Chapter 200 Pen Club

Lin Weimin was in a good mood as "Farewell My Concubine", which had been published for more than a year, was continuously published in foreign markets.

Compared with honor, the real foreign exchange coupons are more attractive.

This year's National Day happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival. Lin Weimin had planned to visit Mr. Wan's home to give his teacher some gifts, but it happened that Mr. Wan was on a visit abroad and had not returned yet.

The day after National Day, Lin Weimin came to Muxidi carrying some things.

"Teacher, teacher's wife, senior sister!"

"The class is over, why are you still carrying things here?" Wan Fang asked, pointing at the things.

"The teacher wasn't here when I came a few days ago, so I'm making up for it."

Wan Fang joked: "Is there such a way to replenish it?"

After the joke, Wan Fang said to Mr. Wan, "Dad, weren't you just talking about Wei Min's Farewell My Concubine being published in the United States?"

Mr. Wan went to the study with a smile, and when he came back he had two things in his hands.

"Look what this is?" Mr. Wan handed a book to Lin Weimin.

"'Farewell My Concubine', the English version of 'Farewell My Concubine'." Lin Weimin said with a smile.

Wan Fang saw that he was not surprised at all and asked in surprise, "You have this book?"

"No." Transoceanic mail was too troublesome these days, and he refused when Random House wanted to mail him sample books. Apart from texts written in Chinese, works translated into other languages ​​were like children raised by a stepmother to Lin Weimin.

Lin Weimin told Mr. Wan and his daughter about his last experience of meeting an Australian book fan by the West Lake when he was on a business trip to Hangzhou.

"Isn't this fate?" Wan Fang smiled, and then she said to Mr. Wan: "Dad, Weimin is so lucky, you really don't need to worry about him."

She said to Lin Weimin: "My dad went to several bookstores in the United States and finally found your English version of Farewell My Concubine."

The teacher was in his seventies, but he still thought of looking for his books published abroad during his busy schedule on a visit abroad, which touched Lin Weimin's heart.

"Teacher, why are you doing this? It's not something you have to buy."

Mr. Wan smiled kindly, "I have nothing to do anyway, so I'll just go shopping. Do you think I bought your book?"

Lin Weimin knew that Mr. Wan didn't want to be pretentious, so he joked, "Can you carry so many books?"

"If you can't carry it, won't I find someone else?"

Mr. Wan handed the other box to Lin Weimin. Wan Fang said jealously, "Montblanc's Meisterstuck 149, the gifts my dad bought me are not this expensive!"

Lin Weimin certainly knew the name Montblanc. Although the company has since developed into a diversified high-end brand covering high-end stationery, watches, high-quality leather goods, high-end men's accessories and other products, it is most praised for its fountain pens.

The Meisterstuck 149 is the most classic of all Montblanc fountain pens, and its price is definitely not cheap.

When Lin Weimin asked about the price, Mr. Wan said with a smile, "I got a subsidy for going abroad, so it didn't cost much."

"This pen is for you to use for writing, so don't slack off," Mr. Wan reminded.

Lin Weimin nodded and put the gift away solemnly.

Wan Fang said: "Weimin is making a lot of money now. I heard that Farewell My Concubine will be reprinted in the United States."

Lin Weimin was a little surprised, "Senior Sister, you are well-informed?"

Wan Fang had a proud look on her face, "That's right."

"But I need to correct your news. Not only is it being reprinted in the United States, but Nihong will also be published soon."

Mr. Wan looked surprised, and Wan Fang's eyes widened with astonishment.

"Still publishing in Nihong? What's going on? Tell me in detail." Wan Fang asked curiously.

Lin Weimin said: "The publisher in Nihong saw that this novel sold well in the United States, so they wanted to try it out in the Nihong market."

He did not mention the matter of Kuroyoro. The more he talked about it, the more explanation would be needed, so he simply didn't say anything.

Mr. Wan said: "It seems that the work "Farewell My Concubine" is still very universal."

"It should be said that it touched upon Lao Mi's interests. All the elements in it are what Lao Mi is interested in."

Upon hearing the news that Farewell My Concubine would soon be released in China, Mr. Wan was naturally happy for Lin Weimin, but Wan Fang was most interested in his royalties.

In front of Mr. Wan, Lin Weimin told him the truth, "60,000 rice knives."

"Sixty thousand!" Wan Fang exclaimed. She then thought of what Lin Weimin said, "Is this the fee for one more print run?"

Lin Weimin nodded.

Wan Fang looked at Lin Weimin for a long while before saying to Mr. Wan, "Dad, the money Weimin makes from publishing this book is more than you will make in your entire life."

Mr. Wan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Lin Weimin's huge amount of royalties really stimulated Wan Fang a lot.

Of course, her behavior was more due to her familiarity with Lin Weimin.

After a few jokes, they started talking about Mr. Wan’s trip to the United States.

Since Mr. Wan resumed his identity, he has taken on a lot of titles, some real and some virtual, but no matter whether they are real or virtual, he always has to deal with some matters, leaving him with little time for himself.

Especially after the 1980s, the old man visited countries such as Britain, Switzerland, France and this time he went to the United States.

It was indeed a tough job to travel across the ocean at the age of 70. But because it involved the diplomatic relations between the two countries and the exchanges with overseas Chinese, he could not refuse some warm and friendly invitations from foreign countries.

This visit to the United States was at the invitation of the U.S.-China Academic Exchange Committee and the U.S.-China Art Exchange Center to give lectures and visit. It is worth mentioning that both John King Fairbank and Chen Ning Yang are members of the U.S.-China Academic Exchange Committee.

The first stop of Mr. Wan’s visit was Xincun. This was a true people-to-people exchange and most of the reception staff were Chinese, so the reception atmosphere was very warm.

The most important arrangement in the new village was to watch the performances of "Yenching People" and "Sunrise". The English version of the script was translated by a Hong Kong student studying in the United States. The plot was modified to a certain extent, but it was within Mr. Wan's acceptable range. The drama was also widely praised when it was performed in the United States.

American playwright Arthur Miller is an old friend of Mr. Wan. He came specially to accompany Mr. Wan to watch the play. He spoke highly of the play, calling it a "touching and fascinating tragedy."

It was also after watching the play that Mr. Wan invited Arthur Miller, hoping that he could visit China for exchanges in his spare time. Mr. Wan's main purpose was to introduce plays to Yenching People's Art Theatre and exchange experiences.

Although the People's Art Theatre has had Lin Weimin as a stable and high-quality source of scripts in the past two years, Yenching People's Art Theatre is, after all, the leader in the domestic drama industry. The requirements for script creation and collection are much higher than those of ordinary provincial drama theaters. Scripts are still one of the difficulties faced by the People's Art Theatre.

Mr. Arthur Miller is a famous American playwright. Introducing a number of high-quality foreign plays is one of the purposes of Mr. Wan's visit to the United States at this time, and this purpose is based on Arthur Miller.

"Did Mr. Arthur Miller agree?" Lin Weimin asked.

Mr. Wan said, "It's not that easy. He is a very busy man. But he promised me that he would deal with the work at hand first and communicate with me when he can confirm the time for the visit."

He said to Lin Weimin, "When Mr. Miller comes, you can be his interpreter."

Lin Weimin immediately understood what Mr. Wan meant. Serving as an interpreter for Mr. Arthur Miller was also a rare learning opportunity.

The teacher's earnest expectations made him feel pressured, but also gathered some fighting spirit.

Mr. Wan was old and had little energy, so Lin Weimin stayed at the upper floor of Muxidi until around eight o'clock and then left.

Go to work the next day.

The news that Farewell My Concubine was being reprinted in the United States and would soon be published in China had spread throughout the Guowen Publishing House. Lin Weimin smiled when he heard it. Even Wan Fang, who worked at the opera house, knew about it, so it was not surprising that it had spread throughout the publishing house.

Lin Weimin received a call from Yu Zhaohuai of Zhongshan magazine in the morning, sincerely inviting him to participate in this year's "Taihu Writers' Conference".

The Taihu Writers' Conference was organized by Zhongshan Magazine after the Fourth National Congress of Writers and Artists at the end of 1979. It was jointly organized by Zhongshan and Yilin.

The first Taihu Writers' Conference invited more than 60 famous writers and translators from all over the country. For a time, it could be said that it set a precedent for domestic writers' conferences with a large scale and a complete lineup.

This move can be said to have attracted the attention of the national literary and art circles and seized the initiative for the survival and development of Zhongshan and Yilin.

Of course, it would be beyond the capacity of the two publications to hold such a large-scale writers' conference with their influence alone. It was thanks to the help of their superior unit at the time, Su Provincial Publishing House.

Thanks to the grand scene when it was first held, Taihu Writers' Conference naturally became one of the most influential writers' conferences in domestic literary journals.

"Zhongshan" is now one of the four famous actors in the field of pure literature in China. The scale of this year's Taihu Writers' Conference is also not small, and a group of young writers with rising fame such as Cheng Cun, Xue Haixiang, Huang Anyi, Cheng Naishan, and Jiang Pu have been invited.

"Thank you for your kindness. But I am really busy with work and don't have time."

Lin Weimin politely declined Yu Zhaohuai's invitation over the phone. It was not that he didn't want to go, but his goals were too big right now.

Yu Zhaohuai called just to try it out. He knew Lin Weimin's current condition and it was impossible for him to come out to participate in such an event.

After chatting for a few minutes, the two hung up the phone.

Qin Chaoyang smiled and said, "You don't know yet, do you? The society is also planning to hold a large-scale literary gathering?"

Lin Weimin realized that his advice to Lao Meng must have worked, but unfortunately, it was held in the society.

"Are you sure?"

"About the same. It's a little late this year. There are so many literary conferences going on in various places during this period. The publishing house plans to schedule it for next year."

Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Then we have to choose a good place!"

"It should be Yantai, East Shandong."

"Yantai! What a great place."

It is better to have a literary club than not to have one, and it is better to have one organized by a society than not to have one.

Lin Weimin could only comfort himself in this way.

I have a severe headache. I have to write at least 6,000 words today and then resume writing 10,000 words tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)