Chapter 332 Invitation from Sanlian Bookstore
The "Selected Contemporary Novels" was launched in mid-January, with an initial print run of 100,000 copies, an extremely exaggerated number for other publishing houses.
But with the appeal of the two golden signs of Guowen Publishing House and Contemporary Magazine, 100,000 copies is reasonable.
Within a week of being on the market, bookstores and post offices gave good feedback. Although there were no specific figures yet, Lin Weimin had nothing better to do, so he went to Wangfujing Bookstore and China Bookstore.
Bookstores now sell books on the open shelves, and the series of books are placed in the most conspicuous position in the bookstore, and readers can choose and buy them at will.
Lin Weimin stood aside and observed for half an hour. There were quite a few readers who bought the books. He nodded with satisfaction.
For editors, the sense of accomplishment of seeing the results of their hard work recognized by readers is no less than that felt by writers.
On Saturday when he went to work, Lin Weimin received a letter.
It was sent by the writer Cheng Jiangong. Lin Weimin had never met Cheng Jiangong before and had never exchanged letters with him. He didn't know why Cheng Jiangong was writing to him, so he opened the letter with some doubts.
In his letter, Cheng Jiangong explained the reason for his writing.
This year, Cheng Jiangong was invited to visit the United States. Taking advantage of the opportunity of transit, he stayed in Hong Kong for a few days and met Pan Yaoming, the head of Sanlian Bookstore.
During a tea party, Pan Yaoming asked him if he could contact some mainland writers on his behalf after returning to the mainland.
Pan Yaoming hopes to compile a collection of works by several writers and introduce it to Wandao for publication.
Cheng Jiangong readily agreed, and among the writers that Pan Yaoming asked him to contact, there were several who were acquaintances of Lin Weimin, including Huang Anyi, Liu Xinwu, Mo Yan, Shi Tiesheng... A total of ten writers, all of whom were cutting-edge young and middle-aged writers who had emerged in recent years.
After reading the letter, Lin Weimin pondered for a moment, then prepared to call Cheng Jiangong. After two phone calls and waiting for half an hour, he finally received a call back from Cheng Jiangong.
"Yes. Taiwan has not yet lifted the so-called 'JY'. Introducing works from the mainland is risky for publishers. I was concerned at first.
However, Brother Yaoming and I talked about the current situation in the cultural circles of Hong Kong and Taiwan. With the opening up of the mainland, there is a wave of "mainland fever" in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Publishing the works of our emerging mainland writers just meets the expectations of Taiwan readers.
Brother Weimin, I stayed in Hong Kong for a few days and met several friends in the Hong Kong cultural circle. They mentioned you to me many times and spoke highly of your work.
The serialized works "The Lover" and "Farewell My Concubine" in Sing Tao Evening News brought you quite a lot of readers. This time, "Hong Kong Literature" published your "Let's Talk It Out Nicely". I bought an issue before leaving.
..."
Cheng Jiangong explained the whole story to Lin Weimin on the phone and gave him a lot of compliments. Lin Weimin was too embarrassed to refuse.
Besides, publishing a work is always a good thing, as long as you pay the royalties.
"It's just that most of my works are long novels..."
"You don't need to worry about that. The Lindbergh Publishing House is the one pushing this in Wandao, and they plan to publish it in ten volumes."
After some discussion, Lin Weimin verbally agreed to this matter, but because Cheng Jiangong was only a middleman, further communication was necessary.
It is not easy for writers from the mainland to publish their works in Taiwan these days.
After communicating this matter, Lin Weimin hung up the phone.
In the afternoon, Haiyan came to the office and asked Lin Weimin about script writing. Lin Weimin talked with him for more than two hours until the end of the get off work day.
After work, Lin Weimin got in his car and headed straight for Muxidi.
When Lin Weimin arrived downstairs of Mr. Wan's house, he got out of the car and was about to go upstairs when he heard a hoarse voice.
"Hey, Teacher Lin!"
Lin Weimin turned around and saw Feng Xiaogang, whom he had met a few months ago.
The two shook hands, and Lin Weimin couldn't help asking, "Why are you here?"
"I came here to deliver something to someone."
Lin Weimin took a look at Building 1 and Building 2 of Muxidi and asked, "Can you deliver things in there, kid?"
Feng Xiaogang's ears were red from the cold and his nose was running. He looked at Lin Weimin eagerly.
"It's so cold today. Go home quickly after you finish your work to avoid catching a cold." Lin Weimin said.
"It's okay. I'm a tough guy." Feng Xiaogang said nonchalantly. He hesitated and said, "What a coincidence that I can run into you here. It's better to meet by chance than to invite you. How about I treat you to a meal?"
Lin Weimin laughed. How could he not know Feng Xiaogang's little thoughts?
"No need to eat."
He looked at his watch and said, "Well, I have something to do right now. Come to my office tomorrow morning to see me. We can talk about anything then."
Feng Xiaogang was overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly agreed: "Oh, oh, ok, ok, no problem, I'll come to see you tomorrow morning!"
"Okay, that's it for now."
After saying this, Lin Weimin waved to him and entered Building 1 of Muxidi.
Feng Xiaogang looked at Lin Weimin's back as he entered the building. His head unconsciously looked upstairs, and an indescribable emotion spread in his heart.
This is the "Shangshu Building", people come in and out of it just like it's their own home.
It was summer when Feng Xiaogang and Lin Weimin first met, and soon after that, he was assigned to the Urban Construction Company.
Yanjing Urban Construction will always be a good unit, whether now or in the future.
But it was not a good place for Feng Xiaogang. After he joined the company, he was assigned to do odd jobs in the trade union. He had no academic qualifications, no major, and no background, and felt that his future was bleak.
After hanging around like this for more than two months, Feng Xiaogang couldn't stand it anymore. He didn't want to spend his whole life as a chores soldier.
He thought about the people around him who were available to him, and the first person he thought of was Lin Weimin.
When Feng Xiaogang was in the army, he was an art soldier, doing art design. If he wanted to change his career, he would definitely do something related to art.
He thought that Mr. Lin Weimin, whom he met in the summer, was a well-known figure in the literary and art circles.
Mr. Wan’s last disciple, a screenwriter for the People’s Art Theatre, and deputy editor-in-chief of Contemporary Magazine. His works have been adapted into TV series that are popular all over the country, and he also writes skit scripts for the Spring Festival Gala.
As long as I can get in touch with Teacher Lin and arrange a job related to literature and art for myself, wouldn't it be a piece of cake?
Having locked on to Lin Weimin, Feng Xiaogang began thinking about how to establish this relationship.
He knew that Lin Weimin worked at Contemporary Magazine, and the easiest way would be to go to his house directly, but that was too blunt. Feng Xiaogang was a very smart person and would never want to do such a thing.
His family lives in Sanlihe District 3, across the road from Muxidi Building No. 1, known as the "Shangshu Building" by the people of Yanjing.
Feng Xiaogang knew that Mr. Wan lived in the Shangshu Building, so he set his sights on it.
Teacher Lin is Mr. Wan’s student, so he has to pay a visit to him.
So during this period, as soon as Feng Xiaogang got off work, he would run to the east gate of Muxidi and hide at the entrance of a building, rain or shine.
He had seen Teacher Lin's car. There were not many of them in Yanjing City, so he just had to keep an eye on the car.
He didn't wait long every day, just two hours after work. He estimated that Teacher Lin would come to visit Mr. Wan, and this was the only time.
Feng Xiaogang also knew that his strategy of waiting for something to happen was not much better than going to someone's door directly, but it had the advantage of the right time and place.
His home is close to Shangshulou, which is a geographical advantage. Now it is the coldest time of the year, and the weather is freezing. If he waits here like this, even if Teacher Lin guesses his purpose, he will at least not feel any bad feelings for his sincerity, and he may even win sympathy points.
As long as we can strike up a conversation, everything will be easy.
God, it was a pity that after waiting for half a month, Teacher Lin finally showed up.
When Feng Xiaogang started talking to Teacher Lin just now and heard him say "No need to eat", his heart sank. Fortunately, Teacher Lin gave him face.
Feng Xiaogang was full of gratitude towards Teacher Lin at that time. After refusing to have dinner, he still mentioned that they would meet the next day, proving that Teacher Lin must have seen through his thoughts at a glance, but she was still willing to give him a chance.
Feng Xiaogang withdrew his gaze from the lights upstairs, his heart burning with anticipation for tomorrow's meeting.
Lin Weimin hadn't come to Mr. Wan's house for dinner for a long time. After dinner, he and Mr. Wan sat on the sofa and chatted.
Lin Weimin took the initiative to talk to Mr. Wan about the novel he was writing. When Mr. Wan heard that his novel would be about historical themes, he was a little surprised.
"Why did you think of writing this kind of novel? This is not your area of expertise, right?"
"Just give it a try. If it's not good, I won't publish it."
Mr. Wan said with emotion: "You are right to think so. While you are young, you should broaden your thinking and your upper limit. You can't always stick to the rules and only write about what you are good at."
As they chatted, Mr. Wan took the initiative to mention the performance of "The Intouchables" in the United States. Lin Weimin had talked about the performance when he came before, and Mr. Wan was concerned about the follow-up.
"There's no news yet. I'm too lazy to ask. I'll let you know if there's any news."
Mr. Wan nodded and said, "It's rare that your work is well received in the United States. If you have the chance, it would be good for you to go out for a walk."
"It depends on what kind of invitation it is. If it's from a publishing company or an operating company, of course I can go. But if it's like the invitations now..."
Lin Weimin frowned as he spoke.
In the 1980s, Chinese writers were very active in going abroad. For example, Cheng Jiangong, who had corresponded with him before, was invited to visit the United States.
Have any American readers read their works? They haven't even been published, and they haven't even been published. Why did they invite you? Don't you know?
It would be fine if it was an official exchange, but these days many invitations are from non-profit institutions and organizations, which is a big deal.
He would not blame those colleagues who gladly accepted the invitation. After all, the country has just been opened and the general direction of publicity is still very friendly to Western countries. Who doesn't want to go out and see the colorful world outside!
If many people miss this opportunity, they may never be able to leave in their lifetime.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
