Literary Master 1983

Chapter 326 Domestic Reaction (Part Two)

It's rare to see TV series like "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "The Way Out" that become more and more profitable with each production, even managing to allocate funds to support other production units.

So far, all the TV dramas that CCTV has purchased have either been at a friendly price or purchased for free.

Forget about well-produced TV dramas, we can't even afford educational programs. In response to the slogan "Strive to master foreign languages ​​and build our country into a strong nation," CCTV and the BBC are collaborating to buy a 60-episode educational program called "Follow Me."

This program was considered very advanced at the time, as it encouraged Chinese people to speak spoken language.

With vivid storylines and situational dialogues, it can help improve the "mute English" habit of Chinese people.

When the BBC heard about this, they were quite generous. They offered a five-year rights package for the entire sixty-episode program, including all the rights to publish the adapted books, for just £2,000.

As a result, CCTV couldn't afford it!

In the 1980s, all departments were vying for foreign exchange, and CCTV couldn't compete at all. When someone asked for two thousand pounds in foreign exchange, the higher-ups immediately flew into a rage and refused to give them a single penny.

Finally, the British Embassy at the time used its own funds to ask CCTV for 30,000 yuan at the official price, which was then converted into pounds and wired to the BBC, and the program was finally purchased.

Once broadcast, it immediately caused a sensation, quickly attracting tens of millions of viewers and selling 30 million copies of the textbook.

The 1982 edition of the China Daily stated that the number of viewers of "Learn with Me" matched the number of television sets in my country.

It means that everyone in China who owns a television is watching it.

This one show costs less than two thousand pounds! How could anyone possibly buy a foreign TV series with foreign currency?

Wang Feng spent the whole day shopping but couldn't buy anything.

Suddenly he heard a foreigner's voice, a very clear one. The foreigner was trying hard to speak Mandarin: "Basketball program, free! Free!"

"Not a penny!"

What's free?
The foreigner kept repeating himself, which piqued Wang Feng's curiosity. He came over and asked, "What TV series do you sell?"

"basketball!"

"America even has basketball TV series! Oh, just like Japan's 'Attack No. 1', right?"

The foreigner who was questioned was stumped because he had only learned a few phrases of Chinese.

The translator will take care of the rest.

It turns out that this is a group of organizers of the American professional men's basketball league, commonly known as "NBA," who hold the broadcasting rights to all NBA games in the United States. They want to sell basketball programming to China, expand into the Chinese market, and cultivate a fan base.

Not a penny.

You can simply show your programs to Chinese audiences.

The man who made this statement is David Stern, the NBA's chief executive officer, and a Jewish man. He believes that the huge Chinese market can cultivate a large number of fans.

Historically, David Stern waited outside CCTV's headquarters in order to expand into the Chinese market, eventually winning over CCTV's decision-makers.

Now, David Stern heard that "China's first television festival" was being held, and so he ended up in Shanghai by chance.

Moreover, he read Yu Qie's novel "Da Sa Ba" on his way to China.

David called out the name of the male lead in "Da Sa Ba": "Gu Yan".

He said, "This novel is quite famous in the United States, and an American novel called Forrest Gump seems to have over-borrowed from it in some parts. Gu Yan is a lucky guy who is blessed by God. He didn't go anywhere, but he got everything."

The translator translates David's words.

"The Big Shot"? Gu Yan?

Wang Feng and his companions stopped to find out how foreigners viewed the novel "Da Sa Ba".

This foreigner wasn't there to express his admiration for Gu Yan, but rather to discuss the background of the story in the novel. In the novel, Gu Yan eventually becomes a translator and participates in the negotiations for the Shanghai Volkswagen joint venture—which involves a real business case from the 1980s.

Yu Qie is, after all, an economist, the kind who has published professional papers.

China's opening up to the outside world began with George H.W. Bush's visit to the United States, and the United States' approval enabled China to smoothly integrate into the Western world.

Therefore, the first car company to enter China was General Motors of the United States in the early 1980s. However, the proud American company refused to form a joint venture, which allowed Volkswagen of Germany to catch up and get the first joint venture car company.

Volkswagen's performance then took off, and GM deeply regretted it.

This case has been selected for Harvard Business School.

The novel *Da Sa Ba* (大撒把) has also been recommended as extracurricular reading. It's used to study the Chinese character: a group of people who appear weak but are actually very strong.

“We Americans also agree with Gu Yan’s experience. As the Frenchman Romain Rolland said, there is only one heroism in the world: to see the truth of life and still love it. Mr. Gu is such a person.”

“But Gu Yan’s personal good fortune is a tragedy for American Motors,” David Stern said.

Therefore, David Stern was unwilling to create another American company. He believed that his basketball program was like the "mass" of sports, and that if it could successfully enter China, it would reap great rewards in a few years or even a decade.

Sports programming involves cultural ideology.

Wang Feng couldn't agree: "Mr. David, I can't agree to this. We've never broadcast foreign basketball games before, so I can only apply to my superiors."

David didn't seem to care. "The NBA already has many international players; it's actually the highest level of basketball in the world. We're just providing a platform. In the future, Chinese players can also come to the NBA to play. We welcome Chinese players."

“I come to China every year, and my conditions remain unchanged. We don’t need a single penny of copyright now.”

Seeing that Wang Feng wanted to leave, David Stern panicked and used his trump card:

"Don't you want to see what videotapes I brought?"

Unexpectedly, he even brought a videotape.

What good will it do to take a look?

Wang Feng stopped there; a television and video projector were connected to the exhibition site.

The video disc was placed inside. "Click!"

The screen popped up, but it wasn't a basketball game. Instead, it featured a white player and Yu Qie, a writer well-known to the Chinese, because all of this was happening in Boston. In 1986, the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship, and their star player, Larry Bird, was considered a hero of Boston.

Then, when Yu Qie was in Boston, the writers and media who came to Boston followed suit and complimented him as "a person like Larry Bird." After his novel became a bestseller, he was invited to attend events with Larry Bird.

David Stern explained, "Mr. Yu is in Boston, standing alongside our championship players! Of course, Mr. Yu is going to be even greater!"

Yu Qie was surprised to appear on a videotape in the United States, and people from the stadium came to watch.

The videotape quality was somewhat blurry. In the public's perception, Yu Qie was a tall man of 187cm with a very strong build, but in this video, he appeared unusually short and thin. This looked like Yu Qie, yet it didn't quite resemble him!

Stern and the translator explained rapidly: The player next to Yu Qie was a giant who was 2.06 meters tall and weighed 100 kilograms!
He outshone Yu Qie.

"It really is Yu Qie!"

Here, the Chinese don't know Larry Bird; they only know Yu Che.

Wang Feng from CCTV suddenly remembered: There was a center named Mu Tiezhu on the Bayi Men's Basketball Team in China, and he lived up to his name. He was 2 meters tall and weighed over 28 kilograms, and was known as China's "Moving Great Wall".

Mu Tiezhu came from a military background. As soon as he joined the army, he was selected to play basketball because no matter how strong the soldiers were, they looked as small as children next to Mu Tiezhu.

The Bayi Men's Basketball Team had excellent results, and the leaders of the military had all heard that Mu Tiezhu was very tall, so they were mentally prepared; but as soon as they saw Mu Tiezhu, they were still shocked!

That's incredible! He's as big as a giant!
Upon realizing this, Wang Feng couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh, Mu Tiezhu! Now I understand what kind of program this is!"

But that's not all; now it's time for Americans to be surprised.

In the afternoon, Yu Qie's documentary "East Wind Prevails Over West Wind" was screened at the exhibition hall.

No one informed them that this was Yu Qie's documentary. Initially, few people watched it because it featured scenery of Boston. Stern was already tired of seeing that.

Just a few months ago, Stern was presenting an award to the basketball team in Boston!

Soon, Yu Qie appeared.

His appearance is so distinctive, with sharp features, that even Europeans and Americans with prosopagnosia can recognize him. Since April of this year, Yu Qie has practically lived on Western news.

Throughout the video, Yu Qie speaks Mandarin at a rapid pace. The translator can only pick out the important parts for the foreigners to understand, such as the ice-melting journey, Qian Zhongshu, and Li Ao... The foreigners don't understand, but they still watch with great interest.

Until Yu Qie took out a very famous gun, the Columbia Gun, and the shattered gold medal. It was a piece of gold inlaid with jade; the jade had shattered from the impact, and the bullet was embedded in the gold, with the tail protruding.

Yu Qie's lips moved on and off the screen, as if possessing a magical power. Even those who couldn't understand a single word were flushed with excitement! The Colombian trip was so famous; everyone knew this author!

Yu Qie lay on the sofa and said a few words.

Everyone couldn't wait to hear the translation and began to discuss what Yu Qie was saying!
A Japanese man, his face flushed, mumbled something in his native tongue. The translator immediately replied, "Mr. Takagi believes that Yokichi is tired and wants to rest."

The Japanese man then rebuked him. The translator added, "How can you let a national treasure-level writer not get any rest? This... this is something that requires kneeling."

Then, a Soviet man from Moscow said that Yuche was saying he had successfully infiltrated, Comrade.

A producer who came from Thailand said that Yu Chee was reminded of his own Royal Order of Thailand. It was the first time he had received a national medal. It was a small step for Yu Chee, but a giant leap for the Royal Order of Thailand.

Stern chimed in: No, Yuche is sending greetings to the American people!

What exactly did Yu Qie say?
Wang Feng is Chinese, so of course he understood! Wang Feng laughed loudly: "Yu Qie is answering questions from our CCTV reporter? The reporter asked him if this is too high-profile? Setbacks are the mother of success, and documentaries should be shown to children."

Yu Qie said he would not fail, he would continue to succeed! He said that continuous suffering would not create glory!
"He's so full of vigor!!!" Wang Feng couldn't help but exclaim.

He was indeed full of vigor and high spirits!
Previously, some members of the CCTV production team who had returned from the United States told everyone about Yu Qie's experience in the US: it was like a dream! Everyone was skeptical!
That's definitely true now! He's qualified!
Even at a television festival like this, his documentary attracts foreign viewers, so of course he'd be riding high! Especially in Boston, especially in an environment filled with his fans! Although he was far away in Shanghai, Wang Feng could already imagine the spectacle!
It was the same Japanese man who suddenly shouted, "Five thousand US dollars!" and held up five fingers.

This was like the starting gun; all the foreigners started bidding. "Ten thousand US dollars!" the Thai man said, then changed it to "twenty thousand US dollars!"

The Soviets wanted to speak, but they lacked the power to do so. All they could say was, "Mr. Yu's teacher once gave a speech in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He was a communist, and he was our brother!"

……

Finally, the documentary was priced at $70,000, a price set by American Stern himself.

He's come to China countless times to promote the NBA. If he could just show a little respect to Yu Che, he could gain the friendship of the Chinese people. What difference would a little more money make?

However, it was not sold because Wang Feng himself did not have the authority to decide whether the film could be sold to foreigners.

It contains a great deal of personal privacy.

Wang Feng started selling his wares! He took the opportunity to promote other TV dramas. The TV dramas exhibited in Shanghai included "Journey to the West" and "Eighteen Years in the Enemy Camp"... and surprisingly, quite a few were sold.

The Shanghai International Television Festival has come to a successful conclusion!
The Chinese have taken their first step overseas in the field of television programs! Although they didn't manage to buy any dramas, they sold some, so it wasn't a complete waste! Local Shanghai arts and culture figures held a celebratory banquet to enthusiastically celebrate this achievement. Even the rarely seen writer Ba Jin was invited out.

Ba Jin was a screenwriter for a group of Chinese films and television series in the 1960s and 70s. He participated in the production of works such as "Cold Nights," "Heroes and Daughters," and "Spring Dreams of My Hometown."

To reiterate: China's current film and television industry is led by writers.

They both produce substantial content and are the true power holders in the power structure.

When discussing the "Yuqie phenomenon," Ba Jin expressed both joy and melancholy:
"Let's not talk about places like Japan and South Korea. The most famous Chinese writers before were Shen Congwen, and maybe me too. It's not because I'm particularly good, but because our country has become strong, and many experts in Chinese culture have taken the initiative to translate Chinese novels into their languages ​​and publish them abroad."

"So, although I was extremely happy at first, traveling all over the world and being called a 'traveler' by everyone, I was simply... smug! But as I got older, I realized that it wasn't the country that benefited from my achievements, but rather I who benefited from the achievements of this nation!"

"People want to understand China, and coincidentally, I have achieved some success, so I have also become known."

He poured all his life experience into his final sentence: "Comrades, I am so fortunate because I am a Chinese writer."

This is a very simple and honest statement.

Mr. Ba was speaking from a wheelchair, and his voice was soft and not particularly passionate. Yet, his words carried such power.

The Guangming Daily regarded "Ba Lao's speech" as his spiritual insights at the end of his literary career.

This veteran writer had been unable to produce a satisfactory work since the 1980s. He constantly reminisced and struggled with his illness. He was constantly suffering from the dual blows of literature and physical pain, which led him to ponder philosophical questions about life all day long... Ultimately, the sudden emergence of Yu Qie led him to this conclusion.

(End of this chapter)