Chapter 120: Times Have Changed!

Backstage, Li Shixin had just removed his makeup when a knock sounded at the dressing room door.

"Mr. Li, someone is here to see you."

Seeing a staff member from the Culture Plaza Theater management office poking his head in, Li Shixin set down his thermos. "Who is it?"

"They say they are from Huaqi Culture."

Oh?

Li Shixin raised an eyebrow and placed the thermos on the vanity. After a brief thought, he waved at the people nearby. "Xiaoxiao, Xiao Zhao, you two... wait, where is Xiao Zhao?"

Turning around, he found that besides An Xiaoxiao—who was busy ravenously devouring a piece of bread as if she hadn't eaten in days—the vanity area was empty. Li Shixin couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"Teacher Zhao said she had a stomach ache and went to the restroom! It’s probably that time of the month, you know."

Hearing An Xiaoxiao’s muffled, incoherent reply, Li Shixin nodded deeply.

Understood, understood. Women have those few days every month.

"Well, Xiaoxiao, you go out for a moment. I have some business to discuss."

"Okay!" An Xiaoxiao jumped off her chair with obedient agility and scurried out, clutching her bread.

Moments later, the dressing room door opened. Jin Wenqi, whom Li Shixin had seen earlier, walked in accompanied by several young men in sharp suits.

"Hello, Mr. Li. We are from Huaqi Culture. I am Lu Siqi, the Public Relations Manager. These gentlemen are Zhou Wenyuan, Vice President of the Copyright Department, and this is..."

Before Lu Siqi could finish her introductions, Li Shixin waved his hand. "I’ve met Mr. Yang, and I know Xiao Jin. Speak—what do you want with me?"

"Er..."

Seeing Li Shixin’s cold expression, Lu Siqi felt a bit awkward. "It’s like this, Mr. Li. First, on behalf of Huaqi Culture, I would like to apologize for the rudeness and disrespect shown to you by our colleague previously. Secondly, we hope we can sit down calmly and renegotiate the copyright for the work *Only You*. Before we begin, we assure you that we have come with the utmost sincerity and will fully respect your rights and interests. Of course, the premise of any discussion rests on whether you are interested in selling the rights at all!"

Watching Lu Siqi bow, Li Shixin’s brow furrowed.

He had prepared a strategy to deal with them if they came seeking retribution for the mud he had thrown at Huaqi’s reputation. To his surprise, they didn't even mention the matter, which caught him off guard. It seemed they had no intention of pursuing the issue. Consequently, all the follow-up measures he had prepared were rendered useless.

*Tsk!*

His recent actions had likely placed immense pressure on Huaqi. To swallow such a bitter pill and focus solely on the copyright... Huaqi’s public relations capability was truly formidable.

Since the other party had shown their hand, Li Shixin decided to go along with it. He stood up, helped Lu Siqi up, and gestured for them to sit.

After a moment’s thought, he said, "The previous copyright talks were unpleasant, and I won't go into the specific reasons. Personally, I have no hostility toward your company. The copyright issue can be discussed. But as I said before, it depends on your sincerity."

Hearing that the door was open, Zhou Wenyuan, the Vice President of the Copyright Department, cleared his throat. "Mr. Li, I have brought a contract. Please, take a look."

Taking the contract from Zhou Wenyuan, Li Shixin put on his reading glasses and scanned it briefly. It was a standard copyright intent contract, but the offered price was significantly higher than the one Wang Kexin had previously presented.

The increase was substantial—from 300,000 to 1,000,000.

In this world, the cultural industry was highly developed. As the upstream link for all film and television products, copyrights were far more expensive than in his previous life. If 300,000 was the price for a debut stage play, then one million reached the threshold for popular playwrights or excellent new works.

After some deliberation, however, Li Shixin shook his head.

"This price won't do."

"This..."

The moment Li Shixin shook his head, Zhou Wenyuan’s expression twisted. This one-million-yuan offer had been decided in an emergency meeting, factoring in current market averages and adding a significant premium to ensure the deal would close.

"You aren't satisfied with this price either?" Zhou Wenyuan felt a sense of defeat. As expected, this old man was not a pushover.

Seeing Zhou Wenyuan’s pained expression, Li Shixin chuckled. "Young man, if your Manager Wang had come to me earlier—I won't even mention the price—if she had just offered half of this, there wouldn't have been all this trouble."

"So, you’re saying that now that there has been a scandal, you intend to demand an exorbitant price?" Zhou Wenyuan muttered, his face darkening.

"Mr. Zhou, stay calm. Let Mr. Li finish," Lu Siqi said, patting her colleague’s shoulder as she noticed Li Shixin had more to say.

Li Shixin smiled and shook his head. "Demanding an exorbitant price isn't the point; it’s just that times have changed. The first version of *Only You* was brilliant only in its script. I don't know if you caught the performance just now, but the second version of the script... it has added quite a few things."

"Ah?" Zhou Wenyuan looked at Yang Kuan, feeling lost. Since the Copyright Department had acted on emergency orders, he hadn't actually seen the content of the play and assumed the script was the same.

Yang Kuan nodded heavily. "Mr. Li is right. There is a significant difference between the two versions. Furthermore... a song has been added. This song has integrated with the plot and become a vital part of the narrative progression. Other songs... I’m afraid they won't be able to replace it."

"So, Mr. Li, are you saying you want to bundle the copyright of this song with the second version of the script?"

Facing Zhou Wenyuan’s question, Li Shixin nodded.

"Then..." Zhou Wenyuan scratched his head. In that case, the previously agreed-upon price was indeed inappropriate. "Mr. Li, why don't you propose a price yourself? We can study it, how about that?"

Li Shixin nodded, took a pen, crossed out the "1" in the 1,000,000.00 figure on the contract, and replaced it with a "3."

"Three million?"

Seeing the number, Zhou Wenyuan’s brows knit together again. Just then, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see Jin Wenqi nodding slightly at him.

Jin Wenqi was a singer whose popularity within the company was moderate; her voice lacked a distinct signature, and she had entered the public eye only after a long career in behind-the-scenes songwriting. She was a creative artist. However, among Huaqi’s singers, she was quite outstanding in her musical sensibilities.

Seeing Jin Wenqi’s nod, and recalling the directives from above regarding the crisis management of this scandal, Zhou Wenyuan gritted his teeth.

"Fine! Mr. Li, I’ll make the call. Three million—it’s a deal!"

"Don't be so quick to agree."

Seeing that Li Shixin still had conditions, Zhou Wenyuan was truly losing his temper.