After breakfast on Sunday, He Dongchuan went to the police station.
He Yan also went with them, but he was sent back after introducing them to He Dongchuan and the police officers from the police station.
Su Ting was worried that Cuntou would come back to take revenge on He Yan, but He Dongchuan was most worried about her and Man Man.
After the buzz cut guy escaped, it was impossible for him to find many helpers in the short term. They had fallen into the hands of He Yan twice, so they must know that he was not someone to be trifled with. In addition, he was protected by the police, so they would definitely target other people for revenge.
It is easy to find out about He Yan's situation. Just go to the school and ask someone, and you will find out about No. 67 and know about the existence of Su Ting and Man Man.
Therefore, he must find out the whereabouts of the crew cut as soon as possible to determine whether he has fled to another city or is hiding nearby. If it is the former, he can rest assured in the short term, but if it is the latter, he must catch him as soon as possible.
For the safety of mother and daughter, and because He Yan couldn't help with this matter, He Dongchuan sent him back.
Although He Dongchuan's words were vague, Su Ting had watched a lot of TV shows and read a lot of books, so she quickly figured out the clues and nodded, saying, "It's good that you're back."
He Yan nodded and asked, "Mom, do you think Dad can catch the man today?"
"I have no idea."
It wasn't that she didn't believe He Dongchuan, but it was already a day and two nights after the incident. They didn't catch the man yesterday, so it would be even harder today. Shanghai was too big. Even after decades of surveillance, it was not easy to catch a man in one day, let alone now. The man might have already fled to other cities.
Su Ting sighed and said, "Just wait for the results at home."
He Yan also sighed, but the reason was that his father didn't let him follow. He really wanted to know how they caught people!
Seeing my mother and brother sighing, I slowly started to sigh too.
Su Ting remembered and said, "Don't go out today."
"Mom, are you going to the post office today?" He Yan asked. He knew that every time Wang Jingfang wrote to him, if she needed a call or a letter back, his mother would go back to the post office.
Su Ting did plan to go to the post office. When she got up in the morning, she talked about this with He Dongchuan and planned to wait for him to come back from the police station so that they could go together.
But He Dongchuan said that he might have to stay in the police station for a long time and explained his plan. Su Ting then realized that he wanted to arrest someone. After that, her mind was full of this matter and she almost forgot her original plan.
Su Ting was a little hesitant.
She didn't know if they would run into someone with a buzz cut if they went out like this. Although the probability of that happening in broad daylight was not very high, she couldn't help feeling uneasy.
But if I don’t go today, I may not be able to go in the next few days.
If the guy with the short hair was really still in Shanghai and He Dongchuan failed to catch him, she might not even dare to go out for the next few days, let alone go to the post office.
But it was not realistic to stay at home all the time. She had to defend herself next week, and it was related to her diploma, so she couldn't be absent. Besides, there was not much rice and noodles at home, and even less vegetables. If she didn't go out, they would soon run out of food.
Intellectually speaking, Su Ting felt that she didn't need to be so nervous, but when people encounter something, they will inevitably think of the worst possible scenario, which is what she is doing now.
But when she came to her senses and saw the two children looking at her, Su Ting let out a long sigh and said in a calm tone: "Let's not go today. Let's talk about it when your father comes back."
…
Su Ting wanted to wait for He Dongchuan to come back before talking about anything, but until 9:30 in the evening, he had not come back, nor had he sent any news home.
Looking at He Yan, who was sitting on the sofa in a daze with boredom, and Man Man, who was yawning non-stop due to sleepiness, Su Ting said, "You two should go back to your room and sleep."
She rubbed her eyes slowly and asked, "What should we do if Dad doesn't see us when he comes back?"
"How come Dad can't see you?" Su Ting asked back, "Even if you weren't downstairs, he could go to your room to see you."
"Yes," he slowly realized, but soon asked a new question, "But I also want to see my dad before I go to bed."
Su Ting replied: "But he may come back very late, and you won't be able to see him if you wait any longer."
"Then how can I see my dad?"
"Next week, next Saturday night, you will definitely see him."
Slowly, she couldn't help yawning again. She closed her eyes due to sleepiness and covered her mouth at the same time. She said softly, "That will take a long time..."
After the voice fell, she fell asleep leaning on He Yan's shoulder, and the two hands covering her mouth slowly dropped down.
Su Ting shook her head helplessly. If she had known that Manman was already sleepy, she wouldn't have said so much to persuade her to go to sleep. She stood up and wanted to carry Manman upstairs, but He Yan picked Manman up before her and said, "I'll take my sister back to her room to sleep."
He was tall and strong from martial arts training, so it was easier for him to carry Manman upstairs than for Su Ting. She simply let him do it and said, "After sending Manman back to the room, you can go to sleep too."
"Well, Mom, you should go to bed early too."
Su Ting responded, watched him and his slow figure disappear at the stairs, then sat back on the sofa, pulled the quilt over her chest, opened the book in her hand and continued reading.
Ten o'clock, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock...
Su Ting couldn't bear it any longer and the book fell to the floor. She was sitting on the sofa and sank into the quilt until there was a knock on the door.
Su Ting was awakened instantly, sat up from the sofa, rubbed her face and asked, "Who is it?"
"I."
He Dongchuan's voice came from the door.
Su Ting finally came to her senses, quickly threw back the quilt, and went to open the door in her slippers.
As soon as the door opened, cold wind rushed in. Su Ting shivered and fixed her eyes on the scar on He Dongchuan's forehead. She asked in a lost voice, "Are you injured?"
"Only my forehead was scratched, and there were no injuries on my body." He Dongchuan touched his forehead with one hand and closed the door with the other to block the howling cold wind outside.
"real?"
He Dongchuan nodded affirmatively, raised the corner of his lips and asked: "Or should we go back to the room now and let me check it carefully?"
Su Ting glanced at him and discovered something: "Where did you get those clothes?"
In order to convince the police station of his ability, He Dongchuan wore a military uniform and brought his ID card with him when he went out that morning. But now, apart from his military coat, he had no other clothes on him.
Oh, maybe there is, but it’s just underwear, and it can’t be seen because it’s worn inside.
Looking down, the shoes were also his own, and Su Ting picked them for him personally.
He was holding a bag, which probably contained his military uniform. Su Ting took it and opened it to see that it was indeed his military uniform. She then looked up at He Dongchuan again.
He did not answer, but walked across the living room to the cupboard, picked up the teapot, poured himself a glass of water, and drank it in big gulps. Su Ting didn't even have time to remind him that the water in the teapot was already cold.
Of course, even after hearing Su Ting's reminder, he still drank two cups of cold tea.
He hadn't drunk much water that day and was so thirsty that he didn't care whether it was hot or cold.
Su Ting also thought that he might be very busy that day, so after he finished drinking the water, she did not ask about his clothes, but asked: "Did you eat dinner? Are you hungry now?"
"I ate two cakes."
"I'll go cook the noodles." Su Ting turned and walked into the kitchen.
He Dongchuan put down his cup and followed her, leaning against the kitchen door as he watched her pour oil into the pot and beat the eggs in. The hot oil splashed and dripped onto the back of her hand, and she groaned and stepped back holding the pot lid.
He Dongchuan walked over, took the spatula from her hand, fried the eggs and said, "Give me a ladle of water."
Su Ting hurried to get the water and handed him the ladle. He Dongchuan poured the water into the pot, then took the lid from her hand and covered the pot.
There was nothing much to cook except the splashes of oil when frying the eggs. Su Ting thought that He Dongchuan had been busy all day and said, "I'll do the rest. You go take a rest."
"Okay, I'll go upstairs and take a shower."
"Um."
He Dongchuan left the kitchen and went upstairs with the bag of clothes.
After taking a battle bath, she went downstairs with her hair wiped with a towel. The noodles had just been cooked and the fire had been turned off, so they were not yet clumping. Su Ting got up and went to the kitchen to get some noodles and brought them to the dining table in the restaurant.
"It smells so good." He Dongchuan said, then sat down, picked up his chopsticks and started eating.
Seeing that his hair was wet, Su Ting took the initiative to walk behind him, picked up the half-dry towel on his shoulders, covered his head with it, and wiped his hair.
He Dongchuan stopped eating noodles, looked up and asked, "Is it bad to wipe my hair while I'm eating noodles?"
"Didn't you just wash your hair?"
He Dongchuan asked: "Maybe it wasn't washed clean?"
Su Ting couldn't wipe it anymore: "...Then you eat first."
He Dongchuan smiled, pulled Su Ting who was about to go to the living room and said, "Sit with me for a while."
Su Ting responded, facing him and sitting next to him, slightly raised her head to look at the scar on his forehead, stretched out her hand to press around and asked: "Does it hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt, it's just a scratch, there's not much bleeding."
"Don't touch water these days." Su Ting said, then remembered that he had just washed his hair.
He Dongchuan said seriously: "Okay, I won't wash my hair or face for the next few days."
Su Ting couldn't help laughing: "Why didn't you say you don't even brush your teeth?"
He Dongchuan said as a matter of course: "Brushing teeth is different from washing face. I washed my face before I came here, so you can't see it. But if you don't brush your teeth for a few days, it's easy to have a smell."
"How can you be so lazy?" Su Ting said angrily, but there was a smile in the corners of her eyes and eyebrows.
He Dongchuan followed suit and said, "Okay, I won't be lazy and will wash my face thoroughly when I get home."
"You don't have to like the forehead." Su Ting was still thinking about the scars on his face.
"Um."
He Dongchuan ate quickly. While he was talking, he had already finished half of the bowl of noodles. Su Ting looked at him and asked, "Is it enough? Should I order some more noodles?"
"No, it's not good to eat too much at night."
Su Ting looked up at the clock. It was almost one o'clock. "Are you going home tomorrow morning?"
"Yes." He didn't ask for leave before coming.
Thinking that he was going to drive back, Su Ting said, "Then eat quickly and go back to bed after eating."
He Dongchuan asked: "Why don't you ask me whether I have caught the person?"
If he hadn't asked, Su Ting would have been really curious about the result, but when he started talking, she guessed the answer without even asking, and asked, "Did you catch him?"
He Dongchuan was not surprised and nodded, "Yeah."
"How did you catch him?" Su Ting asked and then waved her hand, "Forget it, you should finish your meal and go upstairs to sleep."
For Su Ting, sleep is the most important thing, especially since He Dongchuan has to get up early and drive back to the base tomorrow. And now that the person has been caught, she can put her heart at ease, and it doesn't matter when to hear the details.
Anyway, no matter how anxious I am, I just have to wait another week.
He Dongchuan was eager to share, but every time he opened his mouth, Su Ting would say with a straight face, "Eat quickly!"
When he finished eating and returned to the room, Su Ting would say, "Go to sleep quickly."
Just... okay.
A dreamless night.
At four o'clock in the morning, He Dongchuan was awakened by the alarm clock. He turned off the alarm clock and wanted to get dressed in the dark, but just as he put on his shirt, Su Ting turned on the light.
The sudden bright light made both of them feel uncomfortable. They closed their eyes quickly, then opened them again quickly. He Dongchuan asked while buttoning his shirt, "Were you woken up?"
Su Ting raised her right hand to her forehead to block the light from the roof, and covered her mouth with her left hand. She yawned sleepily and said, "I heard the alarm. Are you sleepy now? Can you drive?"
Every Sunday when he slept late, He Dongchuan had to face his wife's questioning. Now he was used to it and said helplessly, "I'm not sleepy, I can."
"Drive slowly and be careful."
"good."
Su Ting hummed, her upper eyelids drooping with heaviness, but before she closed them, she remembered something and asked, "By the way, where did you get the clothes you wore yesterday?"
"I borrowed it from someone."
Su Ting was stunned: "Borrowed? Do I have to return it?"
"Well, just take the time to deliver the clothes to the police station and give them to the police."
Su Ting opened her eyes and asked in surprise, "Are these clothes Fang's?"
I couldn't help but sigh in my heart, this really shows that you can't judge a person by his appearance!
Although she had only dealt with Fang Gongan twice, she felt that he had a very upright character during the conversations.
And the clothes he lent to He Dongchuan, a floral shirt and a black leather jacket, would not be considered indecent from the perspective of a few decades later, but in this era, well, just listen to the bitch.
Generally speaking, only people who follow fashion trends or even young people in society would dress like this.
He Dongchuan said: "No, he borrowed it from someone. Do you know Fang Gongan?"
Su Ting suddenly realized what was going on. She said, Public Security Officer Fang doesn’t look like someone who would wear a leather jacket. She then explained, “He was the one who took Xiao Yan’s statement when I first took him to the police station to report a case.”
He Dongchuan said "oh" and continued to put on his pants. Su Ting asked, "Are you just going to return the clothes like this? Do you want to wash them?"
He Dongchuan came back last night at around 12 o'clock, and he had to get up early again today, so after taking a shower he didn't wash his clothes as usual, but just folded them and put them on the stool.
After all, these were clothes he had worn before, and he had been following the police from the police station to arrest someone yesterday, so he must have been running around all day and might have been sweating. Su Ting thought it was inappropriate to return the clothes without washing them.
He Dongchuan thought for a moment and said, "Let Xiaoyan wash it."
"Um?"
"I don't want you doing other men's laundry."
Su Ting's cheeks were slightly hot, and she explained, "I didn't plan to wash it myself. I wanted to ask Sister Zhou if she was willing to help me wash it."
Zhou lived in the building next door. Although she worked in a state-owned factory, her husband had passed away many years ago. She had to raise four children alone, and life was very difficult. So after work, she would do odd jobs to support the family.
In the past few years, when Su Ting was busy, she would ask her to help clean the place because she was meticulous and had no bad intentions. Zhou Jie was also willing to help Su Ting because she paid her well and never defaulted on her payments.
He Dongchuan froze his face for once, and said awkwardly, "You can find her."
Su Ting couldn't help but burst out laughing.
…
The first thing He Yan did when he came back at noon was to ask his father if he had come home last night. After getting a positive answer, he continued to ask, "Have you found the guy with the buzz cut?"
"He has been arrested." Su Ting replied.
"How did you get caught?"
He Yan asked in confusion: "How come you don't know? Didn't Dad tell you?"
"Your dad came back at around 12 o'clock last night. He didn't even have dinner. He took a shower, ate noodles, and went to bed. How could he have time to talk about this?"
"Okay." He Yan looked disappointed and asked in a low voice, "Then how did Dad catch the person?"
"Why don't you just ask him on Saturday night?"
He Yan sighed: "We still have to wait for several days. I won't be able to sleep well these days."
"The final exam is coming up soon, so stop worrying about it these few days," Su Ting threatened, "If your grades drop, you'll be on your own."
He Yan looked up at the clock: "Oh, I should take a nap."
Su Ting: “…”
After He Yan returned to his room, Su Ting also went back to the master bedroom for a nap. They both got up at about the same time and rode their bicycles, one to school and the other to the post office.
After arriving at the place, register first, then queue up and wait for the call.
Although it has only been three years since the reform and opening up, the city has changed a lot. The most obvious change is that there are more people in the post office, and the main reason for this is that more and more people are doing business.
For some businesses, time is of the utmost importance. The delivery of goods cannot be delayed for a day. They would rather write letters or send telegrams than make phone calls. After all, compared with the money earned from a business deal, the ten or eight dollars spent on the phone is really nothing.
In the past, when Su Ting called, she would only have to wait for half an hour, and the longest time she waited was only more than 50 minutes. But now, waiting for 40 to 50 minutes is the norm, and when she is unlucky, she may have to wait for an hour or two, regardless of whether it is a weekday or a weekend.
Therefore, now, apart from monthly phone calls with He Dongchuan's parents, Su Ting would give priority to communicating by letter regarding other work matters, as long as they were not too urgent.
But if it is an important job, Su Ting always thinks it is better to do it early rather than late.
What's more, Humei contacted him through the publishing house. It takes time for the letter to be sent. She was delayed for several days after receiving the letter. If she wrote more letters to communicate, she and the people from Humei would not know when they could meet to discuss business.
So she came to the post office, ready to make a phone call to arrange the meeting as soon as possible.
But today she was unlucky. After arriving at the post office, she had to wait for an hour and a half. When the staff called her name, she almost jumped up and ran to answer the phone.
Picking up the phone, Su Ting called out, "Sister Wang."
The person on the other end of the phone was Wang Jingfang. After all, Shanghai Mei contacted Su Ting through the publishing house. Before she contacted the production company staff, she had to tell Wang Jingfang first so that she would have an idea.
Wang Jingfang was very happy after hearing this and said, "I have always thought that the Sanhuo series is suitable for being made into an animated film. Children will definitely love it. Now it seems that the people at the production company have the same idea as me."
"You all have good taste." Su Ting said with a smile.
"That's because you draw stories well."
After the business flattery ended, Wang Jingfang instructed Su Ting on some things to pay attention to during the negotiation process. Although she did not work in the production company, she would interact with them at work and knew more inside information than the average person.
Su Ting listened and quickly took out her notebook and pen to write down what she said.
In addition to the precautions, Wang Jingfang also helped Su Ting estimate the copyright price, which was much higher than her own estimate, but very cheap compared to the publishing income.
This is quite normal. It is the early 1980s and the domestic film and television industry is in its early stages of development. It is not yet the time for investors to spend hundreds of millions on making TV series.
At that time, the production cost of an average TV series was only about 10,000 to 20,000 yuan per episode. A 20-episode TV series might cost 300,000 to 400,000 yuan.
In Su Ting's previous life, the 1986 version of "Journey to the West" had a high production budget. The first part had a total of 25 episodes, with a total investment of 6 million yuan, which works out to 240,000 yuan per episode, a sky-high price.
But compared with animated films, the production cost of "Journey to the West" is not high.
Whether it is now or in a few decades, the production costs of animation films are calculated by the minute or even by the second.
But before Su Ting traveled through time, animation already had a relatively mature profit model, with many income channels, and many animation production companies were doing well. At that time, the profit model of animation was single, and the reason why Shanghai Meiyi could persist until now was entirely because of the system.
But even with the national appropriation, Shanghai and the United States still did not have sufficient funds when producing animated films. They spent a lot of money on production costs, while other places tried to save money wherever possible. Naturally, they could not come up with much money to purchase the adaptation rights.
Comic strips were booming during this era and had a large readership. At its peak, the circulation of Comic Strip Magazine reached millions.
Especially in recent years, the first print run of popular comic books starts at 100,000 copies. The larger the print run, the lower the printing cost, and the higher the share that the publisher can give.
In recent years, the share of the publishing house given to Su Ting has increased a little on the basis of the highest proportion. Although it is not much, when multiplied by the sales volume and selling price, the extra royalties are considerable.
Because of this, Su Ting did not care much about the adaptation fee and was willing to sell the copyright more for the sake of fulfilling her dream, so the expected value was much lower than what Wang Jingfang reported.
But Su Ting had no intention of rushing to lower the price. She decided to wait until the two parties met and then talk slowly.
After finishing the call with Wang Jingfang, Su Ting waited for a while before the operator called the phone number of the Shanghai-US staff left in the letter sent by Wang Jingfang.
After the call was connected, Su Ting introduced herself first, and the person on the other end of the phone also gave a brief self-introduction after listening.
His name is Li Bin, and he is the production director of Shanghai Art Institute. His rank is not low. After all, it is related to the production of an animated film, and the production company cannot arrange a young man to take charge.
After the results, Li Bin asked: "Comrade Su, you called me today. Have you made a decision?"
Su Ting did not beat around the bush and said directly: "Yes, I am willing to give you the adaptation rights."
There was laughter on the phone, and then Li Bin asked, "I heard that Comrade Su is in Shanghai?"
"Um."
Li Bin asked again: "Is Comrade Su free recently? Let's meet and discuss this matter formally?"
Although Li Bin's contact information was given to Su Ting by Wang Jingfang, and his identity was definitely correct, Su Ting still had to be on guard. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Are you free this Sunday?"
"Yes, are you coming to the studio to see me, or are you meeting somewhere else?"
"I'll go to the studio to discuss this with you at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Is that okay with you?"
"Can."
After the discussion, the two ended the call, and Su Ting paid the money and left the post office.
…
When He Yan returned home that night, Su Ting immediately told him the progress of the matter.
When He Yan heard this, he asked, "Can I go with you then?"
"Let's talk business, what are you going to do?" Su Ting asked and then changed her mind, "No, it's okay to take you with me. I can introduce you to Director Li. During the later production, they can draw according to your style."
Although Su Ting referred to He Yan's appearance when she painted the Three Fires, there is a difference between reference and copying, and secondly, he was young at the time and his appearance has changed a lot over the years.
Therefore, as long as readers don’t know that He Yan is the prototype of Sanhuo, most of them will not associate him with the protagonist of the comic book after seeing him.
But if I really do as Su Ting said and draw him like he is now... I'm going to be exposed at any moment!
Unsure whether Su Ting was joking or serious, He Yan coughed and said, "I just thought about it seriously. The final exam is next week. It would be better for me to stay at home and review this Sunday."
He gave up accompanying his mother to discuss business mainly in order to get good grades in the final exam, not because he was afraid of being exposed!