Chapter 128: Let’s Talk About Money First
"You are so bad, Cheng Xuyuan. How dare you hide such a big thing from me!" When Meng Dezhi saw Cheng Xuyuan, he immediately scolded him harshly.
Hearing this, Cheng Xuyuan was stunned for a moment.
Could it be that Meng Dezhi knew about the divorce agreement between him and Shen Yumo? This was a bit too fast.
Although he had all kinds of doubts in his heart, he still smiled and said, "Old Meng, what are you talking about?"
"What is it? You are not being honest." Meng Dezhi said, "Think carefully about what you are hiding from me."
"Teacher Xu Lingyun?"
Hearing this, Cheng Xuyuan immediately realized that Meng Dezhi knew about his relationship with Xu Lingyun.
Cheng Xuyuan really didn't conceal this matter on purpose.
The reason why he didn't tell Meng Dezhi about this matter was not because he wanted to conceal it, but because he really couldn't find an opportunity.
You can't just go to Meng Dezhi with a copy of "Yenching Literature and Art" and say to him, "Old Meng, I wrote a novel, can you please take a look at it for me?"
If that's the case, wouldn't it be like a peacock spreading its tail, showing off everywhere, which is a bit too ostentatious?
Now that Meng Dezhi knew about it, Cheng Xuyuan was not panicked. He said calmly, "Old Meng, are you talking about the novel I wrote?"
"Although my novel has achieved some success, I can't go to you to show off."
"In that case, wouldn't that mean I'm the kind of person who brags about my achievements as soon as I make them?"
After hearing what Cheng Xuyuan said, Meng Dezhi showed a hint of a smile.
However, he still pointed at Cheng Xuyuan and said, "Xiao Cheng, writing a novel and publishing it is not something to show off."
"This is a great thing in itself. Let us celebrate with you."
At this point, he said in a deep voice: "Let's go to the Yanjing Theater. Mr. Wan is waiting for us there."
Cheng Xuyuan asked, "What does Mr. Wan want to talk to me about?"
"We'll know when we get there." Meng Dezhi said, "It's a good thing anyway."
When Meng Dezhi and I went downstairs, a dark green jeep was already waiting downstairs of the office.
Meng Dezhi skillfully opened the car door and got in, and Cheng Xuyuan followed closely behind.
Although the jeep was leaking air everywhere at that time, it was still much better than the bicycle he rode.
This made Cheng Xuyuan, who was feeling complacent about buying a bicycle, suddenly feel that his vision was a bit narrow.
As a time traveler, how can you be satisfied with just buying a bicycle?
"Xiao Cheng, I never thought that you wrote "When Happiness Knocks on the Door." Meng Dezhi said with emotion while sitting in the car, "If Mr. Wan hadn't called and said he wanted to see you, I wouldn't have known about this!"
At this point, he glanced at Cheng Xuyuan and said, "I knew you had strong writing skills, but I didn't expect you to be so good at writing."
“Any new works recently?”
To Meng Dezhi, what he said was just a casual remark.
After all, he is a person with a cultural background and knows that many works require careful craftsmanship.
For authors, a good article often takes a year or two to write.
This is called brewing! Facing Meng Dezhi's question, Cheng Xuyuan no longer concealed it and said directly: "I just wrote a novel and plan to publish it in the next issue of "Yanjing Literature and Art".
"What, you've tinkered with another novel?" Meng Dezhi was a little surprised.
After all, this is too fast!
Cheng Xuyuan has been submitting manuscripts for "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty"! Seeing Meng Dezhi's expression, Cheng Xuyuan said, "I wrote it when I was at home for the New Year."
"Well, I tell you not to rush into writing a novel."
“It must be carefully crafted.”
"Your performance of 'The Pursuit of Happyness' is very good. I think you should not relax your standards for yourself in the future. Do you understand?"
Cheng Xuyuan smiled and said, "Thank you, Lao Meng, for reminding me. Don't worry, I will never relax my requirements on myself in this matter."
While the two were chatting, the car had already stopped outside the Yanjing Theater.
Under the guidance of Meng Dezhi, Cheng Xuyuan walked into the theater gate.
Before I had taken a few steps, I saw a group of people queuing up, and at the queue point, there was a sign with the three words "Cai Wenji" written on it.
Seeing Cheng Xuyuan looking in the direction of buying tickets, Meng Dezhi smiled and said, "After Cai Wenji's re-performance, it was well received by the public."
"For example, many people came here to line up before dawn just to get a ticket."
This situation also made Cheng Xuyuan feel deeply emotional.
He followed Meng Dezhi and soon came to an office. Meng Dezhi pushed the door open and said with a smile, "Mr. Wan, I brought Xiao Cheng to you."
Cheng Xuyuan looked towards the office and saw Mr. Wan sitting in the middle, with two familiar faces sitting on both sides of him.
The reason why he said he was familiar was not because he knew these two people, but because he was familiar with the roles played by these two people.
Even in later life, he watched the movie "Tea House" several times.
How could he be unfamiliar with Manager Wang and Master Qin inside?
What's more, there is also "The Investiture of the Gods", and the famous Jiang Shang is a classic for many people when they were young.
While asking Meng Dezhi to sit down, Elder Wan cast his eyes on Cheng Xuyuan and said, "Xiao Cheng, I really didn't expect this. I thought you wrote good short plays, but unexpectedly, your novels are even better."
"The Pursuit of Happyness" really opened my eyes."
"Although you spent a lot of time and effort in this article to describe the misfortunes that Xu Lingyun experienced."
"But more than that, it is expressing a spirit."
"A spirit of perseverance, not giving up, and not abandoning in the face of difficulties."
"This kind of spirit is rare and precious!"
Cheng Xuyuan's novel is a fusion of the two movies "The Shepherd" and "The Pursuit of Happyness".
Although the plot of "The Shepherd" occupies a large part of the film, Cheng Xuyuan borrowed more from "The Pursuit of Happyness" in character creation.
Cheng Xuyuan couldn't help but admire Mr. Wan's words.
He said, "Mr. Wan, my novel still has many shortcomings, and I would like to ask for your guidance and support."
Elder Wan smiled and pointed at Cheng Xuyuan and said, "Xiao Cheng, pride makes people fall behind, but as a young person, you should be humble and have the spirit of daring to be the first in the world."
"Excessive modesty doesn't suit you very well."
At this point, he said to Meng Dezhi and others: "Old Meng, Old Yu, you should encourage young people more in the future."
Meng Dezhi smiled and said, "Master Wan, Xiao Cheng must not be arrogant in front of you."
"But I have seen this kid giving orders."
Yu Shizhi smiled and said, "Xiao Cheng, we invited you here this time because we want to talk to you about adapting "The Pursuit of Happiness" into a play."
"We are very optimistic about this novel and are planning to bring it to the stage."
"I wonder if you'd like to?"
Cheng Xuyuan hesitated for a moment, then said with a smile, "Dean Yu, I would certainly be very willing to bring "The Pursuit of Happiness" to the stage."
"But I want to ask, is there any usage fee?"
Cheng Xuyuan's words immediately made Meng Dezhi's face darken.
This silly boy is so smart, why did he fail at the critical moment? Is this the time for you to withdraw money?
He immediately glared at Cheng Xuyuan and asked, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Elder Wan smiled and said, "Meng, Xiao Cheng's question is not wrong. After all, this "The Pursuit of Happyness" is Xiao Cheng's painstaking work. It is only right that he should be paid for it."
"Old Yu, what are our regulations in this regard?"
Although Mr. Wan is the president of Yenching People's Art Theatre, he basically doesn't care about anything. It is the first vice president Yu Shizhi who handles everything.
Yu Shizhi smiled and said, "Xiao Cheng, we usually pay for scripts, but for an adaptation like yours, we don't pay much."
At this point, he paused for a moment and said, "I've read two of your sketches, "Eating Noodles" and "The Protagonist and the Supporting Actor." I think you're pretty good at writing scripts."
"How about this, you adapt it into a script yourself. If it passes our review, I'll give you 7 yuan per thousand words."
A script has fewer words than a novel! Cheng Xuyuan was thinking about how much money he could get when he heard Yu Shizhi continue, "Here, we pay the screenwriter for every play he performs."
"Five dollars a game."
"If you perform 'The Pursuit of Happyness' a hundred times, that would be 500 yuan."
It’s not too difficult to adapt "The Pursuit of Happyness" into a play.
After all, I had watched the movies "The Horseman" and "The Pursuit of Happyness" in my previous life.
The dialogue between these two films is the script of the film.
He was just about to agree when he heard Master Wan say, "Xiao Cheng, just give it a try. Let me see your scriptwriting skills."
Cheng Xuyuan said: "Okay, then I'll give it a try."
When Mr. Wan saw Cheng Xuyuan agreed, he immediately became more interested in the conversation. He immediately asked, "Xiao Cheng, if you were to adapt the novel into a play, what aspects would you choose to adapt it from?"
This did not pose a problem for Cheng Xuyuan. After all, he had seen the movie "The Shepherd", and he immediately expressed his thoughts in this regard.
Elder Wan waited for Cheng Xuyuan to finish speaking, then said with a smile, "Okay, I'll wait for your adapted script."
Because of their age, Wan Lao chatted with Cheng Xuyuan and others for more than half an hour before going home to rest. Cheng Xuyuan and Meng Dezhi did not stay in the Yenching Theater for too long. After saying goodbye to Yu Shizhi, they left the Yenching Theater by car.
"You kid, you really don't know the difference between the important and the unimportant. You even ask for a usage fee."
Meng Dezhi said: "Do you know that this is a good opportunity for you to become my disciple?"
"If Elder Wan is dissatisfied with you, then you will lose the big picture while picking up sesame seeds. You will regret it later."
Cheng Xuyuan smiled and said, "Old Meng, thank you for your concern for me."
"But I think Mr. Wan wouldn't mind if I took the initiative to talk about money."
Meng Dezhi said: "Okay, I won't discuss this with you anymore. You must write this script well."
"Last time, I told Master Wan that I wanted you to become my disciple, but he was a little hesitant. Now that the script is written, it will be a good opportunity."
"You must hold on to it firmly!"
Cheng Xuyuan looked at Meng Dezhi's expression, put away his smile and said, "Don't worry, Old Meng, I know this."
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(End of this chapter)
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