Dinner ended in a pleasant atmosphere. Overly excited, Carl collapsed onto Andy's sofa and refused to leave. After seeing Nelson off, seeing Carl sprawled on the living room sofa like a dead pig, Andy said to the housekeeper, Liu Yan "Liu Yan, give him that blanket and let him sleep on the sofa. You should go and rest too."
"Yes, sir." Liu Yan took a blanket from the guest room on the first floor, covered Karl with it, and then turned off the main light in the living room to rest.
Andy went into the bathroom, closed the door, took off his clothes, and stepped into the bathtub.
He increasingly enjoyed the feeling of taking a bath, especially looking at his increasingly robust body. It must be a perk of his transmigration; his rough skin had become much smoother.
To get a good price, there is still a lot of work to be done. Of course, the preliminary work is handled by Nelson and Carl. Nelson did not ask too many questions about Andy firing the previous accountant, but simply told Andy that he would soon find a new financial advisor with rich experience to join the negotiation team.
The comfortable hot bath completely relaxed Andy. He dried himself off with a towel, put on a bathrobe, and went to the outer room. He took a cigarette from the cigarette case on the bedroom desk, lit it, and looked at the night sky outside the window, feeling very conflicted.
As my body grew stronger day by day, my restless party animal heart and my quiet, homebody mind were constantly clashing.
Suppressing the urge, Andy stubbed out his cigarette, turned off the light, and went to sleep.
The next day at daybreak, Carl left in a flurry, got into his car and started making phone calls, calling almost everyone he knew from the TV station.
After having breakfast, Andy drove around Hollywood. He had been here for two months, but he hadn't really seen much of the place; all he had were memories of it.
Rodeo Drive is Los Angeles' most upscale and exquisite fashion street, where world-renowned and popular international designers' works are gathered.
Rodeo Drive boldly employs a large amount of lavish decoration, befitting its status as "the world's most bustling and expensive shopping avenue".
Rodeo Drive is bordered at both ends by the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Four Seasons Beverly Hills Hotel, two of Los Angeles' most prestigious hotels.
This area is densely packed with over 100 brand-name stores and high-end bespoke boutiques at the pinnacle of the fashion world.
Adjacent to Rodeo Avenue are Rodeo Second Avenue and some European-style shops, as well as cobblestone streets, fountains and pubs.
Andy found everything new and fascinating. Apart from the women's clothing store, he explored almost every unique shop, finding many items he liked among the various goods. He kept swiping his card, accumulating eight or nine bags full of random items.
Having money is indeed a happy feeling. When you see something you like, you don't have to worry about the price. This economic freedom makes Andy feel very comfortable.
Thinking back to his past self, he was overwhelmed by mortgage and car loan payments, and he didn't even dare to get married. The thought of marriage made him think of his girlfriend.
Why...
With a soft sigh, Andy stopped dwelling on the past; thinking about it now would only add to his troubles.
After a few days of this, Nielsen and Carl led their team to conduct preliminary communication and negotiations with several television stations interested in purchasing the idea. In the end, NBC (National Broadcasting Company) and CBS (Columbia Broadcasting Company) were the two most sincere.
After reading the document in his hand, Andy casually tossed it onto the desk, looked at Nelson and Carl sitting opposite him, gently twirled the pen in his hand, and frowned slightly.
"NBC was only willing to offer $8 million to buy out the nationwide rights and refused to share advertising revenue, while CBS was only willing to offer $5 million and also refused to share advertising revenue."
Nelson looked at Andy, who was frowning, and began to explain.
"Hmph." Andy sneered inwardly. They knew he couldn't make it, so they were desperately trying to drive down the price.
"Carl, how's the contact with the British side going?" Andy asked, looking at Carl who was still in a daze.
"ITV is willing to offer £30 million plus 10% of the advertising revenue to buy out our global rights!"
Carl was still reeling from the news he had just received on the phone, and was simply repeating it in a daze.
Nelson and Andy looked at each other in surprise, then asked simultaneously, "What's going on?"
"Huh? Ah! We're rich, Andy, we're rich..." Carl, snapping out of his daze, jumped up abruptly, his fat belly jiggling, which was quite amusing.
"Alright, calm down and tell us what's going on?" Andy rolled his eyes and asked loudly, sounding annoyed.
"Haha, I heard that someone from their TV station recently came up with a talent show idea, which is somewhat similar to our program idea, but not as perfect or novel. After I sent them a fax, I didn't hear back from them until today when they called me on their way here to tell me that they wanted to buy it!"
Carl continued to laugh excitedly, looking smug and triumphant.
Nelson and Andy exchanged glances, both relieved that they had secured the copyright early on.
"Congratulations, boss! You've become a multi-millionaire, and you might soon be a young billionaire!" Nelson said, his eyes flashing with envy as he stood up to offer his congratulations.
"Hehe, thanks, it's all luck. Who would have thought that the byproduct of writing a novel would be so valuable! However, I won't sell the global rights. Tell them I'll only sell them the UK rights, and I can give up the advertising revenue share."
Andy was overjoyed, but he didn't let it cloud his judgment; the global copyright could only be held in his own hands.
"Nelson, I'm giving you authority. You and Carl will be in charge of negotiating with them."
"No problem, boss, don't worry." Nelson was equally concerned about closing the deal, after all, he would receive a considerable reward.
"Also, Carl, the contract with Scholastic is finalized. When will my book be published?" Andy asked his agent beside him.
"I've already asked, and they said it will be published in the newspaper in the next few days. We need to make sure the initial publicity is in place." Karl was still flushed with excitement.
Andy nodded slightly, slapped the table with both hands, stood up, and smiled at Carl, saying, "I'll give you this space. You're the manager here. I'm leaving. The rest is up to you."
Andy waved his hand, telling Cole and Nelson, who were standing at the door, not to see him off, and walked out of the building.
This three-story building is the office of the "Mockingjay" copyright company, located in West Hollywood. The walls are a bit peeling, but the company sign has been put up. A logo of a mockingjay, with wings outstretched in flames, is particularly eye-catching in the sunlight.
Scholastic acted very quickly; within two days, more than a dozen newspapers across the United States reported on Andy's new book.
Walking into the company, Andy noticed several new faces, especially the two receptionists, both around 1.7 meters tall, with seductive figures and pleasant smiles. However, the metric ton makeup doning their faces swiftly made Andy lose interest.
"Damn it, that perverted bastard Carl knows how to enjoy himself. She's not exactly a - jade, nation toppling, heavens favoured, Fang Chen's childhood sweetheart tier - beauty (yes, this was intentional), but she's still a beauty. Is he up to some kind of shady business again?" Andy thought to himself.
"Hello, Mr. Smith, Manager Carl and Attorney Nelson are already waiting for you in the manager's office," one of the receptionists said with a beaming smile.
Andy smiled and nodded, looking at the white shirt that seemed about to burst, and couldn't help but secretly exclaim, "Damn, it's huge!"
Pushing open the door, I saw Carl and Nelson, both dressed in suits, chatting idly.
"How did it go? Can you make a decision today? You've worked so hard these past few days," Andy said, sitting down on the sofa and looking at his two subordinates who had been working tirelessly for him.
"Oh my god, Andy, you're finally here! These past few days have been exhausting..." Carl complained, his face full of dissatisfaction.
"Hey, Carl, stop complaining. Now that I'm here, shouldn't we get going right away?" Andy interrupted Carl's rambling, looking at Nelson with annoyance.
"Hehe, it's about time. We can talk about some things on the way." Nelson picked up his briefcase and followed Andy, slowly beginning to recount the progress of the negotiations over the past two days.
When Andy arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel, he saw five or six people sitting on the sofa in the lounge area. As they entered the lobby, they quickly tidied themselves up and walked towards them.
Andy still remembered the group; this was his negotiation team. After the two sides met, they headed towards the elevator.
*ting*
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Andy saw Steve Frye, the head of distribution at ITV, whom he had met once before, waiting there.
"Hello, Mr. Smith, it's a pleasure to see you again." Steve smiled and extended his hand to shake Andy's.
"Hello, Mr. Frye, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Andy's handsome face lit up with a bright smile.
"This way, please. Our TV station's vice president in charge of variety shows has been waiting inside for quite some time."
Andy glanced back at Nelson, who nodded slightly, giving him a reassuring look. Andy quickened his pace.
Pushing open the conference room door, a middle-aged man in his fifties with a receding hairline and a slightly overweight appearance stood up from his seat with a smile and walked towards Andy, surrounded by a group of people.
"This is our Vice President, Mr. Ed Childs. Mr. Childs, this is Mr. Andy Smith," Steve Frye introduced.
Upon hearing this, Childs smiled and shook hands with Andy, saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Smith. You are so young."
Andy shook hands with him with a smile and said, "It's an honor to meet you."
After the two let go of each other's hands, they exchanged a few pleasantries and then sat down separately, but Andy was no longer the leader.
Nelson, Carl, and one of Andy's financial advisors formed the top negotiators for this meeting, while Andy knew he was just a figurehead and could only watch from the sidelines as they fought for their interests.
****
Mass Release 10/10
Reviews would truly help me.
And that marks the wnd of the mass release.
Tell me what you think about it, cringe? Too much commentary in-between? Too fast? Not comedic enough?
Note: This was supposed to be a translation, but I got sooo triggered while translating, I just changed the entire plot, lol.
So ye, story might be unstable at times, as I am writing out of my ass, but I'll try my best.
Reviews and Power Stones as usual for another mass release,
Adios~