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

Chapter 257 Various Units Compete for
Inside the rehearsal room, Zhu Lin couldn't hide his excitement, his eyes scanning the stage again and again, as if he were surveying his own territory.

I looked around the stage, then ran down to the audience area to check my position on stage, and mentally visualized the actors' positions.

Seeing her so happy, Liu Yimin didn't urge her, but just stood by and watched her do it all by herself.

After a while, Zhu Lin whispered, "Teacher Liu, do you think I'm up to the task?"

"Sure!"

Liu Yimin answered without hesitation, and his resolute voice made Zhu Lin feel his trust in her.

"Yes, I definitely can!" Zhu Lin repeated, then smiled at Liu Yimin.

Next, Zhu Lin began preliminary preparations, planning to copy Liu Yimin's "The Button" himself and get a feel for the novel's content every day before the script was completed.

"Director Zhu Lin is nervous too!" Liu Yimin asked with a smile.

Zhu Lin chuckled and said sweetly to Liu Yimin, "Teacher Liu, please don't make fun of Director Zhu Lin!"

As they left the rehearsal room, they met Ouyang Shanzun and Su Min. The two greeted Liu Yimin and congratulated Zhu Lin on becoming the assistant director. Both teachers encouraged Zhu Lin.

"Xiao Zhu, being an assistant director is just the beginning. In the future, you'll need to be able to rehearse on your own. That's when you'll truly be put to the test. But Lao Su and I both believe in you; you can definitely do it!" Ouyang Shanzun spoke like a kind teacher, his usual sternness gone.

Su Min nodded and told Zhu Lin to come to him if anything happened during rehearsals.

After having lunch at the courtyard house, Zhu Lin took advantage of his lunch break to copy "The Button" once. He didn't finish copying the 30,000-word manuscript until he started work.

He shook his arm in pain and told Liu Yimin with a smile that copying was no easy task.

“Copying Comrade Yang Lixin’s text is the real professional job. Why did you insist on doing it yourself?” Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"A bad pen is worse than a good memory!"

The two rode their bicycles together to the alley entrance and parted ways. Liu Yimin rode his bicycle to People's Literature and Art Publishing House and handed "The Button" to Cui Daoyi.

Cui Daoyi was wiping sweat from his brow in his office when he heard about the new manuscript. He quickly stood up, took the manuscript, and without even looking at it, said, "I've forgotten when was the last time you, Yimin, took the initiative to deliver a manuscript?"

Cui Daoyi was overjoyed. In his memory, apart from "Mr. Donkey", all the other manuscripts were ones that he personally visited, urged, and obtained from "People's Literature and Art".

"Hey, senior brother, you're my own senior brother. No one can take the manuscript from your hands without paying more," Liu Yimin joked.

Upon hearing this, Cui Daoyi beamed with joy, then said seriously, "Don't worry, Senior Brother will definitely be the first to add money!"

Xu Yi from the editorial department handed Liu Yimin a palm-leaf fan and told him to fan himself.

Liu Yimin fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan, watching the editors who were practically steaming from the heat, while constantly reassuring himself that a calm mind brings coolness!
He was sweating profusely, as if he had just taken a shower. Did he not know whether his calm mind could cool him down?
Cui Daoyi was watching, and Liu Yimin was so hot that he wanted to get up and leave, but Cui Daoyi stopped him again.

Liu Yimin joked, "Such a large national publication should get a few electric fans in the editorial department during the summer!"

Upon hearing this, the editors, instead of calming down, all agreed with Liu Yimin, saying that his words made sense.

Xu Yi also asked Liu Yimin to go to the editor-in-chief Zhang Guangnian on their behalf and plead for the people!
"Haha, comrades, just bear with it, the weather will cool down soon!" Zhang Guangnian walked out of the office and said to everyone with a smile.

The other editors immediately looked as if they had lost their parents, and dejectedly looked at the manuscript in their hands.

Zhang Guangnian walked up to Liu Yimin and asked him what good articles he had written recently.

Cui Daoyi looked up and said, "A reform literature work with a downward perspective! Lao Zhang, take a look, I think it is very representative of current reform literature."

Zhang Guangnian took the manuscript, and Cui Daoyi said to Liu Yimin, "After this novel is published, I think no one will say that you only know how to spout empty rhetoric about reform literature."

Zhang Guangnian was reading intently. Liu Yimin was too hot, so he ran to the tap outside, washed his face, and returned to the editorial department.

Xu Yi also brought a basin of water and sprinkled it on the ground.

Despite his advanced age, Zhang Guangnian remained calm and composed, sitting in his chair and watching attentively for nearly an hour.

After reading it, he said to Liu Yimin, "Starting with a single button, it showcases the historic transformation of reform and opening up. It uses the small to illustrate the big, the writing is exquisite, and it leaves a lasting impression. The ending points out the direction for everyone and awakens hope!"
This novel can help more people understand the significance of reform and opening up!

After finishing speaking, he showed the manuscript to the other editors and then called Liu Yimin and Cui Daoyi to his office.

Upon arriving at the office, Zhang Guangnian closed the door, gestured to the sofa, and asked the two to sit down. Zhang Guangnian then lifted the chair from behind the desk and sat down opposite Liu Yimin.

"Yimin, you'll be graduating next year. Do you have any plans for a job?" Zhang Guangnian asked with a smile.

Liu Yimin asked directly, "You don't mean to suggest I join People's Literature and Art or the Writers' Association, do you?"

"Haha, quite a few people have asked you about this, haven't they?"

"To be honest, the school, Beijing Film Studio, Shanghai Film Studio, and August First Film Studio have all asked me about this!" Liu Yimin said frankly.

"How about it? Have you considered becoming a full-time writer for the Writers Association or working for People's Literature and Art? However, I would prefer you to join People's Literature and Art. With your abilities, I believe you can achieve great things there."

Zhang Guangnian felt that if Liu Yimin joined the Writers Association, he would easily become a writer within the system, and gradually, his writing would lose all its spirit.

Only by working in "People's Literature and Art" can one truly unleash their potential.

Zhang Guangnian was eager to cultivate some young people for "People's Literature and Art" and to hand over the reins of "People's Literature and Art".

The position of editor-in-chief of People's Literature is too important; he now realizes the importance of training people to take charge as soon as possible.

Even if Liu Yimin is too old to take over his job, he can still become the next generation!
Liu Yimin has good relationships with Zhou Yang and Xia Yan in the Ministry of Culture, and he also has a good mass base. If he really becomes the editor-in-chief, there will definitely be fewer people who oppose him.

"Comrade Zhang, I'll think about it myself."

Liu Yimin wanted to find a job that offered more freedom and less constraint. He felt that starting as a junior editor at a place like *People's Literature* after graduation, working like Xu Yi, braving the rain to collect manuscripts and pushing himself to the limit, was meaningless.

I'm already a millionaire, why would I need to run around like this? Wouldn't all my money be wasted?

Seeing that Liu Yimin declined, Zhang Guangnian sighed and said it was a pity, then asked the Writers' Association.

Liu Yimin walked out of *People's Literature and Art* magazine, looked at the building behind him, and realized it was time to consider where to work. Yan Jiayan had repeatedly hinted that he should stay at Yenching University as a teacher, and after thinking about it carefully, there wasn't anything wrong with teaching and nurturing students!
Being a member of the Writers' Association and a member of the institutional intellectuals doesn't necessarily mean a brighter future.

At the Beijing People's Art Theatre, Yu Shizhi suggested to Cao Yu that Liu Yimin come to work at the theatre, specifically in the editorial department, to write scripts for the theatre. Cao Yu declined.

I feel that having both a student and a teacher in the same unit makes it easy for people to gossip. Besides, even if Liu Yimin isn't at the Beijing People's Art Theatre, the scripts he writes are still given to them.

Does this mean the Beijing People's Art Theatre is going to create a "Wan Family Gang"?

Back in the courtyard, Liu Yimin began adapting the script.

Inside the Commercial Press building, Huang Chunyu was overjoyed as he looked at the sales figures. He happily picked up the phone and dialed Liu Yimin's number.

He excitedly told Liu Yimin over the phone that the first batch of 200,000 copies of the "Homeland Trilogy" collection had sold out.

The three standalone books, "The Kite Runner," "Mountains High and Rivers Long," and "Red River Valley," have sold nearly 1.5 million copies together.

The most popular book was "The Kite Runner," which sold far more than the other two books in the trilogy, reaching 800,000 copies, because it was published as a standalone book earlier.

I believe that it won't be long before the sales of a single book can reach one million copies.

Huang Chunyu said regretfully, "At first, we were worried that the compilation wouldn't sell well, so we only printed 200,000 copies. We didn't expect it to sell so well. The profit margin on the compilation is high, but we printed too few. Even our general manager is regretting that we've suffered a huge loss!"

The Commercial Press even held a special meeting to discuss why such an expensive collection was selling so well.

Is the future direction of publishing and printing about to change? Are people starting to pursue higher printing quality for books?
After hanging up the phone, Huang Chunyu planned to visit Liu Yimin. However, upon learning that Liu Yimin was revising the script, she hesitated for a moment and decided not to bother him.

However, I still asked about Liu Yimin's latest manuscript and whether it needs to be published.

Liu Yimin understood what he meant and said with a smile, "Old Huang, this is just a short story, don't overthink it!"

"Alright, the Commercial Press should leave some room for its brother organizations!" Huang Chunyu said generously after understanding Liu Yimin's meaning, and told Liu Yimin to prepare to collect a new batch of royalties!
"Then I'll wait for good news in the yard!" Liu Yimin said with a smile as he hung up the phone.

The print run fees and royalties from these transactions must add up to a considerable sum.

In the evening, Zhu Lin came home from get off work. Unlike usual, he would go straight to the kitchen instead of to the study to check on Liu Yimin's script writing progress.

Seeing that Liu Yimin had already written several pages, she was overjoyed. She hugged Liu Yimin's head and kissed him, then hummed a song as she went to cook.

"Teacher Liu, when do you expect to finish writing the script?"

"If you don't sleep, it should take about two or three days!"

"Then you should go to sleep!" Zhu Lin said with a smile.

"It will be almost finished by the time school starts, and in a few months, I'll be able to buy tickets for the script directed by Zhu Lin!" Liu Yimin joked.

"Director Zhu Lin will give you a ticket to the play first!"

"Did Teacher Lan talk to you?"

"Teacher Lan gave me a lot of autonomy. He let me choose the actors first, and he also let me handle the costume design and stage art style. He would point out any problems!"

Zhu Lin said emotionally, "If the assistant director and the director don't maintain a good balance, the assistant director becomes just a figurehead."

Lan Tianye's ability to empower Zhu Lin and give her more initiative is quite remarkable.

Have you decided on the actor?

"I've thought of a few, take a look and see if they're suitable. We haven't found a female actress yet, but for the male actor, I'm planning to choose between Yang Lixin and Pu Cunxi. They're both young and their acting is good now. Teacher Lü Zhong will play the mother of the male character Wang Jiawen, and her husband will play the director of the anti-corruption office in the drama."

Zhu Lin named several people in a row, and Liu Yimin said with a smile, "Great! You've thought of so many things in such a short time. I think the chances of the rehearsal succeeding have risen to 70%!"

"Only 70%?"

"Seventy percent? Seventy percent is already quite a lot, Zhu Lin. We should take it slow at the beginning!"

"I'll listen to you, Teacher Liu!"

Zhu Lin had to perform in "Red River Valley" that evening, so he left in a hurry after dinner.

Liu Yimin saw her out, gently locked the door, turned a corner, and came to another courtyard to see how Li Lanyong was doing.

In the alley, Aunt Liang, like many others, sat under a tree or on a stone stool by the door chatting. Aunt Liang's Shandong accent sounded particularly jarring among the group of people with authentic accents.

She was completely unaware of it, but occasionally a few authentic words would pop out in her speech.

Liu Yimin greeted her as he passed by, then turned and disappeared around the corner of the alley.

Li Lanyong was cooking at home, but it was a bit inconvenient to cook with only one arm.

Seeing his condition, Liu Yimin quickly offered to help. Liu Yimin suggested that Li Lanyong go eat next door, but Li Lanyong, afraid of causing trouble for Liu Yimin, refused to go.

"How have things been these past few months?" Liu Yimin asked.

"Following Liu Zi and the others, I've gotten to know Yanjing City very well. Our capital is really big, with a large population, which means there are many places to make money. I've seen many people making money in various ways, some of which I've never seen or even imagined."

Li Lanyong ate his meal, excitedly chatting about everything he had seen and heard. From the east of Yanjing to the west of Yanjing, it seemed there were endless new things to tell.

However, when Liu Yimin saw the wound on his hand, he knew that he hadn't had an easy time lately. To do this kind of heavy work with only one hand, he must have to endure hardships that most people couldn't bear.

"School is about to start, what are your plans?" Liu Yimin asked with a smile.

"Of course I'll go back to be a gatekeeper! I might as well attend classes at Peking University. I told Qingping I was taking classes at Peking University, and he was incredibly envious. He said if I kept attending classes until the end of the year, I'd be practically a college student, except for that one certificate I'd be missing!"

Li Lanyong spoke loudly, trying his best to lighten the mood of the conversation.

Many universities' night school programs haven't reopened yet; otherwise, Li Lanyong could attend night school and obtain a university diploma through it.

(End of this chapter)