Chapter 295 Qiao Sen, the boy who spreads money

The next day, Lin Weimin used the company's phone for personal gain and made a long-distance call to Tao Huimin. Before he could even mention the job transfer, Tao Huimin told him a piece of news.

"Changchun Film Studio wants you to make a movie?" Lin Weimin's voice sounded slightly surprised.

"Yes, it was recommended by Director Zhang Junsheng of "Five Women Paying Homage to Their Parents"."

Tao Huimin was talking about the movie version of "Five Daughters Paying Homage to Their Parents". She spent most of last year at Changchun Film Studio filming "Five Daughters Paying Homage to Their Parents". The studio intended this film as a tribute to the 35th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"What's the name of the movie?"

"Beautiful Prisoner, directed by Yu Zhongxiao and Lu Jianhua, is a film about the anti-Japanese war."

Lin Weimin didn't have any impression of it in his memory, so it seemed that it didn't make much of a splash.

"Do you want to act?" Lin Weimin asked.

Tao Huimin hesitated for a long time before she said, "I want to go!"

"Why? Before, when I wanted to recommend you to interview for the crew of Dream of Red Mansions, you were a little reluctant." Lin Weimin asked puzzledly.

Tao Huimin hesitated and said, "Before, I didn't think it through. After I came back from Beijing, I thought about it. Beijing doesn't have a Yue Opera Troupe. If I still sing Yue Opera, it will be difficult to transfer to Beijing. If I change my career to act in movies or TV series, it will be easier to transfer."

During Tao Huimin's trip to Yanjing years ago, the two broke the taboo between them. The girl matured at a rapid pace and began to think about their future.

She never considered changing Lin Weimin, but chose to accommodate him.

"That's fine. I talked to the leaders of the People's Art Theater today and I can transfer you to the People's Art Theater or the Peking Opera Theater."

Tao Huimin thought about it and said, "Let's wait until I finish this movie, then I will have the qualifications."

"Okay, I'll listen to you!"

My girlfriend may think she is a harmless little white flower, but in fact, she has a lot of good ideas in her mind!

Then the two chatted about some lovey-dovey topics before reluctantly hanging up the phone.

After returning to the office in the afternoon, someone from the front building came and asked Lin Weimin to contact Er Yuehe, also known as Leng Jiefang, as the publishing house was planning to publish his book "Kangxi Emperor: Seizing the Palace and Starting to Reign".

Lin Weimin thought writing letters was too slow, so he just made a phone call.

Er Yue He works in the NY city government, so it is easy to contact him.

After making the call, I waited for a long time before I received a call back from Er Yuehe.

When Lin Weimin told him on the phone that Guowen Publishing House was going to publish "Emperor Kangxi: The Seizure of the Palace and the Initial Reign", Er Yuehe was ecstatic.

"Is this true?"

"Of course it's true! The company asked me to seek your opinion. Is it okay on your end?"

"No problem, no problem, absolutely no problem!" Er Yue He was so excited that he was a little incoherent.

After waiting for a long time, Er Yuehe hesitated and asked another question, "Teacher Lin, what about the manuscript fee..."

Lin Weimin understood what he meant and said, "Publishing is for publishing, and publishing is for publishing. They are not related. Moreover, the publishing fee is the basic fee plus the fee for the number of copies printed. It should be higher than your publishing fee. It's hard to say the exact number. It depends on the number of subscriptions."

Er Yue He was overjoyed again and expressed his gratitude over the phone.

"Alright, alright, it's your own good novel, it has nothing to do with me. By the way, how is the second part of the novel going?"

Teacher Lin is a person who is always dedicated to his work.

Isn't it dereliction of duty if I call the author but don't urge him to submit his manuscript?

"I'm still sorting out the information. I just wrote the first 20,000 words!"

Lin Weimin pondered and said, "This efficiency is a bit slow! Jiefang, readers are waiting for your novel, you can't let them down!"

Lin Weimin's earnest words made Er Yuehe feel a heavy sense of responsibility. "I understand. Teacher Lin, don't worry. I will definitely finish the novel as soon as possible."

"Well, okay, I believe you!"

Qin Chaoyang shook his head. He really couldn't understand how Lin Weimin, such a big liar, could discover so many outstanding writers?

"Boss, I'm going back to the office now."

Lin Weimin didn't take Qin Chaoyang's strange look to heart. The old man seemed to be thinking about what kind of work to assign him.

When I returned to the office, there was a registered letter on the desk. It was sent by Lu Yao and my colleagues helped to receive it.

Although there were telephones, if it was not an urgent matter, two people would still mainly communicate by writing letters, which was also the norm for most people in this era.

After opening Lu Yao's letter, in addition to the routine greetings, Lu Yao's main topic was to discuss with Lin Weimin the novel he was conceiving.

Regarding the title of the book, Lu Yao wrote two long articles, which seemed quite conflicted.

The title he originally decided on for this novel was "Yellow Earth, Black Gold, Big City". However, when a friend went to visit him some time ago, he heard his friend talking about a novel the other person was writing, and he felt that the title of the other person's novel was more in line with the temperament of his novel.

It's called "Towards the Big World".

"I told him, 'Don't use this title', 'Your novel is immature and has little chance of success. Please let me use this title because it fits the theme of my novel'..."

Lin Weimin could feel Lu Yao's cunning and complacency even through the paper.

He who keeps company with vermilion becomes red, and he who keeps company with ink becomes black.

After hanging out with Teacher Lin for a long time, Lu Yao had unknowingly become proficient in using the KTV technique.

We end up becoming what we hate!

After reading the letter, Lin Weimin spread out the letter paper and wrote back.

What a ridiculous name. “Towards the Big World”. That’s such a lame name. Just call it “Ordinary World”. That’s what Teacher Lin said.

Then Teacher Lin couldn't help but CPU Lu Yao again.

I haven’t written a few words of the novel yet, and I’ve thought of a bunch of names. Will they be useful?

After replying the letter, Lin Weimin suddenly received a notice from the publishing house stating that someone from the foreign affairs department would come to see him the next day accompanied by someone from Random House.

Lin Weimin was puzzled. Why couldn't they just talk over long distance internationally instead of flying across the Pacific Ocean?

The next morning, Lin Weimin met his old friend in the office in the front building of the Guowen Society.

"Mr. Williams, long time no see!"

Lin Weimin and Qiao Sen hugged and greeted each other like old friends.

Qiao Sen called him with good news that last year's print run of Farewell My Concubine had sold out and Random House was planning to reprint it.

"Lin, Farewell My Concubine is gradually becoming a bestseller, which is a successful attempt."

As Qiao Sen spoke, he couldn't help but show a bit of pride on his face. It was his decision to introduce Farewell My Concubine, and now the sales of the novel have achieved good results, which shows that his work has paid off.

"This is all thanks to you." Lin Weimin said politely.

"Thank you!" Qiao Sen accepted Lin Weimin's compliment without hesitation.

Damn, Americans always feel so good about themselves!

but……

Lin Weimin felt that just for an extra print, it wouldn't be necessary to trouble Qiao Sen to make such a long trip.

After he asked the question in his mind, Qiao Sen couldn't help laughing and said, "Of course it can't be just because of the reprinting, but this matter is also somewhat related to Farewell My Concubine."

Qiao Sen didn't keep the secret and said, "The sales curve of Farewell My Concubine over the past year or so has shown the company the potential of your works in the U.S. market, so I came here this time to see if I can introduce some of your other novels."

After Qiao Sen said this, he clearly felt that Lin Weimin's attitude seemed to have undergone some subtle changes.

Lin Weimin looked at Qiao Sen with a smile on his face. How could this be the shameless American guy?

This is definitely the boy who distributes money under the seat of the God of Wealth!

Lin Weimin's attitude became visibly friendlier, which made the comrades from the foreign affairs department nearby couldn't help but look at him sideways.

Teacher Lin, so real!

"Does your company have any goals? Qiao Sen, you should know that I have written a lot of novels in the past two years."

Qiao Sen smiled and said, "Keith told me that your efficiency in writing novels is always amazing. In your country, you have a nickname of 'Quick Gunman', am I right?"

Lin Weimin glanced at the comrade next to him and said, "Ahem, it doesn't matter whether you are a fast shooter or not. When are you free? I will introduce my work to you."

Qiao Sen's face showed that annoying expression again. "Lin, you underestimate us professional managers. If I want to do business with you, don't I need to know more about you in advance?"

oh?

Lin Weimin was a little surprised and made inquiries in advance.

This is better and saves me some effort.

Qiao Sen directly took out the list of books he had prepared, and Lin Weimin took a look at it.

"The Horse Catcher", "The Murderer" and "The Lover" were just as he expected.

The spy war trilogy, "Insidious", "The Cliff" and "The Sound of the Wind" are all about the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation, but Lao Mi is not interested in this.

"If You Are the One" reflects the urban life in China in the 1980s, which is even less likely to interest Lao Mi.

After looking around, these three are the most suitable.

Although the story of "The Horse-Lapping Man" is set during the Anti-Japanese War, this thing is wrapped in the skin of the Mongolian people, which adds an exotic touch to the Americans. They like this, and after translating it, I guess the values ​​are also in line with theirs.

The Lover follows the same pattern. In the 1920s and 1930s, when China was still called the Far East by the Americans, people were living in dissipation and decadence, and men and women were in love. Qiao Sen said that the slogan of this novel was to say that it was the Chinese version of The Great Gatsby.

Lin Weimin had no objection. You pay the money and you are the boss, so I will listen to you.

When it comes to money, Teacher Lin shows no integrity at all.

As for "Chasing the Murderer", it is the most special one among Lin Weimin's novels.

The style of this thing is too unique, and the narrative method of the story is even more abnormal. Qiao Sen asked the translator to translate it for him several times, but he still couldn't fully understand the whole novel. He just roughly knew the plot of the novel.

This difficulty in understanding the narrative adds to Qiao Sen's interest in the novel.

"Your novel is very interesting, and it's a type I haven't seen before." This is how Qiao Sen summed up his feelings about "The Murderer".

"Believe me, it won't let you down!" Lin Weimin said firmly.

In fact, how could he know whether this novel would be successful in the American market?

Anyway, every book I can publish is a good one. It’s a waste not to make money from Lao Mi!

I earn foreign exchange for the country, it's glorious!

Thanks to Qiao Sen's prior preparation, the discussion went quickly, but things got stuck when it came to the topic of royalties.

This time, Qiao Sen quoted Lin Weimin a royalty price, but it was not too high, 8%.

Lin Weimin's requirement was 10%, and as sales increased, the royalties would increase to a maximum of 13%.

The 13% royalty is basically equivalent to the current standard of royalties for first-tier writers in the United States.

"Lin, your offer is too outrageous. It's impossible!" Qiao Sen rejected Lin Weimin with an embarrassed look on his face.

“Nothing is impossible. Qiao Sen, my friend. I think you should also understand that the reason why your company found me again is simply because I created value for you.

If you think this offer doesn’t make you any money, forget it. But I won’t give up my idea. These works are my children, they deserve a higher price!”

In Qiao Sen's eyes, Lin Weimin at this moment did not seem like a parent, but more like a child trafficker, who was simply a black-hearted person.

The two argued for a long time, but neither could convince the other, so they had to put the dispute aside.

Lin Weimin graciously invited Qiao Sen to have lunch, which made Qiao Sen feel much better.

Lin Weimin enjoyed the treatment of a foreign guest as he traveled in a car.

This time, Lin Weimin invited guests to the same old place, Tan’s cuisine at Yanjing Hotel.

When passing by the coffee shop, Lin Weimin took a special look and found that the handsome Li Chunping had disappeared. He might have been living a sweaty life in a foreign country.

After dinner, Lin Weimin and Qiao Sen said goodbye.

When they met again the next day, it was still a tug-of-war, but this time Qiao Sen raised the royalties by one point to 9%.

But Lin Weimin held on to the 10~13% tiered royalty rate and refused to give in.

Qiao Sen frowned and said, "Lin, you are too stubborn. You are making it difficult for me. You should know that we at Random House are not short of good sources of works."

Lin Weimin did not take his threat seriously. They were all thousand-year-old foxes, so why play Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio?

You have come all the way to China, wasting time and effort, how can you go back empty-handed?

"Qiao Sen, I want royalties because I share the risk with you. You should also know that with the sales of Farewell My Concubine in the United States, it is not excessive for me to ask for 10% royalties."

"But the highest royalty you asked for is 13%," Qiao Sen argued.

"That's subject to a prerequisite, more than 500,000 copies, right? I've already inquired about it, and in the US publishing market, 100,000 copies are already considered a bestseller. And what I'm asking for is a royalty increase after 500,000 copies, right?"

Qiao Sen was silent.

To be honest, Lin Weimin’s request is actually reasonable if it were placed in the United States.

But the difference is that he is a Chinese writer.

Qiao Sen smiled bitterly and said, "Lin, if you continue like this, I will have a hard time explaining myself when I return!"

"But I can still get the job done, right?" Lin Weimin said with a smile.

Qiao Sen's bitter smile became even more intense. "You are a master negotiator!"

“Same here!”

Lin Weimin stood up and stretched out his hand, and Qiao Sen also stood up.

“It’s a pleasure to work with you!”

“It’s a pleasure to work with you!”

(End of this chapter)