Chapter 478 Wolf Ambitions
After Zhang Yimou left, Lin Weimin saw Tong Zhonggui still in a daze and called him.
"Xiao Tong!" Tong Zhonggui was called back to reality by a voice, and he looked at Lin Weimin.
That's an Oscar!
Many people who make movies may not even go there once in their lifetime, but when it comes to Teacher Lin, it’s like opening a small shop on the street, he can just say no and not go.
"Don't just think about good things, you have to write a good script for others!" Lin Weimin instructed.
Tong Zhonggui's attention immediately shifted from the Oscars to the script.
Yes, the script hasn’t been written yet. I have never written a script before.
Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a sense of pressure in his heart, and then he turned his eyes to Lin Weimin.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not taking any money. We just agreed that you'll be the main writer of the script, so you should pay attention to it."
Lin Weimin was determined to be a hands-off boss.
Tong Zhonggui was a little flustered when he saw this, like a mistress abandoned by a scumbag, "Teacher Lin, you can't just ignore me!"
"You graduated from the Chinese Department, so you will have no problem writing a script. Believe in yourself!" Lin Weimin gave Tong Zhonggui some chicken soup. Seeing that he looked anxious, he said, "Talk to Mo Yan when you have time. He was the main writer of the script for Red Sorghum and has experience."
Tong Zhonggui felt more at ease after hearing what Lin Weimin said.
Since Mo Yan was able to write "Red Sorghum" under the guidance of Teacher Lin, I shouldn't be too bad.
In early April, Lin Weimin received a reply letter from Cheng Zhongshi, in which Cheng Zhongshi said that he had received the money Lin Weimin wired and thanked him profusely.
With this money, Cheng Zhongshi no longer has to worry about his life in the next one or two years and can devote all his energy to the creation of the novel.
Although Lin Weimin needs to pay back the money, as long as his works are written, the income from a novel will be enough to cover the loan and even have some left over.
Lin Weimin felt relieved that Cheng Zhongshi could write with peace of mind. He was also looking forward to his novel being published soon!
Tong Zhonggui got the job of writing the script and has been very busy recently. He rushes home after work every day and occasionally goes to the National Academy of Literature to discuss script writing with Mo Yan.
Of course, he communicated more with Lin Weimin. Wouldn't it be a waste if he didn't take advantage of such good conditions?
That morning, Tong Zhonggui led a girl and knocked on Lin Weimin's office door.
Yesterday was the weekend, and he originally went to the National College of Literature to discuss scripts with Mo Yan, but ended up meeting Mo Yan's classmate Chi Zijian.
Chi Zijian, like Lin Weimin, is from Northeast China, but her hometown is in the northernmost province. She just entered the National Academy of Arts last year.
At this time, she was already well-known in the literary world and had published "Fairy Tales of the Arctic Village" in "People's Literature".
Tong Zhonggui introduced Chi Zijian to Lin Weimin, who shook her hand and said, "I know, Xiao Chi is a classmate of Mo Yan. I've read your article "Fairy Tales of Arctic Village" published in People's Literature. The story is novel and unique, cold and warm, pure and sincere, and very well written!"
Chi Zijian has a very young face and is a bit childish. She looks like a student. She has a pure and beautiful appearance and stands out among female writers.
Facing Lin Weimin's enthusiasm, she was a little shy, "Thank you, Teacher Lin!"
The reason why Tong Zhonggui invited Chi Zijian to the editorial department of "Contemporary" this time was entirely because he heard that Chi Zijian had recently written several novellas when chatting at the National Academy of Literature yesterday.
As Lin Weimin's disciple, Tong Zhonggui has learned the true teachings of Teacher Lin. How could he miss such a good thing?
Unfortunately, Tong Zhonggui's skills were not up to par, and Chi Zijian was a little hesitant about submitting her work to "Contemporary". She still preferred several publications where her previous works had been published, such as "People's Literature" and "China".
After all, he is an acquaintance, so the publication is reliable.
Seeing that he was unable to persuade Chi Zijian, Tong Zhonggui had to bring up Lin Weimin's name. He said that he could let Chi Zijian and Lin Weimin have an in-depth face-to-face communication. Chi Zijian's heart was immediately moved. Which young literary woman in the country didn't want to meet Lin Weimin!
She enrolled in the school last year and had no chance to meet Lin Weimin. She could only hear about Lin Weimin from her teachers and classmates. This time she had the opportunity to meet him, so she naturally wanted to cherish it.
Tong Zhonggui spoke very reservedly, but Lin Weimin immediately understood his subtext and almost praised Chi Zijian as a flower.
The little girl had never experienced this before, and she took out the two novellas she had just finished writing.
"It's not easy, it's not easy. He published one article before, and now he has two more. He has been in the Faculty of Arts for only half a year, and he has such output. He is really talented!"
Lin Weimin's generous praise made Chi Zijian blush again, "I just finished writing this novel and haven't had time to show it to others yet. I don't know how it's done?"
Lin Weimin flipped through the novel for a while and said, "It's above average. Keep it all. I'll have Xiao Tong contact you after I've reviewed the manuscript."
After receiving the affirmation from the editor-in-chief Lin Weimin, Chi Zijian felt relieved. Since that was the case, there shouldn't be any problem with publication. At most, it would just require some more revisions.
After chatting about creative matters for a while, Lin Weimin invited Chi Zijian to have lunch in the Guowen Society cafeteria before she said goodbye and left.
Lin Weimin said to Tong Zhonggui: "Not bad, not bad. You can still think about work when you are resting. You are very dedicated!"
After that, he handed the two manuscripts to Tong Zhonggui, "Take a good look at the manuscripts, write your review comments in detail, and try to explain all the problems to Zijian at once, so that she can see the professionalism of our Contemporary."
Tong Zhonggui took the manuscript and nodded seriously.
A few days later, Cheng Zaochun suddenly found Lin Weimin in his office. Looking at Cheng Zaochun's gloomy face, Lin Weimin immediately fell into memories. He should not have done anything out of the ordinary recently, right?
"Leader, what instructions do you want to give me?" Lin Weimin asked.
"Speak!"
Cheng Zaochun said something without any context, which was probably similar to a police officer asking a criminal suspect to explain the situation.
"What?" Lin Weimin was confused.
"Pretend! Keep pretending with me! Do you think I don't know?" Cheng Zaochun spoke with some anger.
"Don't lie to me. I've been behaving myself recently and definitely haven't done anything bad!" Lin Weimin was very confident. He didn't do anything wrong and was not afraid of ghosts knocking on his door. He spoke with a firm tone.
Cheng Zaochun regarded his stubbornness as a desperate resistance, and threw a book on the table with a stern expression, as if waiting for Lin Weimin's explanation.
Lin Weimin picked it up, took a look at the title on the cover, and then he understood.
"So this is what you are talking about!" he said suddenly.
"Stop smiling at me! I just promoted you to deputy editor-in-chief, and you don't respect it!" Cheng Zaochun said with great sorrow.
"No. This novel is about what happened in Europe during World War II. It has nothing to do with China, so we'll just publish it there first!" Lin Weimin explained.
His explanation made Cheng Zaochun's expression slightly relieved. "What's wrong with writing about Europe? Didn't China participate in World War II? If it's written with a foreign background, our Chinese readers won't understand it?"
Cheng Zaochun's continuous questioning was full of jealousy.
The book he just threw out was the American version of "Life is Beautiful Anyway". The novel was released and sold in the United States last month and immediately attracted the attention of many overseas students and overseas Chinese.
In the past two years, Lin Weimin's reputation has grown overseas, especially in the United States and France. Many local Chinese regard him as the pride of the Chinese people and naturally pay special attention to him.
In addition, he had just won the Prix Goncourt and his new work was released, so Random House took it very seriously that some bookstores even made posters and banners for promotion. It was hard not to notice it.
Lin Weimin's works have always been published first by Guowen Publishing House. This time, Cheng Zaochun discovered that his novel was first published in the United States. Not only did he feel jealous, he was also filled with a sense of crisis.
Among the works published by Guowen Publishing House every year, the sales volume of Lin Weimin's works remains high. It is fine if it is published by a foreign publishing house today, but what if it is taken away by other domestic publishing houses in the future?
We have to be on guard!
"Of course domestic readers can read it. The main thing is not to worry about poor sales!" said Lin Weimin.
"When did our Guowen Press consider the problem of poor sales when publishing your novel? If we, as a family, still have to consider sales when publishing a book, wouldn't that make outsiders laugh at us?"
Cheng Zaochun looked righteous.
If Lin Weimin hadn't known how many memoirs of retired old men and women had been withheld from publication by the publishing house, he would have almost believed his lies.
Knowing that Comrade Lao Cheng was anxious, Lin Weimin said, "Okay, I'll write a Chinese version later and let the publishing house publish it, okay?"
That's about right.
Cheng Zaochun was satisfied, but still a little worried. After pondering for a long time, he said, "Weimin, you see, you are also a veteran of our Guowen Society. You are still the leader of our Guowen Society. As a member of our Guowen Society, you have to think about your family when publishing works..."
"Don't I think about our publishing house enough? All my books over the years have been published by the publishing house!" Lin Weimin interrupted Cheng Zaochun.
"Yes, your works have indeed been published in the company over the years. I was thinking, look, since your works have always been published in the company, why don't we sign an exclusive publishing agreement?"
Lin Weimin looked at Cheng Zaochun's face, which had four big words written on it - wolfish ambition!
"Old Cheng, you are so unfair!" Lin Weimin revealed his true colors.
Cheng Zaochun looked a little embarrassed. "This is also a win-win situation! You see..."
Lin Weimin waved his hand to interrupt Cheng Zaochun's plan to brainwash him, "We are all thousand-year-old foxes, so don't play Liao Zhai with me. If you want to sign an exclusive contract, you have to raise the standard of royalties."
Cheng Zaochun was immediately unhappy, "Why do you still want to bring it up? Go out and ask around, is there anyone in the country who earns more than you?"
"You can't calculate it that way. People also give me the same price when I go out. No, it may be even higher." Lin Weimin said calmly.
Cheng Zaochun felt like he had shot himself in the foot. "The price the agency offered is already high enough."
"But don't you want to sign an exclusive contract? Then you have to show some sincerity, right?" Lin Weimin said calmly.
Cheng Zaochun was cornered by his words. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "What do you mean?"
Lin Weimin chuckled and said, "What we get abroad is royalties!"
Cheng Zaochun stood up after being frightened by him, "Don't even think about it!"
Others may not know, but Cheng Zaochun knows that Lin Weimin signed top-level publishing contracts with foreign publishers, with royalties of 13% or 15%.
The amount of money the publishing house now pays Lin Weimin for his writings has already broken through the ceiling of the domestic literary world, but calculated in terms of royalties, it is only about 6%. If it were really based on foreign standards, not to mention the publishing house's response, the report letter from the Press and Publication Administration would be enough to drown him.
"Look at you, you want to eat meat but don't want to spend money. How can there be so many good things?" Lin Weimin teased.
Cheng Zaochun felt so depressed by his criticism, "You are such a black-hearted guy!"
"I can see that you don't want to cook. Pork is almost five yuan a pound now, and the landlords don't have any surplus food!"
Cheng Zaochun failed to take advantage of Lin Weimin and became angry and chased him out of the office.
He said calmly, "Please think about it carefully. Now it's a market economy. If someone outside really offers me a high price for my writing, don't say I didn't inform you."
After driving Lin Weimin away, Cheng Zaochun became more and more depressed.
Today I ended up losing more than I gained. Originally, I didn't mention the exclusive matter, and Lin Weimin didn't mention raising the royalties. But as soon as I mentioned the exclusive matter, this guy immediately took advantage of it. He's so difficult to deal with!
At the same time, Lin Weimin's words before he left also reminded him that prices are soaring now. If someone really offers Lin Weimin a high price that Guowen Publishing House did not offer, then Guowen Publishing House will have its duck in its mouth fly away, right?
Only when you manage a household do you know how expensive firewood and rice are. You have to think of a way to make ends meet!
It’s a pity that this guy has just been promoted to deputy editor-in-chief. He is too young and it’s difficult to get the job done!
(End of this chapter)
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