Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 133: Script Fees Doubled

Upon arriving at the Beijing People's Art Theatre, Lan Tianye had already arranged a dormitory for Liu Yimin. His teacher's wife even brought him an electric fan and told Liu Yimin to take care of his health.

“Don’t always think about writing articles. Take a break when you need to. If your teacher urges you, just tell me, and I’ll make the decision for you!” Li Yuru said earnestly.

Liu Yimin said with a smile, "Master's wife, it's alright. These are all novels I've written. I can revise the manuscripts quickly, so don't worry! Besides, with your electric fan, the revision speed will double."

Li Yuru looked around Liu Yimin's room and saw that he didn't lack anything, so she finally said, "Come over and eat whatever you want!"

After seeing Li Yuru off, Liu Yimin tidied up the room. This room wasn't for winter anymore; it had become the dormitory for the Beijing People's Art Theatre during the winter, and several people were crammed into it.

In the days that followed, Liu Yimin's revision work proceeded smoothly. Zhu Lin would occasionally come over and bring him some homemade treats.

"Yimin, this is pickled garlic my mom made. It's especially delicious with noodles." Zhu Lin placed the pickled garlic in a jar on Liu Yimin's table.

Before he knew it, Zhu Lin stopped calling Liu Yimin "Comrade Liu Yimin" and started calling him "Yimin".

Upon opening the jar, the jade-white pickled garlic came into view. Liu Yimin picked up a clove with his chopsticks and tasted it, finding it crisp and refreshing: "Auntie's cooking is truly excellent."

Zhu Lin said happily, "Is it delicious? If it is, I'll bring you some more next time. I have to go to rehearsal now."

Zhu Lin is currently rehearsing "Wang Zhaojun". Cao Yu is very satisfied with Zhu Lin's portrayal of Wang Zhaojun, which fits the calm, gentle, and graceful image of Wang Zhaojun in the play.

At the end of July, Liu Yimin successfully revised the play "Wolf Smoke Over Beiping" and showed it to Cao Yu.

"If I don't push you, you won't know how fast you can go. Not bad at all!" Cao Yu, wearing glasses, carefully flipped through the script.

Any inappropriate points will be pointed out on the spot.

“People with different personalities speak in different ways. You must remember that when you’re writing, you have to put yourself in the character’s shoes. Yi Min, the character of Bai Lianqi, is written very well,” Cao Yu said, pointing to the character.

"The teacher teaches well!"

"Haha, don't flatter me, this is all your credit. I, as your teacher, haven't really taught you much. Who do you think would be a good director for this play?"

Cao Yu asked helplessly, while several directors from the Beijing People's Art Theatre stared intently at him, but Cao Yu remained tight-lipped.

"The teacher must have someone in mind by now!" Liu Yimin said, taking a sip of tea.

Cao Yu remained silent, hoping to force him to speak so that he could silence the others. It's best to leave the difficult tasks to those with more influence!
"He's really cunning. I want Shan Zun to direct it. After all, he directs big-budget productions and has a lot of experience. There are many characters involved in 'Wolf Smoke Over Beiping,' and most directors simply can't cover everything. Only Shan Zun can make this production stand out."

Cao Yu said helplessly.

"I listen to the teacher."

"Oh well, fine, fine, I'll take the blame. I'll go explain to Lao Lan and Lao Su." Cao Yu rubbed his temples in pain.

Liu Yimin asked, "Teacher, since it's a big production, isn't one director enough? Wouldn't it be better with two or three directors?"

"what do you mean?"

"One general director, one executive director!"

Cao Yu thought for a moment, then said with a smile, "Then let's do it this way. Lao Lan will be the executive director. As for Lao Su and the other directors, as directors of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, they should understand."

Cao Yu acted swiftly, and Ouyang Shanzun and Lan Tianye were overjoyed to hear that the role had been handed over to them. Su Min shook his head and sighed, looking unwilling.

Losing to Ouyang Shanzun was bad enough, but how could he lose to Lan Tianye? He didn't even manage to become an executive director.

Liu Yimin made himself invisible, and only sat down in front of Yu Shizhi when it came time to discuss the payment for the manuscript.

Just as Yu Zhi was about to lay the groundwork, Liu Yimin said directly, "Just say what you have to say!"

Seeing that his preparations hadn't worked, he stopped beating around the bush, took a document out of the drawer, and said:

"I love your personality! Jiabao suggested to the higher-ups that the royalties for high-quality scripts should be increased. 'Wolf Smoke Over Beiping' is a long script, so the basic royalties for this script can be 560 yuan. As for the profit sharing, how about one yuan per performance?"

Liu Yimin smiled and stretched, saying, "I'll follow your arrangements." The script for the play would earn him 560 yuan, which was beyond Liu Yimin's expectations and more than double the script fee for "Mr. Donkey."

"Yimin, I hope you'll keep up the good work and write more great scripts. I'm still waiting to act in them!" Yu Shizhi stamped the royalty slip and told Liu Yimin to go to the finance department to collect it himself.

When he arrived at the finance office, the finance staff saw Liu Yimin and warmly offered him a chair to sit down.

"Yimin, give me the form, I'll collect your royalties." The head of the finance department took the form, glanced at it, and gasped, looking enviously at Liu Yimin sitting on the stool.

Five hundred and sixty yuan is almost his annual salary. He was envious! But he also knew that this kind of money couldn't be obtained through envy; one had to have the ability to earn it.

After counting out the fifty-six ten-yuan bills, he handed them to Liu Yimin and asked him to sign for them. Five hundred and sixty yuan was the largest single royalty payment Liu Yimin had received besides the royalties from his standalone books.

His wallet suddenly swelled by a quarter. He left 300 yuan for his family when he went home. After that, Liu Yimin now had 2,600 yuan in savings.

He left three hundred yuan for his family, but Yang Xiuyun and Liu Fuqing refused to accept it. Helpless, he could only stuff the money under the bed sheet and send a telegram to Yanjing to report the matter.

Although the elderly couple may not be willing to spend the money they leave behind, there is a difference between having money but being unwilling to spend it and not having money to spend.

After receiving his royalties, Liu Yimin went to the rehearsal hall to watch Zhu Lin rehearse "Wang Zhaojun." Yang Lixin was playing the role of the Golden Gourd Warrior, and practically no one noticed him.

"Wang Zhaojun" was directed by Su Min. When Su Min saw Liu Yimin coming over, he warmly invited him to sit next to him: "What do you think?"

"As for the works directed by Director Su, needless to say, they are all outstanding." Liu Yimin's words pleased Su Min, who proudly pointed at Zhu Lin and said, "Zhu Lin is a good girl, suitable for playing Wang Zhaojun, but she still lacks experience. She hasn't brought Wang Zhaojun to life. Right now, she is just acting as Wang Zhaojun, but she hasn't yet identified herself as Wang Zhaojun."

Before and after Wang Zhaojun left for the border, her personal emotions underwent great fluctuations, and such changes could not be easily acted out.

As Su Min spoke, he put his arm around Liu Yimin's shoulder and whispered, asking him if he had any good ideas or concepts for the future. If so, he could offer his suggestions.

Upon hearing Liu Yimin say no, Su Min looked regretful and said, "I owe my son so much for what happened!"

"Director Su, Pu Cunxi acted the best himself and was able to seize the opportunity. Otherwise, Teacher Lan wouldn't have let him act." Liu Yimin waved his hand.

"That's true, but it won't work if there aren't suitable roles. Take the Beijing People's Art Theatre for example. There are so many actors there, and many of them never get a major role in their entire lives. Is it because they don't act well? No, even if our actors from the Beijing People's Art Theatre play a minor role, they'll still be better than many of the leading actors in other drama troupes."

The reason I can't get big roles is because there aren't any suitable ones!

Su Min sighed, "It sounds unfair to the actors, but in reality, it's impossible to be absolutely fair."

Ouyang Shanzun and Lan Tianye found Liu Yimin at the rehearsal hall to discuss casting issues. Casting for "The Flames of War in Beiping" alone would take about half a month, as most of the characters needed to be distinctive, and there were many of them.

"Teacher Shanzun, Teacher Lan, I don't know much about casting either, so you two can discuss it. If there are any changes to the script, just let me know!"

Ouyang Shanzun patted Liu Yimin on the shoulder and said, "Alright, leave the casting to the two of us. Don't worry, we definitely won't let your script go to waste. I think these few parts need to be changed. Master Sun's words sound a bit too refined and lack the roguishness."

Ouyang Shanzun guided Liu Yimin to make some revisions, and there were several other parts that were the result of his discussions with Lan Tianye.

After reaping the benefits of "Hachiko: A Dog's Tale," the editorial department and publishing house of People's Literature and Art accelerated the publication of Liu Yimin's other novels as standalone books.

This time, three novels will be published in succession: "The Flames of War in Beiping", "Donkey Water" and "Romance on Lushan Mountain". When I went to collect my royalties last time, the president of the publishing house, Wei Junyi, mentioned the publication, and Li Shu also expressed his opinion.

However, the ISBN application was not approved in June, which prevented the standalone edition from entering the formal publication process.

Fortunately, the ISBNs were all approved recently. Liu Yimin has a real headache about having to find someone to write a preface for each new book, as he can't always rely on the same few people.

Liu Yimin came to the editorial department of *People's Literature and Art* to ask Li Ji to write a preface. Li Ji, as the second-in-command of the Writers' Association, was responsible for the association's daily work, but recently Zhang Guangnian fell ill and needed surgery, so Li Ji temporarily took charge of the entire editorial department's work.

"It's rare that you remembered me, so I'll definitely write something wonderful for you." Li Ji looked at his fellow villager with delight.

"There's something else. The suggestion you gave to Lao Zhang to name the short story and novella prize the 'Lu Xun Literary Prize' has been approved by the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Ministry of Culture. They feel that your proposal is consistent with the mainstream naming conventions for international awards and is in line with the domestic reality. They asked me to express my gratitude to you."

"And I think you're going to win an award next, for both the short story and the novella; you'll definitely get one."

Liu Yimin started writing last year and has had a significant impact. Unfortunately, there is no award for novellas in China, only for short stories. Since he only writes novellas, he naturally does not meet the criteria for the award.

This year's winner, "Romance on Lushan Mountain," is a short story, while the rest are all novellas. Given the influence of these stories, winning the award is a sure thing.

"The establishment of the Lu Xun Literary Prize is a great contribution to the literary world, both in the present and in the future. As for my winning the prize, the judges haven't made their decision yet, so I can't be too happy yet."

Li Ji smiled but didn't continue. Judges? Putting aside influence, even if the judging actually started, which judge wouldn't vote for him?
Li Ji is the second-in-command of the Writers Association, and the Lu Xun Literary Prize is under the Writers Association's jurisdiction, so his statement basically means he's guaranteed to win the prize.

Liu Yimin was more concerned about the publication of the three standalone books. The royalties from these three books combined would amount to four figures.

As Cui Daoyi walked out of Li Ji's office, he smiled at Liu Yimin and said, "Congratulations, Yimin! You're publishing another book, and three at once! I wonder how many people will envy you!"

Cui Daoyi's face looked somewhat weathered, and his beard looked like it hadn't been shaved in a long time. The manuscripts on the table had been torn apart and reassembled. He felt a bit unlucky lately and really wanted to ask where all the good manuscripts had gone.

"Senior brother, you can't do this. Have a slice of watermelon!" Liu Yimin picked up two slices of watermelon from the table in the middle of the editorial department and handed one to Cui Daoyi.

Hearing Liu Yimin's words, the others also laughed, got up, picked up watermelons, and started eating, discussing their recent manuscripts with great enthusiasm.

"The recent manuscripts are making me angrier than the sun. If some of the authors were in front of me, I'd be so angry I'd punch them. What kind of garbage are they writing!" one editor said, spitting out a watermelon seed as if venting his frustration.

I vomited several times in a row, just like the Peashooter in Plants vs. Zombies.

"Don't even mention it, I'm getting stressed too. Yimin, we didn't have any articles from you in June and July, and sales dropped significantly. Don't you have any ideas yet?" Cui Daoyi wiped the watermelon juice from the corner of his mouth, a hint of expectation in his eyes.

Seeing Liu Yimin shake his head, his expression immediately darkened. He picked up a letter from the table and handed it to Liu Yimin: "Take a look. From a writer's perspective, what do you think of this manuscript?"

Liu Yimin didn't look at the name, but glanced at the contents and thought it was quite well-written. It seemed increasingly familiar, so he quickly glanced at the name again and asked, "Senior brother, may I see the envelope?"

"What? You think it's pretty good?" Cui Daoyi asked, handing the envelope to Liu Yimin with a puzzled look.

Liu Yimin looked at the sender's name on the letter and asked, "Senior brother, don't you think it's okay?"

“Some parts are poorly written, the story is rough, the direction doesn’t align with current trends, and the subject matter is quite sensitive. However, overall, it has its merits, and I’m still hesitant,” Cui Daoyi said.

"Indeed, some parts need to be revised, but overall it's not bad. I suggest you have the author named 'Lu Yao' come to Yanjing to make some revisions."

"You think that's okay?"

"I think it's a good idea, but I'm not the editor, so you have to make the decision."

"A Thrilling Scene" was Lu Yao's first novella, which won the inaugural novella award. However, the novella's fate was very tumultuous, and it almost never got published.

Liu Yimin thought to himself, "I'll give Lu Yao a hand!"

(End of this chapter)