Chapter 28 Talent

"He, tui!"

"He, tui!"

Almost at the same time, Lin Weimin and Qu Xiaowei, who had completed the transaction, sent signals of disdain to each other.

"Lin Weimin!" Before Lin Weimin could continue to despise Qu Xiaowei, Tang Yuqiu called him from a distance.

"Teacher Tang, what's the matter?" Lin Weimin ran over.

"You were not here this morning, so Shihui came to give you the manuscript fee slip. Take a look."

Tang Yuqiu handed an envelope to Lin Weimin, who took it and opened it openly.

It was OK, just about what he expected. "Eula's Death" was a short story, only about 18,000 words, and the fee was 8 yuan per thousand words, a total of 152 yuan.

The total profit for the two novels was 816 yuan.

It is equivalent to two years' salary of an ordinary worker in this era. I can't say how much it will cost him, but it should be no problem to buy a house in Yanjing City.

Writers of this era are indeed the happiest. It is not like in previous years when writing was all in vain, nor is it like in recent years when the increase in royalties could not keep up with the soaring prices.

With more than 800 yuan, Lin Weimin's savings officially broke through four digits, and the sense of crisis in his heart finally eased a little.

It hasn’t been easy along the way!

With some money in his hand, Lin Weimin couldn't help but recall the good old days.

But he was interrupted by Qu Xiaowei, "Oh! Another manuscript fee has been issued. Are you good enough?"

Lin Weimin threw the manuscript fee slip to the ground and said, "What do you care about it?"

You ignored me yesterday, but today I am out of your reach.

"Beat him!" Qu Xiaowei cursed, but turned around and tried to snatch the manuscript fee receipt from Lin Weimin with a grin.

He hasn't published anything for more than half a year, so the payment slip is just something he can smell to satisfy his craving.

In just half a month, Lin Weimin's two novel manuscripts were successively accepted by "Zhongshan" and "Contemporary", which made the students in the Institute of Literature full of envy.

It has been almost two months since we came to the Institute of Literature and Art. Many of us have published new works, but not many have actually reached the level of "Zhongshan" and "Contemporary".

Among these students, the most steady one is Jiang Zilon. He already has two manuscripts published in "People's Literature" and "Contemporary" respectively. One of them is the previously mentioned "The Sequel to Director Qiao", which was derived from one of Jiang Zilon's famous works, "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office".

No one in the class had expected that the young man Lin Weimin would be the first to follow in Jiang Zilong's footsteps and appear in one of the country's top literary magazines.

Don't be fooled by this kid's usual cheerful appearance, he has a real talent for writing.

Huang Zonghan often said this when chatting with his classmates in private.

This is Huang Zonghan's heartfelt feeling after reading two recent novels written by Lin Weimin.

Two completely different styles, different writing methods, different characters and plots, yet they can appear so smoothly in the hands of the same person. Whenever he thought of this, he couldn't help but feel a little discouraged, feeling that all his creations over the years had been in vain, without any improvement at all.

Huang Zonghan was not the only one in the class who had this feeling. When Lin Weimin received his second manuscript fee receipt, the girls in the dormitory were also discussing him.

"If you ask me, our little Anyi has a good eye. She picked out a talented person right away." Tang Kangmei joked.

"Sister Kang Mei, don't talk nonsense." Huang Anyi blushed.

Seeing her like this, Tang Kangmei said, "Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore."

"Sister Kangmei, how come Lin Weimin is so amazing? Before, he was just playing around and no one noticed, but once he got serious, he immediately published two novels, and they were in Zhongshan and Contemporary." Huang Xiaoying asked with envy.

"Yeah, who would have thought that if you look at Lin Weimin's usual carefree attitude, he would have nothing to do with literature."

"Hmm!"

Huang Anyi was not happy to hear this and coughed lightly, which immediately caused everyone to tease her, "Oh, so your lover is heartbroken?"

"You...you guys stop talking nonsense."

Someone laughed and said, "Okay, okay, we are talking nonsense. You two are innocent and have nothing to do with each other."

It was clearly a statement of clarification, but it was deliberately said in a sarcastic tone, making Huang Anyi extremely depressed.

"Okay, stop interrupting with An Yi." Tang Kangmei advised, and then said: "Boss Huang said that Weimin was born to do this job."

“I didn’t believe it before, but after seeing him, I really feel that writing is something that requires talent.

Do you remember? That day when we went to watch a movie at Xiao Xi Tian Er, everyone had watched it and many people had a lot of feelings, but only he, after just watching the movie once, had formed such a clear plot and a profound core in his mind. I don’t know about others, but I can’t do it anyway.”

There was admiration in Tang Kangmei's tone. Although she always took advantage of Lin Weimin's age, when it came to talent and strength, she had to admire him.

"That's true." Huang Xiaoying sighed, "I really don't know when we can be like Lin Weimin and publish novels in magazines like Contemporary and Zhongshan as easily as drinking water."

"This kind of thing can't be rushed. Some people rely on their talent to write, like Lin Weimin. And some people may have a little talent, but rely more on acquired efforts, like us." Tang Kangmei said with the tone of a veteran.

She is the eldest sister in the dormitory, and everyone is very convinced of her opinions.

The lively atmosphere of the chat suddenly became quiet, and everyone felt a little bored.

Talent, what a rare thing!

For most people, it is out of reach.

The next day, Mr. Wu Zuxiang gave a lecture on "Dream of the Red Chamber" in the morning. The old gentleman is a master in the study of the Dream of the Red Chamber.

Thanks to Lin Weimin and others who had queued up to buy the famous book at Wangfujing Bookstore, everyone in the class had already gained a good understanding of "Dream of the Red Chamber" before the course started, so they did not find it difficult to listen to Mr. Wu Zuxiang's lectures.

In class, Wu Zuxiang sat sideways behind the desk, with his head slightly tilted towards the students. He did not have any handouts when he lectured, but just spoke freely.

When he got excited, he would lean over the desk and stare at the students in the front row, making people feel timid.

When the class was over, the old gentleman did not say goodbye directly. Instead, he stood up and supported the podium with his hands, asking everyone to talk about their feelings or thoughts about reading "Dream of the Red Chamber".

The students in the class looked at each other in bewilderment. Except for a few individuals, everyone had only read "Dream of the Red Chamber" briefly. Talking about their feelings and thoughts in front of a great man like Wu Zuxiang was tantamount to showing off one's knowledge in front of an expert.

"You don't have any ideas? That shouldn't be possible, right? Are you embarrassed? Then I'll call your names." The old man had a smile on his face, like a naughty boy.

He raised his finger, drew a half circle in the air, and finally locked it on a handsome face.

(End of this chapter)