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

Chapter 434 "The Freedom of Black Slaves" (Seeking monthly votes)
Inside the tenement building, Zheng Yuanjie and Guo Weiwei were extremely embarrassed. Zheng Yuanjie's face was flushed, and a sense of shame as a man welled up in his heart.

"I'll move as soon as I make money!" Zheng Yuanjie endured for a while but decided he couldn't take it anymore.

"Wow, that's incredible! Our apartment building is about to produce a millionaire!"

"I'm going to earn a million!"

"Hey, the wind's strong, don't let it hurt your tongue. Little Guo, touch Old Zheng's head, is he running a fever? One million? You're a plane mechanic, not a pilot. You can't brag like that, you're making a fool of yourself in Beijing!"

The sarcastic voice from the other side made Zheng Yuanjie want to go next door and slap the other person twice. Guo Weiwei pulled the angry Zheng Yuanjie back and whispered, "The guy next door is a scoundrel and an old bachelor. If we make too much noise, he won't be able to stand it."

"Hmph!" Zheng Yuanjie lost interest and turned over to look at the moon outside.

The neighbor, who had been listening to the wall for a while, found there was no sound, so he rolled over and became a craftsman.

After his anger subsided, Zheng Yuanjie felt neither desire nor sleepiness. So as not to disturb his wife's sleep, he sat alone in the stairwell, wrapped in his clothes, and started smoking.

His eyes were filled with excitement and trepidation as he sat there until morning, finishing an entire pack of cigarettes.

As the neighbors started cooking breakfast, many people who saw Zheng Yuanjie joked, "Old Zheng is going to make a million!"

The soundproofing in the tenement building was terrible. Zheng Yuanjie was furious. Several rooms on this floor, including those upstairs, could hear what he was saying.

Zheng Yuanjie gave a embarrassed "hmm" and quickly went into the house.

After breakfast, the children's literature editor approached Zheng Yuanjie to commission a manuscript. Zheng Yuanjie hadn't submitted any manuscripts this month, which the editor found unusual. Without Zheng Yuanjie's fairy tales, sales would surely plummet.

Zheng Yuanjie said firmly, "Don't come here again. I won't submit any more articles to you."

"Why? Just because of a penny?"

"One cent? You haven't raised the price by even one cent!"

"Old Zheng, I'll go back and discuss it with the boss again. Don't be stubborn!"

"I'm not being stubborn, from now on I'm not putting up with this anymore!"

The editor felt that his own editorial department had acted unfairly, but he didn't try to persuade Zheng Yuanjie much. He thought that since Zheng Yuanjie wrote fairy tales, who else could he submit his work to if not them?
He's just being stubborn now; he'll know to come back when he's hungry!

After finishing his meal, Zheng Yuanjie came to Liu Yimin's place and discussed the matter in detail again.

Liu Yimin noticed that he looked unwell, so he asked him what was wrong.

Zheng Yuanjie admitted that he hadn't slept all night, sitting in the tenement building thinking about whether taking the next step would lead to an abyss or a smooth road.

"Xi Mei!"

"Professor Liu, did you call me?"

"Make Old Zheng a bowl of warming soup, add plenty of yam, goji berries, and ginger," Liu Yimin said.

Zheng Yuanjie quickly said there was no need. Xi Mei looked at Liu Yimin, who gave her a wink, and the other party immediately went to do it.

Zheng Yuanjie was deeply moved and, holding Liu Yimin's hand, said, "Having wandered for half my life, I never imagined I would find such a kindred spirit. Comrade Yimin, seeing you today is like seeing the sun after the clouds have parted!"

"It's just a bowl of soup!"

"Comrade Yimin, what do you think would be a suitable name for our magazine?" Zheng Yuanjie asked.

Let's call it "King of Fairy Tales"!

"The King of Fairy Tales? Isn't that a bit too high-profile?"

"High profile? I'm not afraid of being high profile, I'm afraid of not being high profile. Old Zheng, you have to be high profile when you do things, it's also a kind of publicity. In the future, when people think of fairy tales, they will think of 'King of Fairy Tales'. Just by hearing the name, they will know that it is a legitimate magazine in children's literature, and it is the best-selling magazine." Liu Yimin explained to him.

Zheng Yuanjie straightened up and said, "This is exactly what I was thinking. If we're going to do something, we're going to do it right. I'm not submitting to any other magazines for now. Once we get the publication number, we'll publish the inaugural issue."

"Let go of him yourself. Old Zheng, do you live in a tenement building?"

Zheng Yuanjie said embarrassedly, "Yes."

"It's usually too noisy. Can you calm down and write?"

"It's barely enough. There aren't many people during the day, but there are more at night."

"If it's too noisy, I have a three-courtyard house, but no one has lived there yet. You and your sister-in-law can move there first!"

Zheng Yuanjie quickly declined, but Liu Yimin, seeing his reluctance, said, "How about paying rent? Ten yuan a month?"

"A three-courtyard siheyuan costs twenty yuan, you're getting ripped off with ten yuan. Besides, I..."

Liu Yimin said, "The rent will come from the 30,000 yuan startup fund. The courtyard is not only your place to live, but also your office address. You can rest well and write faster in the courtyard. In addition, it is easier to discuss cooperation with other people."

Zheng Yuanjie was still hesitating when Ximei placed the prepared warming soup in front of him, which contained boiled crucian carp.

"you eat first."

Zheng Yuanjie quickly finished the soup. The rich fish soup made him burp and feel sweating all over. It was already hot sitting in the heated room, and now fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Come on, I'll show you!" Liu Yimin turned around, found a few keys, and picked out one of them.

Zheng Yuanjie felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the densely packed keys on the wall: "Comrade Yimin, how many courtyard houses did you buy?"

"There are only six sets now. Don't be fooled by the number of keys; most of them are keys to the smaller rooms, there are only six keys to the main gate!"

"Wow, six sets? Just six sets? Comrade Yimin, you writers of medium and long novels really make money!" Zheng Yuanjie exclaimed.

“Most of it is royalties from overseas,” Liu Yimin explained.

"When will I be able to earn foreign exchange?"

"I will in the future!"

"Why did you buy so many?"

"I bought it to store readers' letters," Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"So many letters? Comrade Yimin, sigh, I'm tired of saying I'm envious."

Zheng Yuanjie sighed helplessly and followed Liu Yimin out of the Overseas Chinese Apartment. This courtyard house was purchased not long ago and is located on Qianmen Street, south of Chang'an Avenue.

Pushing open the door, they went inside. The place was rather messy, with leaves swirling around their feet in the wind. Zheng Yuanjie squinted and asked, "How long has it been since anyone lived here?"

“There weren’t many people living here before you bought it, so you’ll have to tidy it up a bit. Also, I’ll make a signboard with the name of the ‘King of Fairy Tales’ editorial department. This will be the distribution address, and readers can send their letters here.”

Zheng Yuanjie walked to the second courtyard and was very satisfied with the environment: "When I make money in the future, I will also buy a courtyard house."

"Haha, you'll definitely buy even more then," Liu Yimin joked.

Zheng Yuanjie raised the monthly rent to fifty yuan and paid for a year in advance.

The rent money, whether transferred from one hand to the other, still ended up in Liu Yimin's pocket. However, it was only six hundred yuan a year, so Liu Yimin didn't care too much about it.

What he cared more about was finding a good environment for Zheng Yuanjie so that he could start writing quickly.

Liu Yimin handed over 30,000 yuan to Zheng Yuanjie, instructing him to start operating the business as soon as possible and to complete the preliminary work first.

"This is the contact information for the person in charge at Yenching University Press. I have already called them, and they have no problems."

Zheng Yuanjie said, "Don't worry, I've pretty much figured out the process of starting a magazine. I'll just go through it a bit more recently."

“Cui Daoyi, the deputy editor-in-chief of People’s Literature and Art, is my senior and also my editor. If you have any questions, you can ask him. He has been working on magazines for decades and is familiar with everything.”

After giving Zheng Yuanjie his instructions, Liu Yimin hired workers to tidy up the yard for Zheng Yuanjie and also to help him move according to his schedule.

Liu Yimin, the founder of "King of Fairy Tales" magazine, has done what he could. Now it's up to Zheng Yuanjie.

The couple had planned to obtain the publication number before the Spring Festival, but seeing the current favorable situation, they decided to try to get it in February and release the inaugural issue during the Spring Festival for good luck. The next evening, Zheng Yuanjie and his wife Guo Weiwei moved into the courtyard house. When they moved, Zheng Yuanjie stood up straight, even straighter than when he was in the army.

The neighbor, munching on sunflower seeds and looking smug, leaned against the wooden door and said sarcastically, "Wow, Old Zheng really made a million! That's amazing, now he can roam all over Beijing."

Zheng Yuanjie was too lazy to waste words and simply ignored the other person, making the other person feel as uncomfortable as if they had eaten shit.

Guo Weiwei was overjoyed to see the spacious courtyard: "I must thank Comrade Liu Yimin properly when I have time."

“Weiwei, how can I express my gratitude? Only through writing! If the magazine doesn’t turn out well, I’ll be letting down Comrade Yimin who has been working so hard. I’m reminded of Li He’s poem, ‘To repay your kindness on the Golden Terrace, I would wield the Jade Dragon and die for you.’”

Guo Weiwei said with heartache, "Old Zheng, we've done our best, there's no need to go to the point of repaying you with our lives."

"Weiwei, go cook. I'm going to the study to write my novel. I have a lot of ideas lately. I'll skip eating and drinking to finish the first issue."

In the study of the Overseas Chinese Apartment, besides Liu Yimin, sat several men in suits. They were representatives of publishing houses from several Asian countries, namely Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.

They came together wanting to sign a publishing authorization agreement with Liu Yimin. Japan and South Korea both wanted to publish in their own countries, while the Singaporean publisher wanted the entire Southeast Asian market.

“Yimin, our publishing house has channels in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. I believe that with our publishing house’s strength, we are capable of helping you promote your work in Southeast Asian island countries,” said Lu Wen, head of the Singapore publishing house.

Lu Wen speaks fluent Mandarin. He is a third-generation Southeast Asian Chinese and looks exactly like people from China, except for his elite attire.

Seeing that Liu Yimin did not speak, Lü Wen continued, "There are many Chinese in Southeast Asia, and the Chinese-language publishing market has huge potential. We can also meet the publishing needs in English, Indonesian, and Malay."

"Southeast Asia can be handed over to you, but the royalties will be one or two percentage points higher than those for a single country license."

Lu Wen smiled and said, "We already inquired about it before we came, so we can accept it."

If Zhen Guang were to authorize Po County, that small area wouldn't be enough for Liu Yimin to handle.

The three publishing houses signed publishing authorization agreements with Liu Yimin for all his books, with the term remaining five years.

“If my book is published in your respective countries and needs to be revised, you must notify me, otherwise I have the right to revoke the authorization,” Liu Yimin said.

Lu Wen remained silent. He knew Liu Yimin was addressing Japan and South Korea. Singapore had absolutely no need to revise Liu Yimin's book, while Japan might revise the anti-Japanese content, and South Korea might as well to suit its domestic publishing needs.

All three publishers agreed and added this clause to the contract. The royalty split between Japan and South Korea is 16% for paperbacks and 20% for hardcovers, while in Singapore it is 17% for paperbacks and 22% for hardcovers.

After signing agreements with Southeast Asia and East Asia, Liu Yimin Publishing can be said to have achieved global publishing, with his books available in major markets!

After signing the contract, the Japanese representative, Ibe, did not leave, but hoped that Liu Yimin could introduce him to Shi Tiesheng.

"We are preparing to publish a 'Selected Works of Modern Chinese Literature,' and we want to include works by Shi Tiesheng such as 'My Distant Qingping Bay' and 'Half an Hour for Lunch.'"

“Okay, but since you’ve gone through my introduction, the royalties you pay Tiesheng will have to be paid according to my terms,” Liu Yimin said.

Wellside said with great embarrassment, "Liu Jun, his reputation is not as good as yours, so he can only give 10% at most."

"13%!"

"I want to see the person first."

Liu Yimin couldn't control Jing Bian in this regard, since even without Liu Yimin, he could find Shi Tiesheng through others.

So they took Jingbian to Shi Tiesheng's house. Shi Tiesheng was slightly excited when he heard that it could be published in Japan, after all, he had long envied Liu Yimin for being able to publish abroad.

Shi Tiesheng was about to agree when Liu Yimin stopped him and asked Jingbian to explain the royalty sharing.

“Liu Jun, at most 11%!” Jing Bian said.

"13%. Tiesheng is a very talented writer. If you build a good relationship with him now, he'll choose your publishing house again in the future. Otherwise..."

Shi Tiesheng was very satisfied with 11% and almost blurted out his agreement.

"Mr. Liu, our publishing house also needs to make money."

Liu Yimin said, "It's only two percentage points short!"

“Alright, let’s be friends. Among the Chinese writers included in ‘Modern Chinese Literature,’ Liu, you are the highest, and Shi Jun is second.” Jingbian nodded in agreement.

"Then you've made way too much money!" Liu Yimin sneered.

Jingbian shrugged and said, "Publishing Chinese writers' articles on such a large scale is very costly, and some writers probably won't sell many copies."

“You calculate the money based on the number of units sold, so no matter how you calculate it, you won’t lose money.”

After leaving the well, Shi Tiesheng excitedly expressed his gratitude to Liu Yimin. Liu Yimin smiled and said, "It's nothing. It's mainly because you wrote it well. Otherwise, the Japanese wouldn't have bought it."

Liu Yimin wanted to leave, but Shi Tiesheng grabbed his hand and invited him to dinner. When Shi's father returned around 6 p.m., he was also very excited to hear the good news. He ran to his neighbor's house, bought a chicken, and cooked a pot of chicken soup.

"I'm full, I really have to go back now." Liu Yimin patted his stomach, indicating that he was already stuffed.

"Brother Yimin, you haven't eaten much!" Shi Lan said with a smile.

Liu Yimin said, "I ate one of the two chicken legs, is that too little? You're quite generous, hahaha."

The three members of the Shi family escorted Liu Yimin to the entrance of the alley and only turned back when they could no longer hear the sound of the motorcycle.

Back home, the whole family sat in the living room watching TV. Liu Yimin glanced at them and saw that they were all watching "The Legendary Shopkeeper": "You've watched it so many times, haven't you had enough yet?"

“We’ve got nothing else to do, and the two little ones are watching intently!” Yang Xiuyun said with a smile.

Liu Yimin complained, "I think the two little guys are about to speak, so don't watch too much. Their first words will be 'Sir'!"

The family laughed for a while, then Liu Yimin turned and went back to his study.

Before New Year's Day, The Paris Review, which was far away in the United States, couldn't wait any longer. Seeing that Liu Yimin had not yet submitted his manuscript, they sent him another telegram to inquire about the progress.

Holding the telegram and looking at his half-finished book, *Freedom of Black Slaves*, Liu Yimin helplessly wrote back to *The Paris Review*, asking them to wait a little longer.

"Freedom of Black Slaves" is adapted from the American film "Emancipation of the Slaves". This film is set against the backdrop of the American Civil War and Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation". Many black slaves in the Southern slave states saw hope for freedom and fled to the North.

A black man named Peter left the plantation and his wife in search of freedom. His body was covered in wounds, all from the whippings inflicted by the plantation owner.

But the escape route was extremely difficult. Ahead lay dangerous swamps, and behind them were hunters responsible for chasing black people, who earned rewards for capturing them.

Peter, guided by his faith in freedom and God, finally reached the North. His experience garnered the sympathy of countless people, and Western countries such as France, seeing the scars on Peter's body, refused to buy cotton from the Southern states, accusing them of being too cruel.

Liu Yimin found the hypocrisy of Westerners laughable. What right did Britain, France, and other countries have to stand up and act like saints? If it weren't for you, would Black people have been able to come to America as slaves?
Then the Civil War broke out, and Black people joined the Union Army, rushing south in the fight for freedom.

Liu Yimin made changes to the content. Although the film promoted the suffering of black people, it promoted the efforts made by the United States to emancipate black slaves. Overall, it was a propaganda film for the internal affairs of the country.

The article explains why Lincoln was willing to emancipate the slaves: the North needed workers to develop industry, while the slaves were all in the South. Lincoln emancipated the slaves in order to compete with the South for labor.

They talk about justice all the time, but behind the scenes it's all about business.

Through Peter's grandfather's conversation with him, the story of the slave trade conducted by Western countries such as England, France, Spain, and Portugal for money is brought to light.

“Our home is on the other side of the Atlantic, so why are we in a plantation? If God is omnipotent, why does He turn a blind eye to our suffering?”

Peter's yearning for freedom and the main reason for his eventual adventure out of the South were attributed to his own strong willpower.

Through his reflections, he showed readers that Black people can only achieve freedom through their own efforts, not through the mercy of white people or the compassion of God.

The politician used Peter to proclaim the cruelty of the Southern plantations to the world, but back in his magnificent villa, he discussed how to win the war by exploiting the suffering of Black people, his words filled with contempt for them.

When England and France stepped forward to act as saints, Peter once again asked, "Why have we come here?" exposing the hypocritical lies of the white people.

The book incorporates elements of adventure, making it more suitable for the current American readers' desire for the unusual.

Liu Yimin is working at full speed and expects to complete the work by the end of January.

"Teacher Liu, what do you think of the clothes and gifts I bought for my older brother, sister-in-law, and Dad?" Zhu Lin asked as he walked into the study carrying a large pile of things.

P.S.: Thank you to BakalaCakaya for the 500 points donation!
(End of this chapter)