Exciting 1979!

Chapter 359 Success both domestically and internationally: Teacher Wei is earning foreign exchange again!
Minford completed the task brilliantly. Upon hearing Wei Ming's translation, everyone felt that the sentence was very philosophical. So Wei Ming added a few more paragraphs, such as "Either erupt in silence or die in silence." "Tragedy is showing people the destruction of something valuable in life." "Actually, there was no road on the ground, but as more people walk on it, it becomes a road." "The brave are angry and draw their swords against the stronger; the cowardly are angry and draw their swords against the weaker."

He and Minford worked together seamlessly, their collaboration was excellent.

Unexpectedly, besides professional shills like Minford, there were also shills who came uninvited.

A white man who looked to be about the same age as Minford walked out of the crowd and said excitedly in German, "He's right, Lu Xun is the greatest writer in modern China. We should learn about his works. However, I think there's something you translated that needs further discussion..."

Seeing that Wei Ming seemed not to understand, he repeated it in English and then began to discuss philosophy with Wei Ming.

At this moment, Wei Linlang appeared and said to the confused Wei Ping'an, "He is Wolfgang Gubin, a professor of Sinology at the Free University of Berlin."

Wei Ping'an knew that the Free University of Berlin belonged to East Germany, so he asked, "This isn't a shill you hired, is it?"

Wei Linlang: "I'm not familiar with him. He's just doing this out of love for Lu Xun. But I did consider asking him to translate your nephew's works."

Wei Ming was not familiar with Gu Bin. This future one of the three great European sinologists was still relatively young. Although he looked down on contemporary Chinese literature represented by Mo Yan and Yu Hua, he greatly admired Lu Xun.

He translated some of Lu Xun's articles into German, and he also led the completion of the German edition of "The Complete Works of Lu Xun" in the 90s. Whenever someone talks about Lu Xun, he can't help but jump up and say it.

Then Wei Hong moved another chair, and Wei Ming and Professor Gu Bin began to discuss Lu Xun's literature in English.

Both men are experts in Lu Xun studies, and their passionate speeches captivated the audience, further solidifying their belief in Lu Xun's unparalleled status in the Chinese literary world.

Several German publishers were tempted, but Wei Linlang remained unmoved, having already used almost all the authority she had on Wei Ming.

Moreover, the complete works of Lu Xun comprise as many as sixteen volumes, along with numerous letters, making translation extremely difficult. It might take several years or even decades to complete such a work. Translating the entire collection is clearly less efficient than selecting and translating his classic works.

Later, Gu Bin saw a German publisher he knew and whispered a few words in his ear. He immediately decided to sign a contract with the Chinese side.

Wei Ming was somewhat confused and asked Professor Gu Bin what he had said.

Gu Bin smiled and said, "I said that Mr. Lu Xun passed away in 1936."

This was very appealing to publishers because it meant that after 1986, they would no longer have to pay royalties to authors and their families. Copyright law only protected authors for their lifetime and 50 years after their death, after which they could be printed and distributed at will.

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

In other words, the publisher can collect royalties for another five years. It is impossible to complete the translation of the German version of "The Complete Works of Lu Xun" in five years, so the publisher can save a lot of money out of thin air in the future.

Gu Bin's successful persuasion likely secured him a long-term livelihood; his translator royalties will continue to be paid for 50 years after his death.

Some of the Chinese representatives near the bookshelves also thought of this problem, feeling that Xiao Wei had made a mistake, as there was not much profit to be made from the "Complete Works of Lu Xun".

But Wei Ming felt that being able to bring Lu Xun's works to the world was an achievement in itself, and since he was familiar with this, he decided to start with Lu Xun's collected works.

Besides German publishers, other countries have also shown interest in Lu Xun's works and want to hear more and discuss them further.

However, Wei Ming delegated them to Director Liu, who was in charge of specific business operations, as he himself had to launch new products.

"This next book is amazing! It's a new book from this year, and when it was published two months ago, it caused a sensation in the Chinese publishing and cultural circles!" Wei Ming exclaimed dramatically as he picked up a book.

Melinda read it aloud: "Letters from Fu Lei to His Son? Teacher Wei Ming, I'm not very familiar with this Fu Lei. Could you introduce him to everyone?"

Wei Ming took a sip of tea: "Everyone knows the famous French writer Balzac, right?"

"Who wouldn't know that?"

"I, an Englishman, know this."

"A literary giant of the world!"

"That's our greatest French novelist! France's Leo Tolstoy!"

"You don't mean to say he's China's Balzac, do you?"

Everyone burst into laughter, the atmosphere was relaxed and lively, and they were all waiting for Wei Ming to introduce himself.

"No, no, no, Fu Lei is actually one of the most famous translators in China, and you could even say he is the leading authority in the field of French-to-Chinese translation. He introduced the Chinese people to Balzac, Romain Rolland, and Voltaire. The Chinese people are able to appreciate the masterpieces of French literary giants thanks to him. It's a pity that he committed suicide more than a decade ago."

Hearing that he was a translator, everyone's interest waned considerably, but when they heard that it was a suicide, the audience's curiosity was piqued again.

An unnatural death!

And it was more than a decade ago. Wasn't China making a lot of noise more than a decade ago? Could it be that...

That's right, it's similar to Mr. Lao She's situation.

However, Wei Ming did not immediately reveal the cause of Fu Lei's death, but instead turned back to the contents of Fu Lei's family letters.

"This book contains Fu Lei's profound thoughts on art, life, education, and other aspects. It is both a father's teachings to his son and a wise man's enlightenment to future generations."

Next, Wei Ming promoted the book from several aspects.

First, I would like to emphasize the educational significance of this book: "It's a pity that if my father had seen this book earlier, I wouldn't have failed to get into university. This book is simply a model of family education. Fu Lei believed that 'the family is the most important school for children, and parents are the best teachers for children.'"

Wei Ping'an smiled wryly: "This kid, your father not reading this book didn't stop you from becoming a great writer."

Wei Linlang said, "You don't know, books on family education are a new market hotspot. With the US-Soviet rivalry, the treatment of workers in various countries has improved significantly, allowing them to spend more time with their families. Therefore, the proportion of investment in family education is also increasing."

The Japanese publishers, who had already translated most of Lu Xun's important works, were initially uninterested when Wei Ming talked about Lu Xun. However, when Wei Ming began to discuss family education, not only the Japanese but also the Koreans stopped and listened intently.

Gong Biyang, who had just arrived, immediately started flipping through a sample copy of "Fu Lei's Family Letters".

Wei Ming then elaborated on the value of the book from the perspective of studying East Asian families and culture, which made several publishers who specialize in translating East Asian literature fall into deep thought.

Finally, Wei Ming revealed the cause of Fu Lei's death, and it turned out to be true, and it was even related to his son.

The letters also include one he wrote to his son shortly before his death. This set of letters is extremely valuable for understanding that period of history, which has greatly increased everyone's interest.

Of course, Wei Ming didn't mention a word about the difficulties in translating this book, or the real relationship between Fu Lei and his son Fu Cong; he only talked about its advantages and highlights.

Gong Biyang quickly acquired the copyrights for the traditional Chinese and English versions, and several European countries also showed interest in the book, starting to talk with Deputy Director Liu and Pan Yaoming, the head of Sanlian Bookstore.

The Chinese personnel were dumbfounded. This Professor Wei was incredibly eloquent, and he could make his words so persuasive while remaining accurate.

And the sales effect is indeed remarkable!
Next, Wei Ming presented a book called "The Course of Beauty," written by Li Zehou, a graduate of the Philosophy Department of Peking University. This new book has sparked an aesthetic craze in China since its release.

Wei Ming quoted Mr. Feng Youlan's evaluation: "This book is extremely valuable because it is a comprehensive work on the history of Chinese aesthetics, the history of Chinese art, the history of Chinese literature, and the history of Chinese culture. Buying one is equivalent to buying four!"

Melinda chimed in, "That's amazing!"

She then opened the book, revealing the exquisite glossy illustrations inside, and invited the foreigners to admire them together. Everyone nodded in agreement, saying, "So beautiful!"

This book is priced very high, selling for 1.9 yuan in China, while Wei Minghou's thick volume "The Right Path of the World is Full of Vicissitudes" only sells for 1.8 yuan. The high price of "The Course of Beauty" is due to its illustrations.

"The Course of Beauty" is divided into ten chapters, each reviewing an important period of artistic trends or the development of a particular art form.

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

Sometimes Wei Ming would simply recite the original text, because there was no readily available translation, or if there was, he didn't know it.

Besides poetry, the Tang Dynasty also had calligraphy. Wei Hong had already prepared his full set of equipment. Wei Ming demonstrated a piece of wild cursive calligraphy on the spot. It was chaotic and unrestrained, yet contained a sense of beauty. Of course, it was still far from the classic cursive script shown in the book's illustrations.

With Wei Ming's popularization of Chinese aesthetics, Random House, a top publisher, has taken the lead among a group of interested English publishers.

Melinda, her mouth dry, picked up Wei Ming's teacup and gulped down a few mouthfuls before continuing!

Melinda has put in so much effort during the day, she'll definitely make up for it double tonight.

However, Wei Ming didn't return to the hotel until 10 o'clock; he was busy selecting products.

Because the sales performance was excellent in the first half of the day, with impressive sales figures and positive feedback from the book fair, and due to strong demand from all parties, Wei Ming decided to hold two more sessions tomorrow morning and afternoon to provide some benefits for his family.

When Wei Ming got home at 10 o'clock, he started messing with Melinda again, spending 100 million yuan!

~
While they were making a big splash, back home, Gong Xue, living in the Overseas Chinese Apartments, woke up. Her dream had vanished without a trace. Some people were eating their fill for hundreds of millions, while she could only savor that feeling in her dreams.

Looking at the time, although it was still early, Gong Xue wanted to do her best and prepared breakfast for her family.

As it turned out, Xu Shufen had anticipated her arrival and got up even earlier. She was busy in the kitchen right now, and Gong Xue could only helplessly help out.

A while later, Auntie came back from outside. She had anticipated Xu Shufen's arrival, so she got up even earlier and went out to buy some groceries, leaving the refrigerator almost empty.

When Grandma woke up and breakfast was almost ready, the front door opened from the outside, and Wei Jiefang's voice came: "Shufen, whose motorcycle is that downstairs parked next to us? And it looks so impressive."

Xu Shufen and Gong Xue both peeked out. When Lao Wei saw Gong Xue, he was stunned. He then quickly ran to the bathroom to wash his face and tidy his hair. He had just come out of the bear's den and was a little dirty.

"Comrade Gong Xue, what brings you here? It's truly an honor to have you here!"

Old Wei was a little at a loss. Although he could talk and laugh with Liu Xiaoqing with ease, Gong Xue was different. She was a celebrity who could become his daughter-in-law!

Did her son send her here? Is it to confirm their relationship?
Gong Xue: "Uncle, you can just call me Xiaoxue." "That's a new one our son bought at the Friendship Store. He left a note saying the old one is for you to ride."

Xu Shufen explained, and then reiterated the reason why she invited Gong Xue over yesterday. Then she asked Lao Wei, "Why did you come back so early in the morning? Didn't they provide you with food?"

“Why don’t you care? You even want to hire me as a full-time employee so I can train those brats,” Old Wei boasted again. “I’m just thinking about home. Have I told Yunyun and Xiaomei yet?”

Aunt Wei Ming said, "I told her, Xiao Mei said she'll come pick us up later so her mother can rest. She's a leader in the cultural troupe, and she's been busy cooking and washing clothes for them lately."

Xu Shufen invited everyone to sit down at the table to eat and chat. The breakfast was quite lavish, which made her aunt feel uncomfortable. Life in the capital was too good. She was happy to think that her daughter was also living such a life.

What followed was even more exciting: Mei Wenhua actually borrowed a jeep to pick them up for a short stay, which was quite a grand affair.

Gong Xue had already ridden his bicycle home, leaving only Wei Jiefang and Xu Shufen at home. They couldn't stay idle, so they rode their beloved little motorcycle to the courtyard to check on the cats and dogs.

Motorcycles are so much faster; it felt like we arrived in no time.

The two talked about Gong Xue the whole way. She was a beautiful and gentle girl, but she wasn't petty at all. She was very pleasant to be around, which made the old couple very fond of her.

Old Wei pondered, "I haven't seen my son getting too close to Zhu Lin lately. Could we have misunderstood? Xiao Ming only has Xiao Xue, right? Look, he's worked with Xiao Xue in both of his dramas. He's not that enthusiastic about Zhu Lin at all."

Xu Shufen also began to doubt and deny herself, wondering if she was being too arbitrary in judging her son's close relationship with Zhu Lin based solely on family planning supplies and work permits.
Xu Shufen said, "Since my sister-in-law and mother are here today, Xiaoxue is still a bit reserved. I didn't feel comfortable mentioning her relationship with Xiaoming. How about we find another opportunity to invite her to dinner, just the three of us?"

"Sure, why don't we stay in this courtyard house? You can tidy it up today, it's been a long time since anyone has lived here."

Xu Shufen: "Then what are you doing?"

Old Wei found Ginkgo's collar and leash: "I'm going to take another trip to the zoo."

"Taking your dog to the zoo?"

"Let's take it out to see the world. It's been a dog its whole life, spending most of its life in this house, and it's never seen a tiger, lion, or leopard. What a waste."

Xu Shufen: "Then you should hold it tight, so it doesn't become food for tigers, lions, or leopards."

When it saw that its owner was going to take it for a walk, Ginkgo jumped around excitedly. During this time, Xiaomei and Biaozi took turns bringing food to it and the police chief, but because they were busy at home and the shop, they didn't have time to take it for a walk. It was so bored that it was getting restless.

Old Wei picked up the ginkgo tree and placed it in front of the motorcycle, then sped off to the Beijing Zoo.

Ginkgo: Didn't you say it's a smooth ride? Does taking a car count as a smooth ride?
~
As the first person to coin the phrase "Gong Xue in the South and Zhu Lin in the North," Liu Zhenyun's articles became very popular, and he recently received a lot of reprint fees. So he decided to treat his girlfriend, Guo Jianmei, to a good time.

When Guo Jianmei saw the Lao Mo Restaurant, she thought she was going to eat Russian food again, but Liu Zhenyun pulled her to continue walking forward and they arrived at the gate of the Yanjing Zoo next door.

Guo Jianmei: "I've been here so many times, I can almost recognize all the animals."

"Look what this is!" Liu Zhenyun chuckled and took a black object out of his bag.

"Oh, a camera! You bought a camera!"

Liu Zhenyun: "Meizi, you still don't understand me."

"Who did you borrow it from?"

"Hehe, I borrowed it from my senior classmate Liang Zuo. They're about to graduate, so he asked Professor Chen Rong to buy him one so they could take pictures when the class goes to Fragrant Hills to see the autumn leaves. But I beat him to it. I'll ask Professor Wei to help me develop it later. I'll just pay for the film."

Guo Jianmei looked at the old man with admiration. She had been to the zoo several times, but had never taken a picture here before.

The two bought tickets and quickly entered the zoo. Guo Jianmei said, "Let's go see the pandas first. They won't come out once the temperature goes up at noon."

Liu Zhenyun: "Why are there so many people at the panda enclosure?"

Guo Jianmei: "When is the panda pavilion not crowded? And today is Sunday."

"Something's not right; there are an unusually large number this time."

They couldn't squeeze in when they got there, but they did see pandas because they were climbing trees!
There is indeed a big tree in the panda enclosure, but it's quite tall, and the pandas usually just use it to scratch their itch.

But now this half-giant panda has not only climbed the tree, but is also standing on the branch and eating sugarcane in a very grand manner!
The trees all swayed.
This was Guo Jianmei's first time seeing such a large and lively panda, and she urged Liu Zhenyun, "Hurry up and take pictures!"

It might be a funeral portrait, and it'll be black and white.

"Huh? This was taken for the two of us. It's such a waste to take a picture of it."

"Look how fun it is!"

As the two were chatting, a loud shout suddenly rang out: "Get down here right now!"

It was accompanied by the barking of dogs.

It was Old Wei who arrived. Before he could even settle Ginkgo down, he heard that Steel Egg had climbed the tree, and quite high at that.

Steel Egg, out of respect for his father, cut off half of the sugarcane, sat on a branch in the middle of the tree, and then slowly finished eating it.

Old Wei stopped trying to persuade it and simply threw the apple onto the tree, so that Steel Egg could catch it and eat it.

The tourists laughed again as they watched the giant panda scoop apples from the tree branches and eat them, its comical and adorable movements bringing laughter to the scene.

Liu Zhenyun and his companion squeezed to the front and recognized Lao Wei.

"Uncle Wei!" Liu Zhenyun waved his hand, surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Xiao Liu, Xiao Guo, come over and have some fun. I've been working here lately."

Seeing Liu Zhenyun with a camera, he whispered to him, "You two go and wander around first. When Gangdan is done with his work at noon, I'll let you take a group photo. Remember to wait for me over there."

Upon hearing that they could take a photo with the giant panda, the two stomped their feet in excitement.

After they had walked around for a while, they arrived at the agreed-upon place to wait for Lao Wei, only to find one adult and two children there.

"Hello, Editor Lü! Oh my, isn't this our little movie star, Teacher Xizi, and the famous musician, Teacher Lele!"

Liu Zhenyun kept joking around, while Guo Jianmei, upon seeing the brother and sister, thought of the movie "Mom, Love Me Once Again," and her eyes welled up with tears.

After Liu Zhenyun and the others left, Lü Xiaoyan brought her two children to see the giant pandas. It was a good place to go on the weekend. Unexpectedly, she ran into her uncle who worked there.

We have connections in the zoo, so they were waiting for Lao Wei to pull some strings and let them take a close-up photo with Gangdan.

While waiting for Lao Wei to open the door, Lü Xiaoyan talked to Liu Zhenyun and the others about the Frankfurt Book Fair.

"Have you read today's 'Literary Gazette'?" Lü Xiaoyan asked.

"No, what happened?"

The Wenyi Bao newspaper reported on the situation on the first day in Frankfurt, all of which were messages faxed back by Deputy Director Liu Gao.

"You can buy them and take a look. It says that Wei Ming's works are a hit in Frankfurt. On the first day, the number and amount of copyrights sold were the highest among all 30,000 books from 100 countries. Some of his books, like 'Ferocious Animals,' were bought as a package, while others were bought separately. In one day, he earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign exchange for the country."

Guo Jianmei stared in astonishment, mouth agape. Hundreds of thousands a day, and in US dollars no less!

Liu Zhenyun, however, said nonchalantly, "I'm not surprised at all, after all, that's our Teacher Wei."

In reality, his heart was pounding wildly. Good heavens, that's a million RMB!

There aren't even any households with 10,000 yuan in our village yet, but Teacher Wei is already a millionaire!
It was clear that literature was indeed a viable career path and could truly provide for one's livelihood, which further strengthened Liu Zhenyun's determination to venture into the literary world.

Just then, the door opened, and a large yellow dog's head poked out.

"Come in, but don't let anyone see," Old Wei called out. Five people who had gone through the back door quickly entered. Xizi first hugged Ginkgo, the dog was really soft.

"Big brother, you don't know yet, do you? Xiaoming was a huge star at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany!"

"Oh, news has come back! Tell us about it!" Old Wei took out his notebook and took notes very carefully. This would be something he could talk about with Xiaoxue at dinner tonight. She was sure Xiaoming was thinking about him too.

After leaving the zoo, Lü Xiaoyan took her children to the bookstore to check on the sales of the newly released second issue of "King of Fairy Tales".

Last month, the combined sales of "King of Fairy Tales" and "Children's Literature" exceeded those of "Children's Literature" previously, indicating that separating medium-length and long fairy tales from short stories is beneficial for publishers.

This time, Lü Xiaoyan directly set the initial print run at 30 copies.

According to bookstore staff, "The response has been excellent, especially the 'Big Baby's Birth' book, which the children love."

In the second installment of "Calabash Brothers," the human-shaped Calabash Brothers finally make their appearance. Wei Ming's personally designed large-headed characters are very popular, and their immense strength and the way they were ultimately captured are also thought-provoking.

At the same time, Xu Shufen, who had finished preparing dinner, dialed Gong Xue's number.

"Hello, it's me, Aunt Xu. Come over for dinner tonight. Xiaoming's dad and I are both here. Do you remember how to get to the Beichizi courtyard house?"

"Oh, I remember, I remember," Zhu Lin replied, puzzled.
……

(Bonus chapter for 1000 and 2000 monthly votes in February! Guaranteed minimum tonight)
(End of this chapter)