1980 My literary era

Xie Mingqing came to the editorial office of "Contemporary" to symbolically consult Lin Weimin's opinion on the publication of "Farewell My Concubine". He is now a member of the Chinese Literature Society. Unless the Chinese Literature Society does not want it, it is impossible to give the production rights of the work to other publishing units. .

The last mentioned issue of royalties was blocked by Xie Mingqing before Lin Weimin could fight for it.

"Don't even think about it. It's already an exception for the publisher to give you 12 yuan for a thousand words. It can't be increased any more. Whether it's other publishing houses, newspapers or magazines, if they can give you 10 yuan, it's considered a big deal. .”

What Xie Mingqing said is true. In this period of 1981, ten yuan per thousand words was basically the top. The substantial increase in the standard of manuscript fees only occurred after the price surge in 1984 and 1985.

The Chinese Literature Society previously offered a manuscript fee standard of 12 yuan per thousand words, which was entirely the result of the leadership of the society overcoming public opinion.

Lin Weimin wanted to negotiate the price purely based on the principle of getting the best price increase. When Xie Mingqing came up, he stopped talking, so he didn't hesitate.

The fee standard of twelve yuan per thousand words has exceeded that of most writers in the country at this time.

The "Interim Provisions on Book Remuneration" formulated last year in China only implemented the payment method of "basic royalties plus royalties for printings", but the standard of royalties is only the same as before.

Writers hope to make a fortune from writing, but there is still a way to go.

After Xie Mingqing left, Lin Weimin sorted out the letters from readers in the editorial department. He took leave yesterday and there was another pile of letters.

He was pleasantly surprised to find a letter from Lu Yao in a pile of letters. He glanced at Liu Yin guiltily. When Lu Yao published "Thrilling Scene" in "Contemporary", it was Liu Yin who was the editor.

Lu Yao wrote this letter to complain to Lin Weimin.

"Thrilling Scene" was published in "Contemporary" last year as expected, which greatly inspired Lu Yao's confidence in creation.

Not only that, Qin Chaoyang was extremely optimistic about Lu Yao. When "Thrilling Scene" was published in "Contemporary", he also published an article "You Must Have a Fiery Heart - To Lu Yao" in "China Youth Daily" "Comrade Yao", recommending this work to the majority of readers shows that he is optimistic about Lu Yao.

With these motivations in mind, Lu Yao returned to Xi'an and after thinking about it, he chose to say goodbye to his wife and children and went to Ganquan County, Yan'an to create the story about Gao Jialin and Liu Qiaozhen that made him think about it day and night.

Lu Yao said in the letter that he was currently living in a guest house in Ganquan County and writing "The Movement of Life". "I work almost eighteen hours a day. I can't tell the difference between day and night. I smoke a few cigarettes when I'm sleepy. I feel like my whole body is on fire." There was a fire, and it was hot from the heart to the soles of the feet.”

Lin Weimin saw Lu Yao's determination and perseverance in writing in the letter, but at the same time he was a little worried because Lu Yao also mentioned his physical condition in the letter.

"The facial features are ulcerated and the urine and feces are not flowing smoothly", this is what Lu Yao described in the letter, which made Lin Weimin a little worried.

He remembered that later generations of Lu Yao spent a lot of time and energy on creating the masterpiece "The Ordinary World" and forgot to eat and sleep. His physical condition was so poor that he regretfully passed away.

Accompanying the letter was a new novella "In Difficult Days" written by Lu Yao. According to Lu Yao's introduction in the letter, this work was written while he was in Xi'an from the end of last year to the beginning of this year.

The story about Gao Jialin and Liu Qiaozhen was named "The Movement of Life" by him. The first draft of the novel had begun to take shape, but Lu Yao was not satisfied with the quality of the manuscript and wanted to revise it again.

Afraid that Lin Weimin would be anxious waiting in Yanjing, he sent "In Difficult Days" over.

Lin Weimin frowned and read "In Difficult Days". The work was well written, but Lin Weimin was more concerned about Lu Yao's physical condition at this time.

If Lu Yao was just the name he saw in books, he might not feel anything at all. But now he is a living person, a friend who calls himself "Brother Weiminwen" in the letter.

Lin Weimin found Qin Chaoyang's office with the manuscript. The old comrade looked at Lin Weimin through his reading glasses, "Weimin, what's the matter?"

"Editor-in-chief, Lu Yao has a new work." He handed the manuscript to Qin Chaoyang.

Tan Chaoyang was immediately interested. He was extremely optimistic about Lu Yao, otherwise he would not have taken the initiative to speak out for him in the China Youth Daily and recommend his works.

After spending almost two hours reading the novel, he called Lin Weimin over and said, "The novel is well written. Lu Yao's strength has improved and it can be published."

Lin Weimin handed Lu Yao's letter to him, "Look at this again."

Tan Chaoyang frowned after reading the letter, "He's too desperate."

"Yeah, I'm a little worried."

"What do you think?" Qin Chaoyang asked.

Since Lin Weimin came to him with the letter, he must have thought about it.

"I plan to go to Shaanxi to see him and check the status of the manuscript. If there is no problem, I want him to come to the agency to revise the manuscript. He is messing around in the guest house like this. I am really afraid that he will collapse his body. Yes." Lin Weimin said worriedly.

Tan Chaoyang's expression was equally ugly, "It's not easy to train such a potential writer, and we can't let him do whatever he wants. Then let's do this. I'll give you a week to go to Shaanxi and bring Lu Yao back. We have our editorial department Isn't it better to have these old guys here than to mess around by himself in the guest house?"

"Okay, then I'll leave tomorrow?"

"Can."

After discussing with Qin Chaoyang and arranging work matters, Lin Weimin rode his bicycle to the train station and bought a ticket, and boarded the train to Shaanxi early the next morning.

In this era, trains usually come on a daily basis. He took the train from Yanjing to Xi'an, and then transferred to Ganquan County in Xi'an. This journey of thousands of kilometers took him two days.

When Lin Weimin found the Ganquan County guest house mentioned in Lu Yao's letter, he was greeted by an unkempt, haggard, middle-aged fat man.

"For...for the people?" Lu Yao stood at the door and looked at Lin Weimin in surprise.

Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Don't you recognize me?"

"Why are you here?" Lu Yao asked in disbelief.

Lin Weimin put away his smile and said angrily: "I'm afraid you'll die here!"

Said and without waiting for Lu Yao's answer, he squeezed into the room.

The room in the guest house was not big. The room of more than a dozen bungalows was filled with smoke and the beds were scattered. Lin Weimin saw that the iron dustpan behind the door was filled with cigarette butts.

The steamed buns still on the table were already hard, as were the twists and a few snacks, which were also hard.

Lin Weimin turned to look at Lu Yao again. His hair was disheveled, his face was gloomy, the corners of his eyes were still red, and the corners of his mouth were also rotten.

He couldn't help but feel a headache for this man's desperate spirit. He threw Lu Yao's scattered clothes on the bed over to Lu Yao.

"Walk!"