Chapter 344: Suffering from Lack of Education
With the departure of Wei Junyi, Cheng Zaochun took over as editor-in-chief, heralding a new era for Guowen Press.
Yan Wenjing's retirement was a foregone conclusion, and the successor to the president became the hottest topic within the Chinese Literature Society.
The last article in Acheng's "Three Kings" series, "The King of Children", was submitted to "Contemporary" and, as always, received high praise from the editors.
Lin Weimin stopped Ah Cheng who was about to go back to work and said, "The Chess King, The Tree King, and The Children King are your masterpieces. I want to discuss something with you."
Ah Cheng didn't know what Lin Weimin wanted to discuss with him, "You go ahead."
“Before The Chess King was published, I told you about publishing them in a collection. Now The Chess King, The Tree King, and The Child King are all written, but if they are published separately, the content will be less.
The editorial department has previously published the "Selected Contemporary Novels Series", and recently I plan to publish the "Selected Contemporary Novella Series" as well.
If we count the words in your three novels, they are all novellas, and it would be a waste of their talent to include them among short stories. I plan to include them all here. Do you have any objection?
We will determine the manuscript fee based on the number of copies printed, so it won’t be too low.”
When Lin Weimin mentioned the royalties, Ah Cheng perked up, "How much can you give?"
"Your three articles together have 70,000 to 80,000 words. The fee won't be too much, probably around a thousand yuan!"
Ah Cheng's eyes suddenly lit up, "Great! That's great! What do you need me to do?"
"We'll let you know if there's anything necessary."
"good."
After Ah Cheng finished speaking and was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and said to Lin Weimin, "Xie Jin is preparing to film "Furong Town"!"
"Where did you get the news?"
"He was visiting my dad the other day and brought up this topic. Your movie Farewell My Concubine..."
Gu Hua's "Furong Town" and Lin Weimin's "Farewell My Concubine" were both winners of the first Yanbing Literature Award in 1982, and their content also received a lot of attention.
But in Acheng's opinion, the structure of "Farewell My Concubine" is much larger than that of "Furong Town" and is more suitable for film adaptation.
Ah Cheng didn't understand Xie Jin's decision to not film "Farewell My Concubine" but "Furong Town".
"He came to see me once before, but we didn't have a good conversation," Lin Weimin explained.
Not only did Xie Fei come to Lin Weimin to discuss "The Horse Catcher", but Xie Jin also came to Lin Weimin to discuss "Farewell My Concubine", but unfortunately they failed to reach an agreement.
After hearing Lin Weimin's words, Acheng nodded to show that he understood.
Nowadays, a large proportion of domestic movies are adapted from novels, and many of them are adapted by the writers themselves.
For writers of Lin Weimin's stature and achievements, almost all of his works have been adapted into movies.
Even many works of emerging writers have been adapted into movies.
However, Lin Weimin's works have never been adapted into movies.
Ah Cheng would not think that no one had come to find Lin Weimin. After listening to his words, he understood that it must be Lin Weimin himself who did not want to let others shoot the film.
After Ah Cheng left, Qin Chaoyang sighed: "What kind of editor you have, what kind of author you will have!"
Lin Weimin knew that the old man would definitely say something weird again.
"The whole conversation is about royalties!"
"You are so noble and great. I have never seen you not asking for royalties for your novels!"
Qin Chaoyang is not only a senior editor, but also a writer who has published many works.
The two exchanged some dirty words and ended up in a draw.
After the joke, Lin Weimin continued to work and wrote a letter to Lu Yao.
Among all the writers he was responsible for, Lu Yao was the one that worried him the most.
The main reason is that this person does not take good care of his body. Once he immerses himself in writing, he becomes like a madman.
Of course, when Lin Weimin wrote the letter, he was more concerned about the writing progress of "Ordinary World".
He had talked to Lu Yao when he was in Shaanxi before, and asked him to come to Yanjing to revise the manuscript after completing the first draft.
Although Mr. Lin exploits the authors like a maggot with a black heart, he still has a conscience and at least knows not to drain the pond to catch fish.
He asked Lu Yao to come to Yanjing to revise the manuscript. The Chinese Literature Society provided food and accommodation, which was much better than Lu Yao staying alone in a guesthouse.
In the afternoon, Lin Weimin left a while early. Today was the day for the internal review of "Let the Bullets Fly".
Dozens of people from the Art Committee were sitting in the audience seats of the rehearsal room, and the actors on the stage were under tremendous pressure.
After watching the drama, applause broke out and the comrades from the Art Committee praised the presentation of the drama.
"Let the Bullets Fly" has a vigorous force that is different from the old Yanjing flavor that is unique to the People's Art Theatre.
This energy is strong, brave and long-lasting.
"This line is so chewy! It's addictive!" Lan Tianye said.
Ouyang Shanzun was somewhat proud, "Among the plays our People's Art Theatre has produced in recent years, this play should be the best in terms of lines!"
Yi Shizhi concluded: "It makes people feel very refreshed!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The internal review of "Let the Bullets Fly" has been completed, and it is getting closer to the May performance.
After coming out of the People's Art Theatre, Han Zhuangzhuang followed Lin Weimin into the car.
"You don't ride that motorcycle of yours anymore?"
"Who would ride a motorcycle when there are cars to ride in?"
"Virtue!"
Han Zhuangzhuang said he wanted to treat Lin Weimin to a meal. It was a rare occasion for his nephew to spend money. Lin Weimin was thinking about which restaurant to choose, and Han Zhuangzhuang said, "We've bought the gourmet food!"
It turns out that eating at home is a waste of emotion.
The car drove to the second courtyard next to the Forbidden City.
When Lin Weimin entered the yard, he saw Yin Geli busy in the kitchen, and she was doing it in an efficient manner.
"I didn't realize that Comrade Ge Li has the potential to be a good wife and mother!" Lin Weimin joked.
Yin Geli was the main cook for dinner, with Han Zhuangzhuang and Lin Weimin helping her on the side.
When the food was served, Lin Weimin asked, "Tell me! What's the good news for inviting me to dinner today?"
Han Zhuangzhuang smiled and said, "Uncle, you still understand me!"
After he finished speaking, he looked at Yin Geli. Both of them had sweet and happy expressions on their faces. Lin Weimin suddenly felt something was wrong.
"Goli and I are getting married!"
Lin Weimin breathed a sigh of relief, as long as no one was killed.
"Getting married, you two are still so young, isn't it a little early?"
"It's getting late. Uncle, Ge Li is twenty-seven, and I'm twenty-four too."
The expression on Han Zhuangzhuang's face revealed that he was eager to rush into the fortress of marriage.
Lin Weimin looked at his eldest nephew helplessly.
I usually ask you to read more, but you don’t.
Now I am suffering from the lack of education.
What do you think is a good thing about getting married?
However, Lin Weimin certainly couldn't say this in front of his future nephew's wife.
"Haha, okay, okay. Since you have already decided, then I congratulate you!"
Han Zhuangzhuang and Yin Geli accepted Lin Weimin's blessings with smiles on their faces.
"But you two are in a transnational marriage, so the procedures must be difficult to handle!"
Han Zhuangzhuang nodded and said, "I asked about it and it is indeed very troublesome. Ge Li has to go back to Austria and get a certificate from her country."
"Can't I go to the embassy to get it done?"
"The embassy is not possible. I plan to go back with Ge Li."
Lin Weimin thought: "Well, let's just think of it as a honeymoon!"
Han Zhuangzhuang smiled and said, "We both thought so too."
Having said that, Han Zhuangzhuang pulled Lin Weimin aside and gave him a flattering smile.
"Hey, uncle!"
Lin Weimin frowned, "If you have something to say, just say it. Why are you being so annoying?"
Han Zhuangzhuang said: "Uncle, I can't go to Austria empty-handed."
Lin Weimin thought Han Zhuangzhuang wanted to exchange some foreign currency with him, but from the sound of it, it didn't seem like that.
If he doesn't want foreign exchange, then he is definitely planning to take his antique calligraphy and paintings.
"Don't think about my stuff, kid!"
Lin Weimin refused directly without waiting for Han Zhuangzhuang to finish speaking.
"Uncle, I am your only nephew!"
"I am your only uncle!"
After Lin Weimin finished speaking, he glanced at Yin Geli and softened his tone, "How about this. Just consider your honeymoon as sponsored by your uncle, and I won't give you any gifts for the wedding. How do you think?"
When Han Zhuangzhuang heard this, he thought, this is possible!
To be honest, he made a lot of money from performing in the past two years, but most of it was spent on Siheyuan.
Accompanying Yin Geli back to Austria for business, the two of them also had a honeymoon.
It is said that money is a man's courage. Austria is a developed country after all, and the money in his hand probably won't be of much use. If he asks Yin Geli to pay for everything, he will be embarrassed.
"Uncle, you are still good to me! In this way, the money is considered as a loan from you, and I will pay it back to you later!"
Han Zhuangzhuang's statement made Lin Weimin feel a little relieved. "Come on. Didn't I tell you? I won't follow my parents when we get married. You just got married, so you should just live your life well!"
Han Zhuangzhuang was touched and hugged Lin Weimin, "Uncle!"
Lin Weimin pushed him away with a look of disgust on his face.
When the uncle and nephew returned to the dinner table, Lin Weimin couldn't help but feel a little emotional. If his sister were still alive, she would be so happy to see this!
"By the way, have you told your dad about getting married?" Lin Weimin suddenly asked, thinking of his sister.
"I finished talking to my dad on the phone. We are going to go back to Shanghai first to visit him and have some fun for a few days. Then we will leave from Shanghai for Austria. The round trip will probably take about a month!"
"When do you plan to leave?"
"In July. Let the Bullets Fly is scheduled to be shown in May, and the school won't be open for the summer holidays until July."
"What about the wedding?"
"Goli and I plan to treat our relatives to a meal in Shanghai, treat her family to a meal in Austria, and treat our colleagues and friends to a meal when we return to Beijing. That will complete the marriage."
"No ceremony, just a meal?"
"Yeah. Ge Li said that we just need to take a wedding photo."
Lin Weimin thought about it carefully and felt that this was a good idea.
After talking about marriage all night, it was already past nine o'clock in the evening when we returned from Han Zhuangzhuang's house.
Lin Weimin returned to the Shichahai courtyard, rested for a while and then went into the study.
He has been in a lot of debt recently. He hasn't finished writing his novel, so he agreed to write the movie script for "Lover" for Yang Meng, and also agreed to write a script for Wuxian and CCTV.
He put away the manuscript of the novel he had already written, as it would take him a while to finish it.
The movie script of "The Lover" is the simplest. It's all in my mind, so I just write this first and it'll count as one when I finish it.
I wrote the script all night, and the next day when I went to work and sat down at the Guowen Press, Haiyan ran over.
"Teacher Lin, I have already written the manuscript. Could you please take a look at it for me?"
Lin Weimin flipped through the script and already had an evaluation in his mind.
(End of this chapter)
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