1980 My literary era

Lin Weimin tested the cadres with the original English book. Apparently Comrade Lao Cheng failed to withstand the test and was hit in his weakness.

After coming out of Cheng Wuchun's office, Lin Weimin went back to the office to touch fish for a long time, then ran away early in the afternoon and came to the Bank of China.

He has been waiting for half a month for the big red envelope that Yang Meng wired him. The amount of the red envelope is not much for Lin Weimin, only 100,000 Hong Kong dollars.

But from the perspective of Yang Meng, the boss, it is generous enough. After all, Lin Weimin is not the only creator of the crew.

Including the previous script fee of 200,000 yuan, the movie script of "Lover" brought Lin Weimin an income of 300,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Of course, this income cannot be compared with the income from overseas publishing of novels, or the income from Broadway performances, but purely based on the royalties of movie scripts, it is already very generous.

After all, Lin Weimin wrote a 60-episode "The Biography of a Female Doctor" for TVB and CCTV, and the two companies negotiated for a long time before giving him a royalties of HK$300,000.

In comparison, writing scripts for Broadway is actually quite a blessing.

The loss is a real loss, but if you make a profit, it is a huge profit.

After converting 100,000 Hong Kong dollars into Japanese yen and depositing it into his account, Lin Weimin's current foreign exchange balance in his account has reached 625 million yen, which is about 4.28 million when converted into rice knives.

Since September last year, the yen has appreciated sharply, and now the appreciation rate has reached 60%.

With tears in his eyes, Teacher Lin made a net profit of nearly 3 million dollars, which was like picking up money.

Lin Weimin's previous investment in "Phantom of the Opera" was considered to have cost him a lot of money, but from an investment perspective, it was also a good thing. After all, so much money is dead in the bank, and only when money flows can it create value.

In the foreseeable future, the appreciation of the yen is still inevitable. It is estimated that the 1.92 million that Mr. Lin invested in "Phantom of the Opera" will be earned back in this way soon.

After coming out of the bank, Lin Weimin drove to the high-rise building in Muxidi.

Mr. Wan and his wife were surprised to see Lin Weimin, "When did you return to China?"

"I just came back yesterday." Lin Weimin replied and saw Wan Fang in the living room, "Hey, senior sister is here too!"

"What's wrong? I can't come yet?"

"Look at what you said, I didn't mean it." Lin Weimin entered the room and put the gift box he was carrying on the coffee table in the living room, "Thanks to me bringing more, otherwise it wouldn't be enough."

Wan Fang glared at him when she heard this, and then her eyes were attracted by the gifts on the coffee table, "What are these?"

"Would you know if you open it and take a look?"

Lin Weimin opened the packaging of several gifts he brought. The gifts were not special. What he gave to Mr. Wan were a few vinyl records, which Lin Weimin got from a second-hand bookstore. Mr. Wan had a record player at home.

"You are caring for the people!" Mr. Wan said with a smile.

This gift is not expensive, but it is worth the effort.

As for Li Yuru and Wan Fang's gifts, Lin Weimin bought them at a high price from the department store, costing several hundred meters, and they both liked them very much.

There was a smile on Wan Fang's face, "You're so attentive!"

At dinner in the evening, Mr. Wan asked Lin Weimin about his experience and knowledge in the United States. Lin Weimin picked up some important points.

Wan Fang couldn't help but feel fascinated when Lin Weimin talked about the grand occasion every night on Broadway.

“It’s such a joy to do theater there!”

Lin Weimin shook his head, "Senior sister, you only saw the thief eating meat, but you didn't see the thief being beaten."

"On Broadway, whether it's a musical or a play, the investment can easily be hundreds of thousands or millions, and not one of the five works may be profitable. Even if the response is good, fixed expenses after the performance are indispensable. If you want to cover the premise Investing is easier said than done!

On Broadway, a work's longevity is considered long-lived if it lasts for more than half a year. There are always only a few works that can really make money.

In the United States, unlike us, investments are made by private individuals or private companies. If you lose money, you will really lose everything! "

Lin Weimin's words made Wanfang a little stunned. They sounded scary. She didn't expect to hear such cruelty behind the glamorous Broadway.

Domestic cultural institutions are funded by the government, and no one has ever worried about money. When I suddenly heard about the complete market economy in the United States, it felt like fantasy.

But she hadn't heard what was even more cruel. Lin Weimin told Wan Fang about the status of the low-level actors on Broadway. These people may not be able to play a supporting role in a year. Many of them live in the cheapest apartments. Meals are not guaranteed.

The worst offenders are the screenwriters at the bottom, some of whom can even go so far as to pick up rags.

Wan Fang felt a little unbearable when she heard this, "What are they doing for this?"

"Some people do it for their ideals, and some do it for fame and fortune. But in a place like Broadway, it's not so easy to get ahead."

Mr. Wan and his daughter sighed for a while, and Wan Fang added: "So, you are quite lucky."

"Can't it be strength?" Lin Weimin said sarcastically.

Wan Fang looked at him and said, "Okay, he has some strength."

Lin Weimin did not argue with her and said: "Let's have some luck and some strength. The main thing is Comrade Lao Mi's strength and connections."

Mr. Wan nodded and said: "It's best if you think so. Don't think that this kind of success is completely based on your own strength."

"How could it be? This time Arthur Miller asked me to invest in "The Kite Runner" and I didn't even do it."

"Why?" Wan Fang asked.

"Although this play is my original work, its entry into the United States is entirely due to Arthur Miller. He not only participated in the screenwriting, but was also a producer and investor, and also contributed his own connections and influence.

The share I've received now is enough, and our current cooperation model is pretty good. I don't want to create a barrier between us because of a small profit. He invited me to invest, maybe sincerely, or maybe just for show. Since I couldn't figure out his purpose, I simply didn't get involved in the matter. "

After Lin Weimin said this, Mr. Wan nodded frequently, "It is indeed mature. With Arthur Miller's influence in the American drama industry, he is indispensable for the success of the work. You are far-sighted to think so!" "

Lin Weimin laughed out loud at being praised by Mr. Wan, but Wan Fang teased: "Oh, I dare say those tens of millions of dollars of swords are just a small profit in your eyes. Dad, you still said that he is not flying... "

At the dinner table, the atmosphere was harmonious.

After dinner, Lin Weimin planned to leave, but Wan Fang held him back and refused to let him go.

"You haven't watched the movie "The Biography of a Female Doctor" you wrote, right? It's being broadcast on CCTV right now!"

After hearing what she said, Lin Weimin stayed.

"The Legend of a Female Doctor" broadcast by CCTV and TVB share the same editing, but the dubbing is different. One side is in Cantonese and the other side is in Mandarin, corresponding to their respective viewing audiences.

The broadcasting efficiency of CCTV is a bit slower than that of TVB. It has only broadcast 15 episodes now, but the sensational effect has gradually been revealed.

Lin Weimin chatted with Mr. Wan's family and learned that after the recent broadcast of "The Legend of the Female Doctor" on CCTV, fewer neighbors even went out for walks and entertainment. Every household waited in front of the TV to watch "The Legend of the Female Doctor" every night.

According to Wan Fang, "TV News" published content related to "The Biography of a Female Doctor" for three consecutive days.

After watching two episodes of the TV series, the quality of "The Legend of a Female Doctor" was praised by Mr. Wan. Lin Weimin happily left the top management of Muxidi.

The next day, the Chinese Literature Society.

Lin Weimin was at work, and Wang Shuo came with a decadent look on his face.

"The Stubborn Lord" was published in "Contemporary" at the beginning of this month. Wang Shuo was quite happy at first, after all, it was published in "Contemporary"!

Unfortunately, just a few days after he was happy, the newspapers and readers reacted and scolded him.

Of course, it's not without praise. Some readers also wrote letters to praise him, but compared with the scoldings, they were a bit underwhelming.

Wang Shuo came to the editorial office a few days ago and communicated with the editors. It is said that this situation is just the beginning. After the various literary review magazines are released in a month or two, that will be the highlight.

Those critics, if you ask them to say a few good things about the work, they will not be able to cheer up, but if you ask them to say bad things, hey, then they will not be sleepy.

Today's Wang Shuo has not evolved into the "literary bastard" he later became. His previous works were not particularly influential, and they were mostly praised. He has never experienced such a thing, so he felt numb for a while. .

Lin Weimin couldn't help with this kind of thing, so he could only say: "You are so worried! Our magazine was scolded, what did I say?"

After chatting for a while, Wang Shuo also thought about it a bit, "Anyway, if the sky falls, there will be tall people to hold it up, and it's all your "Contemporary" who wants to publish it."

"You are such a grandson!" Lin Weimin said scornfully.

Wang Shuoxiao looked shameless and left the editorial office as if he didn't recognize his relatives.

In the afternoon, Qin Chaoyang found Lin Weimin and said that the Literary and Art Association planned to lend people to the club, and the club planned to publish from "Contemporary".

"What does the Literary and Art Association want to borrow people for?" Lin Weimin asked.

"It was said that "China" was going to be revised and I needed to borrow someone to deal with it temporarily."

"China" is a literary magazine founded last year. It is the first "privately funded" magazine in China. It is obviously in response to the government's decision at the end of 1984 that publications should be responsible for their own profits and losses.

Lin Weimin couldn't help complaining: "If you can't run a magazine, then don't do it! Borrowing people from us, we have to pay the wages, and working for their literary association, it's a pretty idea!"

"Be careful!" Tan Chaoyang reminded.

Lin Weimin glared, "What are you afraid of? Can their literary association control our Chinese literary society?"

"Comrade Lao Qin, I'm not telling you, why can't you resist the leader's chaos?"

Tan Chaoyang had a stern expression on his face, "I'm already retired..."

Lin Weimin was helpless. Even though Lao Qin was the director, Lin Weimin could say very responsibly that he was the "mouse turd", "stinky fish" and "a very few people" in the editorial department of "Contemporary".

It’s okay to lie flat when you are a soldier, but why do you lie flat when you are a leader?

Especially when I came back from the United States this time, I don't know if it was because of Lao Meng's retirement, but Lao Qin's condition became even worse.

Apart from reviewing manuscripts, I don’t care about anything every day.

Lin Weimin was very depressed.

I also want to be such a director!

"You are the director. If you don't say anything, who will?"

Lao Qin continued to show off, "Oh, no, I have a bad heart condition recently, so I can't be angry."

"You're really good!" Lin Weimin sighed helplessly and stood up from the chair.

"Why are you going?" Tan Chaoyang asked knowingly.

"What else can we do? Ask Lao Cheng for an explanation!" Lin Weimin said angrily.

After saying that, he had already left the office.

Comrade Lao Qin looked at Lin Weimin's back, hummed a little tune, and returned to the office leisurely.

Young people are full of complaints when they do some work. What a good training opportunity is this?

It's time to test you!