Chapter 22: Job Hopping and the Power of Deception

  "I will sign and prioritize the publication of your 'Snow White', with a copyright transfer fee similar to that of 'The Little Prince', but the time for full payment may be... slightly delayed."

  This sentence is Eva's good news.

  Yesterday, Evna found Bernard's home and intentionally talked to Marlon's little brother An Wei. She easily asked out of Little An Wei the "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" that Marlon told him and Xiao Hu Nu Ai Mi.

  "It seems..."

  Ma Long fell silent for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth to continue: "It seems that President Yvonne's funds and channels have indeed encountered big problems."

  Eva remained silent and did not answer Marlon's question, but this attitude was undoubtedly a tacit admission in itself.

  "Eva, President, if possible, can you tell me something I can know?" Malong said with an extremely sincere tone: "Perhaps, I can slightly offer some ideas and help a little."

  "You? You're useless, you can't help at all!"

  Eva frowned, although she appreciated Malong's talent in literary creation, but she didn't think that Malong, who came from a poor alley, could really help her solve the trouble.

  This was well-intentioned, but Evna had no idea that the young body in front of her hid a grown man's soul who was somewhat vain and disliked being looked down upon by women.

  So, Evna's attitude made Malong somewhat annoyed, he raised an eyebrow and retorted: "If you don't try, how do you know I won't be able to?!"

  Yeah, if this conversation were in a different setting, it would sound really ambiguous or something, although neither Eveena nor Marlon have noticed yet.

  Even if Ma Long was a hundred times more righteous and proper, Evonne would never have revealed any inside information.

  But for some reason, when Evna also raised her eyebrows and stared at Malon's pitch-black and bright eyes that shone with an unusual glow due to anger, she suddenly felt like...she should say something.

  So, as if by a ghostly intervention, Evana changed her mind: "Can you swear that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to say?"

  "I swear! I absolutely won't leak out a single word!"

  ……

  Under Evonne's concise narration, Malong finally understood why Evonne said that her funding chain and channels had all gone wrong.

  It turns out that things have become what they are today, and Ma Long is also responsible for it.

  Three days ago, Ma Long rejected the attempted low-cost takeover of The Little Prince's copyright by Old Gavrelle-Raily in a nearly playful manner, which made Old Gavrelle-Raily, who had already monopolized two-thirds of the publishing business in Baisha City, resentful.

  But then he learned that Evina had acquired the rights to "The Little Prince" at a high price, and gathered reporters in an attempt to create momentum for Marlon and "The Little Prince", after which Old Gavrel-Railly suddenly felt his face thoroughly trampled into the mud.

  So, in the publishing market of Baisha City, the old Gavriel-Raily, who occupied more than half of the market share, did not hesitate to use his connections to make sure that Malong and "The Little Prince" were not mentioned in any newspaper.

  Immediately afterwards, Gavary-Ravail found the distributors of books and they fought and pulled, threatening and enticing them not to take on The Little Prince's distribution business.

  With the powerful title of "Red-Haired Queen", Evna naturally wouldn't lack for "spies" to report to her on what her arch-nemesis Old Gavriel-Riley was up to, so she had also been actively seeking countermeasures over the past two days.

  Originally, Evana could have handled this matter independently, but another accidental event seriously affected her financial chain, that is... the explosion of the Solace Bank.

  The heist at Sol's Bank destroyed the headquarters of Sol's Bank, not only easily destroying Sol's credit and causing a run on the bank, but also giving Old Gavrelle-Raily an opportunity to thoroughly destroy the Emerald Publishing House.

  Because Soars Bank is a "strategic partner" of Evanna's Emerald Pattern Press.

  This unexpected event forced Evina to shift her gaze to the back of her fiancé, Dekalb-Nuremberg-Von Stein, a wealthy landowner from the Von Stein family in White Sand City.

  Unfortunately, Evina really couldn't bear Descartes' invincible second-rate and petty bourgeoisie. She had previously pulled Malone off Descartes' car in a fit of anger, which basically meant that it was unlikely to get funding and support from the Von Stein family again.

  Helplessly, Yvonne would only focus on the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

  According to Yvonne's plan, she intended to let Ma Long use a new pen name to publish "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" at a low price with thin profits or even slightly losing money to attract a large following, and then... publish "The Little Prince" to make up for the loss, so there would be no problem!

  "Have to admit, this is indeed a very beautiful business plan."

  Malong had to admit that Evana's new plan, which she came up with in such a short time, was indeed a very powerful business plan.

  "But aren't you afraid that after I become famous with your help, I'll be tempted by other publishers and jump ship?"

  Marlon asked again with a tone of admiration and surprise.

  "What does job-hopping mean?"

  Yvonne retorted.

  "Uh... cough, this is a rural dialect, it means I've switched to a new place or something."

  Ma Long suddenly remembered that this was a different realm and not the earthly world, so he hastily added patches to the super-realistic term "job hopping".

  "I understand," Evana said first, then confidently raised two fingers: "First, I think you're a sentimental person, and so am I; second, loyalty is because the betrayal price is too low, and I will give you enough benefits to make you not want to mention the word 'job hopping' again."

  Alright, Evna has said her piece, what else can Marlon say?

  "Eva, you will eventually become a true queen -" Marlon sighed: "At least, in this publishing industry."

  "We'll talk about that later." Yvonne was nonchalant, her face expressionless. She stared at Marlon and asked, "For now, I just want to hear your idea."

  Just then, there was a knock at the door.

  "My idea..." Ma Long picked up the cup of honey water beside him and drank it all in one gulp.

  "Eva, let's get that Solace Bank CEO who's currently at his wit's end to put on a show for the ages..."

  "If successful, Yvonne, you will gain the opportunity to monopolize the White Sand City publishing market and even further advance into the Loring publishing market; that unfortunate banker, Sol, will re-establish his bank's credibility and avoid bankruptcy; and I, too, will become a so-called genius young author in one stroke."

  "So, this will be a win-win-win situation!"

  At this moment, Ma Long was as if possessed by that third empire's little mustache leader who had the power to bewitch the world.