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

Chapter 530 Zhu Lin's Worries (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Liu Yimin's resounding words stunned Frank for a moment. After a long while, Frank exclaimed, "Liu, you are really different from many writers. Or rather, Chinese writers are very different from writers in other countries."

Frank examined himself and the American entertainment industry and found it difficult to find thinkers who resonated with Liu Yimin.

"Frank, to understand this issue, you need to consider the characteristics of the Chinese people and China's national conditions. Currently, a considerable number of the older generation in China's literary and artistic circles came from the era of war and chaos; they themselves were progressive figures in China at that time."

The older generation of soldiers were willing to go back to the battlefield because peace was hard-won. After 49, the progressive forces in China defeated the democratic forces, and some progressive groups within the democratic forces were absorbed. These included democratic progressives, those unwilling to fight in the civil war, those who had no choice but to surrender, and so on. The most democratic group fled to the island.

Liu Yimin gave Frank a brief explanation of why China had changed since 49.

Frank also struggled to understand the Chinese veterans' fervor for the war, but after Liu Yimin's explanation, he finally understood.

"The United States wages war for the sake of war, while we Chinese seek peace through war. For example, in the wars against India and Vietnam, your wars were the goal, while our wars were the means."

Frank quickly said, "Liu, I'm French."

"The French? They're about the same as the Americans, just a side project. Think about it, if the hegemon today wasn't the United States, but France? What would you do? Africa would be your prey, and you wouldn't leave Vietnam." Liu Yimin snorted.

Frank looked at Liu Yimin sincerely: "Liu, I admit you have a point. But please believe me, I am absolutely a peace-loving person."

Do you know why Chinese people are so concerned about international politics, especially conflicts?

"why?"

"Because we have been caught in the rain, we know the pain of being caught in the rain, and we even want to hold an umbrella for people who are caught in the rain."

Frank expressed his understanding, seeing it as a national spirit of internationalism.

The topic returned to the story of the Chinese rescuing the Japanese. Frank was eager to find the Chinese diplomat so that he could start filming the Eastern "Noah's Ark" immediately after "Green Book" was released.

Frank even had a plan for how to film it, but he still asked Liu Yimin for his opinion: "Liu, if we really want to make this movie, do you think the main perspective should be on the Thai refugees or on the Chinese diplomats?"

"What do you think?" Liu Yimin asked in return.

Frank felt this was a test from Liu Yimin, and confidently said, "Of course, it's a test for Chinese diplomats. We need to show his kindness, his difficult choices, and his unwavering spirit in saving lives."

Let the whole world know about this Chinese diplomat and the kindness of the Chinese people.

"Frank, you're a fucking genius. Choosing you as my partner seems to have been the right decision."

Liu Yimin plans to prepare carefully, at least to elevate this film to the level of films about the encounters of the Squid People, such as "Schindler's List" and "The Pianist".

Frank was pleased, but a lingering worry remained: was this really true? He returned to the United States, but hadn't found out what to do with the diplomat who had immigrated there.

Frank noticed that Liu Yimin's gaze was strange and asked nervously, "Liu, is there something wrong with what I said?"

“Frank, for a moment I felt you weren’t a director from Hollywood, but more like a historical scholar,” Liu Yimin sneered.

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you Hollywood made up enough stories already?" Liu Yimin retorted.

Frank immediately understood what Liu Yimin meant: "Liu, you mean to fabricate it!"

“Frank, I believe this must have really happened,” Liu Yimin said, standing up.

After Frank finished discussing all the details with Liu Yimin, he still refused to leave and shamelessly insisted on having dinner at the courtyard house.

At the dinner table, Liu Yimin said, "Frank, when 'Hachi: A Dog' is finished being edited, I hope you can go and watch it again."

“No problem, Liu, your business is my business.” Frank casually grabbed a chicken leg from the table.

After thoroughly understanding the Sino-US tax agreement, Liu Yimin decided to invest in his personal capacity.

In addition to paying U.S. business tax, Liu Yimin only needs to pay 10% of the profits from the joint venture in the United States.

In China, 20% personal income tax is levied on income earned from investments in the United States. However, since 10% has already been paid in the United States, this portion can be deducted, so only 10% needs to be paid in total.

In reality, the country's domestic tax supervision is still imperfect, let alone overseas. This part of the income needs to be declared proactively; if it is not declared, it is highly likely that it will not be detected.

Of course, Liu Yimin doesn't need to leave such a stain on his record; he should still pay his taxes.

If you set up a company, there are many procedures in China, and the tax burden on corporate investment income is about 10% higher than that on personal investment.

According to the agreement, Liu Yimin will hold 51% of the total investment of 9 million US dollars, and will need to contribute 4.59 million US dollars.

After the investment in "Redemption of a Slave" was completed, Liu Yimin had more than $400,000 left.

Liu Yimin also needs to use this money to hire a lawyer to sign relevant agreements and hire a professional accounting team to supervise the finances of the joint venture.

This involves cross-border transactions, especially with the United States, and the intricacies of the situation need to be thoroughly understood. Faced with conflicting interests, Liu Yimin cannot completely trust Frank. Regarding legal and accounting matters, Liu Yimin plans to entrust Li Congren with the assistance of finding suitable advisors and accountants.

After dinner, Liu Yimin drove Frank back to the Yanjing Hotel. As Frank was getting out of the car, he asked Liu Yimin if there was anything he should be aware of when giving a lecture to people from China Film Group the next day.

"As long as you focus on the director and film promotion, there won't be any problems. We Chinese are not that sensitive to what you foreigners say. A vast land cannot produce a narrow-minded nation."

After Liu Yimin left, Frank was still pondering Liu Yimin's words. Once he understood their meaning, he shook his head and went back to his room.

Compared to China, France is indeed too small.

Back in the courtyard house, Liu Yimin went into his study to prepare for writing. Zhu Lin entered the study, closed the door, and asked softly:
"Teacher Liu, are you really sure?"

"What have you thought about?"

"Invest!"

"Yes, it's decided. You think about what name the joint venture company should be called, since we are the major shareholder."

Liu Yimin stopped writing and looked at Zhu Lin. Noticing the slightly worried expression on her face, he smiled and asked, "What's wrong? Afraid of losing the money?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Lin brought a stool and sat down next to Liu Yimin. He pursed his lips and finally said, "I am a little scared. Five million US dollars is enough to live on for a lifetime."

Although Zhu Lin said that Liu Yimin would make the decisions on major matters, he couldn't help but have some doubts. Especially since the five million dollars had disappeared before he even saw them.

Liu Yimin held Zhu Lin's hand and said, "Don't worry, five million dollars sounds like a lot, but if you think about it, it's just the price of a script, so it doesn't seem like that much anymore."

“Teacher Liu, what you said seems to make sense!” Zhu Lin murmured.

"You can only get this much from the script alone. With a company, you can get much more. It's risky, but the potential rewards are huge! Don't worry, filming this script is a sure-fire way to make money."

Liu Yimin put his arm around Zhu Lin and gently patted her shoulder. After some comforting, Zhu Lin stopped worrying about the five million dollars.

The temperature in the study gradually rose, and Zhu Lin gently slipped her hand inside Liu Yimin's clothes: "Teacher Liu, shall we celebrate in advance?"

“When did you become like this, you little yellow girl!” Liu Yimin said righteously and sternly.

Zhu Lin stretched his hand back: "If we're not going to celebrate, then we're not going to celebrate. Teacher Liu, look at how aloof you are from women."

Liu Yimin quickly turned off the lights: "I didn't say we wouldn't celebrate!"

At Yenching University, in the Institute of Literature, Liu Yimin was having a meeting with graduate students majoring in journalism. The deadline for submitting the Xinhua News Agency research project was fast approaching.

Liu Yimin carefully reviewed each part of the research. The graduate students' research was part of the overall research, but of course, the most important part was completed by Liu Yimin.

"I have read all the papers you submitted, and overall, the research ideas are more mature than those in the first half of the year. Some students have also gone deep into various newspapers to conduct field research, and I highly commend this research style."

It comes from practice and goes back to practice. The experience summarized in practice is transformed into theory, and then used to guide practice. I have specifically corrected the papers you have here.

Some studies are not in-depth enough, while others are too conservative. For example, some studies focus on Western propaganda, while others examine the proportion of news from different countries within the overall volume of international news.

In international news, it is generally difficult for news from countries like China to appear in international newspapers unless it is a disaster, accident, or some special event, or a deliberate attempt to vilify the country.

In international news, the US and the West are portrayed as democratic and free, while other countries are depicted as either in war or impoverished.

Liu Yimin listened to the reports and questions from several graduate students, answered them, and then let them leave.

To some extent, it's not their fault; various factors have limited their perspective. After the graduate students returned to the large classroom, they gathered in a group to discuss Liu Yimin's words. Yan Zhen brought back a pile of materials for them, all purchased from abroad by the Institute of Literature.

"Thank you, Butler Yan!"

Yan Zhen laughed and scolded, "Go to hell, if you're going to call someone, you should call them Senior Brother."

"Hehe, we're not from the Institute of Literature. If we want to have the title of master and apprentice, we need Professor Liu's permission!"

"Then go back and ask your respective advisors if they agree to your leaving your teachers and joining Professor Liu's school."

The graduate student who was speaking shrank back: "Forget it, we'll get beaten to death by our advisors."

In the afternoon, Liu Yimin received good news: the August First Film Studio had finished editing "Hachiko: A Dog's Tale" and invited him to review the film.

"Yimin, that foreigner?" Liu Peiran asked with a smile.

"I'll call him."

Frank has recently been spending his time either exchanging ideas with the China Film Group or meeting with directors from several film studios. The Film Bureau held a meeting to gather a group of directors to hear Frank share his understanding of film, the expressive techniques of Western films, and post-production promotion.

That evening, Liu Yimin finally got through to Frank at the Yanjing Hotel. Frank took the phone and kept telling Liu Yimin how popular he was.

"You Chinese people are so friendly, and of course I also learned a lot from Chinese directors. This trip has been so meaningful to me."

Liu Yimin put the phone aside and waited for Frank to finish speaking before telling him about inviting Frank to see "Hachiko: A Dog's Tale".

"Okay, Liu, shall we head over tomorrow morning? And what about 'Green Book'?"

"I've written more than half of it," Liu Yimin said.

Frank said happily, "We've almost finished collecting information about everything before and after Kennedy's assassination. I'll be able to fly to China in three days. We still haven't found the other Chinese diplomat; he'll probably have to wait until I get back."

"Okay, let's take it one step at a time," Liu Yimin said with a smile.

The following day, Liu Yimin took Frank to the film screening. Liu Yimin thought it was just a simple preview, but he didn't expect Xia Yan and a large group of people from the Film Bureau to show up.

Frank got out of the car and greeted Xia Yan and the others with practiced ease, as if it were his home turf.

Xia Yan whispered to Liu Yimin, "This Frank is interesting. I heard you're planning to start a film company with him?"

"How do you know?"

“I can get him to tell me everything without him saying a word.” Xia Yan chuckled.

"That's what happened."

Xia Yan patted Liu Yimin on the shoulder: "Some companies are investing in the United States now, but they are very cautious. You should also be cautious."

"clear."

Liu Peiran, dressed like a groom, beckoned everyone into the screening room and had fruit brought inside.

Wang Yang couldn't help but sarcastically say, "Old Liu, why are you making yourself look like a waiter?"

"Old Wang, don't be so sour. You guys made a lot of money with 'Fearless,' it's our turn now."

After everyone was seated, the projectionist turned on the projector and began the film. Huang Zumo and Jiao Huang sat behind Liu Yimin, their palms sweating with nervousness.

The film has a total runtime of 120 minutes, and the theme of Saihanba begins after ten minutes.

While the sandstorm rages, the film's visuals are also remarkably poetic. Although depicting the difficulties of planting trees, the main storyline consistently revolves around the relationship between humans and dogs.

The heartwarming scenes and unique filming techniques gave all the viewers a profound intellectual experience.

Frank watched the movie with a smile on his face, pointing out good shots to Liu Yimin whenever they appeared.

When Lao Xue, played by Jiao Huang, passed away, everyone couldn't help but feel a lump in their throats when they saw the dog nesting on the grave and standing guard. Even though they had experienced too many hardships and had long since developed a resolute character, they couldn't help but feel a lump in their throats.

After the movie ended, Xia Yan gently wiped the corner of her eye: "Are there really such loyal dogs in the world?"

“Mr. Shen, of course they exist in this world. Dogs are loyal friends of humans, accompanying each other day and night, and the bond between them has long transcended the boundaries between humans and animals,” Liu Yimin said.

Xia Yan looked at Frank: "Frank, what do you think of this movie?"

"I think it's an excellent film that combines Eastern aesthetics with elements that appeal to all of humanity, or rather, Americans. But on the other hand, it has its shortcomings in terms of color; the film's expressiveness also lies in the overall color tone of the picture."

Frank felt that if the image were softer, the emotional impact would be stronger.

Xia Yan turned to Huang Zumo: "Comrade Huang Zumo, comrades from the August First Film Studio, are there any technical limitations to remaking it?"

Huang Zumo, Liu Peiran, and the production staff from the August First Film Studio discussed it and said there were no problems, but they hoped Frank could provide some guidance.

Frank readily agreed, and after the screening, he stayed at the August First Film Studio.

Xia Yan asked, "When is he leaving? Having this foreign advisor is not bad."

"Don't worry, he's waiting for my script. He won't leave until I finish writing it."

"Okay, you keep track of the time."

Liu Yimin said with a grin, "I understand."

After seeing Xia Yan off, Liu Yimin was about to drive away when Wang Yang plopped down in his seat: "Yimin, how about we have the script for 'The Pilgrimage of One'?"

"Factory Manager Wang? Interested?"

Wang Yang touched the interior of the Crown and said enviously, "Who wouldn't be tempted!"

"If you're interested in the script, why are you touching the car?"

"I'm tempted! I've been driving a Jeep all these years!" Wang Yang felt the softness under his buttocks and complained that the Jeep could shake his kidney stones out.

"That's great, it saves us from going to the hospital," Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"Haha, whenever someone around you needs it, I'll lend him my Jeep for a spin around the suburbs. He can come back and use the restroom without any problems. What about the script?"

"A script? That's fine, but what about control?"

"You have the final say; we'll just provide the money and keep quiet!"

"Alright, the script is right here anyway, whoever runs the fastest gets to keep it." Liu Yimin chuckled.

Wang Yang fastened his seatbelt with satisfaction and insisted that Liu Yimin take him to the Beijing Film Studio in a Crown, while the jeep was driven back by the driver.

"Alright, sit tight, I'm driving a bit fast."

"How fast can it go! Ouch... me."

After dropping Wang Yang off at the entrance of the Beijing Film Studio, Wang Yang rubbed his temples and said, "Hey kid, why are you driving so erratically?"

"Have it?"

"Ugh, I won't ride in this again. I'd rather have my beat-up Jeep; it's so comfortable with all the ventilation. I can't stand the smell in this car." It took Wang Yang a long time to recover before he walked back to the Beijing Film Studio.

Liu Yimin did not return to Yenching University, but instead went to the Beijing People's Art Theatre to see a play. The play "The Pilgrimage of a Man" has been finalized and will premiere on November 1st.

In addition, the play "Deng Jiaxian" has been renamed "Our Hero - Deng Jiaxian" and is scheduled to premiere on November 2.

Liu Yimin has seen the play "The Pilgrimage of One Man," and from the perspective of the play's expressiveness, Liu Yimin feels that it did not achieve the best effect.

The limitations of the stage are too obvious, but Yu Zhi's performance was good, and overall it was still commendable.

(End of this chapter)