Chapter 270: Learning from a Good Example of Serving the People
"Xiaosheng, I'll take the manuscript first."
"I haven't finished revising it yet!" Liang Xiaosheng said anxiously.
"It's okay. I'll bring it to you after work." Lin Weimin said hurriedly.
While Liang Xiaosheng looked puzzled, Lin Weimin hummed a little tune and left his house.
"By the way, Boss, what do you want to talk to me about?"
As his colleagues were scrambling to read his magical manuscript, Lin Weimin asked Meng Weizai.
Meng Weizai's eyes softened at this moment. "Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that the royalties from Hong Kong have arrived. It was wired internationally."
Everyone was originally appreciating Liang Xiaosheng's manuscript, but when they heard Meng Weizai mention the topic of manuscript fees, their ears immediately pricked up.
Lin Weimin was keenly aware of the gossips of this group of people. He knew that with Lao Tan around, there would be no impenetrable walls in the Guowen Society, so he simply asked openly: "The royalties from Xiangjiang have all arrived, but ours haven't yet!"
Meng Weizai said unhappily, "How can it be the same? They will publish it next month, and we still have to wait two months!"
The two chatted for a few sentences and refused to mention the amount of royalties, which made the people waiting on the side very anxious.
"Weimin, how much did you get paid for publishing your novel in Hong Kong?" Liu Yin finally couldn't hold back her curiosity and took the initiative to ask.
“It’s not much money.”
“How much is a small amount of money?”
"One word is five cents. You guys do the math."
Everyone was chattering, asking, "How many words are there in the manuscript of "The Lover"?"
By the way, it’s more than 240,000, and when you multiply it by 5 centimeters, you have to convert the units.
A twelve thousand meter sword!
Not much!
After seeing the tens of thousands of dollars in royalties from the publication of Farewell My Concubine in the United States and Japan, my colleagues' threshold for shock has obviously increased. After calculating this number, their expressions were calm and even a little dissatisfied.
That’s all?
The group even discussed with Lin Weimin, "Weimin, why is the payment so low this time?"
"It's good enough that Hong Kong can afford a literary magazine. How much royalties do you expect to get?" Lin Weimin said.
"That shouldn't be the case! I heard that some writers only get one or two thousand yuan per thousand words."
In the 1980s, one thousand to two thousand yuan was enough for one thousand words. Today, everyone in the popular literature circle in Hong Kong can really get that much. For example, Ni Kuang can even get two to three thousand yuan for one thousand words. Among the writers in Hong Kong, Ni Kuang dares to claim to be second, and no one dares to claim to be first.
Another example is Jin Yong, who is the boss of a newspaper company. He stopped writing in the 1980s, but his works are still published from time to time. The royalties are calculated based on the sales of single-volume books. After deducting the printing and paper costs, the sales of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of copies of a novel all go into Jin Yong's pocket. A single-volume book may have as few as 100,000 words. His income is much higher than Ni Kuang's, but it cannot be calculated simply based on royalties.
Ni Kuang once lamented about this, saying that although his royalties were high, they were not as much as those of Mr. Cha!
"That's a matter of the popular literature circle, and besides, that's a treatment only the most outstanding few people can get," Lin Weimin explained.
Everyone nodded in understanding. Even if they hadn't read Hong Kong's popular literature, they had at least heard of it. The most famous were the martial arts novels, which were indeed interesting.
While everyone was talking, no one noticed Tong Zhonggui who was hiding in a corner of the office registering manuscripts.
The movements of his hands had already stopped, and his heart was filled with turmoil.
A twelve thousand meter sword is considered too little?
Not to mention 12,000-meter-long swords, he had never even seen RMB!
Teacher Lin’s "Lover" will not only be published in Hong Kong, but will also be published in the sixth issue of "Contemporary" in November this year. Tong Zhonggui happens to know the standard of royalties.
Twelve yuan per thousand words, exactly twice as much as he charged.
That's nearly three thousand dollars, plus twelve thousand knives.
This was just the publishing fee. Tong Zhonggui also knew that almost every work of Teacher Lin was published within a year after publication, and sold hundreds of thousands or even millions of copies.
He is now a temporary worker at Contemporary Magazine, and has an idea of the basic remuneration and remuneration based on print run. With the sales of Mr. Lin's works, it is not difficult for him to earn tens of thousands of yuan for a single work.
After thinking it over, Tong Zhonggui felt a little dizzy.
In the past, I only heard that Teacher Lin’s novels were published in the United States and Japan, and that he earned foreign currency and his royalties were ridiculously high, but I never had any idea of what he was getting.
Today, he heard everyone discussing Lin Weimin’s royalties with his own ears, and he finally realized what a great writer is!
The royalties from Teacher Lin's novel are equal to what an ordinary person earns from working for a lifetime, Tong Zhonggui made a simple comparison in his mind.
But then he discovered a sad fact: if he counted the overseas publication of his novels, it might take more than one lifetime, or even more than ten lifetimes.
Take "The Lover" for example. The standard of payment given by "Contemporary" is already one of the highest in China, and the entire novel is only three thousand yuan.
But Hong Kong's "Bafang" gave 12,000 rice knives. If calculated using the official exchange rate, the difference is six times. If calculated using the private exchange rate, it would be even more terrifying, as the difference would be more than ten or twenty times.
The most important thing is that he just heard from Teacher Lin that the standard of royalties given by "Banfang" is actually on the low side.
What if the payment is normal or higher?
Tong Zhonggui didn't dare to think about it anymore, as it was beyond his comprehension.
Thinking about how he was still feeling smug about the 30 yuan he had just received in royalties a few days ago, Tong Zhonggui couldn't help feeling a little ashamed.
Look at Teacher Lin's level. He treats the royalties of 10,000 or 20,000 yuan as if it were just one or two yuan.
Tong Zhonggui raised his head. While everyone was discussing the manuscript fee, Teacher Lin had already sat back in his chair, lowering his head to review the manuscript.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.
This is the role model I should learn from!
Time passed quickly and it was October. During this time, Lin Weimin had some free time, so he made an appointment with Ma Dudu to go to the Friendship Store, Foreign Trade Store and Trust Store.
There were quite a few pottery, porcelain, bronze, jade, seals, and four treasures of the study, all of which were placed in the second courtyard next to the Forbidden City.
In order to collect antiques, Lin Weimin made up for a lot of knowledge in this area and traveled to various places to gain experience. With the help of Ma Dudu's explanations, Lin Weimin was able to get rid of his complete ignorance of the antique industry.
But there is a pressing problem at hand.
I have no place to put the antique calligraphy and paintings I bought!
After placing their latest acquisition, a two-ear vase from the Qianlong period, in the last corner of the room, Lin Weimin and Ma Dudu retreated to the door.
"Teacher Lin, you should set up an antique display shelf, or collect a few. Otherwise, just placing things on the ground like this will take up too much space." Ma Dudu said.
Mr. Lin has a unique style in collecting and belongs to the category of the extravagant type.
Sometimes Ma Dudu couldn't help but complain in his heart. It was really a waste of such good things to keep them in his hands.
But he had to admit that Teacher Lin was really rich!
He waved his hands and spent money lavishly without blinking an eye.
No matter whether it is from the Song Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, porcelain or jade, as long as you can tell the origin, Teacher Lin will accept it all.
Ma Dudu sometimes advises Teacher Lin to be more restrained, as some things may not appreciate in value, and will just gather dust after being bought.
"It's not worth much, only about a hundred or eighty yuan!" Teacher Lin always answered like this.
Every time this happened, Ma Dudu would feel depressed and unable to let go.
We are different!
no the same!
Sample!
When you go out with a big-spending collector like Teacher Lin, it’s hard to control yourself from buying things.
Who wouldn’t be jealous when seeing people putting things into their homes in piles?
But Ma Dudu and Teacher Lin have completely different styles. Every time he looks at something, he looks at it over and over again, calculating carefully and never wasting a single bullet.
Even so, he would have to spend one or two months' salary to buy a cheap item.
The end of the month is the most difficult time for him.
Every time Teacher Lin invited Ma Dudu to dinner, he would save some food for two meals in advance so that after eating, he could have enough for two more meals.
Ma Dudu feels that compared with the extravagant collectors like Teacher Lin, he can probably be called the graceful collector.
I went hungry every night just to save some money to buy two antiques.
It’s difficult to collect without money!
Lin Weimin nodded after Ma Dudu finished speaking, agreeing with his opinion, "The place is indeed a bit small!"
"Dudu, help me look for a bigger house for sale. I'll buy one. Otherwise, we won't have room to store our things!"
Ma Dudu: ...
Feeling the disparity between people again, Ma Dudu slapped himself hard in his heart.
Let you talk too much, let you talk too much!
Just as he was regretting it, he heard Lin Weimin say, "Let's buy two sets. Not only do we have no place to put the antiques, but the letters from readers at home also take up some space. The bookshelves in my back room are already full, and letters will get damp if left on the floor for a long time."
Do you know how to put moisture on the ground?
Ma Dudu's eyes fell on the ancient books on the floor in the room. There were two layers of linoleum underneath, and the books were just there.
These books were just bought today. They are ancient books from the Ming Dynasty.
In your mind, these ancient books from the Ming Dynasty are not as important as a few letters from readers?
Ma Dudu really wanted to grab Teacher Lin by the collar and spit at him.
It won’t work. I can’t stay here any longer. Ma Dudu feels that if he stays any longer, his mentality will be damaged.
"Okay, I'll help you find out when I have time these few days. I'll write you back when I have news!"
After saying that, Ma Dudu wanted to leave, but was grabbed by Lin Weimin.
Lin Weimin looked at his watch. It was dinner time. "Why are you in such a hurry? We haven't eaten yet!"
"No, no, I'll go home for dinner tonight." Ma Dudu felt upset and wanted to stay away from Teacher Lin.
"How about all living together?" Lin Weimin asked.
Ma Dudu swallowed subconsciously and hesitated.
"Just one bite, just one bite."
Teacher Lin pulled Ma Dudu out.
Ma Dudu felt that Teacher Lin’s grip was very strong and he couldn’t break free no matter how hard he struggled.
Teacher Lin, let me go!
(End of this chapter)
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