Mixed in 1980

Chapter 138 Fuck You Banana Man
"Wife, do you think I would be interested in other things now?"

Xu Jinqiu then realized that Chen Fan's face had turned black, and she immediately blushed: "Let's talk business, be serious, and read the contents of this page quickly."

Chen Fan took the magazine and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

The article reported on the Hong Kong auction and summarized the auction results. A few sentences in it wrote about the auction of Master Qi Baishi's works.

A total of four works were auctioned, with the lowest transaction price being HK$3.5 and the highest being HK$5.

No wonder Xu Jinqiu was so excited. Among the calligraphy and painting works that Xu Jinxia had purchased before, several were works by Master Qi Baishi.

Zeng Ali and Zhao Yuanyuan also have two paintings each.

Chen Fan really didn't expect that Master Qi Baishi's paintings would be sold at such a high price in Hong Kong.

But that’s the truth!
Not only is it expensive in Hong Kong, it is even more expensive in the Japanese. As early as 1922, Chen Shizeng took Qi Baishi's works to Japan for exhibition. The exhibits were sold out and Qi Baishi became famous.

Since 1980, Master Qi Baishi's works have been featured in every quarterly auction in Hong Kong.

Since the 1980s, a group of Hong Kong tourists have gone to the mainland to hunt for treasures, specializing in collecting antiques and modern calligraphy and paintings. It was also during this period that modern and contemporary calligraphy and paintings began to flow out on a large scale.

This was the information gap in the 1980s. People in the mainland would never have imagined in their dreams that a painting that no one wanted for just a few dozen dollars could be sold for tens of thousands of dollars in Hong Kong.

In addition, there are some antiques whose prices are also extremely high at auctions in Hong Kong, often tens or even millions of Hong Kong dollars.

"Chen Fan, after we go back, let's continue to collect paintings, let's collect paintings by Master Qi Baishi."

The little girl squinted her eyes, and there was a golden light in her eyes.

Chen Fan scratched the little girl's nose and said, "I'll collect the paintings after I return to Beijing. Before that, shouldn't we celebrate?"

"Just think about this!"

Xu Jinqiu rolled her eyes at him, but took the initiative to hug him and gave him a sweet kiss...

……

The next day, January 1981, 1!
According to the original plan, the two were to return to Beijing today, but they were delayed because they had to discuss publishing matters.

"Today's appointment is with the editor-in-chief of HarperCollins Publishers' Hong Kong office, named Ke Meilin, who is of American descent and Chinese descent."

"Can you speak Chinese?" Chen Fan asked.

"can!"

"That way communication will be much more convenient." Chen Fan breathed a sigh of relief. Although he could communicate in English, his spoken English was still a little poor and he spoke haltingly.

"Then let's go."

Li Hongying looked at her watch and saw that it was almost time, so she took Chen Fan out. Xu Jinqiu chose not to go. She had been tossed around for most of the night and now just wanted to go back to her room and lie down for a while.

That dead man is like an immortal ox that can take you to the clouds or keep you stuck in bed. It makes people love and hate him, but there is nothing they can do about it.

In order to get things done, Li Hongying invited people to the luxurious Repulse Bay Hotel and booked the terrace restaurant. After waiting for a while, Ke Meilin finally arrived.

A middle-aged man in his thirties.

There is nothing special about his appearance, and he is a little thin. He walks with his head held high and chest puffed out, seeming very confident. However, the loose suit he wears gives him a weak impression.

"Mr. Ke, long time no see!"

Li Hongying stood up to greet him, and Ke Meilin politely stepped forward to shake his hand: "Hello, Mr. Li, long time no see, you are still as radiant as ever."

"Thank you!"

Li Hongying invited Ke Meilin to sit down: "Let me introduce you, this is Chen Fan, he is very famous in Hong Kong, his series of articles "Chen Fan's View of the World" serialized in Hong Kong magazines are very popular among young people in Hong Kong."

"Hello Mr. Chen, I'm sorry, I usually only pay attention to English works, so I am ignorant." Ke Meilin said with a smile.

There is a hint of arrogance in his appearance.

"Hello, Mr. Ke!" Chen Fan smiled slightly, without using the word "you" in his address. People in Beijing are used to calling strangers "you" when they meet them.

Li Hongying understood what he meant, so she stopped talking and went straight to the point: "Mr. Ke, Chen Fan wrote an English novel and plans to publish it in Europe and the United States. I wonder if you are interested."

"We at HarperCollins are interested in any good book. Did you bring Mr. Chen's work? I can take a look at it first."

Take a look?
Chen Fan frowned slightly, but didn't say anything. He took out the English version of "The Matrix". On the cover it said: The Matrix!

Ke Meilin took it, read it for about ten minutes, and then closed the book: "Mr. Chen, please forgive me for being blunt, but your imagination is not enough for a science fiction novel."

"But it's understandable. You are Chinese, and your thinking is still stuck in the poor Chinese stage. We in the United States are highly developed, and our imagination has already broken through the margins."

Hearing this, Chen Fan frowned: "Mr. Ke, you are not Chinese?"

"Of course not. I was born, went to school, and grew up in the United States. I am a pure American. I only learned Chinese for work."

Ko Meilin shrugged his shoulders and said teasingly, "Let's continue with the story. Your imagination obviously can't keep up with the pace of us Americans. This is the biggest shortcoming of the work."

Chen Fan frowned and said, "If that's the case, then Mr. Ke, please don't bother with it."

Ke Meilin waved his hand slightly and said, "Mr. Chen, my imagination is not up to par, but your book is not without merit. The plot is not bad. You can give it a try."

Rub the mud...Ma!

After talking so much, it turns out that he wanted to lower the price. Having done business for decades in his previous life, Chen Fan had seen all kinds of people. After understanding the other party's intentions, he just looked at him indifferently.

Ke Meilin said: "Mr. Chen, our publishing house can try to publish this book, but in Europe and the United States, you are a newcomer and can only get the newcomer's remuneration."

After thinking for a while, I directly stated: "Full text copyright, 20 dollars per thousand words."

The US remuneration system is based on words. Top writers can get 20-50 cents per word, which is equivalent to 200-500 US dollars per thousand words.

Only a few top people can get this price.

On top of that, there are royalties.

The price Ko Meilin offered was not for a newcomer, it was totally insulting, and he even wanted full text copyright, which was tantamount to robbery.

After listening to this, Chen Fan couldn't help but laugh: "Mr. Ke, do you know how many words are in the article I wrote in Hong Kong?"

Li Hongying added: "500 Hong Kong dollars per thousand words!"

Ko Meilin extended his index finger and shook it: "You are too short-sighted to think like that. This is an opportunity to enter our country, and some sacrifices are justified."

Chen Fan was almost laughing out of anger. Who the hell cares!
There was no need to continue this business today. Chen Fan was angry and asked back: "Mr. Ke, do you know how many races there are in the world based on skin color?"

"White, yellow, black, what do you mean, Mr. Chen?"

"No, there are four types. In addition to yellow, white and black, there is also a banana man. Mr. Ke may not have read the research in this area." Chen Fan said solemnly.

"What does Mr. Chen mean by this?"

"Whether yellow, white or black, they all have their own culture, rooted in their own cultural thinking, but banana people don't have their own culture, they don't even know what they are. Such people are the most pitiful."

"Mr. Chen, I still don't understand."

Chen Fan put the novel away and put it in his bag: "It's right that you didn't understand it, because our cultural thinking is not on the same channel."

"Mr. Ke, I'm sorry."

Chen Fan stood up, called Li Hongying to go together, and said to Ke Meilin: "Mr. Ke, what color is the banana peel, what color is the inside, we will see you again if there is a chance."

After Chen Fan finished speaking, he turned and left.

Li Hongying quickly followed, leaving Ke Meilin alone in a daze. When he came to his senses, he was furious and slammed the table. He even wanted to smash the chair, but was stopped by the waiter who came rushing over.

"Chen Fan, you're screwed... Damn it, I'm not done with you. You want to publish your book in Europe and America, but you're just dreaming. I can't kill you..."

After coming down from the terrace restaurant, Li Hongying couldn't help laughing: "You are such a mean boy, you just come up with new words, banana man, haha... so appropriate."

"I just can't stand his face. He always says that we are Americans, and you Chinese, Americans are superior to others? He is such a traitor."

"There are many such people, not to mention in the US, there are also many in Hong Kong. Forget it, there is no need to be angry with such people. I will look for other publishing houses later."

"Then I'll trouble Sister Ying."

After getting in the car, Chen Fan fell into deep thought.

It would probably take a lot of time to find another publisher, and it might not be successful. If I run into someone like Ko Meilin who wants full text copyright right away, there would be no room for negotiation.

But Merlin was right about one thing.

In the European and American markets, as a newcomer, it is difficult to get much royalties. This has little to do with the quality of the book. The capitalist society looks at fame first.

Without fame and being a newcomer, you can only get a very low buyout price for your first book, and as for royalties, forget it.

After returning to the Repulse Bay Villa, Chen Fan went back to the house to put his things away. Xu Jinqiu sat up dazedly and looked at Chen Fan in surprise: "Why are you back so soon?"

"I didn't make the deal, so I came back directly."

"That's because they are blind. They don't even think highly of your book. It's bound to be their loss. Just make an appointment with other publishing houses." Xu Jinqiu comforted.

Chen Fan smiled and went up to hug his wife: "Comrade Qiu'er, you are more confident than me."

Xu Jinqiu kissed him on the lips and said, "I'll take out my luggage later and stay for a few more days. I'll go back after we've finalized the publishing deal."

Chen Fan pinched the tip of the girl's nose and said, "Don't bother. I'll go back tomorrow. I'm going to try another method to do this."

"Huh?" Xu Jinqiu was puzzled.

"Wait a minute, I'll go find Sister Ying."

After kissing the girl on the lips, Chen Fan turned around and went out to find Li Hongying and went to her study: "Sister Ying, I have something to trouble you for."

Li Hongying smiled and said, "Are you still being polite to me?"

"Borrow some money!"

"Uh..." Li Hongying was stunned.

Does Chen Fan need money? Of course he does. He has just invested 290 million Hong Kong dollars in the futures market. The price of gold has dropped by 2 US dollars in the past two days. He has already started to make a profit.

But Li Hongying didn't ask the reason, and asked directly: "How much do you want to borrow?"

PS: The second update is here~
(End of this chapter)