Chapter 199 Good things happen one after another
In 1982, there was no concept of the National Day Golden Week, and there were only two days off for National Day.
Lao Mi does not celebrate Chinese holidays, so almost on the same day that Guowen Publishing House responded, his royalties arrived in China via international wire transfer.
The handling method was exactly the same as last time, and the nearly 60,000 US dollars in royalties were directly converted into foreign exchange coupons.
Unfortunately, I have holidays these two days, so I can only exchange the money after I go back to work in a few days.
After finally getting two days off, Lin Weimin had planned to have a good rest.
Not long after breakfast in the morning, there was a knock on the door.
"Zhuangzhuang, open the door!"
Lin Weimin shouted in the study.
Han Zhuangzhuang arrived at the gate and opened it. "Uncle, it's a few foreigners!"
Lin Weimin stood up and walked into the yard, and asked in surprise: "Old Ma! Why are you here?"
The people who came were Mark Meng, Yin Geli, Xiao Heiyangzi, Cao Mengde and others.
Mark Meng said, "I haven't seen you for a long time. Today is a holiday. We don't have anywhere to go. I remember you said before that your family lives here, so I brought everyone here."
Lin Weimin enthusiastically invited everyone into the yard, "Come on, come in."
Everyone entered the yard and looked around with some curiosity. As foreign students, they rarely had the opportunity to visit real residential houses in China.
The decoration of this small courtyard on Baimixie Street is a combination of Chinese and Western styles, which makes several people like it very much.
After knowing each other for more than two years, this was the first time for these foreign students to visit Lin Weimin's home. They walked around the yard with great interest.
The bonsai in the yard attracted Cao Mengde's attention, and he kept circling around it. Yin Geli looked around and ran to chat with her eldest nephew. Lin Weimin really wanted to run over to listen to what they were talking about, but he had to accompany Ma Kemeng.
"I heard about the publication of Farewell My Concubine in the United States, and I even recommended that my family buy a copy."
"This is all thanks to you. If you hadn't recommended it to Qiao Sen, this novel wouldn't have been able to meet readers in the United States."
"Don't say that. Farewell My Concubine is an outstanding work. Even if I am not here, there will be others who will appreciate it and introduce it to readers in other countries around the world."
Lin Weimin thought that Mark Meng might have been infected with the Chinese people's habitual modesty after staying in China for two years.
Then the buddy changed the subject and said, "Lin, Yoko has good news for you!"
Mark Meng called out the little Heiyangzi who had been silent all the time. She looked at Lin Weimin with a bit of shyness and excitement in her eyes.
It's been a long time since we last met, but Xiao Hei Yangzi hasn't changed at all.
She looked at Lin Weimin and said, "Mr. Lin, the Nihong Xinchao Society is planning to publish your Farewell My Concubine!"
Um?
Lin Weimin stared at Xiao Heiyangzi and asked, "Nihong's publishing house wants to publish my novel?"
Xiao Heiyouzi nodded vigorously and said excitedly: "Yes, it's true. Shinchosha is going to publish Lin Jun's novel."
Ma Kemeng explained, "Lin, you don't know. In order to get Nihong's publishing house to publish your novel, Yoko wrote to many Nihong publishing houses, and only Shinchosha was willing to publish it. Yoko just received their letter, and they will probably contact you soon."
So that’s it!
Lin Weimin looked at Xiao Hei Yangzi with a gentle look in his eyes, "Yangzi, you are really thoughtful."
Xiao Hei Yoko smiled brightly and said, "Lin Jun's work is so excellent, it should be seen by more people in the world."
At this time, Yin Geli, who had been chatting with her eldest nephew, suddenly came up to Lin Weimin.
"Lin, do you know that Yoko has been writing to Nihong's publishing house since this time last year in order to get your novel published there? She persisted for a year."
Lin Weimin suddenly didn't dare to look into Xiao Heiyangzi's eyes. This gentle tactic of retreating to advance by the woman was too lethal.
Because of a misunderstanding on the Yanda campus, Lin Weimin and Xiao Heiyangzi became somewhat distant. He thought she would give up, but he did not expect that she would have such great perseverance that she wrote letters for a year in order to get her works published in Nihong.
"Yoko, I didn't expect that you would..." Lin Weimin's tone was somewhat moved. He was about to say a few words of thanks but was interrupted by little black Yoko.
"Mr. Lin, your work has been published in the United States. It is only a matter of time before it is published in Nihong. I just helped you speed up the process."
Xiao Hei Yoko tried her best to appear calm and composed. She now fully understood Lin Jun's situation and did not want to put any pressure on him.
Lin Weimin smiled and nodded at Xiao Heiyangzi, hiding his emotion deep in his heart.
Besides being guests, the most important reason why Xiao Hei Yoko and the others came today was probably to tell him the good news.
It is certainly good news for Lin Weimin that the novel can be published in Nihong.
At noon, he specially prepared a banquet to entertain a few foreigners.
When leaving in the afternoon, Xiao Hei Yangzi's eyes were full of affection. Lin Weimin didn't dare to look at her, so he looked elsewhere. When he looked away, he found something unusual.
After everyone left, Lin Weimin blocked Han Zhuangzhuang at the door.
"What's going on between you and the foreign girl?"
Han Zhuangzhuang glanced at Lin Weimin guiltily.
"You think I'm as stupid as you, right?"
Han Zhuangzhuang said unhappily: "Uncle, this is a bit insulting."
"What's wrong with insulting you? Tell me the truth!" Lin Weimin said aggressively.
Seeing that he couldn't hide it from him, Han Zhuangzhuang said, "It's... it's nothing, just now... just now she asked me if I had a girlfriend."
Wow!
Lin Weimin looked at his eldest nephew in shock. The little foreigner’s aesthetic taste was indeed unique!
"Uncle, what do you mean by that look?" Han Zhuangzhuang keenly understood Lin Weimin's eyes.
"Nothing. Aren't you thinking about classmate Dandan?"
Han Zhuangzhuang hesitated and said, "Dandan said he doesn't like me."
"So blunt? That's so hurtful!"
Han Zhuangzhuang gave Lin Weimin a resentful look, and he patted Han Zhuangzhuang on the shoulder, "Alright, alright. Isn't this good enough? Lost in the evening, gained in the evening."
This is probably what they call tit for tat. When you rejected Li Qinqin, you were quicker than Dandan.
"Uncle, I'm just asking casually."
Han Zhuangzhuang said this, but he looked at Lin Weimin with some anticipation in his eyes.
"Then just treat it as a casual question."
Lin Weimin no longer pays attention to Han Zhuangzhuang. You can't seize the opportunity I gave you!
The two-day National Day holiday passed quickly.
The next day after returning to work, Lin Weimin indeed received a notice from the company.
The publishing company received a publishing request from Nihong Shincho Publishing House, hoping to publish the Nihong version of "Farewell My Concubine".
When I came to Yan Wenjing's office again, Yan Wenjing had a casual smile on his face, "Weimin, your novels are becoming more and more popular abroad."
"Boss, you are being idealistic. How can I be angry? At best, I just didn't make the publishing house lose money."
Yan Wenjing said: "If you really lose money, the publishing house will definitely not publish your book."
He introduced the situation of the Nihong New Tide Society to Lin Weimin.
Shinchosha Co., Ltd. is one of the earliest and most representative publishing houses in Japan. It is famous for publishing literary books, as well as weekly and monthly magazines.
In recent years, due to the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the sincerity of the United States on historical issues, exchanges between the two countries, both government and private, have been very active. During this period, many domestic works have been translated and published in the United States market.
However, these works are usually mainly professional works and works by famous authors, and very few works by contemporary writers can be published.
According to Yan Wenjing's introduction, Xinchao Society decided to introduce the novel to the US market because it received a recommendation letter from a reader and noticed that Farewell My Concubine had already been published in the US market and had good sales.
If we simply say that Yoko Kuroi impressed Shinchosha with her unremitting perseverance, it is indeed very inspiring and touching, but publishing houses are commercial organizations after all, and they always have to make money.
The decision to publish Farewell My Concubine was made only after investigating the feedback from the US market, and everything made sense.
However, Lin Weimin was still very touched by Xiao Hei Yangzi's persistence over the past year.
"Boy, good things have been happening to you a lot lately!" Yan Wenjing said with a smile.
Lin Weimin nodded with a smile, "Indeed."
This time, Lin Weimin did not bring it up himself, but Yan Wenjing took the initiative to mention the issue of royalties.
"When I say good things, I am referring in part to the royalties. Farewell My Concubine was first published in the United States, which not only gave our publisher confidence in the novel, but also gave us a lot of initiative when negotiating the standard of royalties."
"How much did Nihong pay for the article?"
“Eight percent royalties.”
"Pay royalties directly?" Lin Weimin was a little surprised.
Yan Wenjing smiled meaningfully, "How else can you say it's a good thing?"
America has a great reputation. Shinchosha heard about some of the feedback on "Farewell My Concubine" in the American market and was willing to pay royalties.
The initial royalty rate is 8%, which is equivalent to the treatment given to talented writers. As for the higher royalty rate of 10%~15%, that is the treatment given to famous writers.
"Then I have no objection."
"I knew you would have this attitude."
Yan Wenjing continued, "Then the community will reply to Nihong."
"no problem."
When it comes to publishing foreign novels, translation is a crucial issue. Thanks to Qiao Sen's advance work, the publishing efficiency in the United States is very high. It will probably take some time for Nihong to publish this time, so Lin Weimin is not in a hurry.
The royalties from the United States were converted into 90,000 foreign exchange certificates. As soon as he got them, he was escorted by his colleagues to the People's Bank of China again.
Originally there were only 15,000 foreign exchange certificates in the safe deposit box, but with his arrival it became 100,000 foreign exchange certificates. He left 5,000 foreign exchange certificates as a reserve.
Looking at Lin Weimin's back, several bank leaders gathered together and were reluctant to disperse.
"You say, is being a writer that profitable?"
No one answered the leader's question because everyone had the same question.
(End of this chapter)
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