Chapter 309: King of Freeloaders
Early that morning, Lin Weimin rode his motorcycle to work. As soon as he entered the Chinese Literature Society, he felt the strange looks and whispers from the people around him.
I entered the back building and came to the editorial office. As soon as I walked in, I saw several colleagues gathered together.
“Did you really donate it?”
"Wow, that's 100,000 yuan! How many lifetimes of work would it take to earn that much?"
…
Lin Weimin walked closer and asked, "What are you doing?"
Everyone turned to look over, their faces filled with shock and... gossip.
Liu Yin held up a newspaper in his hand, "Weimin, did you really donate?"
After Liu Yin asked this question, the others looked at Lin Weimin expectantly.
What she was holding in her hand was today's People's Daily. On the second page of this newspaper, there was a report about Lin Weimin donating 100,000 yuan to the National Federation of Literary and Art Circles to set up the Chinese Literature Foundation.
Lin Weimin nodded and said, "I'll donate it!"
Everyone exclaimed, their eyes filled with disbelief.
"That's 100,000 yuan. Can you donate it just like that?" Yao Shuzhi asked.
Lin Weimin joked, "Comrade Shuzhi, you are being superficial. I am donating this money for the benefit of my colleagues who are in difficult circumstances."
Yao Shuzhi rolled her eyes at him. She would never believe Lin Weimin’s lies.
"You're probably thinking of getting a job in the Literary Association, aren't you?"
"You are judging others by your own standards," said Lin Weimin.
Zhu Changsheng stood on Lin Weimin's side. "If Weimin wants to gain a foothold in the Cultural Association, he doesn't need to donate money. He just needs to participate in more activities. In a few years, the Cultural Association will need him."
"Old Zhu still understands me."
Yao Shuzhi looked at Lin Weimin and couldn't understand why Lin Weimin was willing to donate so much money at once.
"Anyway, I would definitely not be willing to do that."
Liu Yin teased, "So, you are not cut out to be a leader!"
Everyone laughed.
On this day in late June, the news that Lin Weimin donated a huge sum of money to help the National Federation of Literary and Art Circles to establish the Chinese Literature Foundation appeared in the newspapers, attracting countless attention.
After several days of fermentation, it became a hot topic across the country. Ordinary people could not avoid this topic in their street conversations and after-dinner jokes.
One hundred thousand yuan in 1984 was enough for a high-ranking official or a skilled worker to work for several lifetimes.
People in this era generally do not have a hatred of the rich. Besides, all Lin Weimin earns is royalties, which is clean.
There are two most common lamentations.
First, being a writer really makes money!
Second, Lin Weimin really dared to donate!
This is not just ten or twenty yuan, but a hundred thousand yuan that can be donated at will. If you don't have some courage, you won't be able to do this to yourself.
However, people all over the country also know that Lin Weimin is also a wealthy writer. It is said that his novels have been published in the United States and Japan, and he earns hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in royalties. Donating this little money may not be a big deal to others.
The effect of the donation continued to spread outward, and Lin Weimin was of course the one who received the most attention.
In addition, another party involved in the incident also attracted attention, namely the National Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
The report also mentioned the term "Chinese Literature Foundation". As the influence of the report spread, the Chinese Literature Foundation, which was still in the initial preparation stage, received great attention.
The outside public opinion had little impact on Lin Weimin. The only direct impact was probably that he recently got a nickname in the society - Lin Shiwan. After being teased by his colleagues in the society for a few days, the craze gradually faded.
That day, Lin Weimin was reading a manuscript when an acquaintance came to the office.
"Hey, isn't this Mr. Shuo? But I haven't seen you for a long time!" Lin Weimin spoke sarcastically as soon as he saw the other party.
Wang Shuo chuckled and handed over a cigarette.
Seeing that his attitude was quite sincere, Lin Weimin took the cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and blew out smoke rings. He didn't care about the disgusted look from Liu Yin next to him, and said, "What's the matter? Have you run out of money?"
Wang Shuo took out a postcard from his bag. Lin Weimin took a look and said, "Are you getting married?"
"Nonsense, isn't the post here?"
Lin Weimin put the post aside and said, "I don't care whether you get married or not, but where is the manuscript?"
You have to say this tactfully, otherwise you might get beaten to death.
"You've been busy with your marriage lately, so you don't have time to write an article, right?"
"That's right. I met a bunch of relatives. Chen Xujia's family still doesn't agree with our marriage." Wang Shuo complained.
"What should we do then?"
Wang Shuo, a bachelor, said, "What can we do? Our marriage certificate has been torn down anyway."
After saying that, he chuckled twice, with a look of pride on his face as if he had won the beauty.
"Do you have enough money?" Lin Weimin asked proactively.
"I know you have money. I read it in the newspaper. You are such a rich man. You donated 100,000 yuan at a time!" Wang Shuo was full of envy and jealousy, and then said, "I don't need the money. I haven't paid back the money I borrowed last time. I'm afraid I can't pay it back if I borrow again."
What’s there to be afraid of if you can’t pay it back?
There are many small dark rooms upstairs!
Seeing that this guy was getting married, Lin Weimin did not urge him to finish his manuscript, but he could not help but say: "You just got married, and you will have many places to spend money in the future. You need to write more manuscripts to earn some money."
"I got it. I'll write it when I have time." Wang Shuo replied to Lin Weimin in a very insincere tone.
"Look at how careless you are. Your sister-in-law is counting on you to support her." Lin Weimin couldn't help but say something when he saw his behavior.
Wang Shuo said heartlessly: "It's okay, it's the same if she supports me!"
After Wang Shuo said this, the atmosphere in the office fell silent.
All his colleagues looked at him and said that they had never seen such a shameless person.
He is so self-righteous about living off others.
Lin Weimin was very calm about this, as he had seen more outrageous cases of gigolos than this.
After seeing Wang Shuo off, Xu Gang from the Institute of Literature Research came to find Lin Weimin. The Chinese Language and Literature Class at Wuhan University had already been contacted.
Lin Weimin quickly contacted Cheng Shixu, and Cheng Shixu naturally thanked Lin Weimin over the phone.
At the beginning of July, the fourth issue of "Contemporary" this year was on the market, and one of the short stories in it won numerous praises from readers.
This is Acheng’s “The Chess King”.
Letters from readers were sent to the editorial office like snowflakes. Lin Weimin specially invited Ah Cheng to the editorial office and pointed to a letter that fell in a corner of the office.
"Those are your letters, take them!"
Ah Cheng looked at so many letters and scratched his head for a moment, "This is too much."
"Your many talents prove that you are a good writer," said Lin Weimin.
It took Ah Cheng a long time to sort out all the letters, tied them up, and then took out a manuscript.
"Do you think this manuscript is usable?" Ah Cheng said to Lin Weimin.
Lin Weimin suddenly became happy.
Look, this is what we call an author with subjective initiative, who submits manuscripts on his own initiative without being urged by the editor.
Then think about that jerk Wang Shuo, it was a waste of my Plum watch.
"Tree King?"
Lin Weimin has the impression that Ah Cheng's fame in the literary world was made possible by the "Three Kings", namely "The King of Chess", "The King of Trees" and "The King of Children".
A Cheng told Lin Weimin that "The Tree King" was actually written before "The Chess King", but it had always been in a scattered state. It was not until "The Chess King" was published that A Cheng had the confidence to organize this novel and publish it.
Lin Weimin has read the manuscript and found the quality to be as stable as ever. Acheng is truly one of those writers who reaches the peak of his career as soon as he debuts.
He gladly accepted the manuscript and said to Ah Cheng, "There is no problem with the quality of the manuscript. After everyone has read it, I will notify you to come and collect the manuscript fee if there is no problem."
Lin Weimin plans to let Acheng jump the queue this time, and it would be best if "Tree King" can be included in the fourth issue in September.
For a publication, being able to make a writer famous in one or two issues is an extremely influential thing, and this opportunity should not be missed.
After Acheng left, Lin Weimin went to talk to Meng Weizai and Qin Chaoyang. If Acheng was allowed to enjoy such special treatment, other authors would definitely have opinions if the news leaked out, so the editorial department had to speak with one voice.
After reading the manuscript of "The King of Trees", Meng Weizai and Qin Chaoyang agreed to this matter, and they started talking about the "Special Issue of Shanxi Writers".
After Lin Weimin's revisions and polishing, Zheng Yi's article "Old Well" was approved by the original author Zheng Yi and reviewed by other colleagues in the editorial department, and can be published in this "Shanxi Writers Special Issue". The works of other Shanxi writers have also been basically finalized.
After several people discussed it, they finally decided to schedule the "Shanxi Writers Special Issue" in the last and sixth issue of this year.
When Lin Weimin returned from Meng Weizai's office, he found a package on the table.
"Weimin, an international package just arrived for you. We received it for you."
International parcel?
It was a rare thing these days, and Lin Weimin's first reaction was Random House. But after opening the box, he found that it was not the one, but a package sent to him by Arthur Miller.
Inside the package was the English version of the script of "The Intouchables" with some signatures on it, which looked like they were from the cast and crew.
In addition, there are stills from the performance, and the most numerous are media reports after the performance of "The Intouchables", which are all newspapers and magazines specially collected by Arthur Miller.
Finally, there is a letter written to him by Arthur Miller.
Lin Weimin opened the letter, and the general content of the letter was a report to Lin Weimin on the situation after the performance of "The Intouchables".
The preparation process for "The Intouchables" after Arthur Miller brought it to the United States was not smooth. The original work was a Chinese drama, which was not very famous, so the preparation for this drama was off-Broadway.
There are dozens of theaters on both sides of Broadway. Locals call the theaters between 44th and 53rd Streets Inner Broadway, while the theaters between 41st and 56th Streets on Broadway are Outer Broadway. Inner Broadway performs classic, popular, and commercial plays, while Outer Broadway performs experimental, unknown, and low-cost plays.
Although Arthur Miller is a very famous playwright in the United States, it is not easy to prepare a Chinese work that is not well-known.
After all, drama requires investment. People's Art Theatre has funding from the state and the city of Yanjing, but Broadway does not. Every drama is also a business.
On Broadway, a play usually only has one chance to premiere, which is like a thousand troops crossing a single-plank bridge. If it fails, the crew may disband overnight.
According to Arthur Miller's description in the letter, "The Intouchables" performed well after it was staged Off-Broadway.
Thanks to Arthur Miller's reputation in the United States, although the performance was off-Broadway, the attendance of the first few shows was maintained at a good level. After several performances, the word-of-mouth effect of the performance was gradually released.
"The Intouchables" gradually gained fame off-Broadway, and many drama lovers came to see it.
Word of mouth is gradually accumulated through performance after performance.
This time, Arthur Miller wrote a letter and sent a package to Lin Weimin. In addition to informing him about the performance, he also had some good news to share with him.
(End of this chapter)
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