Chapter 655 Good Man Lao Luo
In early September, Zhang Yimou, Han Zhuangzhuang and Gong Li took "Qiu Ju" to the Venice Film Festival and, as expected, won the Golden Lion Award, adding another world-class honor to the Chinese film industry and making Zhang Yimou's personal directorial career reach new heights.
Countless domestic and foreign media sang praises for him, with some even radically declaring that "a master was born."
Counting the achievements Zhang Yimou has made in recent years, one Golden Bear, one Silver Lion and one Golden Lion, it is not an exaggeration to call him a "quasi-master". It's a pity that he is a Chinese.
He was born with the gene of being "inferior to others". No matter how many honors he has achieved abroad, no matter how many foreign celebrities in the film industry are convinced by him, and no matter how foreign audiences worship him, in the mouths of some people, he is just the "father of the seven gourd brothers".
After returning to China, Han Zhuangzhuang seamlessly joined the crew of "Farewell My Concubine".
"Farewell My Concubine" has just started filming for over a month and is currently in full swing. Han Zhuangzhuang plays Duan Xiaolou, and his role is heavy, so he has no time to come to Lin Weimin's house, so only Han Dingbang and Yin Geli came with their little girl.
After dinner, when we were getting ready to go home, the little girl pulled the stroller and refused to move, crying and making a fuss.
Tao Huimin said: "Why don't you sleep here with us tonight."
Han Dingbang insisted on going home, leaving Yin Geli to accompany little Nannan to stay at Lin's house for one night. Little Nannan jumped up and down with joy, and was circling around the little bean bun all night.
She kept calling out "Little Chihiro". Now she will have something to brag about when she goes to kindergarten tomorrow.
My aunt is Lin Qianxun!
After winter came, the weather got colder day by day. Ever since little girl came, little Doubao had a fever. It was probably contagious.
Lin Weimin looked at his daughter's red face due to fever, which no longer had the lively smile she used to have. He felt so distressed that he wished he could take her place. He even lost the mind to go to work.
Fortunately, it was not a serious illness, just a common seasonal cold, and Xiao Doubao recovered in a few days.
As it turns out, the heroine of the novel is also a mortal.
More than a month had passed since the novel writing seminar. Gao Jianqun had completed the first half of "The Last Hun" and asked someone to send the manuscript to the Guowen Publishing House.
The title of the book "The Last Hun" sounds very confusing. If you don't know, you might think it is telling a story about ancient history.
In fact, this novel tells the story of three generations of the protagonist's family, who reproduce and survive on the Loess Plateau while carrying the heavy burden of history.
They witnessed the rough fate of the people on the Loess Plateau, and also witnessed the history of how the fire of the Red Revolution was preserved here and spread like wildfire.
After being reviewed by several editors, everyone agreed that the book was of high quality and had an epic quality.
Although it cannot be compared with "White Deer Plain" and "Ordinary World", it is still a rare masterpiece in recent years.
Another excellent work has emerged from Shaanxi literary world!
Many editors couldn't help but sigh, and everyone thought of the writers they met at the novel writing seminar more than a month ago.
The success rate of Shaanxi writers of this generation is really too high. Who would have thought that such a barren Loess Plateau would produce so many talented people.
The first half of "The Last Hun" is confirmed to be published in the twelfth issue of "Contemporary" this year, as the finale of the year.
Gao Jianqun was overjoyed when he heard the news. He knew that it was right to hand over the manuscript to Guowen Publishing House.
The "Four Famous Men" of pure literature at that time, Harvest, Huacheng, Contemporary and October, were all competing with each other in the 1980s, but by the 1990s, the gap between the four major publications was obvious to all.
At its peak, sales of "Harvest" were around one million copies, but now sales have dropped to 600,000 or 700,000 copies per issue, and its influence is no longer as strong as before.
"Huacheng" and "October" belong to the same echelon, and their sales have long fallen below 500,000 copies per issue.
Only "Contemporary" still has a stable sales volume of more than 1.5 million copies per issue. Almost every year, there are one or two sensational masterpieces. Its influence has long surpassed that of "Harvest" in those days. Among the "Four Great Dan Actresses", it is far ahead in terms of sales volume and influence.
It is an honor for Gao Jianqun that "The Last Hun" can be published in "Contemporary".
What’s more, Lu Yao’s “Ordinary World” and Cheng Zhongshi’s “White Deer Plain” were both published in “Contemporary”.
In the Shaanxi literary world, who doesn’t want to replicate the outstanding achievements made by these two?
With Gao Jianqun's "The Last Hun", Lin Weimin started to think about Jia Pingwa again.
I was just planning to contact him, but unexpectedly Jia Pingwa called me on his own initiative.
After a detailed conversation, Lin Weimin found out that Jia Pingwa had just divorced.
The protracted quarrels and mutual harm not only exhausted Jia Pingwa physically and mentally, but also delayed his creation.
Now divorced and alone, Jia Pingwa decided to take this opportunity to write the work that he had spent more than a year conceiving.
Originally, he was planning to find a place with beautiful mountains and rivers and no one to disturb him to work in seclusion, but he thought of the time when he came to Yenching to attend the seminar. That was a rare comfortable day for him in the past two years, and Lin Weimin had also extended an invitation to him at that time.
Therefore, Jia Pingwa decided to change the location of his retreat to Yanjing.
After receiving Jia Pingwa's call, Lin Weimin felt very happy.
In the past two years as editor-in-chief, no one has been locked up in Teacher Lin’s small dark room for a long time.
This time there are finally new people coming, and the small dark room can finally come in handy again.
Three days after the phone call, Jia Pingwa arrived at the Guowen Publishing House with simple luggage and was warmly welcomed by Lin Weimin.
The last novel writing seminar was attended by a group of writers from Shaanxi, and it was natural for Lin Weimin to give them a warm welcome. However, this time he came to Beijing alone and was still treated well, which made Jia Pingwa flattered.
"The conditions of our Guowenshe guesthouse are average, but the atmosphere is rich in creativity. Most of the people who stay here are our young editors and writers from other places who come to revise their manuscripts.
Living here, you can not only write with peace of mind, but also communicate with your peers anytime and anywhere. The editors in our editorial department also welcome you to communicate at any time.
The environment here is also quite quiet..."
Lin Weimin personally arranged Jia Pingwa to the guesthouse on the third floor of the back building and found him a room with good conditions. As he was introducing the convenient conditions of the guesthouse, he heard several young people shouting in the corridor outside.
The slap on the face made a loud noise!
Teacher Lin looked a little embarrassed and explained, "A few young people from other places came to revise the manuscript. They are full of energy and can't sit still all day."
After saying this, he walked out the door without waiting for Jia Pingwa's reaction, with a gloomy face. When the young men still in the corridor saw him, they immediately restrained themselves.
"Hello, Editor-in-Chief!"
Lin Weimin said in a deep voice: "What are you doing in the corridor? Don't you know that others are creating? You just play all day long. Have you finished revising the manuscript?"
Several young men were scolded so hard that they leaned against the wall, trembling and not daring to say a word.
They were not only facing the editor-in-chief of Guowen Publishing House, but also a great writer renowned both at home and abroad. They were their senior, with so many halos around them that they dared not even breathe when facing Lin Weimin.
"Everyone go back to your room and write your manuscripts!"
Lin Weimin waved his hand, and several people ran away in fear, fearing that they would be scolded again.
"I'm sorry to show you how ridiculous I am!" Lin Weimin said to Jia Pingwa.
"I understand. I've been through this time as well."
After settling down in the Guowenshe Guesthouse, Jia Pingwa sorted out his thoughts and, not taking too long, began writing the novel a few days later.
The presence of Jia Pingwa, who came to the guesthouse to write in seclusion, did not cause any waves in the Guowen Society.
Only a few old editors of "Contemporary" sighed in their hearts that Lin Weimin was still harboring evil intentions even after becoming the editor-in-chief.
A few days later, Lin Weimin received a call from Roger Strauss in the United States.
"No One Less" was just published in October, with an initial print run of 100,000 copies. Roger Strauss's FSG Publishing House has made a big fanfare to promote the novel, with press releases flying all over major literary magazines and newspapers.
They successfully created an image of a "philanthropic writer" for Lin Weimin. Not only that, under their packaging, the Hope Project has become the world's largest donation campaign to support education, and even many Americans are willing to donate.
After listening to Roger Strauss talk about the publicity effect of No One Left Behind, Lin Weimin couldn't help laughing: "Roger, it seems that I have to thank you for your contribution to the Hope Project. I will ask the foundation to send you a banner later."
Roger Strauss certainly didn't understand the joke about the silk banner, but he was very proud that in order to promote his novel, he also helped to boost the reputation of the Hope Project in the United States.
Roger Strauss specially compiled a list of celebrities in the American publishing, literary and journalistic circles who want to donate to the Hope Project.
In the 1990s, the United States was at the peak of its power and was full of confidence. It did not regard China as its rival at all, so it was still very generous in charity.
"Not only these people, but also many ordinary people are very interested in your Hope Project. Lin, this is a good opportunity to raise funds. You should let the foundation set up an office in the United States.
As long as we obtain the procedures from the United States, we can legally raise funds. Rice knives are much more valuable than RMB!"
Roger Strauss finally joked.
Save people to the end, send Buddha to the west.
Roger Strauss's suggestion made Lin Weimin sincerely say thank you to him. Roger Strauss was very happy to hear Lin Weimin's words. His help to Lin Weimin and the Hope Project was certainly not selfless. In his opinion, gaining Lin Weimin's friendship was more important.
It has been a month since the publication of "No One Left Behind". Due to the strong publicity campaign in the early stage and the reputation that Lin Weimin has accumulated in the United States over the years, more than half of the first print of 100,000 copies have been sold.
Judging from this momentum, it may be another super bestseller with sales exceeding two million.
How could Roger Strauss not devote his heart and soul to Lin Weimin's affairs?
In addition to the already published "No One Left Behind", the manuscript of "Spirited Away" is also under editing and is expected to be published later this month.
Roger Strauss had read the translated version of this novel and thought it was just an ordinary fairy tale, but he didn't expect to be unable to put it down after reading it.
This novel gave him a feeling that it was even better than many of Lin Weimin's other novels. After all, many of Lin Weimin's novels are set in contemporary China, and Americans always seem to lack a sense of immersion.
But the difference of "Spirited Away" is that its fairy tale appearance dilutes its humanistic background.
On the contrary, it is precisely because of the fairy-tale background that it becomes much easier for Americans to accept the many oriental elements in it.
People will unconsciously immerse themselves in the author's magnificent fantasy world, and deeply feel the childlike innocence and fun like the breeze blowing on their faces.
"Lin, your novel is so great! I even think it would be a waste of your talent if you didn't write fairy tales!"
Roger Strauss also talked to Lin Weimin about his views on the promotion of "Spirited Away". The better the novel sells, the more Roger Strauss will earn.
He never skimps on this aspect.
(End of this chapter)
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