Chapter 470: Stop Feeling Superiority
The twelfth month passed quickly. After the 20th of the twelfth month, Lin Weimin received feedback from Random House and Gallimard on his novel Life is Beautiful Anyway.
Because the novel is in English, Random House can directly proofread and publish it, with an initial print run of 500,000 copies. Gallimard still needs time to translate it, and the initial print run has reached 300,000 copies.
The latest masterpiece by the newly crowned winner of the Prix Goncourt must have this kind of appearance.
"Life is Beautiful No Matter What" is about to be published, and Teacher Lin once again made a net profit of one million US dollars with tears in his eyes.
On the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Yimou, who had not been seen for a long time, visited Lin Weimin's home.
The year 1987 was like a dream for Zhang Yimou.
In February, "Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, and he suddenly became the pride and representative figure of the Chinese film industry.
There is almost no time to rest throughout the whole year. I am either attending film festivals or on the way to film festivals.
When chatting with Lin Weimin, Zhang Yimou lamented that winning a big award and becoming famous is not necessarily a good thing. He has not thought about movies for a long time.
Others might say this as Versailles, but Lin Weimin understood Zhang Yimou's words very well.
Looking back, he was still able to produce a movie every year in his seventies. If it wasn't for his love for movies, who could do it? He would have lived out his life long ago.
Most of the six months was spent participating in film festivals and various activities. Even though he won some honors, it was indeed a waste for Zhang Yimou.
Are those film festival awards more prestigious than the Golden Bear?
It's nothing more than giving face to the government. China has finally produced such an award-winning film, so naturally it has to show off, just like a poor boy who suddenly becomes rich.
When Lin Weimin asked about his plans for his next work, Zhang Yimou shook his head blankly. He had been busy outside for a year, and all of them were unrelated to filming. How could he have the time and energy to think about these things?
He also felt that in the year when he didn't make any movies, his ideas about movies almost came to a standstill.
I also feel a burden in my heart. "Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear Award, so I don't want the next movie to be too bad, right?
Even if I don't win the Golden Bear Award, I still have to go to some film festivals and win some awards, otherwise it would be a failure.
This is the burden of a successful person. Even though Zhang Yimou was already middle-aged when he became famous, he still couldn't avoid being swayed by such emotions.
Lin Weimin understood his thoughts and shook his head, saying, "You have to learn how to refuse appropriately, otherwise how will others know that you have a bad temper?"
As he spoke, he walked to the bookshelf, took out a copy of "Contemporary" and handed it to Zhang Yimou.
This operation looks so familiar!
Zhang Yimou took over the magazine, which was the second half of the year's publication and had just been published a few months ago.
"You haven't read many new novels this year, right?" Lin Weimin asked.
A hint of shame flashed across Zhang Yimou's face, "Yeah."
"Take a good look, maybe you'll get some inspiration." Lin Weimin pointed at the cover of the magazine and said meaningfully.
Zhang Yimou nodded in conviction. The taps that Teacher Lin made on the magazine were similar to the three taps that Patriarch Bodhi gave to Monkey King on the head.
With Teacher Lin's guidance, he inexplicably let go of his previous mental burdens and obsessions. He decided that he must take a good look at this issue of "Contemporary" when he returned. Teacher Lin would definitely not speak without a purpose.
In the evening, Tao Huimin came back from filming and talked to Lin Weimin about going back to Wenzhou to celebrate the New Year.
Lin Weimin had nothing to do during this period, but Tao Huimin had to film a movie and could not have a holiday until the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month.
After a year and a half of filming, Dream of Red Mansions is already halfway through production and will be finished in another year.
The 27th was a holiday, and including the time spent on the train, it would be almost New Year's Day when the two of them arrived at Tao Huimin's house.
The 23rd was the Little New Year, and Lin Weimin took Tao Huimin to Qiqizuo Hutong for dinner.
He will not celebrate the New Year in Yanjing this year, so this meal can be regarded as an early New Year's Eve dinner.
Han Zhuangzhuang's eldest daughter is now half a year old. Yin Geli has plenty of breast milk, and the child is growing up to be very cute. Tao Huimin teased her for a long time with eyes full of love.
Glancing at Teacher Lin occasionally makes people feel stressed.
The next day, Tao Huimin continued filming while Lin Weimin began preparing New Year's goods to take home.
Those days were not like later times. There was no online shopping and not so many supermarkets. If you wanted to buy something, you really had to run from place to place.
After a busy day, Tao Huimin returned home and felt a little worried when she saw so many things. "I bought too much. I don't need so many."
"When a new son-in-law comes to your house, you have to show your sincerity!" Lin Weimin said with a smile.
Tao Huimin showed a hint of joy between her brows.
Another day, the editorial department called Lin Weimin and asked him to go to the unit to collect his bonus and pick up New Year's goods.
Lin Weimin drove to the Guowen Society and greeted Uncle Zhai.
"Hey, Weimin, you feel much more energetic after not having to go to work!"
"That's right! Only when you stop working do you realize the benefits of not working!"
As Lin Weimin was speaking, he saw Cheng Zaochun coming down the stairs from the second floor.
He frowned as he listened to Lin Weimin's words. There was something wrong with this kid's mental state!
"Weimin, how are you doing at home lately? Your colleagues at work miss you so much!"
Lin Weimin was flattered by the leader's sudden condolences. "I miss you all, but the problem is that I'm suspended from work!"
As soon as Lin Weimin opened his mouth, he revealed himself to be a hermaphrodite and instantly became hideous.
"I was thinking about going to the finance department to collect the manuscript fee bills, but there are so many of them that they are almost growing hair!"
Cheng Zaochun snorted and walked out.
Lin Weimin said to Uncle Zhai: "This leader is just hypocritical."
When he arrived at the finance office, Lin Weimin immediately became the focus of everyone.
"Oh, you're finally here!"
The huge amount of royalties was left in the office, but Lin Weimin never came to collect it, so the finance staff were worried all day long.
Now that the craze for the Goncourt Prize has passed, the sales of Lin Weimin's works have entered a stable phase.
In more than two months, the total printing volume of Lin Weimin's works published by Guowen Publishing House exceeded 12 million copies. According to feedback from bookstores and post offices across the country, most of them have been sold out, leaving only a small amount of stock, which is expected to be sold out in half a year.
Among them, the most popular sales were "Farewell My Concubine" and "Ming Dynasty 1566", with sales exceeding one million respectively in two months. And this was just the sales in two months.
"Farewell My Concubine" has thus become the first work of Lin Weimin to have total domestic sales exceeding 5 million copies.
The profits created by Lin Weimin's works during these two months accounted for almost a quarter of the annual profits of Guowen Publishing House. If we count the sales of Lin Weimin's works in the rest of the year, plus the sales of "Contemporary" magazine hosted by Lin Weimin, Lin Weimin influenced nearly two-thirds of the profits of Guowen Publishing House.
It's so horrible!
Lin Weimin personally earned a staggering 820,000 yuan in royalties from printings during these two months, which was more than the total annual salary of all the employees of the Guowen Press.
Under the watchful eyes of the financial staff, Lin Weimin signed and received the manuscript fee receipt, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The payment slips have been sent out, and everyone can have a good new year!
After receiving the manuscript fee bill, Lin Weimin also received the year-end bonus, a total of 242.6 yuan, which was almost enough for his two months salary.
Lin Weimin was happier with the money than with hundreds of thousands of yuan in royalties. "The company's performance is really good this year!"
"Isn't it all thanks to you? All my colleagues in the company benefited from it."
Lin Weimin is a middle-level cadre in the commune with a relatively high salary. He has received two months' salary, and everyone should be getting about the same.
With two months' extra salary, everyone can have a good year this year.
"This is all the result of everyone's hard work!" Lin Weimin said with a smile.
After coming out of the finance department, Lin Weimin came to the editorial office of "Contemporary" in the back building and greeted his colleagues warmly.
After not seeing each other for a while, everyone looked obviously haggard. Seeing this, Lin Weimin was in a good mood.
"You guys, please pay more attention to rest and don't overwork your body."
Lin Weimin's earnest advice fully demonstrated the leader's care and love for his subordinates.
Everyone looked at him with disgust and contempt.
Even though I was suspended from work, I still feel superior to you!
After being "sent off" from the office by everyone, Lin Weimin first went to the post office to collect his manuscript fee.
The post office leaders were so overwhelmed by the sight of such a huge sum of money. If it were them, they would definitely not be able to finish it today.
No, it wasn't because Teacher Lin's situation was special, so special matters were handled specially. He took Lin Weimin directly to the Yanjing branch to withdraw the money.
After finishing the manuscript fee issue, it was almost dark, but it was only five o'clock.
Lin Weimin drove to the upper floors of Muxidi and carried the things distributed by the unit upstairs.
After a while, Tao Huimin also drove over, and the two of them made an appointment to have dinner at Mr. Wan's house tonight.
"In a few days, Huimin and I will go back to their hometown to meet his parents." Lin Weimin told Mr. Wan.
Mr. Wan nodded with relief when he heard this. "You should have gone to meet her a long time ago. When you get home, you can discuss the marriage. You are almost thirty."
For the older generation, urging marriage seems to be a topic that must be mentioned every New Year, and even Mr. Wan is no exception.
Lin Weimin is now an orphan, and Mr. Wan is one of his few relatives.
"Got it. I'll definitely make it up when I get back."
On the last day before Tao Huimin's vacation, which happened to be the weekend, Lin Weimin organized another gathering of friends, and the venue was set at the Shichahai courtyard where Shi Tiesheng currently lived.
Shi Tiesheng's family, Qu Xiaowei's family, Zheng Guo's family, Wang Shuo's family, more than a dozen people gathered together.
"It's really different after getting married. Tiesheng looks much more energetic than before! It's all thanks to Ximi!"
After Liu Haiyan finished praising, everyone echoed her.
This is indeed the case. During the one year of marriage, Cheng Ximi took care of Shi Tiesheng meticulously. The key is that she also has to work, which is particularly difficult.
Cheng Ximi was working and felt embarrassed when everyone praised her.
Qu Xiaowei asked: "Everyone comes with their families. Weimin, when are you and Teacher Tao going to do the work?"
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Don't worry, let's go back to Wenzhou and discuss it with her parents first. The filming of Dream of Red Mansions will take another year next year, so we have to wait until the movie is finished."
Yao Shuzhi joked: "The film your teacher Tao took on is as long as the Red Army's 25,000-mile Long March. How many years has it been filming?"
"Dream of Red Mansions is a huge production, so it's normal to take two or three years to shoot. CCTV's TV series took several years to shoot, let alone the movie," said Zheng Guo.
Everyone sat together chatting while the kitchen prepared the meal. When it was almost noon, dishes were brought to the table one after another, which were extremely sumptuous.
During the meal, Lin Weimin asked Zheng Guo: "Has your grandfather's affair been settled? It's been rumored for almost a year!"
"Soon, I'll take office in the spring."
Qu Xiaowei sighed: "That must be the Shangshu."
"Hey, does your old man have to move to the Shangshu Building?" Qu Xiaowei joked.
Shangshulou refers to the high-rise buildings in Muxidi.
Zheng Guo laughed and scolded, "Don't spread rumors!"
Lin Weimin watched the two bickering with a smile. The friends around him had benefited a lot from the old man of the Zheng family, so he should give back when he had the chance.
(End of this chapter)
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