Reborn in 1977

Chapter 572: Taking a Boat

May 24th, Wednesday, Lunar April 18th, a day auspicious for praying and offering sacrifices, free from all taboos.

At the Qingyun Mountain Cemetery in Yunhu, a dozen people stood in rows in front of Chen Fan's parents' graves. After completing the sacrificial ceremony, they bowed slowly and then left in an orderly manner.

Only Zhou Zhengdong's family and Chen Fan's group of four remained.

The sacrificial customs around Yunhu aren't too strict. Generally speaking, on special days like Qingming Festival and Lunar New Year's Eve, people can come to pay their respects at any time, especially on New Year's Eve, when there are no restrictions even at night.

However, on other ordinary days, if you want to pay respects to deceased relatives, it's best to visit the grave before 3 PM, with the best time being the period when the sun first rises in the morning.

Which is now.

After everyone else had left, Chen Fan uncovered the coarse cloth covering the basket, took out several bundles of paper money and a string of firecrackers, and calmly prepared to do it all over again.

He untied the paper money, scattered it, and piled it into a small mountain in front of the tombstone. He placed the firecrackers around the grave a few times, walked back, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, looked at his somewhat surprised uncle's family, lit it, and said softly, "If I don't burn paper money and set off firecrackers, I feel like I haven't actually come."

Zhou Zhengdong chuckled and shook his head, then turned to look at the tombstone and sighed, "I heard that they've been cracking down on feudal superstitions here. I thought we couldn't burn paper money."

As he spoke, he also took out a cigarette, lit it, and exhaled a puff of smoke. He squatted down and used a lighter to ignite the paper, then turned to wave at his daughter, "Come and burn some paper money for your aunt and uncle."

He himself squatted in front of the grave, whispering something.

Zhou Yali said "Okay," and immediately stepped forward. Seeing that there were still two bundles of paper money in the basket, she took them all out and burned them with her mother.

They had done this in their ancestral home in Chinatown, so they were very familiar with it.

Chen Fan stood behind them and said softly, "Originally, it wasn't allowed before, but since last year, people have been voluntarily visiting graves, and no one cares anymore. It quickly recovered nationwide. Now, burning paper money and setting off firecrackers are both allowed."

That's what he said, but the accompanying personnel from the province certainly couldn't do that, as it didn't align with their identity and beliefs.

This kind of thing could only be done appropriately by his own family members.

That's why Chen Fan waited until they left before taking out these things and using them.

And those who were almost out of the cemetery looked back and saw the paper being burned, they just took it as a hallucination.

The fog is a bit heavy this morning.

Zhou Zhengdong didn't turn his head, but squatted on the ground looking at the tombstone and talking softly. After a while, he stood up, turned around, and said, "Even this has been restored. Now I'm starting to believe that the policies won't revert back."

Chen Fan pursed his lips and remained silent.

After a few seconds, Zhou Zhengdong said to him, "Xiaofan, come to America with us."

Zhou Yali also immediately turned her head, grinned, and said, "Little brother, although you're doing well here, it's still far behind New York. If you go to America, you can live with us. It's a house with multiple floors, electric lights, telephones, and a full set of home appliances…"

Chen Fan raised his eyebrows slightly and shook his head with a smile, "Don't try to tempt me. I can withstand this temptation."

Zhou Zhengdong frowned slightly, "You're not willing?"

Chen Fan shrugged and smiled, "I'm doing pretty well now. Although I can't say I'm living in luxury, I'm free from worries about food and clothing, and I won't be bullied no matter where I go."

He looked at Zhou Yali with a deliberately mischievous smile, "That's impossible in America, right?"

Zhou Yali was immediately speechless.

She couldn't deceive herself.

Zhou Zhengdong looked at his laughing nephew and could only sigh regretfully, saying softly, "According to your grandfather's will and the Zhou family's rules, ten percent of the Zhou family's current assets belong to your mother, and now naturally, you will inherit them."

Hearing this, Chen Fan immediately raised his hand to interrupt, "Thank you for your kindness, Uncle, but no need. I don't lack money. And…"

As he spoke, he spread his hands, "Here, at least for now, too much money isn't a good thing, but a bad thing. Please keep that portion of the family property in the Zhou family."

Zhou Zhengdong looked at him helplessly, "Do you know how much that ten percent of the family property is worth?"

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds, then raised his head and smiled, "Is it worth more than what I designed?"

After his daughter, Zhou Zhengdong was also speechless.

Just last year, a movie called 'Star Wars' swept the globe, grossing $775 million at the box office, shocking the world.

This was $775 million in 1977! In that year, China's foreign exchange reserves were only $952 million, which was terrifying!

In Zhou Zhengdong's view, as long as Chen Fan didn't mess up, and based on the Western fantasy setting he designed yesterday, there was a more than 90% chance that he could write a novel of above-average quality that would be a bestseller in Europe and America, and even the whole world.

Today, the average price of a novel in the United States is around $5.

(Steve Jobs mentioned 'The Whole Earth Epilog' in his speech, and the cover stated that it was the first edition printed in September 1974, priced at $4. Another slightly thicker one was priced at $5, making a set of two).

At this time, the basic payment for American writers was $1 per word... This was also the income standard for magazine contributors, one dollar per word. It wasn't until 1984, when Tina became the editor of 'Vanity Fair', that she raised this standard to $2 per word.

As for now, referring to this standard, if it's a 300,000-word novel, the basic payment would be $300,000.

And this is just small money.

The real money comes from royalties.

American royalties are indeed ridiculously high. If it's a new writer, the royalty split is between 7.5% and 15%, and well-known writers can negotiate further.

In addition, they also set different royalties based on different print versions, such as hardcover editions, which are generally 15%, which seems reasonable.

But if it's a paperback, a book club exclusive, or a reprint, the royalties can continue to increase.

For these types of books, the highest royalty in later generations even reached 50%, which means that for whatever price a book is set, half of it must first be given to the writer.

That's why there are so many billionaire writers in America.

And these were all negotiated by the "American Writers Association" with publishers.

Comparing this with our Writers Association, Chen Fan wanted to cry.

Looking at his Western fantasy novel, which is still just an idea, since it has the potential to be a bestseller, and it's his own publishing house, giving a 20% royalty isn't too much, right?!

Based on $5 per book, he would get $1 for every book sold. If it's split into two volumes like Yunhu Love, it would be $2.

And the minimum standard for a bestseller in the United States is 100,000 copies for the hardcover edition and 300,000 copies for the paperback edition.

Referring to an example, 'The Godfather' sold 21 million copies. As the first Western fantasy novel in history, could it be lower than that?

Just this alone would earn him more than $40 million in royalties.

And that's not all.

Adapting a bestseller into a movie has a share; adapting it into a game also has a share… Moreover, this adaptation has a time limit, generally 5 years, or even shorter.

You can choose to buy it out in one go or take a share.

It can be sold again after it expires.

It's endless.

And how much is the Zhou family's wealth?

It's less than $100 million.

Zhou Zhengdong suspected that if he hadn't been holding this book in his hands, Chen Fan would have been able to accumulate more wealth than the entire Zhou family in a short period of time with just one book!

So, faced with Chen Fan's question, he could only remain silent.

After a two-second pause, Zhou Zhengdong sighed and said, "Xiaofan, the things you've envisioned are indeed a great treasure, but they haven't been realized yet, right?

Also, this isn't a matter of how much money there is, but rather a rule set down by your grandfather for the Zhou family: sons inherit the family business, but daughters must also have a dowry when they marry.

This is your mother's inheritance; you can't refuse it."

Zhao Wanru stood up and came over to persuade him, "In any case, you should inherit your mother's inheritance. If you're worried about trouble, there's no need. We can handle it in the United States, separate your share, let your cousin hold it on your behalf, and then transfer it to you when the time is right, so it definitely won't cause you any trouble."

Chen Fan chuckled and turned to look at Zhou Yali, "Then let my cousin hold it on my behalf."

Anyway, he wasn't planning to take this wealth. Letting Zhou Yali hold it was no different from it being in the Zhou family's own hands.

When Zhou Yali heard his words, she jumped up and grabbed his arm, laughing, "Daddy, Mommy, Xiaofan called me 'sister'!".

The expressions of Chen Fan and the others instantly darkened.

Zhou Zhengdong reached out and flicked her forehead, saying with a dark face, "Can't you see where we are?".

Zhou Yali stuck out her tongue and immediately shrank her neck to continue burning paper.

Before long, after all the yellow paper was burned, Chen Fan took a handful of incense from the basket.

Speaking of this incense, one has to admire the resilience of the folk economy. This thing had disappeared for more than ten years, but not long after the resumption of tomb sweeping last year, incense makers secretly started workshops at home again.

The same goes for making yellow paper. Everyone is a fellow villager, so there's no need for advertising. It can spread throughout the surrounding villages almost overnight, so the custom of burning paper and incense can successfully return.

Each person took three incense sticks, inserted them into the soil in front of the tombstone, and bowed again before the Zhou family left, turning their heads three times with each step.

Chen Fan lagged behind. After they had walked far away, he took out a cigarette, lit it, walked to the grave, and lit the firecrackers he had just laid out.

Amidst the crackling sounds, Chen Fan looked at the three people who had stopped to wait for him and quickened his pace to walk over.

......

After staying in the district committee for three days, Zhou Zhengdong also went to the cemetery three times. It wasn't until Zhao Wanru persuaded him that they still had to go to his old home in the Northeast to see, that he agreed to head to the next stop.

May 27th, Saturday.

The morning river breeze felt quite pleasant.

Zhou Yali stood by the river, stretched out her arms with force, and shouted happily, "The Yangtze River is so big!".

Chen Fan spat out a mouthful of soy milk and coughed a few times.

Zhou Zhengdong and Zhao Wanru both raised their hands to cover their faces, feeling too embarrassed to be seen.

Section Chief Lu, who had come to accompany them, walked up to Chen Fan, offering him a cigarette before even speaking, smiling amiably, "Director Chen, with so many cars, can the cargo ships from Lujiawan really load them all?".

Chen Fan was also very polite to this Section Chief Lu.

He was also from the provincial propaganda department, a colleague of Section Chief Zhao who had come last time. He heard that the two had a good relationship, but Section Chief Zhao was mainly responsible for connecting with Asia and Africa, while this Section Chief Lu was responsible for connecting with Europe and America, so he was responsible for accompanying his uncle throughout this trip.

And his rank was also higher than Section Chief Zhao, being a full section chief. This also reflected the province's greater emphasis on Zhou Zhengdong.

Chen Fan took the cigarette, leaned towards the lighter that Section Chief Lu offered, lit it, and smiled, "Please rest assured, the cargo ships coming to pick us up today, in addition to the large wooden boats from Lujiawan, Nanhugongshe also transferred two iron-hulled ships from the water transport company, ensuring that all these cars can be loaded."

Section Chief Lu laughed and nodded, "That's good, that's good."

To be honest, he was really a little scared in his heart.

Originally, according to the itinerary, they should have crossed the Yangtze River at the ferry, first to Gufeng County, and then taken the land route to Nanhugongshe.

That was the route that Takahasih Hidefu and the others took last time.

Although they had to cross two rivers in the middle, it was still much more reassuring than floating on the water for more than an hour.

It wasn't that he was afraid of water. As a city dweller, he had been soaking in water since he was a child, so there was no reason to be afraid of water.

It was just that when he heard Chen Fan say that Lujiawan was going to send ships to pick them up, he started to feel uneasy.

He knew Lujiawan. There were three wooden boats running water transport, and those three boats were used to transport goods every day. One of them was even pieced together from small sampans, and he didn't know when it would fall apart.

Okay, although that boat usually only runs near the village and hasn't run far, the other two wooden boats are also not reassuring.

It wasn't until he heard Chen Fan say that he had transferred two iron-hulled ships from the water transport company that he put his hanging heart back in his stomach.

Before he could finish smoking a cigarette, Chen Fan saw three ships coming from downstream, so he threw away the cigarette butt, "The ships are here, get ready to board."

A dozen minutes later, the three ships docked one after another.

The people on the two iron-hulled ships were also familiar, and the captain was the old master who had helped Lujiawan train helmsmen before.

The old drivers carefully drove the cars onto the gangway, while Chen Fan jumped back and forth on the three ships, distributing cigarettes and greeting people he knew and didn't know.

After a round of greetings, he waved to Zhang Wenliang, who had been waiting for a long time, "What are you looking at? Come over and lend a hand."

Zhang Wenliang's face darkened as he beckoned a few militiamen sailors to come over, "Move the things from the car up."

He was talking about Chen Fan's small jeep. He was too lazy to drive this car back, so he left it on the dock.

Then Zhang Wenliang leaned up to Chen Fan and said secretly, "Your relatives are here today, so I'm giving you face. A meal!".

Chen Fan frowned slightly, "When did you become so petty? Not generous."

Zhang Wenliang was so angry that he almost rolled up his sleeves, "Hey, then you can order me around, and you're not allowed to be angry."

Chen Fan frowned even tighter, "You're being petty, is that what you call ordering me around? No vision."

Zhang Wenliang's face fell, and after a moment of contemplation, "Xingxiu is right, I shouldn't reason with you, it's better to just take action directly."

Chen Fan shrugged and gently bumped his shoulder, "But, Third Brother, you're even worse at taking action."

Zhang Wenliang was immediately speechless, almost suffocating a mouthful of old blood.

Watching the militiamen move the luggage from the car onto the big ship, Zhou Yali carefully stepped onto the gangway and shouted loudly, "Brother, are we taking this ship?".

Chen Fan immediately walked down the gangway, "Either is fine."

Then he pointed to a small yacht covered with tarpaulin next to him, "There are big ships and small ships. Big ships are stable, small ships are fast. It depends on which one you want to take."