Literary Master 1978

According to the sales volume in the past six months, Lin Chaoyang received a royalty income of 84,600 Hong Kong dollars in this royalty settlement, which is a decrease compared to the previous figures, but it is still quite considerable.

Moreover, the Hong Kong dollar has appreciated this year, and 84,600 Hong Kong dollars is about 25,500 yuan when converted into RMB.

The sales volume of just over 30,000 copies brought Lin Chaoyang nearly 200,000 Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to more than 50,000 yuan in income. Royalties in Hong Kong are still easy to make!

After sighing, Lin Chaoyang continued to read the letter.

After talking about the sales and royalties of "The Death of Van Gogh", Dong Qiao actually mentioned "Crossing Guandong" in the letter.

"Half a month ago, I was pleased that my brother's new work "Crossing Guandong" has been published in the mainland in recent months, which has caused a sensation in China. It has been sold out quickly and sold well in the north and south. I specially asked my friends to buy a copy of "Huacheng" for me.

After reading it, I was amazed. This work is truly a rare book in the contemporary Chinese novel world, with rich epic qualities..."

Dong Qiao's compliment was very elegant, but it was obviously for a purpose.

Sure enough, at the end of the letter, Dong Qiao mentioned that he hoped Lin Chaoyang could hand over the publication of "Crossing Guandong" in Hong Kong to Ming Pao Publishing House.

After reading the letter, Lin Chaoyang pondered for a while. Tao Yushu was about to go out to work. Seeing him standing there after reading the letter, he asked, "What's wrong? Who wrote the letter?"

"Ming Pao Publishing House. The royalties for "The Death of Van Gogh" are about to be settled, and they want the publishing rights for "Crossing the Guandong"."

"You said before that their royalties are a bit low, right?"

"Yes, so I'm hesitating."

Tao Yushu gathered her hair, tied a rubber band, and prepared to go out. "Then you think about it yourself. I'm going to work."

She said and went out.

Tao Yumo came to Lin Chaoyang with Xiao Dongdong in her arms and asked curiously, "Brother-in-law, have you settled your royalties again? How much is it this time?"

"Not much, more than 20,000."

The ordinary words made Tao Yumo stunned. She said more than 20,000 as if it was more than two yuan. She didn't know how to respond to Lin Chaoyang's words for a while.

So she changed the subject and asked, "Brother-in-law, if "Crossing the Guandong" is to be published, can it be made into a movie for a Hong Kong film company?"

In the past few months, she has visited Du Feng's video hall whenever she has time and is fascinated by Hong Kong movies.

"For a Hong Kong film company?" Lin Chaoyang looked at her in surprise, "They can't make such things!"

"Oh. If "Crossing the Guandong" is published, it will definitely make a lot of money."

"Yeah."

Lin Chaoyang was thinking about Dong Qiao's request and answered her absent-mindedly.

After a while, he said hello to Tao Yumo and went straight to the Telegraph Building in Xidan.

Nowadays, making and receiving calls is a hassle. Short-distance calls are not a big deal. It is a bit troublesome to use the office phone and public phone, but there is always a way.

Long-distance calls, especially international long-distance calls, are really troublesome to make.

Long-distance calls can generally be made at a larger post office, and international long-distance calls are even more difficult. They can only be made at the Telegraph Building.

Moreover, because there are many people and few telephones, the telephone lines in the telegraph building are extremely busy and often blocked.

So many people who want to make international long-distance calls to relatives and friends abroad often have to bring lunch to queue up, and the queue takes half a day.

In addition to the time cost, the money is also expensive, more than ten yuan per minute, and a three- to five-minute call costs a month's salary for ordinary working-class people.

Guangzhou is close to Hong Kong, and it is not surprising that the craze of "Crossing the Guandong" in China spread there, but Lin Chaoyang did not expect Ming Pao Publishing House to propose the publication so decisively.

You know, "Crossing the Guandong" has not been published in the mainland yet.

But with the stingy style of Ming Pao Publishing House, Lin Chaoyang certainly could not easily agree to them.

What's more, with the successful publication of "The Death of Van Gogh" in Hong Kong, Lin Chaoyang has also gained some fame. This time, Dong Qiao took the initiative to ask for publication, so he naturally could not take such a low royalty standard as last time.

Arriving at the telegraph building, queuing, filling out forms, paying, waiting... It was almost noon before Lin Chaoyang made the call.

Writing letters is too troublesome, so calling is faster.

Dong Qiao was very surprised when he received Lin Chaoyang's call. The two chatted for a while, and Dong Qiao talked about "Crossing Guandong".

He knew that it was inconvenient to make calls in the mainland, and Lin Chaoyang must have called him to discuss "Crossing Guandong".

Before the publication of "The Death of Van Gogh", Ming Pao Publishing House gave Lin Chaoyang a 12% royalty rate, which is not high in the Hong Kong literary world.

Dong Qiao had contact with Lin Chaoyang twice and knew his personality, so he also expected that he would definitely mention the royalty.

It was just that Lin Chaoyang suddenly raised the royalty standard to 20%, which really surprised him.

Because the Hong Kong publishing market is relatively small, the royalty rate has always been relatively high compared to some countries and regions with larger markets. The royalty standards of famous writers are between 15~20%.

Lin Chaoyang asked for the highest standard all of a sudden, which really made Dong Qiao feel embarrassed.

Lin Chaoyang did not entangle with him, but just expressed his attitude, that he would not discuss the royalties unless it was 20%, and his attitude was very tough.

Lin Chaoyang was not afraid that his tough attitude would anger Ming Pao Publishing House or Dong Qiao, and everyone was doing business.

Since you dared to ask for a 5% royalty standard before because I was not famous, it is not unreasonable for me to ask for 20% now.

Of course, this kind of thing cannot be decided on the spot. Dong Qiao said that he should think about it, and Lin Chaoyang hung up the phone.

After making the call, he settled the account and found that the fifty yuan he paid was not only not enough, he had to make up another six yuan.

Lin Chaoyang's heart was bleeding because even for the phone bill, the 20% royalty rate could not be reduced by one cent!

A few days later, Lin Chaoyang received a call from the south, from Li Shifei of Huacheng Publishing House.

"Crossing Guandong" was successfully published, and the novel caused such a sensation that it is rare in today's literary world.

In the next period of time, Huacheng Publishing House will prepare for the publication of the novel, so it plans to hold a seminar on "Crossing Guandong" at the end of July.

The seminar was held in Huacheng, but the standards were very high. Li Shifei named several names to be invited.

If large publishing houses such as the Humanities Society and Yanjing Publishing House hold seminars in Yanjing, it would not be unusual to invite these people to appear. However, Huacheng Publishing House is located in Guangdong, and it is very sincere to invite so many seniors at once. It's not big.

"Guangdong is a long way away, are you sure they can accept the invitation?" Lin Chaoyang asked Li Shifei with some uncertainty.

“Maybe they won’t come to seminars for other works, but they will definitely come to the seminar for ‘Enter Guandong’.”

Although Li Shifei's words were suspected of being flattering, Lin Chaoyang was still very happy. Who doesn't want to hear good things?

The work seminar held by Huacheng Publishing House was of high standard and involved publishing. After all, Lin Chaoyang had signed a royalty contract, so he would definitely attend such an occasion.

After agreeing to Li Shifei's invitation, Lin Chaoyang did not expect that Li Hanxiang would suddenly come to their house just one day later.

"When did you come to the mainland?"

"I've just been here a few days and I've finished writing the first draft of the script. Come over and talk to CCTV about cooperation."

After breaking up with the co-production company, Li Hanxiang got involved with the China TV Drama International Cooperation Company.

His new film "Fire Dragon" is adapted from "The Second Half of His Life" written by Li Shuxian, Puyi's wife after liberation. It describes the second half of Puyi's life as an ordinary person after liberation, and his love life with his wife Li Shuxian. .

After chatting for a while about the movie, Li Hanxiang suddenly stared at the official chair he was sitting on. He rubbed the armrests of the chair, as if a salty man had seen a naked beauty.

The official hat chairs are named because their appearance is similar to the top hats worn by officials in ancient times. The pair of official hat chairs in Lin Chaoyang's study have a comfortable and elegant shape, exquisite carving and excellent appearance. Li Hanxiang was moved when he looked at them.

His biggest hobby is collecting furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the past two years of filming in the Mainland, he has picked up a lot of pieces.

"Is this chair from Huanghuali? When was it made?"

"During the late Ming Dynasty."

Li Hanxiang stood up again and took a closer look, "Oh, you're keeping it up really well. Are you just going to let people sit down like this?"

When he said this, his face was full of distress, "There are few people in my study, and you are the third one to sit in it."

Li Hanxiang's hand touched the wishful-shaped consecration light of the chair, and a look of greed flashed in his eyes, "This chair is really a waste of money if you follow it, why don't you give it to me."

Faced with his unreasonable request, Lin Chaoyang only replied: "You are ugly, but you think you are quite beautiful!"

Li Hanxiang was not angry when he was scolded by Lin Chaoyang. He was prepared to be scolded when he made this request.

It's a pity that Lin Chaoyang refused too firmly, otherwise he would have really wanted to beg for nothing.

After chatting for a while, Lin Chaoyang saw that he had no intention of leaving, so he asked: "Is this what you came here for?"

"Invite me to dinner tonight and I'll tell you."

Lin Chaoyang sneered and said, "You feel so confident about doing so while doing so."

All joking aside, having a meal with a guest is a courtesy and must not be neglected.

For Li Hanxiang's sake, Lin Chaoyang bought a few more dishes in the evening. Li Hanxiang ate with all kinds of meat, staring at the red stewed meat on the table and his mouth was full of oil.

"Huizai told me before that many people said that your cooking skills are good, and I regret not having tasted it earlier." Li Hanxiang chewed the meat in his mouth, eating with excitement, and asked: "How do you make this meat? It’s better than what the restaurant chef makes.”

"Is it delicious? It's simmered with a bottle of Xifeng wine." Lin Chaoyang said with some distress.

In entertaining Li Hanxiang, Lin Chaoyang showed his sincerity.

The red braised meat is seasoned with sweet sauce and simmered with pure wine. When it comes out of the pot, the meat is as red as amber.

"... You can also simmer it with water, but you have to boil out the water vapor. Do not lift the lid during the process, otherwise the fat will be lost and the flavor will be lost.

The time to cook the pot must be just right, too early for it to turn yellow, late for it to turn purple, and the meat will become hard and woody..."

Li Hanxiang's relationship with Lin Chaoyang had always been casual, and he rarely looked at him differently because of his status as a writer. But today, when he listened to Lin Chaoyang's diet, he felt a bit of respect in his heart.

"If you go to Xiangjiang, you can become a gourmet!"

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said: "Is the threshold for gourmets in Xiangjiang so low?"

"It's really not that high. They are all literati who have nothing to do with anything. If you really want to talk about their views on food, they may not be as good as cooks."

Lin Chaoyang nodded when he heard this. If you don't know how to cook, you can't be called a gourmet.

After chatting for a while, Lin Chaoyang remembered the topic of the afternoon and asked, "What else do you want to do today?"

Li Hanxiang picked up a piece of red braised meat with chopsticks, put it into his mouth, and spoke slowly.

"You didn't come to the premiere of "Behind the Scene" last time. The Hong Kong Film Awards will be held at the beginning of next month. "Behind the Scene" has a great chance of winning this time. You are a screenwriter, so come and attend."

The "Hong Kong Film Awards" mentioned by Li Hanxiang are the Hong Kong Film Awards, which were founded in 1982 and are only the third this year.

"Behind the Scene" and its two parts occupied two of the top five annual box office positions in Hong Kong after their release last year. The audience responded strongly and the film critics also gave rave reviews.

This time, "Behind the Scene" was nominated for eight awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenwriter, Best Actor and Best Actress, and can be said to be the strongest competitor for this Hong Kong Film Awards.

Lin Chaoyang is the screenwriter of the movie and is likely to win the award, so Li Hanxiang invited him to Hong Kong.

"When is the award ceremony?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

"August 4th."

Lin Chaoyang happened to be going to Guangzhou at the end of the month to attend a seminar on "Crossing the Guandong". The two events are so close, so it doesn't hurt to go.

He explained the situation to Li Hanxiang, who happily said, "Okay. Then contact me when you arrive in Shenzhen and I'll pick you up."

After discussing the trip to Hong Kong, Li Hanxiang left after dinner.

Lin Chaoyang said to Tao Yushu, "Come with me at the end of the month, go for a stroll in Guangzhou, and then take a stroll in Hong Kong."

"No. The editorial office is too busy, and I can't leave."

After the beginning of the year, Wang Meng planned to set up a correspondence center and a supplement "Friends of People's Literature" for "People's Literature". Seeing that the correspondence center would be opened in August and the supplement would also be launched, Tao Yushu was the executive deputy editor-in-chief, and her job was indeed not easy.

It might be more uncomfortable for her, a big shot, to give up her job to go on vacation than to kill her.

Knowing Tao Yushu's temper, Lin Chaoyang stopped persuading her.

At this time, Tao Yumo came over with Xiao Dongdong in her arms, "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, I'm fine, take me there!"

Lin Chaoyang glanced at her, "You go? Who will take care of the child if you go?"

Tao Yumo: ...