After breakfast the next morning, Su Ting and He Dongchuan went out to the studio.

Before leaving, Su Ting specifically asked He Yan if he wanted to go with her. He Yan thought about it and decided to be conservative, saying that he wanted to read at home. Seeing this, the couple also kept Man Man at home, gave them a few dollars, and let them solve their own lunch.

The studio was not very close to their home, and it took about an hour to drive there. They set out at around 8:40 and arrived around 9:50.

Although it was earlier than the agreed time, they did not wait outside until the appointed time. Instead, they went directly to the gate of the studio and told the guard that they wanted to see Director Li Bin.

Perhaps Li Bin had given instructions in advance, so the people at the guard post asked Su Ting's name, explained the route, and let them in.

After walking along the route for two or three minutes, the two arrived at a closed office.

Not only this office, but all the offices on both sides of the corridor had their doors closed. And perhaps because it was Sunday, not many people were working in the studio, and the two of them didn't see anyone along the way.

After hesitation, Su Ting knocked on the office door.

There was no movement at the first two knocks, but at the third knock there was a voice: "Wait a moment."

Su Ting stopped and stood outside with He Dongchuan waiting.

Soon, the door was opened from the inside, and a middle-aged man in a gray coat and rimmed glasses appeared. When he saw Su Ting and He Dongchuan, he was slightly stunned, and then asked uncertainly: "Comrade Su?"

Su Ting recognized his voice and nodded, "It's me. Are you Director Li?"

"Yes." Li Bin breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door to welcome the two in.

Li Bin's office is not big, estimated to be only ten square meters, but it is fully furnished. In addition to a desk and filing cabinet, there is also a set of wooden sofas and coffee tables.

After inviting the two to sit down, Li Bin poured them each a cup of tea, placed it in front of them, and then looked at He Dongchuan and asked, "Who is this?"

"My husband, He Dongchuan," Su Ting introduced.

Li Bin was not surprised, he extended his hand and said, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you." He Dongchuan shook hands with him and said, "Just talk about your own things, don't worry about me."

Li Bin said yes, but after sitting down, he did not get to the point immediately. He asked, "Where are you two from?"

"Fudan University, we live nearby."

"Are you two students from Fudan University?"

Su Ting admitted: "I am indeed studying at Fudan University."

"Oh? What major?"

“I studied Chinese.”

Li Bin looked surprised and explained, "I thought Comrade Su would learn painting."

Su Ting smiled and didn't answer.

After a brief greeting, the topic got on track. Li Bin was quite frank and explained the reasons why he chose the Sanhuo series.

He wanted to adapt the Three Fires series into an animated film, of course not entirely because he liked the story, he had many other considerations.

At that time, most domestic animations were feature films or independent shorts, that is, produced according to theatrical standards. However, after the reform and opening up, the television market gradually took shape, and the production studios wanted to make new attempts, that is, to produce series. [1]

But the studio leaders debated endlessly over what to make and how to make the series.

Animation is charged by the second, so even if a series doesn't need to be as good as a feature film, the cost per second can be reduced. But since it's a series, the length will definitely not be short, and the final investment may be even greater.

If they spend a lot of time and money to make a series but it is not liked by the audience, who will take the responsibility?

It was at this time that Li Bin noticed the Sanhuo series.

Li Bin has a niece who likes to read comic books. She is a loyal reader of the Sanhuo series, so he had heard of this story a long time ago. But he himself had never read it before because he was not interested in comic books.

Until recently, another meeting in the factory ended, and nothing was discussed. He was very worried about it. When he went back to see his niece, he casually asked, "What kind of stories do children of your age like?"

At that time, he really just asked casually and never thought that he would get the answer from his niece. However, after hearing this question, his niece answered without hesitation: "Of course it is the story of the three fires."

When Li Bin heard this, he suddenly asked, "I remember this is a series of stories?"

After hearing this, his niece thought he was suddenly interested in the story and started telling it to him.

It was also through his niece's oral narration that Li Bin learned that this series was drawn with Sanhuo as the protagonist. It began serialization in 1976, with one volume published each year, each with a different theme, and a total of seven stories.

And more importantly, the Three Fires series is extremely popular.

Among the 40-odd students in his niece's class, most have watched the Sanhuo series, and most of the children in their compound have also watched the Sanhuo series.

Thinking that the data might not be so accurate, Li Bin also looked up the publishing information of the comic book.

This information is easy to check. When each comic book is printed, the back will indicate which edition it is, how many times it has been printed, and the number of copies printed from so to so.

The first volume of the Sanhuo series began serialization in 1976, and by the end of this year, it has been printed five times, with a very impressive number of volumes. Moreover, Li Bin learned that in the past few years, the Sanhuo series will also be published in a complete set of hardcover editions, with a high print run.

Of course, just looking at these does not provide accurate information about the Sanhuo series, so Li Bin contacted his old classmate who worked at Xinhua Bookstore and obtained the sales data of the Sanhuo series for the past three years through him.

After getting the exact sales data, Li Bin finally confirmed that the Sanhuo series was really popular.

So at the latest discussion meeting, he brought up the possibility of adapting the popular comic strip into an animated film, and took out the sales data of the Sanhuo series for the past three years given by his classmates.

Although his proposal was not directly approved at the meeting, no one rejected his idea either. So as soon as the meeting ended, Li Bin contacted "Lianhuan Pictorial" and proposed to purchase the adaptation rights of the Sanhuo series, hoping to meet with the original author through them.

After that, the studio held three meetings in a week, and at the third meeting, the leader announced that his proposal had been approved and gave him full responsibility for the matter.

The above is the whole story, but Li Bin knew very well that he couldn't reveal all his cards in negotiations, so he only talked about the first half. The key point is that the main reason the production company chose the Sanhuo series was because of his mediation.

Su Ting was very understanding and said with a smile, "It is my honor that Director Li likes the Three Fires series so much."

Li Bin said with a smile: "Comrade Su, you are too polite. The reason why the Three Fires series is so popular is because you draw the stories well."

After the two of them exchanged some business praise, the topic entered a new stage and began to discuss prices. Li Bin asked Su Ting to quote a price.

As soon as Su Ting heard this, she knew that he wanted to lower the price after finding out her desired price. Although she knew how to deal with it, after careful consideration, she only added a little to the price quoted by Wang Jingfang.

This offer was higher than Li Bin's estimated price, but he still breathed a sigh of relief because he could hear Su Ting's sincerity. As long as both parties were sincere, the matter would be mostly settled.

Li Bin pondered in his heart and said: "Comrade Su, you also know that this project of ours is a new attempt. The leaders are worried about whether it can succeed, so the funds allocated for the project are not high. I know you are an honest person and the price you offer is not high, but we really can't afford so much money. Do you think... can the price be lowered a little bit?"

"Director Li, how much do you think is appropriate?" Su Ting asked.

Li Bin quoted a price that was much lower than the price Su Ting had just quoted. She looked embarrassed: "This..."

"I know that the price is a bit low, but this series will be broadcast on TV after it is produced. After the animation is broadcast, more people will be able to see the Three Fires series, don't you think?"

Su Ting smiled: "Allow me to say something shameless. I think the Three Fires series is quite popular right now. And, you asked me to buy the adaptation rights because of the popularity and story of this series, right?"

Li Bin laughed: "Comrade Su, you are right. How about this, we raise the price by another 10%. What do you think?"

"Thirty percent."

Li Bin bargained: "Twenty percent."

Su Ting was firm: "30% is my bottom price." Even if the price was raised by 30%, it would still be lower than the price Wang Jingfang quoted her.

Su Ting felt that if she insisted, there would be no problem in increasing the price to the price quoted by Wang Jingfang.

But she knew that the road to domestic animation was not easy to go. What Li Bin said about their difficulties and the shortage of project funds were all true, so she was willing to give support and appropriately give up some of her interests.

Want more?

She is sorry.

But at that time, Su Ting did not expect that the fate of the Sanhuo series of animations would be so unfortunate. In the next few years, they experienced the restructuring of Shanghai and the United States and the adjustment of the leadership team;

Due to a lack of funds, the show was not fully completed before it was aired on television. Although the cartoon quickly captured the hearts of children, it was urgently stopped due to criticism from authoritative experts. [2]

This pause lasted for three years until early 1987, when Shanghai and the United States resumed the Sanhuo series.

However, the problem of capital shortage was once again put in front of them. In order to successfully complete the Three Fires series, Su Ting had to become a non-staff member of the project and served as a financial consultant, helping to come up with a lot of ways to attract investment.

Not only that, she also invested a lot of money in it.

Of course, Su Ting didn't know at the moment that the adaptation fee she had negotiated for was less than one-tenth of the money she invested in it a few years later, so after the price was agreed upon, Su Ting was very happy.

…

Although the price was agreed upon, the two parties did not sign the contract immediately because the production studio was closed on Sundays.

However, the production company worked very quickly, and when Su Ting went there again on Tuesday, the contract was ready. However, Su Ting did not sign the contract immediately after receiving it, but went back to school to find someone to help.

Last year, their school resumed the law major and started recruiting students. However, because the law students had only been enrolled for a short time, Su Ting was hesitant to ask them to help look at the contract. So she went to her tutor to ask if he could ask a professor of the law department to look at the contract.

Although Fudan University has just resumed its law major, all those invited to teach are industry leaders. Asking them to help review the adaptation contract is actually a bit of an overkill.

But Su Ting's tutor thinks highly of her, and as a senior who has just graduated, or no, hasn't received her diploma yet, it is an honor for the school that her work can be adapted into an animated film.

So as soon as Su Ting finished speaking, her teacher called a friend to come and help.

The professor who came to help also knew Su Ting. After all, she was a well-known figure, and there were not many people in their school who didn't know Su Ting. In particular, the professor was a good friend of Su Ting's tutor, and he often heard him talk about his favorite student.

Therefore, knowing that his friend had called him over in a hurry just to help his favorite student look at the contract, the professor was silent for only two seconds, and then said kindly, "Okay."

Zai carefully read the contract that Su Ting handed over. He circled two clauses, explained them briefly, and asked her if she could accept them.

Su Ting could accept one of the two clauses, but she objected to the other one. After the professor asked her what she thought in detail, he rewrote the clause next to it and returned the contract to her.

Su Ting had no problem reading it, so she took the revised contract directly to Li Bin and asked him to change the terms.

The contracts of the production studios are all fixed templates. No matter who signs, they all have to follow the same contract, with the most difference being the amount. So Li Bin had a headache after receiving the revised contract, but seeing Su Ting's firm attitude, he agreed to ask the leader to give it a try after consideration.

After Li Bin ran down the terms of the contract, Su Ting got the revised contract and signed her name, and He Yan also finished the last exam of this semester.

The school holidays were gradually approaching. They just had to wait for Su Ting to receive her diploma and attend the graduation ceremony before they could go home for the New Year.

…

The graduation ceremony was held on Saturday in the school auditorium.

College graduates at that time did not need to wear bachelor's gowns, and the graduation ceremony procedures were not as complicated as they would be a few decades later. It started at eight in the morning and ended a little after ten.

After the event, there was a photo session. Because there were so many graduating classes waiting to have their photos taken, there wasn't much time allocated to each class and we only took a group photo.

There were only about 50 people in the class, and they were the first to take the photo, so the process was not smooth. The standing positions had to be adjusted twice. At the beginning, the girls stood in the front row and the boys stood in the back row.

Later, they found that standing in two rows would not allow for a complete photo, so they adjusted the arrangement so that the girls had two rows, one row standing and one row squatting, and the boys had two rows, one row standing on the ground and one row standing on stools. However, this way, although the left and right rows were in the photo, the distance between the top and the bottom was too far.

In the end, it was arranged into three rows, with the girls in the first row squatting holding a banner, the girls in the second row sitting, with the girls in the middle, the boys sitting on both sides, and the third row standing in unison.

After the positions were adjusted, the photographer started to make small movements. One person closed his eyes, and that person made strange movements. It dragged on for more than ten minutes before a "click" sound was heard.

After the noise, the students started wailing one after another. One felt that his expression was not good enough, while another said that he yawned.

It was just that the photographer had wasted too much time in their class, and the monitors of other classes had already come to urge him to finish his work, but he didn't care about them and just took his camera and equipment and left.

The photographers had left, and it was useless for the students to chatter. They could only pray in their hearts that the photos would be presentable when they were developed.

After the group photo, everyone should go their separate ways. At this time, university graduates do not wear bachelor's gowns, and there is no step for individual photos after the group photo.

But many classmates in the class felt that after they separated today, they didn’t know when they would see each other again, so they suggested that everyone get together.

Although some people were not very likable during college, such as Ding Mei, who was not very popular among classmates because she loved to gossip. She had no ability, but no one looked down on her and she had many problems, but it would not be said that she was particularly bad.

Generally speaking, their classmates got along fairly well during their four years in college. Now that they were going to separate, many wanted to get together, and after a lively discussion, they did not find another time and instead headed out of the campus in a large group.

At that time, the activities of class reunions were not as rich as in later generations. At most, everyone would go for a walk and have a meal together.

No one had much interest in taking a walk in the cold winter months, and it was almost lunchtime, so after leaving the school gate, everyone went straight to the restaurant.

It was the restaurant where Su Ting and her friends had dinner two days ago.

Although many private restaurants have opened outside the school in the past two years, most of them are small restaurants that sell fried noodles and the like, and are mainly cheap and affordable. There are only a few restaurants that can be used to treat guests to meals, and among these few restaurants, only one or two have a good reputation and taste, and this one is one of them.

There were so many of them that the restaurant's private room couldn't accommodate them all. Fortunately, there were a few round tables in the upstairs lobby, which were just the right size for them.

After we sat down, the boss came up and handed out several menus. We discussed the ordering and ordered a lot of liquor and beer. Everyone kept saying that they would not leave until they were drunk.

In the end, everyone was drunk as expected. The girls were a little better, but many of the boys were drunk. The dishes on the table were almost cleared, and it was time to end the banquet.

But no one left immediately, because they knew that after this separation, they would not know when they would see each other again.

However, no matter how enthusiastically everyone was chatting, the sadness of parting still quietly spread. Unconsciously, the voices became quieter and quieter, and finally, the second floor fell into silence, until a thoughtful female student burst into tears.

Others were quickly infected by her crying, some shed tears, some had red eyes. Someone started singing "Farewell", the voice spread from one person to two people, and the singing floated out of the window and floated downstairs.

A customer heard the singing and curiously asked the boss what was going on upstairs. The boss said, "Isn't Fudan University holding a graduation ceremony today? A bunch of graduates, probably reluctant to part ways."

Everyone suddenly realized and felt a little envious, thinking of those green years!

…

After singing the farewell song, everyone started to disperse.

People went downstairs one after another, and the drunk ones were helped down by their classmates.

The students in the class were divided into two groups. Those who stayed in school or were assigned to other places had to go back to school, while those who were assigned locally or were originally from Shanghai had to take the bus back home.

So after leaving the restaurant, they officially parted ways and hugged each other goodbye.

Su Ting said goodbye to Zhang Jie, Yang Yu and Li Ke one by one, saying, "I wish you all a safe journey home, and hope that you will be happy in your work and life in the future."

When they arrived at Ma Yan's place, although they would not see each other again until the end of the year, Su Ting still gave her a hug and said, "I wish you can resolve your worries soon and achieve academic success."

Ma Yan returned the blessing and said, "See you next year."

…

Because she heard that someone was selling a house nearby, Su Ting did not take the brother and sister back home immediately after the graduation ceremony, but instead got busy with this matter.

This time, Su Ting did not hide the purchase of the house from the brother and sister.

Of course she couldn't hide it, it was winter vacation, the two children were very relaxed every day, and they must be curious to see her coming in and out. It happened that Shanghai and the United States sent the rewriting fee, and Su Ting simply told them that she wanted to use the money to buy a house.

It's not a lie to say this, because Su Ting really intended to do so.

Man Man heard this and asked doubtfully, "Are we going to live in the new house in the future?"

Su Ting shook her head and said, "We won't live in there."

She slowly breathed a sigh of relief. She liked the Navy Compound and her home in Sanyang Lane very much and didn't want to move to a new place at all. She just didn't understand why her mother wanted to buy a house when she already had one at home.

But she didn't understand. He Yan, who was already in high school and had a good business sense, understood very well and said, "We won't live here, we can rent it out."

"Rent it out?" He slowly looked at his brother, "What is that?"

"It means giving the house to others to live in. When we lived in the same building with Aunt Duan, we rented the house." He Yan paused and added, "You have to pay rent for renting a house. Mom bought the house and rented it out, and she can earn rent money."

After thinking for a while, he asked, "Mom, can I make money by renting out the house?"

"Yes, if we rent out the house, Mom won't have to work and can just sit back and collect money." He Yan affirmed, with a hint of envy in his tone.

This is his ideal life!

Su Ting knew He Yan very well. As soon as she heard his tone, she knew what he was thinking. She was afraid that he would just give up, so she said, "Come on, if we live on the rent of a house, our whole family will starve to death."

"Ah?" The brother and sister both looked puzzled.

Su Ting said: "This time I bought a workshop built by a company. There are seven or eight rooms on one floor, and each room is about 20 to 30 square meters."

This time, Su Ting was not looking at a Western-style house, but a workshop built by the owner. The owner had two such houses in his home, which were divided into three small rooms and a small living room.

The reason why the owner wants to sell the house this time is because he wants to raise money to replace the three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment.

Although they all have three bedrooms and one living room and their areas are similar, the living experience of a house that is originally planned and built in this way is completely different from that of a house divided into a single room.

The former has a fully equipped kitchen and bathroom, but the latter has no kitchen, so everyone cooks in the corridor. Not to mention the toilet, which is shared by everyone on the same floor. Every morning, neighbors have a fight over going to the toilet.

But these troubles only belong to the homeowners. For those whose work units do not allocate housing and whose entire families are still squeezed into a small house of 10 to 20 square meters, it is a good thing to be able to live in such a house.

Therefore, this house will not be difficult to sell and the price will not be too cheap. After all, the house prices in Shanghai have been on an upward trend since the reform and opening up.

Fortunately, the adaptation fee that Su Ting secured for herself was not low and was enough to pay for the house.

After telling the siblings about the house, Su Ting said, "If we rent out two rooms like this, the rent won't be more than 15 yuan."

The housing prices in Shanghai have risen a lot in recent years, but the rental prices are still the same. A single room can be rented for a few yuan, and two-bedroom and three-bedroom houses are rented for a fee based on the area and conditions. The rent for a house like this one without a kitchen and toilet is not as high as when she rented Professor Zhou's house.

Su Ting continued to ask: "Do you know how much our family's monthly living expenses are?"

He Yan shook his head in confusion. He had an idea in his mind and estimated: "Fifty or sixty?"

"When I was low, I spent around 50 or 60. I bought clothes for the changing seasons and added things to the house. There was no upper limit on living expenses." Su Ting finished speaking and asked, "Do you still think that your father and I can just sit back and collect rent?"

The brother and sister shook their heads, but He Yan thought about it and asked, "What if there are many houses for rent?"

Of course, there are many houses that can be rented out and you can make a lot of money, just like Su Ting now. The rent collected every month is not much, but at least one or two hundred.

But she didn't show off her wealth in front of the siblings. Instead, she asked, "How much do you think it costs to buy a house?"

He Yan thought about it, shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"If I buy the two houses I just told you about, it will be just enough to cover the cost of selling the animation adaptation rights this time." Su Ting asked, "Calculate for yourself, how many years do I have to rent out this house before I can earn back the money I spent on buying it?"

He Yan had good grades and he came up with the answer quickly and gave the number.

Su Ting continued, "Calculate again, how many years will it take you to be able to afford this house after you graduate from college? And how many years will it take you to have enough houses that you can live comfortably just by renting them out?"

Although Su Ting used He Yan's royalties to buy him several houses, and could exchange them for more houses after demolition in the future, so He Yan could just lie down and earn rent now, but this was the trump card she left for him, and before he had his own career, she would never give him a reason to lie down.

Su Ting said: "If you want to live on rent in the future, that's fine, but the prerequisite is that you have to earn enough money to buy a house first, understand?"

He Yan sighed: "I understand."

…

Because she thought the environment of the house was good, and there would be no problem renting it out in the next 20 years, and there would be no problem demolishing it after 20 years, Su Ting quickly agreed on a price with the other party and completed the transfer procedures.

After the transfer was completed, the landlord quickly bought the house he liked, but the other party needed time to move, and they also needed time to clean up the new house after moving in, so they paid one month's rent to Su Ting and planned to move after the New Year.

Su Ting thought it didn't matter who she rented the house to, and even if they moved out now, the house would not be easy to rent before the New Year and would most likely be vacant, so she readily agreed and would look for tenants after the New Year.

Su Ting worked very efficiently. In less than a week, she completed the trilogy of house viewing, house buying and house renting, and returned to the Navy compound with her two children.

He Dongchuan reacted calmly after learning about this, but He Yan was in a daze for several days after returning home.

I was shocked.

When he worked at a seafood supply station, many military wives in the compound would hesitate for a long time before buying a fish. They would hesitate for a long time before going back and forth empty-handed, which was longer than the time his mother took to buy a house.

Are all rich people so easy to buy houses?

After taking inventory of his personal assets, He Yan decided that he would first set a small goal - saving money to buy a house!