Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 76 Four Joys
Before leaving, Zhang Chao asked Qin Wen another question very sincerely: "Sister Qin...Senior, have I offended you in any way before?"

Qin Wen is not a mean person, he is also very good, after reading the script, the two of them communicated very friendly. So Zhang Chao was even more curious about where Qin Wen's initial attitude came from.

Qin Wen rolled his eyes at him, but still answered: "In 2001, I won the first prize in the third 'New Concept Essay Competition'."

Zhang Chao: "..."

Well, in my last life I only read the news reports and didn’t pay attention to the background of the characters.

Time quickly came to the end of July.

On a sunny morning, Zhang Chao and 12 other students participated in the selection and assessment of the "Writer Graduate Class" jointly held by Luyuan and Yanshi University.

The assessment results are based on a written test, an interview, and the class performance in the previous month. The written test is not difficult, and the main content is literature, history, and the teaching content during this period.

After one day of assessment, a total of 1 people were admitted, including Zhang Chao.

The day after the assessment, Zhang Chao went to Yanda again and took the written test and interview in the Chinese Department, and passed them successfully. The review of the level of publication or publication was completed in early July, and the result was naturally "unanimously recognized by the experts of the review group as having a high level of literary and artistic level."

Zhang Chao was finally able to put his mind at ease. Although the two universities had given him a chance to study, if he didn't live up to his expectations and his grades were too bad, he wouldn't be the only one who would be embarrassed.

After passing the two assessments and waiting for Lu Academy to complete the procedures, I will be considered an undergraduate and...graduate student.

He called his parents to tell them the news and reassure them. He also sent text messages to Lan Ting, Song Shiyu and others, receiving a wave of blessings.

Then, two more pieces of good news came.

Zhang Chao first received a call from Zhu Yanling of Huacheng Society, who told him a good news: "Zhang Chao, congratulations, I just got an insider message that you have been shortlisted for this year's 'Zhuang Zhongwen Literature Award'. And you have a great chance of winning!"

The Zhuang Zhongwen Literature Award is a literature award established by Zhuang Zhongwen, a famous patriotic Chinese entrepreneur in Hong Kong in the late 80s. It is usually awarded at the end of the year and mainly rewards outstanding literary journals, literary books, and young writers who are just beginning to enter the literary world.

This is an award that is not well-known outside the literary world, but is well-known within the industry. Jia Pingwa, Wang Anyi, Shi Tiesheng, Su Tong... all won this award in the early stages of their writing careers. It can be said that the Zhuang Zhongwen Literature Award is a weathervane for those who have entered the ranks of first-class writers.

Zhu Yanling learned the news because Huacheng was nominated as an outstanding literary journal.

Zhang Chao thanked Zhu Yanling and hung up the phone.

But not long after, his phone rang again. The caller was the editor of Southern Weekend, who he had not contacted for a long time. He also told Zhang Chao a good news:

"Congratulations, Zhang Chao, you have been nominated for the Most Promising Newcomer Award at the 3rd Chinese Literature Media Awards. Your winning is basically a foregone conclusion!"

The "Chinese Literature Media Award" is a literary award established by Southern Metropolis Daily in 2003. It is awarded at the beginning of each year to reward Chinese linguists who have made outstanding achievements in literature in the previous year.

Although this award is young, it has the highest single prize in the domestic literary world - the winner of the annual outstanding achievement award can receive a reward of 10 yuan.

Zhang Chao's works are of guaranteed quality and have a great influence, and the "Southern Country School" has a close relationship with Zhang Chao, so the editor is so confident.

Zhang Chao also thanked him and hung up the phone.

He felt a little strange. The two nominations were obviously a good thing, but why was he not too happy? After thinking for a long time, he could only think that it was because of the ups and downs he had experienced in the past six months... too many, so he was a little numb.

I'd better turn on the computer and continue writing the script.

The next morning, Zhang Chao received a call from He Jiping, who asked him, "How is the script going?" Zhang Chao reported the progress truthfully.

He Jiping listened and said, "That's enough. At 3pm, bring your script to Xinyuan South Road in Chaoyang. Someone wants to buy your novel. I'll text you the specific address."

"Can you please tell me who wants to buy it?"

"There's nothing wrong with that—it's Huayi."

In 2004, Huayi was almost the most successful private film company. A movie called "A World Without Thieves" directed by Feng Xiaogang and starring Andy Lau and Milk Tea earned 1.2 million yuan at the box office - and the total domestic box office that year was only 15 billion yuan.

In 2003, when relevant departments introduced policies to loosen up the film market, Huayi made a big push into commercial films, reaped rich rewards, and became a benchmark for private film companies.

At 3 pm, Zhang Chao arrived at Huayi's office on time. However, here, in addition to He Jiping and Huayi's helmsman Wang Zhongjun, he also unexpectedly met a well-known singer, star and director - Sylvia Chang.

Zhang Chao's eyelids jumped - this "Better Days" can't escape the hands of the literary and artistic female director, right?

After the pleasantries, Zhang Chao distributed the printed script to those present and waited for them to finish reading it.

The first person to finish reading was Wang Zhongjun. He only glanced through the book and said to Zhang Chao, "I don't understand the script very well, but I understand the film market. Your novel has really good sales. I heard that the first print run was 100 million copies? I've been a reporter at Wuzi Publishing House for almost 10 years, and I've never heard of a new writer having a first print run of 100 million copies. You have a bright future ahead of you."

Then he joked, "The average movie ticket price this year is about 18 or 19 yuan. If every one of your readers can buy a ticket to watch the movie, the box office will be huge!"

Zhang Chao naturally knew that the relationship between novel readers and movie audiences was not 1:1, otherwise why would he need to find a director or screenwriter? The writer could just form a team to shoot the film. Xiao Si and Jiang Bei, who did this, all learned a painful lesson.

Then Zhang Aijia and He Jiping also finished reading the script. Zhang Aijia said: "Actually, I just finished filming "20, 30, 40" last year and wanted to take a break. But Jiping found me and insisted that I read your novel and outline. After reading it, I really think the story is interesting and meaningful. After reading your script today, I am even more interested..."

Then Sylvia Chang talked to Zhang Chao about her views on "Better Days".

Zhang Chao still admires Zhang Aijia's insights into literature. She has a very delicate grasp of the psychological development of several characters in the novel, especially the emotional line between the protagonists Cheng Nian and Xiao Bei. She believes that Zhang Chao did not simply treat it as love, which is actually more touching.

Although there is no mention of "I want to be the director of this movie", in fact, every sentence is mentioning it.

While chatting, Zhang Chao was also considering. Although Zhang Aijia's art films were average at the box office, they were not big-budget movies, and were basically within the acceptable range for investors. They were not "box office poison" like Xu Anhua, so she always had films to shoot.

After Zhang Aijia finished speaking, He Jiping continued: "If "Youth Like You" starts filming, I will also join the crew and can be the producer."

Zhang Chao was finally reassured. He Jiping was not only a screenwriter with high artistic accomplishment and fruitful achievements, but she also worked hard in the 80s when Hong Kong films were at their peak, and was favored by so many commercial film directors. She must have something special in this regard. It would be best if she could balance Zhang Aijia's artistic style.

Zhang Chao finally made up his mind and nodded.

Wang Zhongjun was overjoyed and said, "The three of you are a perfect match, and the box office will definitely be a big hit! Mr. Zhang, let's talk about the adaptation rights."

He Jiping and Zhang Aijia tactfully withdrew.

After bargaining with Wang Zhongjun, Zhang Chao finally settled on the price of "adaptation copyright + screenwriter fees" at 120 million yuan.

According to the proportion of the estimated cost, the film's production cost should not be less than 1200 million yuan. He Jiping's estimate is similar, in 2004, it was a medium-budget film.

(End of this chapter)