Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 191 Brother Yimin is really good at making money (Bonus chapter for half the chapter, please vote for me)
Upon arriving at the store, Liu Yimin looked around. On the refrigerator counter, there were only two or three refrigerators, each a different size. These refrigerators stood out like proud princesses among the other goods, but not many people bothered to inquire about them.

There's no way around it, it's too expensive. People would rather spend their money on televisions; ordinary families are lucky if they can afford an electric fan or a tape recorder.

"Comrade, comrade!" Liu Yimin knocked on the glass counter. The drowsy saleswoman fanned herself with her hand and gave Liu Yimin a lazy look.

"what's up?"

Liu Yimin chuckled: "Of course we came here to buy a refrigerator. How much does it cost?"

The sales clerk perked up a bit, glanced at Liu Yimin, and then said listlessly, "You want to buy this? It's a refrigerator!"

"I bought the refrigerator!"

"Sanyo refrigerator, small one, 1000 yuan, need a coupon!"

"What about the big one?"

Liu Yimin stood in front of the double-door refrigerators, examining them carefully. Sanyo, Japanese brand—these three were all refrigerators. The Yanjing Snowflake refrigerator was the first domestically produced refrigerator in China, but unfortunately, none of them were here.

In Yanjing, you sometimes need a letter of introduction to buy a Snowflake refrigerator.

At this point, it would be another four years before Haier, which smashed refrigerators, started producing refrigerators, while Sanyo refrigerators entered the Chinese market last year.

"The big one? The big one is 2,300! Comrade, the small one is actually quite good, there's no need to insist on the big one."

This was the longest sentence the salesperson had said to Liu Yimin since he arrived.

"We have refrigerated items, so we also need frozen items. Do you offer delivery service?"

Liu Yimin was riding a bicycle, so there was really no way to take it back.

"Comrade, did you not bring enough money? Buy a smaller one; it'll still be usable for the wedding!"

"Yes, we do have one, but we don't have a vehicle. Do you have a tricycle? I'll pay for the transport!"

The salesperson raised her voice a few decibels: "If you're willing to buy it, I'll find you a car myself!"

"That's what you said!"

The sales clerk retorted defiantly, "I said it!"

Liu Yimin pulled out more than two hundred ten-yuan bills from his pocket and placed them on the counter, then continued, "Count them and see if you have enough!"

The sales clerk instinctively picked up the money and started counting it. Halfway through, she said with a sheepish look on her face, "Having money isn't enough, you also need coupons!"

So Liu Yimin placed the coupon on the counter again. After counting the money, the other party said awkwardly, "Perfect, perfect!"

She secretly sized up Liu Yimin, wondering which family's young master was so rich!
"Comrade, didn't you say you were going to find me a tricycle?" Liu Yimin asked with a smile.

The sales clerk hung her head, thought for a moment, and ran to the back. After a long time, she finally found someone who was in charge of stocking the shelves in the mall's logistics department. They had tricycles.

When the person arrived, they looked very unwilling, and the salesperson stood by with a forced smile.

Liu Yimin took out two yuan as shipping fee and handed it to the logistics staff, who then became more polite. The sales clerk glanced at Liu Yimin gratefully and whispered an apology to him.

"It's nothing. You've actually helped me find my car, so I should thank you!"

The sales clerk blushed even more and started helping to lift the refrigerator onto the pedicab. The sales clerk and Liu Yimin went to the cashier to settle the bill and received the receipt.

As he was leaving, the salesperson apologized again, saying, "I'm so sorry, sir, it was my poor service!"

"It's alright, at least it's better than the Friendship Store. If it were a competition, you could win!"

The sales clerk waved to Liu Yimin's retreating figure, thinking to herself that he was a magnanimous person.

The sales staff at the Friendship Store were notorious for their poor attitude, so much so that overseas Chinese directly criticized them in the People's Daily, saying, "The Friendship Store is not friendly!"

Upon arriving at the courtyard house, the delivery crew actively helped Liu Yimin carry the refrigerator inside. Their attitude was exceptionally good, and before leaving, they even gave Liu Yimin some instructions on how to use the refrigerator.

Liu Yimin placed the refrigerator in the kitchen, which was spacious enough. Following the delivery worker's instructions, Liu Yimin didn't turn it on immediately, but waited until the afternoon before finally doing so.

After turning on the power, I put the large watermelon inside. Luckily, the refrigerator compartment was big enough, otherwise the watermelon wouldn't have fit.

I also bought a lot of various kinds of popsicles wholesale through the delivery workers and put them in the freezer. The two yuan for delivery was worth it.

After chilling some mung bean soup in the refrigerator, Liu Yimin turned and went back to his study. The asparagus fern, after all, is quite resilient; its leaves have started to turn green these past few days.

Around eight o'clock in the evening, there was a knock on the door of the courtyard house. Liu Yimin got up and opened the door, and saw Mao Dun and Xia Yan. Xia Yan was holding a cat in her arms and holding a little girl's hand.

Shen Yun called out in a childish voice, "Brother Liu Yimin, why did you open the door so late? Were you secretly eating something delicious?"

As soon as the sound came out, all three of them laughed.

Liu Yimin bent down and pinched Shen Yun's cheek, laughing as he said, "You were just sneaking a bite. Come on, I'll take you inside to eat with me!"

"Mr. Xia, Mr. Shen, why did you two come together?"

"Just dropping by, what? Not welcome?"

"Welcome, welcome! I was just thinking of asking you for a kitten to help me catch mice these past few days!" Liu Yimin stepped aside to let the two of them in, then took Shen Yun's hand and led them inside.

"Brother Liu Yimin, you have mice in your house!"

"Yes, I have!"

"I don't have any!"

"That's because the cat scratched it all!"

Xia Yan stroked the cat's head and said with a smile, "I happen to have a few at home. I'll have Xiao Yun bring you one another day!"

Mao Dun said, "Then I want one too, hahaha!"

Upon entering the courtyard, Xia Yan suggested that everyone sit in the study instead of the study, as she had originally intended for them to enjoy the cool shade under the ginkgo tree in the yard. Liu Yimin then brought out tables, chairs, and benches, and took out a watermelon, ready to cut it.

"Brother Liu Yimin, you didn't use this knife to chop garlic, did you? I don't like garlic-flavored watermelon!" Shen Yun said mischievously.

A garlic-flavored knife is a watermelon's nightmare.

"Brother, this knife is specially used for cutting watermelons!" Liu Yimin cut the watermelon, placed it on a plate, lit a Samsung brand mosquito coil from Shanghai, and sprinkled some floral water under the tree.

The four of them chatted under the ginkgo tree in the courtyard. Shen Yun was happily eating chilled watermelon and dried yak meat. Unfortunately, Mao Dun and Xia Yan were too old to eat anything too cold, and could only watch with regret.

"Guess why we've come?" Mao Dun said with a smile.

Liu Yimin's lips curled up: "You didn't come here just to praise me, did you?" "Anyway, I didn't come here just to eat your watermelon. Did you go to withdraw money today just to buy a refrigerator?" Xia Yan said.

"Yes, it's too hot in the summer. After coming back from Aba, I couldn't stand the heat for a while, so I bought a refrigerator."

"You're amazing! You've generated over seven thousand francs in foreign exchange for the country. When Old Xia knocked on my door to tell me this just now, I didn't believe it!"

Liu Yimin said modestly, "Your books are published abroad, so your royalties will definitely be higher than mine!"

"Haha, don't try to make us laugh. Most of our famous works are from the past, they don't have much value now!"

After Mao Dun passed away, he donated 25 yuan. This sum of royalties from Liu Yimin's manuscripts is equivalent to one twenty-fifth of the royalties he has saved in his lifetime.

"You've set a great example! Earning foreign exchange through writing. We're currently advocating for exporting goods to generate foreign exchange, and you've taken the plunge and achieved remarkable results. We knew you published, but we didn't expect it to be so profitable! How many copies of your book have sold in France?" Xia Yan asked.

"This is the royalties for 20,000 copies!"

Xia Yan and Mao Dun exchanged a glance and said, "Foreign royalties are indeed higher. But that's normal. We implement a socialist salary system, which used to be high, but everyone thought it would widen the income gap. For ten years, there were no royalties, and writers had a hard time making a living. Now, things are gradually recovering. Recently, the royalty standards have been raised and print run royalties have been restored, so writers' lives will be more secure in the future."

“If everyone in our literary and artistic circles were like you, would we still lack foreign exchange?” Mao Dun said.

"Wow~ Brother Yimin is so good at making money!" Shen Yun wiped the watermelon juice from her mouth and clapped her hands as she spoke.

Liu Yimin glanced at Shen Yun; this was truly a good straight man.

Xia Yan and Mao Dun laughed and said, "Don't just think about how Brother Yimin makes money. You should learn from Brother Yimin and his spirit of artistic creation. He went to the plateau and stayed there for more than a month."

"I can go too!"

"Haha, I bet you'll be short of oxygen when you get there!" Xia Yan affectionately pinched Shen Yun's nose.

Shen Yun asked why there was a lack of oxygen, and Liu Yimin explained some geography to her, but she still didn't seem to understand, so he turned around and started eating dried yak jerky from the plateau.

Mao Dun said, "On the way here, Lao Xia gave me a general overview of your play's creative ideas, two parts, not bad! A few days ago I had a friend collect the local chronicles of Ningbo Prefecture, you can use them as a reference."

Mao Dun handed the materials to Liu Yimin, who thanked him briefly. He then said, "The Commercial Press is going to publish a standalone edition of *The Kite Runner*. Do you have time to write a preface? Mr. Xia, you're here too, perfect timing, you can't just leave!"

Mao Dun laughed heartily: "Old Xia, then let's do it together. I took the initiative to ask Yimin to write the preface. As for you, whether you took the initiative or not, you have to do it. So we won't be alone on a book."

Xia Yan teased the cat in his arms: "Then I shall respectfully accept your offer."

In the courtyard house, Mao Dun and Xia Yan, who also wrote plays, were able to offer Liu Yimin a lot of advice. As a very important form of expression and propaganda before and after liberation, many writers were also playwrights.

Left-wing writers, in particular, brought the role of drama to its fullest potential during the War of Resistance against Japan.

The three chatted in the study until late. Seeing that Shen Yun was so sleepy that he was sitting on the stool with his head almost drooping, Xia Yan got up to leave.

As they walked outside the courtyard, Shen Yun rubbed his eyes and mumbled sleepily, "Goodbye, Brother Yimin. I'll come and bring you a cat in a few days!"

The three adults were amused by Shen Yun; even though they were so sleepy, they still couldn't forget about the cat.

"Okay, I'll wait!" Liu Yimin half-squatted down and stuffed a lot of milk candies into Shen Yun's pocket.

There weren't many people on the street by now. Under the moonlight, Mao Dun walked north, while Xia Yan rode his bicycle with Shen Yun on the back, heading south. Shen Yun looked sleepy, and Xia Yan was afraid she would fall off, so he would talk to her every now and then before he felt at ease.

Upon returning, Liu Yimin discovered that achieving true quiet in the bustling city was extremely difficult. Just as the sun began to rise, a series of knocks on the door woke him up.

Liu Yimin poked his head out and said, "Senior brother, you're up early enough."

"Yimin, it's getting late, it's past seven o'clock, why are you still sleeping? Come on, come on, I'll treat you to some soy milk!"

Liu Yimin curled his lip and said, "You're from Northeast China, what are you drinking douzhi for? Can you even get used to it? This is what old Beijingers drink, especially the stale kind, that's what you call authentic!"

"With such a smooth tongue, it seems you're not sleepy. Let's go and see the sun at seven o'clock in Yanjing. I'm not trying to criticize you, Yimin, but when it comes to writing, you should get up at cockcrow, sweep the courtyard, and write ten or twenty thousand words first."

Cui Daoyi followed closely behind Liu Yimin and went inside.

"Do people say that?" Liu Yimin said without turning his head.

"I listened to your report, after all. Life is all about striving, striving, and striving some more. As Lu Xun said, words are like water in a sponge; you can always squeeze some out. Look at your towel, it just gushes out when you squeeze it!"

Cui Daoyi twisted the towel and handed it to Liu Yimin to wipe his face.

“Senior brother, my lyrics are for others to hear, not for myself! Besides, as Mr. Lu Xun said, time is like water in a sponge.”

"It's the same for you; for you, time is just words!"

"Having a senior brother like you is the worst luck I've ever had!"

Cui Daoyi chuckled: "Having a junior brother like you is my good fortune!"

"As Mr. Lu Xun said, sufficient sleep is the beginning of a day!"

"Did I say that? How come I don't know!"

Liu Yimin hung the towel on the washstand: "As Mr. Lu Xun said, if you don't know who said this, then it was me who said it."

Cui Daoyi pulled Liu Yimin to the breakfast shop, constantly asking Liu Yimin if he wanted to eat this or that. The enthusiastic Liu Yimin thought he was going to trick him into going outside to eat kidneys.

Finally, Liu Yimin ordered steamed buns and millet porridge.

Cui Daoyi took a bite of the tofu pudding and said with a smile, "Tofu pudding has to be savory to taste good!"

"Senior brother, what do you want with me?"

Cui Daoyi didn't speak, but smacked his lips: "What? Can't your senior brother just ask you out for a meal? Does it have to be something else? Yimin, our relationship isn't based on any ulterior motives; it's purely a comradeship plus a fellow disciple relationship!"

Liu Yimin sighed: "Senior brother, it's the novel 'The Kite Runner,' right? Senior sister Li Xiaolin keeps writing to me, and I can't keep saying I don't have a manuscript and then force it on you, right?"

Cui Daoyi didn't speak, but took another bite of the tofu pudding: "Yimin, how about some more? Or a fried dough stick?"

"Senior brother."

After a while, Cui Daoyi said with a pained expression, "Junior brother, you've misjudged your senior brother. We haven't seen each other for so long, can't I just simply invite you to have breakfast? How are you doing in Aba? I often dream about you, I wonder if you've lost weight? Are you tanned? Have you gotten used to things?"
"Thinking of you in Aba, I wonder... has the manuscript been finished yet?"

Liu Yimin quickly retracted his sentimental comment, nearly bursting with anger: "Senior brother, the fox will eventually show its tail! I was quite touched just now."

"Really? Then let me tell you a few more words!"

"Stop, let's just talk about our editorial relationship! Oh, and there's something else I need to tell you. Please pass on this to Li Shu: the Commercial Press has acquired the publishing rights to 'The Kite Runner'!"

I'll add a 4000-word chapter for every 300 monthly votes, turning the third update into a 4000-word chapter, which is equivalent to an extra 2000 words. I'll add another 2000 words tomorrow! Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)