Chapter 242 News
The fact that Lin Weimin sent his new novel to "Youth Literature" made the publishing house feel a little uncomfortable.
Apart from "If You Have Something to Say, Talk It Out Nicely" which was previously published in "Zhongshan", this is the first time that Lin Weimin's works have been leaked since he joined the Guowen Publishing House.
This made all the editorial offices in the company start to reflect on whether they were not doing well enough.
"Yes, this time it is to promote avant-garde novels! They are always published in our Guowen Press. After a long time, the readers sometimes wonder why only your Guowen Press publishes these things, and why other publications don't?
I really don't have any other ideas, editor-in-chief, you have to believe that I am sincere to our company! I, Lin Weiminsheng, am a member of the Guowen Society. I will die...
OK, OK, I'm out now!"
Lin Weimin came out of Mrs. Wei's office with a drooling face, and turned around to see several other colleagues from the editorial office walking in the corridor as if nothing had happened.
“Stop pretending!”
Everyone came up and said, "You are such a dishonest boy!"
After leaving Mrs. Wei's office, Lin Weimin was a man who feared nothing.
"Look at the mentality of you guys. I'm not defecting to the enemy, but this makes you excited."
"Youth Literature" is indeed not a rival of Guowen Publishing House. For "People's Literature" and "Contemporary", "Harvest", "October", "Huacheng" and "Zhongshan" are their rivals.
After joking with everyone for a while, Lin Weimin went to the editorial office of People's Literature.
The person who was most hurt when Lin Weimin handed the manuscript of "Chasing the Murderer" to "Youth Literature" this time should be Xie Mingqing. Since Lin Weimin joined the publishing house, his manuscripts have always been handled by old comrades.
Seeing Lin Weimin at this moment, he had a face full of resentment.
"Old comrade, don't be so emotional! I will definitely let you review the next work!"
"The next work? When will that be?"
Xie Mingqing felt that Lin Weimin was fooling him.
"It's almost there, don't you know how efficient I am?"
After hearing what Lin Weimin said, Xie Mingqing finally felt better.
"A new person?" Lin Weimin talked to Xie Mingqing for a few words and saw a new face in the office.
The young man stood up and said, "Hello, Teacher Lin, my name is Zhu Wei."
Xie Mingqing introduced: "Xiao Zhu was transferred from China Youth to our People's Literature, and he has just been here a few days."
Lin Weimin smiled and shook hands with Zhu Wei, saying, "Great, the team has grown again!"
After talking for a few more words, Lin Weimin returned to the back building.
"Oh, you're back after being criticized?" Liu Yin looked gloating.
"Sister Liu, can't you just look forward to me a little bit?"
Liu Yin smiled and said, "It's not that I don't hope for your well-being, it's just that I've never seen Old Lady Wei come to you to praise you."
"Nonsense! Last time I won the Yanbing Literature Award, didn't she praise me so much?"
"It's just that once. The chance is so low that it can be ignored."
"I……"
Well, that seems to be the case.
"Leader, this shows how much you love me and how hard you blame me!"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes."
The two of them teased for a while, and Liu Yin pointed in the direction of his desk, "Look, there's a big happy event in our editorial department today!"
"Happy event? Whose happy event?"
Lin Weimin walked to the table with a smile and saw a bag of wedding candy.
He immediately turned his gaze to Yao Shuzhi, "What's going on? Is my sister Yao getting married?"
There were only a few young people of the right age in the office, and Lin Weimin guessed it immediately.
Yao Shuzhi looked a little embarrassed, "Well, I got the certificate."
"So sudden? Why haven't I heard you mention it before? When will the wedding be held?"
"No, just invite the families of both families to have a meal together."
“Oh, I see!”
Lin Weimin nodded in understanding. The Zheng Guo family was really cautious.
Lin Weimin knew the situation in Zheng State, so he didn't react to this matter.
Liu Yin, however, was standing aside and complaining.
"Weimin, tell me, tell me. Isn't Zheng Guo going too far? He is not so stingy that he doesn't even hold a wedding for his wife. If Shuzhi marries him in the future, who knows how much grievance she will suffer."
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Sister Liu, the wedding must have been discussed between the two of them. My sister Yao is a virtuous person who never cares about appearances and formalities. This makes her a perfect match for Zheng Guo!"
Liu Yin rolled her eyes at him and said, "I think you are just trying to smooth things over. You are the one who brought them together, so of course you are on Zheng Guo's side!"
She took Yao Shuzhi's hand and said, "Silly girl, you really know how to save money for that Grandet in Zheng State."
"Sister Liu, look at what you said. This is a joint decision between Zheng Guo and I not to hold a wedding. Besides..."
Lin Weimin interrupted, "Besides, not having a wedding doesn't mean you don't have to give gifts. You still have to give the money, and you don't even have to invite the guests."
He said to Yao Shuzhi with a smile: "Why, am I right? These are all your Zheng Guo's true thoughts!"
Yao Shuzhi rolled her eyes at him and said, "You just talk nonsense. Don't worry, no need for any gifts."
"If you say so, I feel relieved to eat this wedding candy."
Lin Weimin said as he stuffed a piece of candy into his mouth. He then frowned and found fault with her, saying, "Your Zheng Guo is really something. He didn't even know to buy some White Rabbit candies for his wedding. He had to buy hard candies instead. How irritating!"
"Do you want to eat it? If not, give it to me!"
Lin Weimin and Yao Shuzhi were joking, and the atmosphere in the office was lively.
Liu Yin suddenly said again: "Wait a minute!"
Everyone looked at her.
"Shuzhi, what did you just say? The families of the two families? Isn't Zheng Guo an orphan? Where do the families come from?"
When Zheng Guo came to Guowen Publishing House to revise manuscripts, he lived upstairs from the editorial office. Everyone sympathized with his situation. Although this guy was very stingy and annoying, he was an orphan after all and had suffered since childhood, so everyone could understand him.
When they learned that Yao Shuzhi was in love with him, everyone gave their sincere blessings.
Yao Shuzhi was stunned for a moment, looked around, and looked at Lin Weimin for help.
Lin Weimin had a candy in his mouth, his hands in his pockets, and his eyes looking up at the sky.
"Well... actually, Zheng Guo... his family members are all here." Yao Shuzhi said stutteringly.
"All in? What does all in mean?"
Liu Yin asked, and everyone else in the office turned their eyes to her.
Yao Shuzhi was sweating from being stared at by everyone, and pointed her finger, "Ask him!"
Everyone looked at Lin Weimin, and he said in panic: "This has nothing to do with me!"
"What is going on?" everyone asked.
Lin Weimin said helplessly: "Actually, Zheng Guo's family is fine, everything is fine."
Everyone was stunned, and then there was a burst of cursing in the office.
"Zheng Guo, that bastard! I was so nice to him before."
"This kid also asked me for a lot of writing paper!"
"I even gave them white flour buns!"
…
The office was filled with voices condemning Zheng Guo, and Yao Shuzhi was terrified.
"So, Shuzhi and Weimin, you two already knew about it?" Liu Yin shifted the topic to Lin Weimin and Yao Shuzhi.
Lin Weimin said quickly, "I just happened to know it. You don't know how angry I was at that time. I scolded this grandson to the point of bloodshed. I wanted to tell everyone, but then I thought, wouldn't that be intentional to create conflicts? It's better for everyone not to know anything."
With just a few words, Lin Weimin cleared himself of all charges, with an expression that said, "I'm doing this for everyone's good."
Everyone looked suspicious, "Is that true?"
Yao Shuzhi nodded repeatedly, "That's right, that's right. I criticized him harshly just like Weimin did. This person is really outrageous!"
Liu Yin complained: "This Zheng Guo, this is a character problem."
"It's not that serious." Lin Weimin winked at Yao Shuzhi, "This kid isn't trying to deceive us. He's just scared because he was bullied by someone in the past few years!"
"Yeah, yeah, Jungkook was pretty miserable before."
After hearing what Lin Weimin and Yao Shuzhi said, the colleagues' emotions eased a little. They had all been through this together, so it was understandable that there was such a reason.
At this time, Meng Weizai poked his head out of the door and said, "Weimin, come here."
Lin Weimin stood up and whispered to Yao Shuzhi jokingly, "Remember to ask your Zheng Guo to treat me to a meal later."
Arriving at Meng Weizai's office, Lin Weimin asked, "Leader, what do you want to talk to me about?"
"Two good news, both about Farewell My Concubine. Both the United States and Japan will reprint the book, and the proportion of manuscript fees and royalties will remain unchanged. Is there any objection?"
"What a coincidence?" Lin Weimin asked in surprise.
"It's quite a coincidence. But I really didn't expect that your novel would sell so well abroad. The United States has already reprinted it for the second time. If this trend continues, your Farewell My Concubine may become a best-seller!"
A perennial bestseller is definitely a bestseller, but a bestseller is not necessarily a perennial bestseller.
"This is just the beginning. The last time they reprinted 100,000 copies, it took half a year to reprint again. They can't even make it to the bottom of the bestseller list, right?"
"Haha, you are really getting more and more ambitious now. The fact that your novel can continue to be printed proves that it has gradually gained influence and will definitely become more and more popular in the future."
Lin Weimin nodded, what Lao Meng said was right.
There are cases in the publishing industry where a book becomes a huge hit. Such examples can be found both at home and abroad, but most of them are short-lived. It is better to grow steadily and steadily.
The impact of sudden fame is also difficult to last, which is not necessarily a good thing for a writer.
"The United States is planning to print an additional 200,000 copies this time, and Nihong is planning to print an additional 80,000 copies. You are going to make a fortune!" Meng Weizai said with a smile, with a hint of envy in his eyes.
Compared with publishing works domestically, publishing overseas is indeed profitable.
Lin Weimin showed a surprised expression on his face, "Wow, it's getting more and more generous!"
"Haha, Farewell My Concubine has now become your little piggy bank. In the history of our country, it seems that no writer has ever received higher royalties for a single work than you!"
Lin Weimin was surprised and asked, "Not really?"
Meng Weizai said seriously, "Do you think I'm kidding you?"
The Yanbing Literature Award is a literary award established in accordance with the will of Mr. Shen Yanbing. The total amount of prize money donated by the old gentleman is only 250,000 yuan, which is the royalties he saved throughout his life.
The overseas publication of Lin Weimin's work "Farewell My Concubine" alone has exceeded 250,000 US dollars, including this reprint.
It may be an exaggeration to say that one book can earn more than a great writer's lifetime income, but it should be enough for half a lifetime.
Lin Weimin felt a little trembling for a moment, "Oh, after hearing what you said, I have become a big shot!"
Meng Weizai laughed and scolded: "Virtue!"
"Once you're sure there's no problem, the publishing house will reply to Random House and Shincho Publishing House."
"no problem."
Lin Weimin calculated that the US reprint of 200,000 copies should be worth about 120,000 US dollars according to the agreed-upon royalty rate. The Nihong reprint of 80,000 copies quadrupled the amount, so the royalty rate should be about 60,000 US dollars.
Adding them together, it is a total of 180,000 meters of swords.
A large sum of money was spent from the small treasury a few days ago, and it was immediately replenished.
How come this money can never be spent?
Teacher Lin was very distressed about this!
Back in the editorial office again, Lin Weimin was humming a little tune happily.
The noise in the office caused by Zheng Guo had died down. Liu Yin asked gossipingly, "What good news? Why are you so happy?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Looking at your reaction, you must have received the royalties again, right?"
Lin Weimin glanced at Liu Yin in surprise. She looked a little proud, "How is it? Did I guess it right?"
"Okay, my sister Liu still understands me!" Lin Weimin gave Liu Yin a thumbs up.
The two were chatting when Mr. Zhai from the mail room knocked on the office door.
"Weimin, there's a registered letter for you!"
"Where did it come from?" Lin Weimin asked as he walked towards the door.
"From Xining."
Lin Weimin's heart sank.
I took the letter from Mr. Zhai. It was very thin.
Lin Weimin walked back to his desk with the letter in his hand. Liu Yin saw that he had a gloomy expression and stopped teasing him.
The letter was written by Lao Guo’s wife.
In the letter, she told Lin Weimin that Lao Guo had passed away a few days ago. In addition to the news of Lao Guo's death, Lao Guo's wife also mentioned that Gu Hua went to Xining to see Lao Guo last December, and Lao Guo was very happy.
At the end of the letter, Lao Guo’s wife expressed her gratitude and mentioned the care that Lin Weimin had given her and her husband when they were in Yanjing.
Lin Weimin looked at the letter and was silent for a long time.
He looked out the window and saw several Sophora japonica trees in the yard were in bloom.
Lao Guo passed away in May.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
