204: Chapter 204 Your Majesty, Come and Get Me!

Jiang Fan and Su Yuyan left Times Media and went to a private kitchen restaurant for a meal.

It was already 11:30 PM when they returned to the apartment.

Su Yuyan kicked off her high heels; after being tossed around in the Recording Studio for so long, all she wanted now was a hot shower.

She went into the bedroom to get a change of clothes, walked into the bathroom, and the sound of water soon began.

Jiang Fan sat on the living room sofa and took out his phone.

There was a message from Song Siyi.

"Sales start in half an hour. I'm a bit nervous."

Jiang Fan replied with one hand.

"Don't worry, get some sleep. Check the results when you wake up tomorrow."

Song Siyi replied instantly.

"How could I sleep? Five million copies—if they don't sell, the company's capital chain will snap immediately."

Jiang Fan didn't reply again.

The mystery box mechanic combined with hunger marketing—this combo was a dimensional strike in the current market.

From having Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan scold them online to stir up nationwide hype, to donating books to school libraries for free to let the student body spread the word spontaneously.

All the groundwork was for this very moment tonight.

Inside the Qitian Culture office.

Song Siyi sat in front of her computer and opened the official Qitian Culture flagship store page on Douyin.

The product link was hung in the most prominent spot on the homepage, and the countdown showed twenty-eight minutes remaining.

A cup of cold coffee sat on the desk; she reached out, took a sip, and the bitterness slid down her throat.

She put the cup down and rubbed her hands together; her palms were sweaty.

As the legal representative and operator, if they didn't sell, Qitian Culture would die right at the starting line.

The people at the Writers Association were still watching to laugh at them, and the people at Xinghua Publishing House were waiting for them to bow their heads.

The second hand of the wall clock ticked away, one increment at a time.

11:59 PM.

Song Siyi gripped the mouse, her eyes fixed on the refresh button on the screen.

At exactly 12:00 AM, the pre-sale channel opened.

Song Siyi clicked the left button.

The page froze, turning blank with only a circle spinning in the middle.

She froze for two seconds, then clicked refresh repeatedly.

A line of text popped up on the webpage: "Server not responding, please try again later."

Did the system have a bug?

She picked up her phone, ready to call the e-commerce contact at Douyin.

Before she could dial the number, the computer screen flashed.

The page returned to normal.

Song Siyi looked at the product inventory column.

The inventory for the hardcover edition had already become 0.

The standard edition had 1,008,000 left.

The phone in Song Siyi's hand dropped onto the desk with a sharp clatter.

She leaned her face close to the screen and counted the digits.

It hadn't even been a minute, and there were only one million copies left?

She refreshed the page again, followed by another ten-plus seconds of waiting.

When the page returned to normal again—

Inventory: 0.

The order data in the backend began to scroll, moving at extreme speed; dense orders filled the entire screen.

The number in the total sales column froze.

298,500,000.

298.5 million.

Song Siyi leaned back against the chair, panting heavily. Her chest heaved violently, pulling the buttons of her shirt taut.

She picked up her phone, wanting to type a message to Jiang Fan to share the good news, but her fingers were still shaking; she had to type it three times to get it right.

"Sold out. It sold out in one minute."

After sending the message, she slumped into her executive chair, staring at the ceiling, and let out a long breath.

At the same time, in the office of the Vice President of Qishi Chinese Network in Shanghai.

Vice President Zhou Ming stared at the "Sold Out" page on his computer screen, not noticing that the cigarette in his hand had burned down to the filter.

Burning his finger, he violently shook his hand and threw the cigarette butt into the ashtray.

A total of six million copies, and it only took one minute.

He had spent millions hiring internet trolls to create hype, colluding with the Writers Association to ban them, and inciting public opinion to besiege them—

And the result was that he had given them free advertising for half a month.

Vice President Zhou Ming picked up the thermal mug on his desk; without unscrewing the lid, he smashed it against the wall.

The lid flew off, and tea dripped down the wall.

He picked up his phone and dialed Vice Chairman Liu Qingshan's number.

——

In Su Yuyan's apartment.

Jiang Fan looked at the message on his phone and held down the voice button.

"Go back and get some rest quickly; there's a tough battle to fight tomorrow."

The sound of water in the bathroom stopped, and Su Yuyan walked out wrapped in a white bath towel.

She held a dry towel in her hand, looking at Jiang Fan while wiping her hair.

"What is it?"

"The books sold out," Jiang Fan said.

Su Yuyan stopped wiping her hair.

"Sold out? Five million copies?"

"Yeah. One minute. But not five million copies, six million."

Su Yuyan stared at Jiang Fan for several seconds.

She was used to seeing sales myths in this circle.

Album sales, concert tickets—those required fans to grind the charts and raise funds day and night.

But physical books were different; most people who paid for books were rational consumers.

Six million physical books, sold out in a minute—this exceeded her range of understanding.

She walked to the sofa, sat down, picked up her phone, and opened Weibo.

The trending list refreshed, and the top spot had a new entry.

#journey to the west Sold Out in One Minute#

Su Yuyan clicked into the entry, and the comment section was full of netizens venting.

"I clicked in and it was gone! Are you guys tentacle monsters?"

"Reprint! We strongly demand a reprint!"

"Scalpers have already driven the price of the hardcover edition up to five hundred per book; it's outrageous!"

"I didn't even see the payment interface; it went straight to sold out."

"Where are the people from the Writers Association? Come out and walk a few steps?"

Su Yuyan threw her phone on the coffee table and turned to look at Jiang Fan.

"How exactly is your brain wired?"

"Born with it," Jiang Fan said, leaning back on the sofa.

"You really are a monster; the returns must be three hundred million now, right?"

Three hundred million in one minute.

Every time this man did something, he could refresh her perception.

As long as he was given time, the entire entertainment industry would be trampled under his feet.

"Just about. But this is just the first step. The subsequent film and television adaptations and game licensing are the big money."

Jiang Fan reached out, grabbed Su Yuyan's wrist, and pulled her toward him.

Su Yuyan lost her balance and fell into Jiang Fan's lap.

The edge of the bath towel loosened a bit, revealing a large expanse of fair skin.

"What are you doing?" Su Yuyan pushed on his shoulders.

"I didn't get enough in the Recording Studio earlier." Jiang Fan's hand landed on her waist.

Su Yuyan pressed down on his hand.

"Wait a moment."

Jiang Fan looked at her.

Su Yuyan's eyes changed slightly, and the corners of her mouth curled up with a hint of smugness.

"Didn't you want me to thank you? I have a surprise for you right now."

Su Yuyan stood up, pulled the bath towel up, and turned to walk into the bedroom.

After five minutes, the bedroom door opened.

Su Yuyan walked out.

She had changed into ancient-style clothing.

The upper part was a white silk dudou, with a few red plum blossoms embroidered on the chest.

The lower part was a long pink skirt, draped with a layer of blue light gauze that fluttered in the air as she walked.

She looked exactly like a Seventh Fairy descending to earth.

Jiang Fan's gaze swept over her from top to bottom.

"Does it look good?" Su Yuyan walked to the sofa and spun around.

The hem of the skirt lifted, faintly revealing the long legs underneath.

"Where did you buy it?"

"Ordered it online." Su Yuyan stopped, her hands behind her back. "Don't you like ancient costumes? Forget about that one for thirty-eight thousand; this one is cheap. You can tear it however you like."

Jiang Fan stood up and walked over to her.

"Tear it however I like?"

Su Yuyan tilted her head up.

"Yes. But you have to have the skill to do it."

After saying this, she turned and started running around the sofa to the side.

"Great King, come and catch me!"

Jiang Fan stood up and chased after her, but it was really hard to catch her with the sofa in the way.

"Haha, you can't catch me."

Jiang Fan propped himself on the back of the sofa with one hand, jumped over directly, and grabbed her by the waist.

Su Yuyan let out a cry of surprise, her feet leaving the ground.

Jiang Fan exerted force with his arms and hoisted her onto his shoulder.

"Put me down." Su Yuyan pounded on Jiang Fan's back.

"Didn't you tell me to use my skill?" Jiang Fan said, carrying her toward the bedroom.

"You're cheating."

Jiang Fan walked into the bedroom and threw Su Yuyan onto the bed.

Su Yuyan turned over and sat up, the blue light gauze sliding down to her elbows.

Jiang Fan walked over, knelt on the edge of the bed on one knee, hooked his finger into the front of the dudou, and gave it a hard tug.

The thin straps snapped instantly, and the white silk was tossed aside onto the bed by him.

Su Yuyan pulled the blue light gauze to cover her chest.

"You really tore it! This one also cost over a thousand!"

"You said I could tear it however I liked."

"Jerk... couldn't you have used it a few more times?"