System: Master Your Life-Chapter 572 - 40: Xu Lin’s Mind Unlocked (Part 3)

Xu Lin’s book sold so many copies in just one day, it’s clearly dominating sales.

This time, Xu Lin also took Ning Yuhuan to the bookstore from yesterday.

When they arrived, it was already past six.

At this time, students had finished classes, and the office workers had left work, so there were even more people.

They were queued up in long lines, and it took people to maintain order.

Everyone came to buy Xu Lin’s book.

Which online writer could carry such weight?

Don’t assume that just because a book by a famous author is popular online, it will sell as well in print. Most of them end up collecting dust on shelves, ignored.

After all, in the digital reading age, physical reading has already been greatly reduced, and web novels have even less need for physical copies, unless someone particularly likes the book.

Xu Lin and Ning Yuhuan queued for fifty minutes before it was their turn.

Ning Yuhuan was very happy after buying a set of books.

"Honey, I want a signature too!"

Ning Yuhuan heard from Liu Yuqing and others today that her boyfriend was trending again.

She took a quick look and sure enough, he was on the trending list.

Ning Yuhuan didn’t tell others that Mr. Xu was her boyfriend, but even without saying it, everyone knew. They thought to themselves that you two are just not admitting it.

At this moment, Ning Yuhuan had already prepared a pen.

After Xu Lin took the pen, he thought for a bit and decided that writing some ancient poetry would be too cliché, so he chose to write something different.

He wrote, "To the forever gentle and lovely senior."

Ning Yuhuan looked on with a broad smile, as bright as the sun.

"I want to write something too!"

Ning Yuhuan also wrote a line underneath, "To the forever charming and talented mischievous junior that I love."

"Oh? Such a long preface?"

"Do you like it?"

The senior looked at him affectionately.

"Can I say no?"

"Hmph!"

"Hmph again if you dare, I want to see you act cute."

"No way."

Ning Yuhuan shook her head.

"Not gonna act cute, huh? You’ll see what I’m capable of tonight!"

Xu Lin wrapped his arm around her shoulder, leaned in, and whispered in her ear, "Any relatives coming over?"

"No." She shook her head again.

"Then let’s go home!"

Xu Lin’s interest was piqued.

After eating outside, the two made their way back to their rented place.

Ning Yuhuan hadn’t been there for a while, and with her obsessive-compulsive tendencies, she immediately started tidying up.

Xu Lin was already used to this; he simply let her clean up. If he didn’t, Ning Yuhuan would feel uneasy.

However, Xu Lin wasn’t one of those messy guys, so the place was quite clean overall, and it didn’t require much effort to tidy up.

It was all done in just over half an hour.

After washing her hands in the second-floor bathroom, Ning Yuhuan came to the room.

Seeing Xu Lin on the computer and not playing games, she knew he was busy, so she didn’t disturb him.

But Xu Lin saw her, "Come over."

Xu Lin beckoned with his finger.

Ning Yuhuan walked over, and upon seeing Xu Lin pointing to his lap, she was already familiar with this routine and sat down on Xu Lin’s lap.

Today, Ning Yuhuan was wearing sweatpants, making the sensation indescribable when she sat down.

Her hips were somewhere between Xia Xiyao’s and Rong Xiyi’s, combining the best of both worlds, just right in every aspect.

Xu Lin couldn’t help but give a few squeezes.

"You perv!"

Ning Yuhuan pouted slightly.

"This isn’t being perverted; it’s called being romantic. Come, give me a kiss."

Xu Lin pointed to his mouth, and Ning Yuhuan leaned in for a kiss.

Afterwards, Xu Lin adjusted his position to let Ning Yuhuan sit comfortably and leaned against him, both facing the computer screen.

"Look at the screen."

Xu Lin pointed to the screen.

"What’s this?"

"Remember I wrote a new book earlier? It’s finished now. I’m planning to sell the rights."

Xu Lin briefly explained the rights sale to her.

Actually, several parties are currently interested in acquiring the rights to Xu Lin’s book. One is the website side, which has always wanted to sign Xu Lin’s book for a hefty price, but Xu Lin didn’t agree because this way, his copyright revenue would have to be shared with the site, and there might be some tedious cooperation issues to deal with.

Xu Lin didn’t want to deal with that.

He just wanted to keep the copyright firmly in his own hands.

So this time, Xu Lin’s plan was to let others manage the rights while he reaped the majority of the profits.

The publisher currently releasing "Miss Maybach" had already reached out to Xu Lin, wanting to secure the rights to the new book.

For publishing, Xu Lin didn’t have many opinions; if the price was right, he would just give it to that publisher. Currently, "Miss Maybach" is being published by them, so they’re familiar with each other.

Publishing doesn’t really bring in much money; the interests involved aren’t significant.

As the saying goes, the print book market is what it is.

For a work of the level of "3 Body Problem," its domestic sales just exceed three million copies, and remember, the first part of "3 Body Problem" was published in January 2008, and it’s already April 2026, eighteen years later, and it’s still not even four million copies in the domestic market.

Although "3 Body Problem" has sold over thirty million copies worldwide, Xu Lin currently only considers the domestic market for his book. This kind of story has no market overseas because it’s neither sci-fi nor fantasy; the overseas market won’t bother with it.

So Xu Lin only focused on the domestic side, which shows that there’s indeed not much to gain in physical book publishing.

Currently, Xu Lin is only planning to sell the rights for the publishing section.

And as for adaptations?

It depends on whether anyone is willing to invest because this story belongs to the gentle and warm genre, with a slight touch of youthful bitterness in the beginning.

Xu Lin thinks it could be turned into a film, and it wouldn’t require a significant budget, but he’s uncertain about the market reaction.

Moreover, someone would need to invest.

"Wait a minute!"

As Xu Lin thought about it, an idea suddenly struck him.

"What’s wrong?"

Ning Yuhuan asked curiously.

"I just fell into a mindset trap, thinking that for film rights, there needs to be an investor, and without investment, it can’t be filmed."

Xu Lin laughed, "Then I thought, why don’t I invest in myself, hire professionals to make a small-budget youth film, and adapt it while acting as the investor and just supervising."

So, can’t I become the capital myself?

Even if it’s a loss, how much can it be? It’s not like I’m investing millions.

The significant investment in film making is for what? If it doesn’t involve massive special effects, the big expenses usually go to the cast.

Are extras inherently inferior?

Not really; a lot of social resources are controlled by vested interests, and many young people don’t even get a chance.

In old Hong Kong films, many of those famous superstars weren’t even professionally trained.

Besides, what if it succeeds?

Xu Lin had a moment of enlightenment.