Chapter 129: Xuemin, how did you develop your hand speed? (please order in full)
As "People's Literature" and "October" are put on shelves across the country, feedback from readers, government agencies, and factories in various units of "Director Qiao's Taking Up the Job" continues to ferment.
At the beginning of New Year's Day in 1979, it broke out!
Following closely, on the first day of the new year, "People's Daily" reprinted and published "The Taking of Factory Director Qiao", pushing this article to its peak!
In the past two days, Cheng Xueminguang has received as much as seven or eight hundred yuan in reprint fees. There are "People's Daily", "Yenjing Literature", "Worker's Daily", "Yenjing Evening News", "Yenjing Daily", "China Youth"...
Basically, they all paid a reprint fee ranging from three to four yuan per thousand words. This may be related to the promotional manuscript specified above, or it may be related to the fact that Cheng Xuemin, the original author, has an editor who is well-known in the industry and his mother-in-law.
They are all in the industry, so they don't want to reprint it for nothing. They basically expressed their feelings and paid royalties for reprinting.
So in the past few days, Cheng Xuemin almost broke his legs just running to the "People's Literature" of the Humanities Society, just to get the reprint fee bill!
The Feng family was so happy that they didn't even know how many celebrations they owed Cheng Xuemin.
And this was from the Yanjing area, and many local newspapers and magazines also followed the trend of the propaganda and reprinted it.
It's just that so far, Cheng Xuemin hasn't seen a royalties bill. Maybe he's on the way, or maybe the Emperor is just pretending to be confused and the prostitution was in vain!
But it doesn’t matter. Anyway, there is no regulation above. If you reprint, you must pay royalties to the original author.
Everything that can be given is basically what Cheng Xuemin earned in vain!
This Friday after New Year's Day, Cheng Xuemin spent nearly ten days finishing all three volumes of the comic book "Journey to the West".
At the same time, the novella "Parental Love" has almost written nearly 150,000 words, and it will be completed in about one week.
There are also 60 illustrations promised to Li Qingquan of Yanjing Literature, but Cheng Xuemin has not yet started writing. He plans to continue working on both projects in the future, allocating one morning to drawing illustrations every day, and continuing to complete the novella "Parental Love" in the afternoon and evening.
After all the manuscripts are expected to be completed within a week, Cheng Xuemin will devote all his energy to foreign exchange, and the foreign manuscripts that he pays tribute to have been decided!
"Xuemin, what's going on with your novella now? How much have you written?!"
"Why don't you give us the first article in "October"? We will start reviewing and finalizing the manuscript for this issue!"
Early in the morning, Cheng Xuemin planned to send Feng Jiayou to Yan University for the exam, and then go to the Humanities Club to hand over the completed comic strip of "Journey to the West" to Lao Pan there.
But when he was going out, his mother-in-law, Feng Mu, stopped him and asked about the situation of "Parents' Love"!
Something needs to be mentioned here!
When Balao came to the door that day, this novel was supposed to let the mother-in-law get away with it!
But Feng Jiayou, the rebellious daughter of Tiangang, pretended to be dead, but in the end he didn't give it. Later, her mother also urged her several times, saying that she should take a look first, but she didn't.
Can you give it?
The love story written about her parents is almost based on her mother. It will definitely whet your appetite, and I won’t read it until it is finished.
Otherwise, if the writing is not good in the middle, then it won’t work either. Doesn’t it bother you?
Therefore, with the Feng family's young children in front of them, this novella was never given to the mother-in-law.
I got started again today!
"Mom, it's almost time! Xuemin said that all the manuscripts will be finished before the 15th of the month, so you can read it then!"
"Otherwise, I'm afraid if you look at it now, you'll beat both of us to death!"
Before Cheng Xuemin could reply to her mother, Feng Jiayou rushed to reply and added this sentence later. Sure enough, she is born to be rebellious. If she is not angry for a day, her mother will feel uncomfortable all over, right? ?
"No, what on earth did you write?!"
Originally, Mother Feng was quite happy to be able to finish all the manuscripts before the fifteenth of this month! But when he heard the debt collector's last words, he became speechless on the spot, and then asked quickly.
"No, no, that's all I'll say. Anyway, you'll know then, Mom!"
"Let's go, let's go, we'll be late soon!"
"Young Xuemin of the Feng family, please tell me clearly, what exactly did you write that you are afraid of me beating to death?!"
"If you don't make me mad every day, you won't give up, right?!"
Who can bear to say half a sentence? !
Moreover, the debt collectors said that if they read the manuscript in advance, they would definitely be beaten to death. So what exactly was written?
"Mom, I'm kidding you! I'll show you the manuscript first!"
The young daughter of the Feng family could rebel against Tiangang, but the son-in-law of Cheng Xuemin did not dare. The woman urged him to leave quickly, so she could only shout to the mother-in-law, and then rode away on her bicycle.
Nearly forty minutes later, Cheng Xuemin placed Feng Jiayou downstairs in her dormitory and asked, "Isn't it possible that she won't fail the exam?"
"Failed the exam?!" Feng Jiayou's eyes widened and he looked at Cheng Xuemin in confusion.
"Just failed!"
Cheng Xuemin smiled and explained that Yanda has entered exam week. Today is the Feng family's first exam, and there will be another one in the afternoon.
Plus tomorrow's three games, women can officially take winter vacation and go home to raise their babies!
"Failed? Did you underestimate your wife?"
Feng Jiayou glared at Cheng Xuemin angrily and said, "After the exam, let's go see the house. If we can agree on the deal, we'll buy it!"
"This way, when my parents come from northern Shaanxi, they can still have a home here in Yanjing. How about Xuemin?"
After the woman made up her mind to buy the large courtyard house, Cheng Xuemin had been discussing the price with the landlord for a while. In the end, the price was negotiated at 5,500 yuan, but it was reduced by 1,000 yuan and she couldn't afford it anymore!
Cheng Xuemin also knew about it. Buying a two-entry courtyard house for 5,500 yuan was actually very cheap, so he basically accepted the price.
I plan to wait until this Sunday when everyone in the family is resting at home, so we can go over there to have a look and decide on the house by the way.
"Listen to my wife!"
Cheng Xuemin nodded and rode his bicycle towards the Humanities Club!
"Xuemin, you're here at the right time. There's another bill for reprinting fees. It's from "Shanghai Literature and Art". Please come up and sign for it!"
As soon as I arrived at the Humanities Society, I met Zhang Guangnian, the editor-in-chief of People's Literature, in the corridor on the first floor and greeted Cheng Xuemin.
"Hello, Mr. Zhang, does Shanghai Literature and Art have a fee sheet?"
Cheng Xuemin was a little surprised. This should be regarded as the first payment bill from other places, right? And speaking of origins, Cheng Xuemin still owes him a manuscript for "Shanghai Literature and Art"!
The first article "Female College Students' Dormitory" submitted by foreign investment was submitted to "Shanghai Literature and Art".
At that time, Cheng Xuemin was extremely disappointed in his submission letter and cried out for poverty. Only then did Li Xiaolin, the editor in charge at the time, favor the manuscript and apply for a maximum manuscript fee of seven yuan per thousand words.
Now Li Xiaolin has been transferred to "Harvest" as the chief editor, and she has also brought the author Cheng Xuemin's manuscript "Chen Huansheng Enters the City" to "Harvest".
So if we really talk about it, what Cheng Xuemin owes is the favor of "Shanghai Literature and Art". After all, the manuscript fee for the last article was given by the editor-in-chief of Shanghai Literature and Art!
It was also very interesting, and it was on the front page of the current issue.
But I never had time to repay the favor, and now I was the first to send me the royalties for the reprint of "Director Qiao's Taking Up the Job."
Although it is unclear whether Li Xiaolin told her former employer that Lao Qiao, the author of "Director Qiao's Take-Off", is actually Kuang Yalan of their "Female College Dormitory".
But he was so interesting that Cheng Xuemin planned to finish the manuscript in his hand and then submit a manuscript to "Shanghai Literature and Art" under the pen name of Kuang Yalan.
"Yes! This may be the first bill for reprinting fees from other places, and there may be many more in the future!"
"We are paying attention, and many local newspapers and magazines have also reprinted our article!"
Zhang Guangnian nodded, led Cheng Xuemin to the second floor, and then asked: "By the way, Xuemin, do you have any new manuscripts over there? Our first issue of the year will start at the beginning of the month, and it will be finalized soon!"
"So fast!?"
Cheng Xuemin subconsciously asked after hearing this, didn't their People's Literature just publish an issue at the end of the month?
But I soon realized that People's Literature has the word "people" on its head. Like Chinese literature, it is a bimonthly publication, with two issues published a month.
"It must be fast! Our People's Literature bimonthly publishes two issues a month!"
When it comes to this point, Zhang Guangnian is very proud, because so far, there are not many magazines in the country that publish semi-monthly publications.
"Awesome!" Cheng Xuemin nodded in compliment, and smiled bitterly, "But recently I have been busy with Teacher Pan's comic strips, looking for inspiration, and I haven't written much yet!" You can pull it off!" Zhang Guangnian didn't think so when he heard this, and pointed it out directly, "I heard that you only spent one night last week writing a manuscript for Balao's "Harvest"?
"And there is a novella in hand that is about to be finished. With your hand speed, Xuemin, you should be able to finish it in the next two days, right?"
"How about you give this novella to our People's Literature? I will arrange the layout for you and try to publish it for you in the first month of this year?"
The fortnightly magazine is so awesome and confident. Even if Cheng Xuemin had a 200,000-word novella in hand, they would still have the confidence to publish it serially within a month!
Because they can publish two issues a month, it is just right to publish a manuscript of 200,000 in two issues, and it can be solved within a month.
Unlike Cheng Xuemin's mother-in-law's "October", which is published bimonthly, it would take at least two months to serialize and publish the novella in Cheng Xuemin's hands.
If divided into three phases, it would take four months! With such a long time interval, even the best manuscript may be dragged down.
This is just like the online novels of later generations. The most basic thing is to attract readers every day.
If you stop updating for three to five days, let’s see who still remembers who you are?
Not to mention the two-month gap!
So in fact, the most ideal way to serialize is to submit it to a major newspaper and publish it serially every day.
However, newspapers of this era did not seem to advocate the serialization of full-length novels. Basically, they were short stories that could be completed in the current issue.
"Mr. Zhang, you are quite well-informed. Last week, Mr. Ba came to visit in person, and I did write a short story for him!"
"As for me, I do have a novella that is almost finished, but you also know that my mother-in-law is watching. Teacher Zhang, do you think I dare to give it to you?"
Cheng Xuemin smiled bitterly. Even if his mother-in-law's "October" was serialized for a long time, its influence would not be comparable to Zhang Guangnian's "People's Literature".
But if it were you, Teacher Zhang, would you dare to re-submit the manuscript that your mother-in-law is targeting to another magazine?
And Cheng Xuemin also emphasized one point!
It was Ba Lao who came to the door in person to make an appointment for the manuscript. How about doing it in person?
"This...is true!"
Zhang Guangnian nodded awkwardly when he heard this. Originally, People's Literature had snatched "The Taking of Director Qiao", which had already made his mother-in-law very unhappy.
If he tries to break this novel again, his mother-in-law will definitely go berserk.
One hundred and twenty-one!
Shanghai Literature and Art is as interesting as ever, and the fee for reprinting is four yuan per thousand words.
I followed Cheng Xuemin to the third floor and found Lao Pan, the director of the art editorial department, in the Humanities Club!
"Xuemin, you're here, what's wrong?! Have you finished the first volume of Journey to the West?"
Lao Pan also estimated that Cheng Xuemin should have finished the first volume of Journey to the West in the past two days. After all, he had been to the Humanities Club several times before and asked about it.
The reply I gave was that I was drawing and drawing, it’s coming soon!
"Teacher Pan, I have finished the painting. I will send it over for you to take a look at!"
After Cheng Xuemin knocked on the door and came in, he took out the three volumes of Journey to the West from his briefcase and placed them all in front of Lao Pan's desk.
"Okay, then let me see how Xuemin draws!" Lao Pan nodded, and seeing Cheng Xuemin put three volumes directly in front of him, he couldn't help but asked suspiciously, "What? I can't draw the middle and lower volumes. ”
If they can't continue painting in the middle and second volumes, then even if the paintings in the first volume are good and usable, but the painting style suddenly changes between the middle and second volumes, wouldn't this make them tangled?
But I never thought that in just half a month, Cheng Xuemin could finish all three volumes.
After all, he estimated that no matter how fast Cheng Xuemin's hand speed was, it would still take two months. If it were Qingmei's students who would paint, they would not be able to paint in three months or even half a year.
"well?!"
"No, Xuemin, have you finished drawing all three volumes?"
But when Lao Pan flipped through the three volumes of Journey to the West on the table, his eyes didn't pop out!
It was even more incredible to look through it one after another and find that all three volumes of Journey to the West were really finished!
And the most egregious thing is that Cheng Xuemin even included Journey to the West in color!
However, their comic strips are not required to be colored, only sketches are enough!
This monkey can actually draw like this?
Tang Seng too!
Damn it!
After saying "f*ck" in his heart, Lao Pan was completely fascinated by the clever monkey and the fat Zhu Bajie in the comic strip of Little Man's Book!
Cheng Xuemin smiled bitterly, "This is a painting for children to see. Lao Pan, how can you, an adult, be so fascinated by it?"
Fortunately, it was just a comic book with 60 to 70 pages per volume, which did not take Lao Pan much time.
Immediately afterwards, Lao Pan flipped through the middle volume and the second volume, and found that the quality was the same as the first volume, but it was not colored.
But that doesn't matter, because they didn't plan to publish the first version in color. If this version is published and the sales volume is high, a color version can be produced later, and the coloring can be done according to the previous volume. The workload will not be huge.
"Teacher Pan, don't look at me like this. How does this painting look?"
"If it doesn't work, forget it, you don't have to be embarrassed!"
Seeing Lao Pan reading the first volume and then flipping through the next two volumes, looking up and staring at him without speaking, Cheng Xuemin asked with a smile.
"I thought you could draw very quickly and well, but I really didn't expect you, Xuemin, to be able to draw so fast and well!"
"If you just draw comic strips for our humanities club, you really have nothing to do with Kiyomi and the others!"
Old Pan was really frightened. Cheng Xuemin's painting skills and hand speed... really made him, an old artist, speechless.
Just half a month before and after, right?
Isn’t it scary to be able to finish all the manuscripts that Qingmei and his gang of art students took for three months?
"That's it?"
Cheng Xuemin asked with a calm expression, "Of course it's best if you can go through it again. If you need to call it back for revision, he will accept it!"
After all, this is a manuscript fee of 1,300 to 400 yuan, and it is easy to get it. After all, it only took about ten days.
It's hard to say if you can take it back and make changes, Cheng Xuemin can make changes, but it will only take another three to five days at most.
"I've passed it. If you don't give me this manuscript, then Xuemin you will definitely not help me draw again in the future!"
Lao Pan nodded repeatedly, considering the quality of Cheng Xuemin's comic strip, it will definitely become a classic.
Especially the image of Monkey King in it simply breaks the traditional image of the Monkey King and achieves an unprecedented breakthrough.
Just for this alone, Lao Pan immediately decided to submit the manuscript!
Immediately stood up and said: "Xuemin, I still have a few manuscripts that need to be rushed. Please help me pick a few and take them back to draw!"
"I'll send it to Lao Li for review right away, and I'll try to help you apply for the royalties today!"
Lao Pan dug out a dozen white comics and comic books from the filing cabinet behind him, and asked Cheng Xuemin to choose a few. After explaining, he took the three volumes of Journey to the West and left the office to find their editor-in-chief. Li Shuguang.
Originally, Cheng Xuemin wanted to decline the offer, but he planned to specialize in the illustrations by Li Qingquan of Yenching Literature and the novella "Parental Love" written by his mother-in-law.
But when he heard Lao Pan telling him to wait, he immediately went to submit it to Li Shuguang for review and tried to get him to take away the manuscript fee bill today. So what else could he say?
Waiting is also waiting, so I picked out a few little books to take back and started drawing slowly!
Cheng Xuemin took a look and found that the text in the white magazine given by Lao Pan this time was much richer than the last one.
There are the other three of the Four Great Classics: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, and Dream of Red Mansions, as well as Seven Heroes and Five Righteousnesses, Liaozhai, Yue Fei, Xing Tang, White Snake, Yang Qilang's Fight, and "Thirty-Six Strategies" "Sparkling Red Star"...
Among them, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has the largest number of volumes, up to ten volumes, with five to six hundred sheets before and after! In line with the principle of large quantity and full control, Cheng Xuemin directly chose "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and took it home to paint slowly!
“Xuemin, there’s no problem with Li Li’s side, but the fee bill may not come out until the afternoon. How about you have lunch with us at noon, okay?!”
They've already come, and the manuscript fee sheet will be out in the afternoon. Cheng Xuemin definitely doesn't want to make a special trip again, so he simply waits here and makes an appointment with Lao Pan on "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
However, Cheng Xuemin was not in a hurry this time and brought it back to change his brain, so he did not agree to Lao Pan's wish to submit the manuscript as soon as possible, and only promised to submit at least one volume every month.
Lao Pan calculated the time and found that they only distributed one volume of the same book a month, so he agreed!
The manuscript fee is as agreed in advance, and the second contribution will be settled at the top price of eight yuan per sheet.
Ten volumes of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms contain 500 or 600 pieces, and the total royalties were as high as 4,000 to 5,000 yuan. Cheng Xuemin took the time to spend two months and was able to complete it.
It's a pity that this track was also discovered by Feng Jiayou, but he couldn't build a small treasury.
During lunch, Zhang Guangnian from People's Literature knew that Cheng Xuemin had not left, so he specifically informed him that Mr. Wu was going to hold a symposium on "Director Qiao's Assumption of Office" in the middle of the month, and asked Cheng Xuemin to prepare. Speech.
Although it was sudden, Cheng Xuemin was not surprised. He knew that the symposium was a necessary procedure.
In the afternoon, Cheng Xuemin successfully returned to Yanda to pick up Feng Jiayou from school with the 1,386 yuan of the manuscript fee for the villain.
…
(End of chapter)