Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 656: Wang Er's Romantic History

"So you plan to set up a joint venture with a state-owned publishing house?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Yes! Last week, I met with Liang Xiangfeng, president of the Electronic Industry Press, through the introduction of a friend. We discussed the possibility of both parties investing in a joint venture to jointly publish advanced foreign computer books. He was also very interested in this and was willing to continue negotiations on this issue."

At this point, Sun Lizhe paused and said, "Minghua, you are also a shareholder of the company. It is natural to ask for your opinion on such a large project, so I called you and asked you to come to Yanjing to discuss it together."

"I have no objection." Fang Minghua said with a smile: "I said that I am just investing and not asking about the specific operations. Besides, your project is not bad."

"That's settled then! I will go talk to President Liang in a couple of days to discuss the details and finalize this project as soon as possible," said Sun Lizhe.

Sun Lizhe is not the first person to jointly invest with state-owned publishing companies to establish a new publishing company.

Both parties jointly invest and register the book under the name of a state-owned publishing house. In this way, they can use the book number of the state-owned publishing house in a legitimate way and avoid certain policy risks.

However, in order not to violate relevant state regulations, the state-owned publishing houses must hold at least 51% of the shares in the new joint venture! In other words, the state-owned publishing houses must hold the majority stake.

This model of state-owned publishing houses holding controlling stakes and private enterprises operating the business also faces some problems, such as severe constraints of the state-owned management system, the inability to align the financial accounting of both parties, difficulty in asset valuation, and conflicts between management and shareholders.

There are pros and cons, it all depends on how you look at it.

However, Fang Minghua still likes the current model of Shengshi Books. Although buying book numbers is a bit troublesome and there are certain policy risks, it is free and there are no "mother-in-laws" above it.

Of course, Sun Lizhe must have his reasons for being willing to do this.

After staying at Sun Lizhe's house for a while, the two went out together to meet Shi Tiesheng.

Shi Tiesheng still lived on Lama Temple Street. When they arrived, they saw that there was almost no change in the courtyard, and there was still a low kitchen built in the courtyard.

Shi Tiesheng was the only one at home. When he saw the two people coming, a smile appeared on his face. He sat in his wheelchair and was busy pouring tea for them. Fang Minghua and the others did not stop him.

Although Shi Tiesheng still lives in the old house of 70 square meters, the furnishings inside have changed a lot compared to the previous two years. The furniture is all new. There is a brand new color TV on the high and low cabinets, and a refrigerator next to it.

Just two years ago, Shi Tiesheng's essay "I and the Altar of Earth" won the first World Chinese Literature Award, with a prize of 100,000 yuan.

With the 100,000 yuan, life became much more affluent, so he bought some household appliances, making his life more affluent.

Seven years ago, with the financial support of Fang Minghua, Shi Tiesheng went to the hospital for treatment in time and curbed the malignant development of nephritis. Although he still needs to take medicine every day and go to the hospital for check-ups every once in a while, his condition is finally under control and has not developed into uremia.

However, friends who have a close relationship with Shi Tiesheng never talk about his illness in front of him and treat him as a normal person, just like how the two of them just watched him pushing his wheelchair and making tea without offering to help.

In Shi Tiesheng's words: "I can do things that I am capable of doing, so that I feel that I am not a useless person."

The three of them chatted about literature for a while. Shi Tiesheng was very happy because his collection of essays, "I and the Altar of Earth", was published by Shengshi Books.

This collection of essays includes his outstanding essays that he has ever published, including "My Distant Qingping Bay", "Grandma's Stars", "Me and the Altar of Earth", "When I Was Twenty-One", "Autumn Memories", etc., which are published as a special selection of essays in the "Rag Tiger Series".

This is the third collection of essays in the "Rag Tiger Series - Selected Essays" launched by Shengshi Books, after Fang Minghua's "Fragments of Civilization" and Yu Qiuyu's "Cultural Journey". Taking advantage of the momentum of "I and the Altar of Earth" winning the World Literature Award, Shengshi Books launched this collection of essays, which sold very well in the market, which of course also brought Shi Tiesheng a considerable amount of income.

As they were chatting, footsteps were heard outside the door. It turned out to be Shi Tiesheng's wife Chen Ximi who came back from get off work.

Now Chen Ximi is no longer a teacher. She has been transferred to Hua Xia Publishing House as an editor. The work is relatively easy. She does not have to correct homework when she comes home, so she has more time to take care of her husband.

Seeing Fang Minghua and Sun Lijian coming, Chen Ximi greeted them warmly: "Minghua, Lijian, don't leave for a while, stay here for dinner."

"Let me tell you two, noodles made with sago are absolutely amazing, even better than those made by the old Yanjing restaurants!" Shi Tiesheng immediately started praising his wife.

Chen Ximi looked at her husband tenderly and said, "I won't make noodles with soybean paste today. Minghua is here. I'll make the oil-splashed noodles that we old Qin people love the most! I wonder if you are used to it, Lijian?"

Chen Ximi said this and looked at Sun Lijian.

"You forgot that I went to Qinbei with Tiesheng to join the production team. I am used to eating mutton soup, potato chips, and oil-splashed noodles!" Sun Lijian smiled and replied, "I haven't eaten these for many years. Your words have aroused my cravings."

"Then you should eat more today."

Chen Ximi changed her coat and went to the kitchen to mix, knead and roll out the dough. This was not a difficult task for her, a daughter-in-law from Qin Province.

The three men were chatting in the small living room while she was busy in the kitchen alone. An hour later, the fragrant pulled noodles were served.

Everyone was not polite and picked up a bowl and started eating.

"Minghua, how does it taste?" asked Chen Ximi.

"Well, not bad, not bad, Ximi. You haven't lost your cooking skills in these few years since you got married to Yanjing. The oil-splashed noodles are simply amazing! They taste better than those made by my wife." Fang Minghua said.

Several people laughed when they heard it.

Chen Ximi also served himself a bowl. After taking a few bites, he suddenly thought of something: "Minghua, someone recommended a book to our publishing house. We all think it is well written, but the content is a bit sensitive, and the leaders of the publishing house dare not publish it."

"I heard from Tiesheng that you have a good relationship with the boss of Shengshi Book Company. Do you think they dare to publish this book?"

"Oh, what book?" Fang Minghua immediately became interested.

"Wait a minute, I'll get it for you." Chen Ximi put down the bowl and chopsticks and turned into the bedroom. In less than two minutes, he came out and handed a book to Fang Minghua, and explained:
"This was written by a writer from Yanjing. It was published in Hong Kong and we want to publish it in the Mainland."

Fang Minghua said "oh", took the book and took a look, his eyes suddenly widened.

There are a few traditional Chinese characters written on the cover of the book: "The Romantic History of Wang Er"!
There is a line of small words next to it: The fourth in the Fengyue series!

(End of this chapter)