Chapter 220: What the people like is the hard truth
The meal with colleagues Zai Lin Weimin came to an abrupt end after lunch when they started discussing "The Cliff" which was just broadcast on CCTV last night.
Between Zai Lin Weimin's meal and watching TV series, everyone chose to watch TV series without hesitation.
When people in later generations talk about the time when a certain TV series was broadcast in the 1980s, the streets were deserted, and this is not an exaggeration.
The reason for this is inseparable from the lack of entertainment life among ordinary people.
More importantly, there are too few televisions, so it is not easy to watch TV. People often have to go to their neighbors or friends' homes to watch TV.
There is a saying that a book cannot be read unless it is borrowed, and the same is true for watching TV.
Watching TV series has become a fashionable thing. If you don’t watch the TV series broadcast on TV the night before, you will have nothing to talk about with your colleagues at work the next day.
At noon, the topic of conversation among colleagues was all about "The Cliff" which they watched last night.
It just so happened that the original author and screenwriter Lin Weimin was present, so it was easier for us to discuss the matter, and we even asked directly about the subsequent plot.
"You have all read the novel!" Lin Weimin said.
"Is the plot afterwards the same as in the novel?" Yao Shuzhi asked.
"More or less."
There was no Internet at that time, so Lin Weimin was not afraid of any impact caused by spoilers.
After hearing his words, everyone will inevitably go back and reread the novel "The Cliff".
The phenomenon in the editorial department of "Contemporary" is just a microcosm of the countless audiences across the country. Nowadays, everyone's nightlife is almost zero. When there is nothing to do at night, 100% of those who have a TV at home will turn it on. Even if the owner does not want to turn it on, the neighbors will force him to turn it on.
In just two days, the TV series "The Cliff" became the hottest topic among countless viewers after dinner.
In the following days, as the TV series "The Cliff" continued to be popular, not only did ordinary people discuss the TV series on the streets and at the dinner tables, but the topic also began to appear in newspapers across the country.
The broadcast of "The Cliff" became more and more popular. Sitting in front of the TV at 8 o'clock every night to watch "The Cliff" on CCTV-1 has become a compulsory course for many ordinary people across the country.
It is winter in Yanjing. Since some time ago, young people in the streets of Yanjing began to appear wearing black leather coats and sunglasses.
This outfit is exactly the same as the one worn by Zhou Yi, the male protagonist in "The Cliff".
In the original novel written by Lin Weimin, the hero Zhou Yi wears suits all year round, with a mink coat in winter and a khaki windbreaker, black gloves, a mink hat, and a fedora in spring.
From the moment he appeared on the screen, Zhou Yi was completely different from all the male protagonists in domestic TV dramas of this era. He exuded a sense of fashion and elite style.
Ren Hao also put a lot of effort into Zhou Yi's styling during the filming. In fact, it's not just the male lead Zhou Yi, but also the female lead Gu Qiuyan.
The changes of clothing in the four seasons are all exquisite, which makes the audience feel refreshed.
There is a line in the play where Zhou Yi is talking to his colleague Lu Ming.
Zhou Yi: "You've been like this for several days, at least change your clothes!"
Lu Ming: "Do you know the value of this? This is pure mink!"
It has even become a colloquialism among the audiences who have watched the TV series. Many young audiences have even developed a strong interest in the "Diao'er" spoken by people in Northeast China. The "Diao'er" spoken by people in Northeast China came into the sight of audiences across the country forty years in advance.
As a result, the sales of fur clothing departments in major department stores began to surge. Regardless of whether in the past or now, fur clothing is always very expensive.
This wave of disguised sales indirectly proves the popularity of "Cliff's Edge", not to mention the slightly cheaper clothing such as fedoras, leather gloves, and khaki windbreakers that often appear in the show.
In short, the popularity of "The Cliff" has brought a lot of business to the clothing departments of department stores and clothing stores across the country.
There were more and more reports on "The Cliff" in newspapers, and people were paying more and more attention to it. The names of Lin Weimin and the original novel also became more well-known again.
The direct reaction brought about by this was that Guowen Publishing House found Lin Weimin on the eighth day of the broadcast of "The Cliff".
In just a few days, as the TV series became popular, the subscription volume of the single volume of "The Cliff" in Xinhua Bookstores and post offices across the country exceeded 300,000 copies.
You know, the novel "The Cliff" has been on the market for more than a year now. Although the total sales have exceeded 800,000 copies, the sales have actually entered a stable trend.
This sudden surge in subscriptions really caught the Guowen Publishing House by surprise. In fact, when the news of "The Cliff" being adapted into a TV series came out, the publishing house had already printed a lot more copies.
Unexpectedly, after only a few days of airing "The Cliff", the enthusiasm of audiences and readers across the country has completely shocked the company.
And all of this stems from the line of small words at the beginning of the TV series.
"This drama is adapted from Lin Weimin's novel of the same name, "The Cliff"."
After some discussion, "The Cliff" was reprinted again, with a print run of 500,000 copies.
The subscription volume is 200,000 copies higher than the number reported by bookstores and post offices. This is not only due to the trust in Lin Weimin's past achievements, but also the trust in the influence of "The Cliff".
Nowadays, the number of TV dramas produced in China each year is very small. The influence of a TV drama will become more prominent after its subsequent second, third or even more rounds of broadcasts.
"The Cliff" is the first domestic TV series with a length of 20 episodes. It is broadcasted in turns by CCTV-1 and Qindao TV, with two episodes per day, and it only takes more than a week to complete the broadcast.
The next step is to rebroadcast and export it to other provincial and municipal TV stations in the country.
Judging from the current popularity of "The Cliff", if we use the ratings samples of later generations to calculate, a rating of over 99% should be easily achieved.
Unfortunately, this kind of thing is useless these days.
What matters is what the people like and see.
The hot sales of character costumes and the original novel are enough to prove the popularity of "Cliff", which is a more useful weapon than any number of hot searches and headlines.
Two days later, Mr. Jinshan called and informed Lin Weimin that CCTV planned to rebroadcast "The Cliff".
"There's nothing we can do. The TV stations' phones have been flooded with calls. Not only from CCTV, but also from Qindao. In addition to calls from the public requesting replays, the most popular calls are from sister TV stations in various provinces and cities requesting replays!"
When Mr. Jinshan said this, he couldn't help but sound a little proud.
He was the one who single-handedly promoted the project, production and filming of the TV series "The Cliff" and the cooperation with Qindao TV Station. Now facts have proved that Teacher Jinshan's decision was so wise that he couldn't help but feel proud.
After hanging up the phone, Qin Chaoyang said with a smile: "These past few days have been nothing but good news!"
Lin Weimin nodded, with a look of joy on his face.
"When are you planning to move in?"
Lin Weimin was promoted by Guowen Publishing House to become the deputy editor-in-chief of the "Contemporary" editorial department.
Before Lin Weimin, there was no deputy editor-in-chief in Contemporary Magazine. The emergence of this position alone shows how much importance the leadership of Guowen Publishing House attached to Lin Weimin.
When Qin Chaoyang said "move over", he was referring to the office.
"Contemporary" now has three offices, one for Meng Weizai, one for Qin Chaoyang, and one for the editorial department. After deputy editor-in-chief Lin Weimin took office, it looked a bit awkward for them to squeeze into one office with the editors-in-charge, but the office space of "Contemporary" was relatively crowded, so Qin Chaoyang discussed with letting Lin Weimin squeeze into one office.
"Editor-in-chief, don't bother me. I'm fine staying with everyone else."
"That won't work. My office is big enough so it will be convenient for you to make phone calls in the future!" Qin Chaoyang joked.
"It's just as convenient now. I just want to avoid being too detached from the masses! Besides, if they say bad things about you in private, I can collect the information and come to you to make accusations!" Lin Weimin joked.
Qin Chaoyang was amused by him and laughed, "You are so unruly, don't talk nonsense."
"I almost let you interrupt me and call me. You really don't want to stay in the same office with me?"
"Really, there's no need. It's fine to stay in the big house. Leader, when you have time, can you go to Old Yan and ask me if there's any progress on the book series?" Lin Weimin urged.
Qin Chaoyang said dissatisfiedly: "I was assigned work right after I was promoted."
"I would like to go, but I'm not qualified!"
"Okay, got it."
Lin Weimin left Qin Chaoyang's office with a smile.
The Yanbing Literature Award ceremony was held in the middle of last month. After consultation with the National Literature Society, the China Literary Association, and the judging panel, the winning works will be republished by Contemporary Magazine in the form of a series.
The idea of the series of books was proposed by Lin Weimin, and he was also responsible for the typesetting and printing of the "Contemporary Series". From December to now, nearly a month, Lin Weimin has been busy with this matter.
Fortunately, the works that won the Yanbing Literature Award are all long novels that have already been published, and there are basically no changes. Otherwise, it would take several months to complete a set of seven volumes.
Now the proofreading and typesetting work of "Contemporary Series" has been completed, but Lin Weimin has very bold ideas on the binding design, packaging and pricing of the series.
He plans to package the series in full-material hardcover, and the entire set of books will be plastic-sealed and will never be sold in retail. The suggested retail price is 30 yuan.
This number is undoubtedly very bold. The biggest difference between a series and a single volume is naturally the price.
Around 1982, the price of a normal novel fluctuated around one yuan.
Because of the "series" factor, a series of books implicitly makes a rigid requirement on the reader's financial strength. Therefore, many readers of this era, who love series of books but whose financial conditions do not allow it, think of buying them together with others.
Meng Weizai almost jumped up when he heard his words, "The capitalists in the old society were not as evil as you!"
In Lin Weimin's mind, this is just the beginning. Old Meng, you haven't seen the world!
(End of this chapter)
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