Chapter 23: Drawing Fire from Beneath the Cauldron

This afternoon, Qidian and Huanjian jointly issued a statement.

The gist of the announcement was that the recent chaos in the web novel industry had caused unnecessary trouble for authors and readers, significantly hindering writers from focusing on their creative work. As industry leaders, Huanjian and Qidian stated they had an obligation to maintain good order, and after negotiations, they had decided to enter into a friendly partnership effective immediately.

The partnership focused on two main points: first, the benefits provided to authors on both platforms would be synchronized; second, neither site would accept authors poaching from the other.

In the brief announcement, there was not a single mention of Zeyue.

However, anyone with a discerning eye could see it clearly: in a three-way battle for supremacy, an alliance between two parties, regardless of what was said publicly, had a transparent motive—to join forces against Zeyue.

The atmosphere in the office was somber. Everyone stared expectantly at Zhao Zejun, the actual owner and spiritual leader of Zeyue.

The fledgling Zeyue had been riding high just recently, but overnight, it had become a target, viewed as a common enemy by the two most formidable sites in the country. The people in the room were the company’s backbone, but they were also ordinary college students with limited experience. For almost all of them, this was their first time participating in a face-to-face business confrontation, and they were inevitably nervous and flustered.

The scale of these two rivals was simply too high. One was the domestic leader with the deepest roots, and the other was the most professional in the industry. Especially regarding Huanjian—just a month or two ago, in their eyes, Huanjian had still been an object of worship in the industry.

Facing this alliance, most Zeyue employees felt as though a catastrophe was imminent.

Zhao Zejun folded his arms and stared at the announcement on the big screen for a while before suddenly grinning. "They’ve cast me as Cao Cao."

The destructive power of this announcement was indeed significant.

With benefits synchronized, it meant the two sides were ending their price war, which to some extent neutralized Zeyue's biggest current advantage: its abundant capital.

Previously, with three companies competing, the fight was essentially about grabbing authors by raising compensation and using money to attract talent.

Comparing financial reserves alone, neither Huanjian nor Qidian could match Zeyue’s economic strength on their own.

A one-on-one fight was already unfavorable for them, let alone a three-way attrition war, which essentially meant each company was fighting two others. The drain was too high. Without external interference, Zeyue would be the one to survive to the end.

Now that the other two had synchronized their benefits and stopped their internal price war, they had reduced friction and could concentrate their strength against Zeyue.

As for the second point—Huanjian and Qidian not poaching from each other—that also served to reduce their internal friction. On the surface, this had nothing to do with Zeyue, but in reality, a website must grow and attract authors to survive. If they stopped poaching from each other, where would they get new authors to fuel their growth? Aside from newcomers, the only source left was to poach from the third giant in the industry: Zeyue.

Beyond these surface-level meanings, the alliance had numerous intangible effects. It signaled to the entire industry a shift in the domestic web novel landscape. The alliance held absolute superiority and market share, while Zeyue was being marginalized.

Zhao Zejun scanned the temporary conference room and suddenly realized this was a good opportunity to temper his team. He asked, "You are all the backbone of Zeyue. What are your thoughts on this?"

After a few seconds of silence, Song Yun was the first to speak. "Mr. Zhao, I think we should break them apart one by one!"

"Tell me, what are you thinking?"

Song Yun thought for a moment and said, "Qidian and Huanjian were old rivals with deep conflicts. I don’t believe they are a solid block. This alliance is actually a move of desperation. It looks like an alliance on the surface, but it isn’t secure. It’s like the Three Kingdoms—Shu and Wu allied, yet they still fought each other tooth and nail. Since they can form an alliance, why can’t we approach Huanjian or Qidian, offer better terms, and break their pact?"

Pausing, Song Yun squeezed out a smile. "Looking at it from another angle, it actually shows that Zeyue is powerful enough that we’ve already surpassed either of the other two sites, forcing them to join forces."

This idea resonated with some of the employees. Zhao Zejun nodded slightly and said noncommittally, "Song Yun’s idea has the flair of ancient strategists. There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. Not bad."

Zhao Zejun’s calm and unhurried demeanor helped relax the atmosphere in the room, and more people dared to voice their opinions.

The company’s accountant, Xiao Tong, who was in her twenties and had just graduated, spoke up. Being young and bold, she hesitated before saying, "Mr. Zhao, Brother Song, I handle the finances, so I’m relatively familiar with the company's books. Financial abundance is our advantage. Even if they have allied, they can’t consolidate their funds; fundamentally, they are still fighting their own battles, so we still have the economic advantage. I think we should just ignore their tricks and keep raising author benefits. Naturally, more authors will flock to Zeyue."

Zhao Zejun laughed heartily. "Exactly. No matter how they ally, they remain two separate sites; their intrinsic strength has not changed qualitatively. Accountant Tong hit the nail on the head—all enemies are paper tigers, easily pierced."

Accountant Tong smiled shyly. "Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Zhao."

Several others spoke next, and Zhao Zejun remained noncommittal, offering only praise.

Strangely enough, before Zhao Zejun arrived, the atmosphere in the room had been incredibly tense, with everyone acting as if they were facing a mortal enemy. But after the brainstorming session, the tension seemed to have vanished. Instead, everyone had regained their fighting spirit, eager to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

Zhao Zejun watched coldly from the sidelines, and seeing that the timing was right, he gently pressed his hands downward.

The conference room fell silent instantly.

"After our discussion, we can at least determine one thing: the situation is not as unfavorable as it seems. On the contrary, Zeyue still holds the initiative, and there are many ways to respond."

Zhao Zejun nodded slightly toward those who had offered suggestions, then continued, "Whether it’s breaking their alliance or raising prices, both are long-term wars of attrition aimed at winning over authors. My personal thought is to 'draw the firewood from under the cauldron'—to directly cut off the possibility of the other two sites poaching from Zeyue, causing their alliance to collapse on its own."

Bewildered gazes fell upon Zhao Zejun; they did not understand what he meant by "drawing the firewood from under the cauldron."

Zhao Zejun paused and said, "I intend to implement a contract system for authors at Zeyue, establishing the legal relationship between the authors and the platform. Any signed author, during their period of creation and for a long time thereafter, will not be allowed to write books for other websites."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire room was stunned.

"Mr. Zhao, this... is this feasible?" Song Yun was the first to express doubt.

Zhao Zejun smiled faintly. Instead of answering Song Yun directly, he dropped an even bigger bombshell: "Not only will we establish the legal relationship between the authors and the site, but the site will also own all copyright rights to the novels."

The conference room erupted.