Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 495: Best Review! A Big Reward!

Chapter 495: Best Review! A Big Reward!
When he was young, Zhuang Zhongwen was a passionate young man. During his school years, he took a boat across the sea to Xiamen University in order to listen to Mr. Lu Xun's speech.

Also influenced by Mr. Lu Xun, in order to make his aspirations clear, he changed his name from "Birong" to "Chongwen".

As early as the beginning of reform and opening up, he became one of the first Hong Kong businessmen to invest and build factories in the mainland, and thus became a guest of honor of the government.

Thanks to this honor, Zhuang Zhongwen actually has a very deep network of contacts in the mainland.

But if he wanted to set up a literary award, he still wanted to put the matter in the hands of someone he could trust.

Just at this time, the news came that Lin Chaoyang had won an award overseas. With these three characteristics, including being born in the mainland, having outstanding cultural talents, and living in Hong Kong, Zhuang Zhongwen felt that there was no one more suitable than Lin Chaoyang to handle his award.

He could also do Lin Chaoyang a favor at the same time, which was really a win-win situation.

“In recent years, there have been many literary awards in our mainland, most of which are for selecting works, usually the ‘winner’ rather than the ‘best’.

I wonder what Mr. Zhuang’s outlook is for this award? "

"I don't know much about this. I remember that Mr. Lin has won many awards in the mainland. What do you think?"

To be entrusted by others is to be loyal to others.

Seeing that Zhuang Zhongwen didn't know much about award judging, Lin Chaoyang gave him a detailed introduction to some of the current domestic literary awards.

“Among the current mainland literary awards, the most famous and authoritative one is the Mao Dun Literature Prize.

This award is reviewed every three years, and first, literary associations, publishing organizations, and cultural units across the country submit novels..."

Zhuang Zhongwen couldn't help but nod his head as Lin Chaoyang introduced the mainland's literary awards situation in detail.

“In my opinion, the Mao Dun Literature Prize and the National Excellent Short Story Award are authoritative enough, but the number of winners is set arbitrarily, which greatly weakens the scarcity of the awards;
However, awards established by publications such as the Contemporary Literature Award and the October Literature Award mostly reward works published in their own publications, and have obvious limitations.

Both have shortcomings.”

Zhuang Zhongwen asked for advice: "In Mr. Lin's opinion, what should we do with this award?"

“Chinese people always say that there is no best in literature, but the act of awarding prizes itself is utilitarian.

If you always look ahead and behind, take care of this and that, you won’t be able to organize the award well. This is a game, a competition.

The current domestic awards system places the most importance on "reputation", but with the continuous development of the economy and the evolution of the social atmosphere, I am afraid that the effect will become worse and worse if we continue to do so.

The establishment and selection of awards should still be "inhumane". If we want to organize an award, we must select the best and give generous rewards.

Fame and fortune are what motivate most literary creators, and they can also attract media coverage and readers’ attention.”

Hearing this, Zhuang Zhongwen nodded sincerely, feeling fortunate that he had chosen the right person.

He spared no expense, and of course hoped that the award would have as great an influence as possible.

“Looking at the internationally renowned literary awards, most are novel awards, but in mainland China, there is already the Mao Dun Literature Award for novels.

If Mr. Zhuang wants to organize an award, he might as well make it bigger, include long, medium and short stories, and make it more differentiated. "

Zhuang Zhongwen was impressed by what Lin Chaoyang said about "differentiation". Thinking from a businessman's perspective, he highly agreed with Lin Chaoyang's idea.

He asked excitedly, "If we do this, I'm afraid the workload will be huge, right?"

"Of course. Zhuang Sheng should understand that this kind of thing must have the support of the Cultural Association. However, if the Cultural Association is too involved, it will easily become a matter of dividing pork. I think we can mobilize some other forces."

"for example?"

“Like college students.”

"College Students?"

Hearing Lin Chaoyang's words, Zhuang Zhongwen looked puzzled.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "Mr. Zhuang, don't underestimate college students. They are educated, energetic, and have good aesthetics. They may not be as good as those senior people in some professional fields, but in terms of average quality, they are definitely the most outstanding in this country."

“My idea is that we can recruit literary groups from some of the country’s well-known universities as preliminary judges.

They will be responsible for nomination and preliminary selection, and then the Writers Association will organize a judging team composed of editors, critics and writers to conduct the final review and determine the best works in each category.

The three best works in the categories of novel, novella and short story will share a prize of 30 yuan, which means each category has a prize of 10 yuan. This amount of prize money is unprecedented in domestic awards and will definitely have a miraculous effect. "

Lin Chaoyang's words were not groundless. In 1995, when Da Jia magazine was going to hold a literary award, it sought sponsorship from Honghe Cigarette Factory and established a "Da Jia Honghe Literature Award" with a prize of 10 yuan.

As soon as the news came out, it immediately caused a sensation in the domestic literary circles and attracted huge attention.

Overnight, the "Da Jia Honghe Literature Award" became a well-known literary award among the domestic literary circles and readers.

Now it is 1987. The value of the 30 yuan prize of the Zhuang Zhongwen Literature Award is definitely much higher than that of the Dajia Honghe Literature Award.

Zhuang Zhongwen digested Lin Chaoyang's idea in his heart and felt that it was indeed feasible.

"What Mr. Lin said makes sense, so let's do it according to this idea."

The work required to prepare a literary award is huge and complicated. Lin Chaoyang and Zhuang Zhongwen ate and chatted until after seven in the evening before leaving the Zhuang family.

Before leaving, Lin Chaoyang and Zhuang Zhongwen agreed that he would first contact the mainland to determine the preparation framework of the award and some specific processes and rules, and then ask Zhuang Zhongwen to set the tone.

No. 46 Planting Road is not far from Jiahui Garden, and Lin Chaoyang and his wife took a stroll under the moonlight.

"I see that you seem very happy to participate in Mr. Zhuang's award judging." Tao Yushu asked.

“Although it may sound a bit utilitarian, Mr. Zhuang’s generosity is indeed beneficial to domestic literary awards.

At least it can inspire a large number of writers and attract the attention of many readers. Isn't this a contribution to the development of literature? "

Tao Yushu smiled and asked, "Actually, we have money too. If you want to do it, we can also do one."

Lin Chaoyang immediately shook his head firmly, "It's different."

"Mr. Zhuang is a patriotic businessman with high moral character. He established a literary award in his own name, so even if some individuals have some complaints, it will not have any impact.

I am not even thirty yet. If I were to take the initiative to judge awards, it would definitely cause a stir.

In China, no one talks about seniority explicitly, but everyone has a scale in their heart, so why should I make myself look bad?
Mr. Zhuang trusts me, so I can still organize the awards through him, which is good for the development of domestic literature anyway."

After listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Tao Yushu realized that he had considered everything so carefully.

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang called Wang Meng and told him that Zhuang Zhongwen wanted to donate money to establish a literary award.

Wang Meng was very happy when he first heard it, but as he listened more he felt something was wrong.

"Chaoyang, can Mr. Zhuang think of the award in such detail?"

"What do you mean?"

"I suppose this was your idea?"

"Don't worry about whether it was my idea or not. Mr. Zhuang donating 30 yuan a year to set up such a literary award is absolutely unprecedented in China, so of course people have to be cautious.

The current awards process often selects a large number of winning works, which will only reduce the value of the awards..."

Wang Meng teased, "You talk as if you didn't win it back then. You are just destroying the bridge after crossing it and throwing the donkey away after it has done its work!"

"Hey, if you say so, then I'll look for a local literary association to cooperate with! I think the Shanghai Literary Association is pretty good."

Wang Meng was anxious, "You are using foreign powers to bully others."

"Old Wang, pay attention to unity, Mr. Zhuang is a patriotic Hong Kong businessman!"

After joking for a while, Lin Chaoyang said seriously: "This is indeed my idea. Listen to me."

"Lao Wang, when the Literature and Art Association judged awards in the past, it always felt that it had to maintain diversity and comprehensiveness, and a bunch of works would be awarded at once.

I can't say that this idea is wrong, but have you ever thought about what the role of awards is?
Guiding and inspiring creation, promoting and fostering cultural prosperity, that's all, right?
Some people may think that it is always a good thing to reward more people, as our literary and art circles have always done so.

But have you ever thought about whether there is any difference between rewarding 5 people and rewarding 1 person for such a huge literary community as ours?

No matter how many people are awarded, it will only affect those few winners.

If this continues, it will inevitably become a piece of pork. Anyway, the meat is rotten in the pot, so who would pursue excellence?

But what is more important about the awards is not to motivate and encourage more creators?

Can thirty award places a year with a prize of 10,000 yuan per person be the same thing as three award places a year with a prize of 100,000 yuan per person?
Have you ever seen any foreign literary award that selects several or even dozens of winners at one time?

Why did the Nobel Prize stand out among so many awards abroad?

Isn't the most important thing because of his generous bonus? "

Lin Chaoyang's tone was calm, but every word was powerful. In the final analysis, he did not think that the current awards were bad, but he felt that we could obviously do better.

"Chaoyang, I understand your thoughts, but..."

Wang Meng listened to him and wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Lin Chaoyang.

“Old Wang, you still don’t understand.

If you insist that I am ungrateful, then I have no choice but to admit my guilt.

I do this for two reasons.

First, Mr. Zhuang spends hundreds of thousands of RMB a year, which cannot be used to distribute pork, otherwise it would be a huge waste.

Second, this number is huge. If handled properly, it can add an award to our literary world that is as famous as the Mao Dun Literature Prize, or even surpasses its influence.

This is a good thing for our literary world, writers, readers... no matter from which perspective.

Best votes! Rewards!
This is what I said to Mr. Zhuang, and it is also the criteria for this award.

Only in this way can it maintain long-term vitality.”

After saying what was in his heart, Lin Chaoyang finally stopped talking, and there was silence on both ends of the phone.

After a while, Wang Meng said faintly: "After saying so much, you just look down on our Literature Association."

Lin Chaoyang said depressedly: "Don't accuse me! If I don't like the Cultural Association, can I still find you?"

"You came to me because you can't get around the Cultural Association, but you knew I was easy to talk to, so you wanted me to fight for you."

After his thoughts were exposed by Wang Meng, Lin Chaoyang's face turned red and his voice became weaker.

"I am not mainly considering your high moral character..."

Wang Meng was an old fox, how could she be fooled by Lin Chaoyang's sweet words? Seeing that flattery didn't work, Lin Chaoyang had to say:

"If you hand over the power of nomination and preliminary review to college students, your literary association can save some effort.

Isn’t the power of final review still in the hands of your Writers Association?

I just don’t allow you to judge so many awards. Why is it like I’m asking for your life?”

Lin Chaoyang's words hit Wang Meng's lungs. He didn't speak for a long time, and sighed helplessly: "There are some things you don't understand."

“I just understand it too well!”

Lin Chaoyang said impatiently, "30 a year, can you do it? No, I'll find someone else."

Wang Meng really wanted to scold Lin Chaoyang, but he was reluctant to give up Zhuang Zhongwen's 30 yuan bonus. The Writers Association has always been a poor institution!

If Lin Chaoyang is really pissed off, and goes to find a local literary association or a well-known publication to organize the award, that would be a joke.

"You are making me offend people!"

Wang Meng tried to curry favor with Lin Chaoyang, but Lin Chaoyang ignored him.

"You've lived to an old age, and you've never offended anyone. So aren't you just living your life from day to day?"

There was silence on the phone again, and after a moment, Wang Meng's tone was melancholy.

"Okay, I'll have a meeting to discuss it these next two days, and I'll discuss it with you when I get the news. You have to come back by then."

"Thank you for your hard work, Comrade Lao Wang!"

"Hypocritical!"

Wang Meng hung up the phone cursing. Lin Chaoyang touched his nose, thinking that the old comrade did not manage his emotions well!
Another day passed, and Lin Chaoyang walked into Lan Fong Yuen in a small alley in Central.

Lan Fang Yuan was still bustling in the afternoon. When the waiter Aye saw Lin Chaoyang, he was surprised and said, "Huh? Mr. Lin!"

Lin Chaoyang smiled at Ah Ye, "One French toast and one milk tea." "Same as usual, ok!"

After a while, Aye came over with the food and put it on the table.

Lin Chaoyang was about to ask a question when he saw the extra pig buns, but Ah Ye smiled and said, "I treated you. Mr. Lin has brought honor to us Hong Kong people!"

Not only was Ah Ye enthusiastic, but many diners had recognized Lin Chaoyang's face since he walked into LAN Fong Yuan.

In the past two or three years, Lin Chaoyang's face has appeared in newspapers from time to time. A few days ago, the news media reported on his award-winning work in a series of articles. His face has long been recognized by many Hong Kong people.

"Thank you."

Lin Chaoyang didn't say anything polite and accepted Aye's kindness with a smile.

Then he sat there, enjoying the delicious food leisurely, not paying too much attention to the eyes of people around him.

Hong Kong is a small city, and it is not uncommon to see stars and celebrities when you go out, so there is nothing to get excited about.

After staying for more than ten minutes, a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked into LAN Fong Yuen.

He was wearing a high-end custom-made suit and his hair was combed meticulously, which seemed out of place with the atmosphere of Lan Fong Yuen. He glanced around the store and accurately found the person he wanted to meet.

"Lin Sheng!"

"Mr. Liang, sit down!"

Liang Botao was a little surprised by Lin Chaoyang's relaxation. After he sat down, he did not rush to speak, but ordered some food like Lin Chaoyang.

The two of them sat there, eating and chatting.

When they were almost done eating, Lin Chaoyang wiped his mouth with a tissue. Liang Botao immediately put down the fork in his hand, knowing that Lin Chaoyang was finally going to get down to business.

"I heard that Liang Sheng is going to start his own business recently?"

"Mr. Lin is well-informed and does have this plan."

Lin Chaoyang chuckled and said, "Mr. Liang, you are joking. It's not that I am well-informed, it's just that you are too famous."

Liang Botao is only in his early thirties this year and graduated from the University of Toronto in Canada in 1980.

After returning to Hong Kong, he joined the corporate finance department of Waldorf Astoria and worked with Yuan Tianfan for the listing of International Cities under Li Ka-shing. He also got to know the benefactor Li Ka-shing.

In 1985, he switched to Citibank and arranged rights issues for Li Ka-shing's four major listed companies, Cheung Kong, Hutchison Whampoa, HK Electric and Capital Investment, raising more than HK$ billion to help Li Ka-shing expand overseas markets.

The China Merchants Bank is the Citibank that is well known to the Chinese people in later generations. The Hong Kong people's translation of Citibank as "China Merchants Bank" continued until after 2000.

In just seven years, Liang Botao became a leader among the younger generation of investment bankers in Hong Kong's banking industry.

In addition to the support of Li Ka-shing, the more crucial factor is Liang Botao's personal ability.

One of the brokerage firms that Lin Chaoyang had previously used for securities lending was Citibank Hong Kong, and this is how he got to know Liang Botao.

I also learned that he was about to leave Citibank and start an investment company with his boss Du Huilian.

"Mr. Liang's company is about to open. Would you mind doing a small business?"

Liang Botao was delighted when he heard this. Although he had expected this when Lin Chaoyang contacted him, he still felt happy when he heard such certain words.

It's a good sign that business is coming in before the company even opens.

"It is my honor that Mr. Lin can take care of our business. No wonder I had green lights all the way out today. It turned out that a magpie came to my door."

Liang Botao showed appropriate joy, which was both sincere and out of respect for Lin Chaoyang as a client.

"Do you know about Yulang Organization?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

A gleam of light flashed in Liang Botao's eyes, "Yulang Organization? I know a little bit about it."

"tell me the story."

"Yulang Institution was recently suspended. Its market value was less than 3 million before the suspension. I estimate that the stock price will fall further after the resumption of trading.

Wong Yuk-long suffered heavy losses from futures investment, and it is said that the losses have reached 3 million.

The company’s suspension of trading by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange a few days ago was just the beginning. Wong Yuk-long failed to comply with the Listed Company Code and concealed the facts in many rights issues over the past year.

This kind of thing is not a big deal when the company's stock price is rising, but considering the current market environment and the situation of Yulang Organization, it may bring disaster to the company. "

"A catastrophe?" Lin Chaoyang pretended to be surprised. "Is it that serious?"

"Of course. When Yulang Group went public, Huang Yulang held 75% of the company's shares and had absolute control.

However, over the past year, he has sold and mortgaged shares many times without telling shareholders and investors, and now only holds 36.4% of the shares, having lost absolute control of the company.

The remaining shares are either in the secondary market or in the hands of securities firms, and these shares account for more than 60% of the total share capital.

Moreover, Wong Yuk-long has suffered heavy losses from futures trading and is heavily in foreign debt. He now has to either borrow money, sell company assets and stocks illegally, or mortgage equity.

If someone wants to acquire Yulang Agency, this would be the best time.”

When saying these words, Liang Botao's eyes were fixed on Lin Chaoyang's face.

"Then according to Mr. Liang, how much money would it cost to acquire the Yulang Agency?"

Finally hearing the word "acquisition" from Lin Chaoyang's mouth, Liang Botao's heart skipped a beat. He suppressed his joy and said, "Mr. Lin wants a full acquisition or..."

Lin Chaoyang shook his head. "A full acquisition would be too expensive. It would be enough to just get more than 50% of the shares."

Liang Botao did not respond immediately, but looked thoughtful, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the table.

"2 million, a conservative estimate."

The current market value of Yulang Organization is less than 3 million. If the stock price continues to fall in the future, theoretically, Lin Chaoyang may only need a little over 50 million to obtain absolute control of 1% of Yulang Organization.

However, the funds required to acquire a listed company are generally greater than the company's current market value, and there is no upper limit to this "greater than" and it only depends on the financial resources of both parties.

Once the acquirer holds more than 5% of the shares, triggering a tender offer, it will have to be disclosed to the public, and the acquired party naturally cannot sit idly by.

By then, both sides will scramble to buy shares, and the stock price will inevitably rise all the way. At that time, whether it is through shareholders or the secondary market, a greater price will be paid.

So theory is just theory, and the numbers given by Liang Botao are not that many.

Lin Chaoyang hesitated for a moment, then said to Liang Botao: "If I can provide 2 million yuan in funds and hand this matter over to Mr. Liang, how confident are you?"

"Mr. Lin, can you help me?"

Lin Chaoyang shook his head.

It is true that he knows Zhuang Zhongwen and Jin Yong, but their relationship is not yet to the point where they can help in the acquisition battle.

"About 70%." Liang Botao looked sincere.

Seeing Lin Chaoyang's noncommittal expression, Liang Botao explained: "Once the acquisition begins, there will inevitably be unexpected things."

"Besides, Wong Yuk-lang is a stubborn person. Even if he is unable to do so, he will definitely struggle desperately after the acquisition begins. If Mr. Lin had more funds, he might have a better chance of success."

"I understand. 70% is already a lot." Lin Chaoyang said.

Liang Botao added: "In fact, his personality has both advantages and disadvantages for this acquisition. The disadvantage is that it increases the difficulty of the acquisition, but the advantage is that it also reduces our risk of loss."

Lin Chaoyang understood Liang Botao's meaning. If he attacked, he would have to rescue him. In order to ensure his control over the company, Huang Yulang had to raise funds to expand his equity.

Even if the acquisition fails at that time, as long as the operation is done properly, Lin Chaoyang can make a lot of money by taking advantage of the stock price difference.

"Then I'll leave this matter to Mr. Liang!"

Lin Chaoyang stood up and extended his hand to Liang Botao.

Although Liang Botao has handled funds exceeding 10 billion yuan since he started working and assisted in many IPOs and acquisitions, this is the first time he has started his own company and presided over an acquisition battle.

He stood up excitedly and shook Lin Chaoyang's hand, "I will live up to Mr. Lin's trust!"

Lin Chaoyang patted his shoulder with his other hand, and the two looked at each other, and everything was said without words.

Tao Yushu didn't return home until after eight o'clock in the evening. Lin Chaoyang asked Tao Yumo and A Di to look after the two children and took her to the restaurant for dinner.

"You are the boss, not an employee. Leaving get off work so late every day will not only put pressure on your subordinates, but also easily wear down your health."

Tao Yushu said nonchalantly, "In the company, there is no wind or rain, so what's the hard part? It doesn't matter if the people below are under great pressure. As long as the money is paid, they will work hard."

"Then don't you want to think about the children and me? I only see you for two or three hours every night."

Tao Yushu turned around and looked at the two little ones. "It's enough for them to have Yumo. You..."

Lin Chaoyang said hurriedly: "I have you, so you have to go home early!"

Tao Yushu chuckled, "I don't usually see you being so attentive."

"Isn't it because I'm afraid it will hinder your career development?"

"Don't be so sarcastic. It was you who asked me to start a business in the first place."

"Yes, yes, a good wife holds up the family." Lin Chaoyang smiled, and then said to Tao Yushu: "Seeing how hard you work, I have a gift for you."

"What gift?" Tao Yushu asked casually while picking up some food.

"Didn't I tell you before that the film business has great limitations? If Lin wants to grow and develop, it must develop horizontally and extend its tentacles to every corner of the cultural industry."

"Yeah, yeah. What's wrong? What good ideas do you have?"

"I've picked a company. Does Yulang know about it?"

"Nonsense. They control most of the comics market in Hong Kong, how could I not know that?"

"How about we buy it?"

"What can you buy it with? They're a listed company, much bigger than us." Tao Yushu looked at her husband strangely, thinking he was talking nonsense.

"Take my pocket money!"

Lin Chaoyang's tone seemed to be as if this was a matter of course.

Tao Yushu couldn't help laughing and reached out to touch his forehead.

"Don't be so frivolous, I'm telling you something serious." Lin Chaoyang's expression became serious.

"I know you earn a lot of royalties, but that's for acquiring a listed company. It doesn't require 10 or 20 million, but hundreds of millions of dollars."

Lin Chaoyang looked at her helplessly, "Do you think I don't know anything?"

"Then why are you still saying these things?"

"Then do you know how much pocket money I have?"

Tao Yushu guessed that Lin Chaoyang's royalties had not been touched in the past year or so, so they must be at least 20 million Hong Kong dollars.

"Thirty million?" She made a bold assumption.

"Guess again."

Tao Yushu looked suspicious, "Forty million?"

"Guess again!"

Tao Yushu felt that Lin Chaoyang was teasing her, and said casually: "60 million."

"Guess again!"

She started to make up stories, "One hundred million."

"Guess again!"