Literary Master 1978

In the early years, the most restaurants in Yanjing City were Shandong cuisine, and Fengzeyuan was one of the representatives. It was also considered a famous restaurant in Yanjing City.

Everyone was chatting while eating, and Lin Chaoyang learned that the table cost 88 yuan.

Sure enough, no matter in later generations or now, marriage is a business that costs money like water!

For fifteen tables of guests, the banquet alone will cost 1,300 yuan. Most of the money for everyone is five yuan, and ten yuan is very little. If you really think about it, the cost of hosting the banquet will not be recovered.

Lin Chaoyang's table was full of acquaintances from the Yanjing Literary and Art Association. Everyone chatted while eating, and the atmosphere was harmonious and harmonious.

Not far away from him were classmates from the Chinese Department of Yanda, Class of ’77.

Today, Liang Zuo's wedding, except for those who studied abroad and were assigned to go back to their hometown, all the students who stayed in Yanjing came.

Liu Zhenyun sat among a group of classmates, beside him were Chen Jiangong, Liu Zhida, Li Tong, Cen Xianqing and other classmates. He came to attend Liang Zuo's wedding today, and he felt a lot of emotion in his heart.

He was born in a rural area. When he was in school, he felt the gap in family background and living standards with his classmates. Today's wedding of Liang Zuo vividly demonstrated this gap.

A banquet costs 88 yuan, which is equivalent to Liu Zhenyun's salary for one and a half months. He has worked for nearly three years since graduation and has only saved 800 yuan, which is not enough for ten banquets, let alone other expenses for this wedding. expenses.

Then there are these guests. Before, Liu Zhenyun only knew that Liang Zuo’s mother was the writer Chen Rong, but he didn’t know that his father was actually the deputy editor-in-chief of the People’s Daily.

Both parents are celebrities in the cultural world, and the guests who come and go are naturally not ordinary people. In comparison, they, classmates of Yan University, became the most inconspicuous presence at this wedding.

"Zhenyun, when are you and Jianmei going to get married?" Chen Jiangong asked suddenly.

Liu Zhenyun’s girlfriend Guo Jianmei graduated from the law department with a grade of 79 and only started working last year.

"It's almost here, in another half a year."

The two of them have been in a relationship since they were in school, and it has been more than four years now. In this era, it is definitely a long-distance relationship.

Of course, the most fundamental reason for not getting married is lack of money. Both of them are from rural areas, and their parents can't provide much support when they get married, so they have to save their own money.

Therefore, the two of them could only save money slowly.

"Zhenyun will get married next year?"

The two were talking when a voice came from next to them. They turned around and saw that it was Lin Chaoyang who was holding a wine glass and looking at everyone with a smile.

Liu Zhenyun stood up quickly and replied: "Yes."

"Has a date been set?"

"Not yet, I just have this idea."

"Then you have to inform me then." Lin Chaoyang said.

"Definitely."

After chatting for a few words about Liu Zhenyun's marriage, Lin Chaoyang chatted with everyone for a few more words, drank a glass of wine with everyone, and then left.

After he left, Li Tong suddenly sighed, "I didn't realize it when I was in school. I didn't realize it until I entered society!"

"Understand what?" Liu Zhida asked.

"I understand how big the gap between people is. Look at Chaoyang, when we were in school, everyone was just friends.

When we meet again now, do you have the nerve to go up and hook up with me like before? "

Li Tong's words were rude but not rude, causing everyone to fall into silence for a moment.

Although when we were chatting just now, everyone was still talking and laughing as before, but the atmosphere when we were together was far less relaxed and comfortable than before.

In the final analysis, their identities have changed. They have changed from the proud sons of Yan University to screws in society, while Lin Chaoyang's reputation has been at its peak in the past two years.

Even Chen Jiangong, who had achieved some success among his classmates, was dwarfed by Lin Chaoyang when he stood in front of him.

There is a saying in later generations: Your university teacher may be the person with the highest social status that you can come into contact with in your life.

Lin Chaoyang is not the teacher of this group of people. After graduating from Yan University, they come into contact with people of high social status.

But in the past, when we were in the ivory tower of the school, we really couldn't feel the huge gap between people.

Only after they left society did they suddenly understand this truth.

"That's a matter of your own mentality. Now that you have power, fame, and money, aren't you the same person anymore?" Chen Jiangong retorted.

Li Tong emphasized: "What I mean is mentality. Do you understand mentality?"

"That's because you have an unbalanced mentality!"

Chen Jiangong's words are not unreasonable. When they were in school, Yan University students were really trained as pillars of the country, and after graduation they all entered good units.

But they are still young people after all, and they are just a little transparent when they enter the work unit. How can they get ahead if they don't survive for ten or twenty years?

This gap between ideal and reality will indeed affect people's mentality.

"Forget it, it doesn't make sense to you. You are now a great writer, and you are not of the same class as us poor people."

Chen Jiangong laughed and scolded: "No wonder the People's Daily's reports are becoming less and less grounded. I think you are responsible for the bad atmosphere."

After graduation, Li Tong was assigned to work as a reporter at People's Daily.

The two of them were noisy, and others echoed their voices. The atmosphere at the table became lively, and it brought back the feeling of when they were in school.

Liu Zhenyun looked at the noisy classmates, a look of nostalgia flashed in his eyes, and then he couldn't help but sigh.

Don't listen to what they say about how miserable they are, but who has a bad background?

Chen Jiangong's parents were both from a cultural institution, Li Tong's parents were from a government institution, Liu Zhida's family lived in Baiwanzhuang, and Cen Xianqing was from a rural background like him, but she was a lesbian, so marriage was destined to not require much worry.

Watching Liang Zuo get married, he felt a lot of pressure on his shoulders.

The wedding banquet costs 88 yuan per table. The dormitory is allocated by the work unit, and the young couple purchased furniture and appliances.

The washing machine is a Hitachi fully automatic, priced at 750 yuan; the electric fan is a Watson brand floor fan, priced at 158 ​​yuan; the TV is a Peony brand 14-inch color TV, priced at 1,050 yuan; an Aerospace brand stereo, priced at 420 yuan; a five-piece set Concave-convex furniture, price 720 yuan...

He recalled the content of his chat with Liang Zuo in the morning. In addition to pressure, the most important thing in his heart was envy.

Getting married cost several thousand yuan. Liang Zuocai had only been working for less than three years, so naturally he couldn't afford such expenses, thanks to his parents' support.

Liu Zhenyun did not expect his wedding to be so extravagant, he only hoped to give Guo Jianmei a decent wedding.

He has been studying writing since college, but he has not achieved any results so far. After such a long time, if he were an ordinary person, he would have been discouraged, but Liu Zhenyun is still persisting.

In addition to his love for writing, a more important reason is his eagerness to change his economic situation through writing.

Thinking of this, Liu Zhenyun couldn't help but cast an envious look in Lin Chaoyang's direction.

Buying a house and a car by writing is the simplest dream in his heart.

After attending Liang Zuo's wedding, Lin Chaoyang returned home and told Tao Yushu about Lin Jinlan's wishes. After hearing this, she was stunned, not expecting such a good thing to happen.

She thought alone for a long time and asked Lin Chaoyang hesitantly, "Do you think I should go back?"

"You have to ask yourself this. If you want to go back, go back. It doesn't matter if you don't want to."

Tao Yushu glanced at him angrily, "It's as if you didn't say what you said."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and asked: "Then you want me to help you decide?"

"No."

"It's over now!"

His daughter-in-law has always been a decisive person. Lin Chaoyang knows her too well. Who forced him to get the certificate back then?

Early the next morning, Lin Chaoyang was sleeping in a daze when he was suddenly pulled out of bed.

"I have decided!" Tao Yushu's eyes were as red as a rabbit's and his expression was extremely serious.

Lin Chaoyang yawned and asked, "What has been decided?"

"I want to return to "Yenjing Literature"."

"Oh." Lin Chaoyang nodded. This decision was not what he expected.

Although Wang Meng attached great importance to staying at "People's Literature", the phenomenon of seniority was serious. At Tao Yushu's age, even if he was excellent, he would still have to last ten or eight years.

"Yanjing Literature" is different. If you go there, you will be the deputy editor. If you stay there for a few more years, it is not impossible to become the chief editor.

It's a bit bad that he's not good enough. I'd rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix.

With Tao Yushu's progressive character, "Yenjing Literature" and "People's Literature" seem to be multiple-choice questions, but in fact they are free-mark questions.

"Lao Lin will take office next month. If you have time recently, go meet with him and have a detailed chat. When it is confirmed, we will talk to Lao Wang."

"good."

Having made up his mind, Tao Yushu stopped worrying, got up, washed up, and went to work normally.

A few days later, Lin Chaoyang first received a package from Ming Pao Publishing House.

Among them are sample books of "The Master of Chess" and a letter from Dong Qiao.

As early as October, the sample book of Ming Pao Publishing House's version of "Crossing the Guandong" had been sent to Lin Chaoyang. In November, the novel was already on the market in Hong Kong.

According to Dong Qiao's letter, "Enter Guandong" sold well after it was launched in Xiangjiang, with more than half of the first 10,000 copies sold in the first month of release.

In the past two months, sales have reached 18,000 units.

The achievement of such good results has a lot to do with the praise of this novel by the cultural circles in Hong Kong.

It has been more than half a year since "Enter Guandong" was published in the mainland. It has already become a phenomenal literary work in 1984. It has received enthusiastic response from readers and high evaluation from the literary circles. Looking at the contemporary Chinese literary world since the reform and opening up, it is unique.

Although the communication between the mainland and Xiangjiang is not developed these days, there are still many connections.

In particular, "Crossing Guandong" was published by Huacheng Publishing House. Guangdong is adjacent to Hong Kong. Therefore, many people in the cultural circles of Hong Kong have already heard of the momentum this novel has created in the mainland in recent months.

Before "Crossing Guandong" was launched in Xiangjiang, literary magazines such as "Open Book", "Bafang" and "Suye Literature" had recommended this novel to readers in Xiangjiang.

"Open Book" magazine even bluntly stated: This year, a sensational novel appeared in the mainland literary world. After its publication, it became expensive in Luoyang and quickly sold nationwide. It can be called the biggest surprise in the Chinese mainland literary world in 1984.

Before the novel was even released on the market, literary magazines in Xiangjiang had already praised "Enter Guandong", which naturally attracted many literary lovers to be interested in this novel.

Therefore, after the Ming Pao Publishing House version of "Crossing Guandong" was released, it quickly became a sought-after object among Hong Kong literature lovers.

Considering the population base and readership of Xiangjiang, "Enter Guandong" had an initial printing of 10,000 copies and sold more than half of them in the first month of its release. This is definitely a super bestseller.

Dong Qiao believes that according to the current momentum of "Crossing Guandong", the sales of 80,000 copies, not to mention 100,000 copies, should be guaranteed.

You should know that in Hong Kong, even first-line writers such as Yi Shu who write popular novels may not guarantee the sales of 80,000 copies of their works.

However, "Crossing Guandong" is a serious literary work, and the value of this sales volume can be seen.

The success of "Crossing Guandong" also made Ming Pao Publishing House more confident in "The Chess Master", especially since the movie of "The Chess Master" has only been released in Hong Kong for a short time.

In order to catch up with the popularity of "Crossing Guandong" and the movie, Ming Pao Publishing House worked overtime and planned to bring this novel to the market in mid-January.

At the end of the letter, Dong Qiao mentioned the royalties again.

This time, Lin Chaoyang will receive two royalties, one is the third royalty of "The Death of Van Gogh", and the other is the advance payment for the publication of "The Chess Master".

Among them, "The Death of Van Gogh" has sold nearly 6,500 copies in the past six months, and the cumulative sales have exceeded nearly 40,000 copies. If the version of the Hong Kong Chinese University Press is included, it is nearly 50,000 copies.

For a book like "The Death of Van Gogh" that has almost no publicity, it is a huge success to achieve such results in Hong Kong.

This time, Lin Chaoyang received about 40,000 Hong Kong dollars in royalty settlement. In the future, this novel will provide royalties to Lin Chaoyang, but as time goes by, the amount will definitely become less and less, after all, Hong Kong is such a small market.

In addition, "The Chess Master" was published in Hong Kong, with an initial print of 10,000 copies. Ming Pao Publishing House prepaid Lin Chaoyang a royalty of 108,000 Hong Kong dollars.

This time, Lin Chaoyang received a total of 148,000 Hong Kong dollars.

With the best-selling works, Ming Pao Publishing House is much more efficient in royalty prepayment and settlement than before, not to mention the attitude, which is much better than before.