1979: Literary Master, Starting from the Return of Educated Youth

Chapter 163 Caring for Sister-in-law

A few days later, Xu Yuexin took the manuscript of "Norwegian Wood" and rode a motorcycle to No. 166 Chaonei Courtyard, which he had not visited for a long time.

Compared with when I lived in Haiding District before, the distance from Guogong Mansion to No. 166 Chaonei Courtyard is much closer. Both are near the East Second Ring Road in Dongcheng District.

Xu Yuexin rode his Harley motorcycle and arrived at the destination in just five minutes.

No. 166 Chaonei is undergoing minor renovations. The original red brick courtyard wall has been replaced with granite, making it appear more textured.

There is a row of scaffolding on the facade of the small building, and workers are repairing the facade.

Xu Yuexin parked his motorcycle under the carport, entered the small western-style building with the manuscript in his hand, and went upstairs to the editorial office.

In the editorial department, young editors are either busy reviewing manuscripts or chatting and discussing business.

Xu Yuexin saw several familiar faces in the crowd, but Wang Chaoyin was the only one missing.

"Hello comrade, where is Team Leader Wang?"

Xu Yuexin walked up to an editor near the door and asked him.

"He is now the deputy editor-in-chief. Go find him in the deputy editor-in-chief's office next door."

"He's inside."

"Okay, thank you."

Xu Yuexin turned around and walked out of the editorial office and knocked on the door of the office next door.

Haha, that’s great, I got a promotion.

As Xu Yuexin knocked on the door, he thought to himself that he was happy for Wang Chaoyin.

"Please come in."

Wang Chaoyin's voice came from inside the door.

Xu Yuexin pushed open the door and saw Wang Chaoyin pouring water into the teacup.

When he saw him, Wang Chaoyin smiled immediately and was so happy that he almost dropped the water bottle.

"Hey, be careful."

Xu Yuexin was quick to move forward and helped him steady the bottle of water that he was about to let go of.

"I haven't seen you in a long time."

Wang Chaoyin smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "I was a little excited for a moment."

"Have you been busy studying recently?"

“Yes, the study load is a bit heavy.”

Xu Yuexin said with a smile, without mentioning his trip to Hong Kong or Japan, "I just heard that you were promoted to deputy editor-in-chief. I'm here to congratulate you."

“I wish you continued success in your future endeavors.”

"Thank you for your blessings. No matter what position I hold, my first priority is to serve you authors well."

"By the way, what's that in your hand?"

"I wrote this manuscript in my spare time. I brought it here today and wanted to talk to you about publishing it."

After saying that, Xu Yuexin handed the manuscript of "Norwegian Wood" to Wang Chaoyin.

"Okay, let me take a look first..."

Wang Chaoyin took the manuscript and sat on the sofa to read it.

Xu Yuexin sat down next to him and waited for him to finish reading and give his opinion.

20 words is a considerable amount of reading.

Even as a senior editor who can read ten lines at a glance, Wang Chaoyin still needed a while to finish reading it.

Xu Yuexin was not in a hurry and just sat beside him waiting.

After a long time, Wang Chaoyin finally put down the manuscript and nodded to Xu Yuexin: "It's a romance work, right? I think the plot is good and very innovative."

“It’s a work worth publishing.”

"Do you have any ideas for subsequent publication?"

"I plan to increase the number of copies printed, and I also want to adjust the proportion of royalties from the number of copies printed."

“How much will the print run increase?”

“Print 100 million copies first.”

Xu Yuexin held up a finger and said, "If sales are hot, we will print more copies later."

"100 copies..."

Wang Chaoyin was a little hesitant.

In the past two years, no book published by People's Literature has had such a large first print run.

To put it bluntly, can the market absorb so many copies?
"If you have any ideas, just tell me."

"Well, I'm mainly worried about printing too many copies and more than the market can bear."

“I’m sure it will sell out easily.”

Xu Yuexin said firmly and confidently, "The audience of romance novels is very broad, from middle school students to married girls and boys, everyone can be a reader."

"Its market is much broader than serious literature."

After hearing Xu Yuexin's opinion, Wang Chaoyin fell into thought, and after a moment he smiled brightly.

"Okay, since you are so confident, I will trust your judgment."

“Just print a million copies!”

"And regarding the number of copies of the manuscript, what do you think?"

"I hope to implement a tiered system of remuneration for each print run."

"For the first print run of 100 million copies, there will be a certain profit margin. When we print more copies, the proportion will be increased a little bit."

“Keep adding until the cap is reached.”

"I see. The better the book sells, the higher the share the author gets, right?"

"Let me think about it."

Wang Chaoyin fell into deep thought.

Since the country issued regulations last year officially allowing authors to receive royalties based on print runs, more and more authors from People's Literature have been able to enjoy a share of the sales of their works.

However, everyone receives royalties based on the fixed ratio agreed upon in the contract, and no one has ever proposed such a tiered ratio.

So this is a bit difficult.

Of course, we also have to take into account the uniqueness of Xu Yuexin. He is a rising star in the literary world whose works become instant hits.

Wang Chaoyin thought to himself and decided to ask Xu Yuexin first.

"What proportion of the profit do you intend to divide it into?"

"For the first print run of 100 million copies, the profits will be divided into 10% of the print run."

"For every additional 100 million copies printed, the share will increase by 2%, until it reaches a maximum of 18%."

Xu Yuexin calmly presented the plan he had prepared long ago.

18%?

Wang Chaoyin was shocked by the ratio.

If this profit sharing ratio is followed, the magazine's profit margin will be greatly compressed and it can only be said to be selling at a low profit.

No, we have to convince Xu Yuexin to come down.

Wang Chaoyin made the decision after careful calculation.

Xu Yuexin saw what Wang Chaoyin was thinking and spoke before he could.

"Lao Wang, I know you think the 18% share is a bit high."

"But have you ever thought that my book would have to sell 500 million copies to reach this ratio?"

"What this means is that the shelves of major bookstores will be filled with Norwegian Wood. It means that the books produced by your People's Literature will fill the entire channel."

“Other publishers will completely lose to you in the battle for channels.”

Xu Yuexin used his market economy thinking and spoke with reason and evidence.

In the early days of reform and opening up, the supply of various materials had not yet reached a sufficient state and it was still a seller's market.

To put it bluntly, as long as something can be produced, there will be people who will buy it.

In addition, logistics and transportation were not as developed as in later generations, so the battle for channels became the key for all kinds of businesses.

Take the book publishing industry as an example. Whoever can occupy the bookshelves of bookstores everywhere will be the industry leader. And the channel itself is also dependent. As long as "Norwegian Wood" can really achieve the amazing sales of 500 million copies as Xu Yuexin said, it means that major bookstores will maintain a cooperative relationship with People's Literature for a long time, and this long-term cooperative relationship, once established, is difficult to dismantle.

"Channel, right?"

Beside Xu Yuexin, Wang Chaoyin listened to what he said carefully and couldn't help but fall into deep thought again.

Wang Chaoyin had already decided to politely decline the high profit margin proposed by Xu Yuexin.

But when he heard the benefits mentioned by Xu Yuexin, he wavered again.

At present, publishing houses have vaguely established commodity awareness and have begun to pay attention to the distribution of their books and periodicals in terminal channels such as bookstores.

If one day "Norwegian Wood" can really reach an 18% profit sharing ratio, it means that its distribution volume has reached a terrifying level.

People’s Literature will therefore become the king of channels!
When publishing houses negotiate with distribution channels about putting a book on shelves for sale, they certainly won’t discuss just one book at a time.

By then, the publishing house can fully utilize its channel advantages to make back double the money from other books.

Thinking of this, Wang Chaoyin has changed his decision.

"I personally support the profit-sharing method you requested."

In the morning light coming in through the window, Wang Chaoyin said solemnly and cautiously, "But for such a big matter, I have to report it to the editor-in-chief."

"Wait here for a moment."

"Okay, don't worry."

Xu Yuexin nodded.

After saying this, Wang Chaoyin took the manuscript of "Norwegian Wood", walked out of the office quickly, and went to the Writers Association to find Mr. Zhang Guangnian.

Zhang Guangnian is still the editor-in-chief of People's Literature. Sometimes he works at the magazine, and sometimes he stays at the Writers Association like today to handle his job.

Fortunately, People’s Literature is not far from the National Writers Association, and Wang Chaoyin can reach there in a short walk.

After he explained the situation to Zhang Guangnian, Zhang Guangnian waved his hand generously and said, "I think we can agree to Comrade Xiao Xu's request."

"A higher share ratio can motivate authors to create more good works."

"I think so too, that's why I came to ask you for advice."

"Oh, next time you encounter something similar, you can discuss it with other comrades on the editorial board instead of asking me for instructions on everything."

"How can that be possible? Mr. Zhang, you are the editor-in-chief of the magazine. We still need you to check and approve everything."

"I'll keep things under control. Apart from matters of principle, I'd like to let you young people handle other matters."

"Hasn't the higher-ups stressed the need to build a good cadre team? We old people dare to let go and delegate power, so you young people should also dare to take risks and fight."

Zhang Guangnian trusted and said, "I think this Comrade Xu is very good. He is bold, often comes up with new ideas, and dares to implement them."

“As editors, you must also possess this spirit.”

"Okay, thank you Mr. Zhang for your advice."

Wang Chaoyin smiled and said, "I will try my best to be brave and daring as you ask."

"That's right, the road is made by making a breakthrough."

Zhang Guangnian said with a smile.

A moment later, Wang Chaoyin returned to People's Literature from the Writers Association and gave feedback to Xu Yuexin on the final results.

"Mr. Zhang agreed to your request and will implement it according to the tiered profit ratio of 10% to 18%."

Wang Chaoyin said excitedly, "Why don't we draw up a contract together?"

"Okay, let's make changes based on the original contract."

Xu Yuexin said.

Xu Yuexin and Wang Chaoyin gathered at his desk and watched him remove a previous publishing contract, and then began to modify the key parts together.

Soon, a new contract came out and Wang Chaoyin took it out and handed it to the magazine's printer.

The printing method back then was still traditional lead type printing. It was not like later times where one could directly edit documents with a computer and connect it to a printer to print.

Xu Yuexin waited in the deputy editor-in-chief's office for a while until Wang Chaoyin came back with the freshly printed contract, and the two signed it together.

The first print run price of "Norwegian Wood" was 6 cents per copy. Based on a 10% ratio, the remuneration for a print run of 100 million copies would be 6 yuan.

After signing the contract and stamping it, Xu Yuexin and Wang Chaoyin went to the Finance Department together to collect the money.

After completing the procedures, the Finance and Accounting Department handed over a total of 6000 Great Unity certificates to Xu Yuexin.

There was so much money this time that Xu Yuexin's bag could no longer hold it.

Seeing this, Wang Chaoyin gave him another cloth bag so that he could put all the money in it.

Go downstairs, get in the car, and go home!
Xu Yuexin returned to the Duke's Mansion with a total of 60,000 yuan. After entering the door, he put the money down and slept soundly.

In the afternoon, Chen Qiaoqiao came back from school after submitting a research report and was dragged by him to go shopping.

"I heard that electric blankets are now available on the market. Let's buy one and take it home."

When Chen Qiaoqiao heard that they were going to take to the streets, she immediately suggested it.

"Well, buy a bed for your sister, too."

Xu Yuexin said.

He always keeps his sister-in-law's warmth in his heart.

At the moment, electric blankets are a novelty.

Xu Yuexin and his wife rode their bikes to Beijing Department Store in Wangfujing. When they went upstairs, they found a long queue in front of the counter selling electric blankets.

The two waited in line for a long time before they bought two electric blankets.

The electric blanket was a bit big, so only one could fit in the trunk, and the other had to be held in Chen Qiaoqiao's arms.

After his wife sat firmly in the seat, Xu Yuexin started the Harley motorcycle and drove towards the hibernating Tuanjie Lake.

After a while, the motorcycle entered the Second Ring Road and Xu Yuexin sped up.

He cherishes every opportunity to meet his sister-in-law, and would rather arrive a moment earlier than a moment later.

Not long after, the two arrived at their destination.

Xu Yuexin and his wife walked up the stairs holding one of the electric blankets.

When the two knocked on the door, Chen Yixiu was playing the piano in the room, and melodious music floated out from inside.

"coming……"

Chen Yixiu's voice came from inside the door, and then the piano sound stopped abruptly.

“Is this a mattress?”

"I have some here."

Chen Yixiu didn't recognize the electric blanket when she saw it. She looked at it carefully and said.

"This is an electric blanket. It heats up when you plug it in."

Xu Yuexin walked into the room and introduced it to his sister-in-law, "Let me show you."

After saying that, he took his wife and sister-in-law into the master bedroom, spread out the electric blanket, and plugged it in.

After a while, Xu Yue touched the electric blanket and looked at his sister-in-law: "Feel it, is it hot?"

My sister-in-law reached out and touched the electric blanket and found that it was really hot.

"This is really good stuff."

“Don’t worry about the bed being cold.

The sister-in-law said happily.

The city only started heating in mid-November, but the weather was already very cold before that.

Not to mention that no one lives upstairs or next door, so a lot of the heating will be diverted, and turning on the heating may not be very useful when the weather is particularly cold.

This electric blanket is really a timely help for my sister-in-law.

"You guys chat, I'll go cook."

After trying out the electric blanket, Chen Qiaoqiao said to Xu Yuexin and Chen Yixiu.

It’s dinner time now, let’s eat at my sister’s house!

Seeing her sister go to the kitchen, Chen Yixiu also walked towards the door.

At this time Xu Yuexin grabbed his sister-in-law's hand and raised his eyebrows at her.

"What do you want to do?"

The sister-in-law pulled her hand away and asked warily.

(End of this chapter)