Chapter 276 Reprint Request

After Lin Weimin's "painstaking persuasion", the nephew finally understood his uncle's painstaking efforts and agreed to ask someone to help Lin Weimin contact the Tuanjiehu Apartment for the apartment.

Han Zhuangzhuang rubbed his butt and said, "Uncle, didn't you say that the houses there are too expensive? With that money, why not buy a few courtyard houses?"

"It's expensive for you, but is it expensive for my uncle?"

Teacher Lin’s questions touched the depths of his nephew’s soul.

Is it expensive?

It’s so expensive!

The RMB and foreign exchange certificates my uncle has in the bank are almost growing mold!

Writing novels is really profitable!

Han Zhuangzhuang thought with gritted teeth.

A few days later, Lin Weimin, led by Xia Gang, arrived near Tuanjie Lake.

According to its geographical location, Tuanjie Lake is located on the edge of the Third Ring Road in later generations. According to the standards of later generations, this should be considered a good location in Yanjing.

Unfortunately, these days the area outside the Second Ring Road is considered the suburbs. Even the Ritan Embassy District is considered the eastern suburbs, not to mention the Third Ring Road. In the 1980s, this place was definitely a suburb within a suburb.

As soon as you hear the name Tuanjie Lake, you know that this place has no historical heritage.

Originally this place was not a lake, but a kiln pit, where people dug soil and baked bricks to build the city of Yanjing.

There are many such places in the suburbs of Yanjing. For example, Panjiayuan is actually Panjia Kiln, and there is also Heiyaochang, Liujia Kiln and so on. Basically, as long as it has the word "kiln" in it, it is one of them.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, during the Korean War, the United States dropped bacterial bombs, causing plague in the Northeast, and the whole country was forced to launch a patriotic health campaign. Yanjing began to clean up the city and surrounding ditches, puddles and other easily polluted areas on a large scale, and then focused on transforming the "Four Lakes", Tuanjie Lake, Qingnian Lake, Rending Lake, and Taiping Lake.

Along the way, Lin Weimin chatted with Xia Gang about the situation around Tuanjie Lake and gained a simple understanding of the place.

"This elder relative of ours worked in the Ministry of Light Industry. He responded to the call from above and emptied his savings to buy this house.

But I regretted it the moment I moved in. It was too far away and inconvenient to go anywhere.”

Xia Gang's family works at the National Theatre of China. He is a few years older than Zhuang Zhuang, and the two have a good relationship.

He is the son of Xia Chun, a meritorious director of the People's Art Theatre. When talking about Xia Chun, many people are confused. "Tea House" was directed by him and Mr. Jiao Juyin.

Xia Gang can be considered a second-generation director. He was admitted to the directing department of Yanying Film Academy in 1978. Lin Weimin had met him before when he went to Yanying Film Academy, but they didn't say much.

This year he was assigned to be a director at the Yanjing Film Studio, or to be more precise, a reserve director. With their age and qualifications, it is impossible for them to be directors.

Lin Weimin later watched the films directed by Xia Gang. He had dabbled in both movies and TV series. The TV series included "A Woman's Epic", "The World's No. 1 Restaurant", and "Police Story", and the movies included "Half Flame, Half Seawater" and "Big Scatter".

He is not as good as the great directors of the fifth generation, but he is also a diligent and capable director.

"They bought the house in late 1980, and it took them some time to renovate it. They moved in in the spring of 1981, and the house has been well maintained."

While introducing, Xia Gang led Lin Weimin into the unit door of Building 1, Tuanjie Hunan Road, and went up to the second floor and knocked on the door.

"This is my sixth uncle, this is Lin Weimin, Teacher Lin."

The man who opened the door for the two men looked to be in his fifties or sixties, with gray hair.

Before coming here, Xia Gang introduced that his original surname was Cha, and his father changed his name in order to participate in the G revolution. His sixth uncle Cha now works in a ministry, and he is his cousin. He is now a doctor, and the next step is to be a vice minister.

"I know, I know!" Cha Qiangfeng said with a smile.

A few people greeted each other and went into the house to take a look.

The decoration of the house was much more upscale than the ordinary tube-shaped buildings at that time. The walls were covered with white lime and the floor was covered with wooden floors.

One advantage of this era is that the decoration is mainly wood, and it is all solid wood, with three bedrooms, two living rooms and one bathroom.

Before coming, Xia Gang had already told me a lot of information about this house.

The central heating in winter alone is enough to make Lin Weimin excited.

Living in a courtyard house is good in every way except that heating in winter is a hassle.

Even though the boiler in Lin Weimin's yard could kill 99% of the people in Yanjing City in seconds, people still felt bored after living there for a long time.

With this house, I won’t have to burn coal for heating in winter anymore. Wouldn’t it be nice to just stay here for a few days?

The two apartment buildings on Tuanjie Hunan Road were said to be on public sale at the time, but ordinary people basically didn't dare to think about it. The price of 30,000 to 40,000 yuan per unit was enough to make most people stay away.

In the 1980s, anyone with an annual income of 10,000 yuan had to wear a red flower. What kind of family was that to spend 30,000 or 40,000 yuan to buy a house!

So when the film went on sale that year, more people from government departments responded to the call and bought it.

There are two advantages to having more people in the government. One is that the living facilities are relatively complete, and the other is that public security is good. If you start as a Yuanwailang when you go out, you might even meet a Shangshu or Shilang. A bad public security is not acceptable either.

After choosing a house, the next step is to negotiate the price.

Nowadays, ordinary people still do not have the concept that the value of the house they buy must appreciate.

Uncle Six Cha Qiangfeng finally met someone who was willing to buy a house and tentatively called out the price, “38,000.”

Cha Qiangfeng's house is a large apartment between the two buildings, covering an area of ​​more than 90 square meters.

There was no such thing as common area in those days. All the areas were measured based on the actual area of ​​the unit. If converted into the calculation method of later generations, it would be at least 120 square meters.

The number that Cha Qiangfeng shouted out was exactly the price he paid for the house, and the two thousand yuan he spent on decoration was not included.

It's not easy to find someone who can spend 30,000 or 40,000 yuan to buy a house, so sell it as soon as possible.

Teacher Lin has always been open-minded when buying things. He had previously learned about the housing prices in Tuanjie Lake when they were first put on sale, and he agreed to the price without hesitation, which made Cha Qiangfeng overjoyed.

It took two days to complete the formalities, and Lin Weimin now had another house under his name.

Han Zhuangzhuang helped Lin Weimin put the letters from readers in Shichahai into the empty bedroom, and then walked around the house.

He felt a little regretful. This apartment building was so nice!

After going out for a meal, Han Zhuangzhuang took out a number of tickets from his pocket. They were tickets for the performance of "The Horse Catcher" in a few days.

The next day.

Editorial Department of Contemporary Magazine.

Lin Weimin collected invoices on every desk, even Tong Zhonggui had some.

Tong Zhonggui held the two tickets and said, "Teacher Lin, I don't need them."

Lin Weimin smiled and said, "It's okay, take it! Ask a female classmate to take a look."

Tong Zhonggui showed a bit of shyness on his face, and Liu Yin joked: "Xiao Tong, don't be polite to Editor-in-Chief Lin, this is an exclusive benefit of our editorial department."

As they were talking, Qin Chaoyang poked his head in and said, "Weimin, there's an outside call for you."

Lin Weimin went out and walked towards Tan Chaoyang's office. Tan Chaoyang said, "Go to the front building."

"Front building? How far out is this?"

"I don't know. I'll just pass on a message."

Lin Weimin came to Yan Wenjing's office in the front building and said, "Sit down for a while. They will call us later."

"Who's calling?"

Lin Weimin was curious. A normal external call could be received in the back building, but he was specifically called to Lao Yan, so it must not be an ordinary call.

"It's from Hong Kong."

No wonder.

These days, calls between China and Hong Kong are also considered international long-distance calls.

Last year, Pengcheng and Guangzhou just solved the problem of direct telephone calls with Hong Kong. If Hong Kong wants to call Yanjing, it needs to first call Pengcheng or Guangzhou, explain the situation of the person it is looking for, and then make a record of what you two want to say. The long-distance station will then register it. After the registration is completed, you have to hang up the phone and wait there for the long-distance station to call you. It is very troublesome.

Moreover, this kind of international long-distance call is usually heard by a third person. Don’t ask why.

Lin Weimin waited for more than ten minutes, and the phone rang again. Lin Weimin took the initiative to answer the call.

"Hello, is this Mr. Lin?" The voice on the other end of the phone was distorted after the transfer, and the accent was very common, sounding like a middle-aged man.

"Hello, I'm Lin Weimin."

"Hello Mr. Lin, I am Gu Cangwu from the Bafang magazine series."

Lin Weimin had already guessed the answer while waiting. After all, his only connection with Hong Kong was probably "Banfang".

"What do you want from me?"

"That's right. Since the publication of your novel "Lover" in our "Banfang", it has been welcomed by many Hong Kong readers.

Because the circulation of our "Banfang" is relatively small, some colleagues in the newspaper industry contacted me these days and said that some readers hope that they can publish your novel.

I said I needed to ask your opinion to see if you agreed with their request to reprint it. "

The voice on the phone became smaller and smaller. Lin Weimin changed his position several times and almost stood on the table before he could barely hear what the other party was saying.

After listening to Gu Cangwu's statement, Lin Weimin was surprised that a newspaper in Hong Kong actually requested to reprint "The Lover"?

Why is this novel so popular?

It's not that Lin Weimin has no confidence in the quality of his work, but he thinks he is probably not famous in Hong Kong, and "The Lover" was just published not long ago. It sounds a bit fantastic that a newspaper would take the initiative to come to him and ask for a reprint.

But after all, it was royalties that came right to his doorstep, so there was no reason for Lin Weimin to refuse it.

When asked about the standard of the manuscript fee, Gu Cangwu replied: "Ten Hong Kong dollars per thousand words."

Lin Weimin was a little disappointed. "The price is too low. Please tell them I don't agree, Mr. Gu."

It's the 1980s now. I can't compare with Ni Kuang's top-notch price of two or three thousand yuan per thousand words, but I should at least give him one or two hundred yuan per thousand words, right?

Do you think you are a bumpkin who has never seen the world?

Gu Cangwu's voice on the phone was a little surprised, "Teacher Lin, this price is actually quite good."

"Mr. Gu, you should thank Mr. Luo Fu for the fact that Lover was first published in Bafang. The standard of 5 cents per word was also given for his sake."

There was a hint of impatience in Lin Weimin's tone, but Gu Cangwu felt that this man was unusually arrogant.

He didn't know much about Lin Weimin. The publication of "The Lover" in "Banfang" was through Luofu's mediation. He only knew that Lin Weimin was a well-known young writer in the mainland.

But in the mainland, the average salary is only a few dozen yuan a month at that time, and he knew something about the standard of manuscript fees, which was just a few yuan per thousand words. The ten Hong Kong dollars per thousand words given by his friend was a little low, but after all, it was a reprint and could not be compared with the first release.

"Mr. Lin, please think about it again." Gu Cangwu did not realize that Lin Weimin was unhappy and continued to persuade him.

"No need, nothing else, just leave it at that." Lin Weimin said and hung up the phone.

"Hello, Mr. Lin, Mr. Lin..."

The editorial office of "Banfang" at 41 Minyu Street, Kaixuan Industrial and Commercial Center, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Gu Cangwu was holding the telephone receiver, still recovering from the surprise of being hung up.

"How is it? What's happening?" Cheng Yi Qiu asked from the side.

Gu Cangwu put down the phone receiver and said with a wry smile: "No, I'm hanging up."

"You think the price is too low?"

Cheng Yi Qiu heard most of the conversation just now, but he didn't understand why the call was suddenly hung up in the end.

Gu Cangwu nodded, "Mr. Lin has a bad temper!"

Cheng Yiqiu said: "Ten Hong Kong dollars per thousand words, not low!"

Gu Cangwu said unhappily, "Of course it's not low in the mainland. He must be aware of the price of royalties in Hong Kong, so he hung up the phone so decisively after listening to me."

"This person is too greedy!" Cheng Yi Qiu shook his head.

Gu Cangwu shook his head helplessly. This old friend had become a little obsessed since he became the deputy editor-in-chief of Sing Tao Evening News, and he no longer had the temperament of a scholar.

Sing Tao Evening News is a supplement to Sing Tao Daily. Sing Tao Daily was first published in Hong Kong in 1938, and Sing Tao Evening News was added in the same year. Sing Tao Daily became one of the major newspapers in Hong Kong within a few years of publication.

By the 1960s, Sing Tao Evening News had developed into one of the most popular evening newspapers among readers, and many office workers would read a copy when they got off work.

At that time, there was no undersea tunnel for transportation in Hong Kong, and people had to rely on ferries to cross the sea. Reading newspapers became the best choice to pass the time on the ferry.

In those years, many Hong Kong writers were proud to publish their works in the Sing Tao Evening Post, including famous writers such as Liu Yichang, Huang Sicheng, Nangong Bo, Ren Biming, Cui Ying, etc. It was a rival to the New Evening Post, which had Liang Yusheng, Ruan Lang, Ye Lingfeng and Xia Yi at that time.

Moreover, compared with the New Evening News, the style of the supplement Sing Tao Evening News is more open.

The novel "Heart Lock" by Guo Lianghui, a famous beautiful Taiwanese writer, was listed as a banned book in Taiwan at that time because of its extremely explicit description of gender relations.

However, the Sing Tao Evening News allowed the ban to be lifted and published the book as usual. It was precisely because of its boldness in describing the relationship between men and women that it caused a sensation in Hong Kong as soon as it was published. The sales of the Sing Tao Evening News doubled in a short period of time.

By the 1980s, Hong Kong's newspaper industry was at its peak. There were countless newspapers and magazines, and competition was bound to be more intense than before. In order to maintain market share and readers, major newspapers and magazines naturally tried every means, and the Sing Tao Evening Post was no exception.

Gu Cangwu told Lin Weimin that the request for reprinting was in response to readers' requests, but that was not actually the case.

In fact, it was the result of an idea that Cheng Yi Qiu, deputy editor-in-chief of Sing Tao Evening News, had after reading the article “Lover” in Bafang a few days ago.

(End of this chapter)