Literary Master 1978

The snow on New Year's Day was not heavy, with a thin layer of snow on the ground, which melted away in the afternoon.

The next day after the holiday, Tao Yushu drove the Crown to work for the first time.

Half a month after buying the car, she also practiced for half a month with Lin Chaoyang's company, and her driving skills have gradually become proficient.

The white Crown appeared downstairs of Building 52, Dongsi 8th Street. It was time to go to work. After Tao Yushu got out of the car, she immediately attracted the attention of her colleagues.

"Hey! Yushu, when did you buy the car?"

"I bought it a few days ago."

Tao Yushu had prepared herself mentally for driving to work, but she was still tired of dealing with the enthusiastic and curious attitudes of her colleagues after meeting them.

In a short while, she and her white Crown were surrounded by colleagues, and everyone asked questions, including some people from the Drama Association who worked in the same building.

If nothing unexpected happens, this white Crown will become the hottest topic in Building 52, Dongsi 8th Street in recent days.

After Tao Yushu finally entered the office, the enthusiasm of her colleagues gradually faded.

After entering the working state, she reviewed the manuscript without distraction until noon. After lunch, she stood at the window and looked out to relieve the fatigue of her eyes.

Then she saw that there were several young men around the white Crown parked downstairs, and everyone seemed to be discussing something with great interest.

"In the future, your Crown will become the iconic item of our editorial department!"

Tao Yushu suddenly heard a voice in her ear. She didn't need to see it to know that it was Wang Fu, the elder sister of the editorial department, who was teasing her. Tao Yushu responded easily.

At this time, other colleagues also came over. In addition to being curious about the car, everyone was more curious about Lin Chaoyang's royalties.

In the second half of this year, the issue of the royalty payment system was a hot topic in the literary world, and Lin Chaoyang was once pushed to the forefront of public opinion.

The heat of public opinion has passed in recent months, but the reading craze set off by "Crossing Guandong" has never passed.

The novel was published and sold well beyond the average literary works, which naturally made Lin Chaoyang the focus of everyone's attention again.

"I heard that the sales of "Crossing Guandong" are heading for 3 million copies. Yushu, is this true?"

"How can it be so exaggerated? It's only more than 2 million copies."

"More than 2 million copies! That's enough. It's only been published for a few months! At this rate, 5 million copies can't be stopped!"

"No wonder you two bought a car. Chaoyang must have received at least 100,000 royalties this time, right?"

When colleagues talked about royalties, Tao Yushu pretended not to hear. Everyone understood her mentality. This kind of thing must not be brought to the table for publicity, but this did not prevent everyone from discussing it with interest.

A group of people counted Lin Chaoyang's royalties on their fingers. Some said he could earn hundreds of thousands, and some said he could earn hundreds of thousands. Because they didn't know the royalty rate, everyone could only guess, and the guessed numbers could be said to be very conservative.

This is understandable. After all, when the payment was based on the payment per thousand words in the past, even if your novel was written with one million words and sold millions of copies, the writer would only get tens of thousands of yuan.

Everyone knows that after the implementation of royalty payment, the writer's income will definitely increase, but no one can say how much it will increase.

To sum it up in a simple sentence: poverty limits imagination.

Tao Yushu laughed in his heart while listening to his colleagues' discussion. What would their expressions be if they knew that Chaoyang got 720,000 yuan in the first royalty settlement?

If calculated based on the royalty income of the entire book, this number would be even more exaggerated. Lin Chaoyang's income is likely to exceed 2 million yuan.

While Tao Yushu was thinking about it, everyone's topic had shifted from "how much royalties can Lin Chaoyang get" to "whether the publishing house should implement the royalty payment system".

Whether the writer gets royalties or thousand-word royalties has nothing to do with the editor.

Similarly, how much royalties or thousand-word royalties the publishing house pays to the writer has nothing to do with the editor.

Anyway, they all get a fixed salary, and at best a little bonus, so after a discussion, more people still support the royalty payment system.

Because everyone understands that the biggest benefit of the royalty payment system is undoubtedly that it can greatly stimulate the creative enthusiasm of writers, which is definitely helpful for the work of editors and also good for publishing houses.

Everyone benefits each other and takes what they need.

"But this matter is definitely not that simple. Now it seems that Chaoyang will definitely continue to get royalties in the future, because his works are always popular. The publishing house is also willing to pay this price.

But it is still not easy for ordinary writers to get royalties." Zhu Wei said.

"Nothing can be achieved overnight, take it slowly, at least it's a good start now. When I communicate with the authors under me, they are all grateful to Chaoyang!" Wang Fu said with a smile.

Everyone couldn't help laughing when they heard it. The implementation of the royalty payment system in China has a hundred benefits and no harm for the majority of writers.

As the initiator, Lin Chaoyang naturally became the object of gratitude of the writers.

In the afternoon, Tao Yushu went to discuss the design cover of the new issue of "Friends of People's Literature" with the book cover designer.

Since its founding in August, Friends of People's Literature has published five issues. As a supplement to People's Literature, this publication belongs to the "rich second generation" who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

However, like those rich second generations, it can certainly enjoy the blessings of the previous generation, but it is also shrouded by the halo of the previous generation.

After the first issue of Friends of People's Literature was launched, it quickly broke through the sales mark of 100,000 copies. In the following issues, the sales of the magazine slowly increased with the passage of time, but the increase made Tao Yushu a little anxious.

If it were a newly established regional literary magazine, this number would be very outstanding.

But Friends of People's Literature is different. It has the four words "People's Literature" on its head, and the sales of each issue of Big Brother are stable at 1.4 to 5 million copies.

Whether it is sales, influence or official status, it is definitely the top spot in the Chinese literary journal industry.

As a supplement, Friends of People's Literature has achieved such results, which is really hard to satisfy people.

As the executive deputy editor-in-chief of the supplement, Tao Yushu was naturally anxious when she saw this situation. In order to improve the sales of the supplement, she also spent a lot of time and energy, but the effect was always unsatisfactory.

Coming out of the binding design room, Tao Yushu met Wang Meng who was about to leave. He was not on duty in the editorial department and would only come when there was something or a meeting.

After a few pleasantries, Wang Meng saw that Tao Yushu had a sad face when he mentioned the sales of the supplement, so he comforted her:

"Yushu, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Although "Friends of People's Literature" bears the signboard of our "People's Literature", it was founded to cooperate with the Correspondence Center for Creation after all.

There are inherent shortcomings and defects in the content of the manuscript. It's good enough that you can do it now. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Listening to Wang Meng's words, Tao Yushu smiled and said nothing.

From the perspective of a leader, a supplement is naturally insignificant, but this publication was founded by Tao Yushu, so the feelings are naturally different.

If possible, she still hopes that "Friends of People's Literature" can achieve greater success.

But at present, it seems that her hope is too slim. A considerable part of the content in the magazine is the lecture notes of the correspondence center and the exercises of amateur authors. The audience of such a publication is destined to be limited.

Oh, if only I could have the final say!

Tao Yushu suddenly had such a thought in his mind, and then laughed at himself. If he wanted to have the final say, he had to be the editor-in-chief at least.

For a publication like "People's Literature", you can't become the editor-in-chief by following the routine and gaining experience.

She put aside the unrealistic thoughts in her mind, returned to the editorial office, packed up her things and went off work.

Before she returned home, Liang Zuo, who hadn't seen her for a long time, suddenly ran to Lin Chaoyang's house. When they chatted, Liang Zuo said that he was getting married at the weekend and invited Lin Chaoyang to attend the wedding when he was free.

"Okay, you're going to get married quietly?" Lin Chaoyang teased with a smile.

Liang Zuo was smiling foolishly, and Lin Chaoyang asked again: "Where is the bride from? What does she do?"

"Her family is from Yanjing, and she works in the Zong J Bureau."

The two chatted for a while, and Liang Zuo had to go to other relatives and friends to inform them of this matter, so he was ready to leave.

Lin Chaoyang sent him out, and Tao Yushu came back. Seeing Tao Yushu getting off the white crown, Liang Zuo's eyes flashed, but he was embarrassed to speak. In the hesitation of his eyes, Lin Chaoyang guessed his thoughts.

"How about I drive this car and follow you to pick up the bride on the weekend?"

Liang Zuo didn't expect Lin Chaoyang to be so considerate. He was happy, and said shyly: "Is this...appropriate?"

"If you think it's not appropriate, forget it." Lin Chaoyang said happily.

"Don't..." Liang Zuo grabbed Lin Chaoyang's arm, his eyes pleading, "Master..."

"You're just doing useless things. Where is the bride's home? What time are you going to pick her up?"

Liang Zuo said happily: "Just come to our house at 7:30."

"Okay, got it."

Two days later, on Sunday morning, Lin Chaoyang drove the Crown to the entrance of Meizha Hutong. When he entered Liang Zuo's house, he found that many guests had come to the house and the yard.

Most of them were Liang Zuo's classmates and friends since childhood. The older people, except for relatives, didn't have time to get up so early to join in the fun, so they just went there to pay their tribute.

Many of the people who came today were classmates from the Chinese Department of Yan University in 1977. Lin Chaoyang greeted everyone one by one.

Liang Zuo wore a black suit today. He was in high spirits because of the happy event, and his eyes were almost invisible.

After sitting at their house for a while, he was about to go to pick up the bride. Liang Zuo was surrounded by everyone and left the yard.

Everyone then realized that there was a white Crown parked at the gate of the courtyard, with red fireworks tied to the car. This is a high-end car, and everyone was amazed.

"Liang Zuo, you are amazing. You quietly got a Crown to pick up the bride. Whose car is it?"

Everyone circled around the car for several times, and after seeing the novelty, they noticed that Lin Chaoyang sat in the main driver's seat.

Everyone realized that this was Lin Chaoyang's car, and naturally they were amazed again.

Originally, everyone rode bicycles to pick up the bride, but Liang Zuo got such a magnificent Crown. Isn't this out of touch with the people!

Everyone complained, but they couldn't delay the important event of picking up the bride.

White Crown led the way out of Cinder Alley, followed by a group of more than 20 bicycles. The vast procession of brides and grooms left Dong'anmen Street and headed north along Beiheyan Street.

The bride's home is in Qianliang Hutong, less than two kilometers away from Cinder Hutong in a straight line, and even if we take a detour, the distance is only three kilometers.

After a while, the wedding reception team arrived at the woman's home.

The bride's name is Wu Lanqing. She is very beautiful. Her parents are both educated people. She is a good match for the Liang family.

After a lot of red tape, Liang Zuo picked up the bride. After getting in the car, he knew about Shale and did not know how to introduce the situation to Wu Lanqing.

It was Wu Lanqing who took the initiative to ask: "Why did you find a car?"

Only then did Liang Zuo react and introduced Lin Chaoyang to Wu Lanqing, "Lan Qing, this is my master. I went to tell him about our marriage that day, and it happened that his old man had just bought a car, so this came in handy. Well."

"Hello, Master, I really have caused you trouble!"

Wu Lanqing said hello to Lin Chaoyang respectfully, and Lin Chaoyang replied to her with a smile, "Hello bride, I wish you a happy marriage."

After exchanging a few words, Wu Lanqing sat in the back seat and looked at Lin Chaoyang's back curiously.

She had never met Lin Chaoyang, but she heard Liang Zuo talk about Lin Chaoyang more than once. Liang Zuo's mother is a well-known writer, so it is not surprising to meet Lin Chaoyang, a great writer.

But with such a great writer driving her car, Wu Lanqing still felt that her wedding had an extra sense of grand ceremony.

The wedding was held in Fengze Garden. After the pick-up team started again, they did not go straight to Fengze Garden. Instead, they wandered around Chang'an Street and went to Liang Zuo's new residence, a single dormitory allocated by the Ministry of Education. .

We didn't go to Fengze Garden until early ten o'clock. When we got there, the group of classmates and friends who followed to pick up the bride were already freezing and were complaining about Liang Zuo's chicken thieves.

I picked up the bride and found a car to carry her comfortably in my arms. They were riding bicycles and enduring the cold. They were really unworthy of a man.