirty percent and Chu Tian seventy percent. This meant that, in effect, after paying some taxes, he had only spent thirty percent of that sum to reclaim all rights to the work, excluding the web novel itself.

So why not publish it myself? Why waste the money?

Chu Tian wasn’t stupid. If he self-published, he would lack distribution channels. I can’t just serialize it for free on Weibo, can I? Without distribution channels, there would be no popularity, and consequently, no fame. Without fame, both the physical book rights and any eventual film or television adaptation would naturally lack an audience. He understood very clearly that markets needed to be cultivated. Besides, the most crucial part is that I’m too lazy to manage it all myself. Earning a bit less money means a lot less hassle, doesn’t it? Critically, he had already seen the income figures from his physical book rights. In just a few months, more than 800,000 copies of the physical book had sold. After deducting taxes and the split, he had received more than six million from physical book sales alone. And I remember, in my previous life, this series sold over twenty million copies. The real money-spinner is still to come!

After the negotiations were settled, he sent over all the content for the second part.

Having dealt with another matter, Chu Tian’s mood was exceptionally good.

He couldn’t help but start fiddling with various musical instruments in the recording studio.

The soundproofing here was good, and generally, no one came by, so he was truly letting loose.

As he fiddled with the instruments, he couldn’t help but belt out a few lines. The new electric guitar was especially satisfying—the sound and the feel were amazing!

"I want to bloom,"

"I want to sprout,"

"I want the spring wind and rain to pour down,"

"I want to bloom,"

"I want to sprout,"

"I want to forget her when I’m happy..."

...

"What are you trying to do? Who are you trying to forget?"

"Holy shit!"

He was singing joyfully when the sudden question startled him. Turning around, he saw Xu Qingqiu standing at the door, arms crossed, an amused smile playing on her lips as she watched him.

Behind her, Yiyi and several new assistants struggled to suppress their laughter, their faces red as they desperately tried not to laugh outright.

Further back, even more people, likely attracted by the noise, were craning their necks to look, showing more enthusiasm than aunties at a street-side spectacle.

"Wait, what brings you here?"

Chu Tian was flustered. Sure, the recording studio was soundproof, but the damn door had to be closed for that to work! What good was soundproofing if you left the door wide open?

"What? Can’t I come?"

Seeing him so flustered, and recalling the nonsensical things he had been belting out, Xu Qingqiu was inwardly roaring with laughter, but she managed to restrain herself, wanting to see how long he could hold out.

It wasn’t every day she got to see Chu Tian red-faced and flustered like this. How could she not savor the moment to the fullest?

"When did you get here? Why didn’t you give me a heads-up?"

"I’ve been here for a while. Since you started wanting to ’bloom.’ When did you learn how to ’bloom’?"

"Close the door, close the door! Don’t you know this is a recording studio? It’s so loud with the door open!"

Chu Tian, annoyed and embarrassed, strode over and slammed the door shut, keeping everyone else outside but leaving Xu Qingqiu in the room.

"HAHAHA! You’re mad."

How could I not be mad? This bunch of she-devils, every single one of them loves a good show and has zero respect!

"Alright, spill it. What are you here for? A popular star like you, shouldn’t you be out doing commercial events and making appearances instead of idling here? Are you out of work lately?"

Seeing Chu Tian’s dark expression and his barbed words, Xu Qingqiu felt a bit too embarrassed to tease him further.

"Okay, okay, I’ll stop. You were singing quite well, actually. It’s just the lyrics that were a mess, all over the place."

"What do you know? This is called rock! You, a Mortal, can’t comprehend the profound meaning within. No taste."

"Fine, I have no taste, alright? I just came today to record a demo. Who knew you’d be in here caterwauling like that?"

"A demo? What demo are you recording? Are you releasing a new song?"

"What new song? A TV drama is looking for a theme song, and they approached me. They feel my voice is very suitable and want me to give it a try."

Oh, so that’s what it was. That gave me quite a scare. I thought she came to check up on me deliberately, but it turns out it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision!

Actually, recording a demo wasn’t the main point. If they wanted to hear her voice, they could simply listen to her existing songs, couldn’t they? Why would they need a demo?

In fact, they had already taken a liking to Xu Qingqiu and had sent her the song and information about the drama. If all went well, she would just go directly to record once the time was set. Her coming here was merely an excuse; she wanted to see what Chu Tian was up to all day. After all, they hadn’t seen each other for several days. She was a bit worried and also curious.

No one had expected him to be having such a good time here all by himself, which led to this whole misunderstanding.