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

Chapter 515: Global box office of $120 million, $5 million share of the profits.

After the news broadcast ended, Zhu Lin asked in bewilderment, "It is said that 600,000 to 700,000 troops went to war, but only about 300,000 are qualified to return. This year, only 100,000 applications were issued. That ratio is too low."

“Many of them may no longer have relatives, and the proportion is indeed too small. How many of the veterans who didn’t get their applications can wait another year? And many of the civilians who left also miss their relatives on the mainland. Alas, there are indeed too few!” Liu Yimin said.

Xie Zhonghou's reply arrived yesterday. It provided a very detailed account of the situation on the island, including the reactions from various sectors, and included several newspapers from the island.

The island's major newspapers cheered and encouraged the policy, and featured many touching stories. They also mentioned Li Ao, who personally went to the veterans' community to help veterans fill out their applications to return home.

After Liu Yimin received these newspapers, he gave them to Liu Zhenyun for his reference.

Xie Zhonghou also had some photos taken of readers on the island selecting Liu Yimin's books.

Liu Yimin's book attracted the attention of the literary world as soon as it was released on the island. The publisher specially invited some well-known figures on the island to hold a symposium, and Li Ao was also present.

Li Ao made several shocking remarks at the symposium, which immediately generated a lot of buzz.

"Liu Yimin's writing skills are a hundred times better than those of the island's writers!"

"Liu Yimin's works are the culmination of vernacular Chinese!"

"I, Li Ao, am the person on the island who understands Liu Yimin's works the most!"

"I, Li Ao, am the second most likely Chinese writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The first is Liu Yimin from mainland China!"

Li Ao already wields enormous influence on the island, and is known for his outrageous and sensational pronouncements. The publishing house made the right choice in inviting him this time.

Driven by various factors, sales of newly released works have skyrocketed, with "Beloved" leading the pack with an unparalleled momentum.

There is also a surge of research into magical realism on the island, with countless literary reviews published in newspapers.

In his letter, Xie Zhonghou stated that Liu Yimin's book had only been on the island for a short time, and he would wait a month to see the specific sales figures.

"Teacher Liu, you're writing a screenplay for Deng Xiaoping's movie, right?" Zhu Lin gently squeezed Liu Yimin's shoulder.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” Liu Yimin looked at Zhu Lin.

Zhu Lin chuckled: "Teacher Wan said he wants you to write a play script while you're at it."

"This is easy!" Liu Yimin agreed without hesitation.

Zhu Lin adjusted the air conditioner in the study to a comfortable temperature, washed a plate of fruit and placed it next to the desk, then lit mosquito coils and slowly left the study.

When they got to the yard, they saw Liu Yu and Liu Lin trying to come in, so they picked them up and said, "Mom and Dad, why don't you take the two little ones outside to play? Teacher Liu is writing a script and it's in a hurry, so don't let them disturb us."

Liu Fuqing said, "Okay, Xiaoyu, come with Grandpa to see the fireflies."

Yang Xiuyun was busy pickling celery in the kitchen, while Liu Fuqing pulled one of them by the hand and walked towards the outside of the courtyard.

"Come on, let's have a contest and see who walks with more energy," Liu Fuqing said softly.

Liu Yu immediately jumped up and down, and Liu Lin, not to be outdone, jumped up and down twice in succession.

"Good, good, you're all energetic. Grandpa will buy you hawthorn rolls."

Zhu Lin couldn't help but catch up: "Dad, don't go too far at night. It's time to sleep, and don't buy them candy."

"Okay, we'll just wander around here. Don't worry, we won't get lost," Liu Fuqing said cheerfully.

After hearing this, Zhu Lin returned to his bedroom and picked up a book to read.

In the kitchen, Yang Xiuyun asked Ximei about her boyfriend, feeling that since she was already over twenty, it was time for her to find someone.

"Aunt Yang, I... I'm still young, there's no rush," Xi Mei said, blushing.

"Why aren't you in a hurry, kid? You're over twenty, it's time to find someone. If you haven't found anyone you like yet, I'll have Yimin look for someone for you."

Xi Mei quickly replied, "No need, no need, Aunt Yang, Professor Liu is busy. Besides, everyone Professor Liu knows is a professor or a teacher, how could he possibly be interested in me!"

"Hey, what's wrong with you? You're beautiful, skillful, and have a good temper. Whoever marries you is incredibly lucky." Yang Xiuyun tapped the water in the basin with her hand.

Xi Mei was thinking about Liang Xiangdong from the editorial department of "King of Fairy Tales" and even wanted to urge Liu Yimin.

Liu Yimin said a while ago that he would remind Liang Xiangdong, but he hasn't been to the editorial department of "King of Fairy Tales" lately, so there's no way he could remind him.

Yang Xiuyun got more and more excited as she talked, and Ximei couldn't keep up, so she had to tell the truth.

Yang Xiuyun had met Liang Xiangdong before, but only once at the Overseas Chinese Apartment, and her memory of him was a bit vague. She only remembered him after Ximei reminded her.

"That young man is polite and has a decent appearance, but I wonder what he's really like? Yimin is too busy, I'll remind him tomorrow," Yang Xiuyun said with a smile.

"Mmm." Ximei blushed and lowered her head to knead the dough, preparing it for fermentation.

After writing until 10 o'clock, Liu Yimin turned on the radio as usual and listened to "Youth Night Talk" for a while. After listening for half an hour, Liu Yimin turned off the radio.

Wu Zuxiang's narration of "Dream of the Red Chamber" is not only popular in China, but also has the potential to become popular internationally. Some radio stations with international coverage have begun to rebroadcast it.

In particular, radio stations near Fujian Province that can cover Southeast Asia—back when China was under the SCGM (Society for the Promotion of Cultural Revolution), there were dedicated radio stations covering Southeast Asia, calling for revolutions in the Third World. Now, with the reform and opening up, this export has ceased, and these stations can be converted into cultural and news programs to export culture.

The Central Broadcasting Station wanted to produce the tapes for sale, which would overcome the problems that radio broadcasts could not be transmitted over long distances or could not be listened to repeatedly.

The main problems haven't been resolved yet, so production is impossible right now. There are two issues: first, Professor Wu's lectures on *Dream of the Red Chamber* are not yet finished; second, there are copyright and profit-sharing issues.

Although Professor Wu was a guest invited by the Institute of Literature, the copyright does not belong to the Institute; we still need to consult Professor Wu himself. While copyright awareness is weak now, Liu Yimin cannot do anything so unethical.

The Institute of Literature and Art can get a share of the pie, but it shouldn't take it all for itself.

Back then, Chen Peisi and Zhu Shimao sued CCTV because of this. CCTV produced DVDs of their skits on CCTV and sold them without giving them a single penny.

They won the lawsuit, and in addition to receiving 300,000 yuan in compensation, the two disappeared from the Spring Festival Gala stage.

Later, CCTV learned its lesson and decided that the copyright of all programs featured on the Spring Festival Gala would belong to CCTV and not to any individual.

After leaving the study, Liu Yimin took a short walk under a tree to relax. Zhu Lin bought Liu Yimin a jump rope so he could exercise in the yard from now on.

Liu Yimin's rope skipping skills are quite good; he can skip about a thousand times in ten minutes. This is thanks to his rope skipping physical exam in his previous life. However, he hadn't skipped rope for a long time, and he was exhausted after skipping a thousand times.

Xi Mei called Liu Fuqing back, and Liu Yu and Liu Lin were holding lollipops.

Yang Xiuyun scolded, "These two little ones can't keep eating candy. Linlin specifically told me to, and you still bought it?" "I won't buy it next time. The two little ones each cling to one of my legs, and they cry if I don't buy it. It breaks my heart when they cry," Liu Fuqing said aggrievedly.

"You!" Yang Xiuyun shook the towel in her hand with exasperation.

Liu Yu and Liu Lin hid behind Liu Fuqing's legs, licking their lollipops. Luckily, they were almost finished.

"Come on, don't eat anymore, Grandma will take you to take a bath." Yang Xiuyun said as she went to hug them.

Liu Yu and Liu Lin tried to dodge Yang Xiuyun's attack, but ultimately couldn't escape her grasp. Seeing that they were about to cry, Liu Yimin went over and said, "Dad will hold it for you. You can eat it after you've finished your bath."

After some coaxing, they finally got them to hand the lollipop to Liu Yimin. Once they finished showering, they had completely forgotten about the lollipop.

"Dad, try to buy less in the future. They're too small. What if they choke?" Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"Okay, I understand," Liu Fuqing nodded and said.

Liu Yimin didn't say anything more. The elderly are more sensitive in front of their children as they get older.

Liu Yimin sat in the yard to rest for a while. The thousand jump ropes had made him sweat profusely. After Liu Yu and Liu Lin finished showering, he went in and took a cold shower.

Liu Yu and Liu Lin, both wearing bellybands, giggled as they watched Liu Yimin go in to take a bath.

After taking a shower, Zhu Lin walked into the room and lay half-reclined on the bed. Her fair skin looked particularly beautiful under the incandescent light.

"Teacher Liu, how's the jump rope?" Zhu Lin asked.

"It's alright. Let's start dancing together tomorrow. You work every day, so you need to get some exercise too."

Zhu Lin put down his book and did a difficult stretching exercise: "Don't worry, look how flexible I am! I exercise every day."

Liu Yimin chuckled: "That's a good move, keep it up, here comes your husband."

"."

On August 10, Liu Yimin received a telegram from American director Frank. At this time, "Redemption of a Slave" had finished its screening worldwide, with a global box office of $120 million and a box office of $70 million in the United States.

This result exceeded Liu Yimin and Frank's expectations; neither of them had anticipated that it would fetch so much money.

After the global box office results were announced, Steven Spielberg, the first American director to approach Liu Yimin, was so impressed that he slapped his thigh until it was swollen. He deeply regretted his arrogance at the time, which had cost him a well-known film.

People generally believe that a blockbuster movie needs to gross 300 or 400 million to be considered a success, but in reality, movies that reach 100 million in box office revenue each year are extremely rare.

Based solely on the US box office revenue share, Liu Yimin will receive $3.5 million. Including the global box office, he could receive around $5 million in revenue share this time.

The filming of this movie, including Liu Yimin's script fee, cost less than 18 million US dollars. The investors made a killing this time.

Liu Yimin could hear Frank's excitement in the telegram. He affectionately called Liu Yimin "the creator of Frank's cinematic dream" and expressed his gratitude and warm greetings to Liu Yimin several times in a few sentences.

At the end of the letter, Frank told Liu Yimin that his film company and investors were working to extend the screening time of "Redemption of a Slave" worldwide.

"If its box office is a little higher, I believe it can win an Oscar next year!"

Liu Yimin put the telegram aside and replied to Frank with a telegram thanking him for his hard work on "The Redemption of a Slave." Liu Yimin also wanted to see how the film turned out and, if possible, asked him to send a copy.

After writing his reply, Liu Yimin put Frank's telegram into a folder.

That evening, when Zhu Lin returned, Liu Yimin excitedly told her the news. Zhu Lin was incredulous upon hearing it, counting on her fingers how much five million US dollars was.

"Teacher Liu, five million? I'd have to earn that in several lifetimes!" After confirming that it was true, Zhu Lin sat down on the bench in a daze.

Liu Yimin walked over and pinched her: "Alright, this is nothing. Teacher Liu will earn much more money in the future. Look at you, so unambitious!"

Zhu Lin took Liu Yimin's hand and placed it on her chest: "Teacher Liu, feel my heartbeat. I feel like my heart is about to jump out of my chest. Can you feel it?"

"Feel."

"Isn't it quick?"

"It is a bit soft!"

Zhu Lin kicked Liu Yimin, then got up and hugged Liu Yimin's neck, exclaiming, "Ahhh, Teacher Liu, you're amazing! You're amazing!"

Yang Xiuyun and the others sat in the courtyard, listening to the sounds coming from the study, looking embarrassed. Thinking of this, Liu Yimin quickly opened the door.

A wise man does not stand in a melon field.

Yang Xiuyun breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin come out: "Linlin, what's wrong? Why are you so happy?"

"Mom, Teacher Liu's movies have made a lot of money all over the world, and people all over the world love to watch them."

Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin did not tell the elderly couple the exact amount of money they had. They were too old to know, as knowing too much would only make them worry.

"Oh, it's this one, Yimin's movies. We all love watching them. After the wheat harvest this year, the commune's film projection team came to show a movie, and it was..." Yang Xiuyun couldn't think of anything else to say.

Yang Xiuyun still habitually refers to townships as communes.

Liu Fuqing quickly said, "The Battle of Taierzhuang."

"Yes, a lot of people came."

Liu Yimin said, "Mom and Dad, we have a lot of movies at home. If you have any that you'd like to watch, I'll turn on the projector and we can watch a movie while we eat."

"Never mind, watching TV is just as good." Liu Fuqing waved his hand.

Back in his bedroom that evening, Zhu Lin was still basking in the joy of accumulating a huge sum of US dollars. Liu Yimin patted Zhu Lin's backside: "Alright, it's only five million!"

Zhu Lin flipped over and straddled Liu Yimin: "Teacher Liu, I don't care, it's five million, we can't spend it all in a lifetime."

Liu Yimin put his arm around Zhu Lin's neck: "Come on, Zhu Lin, let's give a big round of applause for these five million!"

"Hehe, who's afraid of who? Don't beg for mercy later." Zhu Lin put his mouth close to Liu Yimin's ear and blew on it, making Liu Yimin's ear ticklish.

By the end of the night, Liu Yimin's lips were pale. He had originally intended to return Dai Jianye and the others' papers, along with their corrections, to the Institute of Literature, but now he could only have them come and collect them, and he would also treat the students from the Institute of Literature to a meal.

(End of this chapter)