Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 142 As Long as the Money is in Place

Friends came to congratulate the couple on their new home. This weekend, their home in the Overseas Chinese Apartment was bustling with activity for most of the day, and everyone had a great time.

It was another Monday. Lin Chaoyang was at work when he was called over by Master Xie from the message room, who said there was a call for him.

He thought it was an editor who wanted to ask him for an article, but he didn't expect that the person who called was Xie Jin.

The two had met before at the National Excellent Short Story Award Ceremony, and they only exchanged a few pleasantries at that time.

Xie Jin called to make an appointment with Lin Chaoyang to meet. Lin Chaoyang readily agreed and set the meeting place at his home in the Overseas Chinese Apartment.

He had to work during the day and going into the city took time, so he could only arrange the meeting time in the evening.

Recently, Tao Yushu has been busy with the rehearsal of "The World's Number One Restaurant", so he comes home late at night.

Xie Jin came in a Jeep 212. When he arrived, Lin Chaoyang was preparing noodles with soybean paste.

"Xie Director, would you like to eat something together?"

Lin Chaoyang's tone was familiar, as if he was entertaining an old friend. Xie Jin smiled and said, "Okay, it just so happens that I didn't have dinner tonight."

Each person had a bowl of noodles, which they finished in a few minutes.

After the meal, Lin Chaoyang made a cup of tea for Xie Jin and said, "I'm sorry for the poor hospitality."

"I wanted to treat you to a meal, but I ended up eating for free."

"Please come back next time if you have the chance." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

As the two chatted, Lin Chaoyang learned that Xie Jin had been preparing for his 12th film "Legend of Tianyun Mountain" recently.

Xie Jin is a director at the Shanghai Film Studio. He has won numerous film awards at home and abroad since he started directing films in the 1950s.

Before the fifth generation of directors emerged, he could be said to be a banner of Chinese films.

After chatting for a while, Xie Jin explained the purpose of his visit today.

"I want to make your award-winning essay 'The Horse Wrangler' into a movie."

Lin Chaoyang was not surprised by Xie Jin's words. His novel came from the original time and space, "Spirit and Flesh". This novel was later adapted into the movie "The Shepherd" by Xie Jin, and it was widely popular after its release.

"Okay! It would be great if it could be adapted into a movie. Do you want me to participate in the script?"

Xie Jin was a little surprised by Lin Chaoyang's straightforward statement. He asked, "Can you write a script?"

"Not bad. If you don't ask me to write the script, I'll charge you a copyright fee for the novel. If you let me write the script, I'll add the script's royalties."

Lin Chaoyang's clear statement made Xie Jin smile. He had been working in the film industry for so many years and had met many writers, but none of them was as direct as Lin Chaoyang in talking about money.

"You want to write a script?"

According to current practice set by film studios and the Ministry of Culture, the starting fee for a typical feature film script is 1000 yuan.

However, if a novel is adapted into a screenplay and the original author does not participate in the adaptation, the royalties will be shared by the author and the screenwriter. The author can usually only get 20% to 30%, and 70% to 80% of the royalties will go to the screenwriter.

"If I can make more money, I would definitely be willing to write! Besides, I am the original author, so I have this advantage." Lin Chaoyang said bluntly.

Lin Chaoyang is a popular young writer in the domestic literary world, but different fields are like different worlds, so Xie Jin did not dare to hand the script to him rashly.

"Do you have a written script?"

Lin Chaoyang knew that Xie Jin wanted to see his scriptwriting skills, so he shook his head and said, "No."

"But I wrote a play for the students of Yanshi University some time ago. They are planning to revive it recently. Can I take you to see it tomorrow?"

When Xie Jin heard that it was a drama script written for students, he was a little hesitant, but he thought that since it was a revival, it proved to be of some standard.

"Alright."

That night, after Tao Yushu returned home, Lin Chaoyang told her that Xie Jin was going to Yanshi University to watch their rehearsal.

This generation of people can be said to have grown up watching Xie Jin's movies, such as "Basketball Girl No. 5", "Red Detachment of Women", "Stage Sisters", "Youth"...

How could Tao Yushu not be excited that such a great director was going to see a play put on by students like them?

When she arrived at school early the next morning, she told her classmates the news, and everyone was naturally excited again.

In the evening, a Jeep 212 drove into the campus of Yanshi University.

Lin Chaoyang brought Xie Jin to the auditorium to watch the rehearsal of "The World's Number One Restaurant". The actors on the stage were almost giving their all.

Especially Li Luyang who played Lu Mengshi. At the end of last year, "The World's Number One Restaurant" became famous in the Yenching cultural circle. These student actors became very popular. Even people from the General Political Department Repertory Theatre came to observe them, hoping to absorb the best among them into the drama troupe.

At that time, Li Luyang won unanimous recognition from the inspectors of the General Political Department Repertory Theatre for his wonderful interpretation of the role of Lu Mengshi, but unfortunately he was too old, exceeding the admission standard of the General Political Department Repertory Theatre, and regretfully missed the opportunity.

Now, a great director like Xie Jin came to watch their drama, and Li Luyang's dead heart came back to life.

If you can't be a drama actor, you can be a movie actor!
Unfortunately, to his disappointment, after watching their rehearsal results, Xie Jin praised the stage performance and the script, but did not mention the actors' performance.

"It would be a shame not to take this level of script to the People's Art Theatre to perform it!"

Because of Xie Jin's presence in today's rehearsal, the level and intensity of the performance were almost maintained. After watching the rehearsal, Xie Jin applauded generously and then spoke to Lin Chaoyang in an amazed tone.

"The People's Art Theatre did like the script and started preparing to rehearse it last year. They said it would be performed in the first half of this year," said Lin Chaoyang.

Xie Jin nodded. The excellence of the script of "The World's Number One Restaurant" was self-evident. It was not surprising that the National Theatre of China chose it.

He looked at Lin Chaoyang again. The excellence of "The World's Number One Restaurant" far exceeded his expectations, which made Xie Jin look at Lin Chaoyang with new eyes.

Novels and scripts seem to be very similar literary styles, but they have completely different creative techniques and expression goals.

It is generally acknowledged that Lin Chaoyang is a good novel writer, but it is really surprising and pleasant to see that he can also write such a brilliant script.

"I'll leave the script to you!" Xie Jin said. Lin Chaoyang chuckled and said, "Director Xie, we haven't discussed the royalties yet."

Xie Jin smiled and shook his head. "The Ministry of Culture and our studio both have regulations. It's no use talking to me about it."

"How much is it exactly?"

"Twenty dollars."

Lin Chaoyang was delighted, but he remained calm, "One thousand and five hundred, a little too little."

Xie Jin glanced at him and said, "You only get a few hundred yuan for writing a novella. How many words are there in a script?"

“The amount of effort required is different!”

"Then what do you mean?"

"I heard that Yanying Studio charges 2,000 yuan for a script."

Lin Chaoyang's words were not false, but he heard them from Tao Yucheng during his casual conversations, so he didn't know whether they were true or not.

Xie Jin hesitated and said nothing. Lin Chaoyang continued, "You are a famous director. My novel has a great influence. It will definitely be popular after it is made into a movie..."

Xie Jin finally understood what he meant, which was that he wanted two thousand yuan.

There are rules and regulations regarding the amount of royalties, but as a film director, Xie Jin actually has a lot of decision-making power.

He pondered and said, "I'll give you 2,000 yuan. Can you produce a script within a month?"

"Yes! Of course I can!" Lin Chaoyang said happily.

As long as the money is in place, all the glass will be broken!
Not to mention producing the script in a month, even producing the script in a week would be no problem.

Xie Jin looked at him in surprise, and after a long pause, he finally said, "You really don't look like a scholar!"

"You're right. Writing makes money. I work hard. Working people are the most glorious!"

Lin Chaoyang's tone was light-hearted and humorous, without any sense of embarrassment, and he exuded a carefree and generous air.

Xie Jin laughed and said, "Okay. If you produce a script a month, the 2,000 yuan fee will be yours."

"Ok, deal!"

After taking on the assignment of writing the movie script for "The Horse Herder", Lin Chaoyang became busy again.

Because of housing issues at the beginning of the year, he has not been able to calm down and write.

The 2,000 yuan fee for a movie script was almost the same as what he would get for writing a novel, which immediately filled him with motivation.

Upon hearing the news, Tao Yumo was even happier than her sister Tao Yushu.

"Brother-in-law, you write the script for Director Xie Jin, so do you still have to go to the crew in the future?"

What she cared about was naturally not the amount of royalties, but whether she could meet movie stars.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, China's film industry has flourished. Low ticket prices and various free screenings have made watching movies the most cost-effective entertainment activity for ordinary Chinese people.

Especially in recent years, after the end of the buzz, the domestic literary and art circles have ushered in a state of flourishing, and the number of moviegoers has been rising rapidly every year.

Each issue of Popular Movies could easily sell millions of copies. The 1980s was known as the golden age of literature, but the highest sales of literary magazines never broke two million copies. The most glorious record of Popular Movies was nine million copies sold in a single issue.

In an era when the public is so obsessed with movies, the appeal of movie actors is naturally enormous.

"I'm writing a script, not filming a movie, how can I see a star?"

Lin Chaoyang's words disappointed Tao Yumo, "That's meaningless."

"Your brother-in-law wants to write, so don't disturb him."

Tao Yushu chased his sister away, followed Lin Chaoyang into the study, and said, "Chaoyang, there is something I want to discuss with you."

"what's up?"

"I have received several royalties recently, and I already have more than 4,000 yuan in my hand. Do you want to give Lin Fugui some more money?"

It is almost May now. In the past few months, Lin Chaoyang has not produced any works except the novel for "Contemporary", but this does not prevent him from collecting royalties.

During this period he received several royalties.

One is 20 yuan for 80% of the print run of "Little Shoes";
The second is the National Excellent Short Story Award, which is worth 180 yuan;
Third, the works were reprinted by People's Literature and published by Renwen Publishing House because of their awards. The reprint fees were not high, only 3 yuan per thousand words.

However, the publishing fees are still considerable. This year's winning novels are published in a collection, and Renwen Publishing House pays a uniform fee of 8 yuan per thousand words.

The combined royalties from the two works totaled 495 yuan.

The largest sum was from the novel he wrote for Contemporary Magazine. The 2000-word work earned Lin Chaoyang yuan in royalties.

All in all, Lin Chaoyang recently received a total of 2755 yuan in royalties.

Adding the remaining money that Tao Yushu had, and their salaries, subsidies, and the occasional royalties from Tao Yushu's comments and publications in the past two months, the couple now had a total of 4260 yuan.

After Tao Yushu finished the account, he said to Lin Chaoyang in a relaxed manner: "If we give Lin Fugui another sum of money, we will still have more than 700 yuan left, which is enough for us."

"Give it to him in advance? There's no need."

Tao Yushu nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll give it to him when the time comes. I can earn interest by putting it in the bank anyway."

Given Tao Yushu's personality, he would definitely deposit the money in the bank to earn interest as soon as he had it. Now, even if it is a life deposit, the interest rate is three points.

The couple discussed it and decided to deposit the money in the bank first and pay Lin Fugui when the time came.

(End of this chapter)