Suspense World.
"So, everyone, what are your thoughts on Sanyue's work in our Suspense World lately?"
Wei Heming, chief editor of Suspense World, took a sip of tea as he spoke in the editorial department meeting room.
"Chief, I heard Sanyue hasn't written supernatural fiction in ten years. Can he still write?"
One of the editors quickly voiced their doubt.
"Exactly! In this line of work, even a year off can make you rusty, let alone ten. Chief, I'm not optimistic about Sanyue."
Another editor chimed in.
"I actually think we could still use him. Sanyue was once a master of the supernatural genre on par with Zhang Yunping. Even though he self-destructed chasing popularity with martial arts stories and failed miserably, he still has skill. We can leverage his name for hype before Zhang Yun's new series begins."
An editor on the left offered his opinion.
"I agree with Guohua. No matter what, Sanyue is still more well-known than the average writer. And rumor has it, he contributed to the last few issues of 'Midnight Talk'. You've all seen how well 'Midnight Talk' has been doing lately, his writing is indeed solid. If we can bring him over, it'll cut off 'Midnight Talk' momentum."
"Exactly. 'Midnight Talk' was practically dead. No one expected it to come back strong in recent issues. The supernatural genre is already niche, one well-known magazine is enough. A second or third one only fragments the market. I suggest we bring Sanyue on board."
"I say forget it! Do you know why Sanyue left 'Midnight Talk' for us? Word is, he fell out with them. Rumor has it his friend Lin Hao, an editor at 'Midnight Talk', tried to extort too much from Zhou Qing. We can bring Sanyue over, sure, but he's a wolf that'll never be satisfied."
The editors debated, each offering a different take.
"Zhu Shi, what do you think?"
"I don't see a problem bringing Sanyue over. But…"
Zhu Shi, deputy editor of Suspense World, was a key figure during their past battle with 'Midnight Talk'. He was also an accomplished supernatural writer under the pen name Zhusheng. Sometimes Wei Heming wondered, if Zhu Shi had focused solely on writing, could he have rivaled Zhang Yun? But life doesn't deal in "what-ifs." Zhu Shi remained an editor, occasionally penning stories on the side.
"But what?"
"I just feel 'Even Ghosts Despair' is mediocre at best. As for why 'Midnight Talk' sales surged lately, I can't quite figure it out."
"Then let's investigate."
"No use, their numbers are still small, too low to draw meaningful conclusions. Plus, Sanyue is their top promoted writer. Even if we do dig, we won't find much."
"That's easy to test."
Wei Heming nodded. "Today's issue 303 of 'Midnight Talk' just dropped. I heard Sanyue's 'Even Ghosts Despair' has been pulled and doesn't appear in it. If their sales still go up, we don't need Sanyue. If sales tank, then it'll prove his value, and we can bring him over."
"Fair enough."
Zhu Shi nodded. Even if 'Even Ghosts Despair' didn't appeal to him personally, a mature editor doesn't rely solely on instinct. Let the numbers speak. The market doesn't lie, and it's the most direct, effective way to evaluate a writer's work.
The next day, Suspense World received sales figures for issue 303 of 'Midnight Talk': 50.000 copies.
The numbers shocked both Wei Heming and Zhu Shi.
Before Sanyue's 'Even Ghosts Despair' appeared in the magazine, sales had stagnated at around 50.000. Once Sanyue joined, sales jumped by 6.000. Issues 301 and 302 climbed to 70.000.
Now, after falling out with 'Midnight Talk', with his story gone, sales plummeted back to 50.000.
A sudden drop of 20.000.
That didn't just confirm a drop in sales, it proved just how much Sanyue meant to 'Midnight Talk'.
"No wonder he dared to demand 2.000 yuan per thousand characters. Looks like he really has the goods. Good thing 'Midnight Talk' is cash-strapped lately. Otherwise, if this guy had kept publishing, they might have clawed their way back to the 100K club."
Wei Heming sighed.
"Ugh, getting old… even my judgment is off. Old Wei, I take back what I said. Sanyue is worth bringing in. But the man's full of himself, you'll need to tread carefully."
"I know."
Wei Heming nodded. "Still, for now, we can afford his rate. Once Zhang Yun's new series starts, Sanyue's role becomes less important anyway."
"Exactly."
…
"Chief Zhou, Sanyue has jumped ship to Suspense World."
The moment 'Suspense World' signed Sanyue, Lin Hao at 'Midnight Talk' caught wind of the news.
He walked into Chief Editor Zhou Qing's office, a touch of sarcasm in his tone.
But Zhou Qing didn't flinch. He simply said, "Oh? Is that so?"
"Chief, don't you regret it?"
Seeing his jab fall flat, Lin Hao tried again.
"Regret what?"
"Letting Sanyue go, of course. If we'd kept publishing his stories, our latest issue wouldn't have tanked. If we'd worked with him properly, we might've hit 100K in sales."
"Lin Hao, are you really upset we lost Sanyue, or just that you're missing out on your cut?"
"What do you mean by that, Chief?"
"Oh, come on, Lin Hao. I may not manage the editorial team as closely these days, but I'm not blind to what's going on. A little kickback here and there, I can let that slide. But don't think your little tricks have gone unnoticed. If you keep hanging around here stirring up drama, I'll fire you, even if you are the boss's relative."
"You…"
Seeing Zhou Qing's serious expression, Lin Hao paled and stormed off.
"This Lin Hao… what a parasite. The whole company's being dragged down by people like him."
Watching Lin Hao leave, Zhou Qing sighed.
Still, this might not be such bad news.
Sanyue joining 'Suspense World', tsk tsk.
They think they've struck gold.
But who really knows why 'Midnight Talk''s sales were climbing?
Not them. Not even me, as chief editor, until a few weeks later.
Now that they've poached Sanyue, fine.
We'll see on Monday.
He was actually quite curious to see what would happen once 'Suspense World' started publishing Sanyue's work.
Even as he gloated a little, Zhou Qing was deeply troubled.
Where on earth had that guy Fanchen, the one writing 'Strange Tales', disappeared to?
Could it be that he thought 800 yuan per thousand characters wasn't enough?
Or maybe he'd caught wind that Sanyue was getting 2.000, and wanted the same?
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