1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

Chapter 191 Private money soars, foreign exchange rice will arrive (seeking full order)
Just as my father-in-law worried, as the news continued to ferment in major newspapers, different voices began to emerge!

The first to be affected was still the Tianjin Daily, which had just shut down.

He once again published an article entitled "A New Theory of the Qin Dynasty", which once again put Cheng Xuemin, the pioneer who praised the Qin Dynasty, in the spotlight.

Soon after, many local newspapers also published related reports.

It can be said that a fight really broke out!
To this!

Cheng Xuemin simply stayed in Yanjing University and did not pay much attention to it. While Feng Jiayou was in class and he had no classes assigned to him, he took his written foreign manuscripts and went to his father-in-law's Foreign Language Bureau.

"Hey, Xuemin, you're finally here!"

"How is it? How is the manuscript?"

Zhou Weiming from the Foreign Affairs Office asked in surprise and delight when he saw Cheng Xuemin.

Originally, before the New Year, it was Lao Feng's son-in-law who found him and said that he wanted to write some foreign language manuscripts and submit them to newspapers and magazines.

When Zhou Weiming heard this, he was overjoyed. This was a good thing!
Originally, Lao Zhou is in charge of the Foreign Affairs Office. It can be said that the foreign exchange earning task of the entire Foreign Language Bureau falls on the head of him.

Relying on "Chinese Literature" from Cheng Xuemin's father-in-law to earn foreign exchange and royalties from foreigners is still somewhat lacking.

After all, the manuscripts they published in "Chinese Literature" are almost all local articles in our country. They are nothing more than translating the articles into foreign languages ​​for foreigners to read.

However, due to cultural differences, the sales of "Chinese Literature" abroad are destined to not earn much foreign exchange.

It has more political propaganda significance.

If their Foreign Language Bureau wants to earn foreign exchange and improve its foreign exchange earnings, it still has to follow the route of "writing content that is popular with foreigners and submitting it to mainstream media, newspapers and magazines."

As a result, there are very high requirements for the content of submissions.

At least a little bit!
The content of the manuscript must be written in a Western style, but such a requirement is enough to stump most domestic authors.

Nowadays, even translation can’t bring out the flavor of the author, let alone writing it directly.

and so!
Now their Foreign Languages ​​Bureau is in great need of authors who can write manuscripts with a local flavor, so most of the manuscripts Lao Zhou submits are rejected.

My manuscripts are always rejected. If they cannot be published, I can't earn any foreign exchange or rice royalties from others. It would be strange if I could achieve good foreign exchange earnings.

So, the Foreign Affairs Office of the Foreign Language Bureau where Lao Zhou works is in great need of manuscripts!
Before, Old Feng, the son-in-law, intended to write articles in foreign languages, but Old Zhou didn't take it too seriously.

But later, when Lao Feng's son-in-law, the "pioneer of reform and opening up", suddenly emerged, Lao Zhou was dumbfounded and asked Lao Feng again, "Is your son-in-law still writing the foreign language manuscript?"

I received a reply from Lao Feng that I am writing it now and it should be finished soon.

This makes Zhou Weiming a little bit excited.

I hope that Lao Feng, the son-in-law, can write other articles that are powerful and sharp. If he can write articles from outside that have the same flavor as others, that would be amazing!
"Hello, Mr. Zhou. I was delayed during the Chinese New Year and the manuscript was not delivered in time!"

"Now that I have finished writing, please help me review it, Mr. Zhou!"

Cheng Xuemin said with a polite smile on his face.

"Have you finished writing?! That's great, let me take a look!" Old Zhou nodded repeatedly. He didn't wait for Cheng Xuemin to take the manuscript out of his briefcase. Instead, he stood up and asked politely, "Xuemin, come to our Foreign Language Bureau. Can I get you some coffee?"

Originally he was thinking of making tea, but then he remembered that their Foreign Language Bureau used coffee to entertain foreign guests, so Lao Zhou asked casually.

"Mr. Zhou, I'm fine, please don't be so polite!"

Cheng Xuemin replied politely and took out the English manuscript he had written from his briefcase.

"Coffee then!"

"This thing is kept by the bureau to entertain foreign guests. We also try it once in a while!"

"But I'm not used to drinking that stuff. It's too bitter and hard to drink. I don't know why those foreigners like to drink it so much!"

As Lao Zhou took out a coffee box from the cabinet, he shook his head and smiled at Cheng Xuemin, "I heard that you young people also like to drink it. It's a good opportunity for you to try it too, Xuemin!"

Cheng Xuemin glanced at the coffee box and his face turned pale with shock.

Christmas Island?
My father-in-law's Foreign Language Bureau is so generous that the coffee used to entertain foreigners is directly sent to "Christmas Island"?
This is one of the best coffees in the world, almost second to none.

What’s even more outrageous is!
Old Zhou in front of him complained that the coffee was bitter and he couldn't get used to it at all, so he only gave it to foreigners.

Rely on!
Cheng Xuemin really couldn't be sure whether Lao Zhou really couldn't get used to drinking it, or was just being coy and deliberately showing off to Cheng Xuemin.

"That's great. I'll try some coffee from your office, Mr. Zhou, and have some Western food!"

Cheng Xuemin wasn't quite sure, but he still had to say what he wanted to say.

As for coffee?

In fact, Cheng Xuemin doesn’t like to drink it very much. He prefers to drink our own tea to maintain health.

"Well! Then Xuemin, you can try it! If you think it tastes good, you can take the whole box away. We don't drink much here anyway!"

Old Zhou was very generous and seriously made a cup of coffee for Cheng Xuemin.

The most excessive is!

Because they were not receiving foreign guests, there was no need to be so particular. Lao Zhou just used a big teacup to make coffee!

Seeing this, Cheng Xuemin felt that it was a waste!

This is 'Christmas Island', the king of coffee, not much higher than Starbucks.

Cheng Xuemin knows!
Christmas Island coffee is exported to England. Because of its small production and high quality, it is the special coffee supplied to the British royal family.

Just like Moutai, our own domestic liquor at this time.

Old Zhou actually brewed it in a large teacup and let Cheng Xuemin drink it straight away...

Ok!

Cheng Xuemin is now certain that Lao Zhou is not being pretentious with him, he just really doesn't know much about coffee.

"Hey, Xuemin, your foreign language writing is so beautiful?"

Placing a large bowl of coffee in front of Cheng Xuemin, Zhou Weiming also noticed the manuscript on the table. He picked it up and took a look at it, and exclaimed in surprise.

This foreign language is so beautifully written, like tadpoles, very pleasing to the eyes.

"so much?"

Then he flipped through it again and found a thick stack of manuscript paper, and couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Teacher Zhou, I have not one manuscript here, but five!" Cheng Xuemin replied to Zhou Weiming with a smile, "Each manuscript has about 10,000 words, a total of more than 50,000 words!" More than 50,000 words are equivalent to 50,000 to 60,000 characters in China. International magazines outside also basically calculate the manuscript fee by the word.

However, they don't seem to have the idea of ​​how much is per thousand words, but simply say how much is per word.

A few years ago, when I went to the foreign guests' guesthouse with Lao Zhou and met those foreign journalists and editors, Cheng Xuemin had learned about the remuneration for royalties.

The publishing fees of great writers are usually settled at one dollar per word, and there is also a share of the copyright based on sales.

The remuneration for works by international great writers can be as high as five or six million gold coins per word.

and so.

If Cheng Xuemin were an international literary giant, his 50,000-word manuscript would bring him a guaranteed royalty of at least 200,000 Mi Jin, and the share of sales and copyright would be calculated separately, and that would be the bulk of it.

of course!

Cheng Xuemin is now entering the international cultural market, but he is a complete newcomer.

So during the interview, Cheng Xuemin also realized that for a new and unknown author like him, even if his work was published, the royalties would mostly be just a few cents.

Being able to break the price of ten cents is already very impressive!
Anyway, Lao Zhou had told Cheng Xuemin before that the highest remuneration their Foreign Affairs Office paid for articles submitted abroad was only 20 cents.

No price is too high!

of course!

This time, Cheng Xuemin sent five manuscripts over, and he did not intend to go through ordinary conventional channels. He chose to buy out all copyrights at a one-time price.

In fact, most newcomers are bought out, and being able to get a share of the profits shows the quality of their manuscripts, which is really awesome.

"There are five manuscripts. Is that so many?"

Old Zhou was stunned again when he heard this. He didn't expect that the production capacity of Old Feng's son-in-law was exactly the same as the legend.

Before, his son-in-law wrote articles for China, one after another, and sometimes even four or five articles were published in major magazines at the same time.

Now, Lao Zhou thought that Lao Feng, his son-in-law, had just finished writing a foreign language manuscript with great difficulty and sent it to him without delay.

But I didn’t expect that there were actually five articles!
High productivity, high productivity!
Lao Zhou can only say in his heart that he is very productive, but he also hopes that while he is very productive, the quality of his manuscripts will also be high.

If at least one of these five manuscripts can pass the review, it would be a huge success.

"Yes, Mr. Zhou. Here are five manuscripts. I hope Mr. Zhou can help review them and submit them for full copyright buyout price!"

Cheng Xuemin also nodded, expressing his expectations.

The word count of each of his five manuscripts was basically controlled at around 10,000 words, because foreign magazines not only calculate royalties by word, but also buy out all copyrights in one go based on the number of articles!
For a manuscript like Cheng Xuemin's, which is around 10,000 words long, the international standard buyout price is 1,200 gold coins for a direct buyout, with no further sales revenue sharing.

Moreover, according to Cheng Xuemin's understanding, those who can share the sales revenue are basically authors with some fame.

Other new authors basically go for the buyout price.

So Cheng Xuemin also calculated it!
Even if his manuscript is approved and he can get a share of the profits, the price will not be too high, at most only five or six cents per unit.

For this manuscript of 10,000 words, he can get a share of the royalties of about 500 to 600 Mi Jin, and the share of sales is calculated separately.

The minimum price is 500 to 600 yuan, and the sales share is calculated separately!
The royalties from sales share may be higher than the guaranteed royalties of 500 or 600 yuan, but Cheng Xuemin feels that it may not be much higher.

Even if it can be much higher, there is a period of time when the cost is sunk!

Therefore, Cheng Xuemin thought it would be better to follow the routine and go for the buyout price for newcomers, taking the buyout price of 1,200 meters of gold per article at one time, and not think about whether there will be a share of the sales revenue or not!
First, he should gain experience points to raise his international status, and then he can bring out Harry Potter to contribute the role that an author should contribute to the country's foreign exchange earning cause.

In addition to Harry Potter, if he wanted to invest in other projects, Cheng Xuemin even felt that he could also sacrifice the online novel "Panlong".

Cheng Xuemin knows that "Panlong" by the top Platinum Tomato boss can be said to be the ceiling of Western fantasy literature, and it is very popular among the international audience.

Moreover, the situation outside is more open now, unlike in our country now, so fantasy online literature may not necessarily have no market.

After all, Harry Potter has such a large market, so there may be no shortage of market for "Panlong" as well.

Cheng Xuemin was also thinking about writing an introduction of more than 100,000 words first and submitting it to test the waters.

If it could be as popular as Harry Potter, Cheng Xuemin simply couldn't imagine how much foreign exchange a book of more than three million words could create for the country in this era.

Yes!

After the reform and opening up, the term "national foreign exchange earning" cannot be avoided and will be brought up soon!
As a pioneer of reform and opening up who was appointed to write the inscription, Cheng Xuemin must of course be at the forefront in the cause of earning foreign exchange.

And by then, it won’t be shameful to make money for the country!
I'm not afraid of being stared at and criticized like I am now.

"Full copyright?"

"Okay, Xuemin, I'll have someone review it for you as soon as possible. I'll have Lao Feng notify you as soon as there's a result. Then we'll go to the foreign guesthouse together and have a face-to-face meeting with the reporters and editors there!"

Zhou Weiming also nodded repeatedly and flipped through the manuscript in his hand. To be honest, he really didn't understand it very well, even though he was in charge of the Foreign Affairs Office!
But he was good at Russian and knew nothing about the English manuscript. He had to ask other English editors to review the manuscript carefully to see if there was any sensitive content.

Then I chatted with Lao Zhou for a while, and tactfully suggested to him that after the manuscript has been reviewed, it could be submitted separately to several well-known mainstream magazines and newspapers.

Especially Lao Mi's Playboy, Cheng Xuemin took a fancy to it and specially copied a very famous manuscript.

Cheng Xuemin also put a lot of effort into several other articles, and most of them became very popular after being published that year.

This has always been Cheng Xuemin's style. If he is going to copy, he would copy the best. This is the minimum tribute to the original author.

Therefore, Cheng Xuemin is very confident about his five manuscripts.

I think if I submit the five manuscripts separately, maybe all of them will be accepted!
If all the manuscripts are approved!

Each article was worth 1,200 meters of gold, so for five articles it would be directly worth 6,000 meters of gold. The private money in the slush fund instantly surpassed the public slush fund of his wife Feng Jiayou.

And this time, he must not be discovered by his wife.

The truth is, if all of this is approved, the foreign exchange of 6,000 MiGold... Cheng Xuemin is afraid that his wife's heart will be too excited to bear it.

He had to hurry back, so that his wife Feng Jiayou wouldn't find out that he had sneaked out in the morning. So he didn't stay long at the Foreign Languages ​​Bureau, and didn't even go to say hello to his father-in-law, and just hurried back.

When leaving, Lao Zhou was too enthusiastic. Seeing that Cheng Xuemin liked the coffee, he simply gave him two big brand new boxes!

It was still the benefit brought by those five manuscripts, otherwise Lao Zhou might have brought him back the half-opened box.

Next, all I have to do is wait quietly for news from Lao Zhou!

What Cheng Xuemin didn't expect was that before he could get any news from Lao Zhou from the Foreign Language Bureau, his mother-in-law sent him another message, asking him to go to Zhonghai with her tomorrow!
Mr. Wu summoned you!
Sure enough, what was to come finally came. Ever since Cheng Xuemin gave a speech on "The Splitting of the Qin Dynasty" in front of thousands of college students in the auditorium of Yan University, he knew that it would definitely alarm the higher-ups.

……

(End of this chapter)