Literary Master 1978

No matter how successful the book signing event is, it will only bring in tens of thousands of dollars at most. For publishers, what is more important is the public opinion effect of the book signing event.

Ming Pao Publishing House is backed by the Ming Pao Group and can easily call in a bunch of reporters from TV stations, newspapers, and magazines.

The grand event of the book signing event appeared in the evening news of Jade Channel that night, and many newspapers including Ming Pao reported it the next morning.

"Thousands of people lined up on the streets of Wan Chai just to see the new book of the mainland talent" "The Truman Show is published, and 'Truman' Xu Guanwen appeared at the book signing event"...

Originally, news like this about the release of a new book would hardly cause any big waves even if it was published in the newspaper.

But the clever part of Ming Pao Publishing House's publicity offensive is that it linked the new book with the movie and invited Xu Guanwen, a popular superstar.

He wore the clothes he wore when filming that stop, and the reporters took another photo. "Truman" appeared on the media page so vividly, which naturally attracted the attention of many Hong Kong people.

Moreover, this linkage also attracted more attention to the filming of "The Truman Show".

The sales of the new book "The Truman Show" were good after it was put on the shelves. With the help of this wave of publicity, the sales in major bookstores in Hong Kong became even hotter.

In addition to the sales of 1,800 copies on the day of the signing event, the sales of "The Truman Show" also continued to rise in the few days after the signing event.

By October 1, the cumulative sales of the novel reached 10,000 copies in half a month after its release, breaking the fastest sales record of Lin Chaoyang's previous works.

While the new book "The Truman Show" was selling well, Lin Chaoyang and his wife arranged things in Hong Kong and planned to rush back to the mainland before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

But at this time, Lin Chaoyang suddenly received a letter from Naoko Kondo, saying that the Japanese version of "Crossing Guandong" had been translated, and she and Shozo Fujii had contacted several Japanese publishers for "Crossing Guandong".

At present, several publishers are still sincere, and hope that Lin Chaoyang can take the time to go to Japan to discuss publishing matters.

After reading the letter, Tao Yushu suggested that Lin Chaoyang go to Japan first, and then go back to the mainland with her after finishing his business.

Three days later, Lin Chaoyang took a flight from Kai Tak Airport at 5:30 pm and arrived at Tokyo International Airport at 9:40 pm.

After leaving the passage, he saw someone holding a pick-up sign waiting there, it was Naoko Kondo.

"Mr. Lin, welcome to Japan!"

"Hello, Ms. Kondo, long time no see!" The two smiled and greeted each other.

Naoko Kondo introduced the middle-aged man next to her to Lin Chaoyang, "Mr. Lin, this is Associate Professor Fujii whom I mentioned in the letter."

Lin Chaoyang shook hands with Shozo Fujii cordially and said a few words to thank him for his enthusiastic help.

Shozo Fujii bowed repeatedly, "It is my honor to participate in the translation of Mr. Lin's works."

After greeting the two of them, Lin Chaoyang looked behind them again. There were several young people following them, and they should be together.

Unlike the solemn tone when introducing Fujii Shozo, Naoko Kondo just said: "They are all students of Fujii and me. Today, I specially brought them to meet Lin."

Her tone was like a local rich man leading his rural relatives to the city to see the world. Those students did not seem to be dissatisfied at all, but looked at Lin Chaoyang eagerly.

One of the short, round-faced girls was holding a bouquet of flowers in her hand. Seeing Lin Chaoyang looking at them, she hurried forward and gave it to Lin Chaoyang.

"Thank you!"

Lin Chaoyang's thanks made the round-faced girl excited again, and he couldn't help but suspect that this was a person that Naoko Kondo had found to pick him up at the airport.

None of his novels had been published in Japan, and he really couldn't understand the excitement of several students.

After a welcome, the seven of them left the airport and drove all the way to Chiyoda District, Tokyo.

The hotel that Naoko Kondo arranged for Lin Chaoyang was in Kioi-cho, Chiyoda District, called Prince Hotel, a five-star hotel.

Lin Chaoyang stayed in the annex of the hotel, which was built in 1960.

When checking in, Lin Chaoyang proposed to pay for it himself, but Naoko Kondo firmly disagreed, and even Shozo Fujii was trying to persuade him.

"Mr. Lin, there is an old Chinese saying that the guest should follow the host's wishes. When you come to Japan, we should be responsible for these things."

The three argued for a while, and seeing that Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii were always determined, Lin Chaoyang could not insist.

It was already past eleven o'clock in the evening when he checked in.

Naoko Kondo asked Lin Chaoyang about his itinerary. This time Lin Chaoyang came to Tokyo to discuss the publication of the novel. In addition to discussing business at the publishing house, Naoko Kondo also arranged some gatherings and sightseeing for Lin Chaoyang.

For example, she and Shozo Fujii gathered some Japanese literary figures to hold a welcome banquet for Lin Chaoyang tomorrow, such as visiting the University of Tokyo where Shozo Fujii teaches, going to Kyoto to enjoy the maple leaves, and visiting the National Folk Exhibition Hall, etc.

Lin Chaoyang thought for a moment. The welcome banquet had already been arranged, so it was inconvenient to refuse. He declined the itinerary for sightseeing.

He also explained Tao Yushu's pregnancy and said that he would return home as soon as possible.

After listening to his words, Naoko Kondo and others left with a little regret.

The next morning, after getting up, Lin Chaoyang went to the hotel restaurant to have breakfast. As soon as he returned to the room after breakfast, the front desk downstairs called and said that someone was waiting for him. When he went downstairs, he saw Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii waiting there.

"Sorry for the long wait."

Lin Chaoyang said politely and followed the two people into the car.

Today they were going to the Sakuramon Hall of Nihon University in Gobancho, Chiyoda District, where the Sakuramon Club, the alumni association of Nihon University, is located.

It is one of the four major alumni associations in Japan, along with the Mita Club of Keio University, the Ina Club of Waseda University, and the Rusui Club of Hitotsubashi University.

In the morning, Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii arranged an exchange meeting here. The participants were all their students. In the afternoon, they met with writers, and in the evening, they had a welcome dinner.

I don't know how Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii described it to the students. When attending the exchange meeting in the morning, Lin Chaoyang found that the students looked at him in the same way as the students who picked him up at the airport last night, as if they were looking at some big star.

After communicating for a while, he found that Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii did praise him in front of the students, and a considerable number of these students had a good command of Chinese and had read his novels.

The doubts in his heart were answered, and the morning exchange ended in a joyful atmosphere.

At noon, the guests invited to the welcome party came to the hall one after another. Masako Toyoda, Tsutomu Mizukami, Daisaku Ikeda... all of them were pro-Z writers.

These writers were almost all over 60 years old, and they all had close ties with the Chinese literary world, so they agreed to the invitation of Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii to attend the welcome banquet.

Sitting among a group of old writers, Lin Chaoyang, who was less than 30 years old, was set off to be younger. Several old writers were also amazed. They didn't expect that a writer with a great reputation in China was so young.

Lin Chaoyang didn't speak Japanese, and several old writers didn't speak Chinese either. The communication was all with Naoko Fujii and Shozo Fujii, two China experts.

While everyone was chatting, another person came to the hall.

Seeing the arrival of these two people, everyone who was chatting enthusiastically stood up. Lin Chaoyang didn't understand why, but knew that they must be heavyweights.

"Mr. Lin, please allow me to introduce you. This is Mr. Shigeki Kaizuka, a historian and a professor at Kyoto University."

When Lin Chaoyang heard this name, he immediately thought of a book he had seen in the library of Yanda University, "Confucius", and the author seemed to be Shigeki Kaizuka.

After he greeted and asked a question, Naoko Kondo helped translate it. Shigeki Kaizuka looked happy. He didn't expect that Lin Chaoyang had read his works.

Shigeki Kaizuka is a leading figure in the Japanese historical community. He is known as the three heroes of Kyoto University together with Kojiro Yoshikawa and Takeo Kuwazono.

He has written many works such as "The Spirit of Ancient Times", "Confucius", "Ancient Chinese States", "Nostalgia for China", "Old China and New China", etc., which are widely welcomed by the Japanese intellectual community.

Including the arrival of Shigeki Kaizuka, there are a total of nine people invited to attend the welcome banquet today. Their professions include writers, critics, and historians. They have a certain status in the cultural and intellectual circles of Japan.

Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii have taken great pains to prepare Lin Chaoyang for this visit to Japan.

The day after the welcome dinner, Lin Chaoyang, led by Naoko Kondo, came to the headquarters of Hakusuisha, which is also located in Chiyoda-ku.

Hakusuisha is a well-known Japanese publishing house that focuses on publishing books related to linguistics and translation. The word "Hakusui" in the name of the company is taken from the sentence "Tomorrow I will cross the Baishui River, climb the Langfeng and tie up my horse" in Qu Yuan's "Li Sao".

Hakusuisha is not well-known in the Japanese publishing industry, but its influence is not small.

It is not well-known because its main publishing direction is books on philosophy, history, literature, drama and language. Once the style is high, the audience will be small.

And it is said to be influential because since 1955, Hakusuisha has established the Kishida Kunishi Script Award in the name of Kishida Kunishi, the pioneer of Japan's modern and contemporary drama movement.

Over the past 30 years, the Kishida Kunihime Script Award has gradually become an authoritative award in the Japanese theater industry, and many influential figures in the Japanese theater industry have won this award.

Because of the existence of the Kishida Kunihime Script Award, Hakusui Society has a unique influence in the Japanese theater literature.

Of course, this information was told by Naoko Kondo to Lin Chaoyang. According to her, if it is only about publishing literary works, Hakusui Society is a good partner.

But because of its strength, Hakusui Society is far inferior to those large publishing houses in the distribution and promotion of books.

When they arrived at Hakusui Society, the editor-in-chief Okamura Tatsuya received them, which is equivalent to the editor-in-chief in China.

Okamura Tatsuya is a middle-aged man in his forties with a thin face. If he doesn't smile, his face is full of seriousness, as if others owe him two hundred dollars.

"Crossing Guandong" itself is of excellent quality, and it is translated by two professors who are proficient in Chinese, Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii, and the quality of the translation is also good.

After some communication, Okamura Tatsuya expressed the attitude of Hakusui Publishing House. They recognized the content of the novel and were willing to provide Lin Chaoyang with a publishing contract with an 8% stamp duty.

The so-called stamp duty is the name of royalties in Japan.

Lin Chaoyang is not famous in Japan. It is a good treatment to get this royalty rate for the first publication of his work in Japan.

Then Lin Chaoyang asked about the translator's royalties. Okamura Tatsuya said that Hakusui Publishing House could provide the translator with a fee as a buyout fee for the translator's work, and the price was about 2.2 million yen.

After listening to Okamura Tatsuya's conditions, Lin Chaoyang calculated in his mind that the current exchange rate between the RMB and the Japanese yen is about 1:80, and 2.2 million yen is more than 20,000 RMB.

Lin Chaoyang said goodbye to Okamura Tatsuya on the grounds that he needed to think about it.

After leaving the Hakusui Society headquarters, Kondo Naoko thought that Lin Chaoyang was not satisfied with the conditions of the Hakusui Society, and said to Lin Chaoyang:

"Mr. Lin, we can go to Kawade Shobo to have a look. Their conditions are better than those of the Hakusui Society, and their strength is much stronger than that of the Hakusui Society."

Lin Chaoyang nodded, "Okay, let's go and have a look."

Kawade Shobo was the first to publish textbooks and study reference books, and it also has its own Seimeido Bookstore. In the Japanese publishing industry, it is more powerful and famous than the Hakusui Society, and its history is longer than that of the Hakusui Society. It was established in 1886.

The headquarters is located in Sumiyoshi-cho, Shinjuku District. Its main magazine "Wenyi" is one of the five national pure literature magazines in the Japanese literary world.

These five pure literature magazines hold literary awards every year, which are called the five public newcomer awards by the media. They can discover many outstanding writers every year, so they have a huge influence in the literary world.

The two biggest advantages of Kawade Shobo are that they are very serious and responsible in cultivating discovered writers, and secondly, they have strong publishing and publicity capabilities.

Lin Chaoyang had a simple understanding of Kawade Shobo under the introduction of Naoko Kondo. After arriving, they were greeted by the editor of the literature department, Miyu Kitamura.

Miyu Kitamura is a young woman in her thirties with a gentle voice. Her eyes lit up when she saw Lin Chaoyang.

She was from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Nihon University, and she is Naoko Kondo's junior.

When Naoko Kondo came to her to talk about "Crossing Guandong" in the first half of the year, she showed her great admiration for Lin Chaoyang, so Miyu Kitamura has always been curious about Lin Chaoyang.

Last month, Naoko Kondo came to Miyu Kitamura with the translated manuscript of "Crossing Guandong". After reading the novel, she finally understood Naoko Kondo's feelings.

"Reading Lin-san's novels always reminds me of Shiba Ryotaro's historical novels, which are magnificent and majestic."

Shiba Ryotaro is a famous Japanese historical novelist. His works are popular in Japan and he was once the most popular writer in Japan.

Kitamura Miyu said this to praise Lin Chaoyang, but he felt uncomfortable listening to it, because Shiba Ryotaro was a hard rightist. He not only served in the puppet Manchuria, but also got involved with the *** in the 1990s.

People's compliments were well-intentioned, so Lin Chaoyang could only change the topic and talk to Kitamura Miyu about the publication of novels.

The conditions given by Kawade Shobo are similar to those of Hakusuisha, which is also 8% of the stamp duty. In addition, Lin Chaoyang is concerned about the translator's royalties.

Kitamura Miyu said: "We can provide the translator with a buyout fee of 2 million yen."

This royalty is lower than that given by Hakusuisha. After hearing this condition, Lin Chaoyang didn't say anything and still said he would consider it.

After coming out of Kawade Shobo, he asked Naoko Kondo about the treatment of Japanese translators, and only then did he learn that the treatment given by Hakusui Publishing House was already considered conscientious.

One of their main businesses is to translate and publish foreign works, so the royalties given to translators are also the highest among many publishing houses.

"Then let's choose Hakusui Publishing House." Lin Chaoyang said.

Naoko Kondo now understood what Lin Chaoyang meant. It turned out that he had been considering the issue of translation royalties, which immediately touched Naoko Kondo's heart.

"Mr. Lin, I suggest you choose Kawade Shobo. Hakusui Publishing House's influence is mainly concentrated in drama literature, while Kawade Shobo is different.

They have "Literature and Art". If "Crossing Guandong" is promoted by "Literature and Art" after it is published in Japan, it will be of great benefit to the development of your work in Japan."

Naoko Kondo suggested to Lin Chaoyang with a serious face.

"You don't need to consider the translation fee. It is a great fortune for Fujii and me to be able to translate a book like "Crossing Guandong". We also hope that "Crossing Guandong" can be seen by more Japanese readers.

Choosing Kawade Shobo is indeed beneficial to this novel, please believe it!"

At this point, Naoko Kondo suddenly bowed solemnly to Lin Chaoyang.

After her doing this, Lin Chaoyang couldn't say anything else, because the translator didn't think the fee was low.

"Okay, then choose Kawade Shobo."

Lin Chaoyang made the decision, and Naoko Kondo was very happy, "I really hope that "Crossing Guandong" can be published in Japan!"

She then called Fujii Shozo and told him the good news.

The three of them got together in the evening, and Fujii Shozo suggested finding a place to celebrate.

The Japanese economy was at its peak in the 1980s, and now its overseas net assets are as high as 120 billion US dollars, ranking first in the world.

At the same time, Japan ranked first in both trade current account surplus and foreign exchange reserves, and all three indicators showing economic strength ranked first in the world.

At this time, Japan was known as the "rich empire" and "can buy the United States".

Behind the strong economy is the overloaded operation of the Japanese working class every day. It is normal for office workers in Tokyo to get off work after 10 o'clock every night.

The whole society is "overworked", but people don't think there is anything wrong with it, and many Japanese are proud of it.

Some private TV stations have also launched late-night programs such as "Live Broadcast Until Dawn". There are 24-hour convenience stores all over the streets, and izakayas that are open late at night are everywhere. The whole society is gradually moving towards the direction of "24-hour city that never sleeps".

The three of them had dinner, so they found an izakaya, ordered a few glasses of sake and side dishes, and chatted while eating.

If nothing unexpected happens, "Crossing Guandong" will be successfully published in Japan. Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii's efforts over the past six months have not been in vain. This is naturally something to be happy about, but what makes them even happier is the publication itself.

The two imagined the possible response that "Crossing Guandong" might cause among Japanese readers after its publication. They were in a very happy mood and drank a lot of wine. They were drunk unconsciously.

"I really hope that "Crossing Guandong" can be published soon, and we can introduce more works of Mr. Lin in the future."

"The Ferry! Mr. Lin, please let me translate this masterpiece full of Zen and philosophy, I will do my best!"

Kondo Naoko was a little drunk, and she became excited when she mentioned "The Ferry". She stood up and bowed to Lin Chaoyang, talking drunkenly.

"I will definitely do it if I have the chance."

Lin Chaoyang helped her up helplessly.

The alcohol content of this sake is not high, how can she drink like this after a few small glasses of wine?

"Thank you! Thank you very much!"

Kondo Naoko staggered and bowed to Lin Chaoyang again, and was pulled by Lin Chaoyang to sit on the seat.

At this time, there were drunk white-collar workers in the izakaya and started to act crazy, which is also the daily norm in izakayas.

Seeing this, Lin Chaoyang proposed to leave. At this time, Fujii Shozo was still sober, and the two helped Kondo Naoko walk out of the izakaya.

It was already half past ten in the evening, and Tokyo, which had successfully become one of the international financial centers, was still brightly lit at this time.

Many shops on the street were still open, and office workers who had just got off work could be seen everywhere.

Naoko Kondo was blown by the wind after leaving the izakaya, and her stomach was churning. She got rid of the two people and instinctively rushed to a telephone pole to vomit.

"Ms. Kondo is really... bold!"

Fujii Shozo said faintly, and his cautious sarcasm made people laugh.

Lin Chaoyang laughed, and Fujii Shozo looked at the street and said in a tone of sighing: "Tokyo at night is so beautiful! Lin San, look at that street lamp..."

Lin Chaoyang looked in the direction of his eyes, "They are all fueled by the flesh and blood of young Japanese people."

Lin Chaoyang didn't know where his emotions suddenly came from, but what he said was right.

Whether it is New York, London, Tokyo now, or Yanjing and Shanghai decades later, these cities are like a fast-moving train.

Countless young people who come here to make a living are the fuel of this train. It is the burning of these young people's lives that makes these cities bright and colorful.

Only a few lucky people can find a place to live here after burning themselves, and more people will only become useless waste after their youth is burned out.

Together with those who want to be fuel but can't, they are eliminated by this fast-moving train.

"Ugh~"

The rough vomiting sound of Naoko Kondo interrupted the two people's thoughts. She stood up with the help of the telephone pole, and Lin Chaoyang and the others went forward to support her.

The three walked for a while, and Naoko Kondo finally sobered up a little. With the support of Shozo Fujii, she got on a taxi.

The taxi first sent Lin Chaoyang back to the Prince Hotel, and Shozo Fujii was responsible for escorting Naoko Kondo home.

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang came to the hotel lobby after breakfast to wait for someone. Half an hour later, Naoko Kondo arrived late.

Seeing Lin Chaoyang's face full of shame, she kept bowing, "I'm sorry, Mr. Lin! I was so rude last night, I'm really sorry."

"Ms. Kondo, don't care about these little things. But to be honest, your alcohol tolerance is too average, so you should drink less in the future."

Lin Chaoyang's joke made Kondo Naoko's face more embarrassed, and he shook his head helplessly.

"Okay, let's go to Kawade Study."

"Hi--"

Kondo Naoko bowed fiercely, this bow was not for Lin Chaoyang, but to ease her embarrassment.

"Wait a minute, Mr. Lin, Fujii will also go today." After bowing, Kondo Naoko thought of something else and pulled Lin Chaoyang.

"Is Fujii going too?"

"Yes. He said he wants to ask a friend from the law department to come and help look at the contract."

"Fujii is really thoughtful!"

The two waited in the hotel for a few more minutes before Fujii Shozo arrived with a gray-haired colleague. The two sides introduced each other. This associate professor from the law department of the University of Tokyo is named Naito Yusuke.

After a few pleasantries, everyone set off for Kawade Shobo.

Kitamura Miyu received a notice from Naoko Kondo yesterday afternoon, and prepared the publishing contract for "Crossing Guandong" early this morning, but she was surprised to see Lin Chaoyang and his group.

It feels that Lin Chaoyang, a foreign writer, has a bigger momentum than many well-known writers in Japan.

The publishing contract is in Chinese and Japanese versions. Having Naito Yusuke help review it really saved Lin Chaoyang some effort.

According to the contract, Kawade Shobo exclusively enjoys the three-year publishing rights of "Crossing Guandong" in Japan, with a printing tax rate of 8%. The first print run of the novel is set at 12,000 copies, and royalties are settled every six months.

The reference price of "Crossing Guandong" is 3,600 yen. Lin Chaoyang can get 3.456 million yen in royalties for the first print run, 50% of which will be remitted to Lin Chaoyang in a few days, and the other 50% will have to wait until the royalties are settled half a year later.

Lin Chaoyang carefully calculated that more than 3 million yen is only more than 40,000 yuan, which is really not much.

I hope that "Crossing Guandong" can have a good sales volume after its publication, so as not to waste his trip and the help of Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii.

After signing the contract, Lin Chaoyang proposed to treat several people to dinner in the evening, and also invited Kitamura Miyu, who will be Lin Chaoyang's editor at Kawade Shobo in the future.

Taking advantage of the afternoon when he had nothing to do, Lin Chaoyang first went to book a ticket back to Hong Kong.

The next day, when he went to the airport, Naoko Kondo and Shozo Fujii came to see him off, almost the same as when he came.

After saying goodbye, Lin Chaoyang boarded the plane.

A few hours later, the plane landed at Kai Tak Airport.

When they met, Tao Yushu said, "I thought you would stay there for at least a week."

"Ms. Kondo and the others did arrange some itineraries for me, but I want to go home for the holidays, so I'd better hurry up and return home." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

After a night of rest in Hong Kong, the couple took the train to the north.

Tao Yushu is now in the third trimester of pregnancy and is not suitable for flying.

After two days of tossing and turning, the couple finally returned to Yanjing at noon on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Lin Chaoyang did not tell his family in advance that they were coming back, so the old couple Lin Erchun were naturally surprised and happy to see them.

"Good, good, you are finally back, just in time for the holidays."

Lin Erchun went out to buy vegetables. Today is the day for the family to reunite, and he has to cook a few more dishes in the evening.