Chapter 360

Minford completed the task very well. Hearing Wei Ming's translation, everyone felt that this sentence was very philosophical, so Wei Ming made a few more paragraphs, such as "Either explode in silence or perish in silence." "Tragedy is destroying valuable things in life for people to see." "Actually, there is no road on the ground. When there are many people walking, it becomes a road." "The brave are angry, drawing their swords at the stronger; the cowardly are angry, but drawing their swords at the weaker."

He sang and harmonized with Minford, and the cooperation was excellent.

But I didn't expect that in addition to professional supporters like Minford, there were actually spontaneous supporters.

A white man who looked about the same age as Minford walked over from the crowd. He said excitedly in German: "He is right. Lu Xun is the greatest writer in modern China. We should understand his works, but I think a translation you just made needs to be discussed..."

Seeing that Wei Ming didn't seem to understand, he said it again in English, and then began to argue with Wei Ming.

At this time, Wei Linglang appeared and said to the confused Wei Ping'an: "He is Wolfgang Kubin, a professor of Sinology at the Free University of Berlin."

Wei Ping'an knew that the Free University of Berlin belonged to East Germany. He asked: "This won't be a supporter you found, right?"

Wei Linglang: "I'm not familiar with him. He is purely out of love for Lu Xun, but I have thought about finding him to translate your nephew's works."

Wei Ming is also not familiar with Kubin. This future master of the three major Sinology in Europe is still relatively young. Although he looks down on contemporary Chinese literature represented by Mo Yan and Yu Hua, he admires Lu Xun very much.

He once translated some of Lu Xun's articles into German. The German version of *The Complete Works of Lu Xun* in the 1990s was also completed under his leadership. Whenever he heard someone talking about Lu Xun, he couldn't help but jump out.

Subsequently, Wei Hong moved a chair, and Wei Ming and Professor Kubin communicated about Lu Xun literature in English.

Both are experts in Lu Xun studies, speaking passionately, making the audience on the scene quite moved, and more and more determined that Lu Xun is the top existence in the Chinese literary scene.

Several German publishers were a little moved. Wei Linglang was unmoved. The authority she could use in her hands had basically been used on Wei Ming.

Moreover, *The Complete Works of Lu Xun* has as many as sixteen parts, and there are many letters. The translation difficulty is too great. It may not be done in a few years or more than ten years. The translation of the complete works is obviously not as good as choosing its classic works for translation.

Later, Kubin saw a German publisher he was familiar with and whispered two words in his ear. He immediately decided to sign a contract with the Chinese side.

Wei Ming was a little confused and asked what Professor Kubin said.

Kubin smiled: "I said Mr. Lu Xun passed away in 1936."

This is very attractive to publishers, because this means that there is no need to pay royalties to the author and his family after 1986. Copyright law only protects the author's lifetime and 50 years after death, and then it can be printed and distributed at will.

However, the United States recently changed it to 70 years after death.

That is to say, royalties can still be collected for five years. The translation of the German version of *The Complete Works of Lu Xun* will definitely not be completed in five years, so it is equivalent to the publisher being able to save a large sum of money out of thin air in the future.

And Kubin's successful persuasion probably also planned a long-term meal ticket for himself. His translator royalties can still be collected 50 years after his death.

Some Chinese representatives next to the bookshelf in the back also thought of this problem, feeling that Little Wei had miscalculated, *The Complete Works of Lu Xun* has no oil and water.

But Wei Ming felt that being able to let Lu Xun's works go to the world is an achievement in itself, and he is familiar with this, so Lu Xun's collection of essays took the lead.

In addition to German publishers, some countries have also become interested in Lu Xun's works. They also want to listen and chat again.

However, Wei Ming sent them to Director Liu, who was responsible for specific business. He still had to launch new products.

"The next book is amazing. It is a new book this year. When it was published two months ago, it caused an earthquake in the Chinese publishing and cultural circles!" Wei Ming picked up a book with exaggerated language.

Melinda read it out: "*Fu Lei's Family Letters*? Teacher Wei Ming, I am not very familiar with this Fu Lei. Can you introduce him to everyone?"

Wei Ming drank tea: "Everyone knows the famous French writer Balzac, right?"

"Who doesn't know this."

"Even an Englishman like me knows."

"A giant in the world literary scene!"

"That is our greatest novelist in France! France's Leo Tolstoy!"

"You wouldn't want to say he is China's Balzac, would you?"

Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere was relaxed and warm. They were all waiting for Wei Ming to introduce.

"No, no, no. Fu Lei is actually one of our most famous translators in China, and can even be said to be the first authority in the field of French-to-Chinese translation. It was he who let the Chinese know Balzac, know Romain Rolland, and know Voltaire. The Chinese can appreciate the peak works of French literary giants, all thanks to him. It is a pity that he committed suicide more than ten years ago."

Hearing that he was a translator, everyone's interest was less than half. However, hearing that it was suicide, the curiosity of the audience was hooked again.

Unnatural death!

And it was more than ten years ago. Wasn't it just the buzzing in China more than ten years ago? Could it be?

Yes, it is. It is similar to Mr. Lao She's situation.

But Wei Ming did not immediately reveal the cause of Fu Lei's death, but returned to the content of Fu Lei's family letters.

"This book contains Fu Lei's profound thinking on art, life, education, etc. It is not only a father's teaching to his son, but also an enlightenment of a wise man to future generations."

Next, Wei Ming promoted this book from several aspects.

First, emphasize the educational significance of this book: "It's a pity. If my father had seen this book earlier, I wouldn't have even failed the university entrance exam. This book is simply a model of family education. Fu Lei believes that 'family is the most important school for children, and parents are the best teachers for children'."

Wei Ping'an smiled bitterly: "This kid, your father didn't read this book and didn't delay you from becoming a great writer."

Wei Linglang said: "You don't know, books on family education are now a new market hotspot. With the hegemony between the US and the Soviet Union, the treatment of workers in various countries has been greatly improved, allowing them to have more time to accompany their families, so the proportion of investment in family education is also getting bigger and bigger."

Originally hearing Wei Ming talking about Lu Xun, the Japanese publishers who had basically translated all of Lu Xun's important works were not interested. But when Wei Ming talked about family education, not only the Japanese, but even the Koreans stopped and pricked up their ears.

And Gong Biyang, who had just rushed over, directly flipped through the sample book of *Fu Lei's Family Letters*.

Then Wei Ming expounded the value of this book from the perspective of studying East Asian family and culture. Several publishers specializing in East Asian literary translation also fell into deep thought.

Finally, Wei Ming finally talked about the cause of Fu Lei's death. Hearing that it was indeed the case, and it was related to his son.

There are also letters he wrote to his son during the period before his death in the family letters. This set of family letters is also very valuable for understanding that period of history, and everyone's interest is even greater.

Of course, Wei Ming didn't mention the difficulty of translation of this book, and the real relationship between Fu Lei and Fu Cong, only mentioning the advantages and highlights.

Soon Gong Biyang won the traditional and English copyrights. Several European countries also became interested in the book and began to chat with Deputy Director Liu and Pan Yaoming, the person in charge of Sanlian Bookstore.

The Chinese personnel were all stunned. This Teacher Wei is too able to speak, and he can make these words so inflammatory while ensuring correctness.

And the effect of bringing goods is indeed significant!

The next book Wei Ming took out was called *The Course of Beauty*. The author Li Zehou graduated from the Philosophy Department of Peking University. This is also a new book. Once released, it set off an aesthetic craze in China.

Wei Ming quoted Mr. Feng Youlan's evaluation: "This book is very cost-effective, because it is a collection of Chinese aesthetic history, Chinese art history, Chinese literary history, and Chinese cultural history. Buying one is equivalent to buying four!"

Melinda supported: "So amazing!"

Then she opened the book, revealing the exquisite copperplate illustrations inside, and invited those foreigners to appreciate them together. Everyone nodded in agreement: "So beautiful!"

The pricing of this book is very high. It sells for 1.9 yuan in China. Wei Ming's thick *In the Name of the People* only sells for 1.8 yuan. *The Course of Beauty* is expensive because of the illustrations.

*The Course of Beauty* is divided into ten chapters, each commenting on the art trend of an important period or the development of a certain art category.

Because foreigners are most familiar with China's Tang Dynasty, Wei Ming directly started from the seventh chapter "The Sound of the Prosperous Tang", from Liu Xiyi, Zhang Ruoxu to the Four Masters of the Early Tang, and then to Li Bai and Du Fu.

Sometimes Wei Ming directly recited the original text, because there was no ready-made translation, or there was but he didn't know it.

In addition to poetry, the Prosperous Tang also had calligraphy. Wei Hong had long prepared his full set of equipment. Wei Ming demonstrated a piece of wild cursive calligraphy on the spot, containing beauty in the chaos and madness. Of course, there was still a huge gap from the cursive classics shown in the illustrations in the book.

With Wei Ming's popular science on Chinese aesthetics, the top publisher Random House stood out among the interested English publishers.

Melinda, who was dry-mouthed, picked up Wei Ming's teacup and drank a few gulps, continue!

Having paid so much saliva during the day, Melinda must make up for it twice as much at night.

However, Wei Ming didn't return to the hotel until ten o'clock. He was busy selecting products.

Because the effect of bringing goods in the morning was very good, the sales performance was gratifying, and the book fair feedback was also good. Under the strong request of all parties, Wei Ming decided to hold two more sessions tomorrow morning and afternoon to seek benefits for his family.

After returning home at ten o'clock, Wei Ming started to engage Melinda again, one hundred million, one hundred million!

They were engaging in a vigorous manner. In China, Gong Xue at the Overseas Chinese Apartment woke up. The spring dream had no trace. Some people ate until they were full with hundreds of millions, while she could only taste that taste in her dream.

Looking at the time, although it was still early, Gong Xue wanted to perform better and prepare breakfast for her family.

As a result, Xu Shufen predicted her and got up earlier than her. She was busy in the kitchen at this time, and Gong Xue could only helplessly help.

After a while, the sister-in-law came back from the outside. She predicted Xu Shufen, got up earlier, and went out to buy some vegetables. The refrigerator at home was almost empty.

When grandmother also woke up, breakfast was almost ready. At this time, the door was opened from the outside, and Wei Jiefang's voice came: "Shufen, whose motorcycle is that parked next to us downstairs? It's so imposing."

Xu Shufen and Gong Xue poked their heads out at the same time. When seeing Gong Xue, Lao Lao Lao Wei was stunned, and then hurriedly ran to the bathroom to wash his face and tidy up his hair. He had just come out of the bear's nest and was a bit sloppy.

"Comrade Gong Xue, why are you here? It's really a glorious house!"

Lao Lao Lao Wei was a bit at a loss. Don't look at him talking and laughing freely with Liu Xiaoqing, but Gong Xue is different. This is a star who may become a daughter-in-law!

Is she here because of her son? Is it to confirm the relationship?

Gong Xue: "Uncle, you can just call me Little Xue."