Back to 80: My Literary Life

It turned out that Ichiro Yamamoto and Osamu Iwagami were good friends. He learned from the latter that Fang Minghua had written several excellent science fiction novels, and he immediately thought of the idea of ​​translating them into Japanese and publishing them in China.

So Iwagami took a special flight to China, found Fang Minghua's mailing address through his country's embassy in Yanjing, called Yanhe magazine in Xijing, and was told that Fang Minghua was in Yanjing to participate in the judging work of the Poetry Award.

I rushed there in a hurry but was in vain.

Yamamoto Ichiro did not give up, and based on the information he learned, he used the embassy and contacted the Chinese side to finally find him.

"Mr. Minghua, your book "The Legend of Goku" is very popular in Japan as a fantasy novel. The famous Chinese cartoonist Akira Toriyama was inspired by your novel and created the comic "Dragon Ball" which is now selling well in China. "

Oops

"Dragon Ball" or inspired by "The Legend of Goku"?

Fang Minghua really didn't expect this.

Fang Minghua naturally would not refuse Yamamoto's request and said with a smile: "I recently wrote a short science fiction piece about poetry. It has not been officially published yet. I don't know if Mr. Yamamoto is interested or willing." Published in your country?”

"Can I see the manuscript of the science fiction poem?" Yamamoto Ichiro asked eagerly.

"No problem!" Fang Minghua replied, then remembered that he had forgotten to pick up the manuscript on the table before leaving.

"Here." Li Li, who had been silent for the whole time, took out the manuscript from her schoolbag.

"I think you will need it." Li Li said.

What a thoughtful girl.

Fang Minghua handed the manuscript to Yamamoto Ichiro. He didn't understand Chinese and handed it to Iwagami Osamu, who looked at it seriously. "

"Oh my God. Tang poetry actually defeated the omnipotent "god"! The essence and essence of intelligent life are really beyond the reach of technology. What a profound philosophical proposition!" Osamu Iwagami said excitedly, and then jabbered at Sanmoto Ichiro. Speak some Japanese.

Sanmoto Ichiro nodded and replied a few words.

"Mr. Minghua, Ichiro Sanmoto said he is willing to purchase the Japanese copyright of this novel!"

With Osamu Iwagami's translation, the two parties began to discuss the manuscript fee, and Yamamoto gave a manuscript fee of 1,000 yen per page of manuscript paper.

In Japan, manuscript fees are calculated based on the number of pages of manuscript paper. One page is 20 times 20, which is 400 words. According to the exchange rate at that time, 1 yen was worth about 0.05 yuan.

Yamamoto actually gave a standard of 500 yen per 400 words, and promised that four more science fiction novels will be published in the future, which will be paid at a 14% royalty rate. If it is changed to a comic, the copyright issue will be renegotiated at that time.

This will all be written in the contract.

To be honest, Fang Minghua knows the royalty situation of Japanese publications. That "The Legend of Wukong" gave me a 10% royalty, and this one's 14%, which is relatively high.

But he didn't know the royalties.

At this time, Li Li quietly whispered in his ear: "Minghua, the royalties offered by the other party are quite high. Do you know Japan's Haruki Murakami? He also has the same royalties."

After hearing what Li Li said, Fang Minghua didn't hesitate any more, and the two parties signed the contract.

Fang Minghua promised that he would find a way to make a copy of the manuscript and ask them to pick it up tomorrow afternoon, still at this teahouse.

Everything is OK

Today's conversation was over, and the two were about to leave. Yamamoto suddenly muttered a few words, and Osamu Iwagami immediately translated them.

"Mr. Minghua, do you have any plans to write a full-length science fiction novel?"

Long science fiction?

"Mr. Minghua, what Mr. Yamamoto means is that if you can write a full-length science fiction novel, it can be serialized and more easily adapted into comics or even cartoons. I guess you also know that animation in our country is very developed."

This is true.

But a novel with hundreds of thousands or even millions of words is so tiring.

He had already deeply felt the pain of coding while writing "Crossing Guandong".

Writing millions of words by hand is simply not the work of a human being!

I can't compare with Lu Yao.

Therefore, Fang Minghua said frankly: "Mr. Yamamoto, to tell you the truth, I have also conceived a long science fiction novel, but you also know that I am still the deputy editor of the magazine and have a lot of work to do and I really don't have that much time."

"Then can you tell us what you are planning to write about in the novel, and what aspect you plan to write about?"

Yamamoto Ichiro asked again.

"Space opera."

"Space opera? Is it similar to our country's "Legend of the Galactic Heroes"?"

When it comes to "Heroes of the Galaxy", Ichiro Yamamoto and Osamu Iwagami both have proud looks on their faces.

This is a long science fiction novel by the famous Japanese novelist Tanaka Yoshiki. It caused a sensation in China after its publication in 1982.

Under the vast sky where stars shine, history flows like a river of stars, and countless heroes appear. In the center of the cosmic stage, King Reinhardt of the Galactic Empire and "Magician" Yang Wen-li of the Free Planet Alliance are engaged in a grand showdown that only happens once in a thousand years. Comparable to American "Star Wars".

Unfortunately for Ichiro Yamamoto, Kodansha failed to grab the publishing rights of this novel, and it was snatched away by its old rival Tokyo Sogensha. It is said that it is now actively planning to adapt it into an anime.

And the Chinese writer in front of him actually wants to write a space opera.

"Mr. Fang, can you briefly reveal the plot of the story?" Yamamoto said.

"It doesn't matter, this book has something to do with our country's history of the Three Kingdoms." Fang Minghua smiled and slowly told the outline of the story.

It was in the legendary 1930s, when the empire was declining, like a sign of an aging giant, the powers surrounding the empire finally found an opportunity. Zhang Yide died in Puyuan, and Zhou Gongjin defended Weihaiwei.

The empire is in emergency, Chang'an is in emergency!

The empire's hopes rested on having genetic clones of celebrities from the Three Kingdoms era. Although he had the genes of the famous general Lu Xun, Lu Boyan was still kicked out of the military compound for partiality. Many years later, he returned to the military academy and was sent to the "Jingwei", which was overage for service, because of his song "If the Wind Rises in the Next Year". He transformed the old ship and the crew who had given up hope, but he could not reverse the fate of the "Jingwei" being eventually sunk.

Listening to Fang Minghua's introduction, the two Japanese opened their eyes wide, and even Li Li, who was sitting next to Fang Minghua, looked at him with slightly opened red lips.

What kind of novel is this?

Science fiction is actually connected with the Three Kingdoms?

But think about what is impossible about his "The Legend of Wukong"?

"Sir, what's the name of your novel?" Yamamoto's eyes were full of passion.

"'My Journey is the Sea of ​​Stars', or 'One Billion Light Years'" said Fang Minghua leisurely.

Yamamoto thought for a moment and suddenly spoke a lot of Japanese to Haru Iwagami.

Osamu Iwagami looked surprised, but he still translated it truthfully.

"Mr. Minghua, Mr. Yamamoto said that considering the difficulties you encountered in writing, he is willing to donate a computer to you for you to write, but the premise is that the Japanese translation of your novel must be published by Kodansha, including in the future. If it is possible to change it into an animation work, of course the price can be negotiated later.”

Ouch?

A computer for free?

That's not bad.

Fang Minghua looked at Mr. Yamamoto with a smile on his face and said, "Mr. Yamamoto, you can give me a computer now, but my novel doesn't even have a shadow. Aren't you worried that it will be ruined?"

"How is that possible? You are a famous Chinese writer with first-class writing skills. You have written four science fiction novels with wild imagination. How could it be bad?"

"More importantly, you have a good understanding of the reader market."

"Okay, that's it." Fang Minghua stretched out his right hand.

Yamamoto and Osamu Iwagami left. Fang Minghua looked at their backs, and a strange smile suddenly appeared on his face. This expression was caught by Li Li next to him.

"Minghua, why are you smiling? Your smile is so weird."

"If Yamamoto knew that one of the villains of this novel is Oda Nobunaga, what would they think?" Fang Minghua said leisurely.

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