Chapter 269 "Forgiveness"
Sun Tao followed Qi Jinhua out without even eating the free buffet in Hanting. Sun Tao thought the eldest lady's breakfast was any different from ordinary people, but it turned out to be shrimp dumplings and beef vermicelli soup from a roadside stall.
You can eat real shrimp meat in each steamed bun that costs 10 yuan; the recipe and ingredients of the beef vermicelli soup are all in the name. The soup base is light and the vermicelli is minced soft, so you can scoop it up with a spoon. .
"How is it? Does it suit your taste?" Qi Jinhua asked cautiously.
Of course it tastes good. People like Sun Tao are willing to try anything delicious, not to mention that he has been eating this kind of breakfast for several years. However, the Xiao Long Bao in Sun Tao’s memory cost ten yuan a basket, eight in a basket. , that is, the price has more than doubled after seven years.
Sun Tao finished off the xiaolongbao one by one, "Well, it's delicious. Hey, you didn't bring me to eat at a roadside stall just to accommodate me, did you? To be honest, there is no need to wrong yourself. If you usually have breakfast Shark’s fin in ginseng soup, I can actually accept it.”
"Go away, you can't say anything nice even if you say a few words, and you're a great writer. Here, this is for you."
Qi Jinhua handed over a few pages of paper, and Sun Tao asked curiously, "What is it?"
"The Liu Qi you are talking about is a senior employee of Kunwu Publishing House. He is just a, um, former employee of the Publishing Department. In our words, he was a temporary worker. He is using the skin of a tiger as a banner to bully you against Xiangjiang. I don’t know about that.”
Sun Tao was stunned. Kunwu Publishing House had already paid him two manuscript fees. Although it was transferred from Qidian, the other party had communicated with him. So this time Kunwu introduced Liu Qi to talk to him about the adaptation of film and television dramas and comic books, and he Didn't think much about it.
Qi Jinhua stopped after eating a few small steamed buns. She wiped her mouth and pushed the remaining dumplings in front of Sun Tao, "You don't have to think too much. There are many people over there who don't know much about us. I thought we should bring a letter of introduction when we go out. It’s Liu Qi’s first time in mainland China, so he got an official status. Judging from his past experience, Kun Wu is pretty well-behaved.”
……
Sun Tao nodded. He was not surprised at all. It is difficult to break the stereotype or some people are willing to live in a dream.
Mainland high-speed trains have no backrests, and mainlanders cannot afford tea eggs. Voles are the main source of protein in mainland China's rural areas. If it is understandable across a strait, Xiangjiang is close to Shenchuan, but the Internet says that in 2022, there are still people in Xiangjiang asking about mainland China. What if there is no subway?
……
Sun Tao ate another xiaolongbao in one bite, Xiangjiang. His impressions of Xiangjiang came from the Internet and film and television dramas. He was full of longing before, and then full of alienation, but he really didn't know much about the place.
Sun Tao took the information handed over by Qi Jinhua. The cover page was the introduction of the two people.
Qi Jinhua smiled and said: "No. 227 Wulin Road is Jiulian Bookstore. Their main business is the translation and distribution of overseas publications. They have a deep cooperative relationship with Kunwu, so the people I talked to you about this time were probably Liu Qi and Li Yi.”
Sun Tao glanced at the introduction, Li Yi: A native of Liaocheng, Lu, a master's degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He once worked as an editor for a literary weekly there and then returned to the mainland to start a business...
Sun Tao, "Does the middleman want to make a profit on the price difference?"
Qi Jinhua hummed, "It seems like there needs to be a second authorization or something, that is, the traditional Chinese version will be released first and then the simplified Chinese version. You just need to understand it as export to domestic sales."
Sun Tao, "Am I selling a work twice?"
"Not entirely. When Kunwu publishes a book, of course he needs proofreading, typesetting, and design of cover and promotion, etc. These are all investments, so Jiulian also has to pay them when converting traditional Chinese to simplified Chinese."
Sun Tao groaned, then turned back and said, "Hey, this, this is a business secret, right?"
The following pages are all the royalties issued by Jiulian and Kunwu to different writers... Sun Tao even saw that "The Wind and Cloud" was not the movie "The Wind and Cloud", but the comic "The Wind and Cloud" drawn by Huang Yulang. Although Sun Tao has not read it, He heard that "Naruto" was influenced by "Feng Yun"...
Qi Jinhua smiled slightly and flipped her hair proudly, "It's calculated from their company's quarterly financial report. Haha, let alone a big company like theirs, even a professional accounting firm can guess how much cash flow you have on hand. Eighty-eight.”
Sun Tao laughed, "Originally I wanted to pretend to be rich and treat you to breakfast, okay! Since you know that I am too poor to open the pot, I won't pretend to be rich and you will pay for the breakfast."
"You're stingy, even if I don't know your financial situation, you don't plan to pay!"
——
Thursday, April 16, 2003, sunny, 12 to 24 degrees.
It’s still extremely cold in the Northeast at 3 to 5 degrees in the morning and evening (people in the Northeast don’t resist freezing when the heating stops). It’s almost summer here in Jiangnan. The streets are lined with trees, and many shops are filled with green plants. Sun Tao didn't know much about flowers. Except for camellias, hydrangeas, begonias, and roses, he couldn't name them.
8:45 am, No. 227 Wulin Road, Jiulian Bookstore (Jiulian Bookstore).
Sun Tao took a quick look at the door and saw a two-story building facing the street with red walls and blue tiles. It looked very dated and seemed to be an ancient building.
When he pushed the door open and walked in, the wind chime rang. The female clerk at the bar looked up at him and smiled without saying anything.
The first floor was like an ordinary bookstore, selling all kinds of books and audio-visual products. Sun Tao took a few steps and found all kinds of periodicals, such as "Reader", "Yilin", "Youth Digest", "Football", "Sports" and "Story Club". , a variety of teaching aids from kindergarten to high school are also lined up.
There were several readers standing or sitting there reading books.
I turned around the bookshelf partition and before I could take a closer look, I heard the salesperson’s introduction.
"Sir, here are the original foreign language editions, here are photocopies of reference books, and over there are synchronized books from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. We are the most complete of all foreign-related publications in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai."
"We not only sell single copies here, but only we can order bulk orders of original books like this. Of course, I am talking about genuine books."
With his calm temperament and calm demeanor, the female clerk naturally regarded Sun Tao as a major customer. Although he was very young, his age was subconsciously ignored by the clerk.
"Actually, I made an appointment with Mr. Liu Qi. No. 227, Wulin Road, should be here, right?" "Oh, you are writer Sun. I am disrespectful. Please come here..."
Hidden among the bookshelves, there is a staircase leading to the second floor. There is a sign at the top of the stairs [Internal area, no entry unless required].
The female clerk extended her hand and said, "In the reception room at the end of the second floor, our boss and Mr. Liu Qi are waiting for you, so I won't accompany you up there."
"Okay, thank you, go ahead and get busy."
Editorial room, proofreading room, external relations department...
There are 5 to 6 offices on one side of the corridor. Some of the doors are closed, and some have people coming in and out. They are not surprised to see Sun Tao, and no one comes to question them. Maybe outsiders come here often.
The door of the reception room is open, with a circle of small tables forming a mouth shape, a projector, a curtain, and a wall of honor. There is a man in his 50s with a bald head and a man in his 30s with a crew cut leaning against the window. Each of them is holding a cup. Chatting.
Liu Qi, 52 years old, 16cm tall, has been married three times and has three boys, two girls and five children...
Li Yi, 35 years old, 182cm tall, single and divorced.
"Bah bang bang" Sun Tao gently knocked on the door of the conference room.
In the past, we had dealt with the publishing house indirectly through an intermediary. This was the first time we were face to face.
Li Yi, "Huh? You are, oh, Writer Sun, please come in."
Liu Qi, "Hahaha, I finally looked forward to having you here. It is said that a hero comes from a young age. Sun Sheng, you are younger than I thought..."
——
At 10:30 in the morning, Li Yi and Liu Qi sent Sun Tao out of the gate of Jiulian Bookstore.
……
Sun Tao didn't walk a few steps when he saw Qi Jinhua waving to him from a roadside coffee shop.
Guided by the female clerk in brown uniform, Sun Tao sat opposite Qi Jinhua, "A cup of Blue Mountain, thank you."
Qi Jinhua, "Pfft! Which one is more expensive, right?"
Sun Tao, "Don't take advantage of me, you bastard. Didn't I tell you not to wait for me? I took the bus back by myself, and I saw that there is a platform directly connected to the TV station."
"Oh, there's nothing wrong with me coming back. It's an eyesore to my parents when I stay at home all the time."
Sun Tao glanced out the window lightly and said to himself, if you keep following me like this, your parents will be able to have a grandson next year!
"Did the talks go smoothly? They didn't..."
"Liu Qi is a nice person. He apologized to me as soon as he opened his mouth and said he didn't understand our situation and didn't communicate well with Li Yi. He not only urged me to write the manuscript, but also invited me to a book signing event in Xiangjiang and introduced me to a few people by the way. A cartoonist and director.”
"No specifics?"
"We'll discuss it more specifically when we get there. In fact, what Liu Qi means is that Kunwu Publishing House or he himself wants to be my agent in Xiangjiang."
Qi Jinhua chuckled, "Then Li Yi just wants to be your agent on the mainland?"
"Well, it's just limited to the secondary development of my publications. Li Yi also knows that I write songs, scripts and so on."
……
After a few words of conversation, the waiter brought the coffee.
The uniforms in coffee shops are close to maid uniforms (there are many such coffee shops in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai), white lace aprons, black silk, and soft-soled shoes (it's hard for rich people not to go bad).
Sun Tao only took a glance when he entered the door and then sat upright. This was his respect for the benefactor.
"Thank you." Sun Tao nodded and brought the cups and saucers placed on the corner of the table in front of him.
Sun Tao took a gentle sip and said, "The taste is just like that. Well, don't come here for the next two days. If people see me riding a Porsche every day, it will be difficult to negotiate business..."
Before Sun Tao finished speaking, Qi Jinhua interrupted him, "By the way, I also asked about one thing. You told me that you wanted to go to the "Dragon Movie" crew to see their samples and write a theme song for them, right?"< br>
Sun Tao, "Well, yes!"
Qi Jinhua hesitated and said: "But I heard that the theme song of "Dragon" has been written long ago. The song is called "Forgiveness", and the lyrics and music are written by Lin Xi and Zhao Jiping. I heard that Faye Wong will be invited to sing it."
(End of chapter)