Chapter 1047: Chapter 283: People of Li Kingdom and Beihai

Chapter 283: Liguo, Beihai People

When a book is released on Qidian, the subscription numbers on the first day can generally predict its long-term prospects depending on the genre. No matter how popular a book is before its release, with high clicks and rankings, the real test is the VIP subscriptions after it’s released. Some books may appear successful at first but suffer from poor subscriptions after release, which can be discouraging for the author. Conversely, satisfactory and surprising subscriptions can motivate the author to write more.

The same goes for movie box offices. Often, the first-day box office can forecast the first week, and the first week can predict the general total box office. For example, most of Anders’s movie box office figures are usually the first-week box office multiplied by three-point-something. It’s different domestically, where fewer films are released, allowing more room to maneuver. Yet, the first day’s achievements still hold significant reference value. If the results are good, the film company will seize the chance to ramp up promotions. If it’s already been deemed a flop, they’ll typically withdraw from promotion efforts, to avoid wasting money.

Because domestic networking, ticketing, and statistics cannot be done in real-time, there will often be news about the first-day box office reports the day after the movie premieres. Usually, the news released by the film company contains exaggerated estimates, calculated from one cinema or a cinema chain to estimate the national box office.

Li Yan understands this and doesn’t rush to learn how the first day’s box office was. As for whether to push promotion or accept failure, Qiao Pan has been tasked with planning it. After a few failures, he’s likely to do extensive research on box office data. However, plans often go awry as the film market in Yun Country Mainland has drastically changed. From Red Cliff to If You Are the One, then to Founding of a Republic, and Tangshan Earthquake, and Let the Bullets Fly... nearly every six months the box office record is broken.

Although he intends to do this, in the morning, he tells Yurong that he won’t be going to the company and doesn’t need to be sitting in the office. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Yurong doesn’t think much of it, whether he’s going to participate in promotions or meet with Yu Xiaodi, she doesn’t want to inquire.

...

In fact, Li Yan wasn’t looking for an opportunity to meet Yu Xiaodi, nor was he looking to meet Li Jie or Wen Qianyi.

He just needs some time alone with Yue Yao—for work reasons.

While eating breakfast, Li Yan indicates this to Yue Yao with his eyes, and after Yurong goes to work, they head upstairs.

Li Yan mentions Zheng Tian’s request from last night and also takes out the USB drive, having not looked at its contents yet.

After hearing his retelling, Yue Yao agrees, saying: "You did the right thing. If such a task demands one billion International Coins, his business will be unattainable in the future. His circle probably has similar issues. Perhaps we can help him moving forward..."

She starts on a positive note and then changes the subject, "Let him put the payment into investment, you take equity. This partnership idea is good for direct profit from investments. However, could it bring any negative impact to you?"

Li Yan spreads his hands, "What’s the big deal? Haha, we assassins are even less seen in daylight, right?"

Yue Yao shakes her head and softly reminds him, "I mean... Yu Family."

Li Yan frowns slightly. The reason he urgently needs to demonstrate earning ability is Chen Mingying. Suddenly receiving a large overseas venture capital already raises suspicion. Although He Bin will handle it so traces won’t be tracked back to overseas details, if they immediately follow with a cooperation with Zheng Tian and receive a large unconditional investment, it might make Chen Mingying suspect this overseas venture capital also comes from Zheng Tian.

"You’ve thought it through too. It’s still early, I’ll contact him again, maybe we’ll change the approach."

Yue Yao sees him taking the reminder seriously and knows he will manage it well, so she doesn’t say much else. "Let’s see what kind of person or organization this is. A commission of twelve and a half million International Coins is already very high. This is a good opportunity for ’them’ to practice."

She’s in agreement with Li Yan in this regard and sees no need for Li Yan to personally take action; it’s a suitable target for ’them’ to practice.

"Liguo people." Regarding matters involving Nian Yufei’s mother’s grievances, Li Yan isn’t able to detail them; he merely mentioned the transaction details. So Yue Yao realizes the target upon opening the USB drive and seeing the collected information. "So young."

Li Yan laughs, "No, that’s a photo from twenty years ago that they managed to get."

...

Yue Yao chats idly with Li Yan while seriously reviewing the data collected by Zheng Tian’s team. Though incomplete and limited, when connecting to old clues from Uncle Mu’s early recollection, they have some insight.

Just from a brief look, she solemnly says, "This task seems to be more difficult than I expected. This person has been involved in the Assassin Realm for nearly twenty years—longer than our history—and could very well grow into a formidable organization!"

Li Yan is optimistic, "Such things depend on luck, opportunity, and member talent, not directly proportionate to time. Seven or eight years ago, their organization barely reached C-level. I think there are few C-level killers among them. Did they suddenly evolve over the years?"

His words make Yue Yao want to laugh, "Your words... sound a bit like an old-timer’s tone?"

"Hey~~ I am almost thirty! Don’t I have the right to sound old?" Li Yan grins.

Indeed, it’s not just his age; it’s his experience that fully qualifies him to comment with authority.

"But don’t forget, ’they’ are still under seven years. Your organization started from scratch and has already reached A-level, not even accounting for your level. You won’t allow them progressing from a C-level base in seven years to A-level? Even S-level?"

Li Yan smiles silently; if their organization really had S-level standards, he wouldn’t have heard of their name. If some killers within reached S-level, Nian Yufei wouldn’t be targeted multiple times yet still be safe.

Looking at him, Yue Yao shakes her head and remarks, "Remember what you said earlier, this person and Zheng Tian have a grudge; forming an assassin group is secondary to revenge. He could endure ten, twenty years... why not stay low-key?"

Li Yan considers for a moment; the Liguo person capable of allying with Nian Yufei’s mom’s family likely had a considerable foundation before their decline, possibly thriving during the economic boom times of Liguo. When he failed to forge a union with Nian Yufei’s mom’s family to leverage himself, resentment led to revenge, and he himself lacked the power to revive his family fortunes, indicating a substantial enterprise.

After being completely crushed, attempting to recover through the shadowy assassin industry is clearly unfeasible. This person had already become radical. Since he can’t earn big money through assassins to restore family fortunes, he might genuinely focus on revenge against those who toppled Nian Yufei’s mom, earning just enough for his underlings to be satisfied. His persistent pursuit after Nian Yufei over the years demonstrates his obsession.

"Alright. Don’t underestimate them, raise their danger level. But can we handle them?"

Yue Yao jokes, "With you, we can definitely handle them. If it’s just them, I think they’ll be thrilled to have a lot of work at once. What about those few? Should we interrupt their training?"

Li Yan knows she’s talking about Feng Wuqing, Shi Jian’en, and Liu Xi, who are the strongest in the organization, each meeting A-level assassin standards; they also participated in S-level task drills last time. If this Liguo Assassin Group remains at C-level or only B-level, their intervention isn’t necessary. But without knowing strength, number, and specific circumstances, involving them ensures safety. It wouldn’t matter if members are injured, but loss is significant upon casualties.

"Arrange for people to enter Liguo first, collect information as thoroughly as possible. When it’s time to act, deploy them too. This isn’t an interruption; real-world combat with fellow assassins is the best training!"

Yue Yao agrees with this approach; no matter how strenuous training is, it strengthens personal skills, yet only in killing can peak senses be stimulated.—Of course, Li Yan wouldn’t subject ’them’ to partner-killing training as he did in the past. (To be continued, for more Chapters, visit www.qidian.com, support the author, and read legally!)