Chapter 261

Zhu Lin's film debut wasn't ideal.

What's terrible isn't that no one criticizes, what's truly terrible is that no one cares at all.

Gong Xue's first movie *Sacrificial Red* at least harvested many critical opinions from critics about her performance, but no one cared about Zhu Lin's performance in *The Traitor*.

Even this movie didn't get much attention. Zhu Lin went to that cinema again later, and the movie was pulled after only five days, saying the copy was taken to Shijiazhuang to be shown.

This was already giving up on the Yanjing market.

During this period, Zhu Lin was particularly depressed, but it just happened to fit the mood of the heroine in *Regret for the Past* at this stage. Director Shui Hua affirmed her performance again.

The director's affirmation, the family's encouragement, plus Wei Ming's letter, which also contained praise from her future mother-in-law, allowed Zhu Lin to quickly walk out of the haze of her debut.

She believed that *Regret for the Past* would definitely allow the audience to truly recognize her.

What surprised her even more was the original script Wei Ming was creating. He specifically wrote her a letter in Suqian. What did it mean?

Could it be, could it be that he wanted her to play the heroine of his new script!

Zhu Lin's little heart was pounding. Bad boy, count you as having a bit of conscience.

So in the dead of night, Zhu Lin wrote down her mental journey during this period in a letter to share with Wei Ming. She didn't mention the new script; she was waiting for Ma Xiaowei to give her a surprise.

After being shown in major cities in the West and Yanjing and the Magic City, this *The Traitor* from the Xi'an Er Yingchang could basically be declared a failure.

How failed was it? On the premise of having a cast like Zhu Lin, Ma Jingwu, and Golden Rooster Best Actress Na Renhua, especially with Zhu Lin being such a big traffic, the number of people rating it on Douban in later generations wasn't enough to open a score, far inferior to those old movies of the same period.

However, the Xi'an Er Yingchang was already used to it. After all, whether it was the director's level or the cast, they couldn't compare with Beijing Film or Shanghai Film.

'80 was just like this, but they would exert their full strength in the following '81.

First is the movie *Awakening* directed by Teng Wenji, which starred the big star Chen Chong, and it might be her last movie before going abroad, which was considered to be caught by the Xi'an Er Yingchang.

There is also *Xi'an Incident* directed by Cheng Yin, one of the four handsome men of the Beijing Er Yingchang. This was a big production that had been registered by the superiors. The Xi'an Er Yingchang was also able to win the leading power of this movie because of its geographical advantage.

And just now, *Cow and Cow Two*, adapted from Wei Ming's novel, had also officially wrapped up. After confirming that there was no need to reshoot the plot, Director Wu Tianming returned to the dynasty.

Originally, the importance of this movie in the Xi'an Er Yingchang was far inferior to *Xi'an Incident* and *Awakening*. But when the studio leaders saw parts of *Cow and Cow Two*, they all praised it and sighed at Wu Tianming's great progress.

How did this kid film the cow so humanely? It's simply divine!

And the performance of the dairy cow and Li Baotian was complementary. And where did this Li Baotian pop out from? Why didn't they know there was such a character before?

Several studio leaders who were about to retire even discussed giving Wu Tianming a deputy studio head title, letting him take over the Xi'an Er Yingchang in the future.

After all, the Xi'an Er Yingchang lacked talent. Wu Tianming had a set of methods whether it was directing ability or management means. If they wanted to keep talent, they had to pay a heavy price.

The studio head also asked him what he planned to film next, and the studio would support it as much as possible. Then Wu Tianming took out a copy of *Story Club*.

Gong Xue took time to go home and told her father about helping to renovate the old Western-style house, and it was said behind others' backs. Only the two of them knew.

Now Dad was already in a semi-retired state and had a lot of free time.

Gong Yuandong was also a bit puzzled at first. Buying an old Western-style house and renovating it drastically, what kind of friends did his daughter meet after entering the entertainment industry? Are these serious friends?

As a father, he had some worries.

In order to dispel her father's concerns, Gong Xue said that people would pay him remuneration, making it quite formal. As soon as he heard this, Gong Yuandong had no objections. It happened that he could earn some private money.

And besides drawing clothes, he really liked drawing architecture. This job could be said to have poked his interest point.

Two days later, after receiving a call from the Writers' Association guesthouse, Gong Xue immediately went there to find Wei Ming.

Wei Ming said the script was completed.

Gong Xue didn't rush to read the script. She told Wei Ming a thing: "A-Ying knows about the house."

"Oh, how did she know?"

"It's not my dad. He always goes out early and returns late, acting suspiciously. Mom sent A-Ying to follow him, and then discovered that old Western-style house. Dad told her those words of mine, but she guessed it was your house."

Wei Ming asked: "Then what did she say to Mom?"

Gong Xue: "Dad shared 30% of the labor fee with A-Ying, so A-Ying reported to Mom that he went fishing, but he was empty-handed every day. In addition, A-Ying could also help do some decoration design."

Wei Ming couldn't stop laughing. What a father-kind and daughter-filial.

Gong Xue pouted her little mouth: "A-Ying is also threatening me."

"Wait until I go back and see how I deal with A-Long! Then how did she threaten you?"

Gong Xue: "She said let me leave a room for her after the house is renovated."

Wei Ming smiled: "I thought it was something else. Even if she didn't mention it, I had this plan. Such a big house, how unsafe it is for you to live alone. If you want to move there, it's better to call A-Ying."

"Then wouldn't it be inconvenient?" Gong Xue bit her lip, feeling she was dirty.

Wei Ming held the slender Sister Xue: "It doesn't matter, let her live on the first floor, we live on the second floor."

Sister Xue then showed a smile, and then Wei Ming took the script of *Mom, Love Me Once Again*.

"Now the script is finished, Sister can take a look. I'll make a copy later, prepare to publish it in *Huacheng*, and see which film studio is interested."

Although Wei Ming didn't have a script work officially released yet, his fame was there. Everyone was fighting to grab it. Gong Xue even knew that Hong Kong big directors were looking for him to write scripts.

Gong Xue sat on Wei Ming's bed reading the script, while Wei Ming started to revise *Human Righteousness Is Vicissitudes*. He had been in the Magic City for half a month, and it would be December soon. It was time to do some serious things.

However, there were always people who made him distracted. Not long after, someone shouted for him downstairs.

"Teacher Wei, someone is looking for you."

Wei Ming let Sister Xue read the script with peace of mind, and he went down to see.

Didn't expect it to be Su Chen, the editor-in-chief of *Huacheng* who had met him once at the National Book Fair.

It was there that Wei Ming promised to hand over *Mom, Love Me Once Again* to *Huacheng* for publication.

"President Su, are you here in the Magic City for official business?" Wei Ming reached out to shake hands with the other party. There were seats downstairs, and he didn't have the idea of inviting the other party upstairs.

Su Chen: "Not here in the Magic City for official business, went to Zhenjiang."

"Zhenjiang?" Zhenjiang vinegar is good.

"Not just me, but also Ba Lao, and Meng Weizai of *Contemporary* and others. This is a meeting of editors-in-chief of major national literary journals, held at Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang, a total of 27. After it ended, I thought anyway I had to pass through the Magic City, and heard from Ba Lao that you were revising manuscripts here, so I came to see you."

Wei Ming asked: "You came just in time, I also went to Northern Jiangsu a while ago, just came back."

"Went to Northern Jiangsu?"

"Just that script, went over to collect some material."

Su Chen's spirit lifted. He wasn't here specifically to urge the manuscript, just to care: "How is the progress now?"

Wei Ming: "After coming back, I worked overtime, forgot to eat and sleep, and now it's just finished."

"Ah, this is already finished?" Editor-in-chief Su was surprised. He originally thought Wei Ming's material collection was preparing for a new work, but didn't expect it to be finishing.

He couldn't wait: "Can I see it now? If there's no big problem, maybe it can catch up with the issue in December."

Although the manuscript organization work for the December issue had already been completed, it wasn't a big deal to add a plug for Wei Ming's new work.

This year, besides *Spring in the Fields* at the beginning of the year, Wei Ming had no new novel works. Although this was a script and not as widely received as a novel, it would definitely alleviate some of the readers' hunger.

Once Wei Ming's long novel in *Harvest* came out, they wouldn't be able to show off.

Sister Xue was reading it now, so Wei Ming naturally couldn't let him see it, so he asked: "This is not urgent. President Su, what did you guys talk about at the meeting?"

"Actually, nothing much, mainly to exchange feelings and introduce some meaningful experiences of their own publications. Oh, there's one thing related to you. Next year, the Writers' Association will hold the First National Excellent Novella Award. Works published from '77 to '80 can participate. By then, you will probably make it very difficult for the judges," Su Chen said with a smile.

Wei Ming understood what he meant. His main output in the past year or so was novellas, and every one was a classic, especially *Herdsman* and *Spring in the Fields*. These two works had high artistic components and were powerful contenders for the award.

But according to the consistent style of the Writers' Association, each author would have at most one work awarded. With so many authors and works, how could one person be allowed to dominate?

Wei Ming said two modest words and asked Su Chen about the literary anecdotes at this meeting.

Su Chen: "If you want to talk about anecdotes, there really is one. Forgot which magazine editor it was, proposed a saying of the Four Great Famous Dan of literary journals."

"Oh, which four Dan?"

Su Chen: "*Harvest* is mature and steady, called 'Old Dan'; *Contemporary* is called 'Zheng Dan' for its righteous and strong; *October* is fresh and elegant, called 'Qingyi'; and our *Huacheng* is called 'Hua Dan' for its graceful and colorful grand atmosphere."

So the saying of the Four Great Famous Dan of literary journals was proposed at this time. It is estimated that Ba Lao must be muttering in his heart: We have always been benchmarking against *People's Literature*, how did we get mixed up with you few new soldiers?

Besides *Harvest*, the other three were all popped out in '78 and '79. Whether it was background or circulation, they couldn't compare with *Harvest*. This saying was a bit forced to bundle.

However, this kind of marketing method similar to the Four Heavenly Kings, Four Great Talents, and Four Little Flowers is indeed very easy to use.

Originally, Nanjing's *Zhong Shan* and Yanjing's *Yanjing Literature* were about the same level as them, but after the Four Great Famous Dan were widely recognized by readers, *Zhong Shan* and *Yanjing Literature* fell behind a bit.

Wei Ming smiled: "I have published articles in these Four Great Famous Dan, feeling quite honored."

"Those little essays can't count," Su Chen shook his head. "*October* heard that your next work will be published in *Huacheng*, and they are all holding their breath to win your next work."

Wei Ming smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This doesn't have any ideas for the time being, might have to let *October* wait for a long time."

However, besides *Human Righteousness Is Vicissitudes* in '81, it was indeed time to write something. And as a writer, he also wanted to collect the achievement of the Four Great Famous Dan in the literary world and have representative works in every publication.

After chatting for a while and delaying some time, Wei Ming estimated that Sister Xue should have finished reading, and Editor-in-chief Su also started yawning because he was sleepy, so he asked: "President Su, you are also staying here, right? What is the room number? I'll go back and get the manuscript and send it to you."

Su Chen said: "220."

Good guy, Sister Chen's original room, downstairs from him.

Wei Ming went upstairs with a thud. At the door, he heard a burst of sobbing coming from the room.

That is, there were few people on the third floor. He hurriedly pushed the door in and saw Sister Xue lying on the bed sobbing in a low voice. Wei Ming went over to take a look, the pillowcase was soaked, feeling that Sister Xue had shed at least a kilogram of tears.

"Sister~" Wei Ming hugged Gong Xue gently.

She would cry was in Wei Ming's expectation. After all, his script paid great attention to the sense of picture, and one could have a picture by looking at the text. And thinking of those pictures of flesh and blood separation and mutual concern and longing between mother and son, who could hold back from crying?

You don't cry? Do you have a heart!

Sister Xue harmed Wei Ming's pillowcase and started to harm his shirt.

Wei Ming hurriedly used a joke to dilute the sadness: "My clothes are very expensive, they are all stained with snot."

Gong Xue hurriedly separated from him, and seeing him looking at her with a bad smile, immediately punched him.

"Bad guy, how can you write so movingly!"

"It's reality that is too bitter, I just processed it a little," Wei Ming didn't dare to take credit, and then said seriously, "Sister, you are a professional actor. If you can't hold back your tears when you shouldn't cry during filming, it won't work. For example, when the heroine cruelly drives away her son to let him go to the big city with his biological father and stepmother, you can't cry in front of the child."

Thinking of Wei Ming's psychological and detailed description in that paragraph, Gong Xue wiped her tears: "I won't. I just treated myself as an ordinary reader just now, my emotions were too surging, I couldn't stop it."

She even thought that if she gave birth to a child for Ma Xiaowei, but he abandoned her, that would be a terrible thing.

Wei Ming thought to himself, this is just the beginning. By the time the movie is filmed, plus those few soundtracks of his, tsk tsk, that is really a tear-jerking nuclear weapon.

"Alright, Sister wait a moment. The editor-in-chief of *Huacheng* came just now, we chatted for a while, this manuscript needs to be reviewed by him."

"Oh, then you go, I'm leaving too."

"Don't, I..." Wei Ming hugged the good sister, his hands like swimming dragons.

Gong Xue had a bitter little face: "My head is full of Crazy Mom and Little Gourd now."

Wei Ming knew that this was no mood. He could only sigh: "Then you wait downstairs, I'll send the script to him and then send you."

Early the next morning, Wei Ming was woken up by a knock on the door.

Opening the door, it was Su Chen from *Huacheng*. He told Wei Ming: "I'm going back to Guangzhou."

Wei Ming asked: "Then can the script be published next month? If not, I have to make a copy to see which film studio is interested."

Su Chen smiled: "I dare to say, once this script comes out, film studios across the country will compete to grab it."

Su Chen stayed up all night to finish the script last night. It was a bit beyond his expectations. Wei Ming wrote a relatively popular mother-son affection story.

Actually, the background of the story involved plots like educated youth going to the countryside and returning to the city, which could be made into an educated youth movie, but Wei Ming didn't dig deep into that aspect, and the focus was entirely on Crazy Mom and Little Gourd.

From a literary perspective, this focus made the script appear lacking in substance and depth.

But Su Chen was also an old man who had been engaged in literature for decades. What hadn't he seen? Works like *Mom, Love Me Once Again* that made him unable to help but shed tears several times during the reading process, crying like a fool, couldn't be said to be rare, or could be said to be none.

Just because of this, this script filmed into a movie would definitely be very attractive to the audience. Mother-son affection is the most simple emotion of mankind, and it might be more moving to ordinary people than fashionable things like educated youth, scars, and reflection.

Su Chen indicated that this script could be seen in *Huacheng* in December, which saved Wei Ming from making copies himself. By then, he could directly take *Huacheng* magazine to talk to the film studio.

In addition, he also confirmed the manuscript fee standard of 10 yuan per thousand words with Wei Ming. 35,000 words, 350 yuan into the account.

After seeing Su Chen off, reports about the Four Great Famous Dan of literary journals began to appear frequently in newspapers, and the momentum started.

And at this time, *Harvest* threw another heavy bomb. In the newly released *Harvest* November issue, the educated youth literature *Wasted Years* by Ye Xin published the second part.

Considering the widespread attention the first part attracted across the country, this issue of *Harvest* directly came with an initial printing of 800,000 copies, breaking the previous highest circulation record of *Harvest*. With the unit price of *Harvest*, the gold content of this circulation was higher than the more than one million of *People's Literature*.

And Wei Ming also completed the revision of the first few tens of thousands of words of *Human Righteousness Is Vicissitudes* and went to the *Harvest* editorial department to exchange for the later manuscript.

Then Li Xiaolin told Wei Ming that according to feedback from all channels, this issue of *Harvest* sold so well that it sold out in many places.

"We plan to add another 300,000 copies!"

That is 1.1 million copies. Pure literary journal, one yuan per copy. Putting these elements together, it's too terrible.

This is 1.1 million in turnover, and a *Harvest* is only 400,000 to 500,000 words. Calculated at the highest 10 yuan per thousand words, the manuscript fee cost is only 4,000 to 5,000 yuan. This wave, blood profit!

Wei Ming was calculating the profit situation, while Editor Li teased him: "Your pressure will be great next."

"Ah?" Wei Ming was stunned, "What does it have to do with me?"

Editor Li smiled: "*Wasted Years* increased the sales to over a million, and then your long novel takes over in the next issue. If the sales aren't as good as this issue, your title as a literary genius will be criticized."

Wei Ming understood what she meant. He rushed too hard last year. People like Ye Xin were far less sensational than him. Now this work is the first long novel after a year. All parties must have high expectations.

However, Wei Ming's head was very clear: "What I write isn't the current hot topic. I don't compare sales with others. I only compare whose work can still have readers twenty years later, thirty years later."

And on this point, Wei Ming was full of confidence!

(End of chapter)