Chapter 53: Reprint Request, Eating from One Manuscript Multiple Times

Wei Ming hurried up to answer. Several heads leaned in to eavesdrop, including Seeing Biaozi, who had his head wrapped in bandages.

It turned out the call was from an editor at *Wenhui Bao*.

"Ah? Reprint? Both of them? *Guangzhou Youth Daily* and *Youth Daily*, right? Sure, sure, you don't have to ask me specifically in the future. I agree to all of them. Yes, just wire the manuscript fee directly to Peking University..."

Wei Ming was just about to hang up when the other side suddenly told him to wait a moment. The colleague next to the editor seemed to have said something, and then the other party said excitedly: "Comrade Wei Ming, there's another newspaper that hopes to reprint it. It's *China Youth Daily*. Currently, it's three newspapers!"

After hanging up, several colleagues looked at him in unison. Seeing Biaozi represented everyone and asked: "What's a reprint?"

Wei Ming explained: "It means an article is published in a certain newspaper or periodical. Other newspapers feel it's written really well and also hope this article can appear in their own pages, so they make a reprint request."

Seeing Biaozi: "That's too shameless!"

A senior nudged Seeing Biaozi: "Didn't you hear? They're paying!"

Seeing Biaozi: "Oh, then it's fine."

Money is money, but it's definitely not as much as the first publication. Generally, it won't exceed one-third of the first publication's manuscript fee.

Suddenly having three media outlets come at once was equivalent to an extra manuscript fee for *Spring River Water Warms the Ducks First*. This wasn't a small amount—it was even more expensive than his bike.

But having three reprint media outlets come at once was too abnormal!

And these three media outlets weren't simple either. *Guangzhou Youth Daily* was the predecessor of the later *Guangzhou Youth Daily* and was a local league newspaper.

*Youth Daily* was a Shanghai newspaper, the same age as the Republic, and was also a Shanghai league newspaper.

*China Youth Daily* had an even bigger background—it was a national-level one, considered the big brother of the two local league newspapers mentioned earlier.

After resuming publication in '78, *China Youth Daily*'s serial reports on Zhang Zhixin and Zhang Haidi successfully made the whole country remember them. Even the opening article of the September issue of *Children's Literature* was a memorial article for Zhang Zhixin.

With three such high-value newspapers suddenly wanting to reprint his novel, there was probably more to this than met the eye!

So, Wei Ming made an excuse to go out for a stroll and then came to Apartment 13 in Weixiu Garden.

At this moment, Wei Ping'an's family of four had finished dinner and were watching TV. They had just finished watching the *News Broadcast*. The announcer was still Zhao Zhongxiang, whom Grandma Bai Yun wanted to see very much. He was also the first on-screen announcer for this program.

"Little Ming, come in quickly." Aunt Lu Xiaoyan invited Wei Ming in, and the two little ones immediately surrounded him.

Xizi started muttering: "Ming-ge, I've finished reading my serial picture books, but Lele's harmonica can still play new tunes. I think her gift is better."

Wei Ming laughed: "Lele calls me Ming-gege, you call me Ming-ge. Since she has one more 'ge' than you, her treatment is naturally different."

Xizi immediately said: "Ming-gege."

Wei Ming shivered: "Don't, I can't bear it. I've got goosebumps."

The room was immediately filled with a lively atmosphere, and Wei Ming sat down to watch TV for a while.

At this time, there was no weather forecast. After the news program, it was either documentaries or TV dramas, and sometimes they showed movies.

Now, there were no TV series in the country yet. The TV dramas shown were so-called "single-episode dramas," usually only one episode, or split into upper and lower parts, looking like rough versions of movies moved to TV.

However, they had started dubbing foreign dramas. What was playing on TV right now was the first imported drama, *Valter Defends Sarajevo* from Yugoslavia, totaling 13 episodes.

After watching one episode, Auntie started coaxing the two little ones to go to sleep, and Wei Ming explained his purpose.

Hearing that these three media outlets were reprinting *Spring River Water Warms the Ducks First* at the same time, Wei Ping'an was first overjoyed. This was absolutely a huge thing for his nephew, which could make his fame spread across the country instantly, especially among the youth.

Next, he analyzed the possible reasons for Wei Ming according to his own understanding.

"The article is well-written, relaxed and humorous, the story is engaging, and it's rich in connotation. That's one aspect, of course, but another important reason might be the general environment."

"General environment?"

"Have you noticed that these three newspapers are in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou?"

"I noticed."

Wei Ping'an: "The bigger the city, the greater the employment pressure for returning educated youth, and it's not just general pressure. To this day, there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed youth in Beijing. I heard that many unemployed youth have started doing art, and one by one, their thinking is quite extreme. This is an unstable factor."

Sure enough, trends are a circle. In later generations, people without jobs started becoming internet celebrities or writing novels—wasn't that also a kind of helpless art?

"Most unemployed youth are still waiting for the country to arrange jobs for them, but this is really difficult." Wei Ping'an said, picking up yesterday's *Wenhui Bao*.

"And *Spring River Water Warms the Ducks First* appeared just at the right time. It encouraged people to forge ahead in the wave of reform and opening up, especially that line, 'Brave people enjoy the world first,' which left a deep impression. This can be seen as encouraging that group of unemployed youth to be a brave person. Why wait to be arranged by others? Be brave, take action yourself. Like the ducks that know the water first, as long as your brain is flexible, you can definitely find a way out yourself."

Wei Ming opened his mouth wide: I didn't think about these things when I wrote it! Because it coincided with the needs of the era, Wei Ping'an also speculated: "Later, there might be more media outlets reprinting this novel. You kid have stepped on the pulse of the era!"

After listening to Uncle Ping'an's analysis, Wei Ming was very happy. After all, fame and manuscript fees were linked.

But he also had some hidden worries: "Uncle, so many city people don't have jobs, and I, a rural person, not only have a temporary job but am also about to become a regular employee. Nobody noticed me before, but now with so many reprints, I'm afraid I can't keep a low profile even if I want to. So, should we slow down the regularization?"

Wei Ping'an was stunned, then praised: "I didn't expect you to have such political awareness now. You could even think of this."

Wei Ming scratched his head. It was mainly because he was afraid of causing trouble for Uncle Ping'an, after all, he had entered Peking University through him.

However, Wei Ping'an waved his hand at his nephew's suggestion: "That's not necessary. Peking University has never had a rule that only recruits city people. Moreover, the secretary and the principal know about your deeds. These teachers are all gratified that you are a member of Peking University. If any reporter asks, you just say the school was moved by your talent, so they specially recruited you to facilitate your self-study and improvement in your spare time. Push everything to the school, and naturally, someone will back you up."

Wei Ming had only revealed his talent after entering. Although the order was reversed here, it was easier for people to accept.

When leaving, Uncle Ping'an gave the newspaper containing the third part of *Ducks First* to Wei Ming.

"Aren't you going back to your hometown? Take these achievements to show your dad."

"Hmm!" Thinking of Old Wei's smug expression, Wei Ming couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.

Returning to the dormitory, Wei Ming continued to read *The Tale of Flatting Demons*. Now he had bought a desk lamp himself, and there was a battery-powered one in his bag, which he planned to take back to give to Little Hong.

!

An hour later, Northern Qiao Feng returned and calmly shared his thoughts on the movie with everyone.

"I watched *Ji Ji Hongchang*. It felt okay."

It seemed it wasn't very good. This movie was a gift film for the 30th anniversary of the National Day from the Changchun Er Yingchang, starring Da Qi, who was the King Zhou in *Investiture of the Gods*.

Wei Ming said: "Why didn't you watch *Little Flower*?"

"Is this film good?" Feng-ge asked.

Mei Mei Wenhua knew a lot: "I know, this film stars Chen Chong and Liu Liu Xiaoqing!"

Wei Ming: "*Little Flower* is a National Day gift film from the Beijing Er Yingchang, and it also has Tang Tang Guoqiang. I saw the introduction in *Popular Cinema*, and it's not bad."

Northern Qiao Feng: "Alright, we'll go watch this one in a few days. There are too many new films in the cinema now; I don't know which ones to watch."

After all, it was the 30th anniversary, and the film industry wasn't to be outdone. As a result, there was a grand occasion where over a dozen new films emerged around the National Day. It was just that if you wanted to see them all, you'd probably have to run to several cinemas.

Seeing Biaozi asked: "Are there any other movies? Any suitable for young men and women to watch?"

Mei Mei Wenhua curled his lips. You should get someone to go out with you first.

Northern Qiao Feng did remember a few movies.

"There's *From Slave to General* with Yang Yang Zaibao and Zhang Zhang Jinling, *Dawn* with Da Da Shichang, and *Them Two and Them Two* directed by Sang Hu."

Wei Ming said: "This one is about falling in love. Seeing Biaozi can focus on this one."

The Shanghai Er Yingchang was too fierce this year. Besides these three, there was also *Aolei Aolei Yilan*, taking out four films in one go to celebrate the motherland's birthday.

In addition, the August First Er Yingchang, Western Er Yingchang, Pearl River Er Yingchang, and Emei Er Yingchang also brought out their best skills, but their presence was a bit weak under the *Little Flower* from the Beijing Er Yingchang and the "sea of films" strategy of the Shanghai Er Yingchang.

"By the way, Little Ming, I mentioned the radio to your sister-in-law. She remembered that her unit had issued a radio purchase coupon before, and said she'd help you ask."

"Oh my, thank you so much, Sister-in-law. I must treat you to a meal specifically when I get my next manuscript fee."

Seeing Biaozi: "Ah, is there nothing for me?"

Wei Ming laughed: "If you can invite Swallow over, I'll count you in."

Mei Mei Wenhua hurriedly interjected: "Seeing Biaozi, take my advice. Never let Swallow see this kid in your life."

Feng-ge understood and let out a cackling laugh in the dark night.

Never expected.

Seeing Biaozi hadn't invited Swallow yet, but the next day, Wei Ming's manuscript fee arrived a step earlier...

(Ask for monthly tickets, ask for follow-up reading!)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 54 =====