Chapter 26 Come on, let's hurt each other

"The Death of Euler" has won praise from "Contemporary" editor Rong Shihui and chief editor Qin Chaoyang, so publication is no longer a problem, but the specific situation still depends on the typesetting and the final publication time.

On the other hand, Lin Weimin also received a response to the spy novel he had previously sent to Zhongshan magazine.

The letter was written by editor Yu Zhaohuai, who was the one who picked out Lin Weimin from among many submissions. Later, he became Lin Weimin's editor.

The content of the letter was very simple. After some review, the editorial department unanimously decided to publish Lin Weimin's novella.

When Lin Weimin read the end of the letter, he couldn't help but smile, because Yu Zhaohuai mentioned the royalties in the letter.

Lin Weimin's standard remuneration this time is 8 yuan per thousand words. The full text of his novella is more than 82,300 words, which is a total of 664 yuan.

Nowadays, for an ordinary worker, a salary of more than 40 yuan is considered to be a medium-to-high income. 664 yuan is equivalent to more than a year's salary for an ordinary worker, which can be considered a huge sum of money.

Lin Weimin was full of anticipation for Yu Zhaohuai's mention in the letter that "the manuscript fee bill will arrive soon."

There is still a future in being a writer!

Having tasted the sweetness, Lin Weimin's mentality began to waver again.

What Yu Zhaohuai said was right. The next day after receiving the letter, Lin Weimin received the manuscript fee bill.

It was just after lunch at that time, and Lin Weimin went to the gate of D School to collect the mail. When he came back, everyone saw the mail in his hand.

They are all in this line of work, and many of them saw the word "Zhongshan" on the envelope at a glance.

When I asked Lin Weimin, I found out that my manuscript had indeed been accepted and the payment slip had been sent to me.

When someone shouted, several students from the surrounding boys' dormitories all came over curiously, expectantly asking Lin Weimin to open the email.

To talk about why everyone is so excited, we have to start with our country's royalty system.

At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the economy was poor and weak, and social prices were volatile. A popular method of paying royalties at that time was to calculate royalties in discounted units.

When an article is published, if the remuneration is 6 yuan per thousand words, the publishing company will convert the remuneration you deserve into physical objects such as rice, coal, cloth, etc., and give it to you in kind, not in cash.

In 1953, the State Council formulated the domestic payment standard for royalties based on the Soviet Union's "1-print quota system" policy, namely: 60,000 to 180,000 yuan (old currency) per thousand words for manuscripts and 40,000 to 130,000 yuan (old currency) per thousand words for translations.

In 1955, the People's Bank of China abolished the old currency and issued the new currency (10,000 old currency was converted into 1 new currency). The remuneration system then changed to: 6 to 18 yuan per thousand words for manuscripts and 4 to 13 yuan per thousand words for translations.

According to the price level at that time, the average monthly salary of ordinary workers was only 20 to 30 yuan. The price of rice and pork was only a few cents per pound. However, writers could earn 6 to 18 yuan per thousand words for their manuscripts, which was still relatively high.

Then in July 1958, the Ministry of Culture issued the first unified regulation on royalties. The title of this regulation was "Provisional Regulations on Royalties for Literature and Social Sciences Books", which stipulated that the royalties for manuscripts were 4 to 15 yuan per thousand words, and the royalties for translations were 3 to 10 yuan per thousand words.

After that, the remuneration standards continued to decline until the Buzz Buzz period, when most publishing houses in the country were paralyzed, and those that barely managed to operate also automatically cancelled remuneration. Thus, China entered a decade-long period of zero remuneration.

After the Buzz Buzz ended, the National Press and Publication Administration restored the royalty system in 1977, stipulating that the royalty rate for manuscripts was 2 to 7 yuan per thousand words, and the royalty rate for translations was 1 to 5 yuan per thousand words. In 1980, the National Press and Publication Administration slightly increased the basic royalty rate to 3 to 10 yuan per thousand words for manuscripts and 2 to 7 yuan per thousand words for translations.

In the past two years, due to the restoration of the policy, the standard of remuneration has changed greatly. Many people in the class have not tasted the changes in remuneration this year, so they are naturally very curious about Lin Weimin's remuneration.

Lin Weimin opened the email under everyone's expectant gazes and held the thin receipt in his hand. Before he could read the handwriting on it clearly, Cheng Shixu snatched it away.

"Wow! More than six hundred!" Cheng Shixu shouted.

Everyone rushed forward to watch.

"Not bad, not bad. Eight dollars for a thousand words."

"Zilong, this standard is the same as the one you published in People's Literature!"

More than a month ago, Jiang Zilon’s new work "The Sequel to Director Qiao" was published in the second issue of "People's Literature", and the standard fee for the manuscript was also 8 yuan.

Qu Xiaowei shouted at this time: "Comrades, please be quiet, be quiet!"

He waved his hands to silence the crowd, then said, "I think that Weimin's novel could not have been published without everyone's help and support. Now that the royalties have been received, shouldn't we let this guy express his gratitude?"

Several young people in the class immediately agreed: "It's a must, we have to show it."

Lin Weimin turned hostile and scolded Qu Xiaowei, "I'll beat you to death, you bastard, what have you done to help me?"

Qu Xiaowei said very bluntly: "Yes, I didn't help you much. But you can't erase everyone's contribution. Have you forgotten? Who worked day and night to proofread your manuscript? Who gave you valuable revision suggestions? It was everyone!"

"That's right!" Others started to make a fuss.

Lin Weimin was so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood. Damn it, I lent you my manuscript to read, and you think you are doing me a favor?

How shameless! How shameless!

Although he was angry, he could not prevail against the powerful. Under the overwhelming public opinion, Lin Weimin finally compromised.

He thought that since he was going to bleed anyway, he might as well be open and honest. "Okay, this weekend night, I'll treat everyone to roast duck at Bian Yi Fang!"

Everyone cheered.

Just when everyone was happy to kill Lin Weimin, Lin Weimin's eyes were fixed on Qu Xiaowei.

You bastard, I was planning to let you go, but you rushed to die, so you can't blame me.

"Hey, hey, hey, everyone, be quiet for a moment, be quiet, and listen to me."

Everyone suppressed their excited cheers and looked at Lin Weimin.

"I think it's not very satisfying to just eat at Bian Yi Fang. I remember that we punished Qu Xiaowei with a meal at Dong Lai Shun last time, but it hasn't been implemented yet. How about we take this opportunity to eat to our heart's content at once?"

After he reminded them, everyone almost forgot about this matter and immediately laughed, "Yes, yes, Dong Lai Shun, I almost forgot about it."

"Weimin still has a good memory, nothing wrong, one meal from Bianyifang and one from Donglaishun, and he ate to his heart's content."

Qu Xiaowei looked at Lin Weimin viciously. Lin Weimin pulled Qu Xiaowei over and whispered, "You think you can run away?"

Qu Xiaowei was angry and helpless, and regretted his talkativeness just now.

Lin Weimin looked at his expression and a satisfied smile appeared on his face, but no one knew.

His heart is bleeding.

Come on, let’s hurt each other!

(End of this chapter)