The Official Ladder: I ascend to the pinnacle of power, wielding the power of life and death.

"Excuse me, Mr. Du, shall we discuss the publishing matter first?"

Jiang Yiming offered a suggestion.

"Oh yes."

Du Hongyuan smiled and said, "I really like your book and have high hopes for it. Our company is willing to publish it. We can sign the contract now."

"I also have a lot of confidence in this book."

Jiang Yiming said, "But if we reach a cooperation agreement, your company needs to meet three conditions. First, I want 25% royalties; second, I will only sell the print copyright, while the electronic, film and television copyrights will still belong to me; third, you must not disclose my information to anyone without my permission."

Du Hongyuan frowned: "I have no objection to the other two, but your first one is too harsh. Usually, royalties are between 7% and 12%, while new authors usually get 7%. I have high hopes for your book, so I'll give it 10%."

"The first point is negotiable. It can be reduced to 18%, but your company needs to pay me a prepayment of 50."

Jiang Yiming said.

"It's still too high, after all, our promotion costs are also very high."

Du Hongyuan said, "I can only offer 12% at most. If you're willing, we can sign a contract."

"It seems we can't reach an agreement."

Jiang Yiming quickly wrote down his phone number and handed it to the other party, saying, "Mr. Du, this is my number. You can call me if you've made up your mind."

He bought a mobile phone and got a SIM card before he arrived.

After all, he knew that the conditions he proposed were rather demanding, and he wasn't prepared to reach a cooperation agreement on the first try.

But this book is worth such demanding requirements, and he is confident that he can secure the collaboration.

"Write down my phone number. You can call me if you've made up your mind. I can tell you definitively that no publishing house offers a higher price than us."

Du Hongyuan affirmed.

"Okay, I hope we'll have the opportunity to cooperate."

Jiang Yiming left his phone number and then left.

He bought a Founder computer in the city for more than 5,000 yuan. His previous mobile phone cost 4,800 yuan, and now he has 9,200 yuan left. He then bought some Hongtashan cigarettes and candy.

Back in the single room assigned by the organization, he assembled his computer and registered an account on Tianya Community called "Mingyue Dangnian".

I then uploaded the manuscript in 3,000-word chapters, uploading ten chapters in total.

In the following days, after get off work, Jiang Yiming would open the forum, upload three chapters, and interact with netizens.

At first, there were few readers, but as time went on and with this serialized format, it attracted more and more readers.

Through word of mouth, many people registered accounts and went to Tianya Community specifically to follow the updates.

Two weeks later, the post had received hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of comments urging for an update.

The long-awaited phone rang, and Du Hongyuan finally couldn't resist calling Jiang Yiming.

He also enjoyed browsing Tianya Community and discovered Jiang Yiming's posts there. Seeing so many readers following the book, he was afraid of missing out on this great read.

Moreover, the company hasn't had any noteworthy books lately, and its business is in dire straits, so he ultimately chose to compromise.

To show his sincerity, Du Hongyuan personally came to Xinping County.

"Brother Jiang, I really hope to cooperate with you. Could you lower your demands a bit?"

Jiang Yiming thought for a moment and said, "The advance payment is 500,000 yuan, and that's the lowest I can go. As for the percentage, 15% is also my bottom line."

He knew the book would be a huge hit, and that whichever publisher bought it would be profitable, which is why he dared to ask for it.

As for why the conditions were lowered again, it was because of Du Hongyuan.

In his previous life, whether he was following Old Wei or running his own clinic, he got to know many prominent patients.

These important figures were not short of money and often invited him to their homes for medical consultations.

After seeing a doctor, it's inevitable that we'll have a meal and chat.

During this process, he made many friends and learned about their past.

Du Hongyuan was one of them.

He remembered that Du Hongyuan initially worked in publishing, but later switched to building materials and supermarkets, and became worth over 100 million yuan.

In his previous life, Du Hongyuan suffered from a chronic illness and often sought medication from Jiang Yiming; the two were considered half friends.

"Okay, I promise you!"

Du Hongyuan gritted his teeth, took out the contract and said, "Fill in the percentage and the prepayment amount, then sign your name, and we'll have reached a cooperation agreement. Take a look at the contents first."

Jiang Yiming took it, looked at it, and then signed his name.

In his previous life, Du Hongyuan was an honest man. He trusted the other party very much, otherwise he would not have specifically chosen this publishing house.

Du Hongyuan put the contract away carefully before letting out a sigh of relief.

"Pleasant to work with."

"Pleasant to work with."

Jiang Yiming handed the 200,000-word manuscript to Du Hongyuan and said with a smile, "I'll give you the rest after I finish writing it."

"no problem."

Du Hongyuan nodded and said, "Let's go to the bank, I'll withdraw the prepayment and transfer it to you."

Jiang Yiming was quite pleased to receive the money.

In 2000, 500,000 was a huge sum of money!

"Mr. Du, I'd like to invite you to dinner. Let's have a good drink to celebrate the successful cooperation."

"Thank you, Brother Jiang. I'll skip the meal and go back to work on the manuscript so I can publish the book as soon as possible."

Du Hongyuan said eagerly, "I'll come find you for a celebratory drink after our book becomes a huge hit!"

"It's a word."

Jiang Yiming took his ID card and immediately opened a stock account, investing all 500,000 yuan in Taishan Tourism shares.

In his previous life, a stock market tycoon named Lü Huanliang made his first fortune on this stock. After that, he speculated on concepts and manipulated the market, transforming himself from a loading and unloading worker into one of the top 50 richest people on the Forbes China Rich List!

When Jiang Yiming accompanied Mr. Wei to see the wealthy man for medical treatment, he talked most about Thai Tourism and Oriental Energy, among other stocks.

At that time, Thai Tourism's stock price was only 15 yuan per share, but in less than a month, it increased nearly three times.

After completing the formalities, Jiang Yiming returned to his workplace.

Seeing that Chen Wei was alone, he knocked on the door and went inside.

"Section Chief, I went to the city a few days ago and brought you some things."

Jiang Yiming stuffed the two packs of cigarettes in the black bag into his hand.

"Hey kid, why are you pulling this on me?"

Chen Wei declined.

"You've always taken good care of me. It's only right that I bring you something when I go to the city. Hurry up and put it away, it won't look good if someone comes and sees it."

"Okay, then I won't be polite to you."

Chen Wei opened the cabinet door next to his feet, stuffed the cigarette inside, and then took a can of tea from the table: "Take this can of tea and drink it."

"Thank you, section chief."

"Don't call me Section Chief, just call me Brother Wei."

"Uh……"

"what happened?"

"It's alright, Brother Wei, you go ahead with your work, I'll head back to my office now."

Jiang Yiming naturally couldn't explain it, but a few years later, everyone with the character "Wei" in their name disliked being called "Brother Wei."

Because next year, Pfizer will launch a drug in China to treat male sexual dysfunction, which everyone affectionately calls Viagra.

Back in the office, Jiang Yiming placed the candy on Su Yun's desk. Su Yun said happily, "Thank you. Section Chief Wang was looking for you earlier."