Chapter 233: Million Copies
In the United States, Wang Qingyang's case also went to trial. Because the lawyers on both sides were very strong and kept lobbying congressmen and judges, the court was always in recess and could not make a judgment.
They wanted to use Wang Qingyang as an example to deter more people. So they kept making a fuss about the value of the books and issued a certificate with a cumulative value of more than 66 million US dollars. After multiple accumulations, they accused Wang Qingyang and tried to sentence him to years.
The lawyers hired by Liu Hongmin argued that the red grid book was originally a set of books and could only be considered as one item. In addition, Wang Qingyang did not steal it for profit, so they could reduce his sentence and sentenced him to one year for his defense.
Many MPs were successfully lobbied to speak out for this to happen.
Some legislators said that knowledge is priceless and hoped that Wang Qingyang would be sentenced severely. Other legislators believed that Wang Qingyang was just eager to acquire knowledge and was a modern Prometheus, so he should be punished severely.
Soon, the matter escalated to the issue of whether knowledge should be freely disseminated, and not many people paid attention to the Wang Qingyang case itself.
"This strategy is very good. As long as we can guide public opinion and influence the judge's thinking, Wang Qingyang may be given a light sentence."
Richard discussed the situation of public opinion with Liu Hongmin and finally came to this conclusion.
Liu Hongmin reminded: "We can't take it lightly before the verdict comes out."
"Of course, the legal team will remain vigilant." Richard changed the subject, "Mr. Liu, so far, the sales of Strange Tides have exceeded 33 million, and the sales will soon surpass Dead Man's Chest."
Liu Hongmin smiled and said, "I didn't expect that there would be some left for me."
Richard laughed and said, "Of course there is some left. We helped you avoid taxes legally."
The legal tax avoidance method in the United States is to set up a charity fund, but the money in Liu Hongmin's charity fund is invested in China or third world countries that have cooperation with us. After all, it is better to cooperate with the national strategy than to benefit the Americans for nothing!
Richard: "We can still sell about 300,000 copies a day. According to the current trend, it is not impossible to reach 40 million copies."
Liu Hongmin calculated that if the sales volume exceeded 40 million copies, his royalties would reach more than 30 million US dollars. After deducting the charity fund, taxes and the money for forming a legal team, he could still get about 10 million US dollars.
The taxation in the US is very heavy, and the taxation department is very powerful. There are so many capitalists in the US that no matter how powerful they are, they dare not evade taxes.
Liu Hongmin asked: "Have all countries issued it?"
Richard: “There are still some countries where it has not been released, but they are all small countries, so the sales volume won’t be that big.”
Liu Hongmin was a little disappointed. It seemed that it would be difficult to break through 40 million copies.
After hanging up the phone, Liu Hongmin took the little guy from Li Lizhen again and started teasing him.
"Was the call from Richard?" Li Lizhen asked curiously.
Liu Hongmin's attention was focused on his son. He said casually, "Well, he said that the sales of "Turbulent Waves" reached 33 million copies, and the final sales may exceed 40 million copies. But I think it's difficult. "Turbulent Waves" has been published for several months, and the decline is obvious. Even though it can still sell 300,000 copies a day, it probably won't last for a few more days."
Li Lizhen didn't understand this. "Richard is a professional in this field. He said that the sales volume could exceed 40 million copies. It should be possible!"
"hope so!"
Liu Hongmin certainly also hopes that the sales volume can exceed 40 million copies, so that he can get more money.
Li Lizhen: "Hubby, New Year's Day is coming soon. There's a party being held at the Central Taiwan Office. Can you come with me?"
Liu Hongmin asked with a smile: "You can't stay here any longer?"
"Well, it's too boring to stay at home!" Liu Hongmin pinched her lower abdomen, "You haven't recovered yet!"
Postpartum recovery is difficult. Even though Li Lizhen exercises every day, she still hasn't fully recovered.
"I will work harder these days." Li Lizhen said coquettishly, "There will definitely be a lot of people at the party, and I want to go and see it!"
"Okay!" Liu Hongmin agreed with a smile. Li Lizhen was really bored this year. She had just become an adult and was still at the age where she loved to play. She must have been bored to death staying at home all day.
"Thanks husband!"
Li Lizhen came over excitedly and kissed Liu Hongmin on the face.
"Ahhh-"
The little guy bared his teeth and claws and reached out to Li Lizhen.
Li Lizhen smiled and said, "Mom kisses you too!"
In the following days, Li Lizhen doubled her exercise efforts in an effort to recover before the party.
While Liu Hongmin was playing with his son, he also kept in touch with Richard. Richard would report to Liu Hongmin every time the sales of "The Storm" increased by one million copies.
He called every few days, and the sales of "The Storm Riders" were steadily increasing. Finally, two days before New Year's Day, Richard called to announce the good news, "Congratulations, Mr. Liu. As of this morning, the total sales of "The Storm Riders" have reached 40 million copies."
Liu Hongmin was very happy, "I didn't expect to actually surpass it."
"Mr. Liu, our prediction is calculated based on data, with an accuracy rate of over 90%. You can rest assured."
After announcing the good news, Richard added: "The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' series has ended. I wonder what Mr. Liu is going to write next. Will he write another series, just like Tolkien wrote 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings'?"
Liu Hongmin shook his head. The story of Pirates of the Caribbean was already very complete. Adding more would be superfluous. Moreover, he did have the idea of writing another Western fantasy. After all, there were only so many Western legends, and it was really difficult to come up with something new.
The story of World of Warcraft could be written, but the background of World of Warcraft is too grand and there are too many details. In addition, Liu Hongmin has been here for many years and can't remember many details clearly.
The only references I have are the movies and CGs of World of Warcraft. It's a bit of a stretch to write a book based on these!
However, I have nothing to do, so I might as well write something!
Anyway, I don’t have any inspiration right now, so I’ll just make an outline first.
Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" are classics because of their famous plot twists and multi-ethnic conflicts. "World of Warcraft" borrows a lot from these two novels, but it also borrows more from legends around the world, becoming a hodgepodge.
What Liu Hongmin needs to do is to extract the essence and remove the dross. It should be easy to do!
"I have a new idea. Let me study it. If I write it down, I'll tell you."
Richard was very happy to hear this.
"Mr. Liu, please continue to research. With your talent, you will surely be able to write it."
(End of this chapter)
