Literary Master 1978

After receiving Lin Chaoyang's call, Li Shifei was overjoyed and rushed to Yanjing.

It had been nearly a year and a half since Lin Chaoyang finished his last novel. If it were another writer, writing a novel in a year and a half would be extremely efficient.

But Lin Chaoyang was different. For a writer who finished "Crossing Guandong" in less than a year, this was simply a snail's pace, a waste of artistic life, and a great crime.

However, Li Shifei only complained about this in private. When he saw Lin Chaoyang, he changed his face again.

"Oh, Chaoyang, your efficiency is really extraordinary. It only took you a short time to finish the novel."

Li Shifei held the manuscript, his tone was so eager, and his expression was so sincere.

After the two talked about the creation of the novel for a while, Lin Chaoyang asked Li Shifei to stay in the West Courtyard first and talk about it after reading the manuscript.

During lunch and casual conversation, Li Shifei asked Lin Chaoyang: "Are you familiar with Lu Yao?"

Because of the cultural salons held all year round, although he rarely takes the initiative to socialize, Lin Chaoyang has always been very popular in the literary world.

"Not bad. We occasionally write letters, but we haven't contacted each other this year. What's wrong?"

Li Shifei sighed and said: "Old Xie from our agency brought back a long novel from Xi'an, which was written by Lu Yao. I haven't thought about it yet. I'm a little unsure about his novel."

The old Xie he mentioned is Xie Wangxin, the deputy editor-in-chief of "Huacheng". Some time ago, he was recommended by critic Li Bingyin to Xi'an to take back Lu Yao's new manuscript.

"That novel... Lu Yao seems to have invested all his energy in it in the past few years." Lin Chaoyang said.

The last time Lin Chaoyang contacted Lu Yao was last year. Lu Yao wrote to him that time, mainly to share the joy of being appointed as a member of Group D of Shaanxi Literary Association.

The letter also mentioned the novel he was preparing to write. Because it was a large-scale novel, he had been preparing for the past two years, reading, collecting information, and experiencing life...

The novel he was writing was the "Ordinary World" that made Lu Yao famous in the future.

Seeing that Lin Chaoyang seemed to know something about the novel, Li Shifei hurriedly asked, "What do you think of the novel?"

"I only learned about the general story in the letter, and I haven't read the specific content of the novel. What's good about it?

You have read the novel, right? You should be able to judge whether it is good or not, right?"

Li Shifei hesitated, "The novel... purely in terms of content, it is well written. It has its advantages and disadvantages. You haven't read it, so I can't explain it clearly. Now there are mainly a few problems."

"What are the problems?"

"First, Lu Yao's writing style of this novel is a bit outdated. This is not the evaluation of one person, but most people who have read it have such an evaluation;

Second, this novel was rejected by Contemporary and Writers Publishing House for the reason just now.

Third, his novel has three parts, and only the first part has been completed. It is said that it may take up to one million words.

This is one million words! Such a grand project..."

When Li Shifei said this, the worry on his face was beyond words.

Lu Yao's novel was only one-third completed, and no one could predict how his last two parts would look like.

If Huacheng wants to publish this novel, it will inevitably take certain risks.

Huacheng dared to publish "Chuang Guandong" in two issues because Lin Chaoyang gave the editorial department the entire manuscript.

Moreover, Lin Chaoyang has accumulated rich experience in writing novels over the years.

Lu Yao is different. Before this new novel, the longest work he created was only "Life" with 130,000 words.

The difficulty of jumping from 130,000 words to one million words at once can be said to have increased exponentially.

For writers, this is a huge test, and Li Shifei and others are understandably worried.

"Of the three points you mentioned, the first two are not important. What does outdated mean?

In the past two years, various foreign literary trends and expression methods have been overwhelming, dazzling and overwhelming.

Everyone is afraid that they are not cutting-edge or fashionable enough, and will be called old-fashioned and outdated.

But the problem is, how many of the new trends that so many people pursue can be retained? I think this needs to be questioned.

Let's talk about Lu Yao's creative style. He is a typical realistic creative method.

Although I don't completely agree that this method and route occupy the mainstream in our literary world, I think it is also extremely undesirable to deny this creative method because it is not fashionable enough.

If you simply reject manuscripts based on the words of "rustic", "outdated" and "old-fashioned" in form, instead of starting from the most fundamental content, you may miss many excellent works."

Lin Chaoyang's tone was very serious when he said this, but it was not a criticism or condemnation. Li Shifei also understood that he had been advocating "root-seeking literature" in recent years and did not believe in those things of Western modernism.

Moreover, his creative style has always been varied and flexible, never sticking to one form, so it often gives people a shocking surprise.

Li Shifei could also hear from Lin Chaoyang's words that he admired Lu Yao.

"What about the third point?" Li Shifei asked.

Lin Chaoyang spread his hands, "There is no way around this. If you want to publish, you have to trust the writer. Without trust, nothing you say will work."

Li Shifei said dissatisfiedly, "You are just speaking for Lu Yao!"

"Isn't that nonsense? He is a writer, and I am also a writer. We are both the workhorses of the publishing house, so we are naturally on the same front."

Li Shifei laughed dumbly.

After lunch, Li Shifei stopped chatting with Lin Chaoyang and ran back to the West Courtyard to review the manuscript.

Tao Yushu went to the Telegraph Building to make a phone call in the morning and came back in the afternoon. This was her habit after returning to Yanjing. She would call Tao Yumo every week to learn about the company and the crew.

A few days after the couple left, "A Better Tomorrow" was released in Hong Kong, and the final box office was fixed at 36.92 million Hong Kong dollars, more than 2 million Hong Kong dollars more than in later generations.

Other foreign markets are still hotly showing, and the performance in the countries and regions where it is currently showing is very good. Xinyicheng estimates that the foreign revenue of this movie may set a new record for their company.

Even the overseas revenue of "The Truman Show" is likely to be no match for "A Better Tomorrow".

Tao Yumo also mentioned that Tsui Hark went to the company more than a week ago and wanted to talk to Lin Chaoyang again. It seems that he is still not giving up and wants Lin Chaoyang to continue writing the script of "A Better Tomorrow 2".

The more successful "A Better Tomorrow" is, the greedier he and Xinyicheng are. The greedier they are, the more they will worry about gains and losses.

They want to achieve or even surpass the level and income of the first film, but they don't want to damage their reputation.

"I told Yumo not to pay attention to them. Your feathers are much more valuable than those estimated box office, and Xinyicheng can't give most of the income to us."

Lin Chaoyang nodded in agreement with Tao Yushu's words, and asked: "What else did you say?"

"The Romance of the Condor Heroes will be finished in a dozen days. I have to go back in the later stage to discuss the theater chain with Golden Harvest.

They will definitely leave the Christmas and New Year schedules for their own major dramas. I have to strive for a better schedule."

"You can contact Yindu when you go back. It should be easy for us to go to Shuangnan Line , Shaw Brothers can also try to contact as many as possible. "

"Okay." Tao Yushu responded, and then said: "There is another big event in Hong Kong recently."

"What is it?"

"The United Exchange has officially opened. A banquet was held at the Hung Hom Stadium. The presidents of major international stock exchanges were invited to celebrate. All the wealthy and famous people in Hong Kong went there. The celebration was broadcast live to London by satellite."

Tao Yushu is now in the ups and downs of the business world and pays close attention to financial information. In her words, maybe Lam Pictures will also go public in the future.

Before 1986, there were four stock exchanges in Hong Kong, namely the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Far East Exchange, the Gold and Silver Exchange and the Kowloon Stock Exchange.

The four stock exchanges were established successively after World War II. The advantage is that they promoted the localization of securities trading, broadened the channels for Hong Kong local enterprises to go public and raise funds, and attracted active investors to enter the market.

But the disadvantages are also obvious. The four exchanges coexist and fight each other. In addition, the securities regulations are not sound and the supervision is weak, which has formed unhealthy competition.

Over the years, a large number of companies have been listed in the Hong Kong securities market. Many problems such as being established and listed in the same year, falsifying accounts, falsely reporting assets, insider trading, and different suspension times have caused frequent market chaos.

This chaos was also one of the reasons for the Hong Kong stock market crash in 1973. After the stock market crash, the government proposed the idea of ​​merging the four exchanges.

After more than ten years of efforts, the four stock exchanges finally merged into the Hong Kong United Exchange, and the opening ceremony was held on October 6 this year.

Listening to Tao Yushu's words, Lin Chaoyang chuckled and said, "That Principal Li is really..."

Lin Chaoyang did not say the four words "ambitious".

"Principal Li" is Li Fuzhao, the chairman of the United Exchange after the merger of the four Hong Kong exchanges.

Li Fuzhao was born in the Li family, one of the four major families in Hong Kong. He is the youngest son of his father Li Guanchun. He has shown outstanding financial talent since he was a child.

In 1969, he took the lead in establishing the Far East Stock Exchange, breaking the monopoly of the Hong Kong securities market by foreign brokers.

His personal wealth has also risen over the years, reaching HK$700 million to HK$800 million, ranking among the top ten richest people in Hong Kong.

If the family wealth behind him is taken into account, it will be even more terrifying.

Hong Kong people have always been willing to pry into the privacy of the rich and famous, and everyone knows that Li Fuzhao is a flamboyant person.

The establishment of the United Exchange brought Li Fuzhao to the peak of his life, and he was now in high spirits and full of confidence.

"…It's a good thing after all. At least it's a little harder for those black-hearted capitalists to cut the leeks of the common people than before."

"I don't think so. The United Exchange has made such a big noise. I don't know how many common people will rush in with their savings accumulated over the years. The more people go in, the easier it will be for them to cut.

You haven't been cut, it's just that the sickle hasn't been swung over your head yet."

Lin Chaoyang joked: "Mr. Tao's understanding of the securities market is getting deeper and deeper. Since it is said that it is a place to cut leeks, why do you still say you want to go public?"

"We are not raising money to cut leeks. If the company really wants to develop in the future, financing is also an indispensable step."

The couple chatted for a while, and Tao Yushu set a date to return to Hong Kong.

Two days later, Li Shifei appeared in front of Lin Chaoyang again, with red eyes, fluffy and messy hair, unkempt, but extremely excited.

"Chaoyang, I've finished reading the novel!"

As soon as he saw Lin Chaoyang, Li Shifei almost shouted this sentence, as if he was full of pent-up enthusiasm.

"How does it feel?"

"good!!!"

Lin Chaoyang waited for a long time, and Li Shifei uttered one word excitedly.

"Finished?"

"Of course it's not over yet. I just need to sort out my thoughts."

Li Shifei pulled Lin Chaoyang to sit down and asked seriously: "Chaoyang, I think this novel is somewhat similar to "The Truman Show"?"

"Your feeling is correct, we do have something in common."

Hearing this, Li Shifei's eyes lit up.

“To put it more broadly, the core of these two novels is actually criticizing the cruelty of capitalism.

The difference is that "The Truman Show" uses absurdity as decoration and the pursuit of freedom as a cloak, while this novel faces the bloody reality head-on. "

Li Shifei nodded frequently listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, "Well said! This novel of yours is indeed cruel. The cruelty between the lines makes people feel like they are drilling into the seams of your bones. And..."

Li Shifei stroked the manuscript in his hand with admiration, and his eyes fell on the title of the book.

"Just reading the first half, I thought the title of your book fell on Lao Jin's family. After reading the latter part, I realized that it is actually the chairman's family, or the bourgeoisie.

Judging from the title of the book, the turning point in the later stages is really shocking. "

After he finished speaking, he looked up at Lin Chaoyang and said with emotion: "It seems that living in Xiangjiang has indeed given you a lot of different experiences and creative materials. Although the content of this novel is similar to "The Truman Show" , but the style is unique, dark and cruel, completely different from your previous style.”

Li Shifei attributed the change in style of the new novel to the life in Xiangjiang, and Lin Chaoyang had to admit that literati can make up their minds.

"...The style of your novel is so unique that it makes people feel too depressing after reading it. "The Truman Show" is like a sugar-coated pill. You can only feel it after eating it and chewing it repeatedly. of suffering.

But this was downright cruel, and when I think about it now, I feel unspeakably depressing..."

Li Shifei elaborated on his views on Lin Chaoyang's new work in an organized manner. The word "cruel" was mentioned repeatedly, proving that he had indeed seen through the core of this novel.

"I can't comment on the ultimate success of your novel, but I think it can withstand the test of time."

At the end of his speech, Li Shifei's tone was solemn.

In the context of literary circles, "being able to withstand the test of time" is a very high evaluation. What kind of works can withstand the test of time?

Undoubtedly those classics.

Comparing Lin Chaoyang's new work with classic masterpieces, isn't this evaluation high enough?

"Exaggerated, exaggerated!" Lin Chaoyang waved his hand.

Li Shifei smiled lightly and said, "I don't have time to flatter you. This is my truest feeling. After all, I have been an editor for more than 30 years, so I still have this perspective."

Lin Chaoyang asked jokingly: "Then why can't you read Lu Yao's book well?"

"You have the nerve to say that. You said that the techniques of expression are not important, but each of your novels is more beautiful than the last!

I think it's good after reading it, but can I still say it's not good against my conscience? "

Lin Chaoyang was speechless. Is my novel good or is it my fault?

Li Shifei added: "Your novel has many advantages, and it cannot be said that there are no shortcomings, but they are very few. But Lu Yao's novel is different. Its advantages and disadvantages are very obvious, so everyone is not optimistic about it."

"Then think about it from another perspective. Real readers only look at the advantages of novels. Who looks at the shortcomings? Only critics who love to find faults will look at the shortcomings."

Li Shifei was unexpectedly stunned by Lin Chaoyang's tricky angle. He sat there and thought for a while, and felt that it seemed to make sense.

"The Ordinary World" has its shortcomings. The writing techniques are old-fashioned and outdated, and the narrative is long-winded. From time to time, the author has to include a long paragraph of discussion from God's perspective.

If you can't bear it, you will be defeated in a short time.

The editors of "Contemporary" and Writers Press abandoned the novel under such circumstances.

But Xie Wangxin vaccinated Li Shifei after picking up the manuscript, so he gave "The Ordinary World" a lot of patience.

After reading it, I did find that this novel is not that bad, and is even excellent.

His current hesitation is largely due to the shortcomings of "The Ordinary World". It would be great if those shortcomings could be corrected!

But Li Shifei is an old editor, and he also understands that some novels can be revised, and some novels cannot.

The content of "The Ordinary World" is a whole, and it is also the embodiment of Lu Yao's personal thoughts and will.

Even a few chapter and paragraph changes cannot eliminate its shortcomings, but may even make its advantages mediocre.

After thinking for a moment, Li Shifei stopped worrying about "The Ordinary World" and asked Lin Chaoyang for his opinion.

"Chaoyang, do you want to publish your novel in our "Flower City" first..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Lin Chaoyang shaking his head, and he immediately added: "We can give you a generous remuneration for a thousand words."

"How generous?"

Although he had made up his mind not to publish it in the magazine, Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but ask.

"How about two hundred yuan for a thousand words?" Li Shifei quoted a price and stared at Lin Chaoyang with burning eyes.

Two hundred yuan for a thousand words?

Lin Chaoyang's new work has 300,000 words, and the price is 200 yuan per thousand words, which is 60,000 yuan. This price is indeed quite sincere.

Nowadays, most writers can get 3,000 to 5,000 yuan for publishing a novel, which is already very good.

"Not very good."

"Think about it again. In fact, magazine publication can also help the influence of the novel ferment and help the subsequent sales to a certain extent."

Li Shifei's words cannot be said to be completely unreasonable, but that is for writers who are not famous.

At this stage of Lin Chaoyang, regardless of whether there is a blessing from magazine publication, there is no need to worry about lack of readers.

"I said before that novels will not be published in magazines in the future, so don't waste your time."

Lin Chaoyang's decisive refusal made Li Shifei's face full of disappointment. He wanted the first release rights of Lin Chaoyang's new work just to help "Huacheng" increase sales and influence.

He now misses the time when "Duzhou Ji" and "Chuang Guandong" were published in "Huacheng". He was so happy, but it was a pity that this happiness was too short.

Li Shifei could only comfort himself that even if the magazine could not publish, at least it was published by Huacheng Publishing House.

He added, "When it is published, I plan to organize a work seminar with several review magazines."

"It's up to you. I may not be there."

"I'll notify you in advance. You can arrange your time. You should come as much as possible. After all, it's your novel.

How can you hold a work seminar without the writer? You are not gone."

"Pssst! You curse me if I don't participate, right?"

Li Shifei was merciless and forced Lin Chaoyang to agree. The next day, Li Shifei returned to Guangzhou with the manuscript.

On the second Saturday of October, "The Truman Show" finally landed in cinemas in various cities in China nearly five months after winning awards overseas.

On Sunday, Tao Yucheng first arranged for the whole family to go to the Capital Cinema to watch a movie.

Since "The Truman Show" won the award at Cannes, he always boasted about this movie when chatting with his colleagues.

There is no way, who let this movie that won a big award abroad be written by his brother-in-law, he is proud!

After watching the movie, the family ate Sichuan cuisine at Sichuan Restaurant.

During the meal, Tao Yucheng talked about the release of "The Truman Show" with some regret in his words.

"It would be better if your movie was released earlier. Now many video halls already have video tapes, which means a large number of viewers have been lost."

Tao Yushu is now making movies and is very sensitive to piracy. He couldn't help asking his elder brother a few more questions.

Tao Yucheng's video hall business is not as popular as the first year of opening, but it is still profitable. This money comes easily, and he is too lazy to try new ways.

Now there are few video halls on the street that show domestic movies. Most of them are Hong Kong movies, with a small number of Japanese, European and American movies.

Sometimes, those foreign movies don't even have dubbing and subtitles, and the video hall will specially make a small blackboard to write the content summary.

The dialogue is all guessed, and even so, those audiences still watch with relish.

Movie piracy in 1986 was not as rampant as in the 1990s, but nearly five months was enough time for pirated videotapes of "The Truman Show" to reach the mainland.

Starting from August and September, pirated videotapes of "The Truman Show" appeared in video halls on Yanjing Street.

Listening to Tao Yucheng's words, Tao Yushu was a little worried, but Lin Chaoyang was not worried.

First, the box office of the movie had nothing to do with him, and second, it was not the 1990s, and the movie ticket prices were high, forcing ordinary people to watch pirated copies.

The ticket prices of video halls and cinemas were similar, but they took a differentiated path.

Cinemas mainly showed domestic films and foreign imported films, while video halls mainly showed Hong Kong films. Everyone lived in peace and harmony.

"But it's nothing. I saw that there were still so many people watching this movie in the cinema. After all, it won a big award." Tao Yucheng said.

Tao Yushu recalled the crowded audience in the cinema and felt that he was a little worried.

Two days later, Tao Yushu returned to Hong Kong to inspect the quality of "The Romance of the Condor Heroes" and arrange for its release. Lin Chaoyang stayed to enjoy the short-lived autumn in Beijing.

As soon as Tao Yushu left, Du Feng ran over.

As soon as they met, Lin Chaoyang almost didn't recognize him.

"Did you eat yeast?"

"Brother-in-law, I just drank with people."

"Take it easy, money is not earned in one day. How much weight have you gained?"

"More than 20 pounds."

When Du Feng was in the army, he was a cultural soldier. Although he played the trumpet, he maintained a good figure.

After retiring for a few years, he has become much stronger. After not seeing him for a few months this year, he looked like a balloon, and he has gained a lot of weight.

He is less than 1.75 meters tall, and it is estimated that he weighs at least 170 or 180 pounds.

"Well, the weather in Yanjing is good recently, so I invited the merchants from Guangzhou to travel to Yanjing and drink with them every day."

Du Feng's words seemed to be complaining, but in fact he was showing off.

"It seems that business has been good in the past few months?" Lin Chaoyang asked easily.

When it comes to business, Du Feng can't stop smiling.

"Not bad, not bad, steady and rising. Now the reputation in Yanjing City is open. When ordinary people talk about buying clothes, the first thing they think of is our Asia-Europe Clothing City."

The business of the clothing city is good. In addition to making money, what makes Du Feng proud is the reputation of the clothing city among ordinary people.

In the past few months, he stood very straight in front of his father.

Doing business, what's wrong with doing business? Which ordinary people in Yanjing don't praise our conscientious merchants?

"In the first two months, the daily turnover has exceeded 50,000 yuan. It's almost winter recently, and the seasonal winter clothes are selling well, and the unit price is also high. The daily sales are heading for 70,000 yuan. I estimate that this wave can last until the end of the year..."

Du Feng was doing the calculations for Lin Chaoyang, and he became excited.

It has been exactly half a year since the opening of the clothing city, and the cumulative turnover has exceeded the 9 million mark.

The next is a long winter, the unit price of clothing is high, and the reputation of the clothing city has also risen. The turnover will only be higher than the first half of the year, not lower than the first half of the year, and the annual turnover is definitely expected to exceed 20 million yuan.

This figure not only easily meets the turnover requirements and profit and tax standards of Xidan Shopping Mall for the clothing city, but will also bring Du Feng more profits than expected.

"6 million! Brother-in-law, I conservatively estimate that we can make at least 6 million yuan by the beginning of next spring!"

Du Feng was like a child who had just received a certificate of honor and asked for praise, so Lin Chaoyang had to praise him a few words.

"Well done! The business of the clothing city is so good in the first year, you have a good management.

If it continues to develop at this rate, the profit in two years should be over 10 million yuan."

Du Feng was even more excited after receiving Lin Chaoyang's praise.

"I feel there will be hope next year. Brother-in-law, if the business is still so good in the first half of next year, I plan to open the clothing city in Shijiazhuang."

"You decide on this matter yourself."

Although Lin Chaoyang and his wife invested money in the clothing city business, they were just hands-off managers and didn't want to worry about these things.

Du Feng said again: "Brother-in-law, I have another idea."