1980 My literary era

A few years ago, the work of the Chinese Literature Society was almost busy, and Lin Weimin finally had some breathing space.

During this period of time, he received calls from several overseas publishing houses and signed a publishing contract with them for "God Bless the United States."

"God Bless the United States" has been published in the United States for nearly five months, and its total sales have exceeded 2.7 million copies. It is the fastest among Lin Weimin's works published in the United States to reach 2 million copies.

Currently, this novel still leads the New York Times best-seller list with sales of four to five million copies per month, and there is a vague trend of dominating the list.

The incredible sales and excellent reputation give this work a long-lasting stamina.

At the same time, because of its best-selling performance in the American book market, the novel "God Bless the United States" has aroused the interest of publishers in many overseas countries.

Lin Weimin's works have been marketed overseas for many years, and he has become accustomed to this. Last month, FSG Publishing House settled the royalties for the first quarter of "God Bless the United States", which amounted to 2.4 million US dollars.

This figure is not large when compared to the overseas royalties and box office shares that Lin Weimin has received over the years, but it is the highest royalties for a single season in a single work.

After all, the sales of "God Bless the United States" after its release were indeed the best in recent years.

On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Lin Weimin received another call from the United States. Disney hoped to purchase the copyright of "Spirited Away". The price was not low, with 10 million yuan to buy out all copyrights except text works.

Lin Weimin has received many calls like this in the past two years. Since "Farewell My Concubine" achieved unprecedented global success, Hollywood has been very happy with the "$5 million" figure he originally proposed. Unfortunately, this price has long been inconsistent with Lin Weimin's expectations for the revenue from the copyright development of the work.

A rising tide lifts all boats. Lin Weimin wants 30% of all proceeds from his works, which the Hollywood capitalists cannot accept under any circumstances.

Lin Weimin doesn't care. If the copyright is in his own hands, sales will get better and better, and his influence will get bigger and bigger. He won't suffer any loss no matter what. And he didn’t just leave it in his hands and not develop it, he just learned from the senior Rotten Apple and developed it slowly!

"Spirited Away" has been published in North America for three years, and its sales have exceeded 5 million copies. It is a rare popular children's literature work in recent years. Not only in North America, this novel has also been published in various countries around the world in the past two years, with sales of Not bad, he contributed a lot of royalties to Lin Weimin.

This time, it was the third time that Disney contacted Lin Weimin. Their quotation increased continuously from 5 million, to 8 million, to 10 million.

You say they are not sincere, they keep raising the price for you. You can tell he is sincere. He wants to spend 18 million yuan to acquire a children's literature work like "Spirited Away" that has been born less than five years ago and has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. .

In fact, if it only wants film and television copyrights, this price is not bad. The most important thing is that it actually wants all copyrights except text works, that is, all subsequent copyrights that may exist must be taken as its own.

This is in line with Disney's usual behavior, but Lin Weimin is not short of money. With the sales volume of "Spirited Away" in the past few years, it will be a copyright gold mine in the future. How could he sell his own at such a price? works, Lin Weimin once again rejected Disney’s invitation.

Faced with Lin Weimin, who has no access to oil and salt, Disney and other Hollywood giants are also helpless. If they are American writers, they can still find a way to control it, but Lin Weimin is far away on the other side of the world, and they are beyond their reach.

Moreover, Lin Weimin is different from ordinary best-selling writers. His reputation is more concentrated in the field of traditional literature. He does not need any exposure at all. You can only find faults with him. Readers and the literary world are also very tolerant of him.

It's like a dog biting a hedgehog - there's nothing he can say!

Fast forward to thirty and it is another day of reunion.

The child is one year older, and Lin Weimin is one year older.

He didn't know why he suddenly felt a little emotional, probably because he was already halfway through his thirties.

On New Year's Day, he went to Mr. Wan's house to pay New Year's greetings.

Mr. Wan is getting older and older. During the past few days during the Chinese New Year, he was still staying in the hospital. When he saw Lin Weimin and his family coming, he became unusually happy.

The little bean bags became more and more adorable, and Mr. Wan regarded them as treasures.

He played with the little bean bag for a while, then he was out of breath. Tao Huimin picked up the little bean bag and said, "Let grandpa rest for a while."

Xiaodoubao tilted his head and looked at Mr. Wan, wondering why the old man was in such poor health.

"When I see this child, I always feel a little bit in a trance. I see my daughters when they were young."

Mr. Wan said to Lin Weimin in a nostalgic tone.

Seeing that he was not in a high mood, Lin Weimin smiled and said: "What you should cherish most is what you have in front of you. Tomorrow, the two senior sisters will come to reunite with you."

Mr. Wan smiled and said nothing. Lin Weimin knew that he was thinking about his other two daughters who were far abroad.

It's not that he's partial, it's just that he will be concerned about any daughter who is abroad.

"I didn't do well enough." Mr. Wan murmured.

Lin Weimin noticed that something was wrong with his state, and secretly exchanged a few words with Li Yuru. Mr. Wan's sleep was not good and he had been relying on sleeping pills to maintain his sleep. The quality of sleep has been very poor in the past few months, and I often wake up in my sleep.

But what tortured him even more was his creation that seemed to be stuck in quicksand. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not make any progress and fell downwards step by step.

In the past two years, Mr. Wan has tried to pick up the play "The Bridge" that he had not completed before liberation. He spent a lot of effort, but there were always obstacles that he could not figure out and obstacles that he could not overcome, which made his spirit weaker and weaker.

For Mr. Wan, who composed "Thunderstorm" at the age of 23, nothing could cause him more pain and suffering than this.

Especially in the past two years, his health has been poor, and his mental suffering has made him suffer even more.

Mr. Wan rarely showed this attitude in front of Lin Weimin. Lin Weimin felt sorry for Mr. Wan, but he didn't know how to persuade him, because he knew that Mr. Wan must have persuaded him countless times in his heart if he could think of anything. .

Lin Weimin picked up the book that Mr. Wan put on the bedside. It was Master Hongyi's book. The page he was turning read: "The water and the moon are not real, only shadows. The same is true for people. They will never be able to lead." "

Lin Weimin looked at it and then read it out.

His voice was the only one in the quiet ward. Mr. Wan, who was originally anxious and depressed, raised his head when he heard this and looked at Lin Weimin.

His mood seemed to have improved a little, and he calmed down and said, "This world is different from Marx's world, and it is also different from the capitalist world. What do you think?"

Lin Weimin knew that he was talking about the world mentioned in the book.

Lin Weimin pondered, "Religious belief attributes all human metaphysical thoughts and behaviors to God. I am not sure if there is a God, but I always think that even if there is a God, God is not so shallow as to talk to people and solve their worries. "

His metaphor is like a man squatting down and saying to the ants on the ground, "Ant, ant, do you have any worries?"

When Mr. Wan heard this, a smile appeared on his face. It was not Lin Weimin's enlightenment that made him enlightened, but the thought that he had once been so prosperous.

"I have been confined to the hospital bed for the past few years, and I have become quite hypocritical."

Lin Weimin smiled and said a few words to Mr. Wan. The sky outside the window cleared and the sun was just right.

After leaving the gate of Yanjing Hospital, Lin Weimin was in a low mood, and Tao Huimin observed his expression.

"The old man is old, his health is not good, and his emotional impact is also great. Don't pay too much attention to it."

Lin Weimin nodded, "I understand."

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Weimin and his family came to the Second Entrance Courtyard next to the Forbidden City. Although everyone spent the first day of the Lunar New Year together, the formality of returning home still had to be a little different.

After lunch, he went to Lao Qin's courtyard house.

Entering the small quadrangle, the door was ajar. It looked like there were guests at home today.

It snowed in Yanjing two years ago, and the snow in the courtyard has been cleared away.

A pile of coal lies in the corner of the courtyard, which is standard for Yanjing people every winter. The coal pile is covered with a thin layer of snow.

Before entering the inner courtyard, I heard a burst of laughter and laughter. Lin Weimin came to the center of the courtyard. Someone in the room noticed that a guest had arrived. When he went out, he recognized Lin Weimin.

"Dad, Chief Editor Lin is here!"

Today is the second day of the Lunar New Year, the day when the daughter returns home. Tan Chaoyang's two daughters brought their families to the courtyard where their father lives.

"Rare visitor, why do you have time to come to my place?" Tan Chaoyang asked with a smile.

Lin Weimin sat down unceremoniously and said, "Look at your sour words. I love you retired cadres equally. Who told you not to move to the building? I treated you to a guest a few years ago. You Didn’t even catch up.”

Tan Chaoyang nodded, "I heard that after two bottles of wine, the tired Lao Meng couple's legs cramped in the middle of the night!"

"It's definitely what Lao Niu said about spreading rumors."

"It doesn't matter who said it, the key is that you have a dark heart. If I move there, you may not know how you can torture me. It's good to stay here."

The two chatted for a few words, and the atmosphere was relaxed and happy.

Today, all the children and grandchildren of Tan Chaoyang's family are here, so to speak, but the eldest grandson is already as old as Lin Weimin, and there are also great-grandsons and great-granddaughters below.

"Old Tan, the population is booming!"

Lin Weimin's words made Tan Chaoyang smile. When a person reaches this age and sees a family full of children and grandchildren, it is the ultimate happiness to enjoy the happiness of a family.

"Come on, come on, everyone who is not married has a share." Lin Weimin took out a few Mao Zedong cards from his pocket.

The younger members of the family were a little embarrassed and no one came forward.

Qin Chaoyang smiled and said: "Take them all. Others are younger. The key is to have money. After passing this village, there will be no shop like this."

The juniors then stepped forward to receive the new year's money, and then did not forget to bow to Lin Weimin and say hello.

Everyone was very happy after receiving the New Year's money. The purchasing power of 100 yuan is still very strong today, even for adults.

Lin Weimin saw that Qin Chaoyang still used a coal stove for heating at home, and the heat pipes went straight out of the window. Heating was emitting from the places passing through the house. He asked, "Why don't we move to the other side of the building in winter? There is central heating, which can save a lot of trouble." !”

"I'm used to living here and I'm too lazy to move." Qin Chaoyang waved his hand and added, "And now that I'm older, I'm more afraid of cold than heat. I'm used to the cold, but I can't stand the heat. It makes me very dry."

"You really get richer as you get older." Lin Weimin joked.

Qin Chaoyang stood up and carried the kettle to refill Lin Weimin's teacup. "At this age, I don't ask for anything, I just want to be healthy and don't put a burden on my family."

After chatting for about half an hour, Lin Weimin stood up and left, and Tan Chaoyang left his seat to see off his guests.

"Don't give it away."

Lin Weimin returned to his father-in-law and his mother-in-law, and saw Xiaodoubao running wildly in the yard. Because he was running too fast, his body was always dangling, giving people the feeling that he would fall down in the next second, but he could Stable.

"Why are you running around?" Lin Weimin picked up his daughter.

Xiaodoubao was not very happy when he picked him up. He twisted around and wanted to get down, "Dad, daddy, let me down."

Lin Weimin was helpless, as the little cotton-padded jacket grew older, it became less and less suitable for him.