Chapter 139: Can you get a commission just by taking a train? (Guaranteed 1 update)

Lu Lu Xiaoyan returned to her unit for work. As soon as she entered the door, a colleague asked her, "Is that 'Where is Spring' sung by our Lele?"

She nodded proudly, "It's not bad, is it?"

"Oh my, it's sung too well. My little grandson is singing 'Di-li Di-li-li' in my ear every day now. Bring Lele over to meet him some other day."

"I don't think that's necessary. My daughter is still young." Lu Lu Xiaoyan immediately became vigilant; that little blondie better not think about getting close!

Just as they were chatting, the new editor-in-chief called her to the office.

First, the sample copies of *The Legend of the Book from the Sky* were out.

"We plan to release it along with the March issue, and we can take the opportunity to advertise it through the magazine."

Lu Lu Xiaoyan looked at the book, which wasn't too thick but was filled with illustrations, and said, "Alright, I'll tell Wei Shenme later, and I'll take this sample copy to him."

The new editor-in-chief nodded, "There's one more thing. I heard that *Youth Literature* in Modou has gone into a second printing. The response to *The Brave's Game* has been quite good."

Lu Lu Xiaoyan smiled, "Wei Shenme's novels are all very innovative and unconventional. It's normal for them to be favored by readers."

Actually, the editor-in-chief was worried, "Do you think we might have made a mistake by swapping the two novels?"

This was the first decision he had implemented since taking office, and it was because he had listened to Lu Lu Xiaoyan's advice.

He now felt that the creativity of *Black Cat Detective* was not as good as *The Brave's Game*. He didn't want the one they swapped out to become a hit while the one they kept fell flat.

Lu Lu Xiaoyan comforted him, "It won't. Our readers are basically elementary school students or even preschoolers. *Black Cat Detective* is more suitable for our reader demographic than *The Brave's Game*. Just look at the two in my family; they clearly both prefer *Black Cat Detective*. Now Xizi is even pestering me to raise a cat."

Hearing her say this, the new editor-in-chief felt slightly more at ease.

"I have something here too," Lu Lu Xiaoyan said. Although the time hadn't been set yet, she needed to provide a heads-up, "Our Xizi recently auditioned for a movie role. I might need to accompany him to the set for a while. You must approve my leave, Editor-in-Chief."

"What? Your precious son has such great ability?" the editor-in-chief asked in surprise, "What movie is it?"

"*The Herdsman*, Director Xie Jin's new film."

"Oh my, that's remarkable, truly remarkable!"

"Oh, it's just good luck," Lu Lu Xiaoyan said modestly.

The editor-in-chief: "I'm saying your nephew is remarkable to be able to arrange that."

Lu Lu Xiaoyan: "It's not entirely my nephew's credit."

Being able to get it done was mainly because the eldest niece, Gong Xue, cooperated well.

Thinking about how Gong Xue was only four years older than her, yet she had to put on the airs of an elder, Lu Lu Xiaoyan couldn't help but want to laugh.

Back at her desk, Lu Lu Xiaoyan continued working. Because it had become a bimonthly publication but the number of editors hadn't changed much, their workload had actually decreased significantly.

Just as Lu Lu Xiaoyan wanted to slack off, a phone call came into the editorial department.

"Lu Xiaoyan, it's for you."

Lu Lu Xiaoyan picked it up. It was from Teacher Gu Gu Jianfen. The two of them were in contact regarding Lele's musical development.

She was just telling Lu Lu Xiaoyan, "The Pacific Audio-Visual Company in Guangzhou is ready to produce the cassette tapes. The royalty for Lele's part will be sent to your unit when the time comes. Do you think that's okay?"

"Okay, okay. When will this be available for purchase?" Lu Lu Xiaoyan was already prepared to buy several copies so that Lele's maternal grandfather could listen to them too.

Gu Gu Jianfen: "As for that, it depends on their speed. If it's fast, you'll be able to see it before the end of the first lunar month."

"Fast, fast, fast!"

In the recording workshop of the Pacific Audio-Visual Company, a cassette tape titled *The Spring of the Herding Class* was undergoing busy recording work.

In addition to the five original songs by Wei Ming, Pacific also found several young singers locally to cover five old songs, such as "Farewell," "Counting Ducks," and "Catching Loaches." Although they weren't written by Wei Ming, they were also mentioned in the novel *The Spring of the Herding Class*, which just happened to make up ten songs.

Having just finished the New Year, the employees were still a bit sluggish. General Manager Manager Liao Mingzu couldn't help but urge them.

Don't look at the fact that he was under 1.7 meters tall and weighed only 90 jin; he was decisive and very authoritative in the company. He came from a technical background and suddenly took over the destitute Pacific. He didn't expect to make a hit on the first try, and now he was starting to brew a second hit.

On his desk also lay a copy of the latest *People's Literature*. Now, literary youths across the country should all be reading this magazine, reading Wei Ming's *The Spring of the Herding Class*. They must be curious about what those songs in the novel are actually like. Now, one cassette tape could satisfy them. Is seven yuan expensive?

Not expensive at all!

Manager Liao Mingzu's requirement was to start nationwide distribution before the Lantern Festival and to make this tape popular throughout the country before the end of the first lunar month.

The quantity of just the first batch reached as many as 1 million tapes!

One million tapes, 7 million in sales. If they work hard this year, maybe the profit could reach 10 million!

Thinking of such high profits, and then thinking about the lyricist and composer, as well as the few dozen yuan in earnings for the singer, Manager Liao Mingzu felt a bit unbearable, but this was the regulation, just like text royalties, the state had standards.

However, Manager Manager Liao felt that Wei Ming was truly a talent; he could handle both novels and songs, and they were all written so well. Such a person should be befriended. Later, he could use the name of musical exchange to invite him to Guangzhou to have some fun.

After the train left the Red Base Area, Wei Ming and his party arrived in Xi'an. Section Chief Jia was a bit reluctant to get off the train.

"Writer Wei, if you have time when you come back, you can come to Xi'an to sit for a while. If possible, definitely remember to write a novel for our Terracotta Warriors!" Section Chief Jia urged at the end. Wei Ming waved his hand at him, and Section Chief Jia couldn't figure out if this meant "see you again" or "no chance."

To be honest, Wei Ming was interested in writing a novel about the Terracotta Warriors, but he didn't have the time. He only wanted to finish writing all the promised scripts as soon as possible and then focus on writing his own long novel.

To achieve a prominent status in the literary world, one still needs a substantial, legacy-defining work.

So, goodbye Section Chief Jia, goodbye Terracotta Warriors, goodbye mutton *paomo* and *roujiamo*!

Xi'an Station was a major station and would stop for nearly half an hour. Wei Ming's family of four took turns getting off the train to get some fresh air.

When Wei Ming and Wei Hong returned to the carriage, they saw new passengers constantly boarding. They all hoped that no new people would come to their two sets of beds; just their family of four was quite good.

As a result, a newcomer finally boarded, not very old, and looking scholarly.

After the other party settled his luggage, he began to size up the four people who were clearly a family.

When the young man's gaze landed on Wei Ming's face, he was clearly startled, his eyes narrowed slightly, carrying a sense of inquiry.

Alike, truly alike!

"Comrade, may I ask if your surname is Wei?" he asked Wei Ming directly.

Wei Ming was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

!

"Wei Ming?"

Seeing him reveal a subtle expression, the other party knew he had guessed correctly.

He said with ecstasy: "It really is you!"

Wei Wei Jiefang asked his son: "Do you know each other?"

Wei Ming shook his head, and the young man also shook his head: "Comrade Wei Ming doesn't know me, but I know you! The famous writer known throughout the country!"

Old Wei immediately grinned. Was his son's popularity already this high? Not only did others know his great name, but they could even recognize him just by looking at his face!

The only writer he could recognize by face was Mr. Lu Xun.

Soon the other party also reported his background. It turned out he wasn't an ordinary enthusiastic reader; he was an editor and also a poet.

"Liang Ping from *Stars* Poetry Journal. I've long admired your great name, Writer Wei." Editor Liang shook hands with Wei Ming vigorously. He had seen Wei Ming's interview in *China Youth Daily*, and because there was a black-and-white photo, he recognized him immediately.

Wei Ming had a bad premonition and greeted him faintly.

This Editor Liang was the future editor-in-chief of *Stars* Poetry Journal, and "Ideal" was originally published in *Stars*. Although the influence of *Stars* Poetry Journal was far less than *Poetry Journal*, it could be considered the top tier of the second echelon, and it had huge influence in Sichuan-Chongqing and even the entire western poetry scene.

Could it be that he wanted to solicit a contribution from him?

"I'm on a business trip to Xi'an this time to solicit contributions, but the result isn't ideal. Who would have thought that I would actually meet you on the train? It's truly fate!" Editor Liang smiled, "I like all your poetry works, but there are too few, only two. Has Writer Wei written any poetry recently?"

It's here, it's here! It came after all!

Wei Ming shook his head: "I've been busy writing a long novel recently, no poetic inspiration."

"Sigh, what a pity. You should walk around Xi'an. In this ancient city, you will definitely have inspiration."

"No time. Our family of four came to Sichuan-Chongqing this time to find relatives, and we're not in the mood for sightseeing."

"Oh, I remember now. Your mother is from our Sichuan-Chongqing." Editor Liang patted his forehead. He had read all of Wei Ming's articles, so naturally, he knew the creative background of *The Herdsman*.

Then he began to communicate with Xu Xu Shufen in the Chongqing dialect.

He really envied places like theirs where the dialect of the entire province was similar. His mother's dialect leaned towards the Chengdu side, but there was no obstacle in communicating with Chongqing people, whereas in Hebei, it was exhausting to communicate even after leaving the county.

The train continued to move, all the way south. As the sky grew late, Editor Liang had already learned about the specific problems of Xu Xu Shufen's family and the situation they had grasped.

Through letters sent to Wei Ming by enthusiastic readers, it could be roughly inferred that the village where Xu Xu Shufen's family lived was buried underground due to flash floods and mudslides.

However, the villagers there had basically all been safely evacuated and were later resettled in three nearby villages, which is why Xu Xu Shufen couldn't find them no matter how she tried when she wrote home later.

"Next, we will go to those three villages to look for them. We should be able to find them."

Editor Liang suggested: "Baoxing County is mostly mountainous, and there have been big changes in recent years. I'm afraid Auntie won't be able to find the road from back then. How about this? When we arrive in Chengdu, you come with me to the Writers' Association guesthouse first. How about I find someone familiar with the local situation to accompany you on a trip?"

Editor Liang hadn't given up on soliciting a contribution from Wei Ming, so he appeared very enthusiastic about this matter.

I'm already like this; if you don't leave a poem, can you justify it!

(Thanks to the supportive readers! Three updates again today, but the third update might be a bit late. Still asking for monthly tickets!)

(End of chapter)