Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 558 Making a Scene

"We want to buy books! We want to buy books..."

Upon hearing that the book was sold out, the people in line behind them, without needing anyone to direct them, unanimously waved their fists and shouted, "We want to buy books! We want to buy books..."

Chen Fan pushed his way through the crowd, with He Qingsheng following behind. After a while, they emerged from the throng. Chen Fan looked back, his eyes filled with surprise, "Wow, they're still queuing up! It's not chaotic at all!"

Shouldn't everyone rush in at this point?
He Qingsheng, with the air of someone who's been there, took out a cigarette, offered it to him, and said, "I can tell you've never queued up to buy a new book before. It's common to queue up to buy a new book, and there are always people who can't get one. So, for people who buy books regularly, this is something they're used to."

Look at them, the line is orderly, the slogans are deafening, they're all waiting for the bookstore staff to handle things. This is a time when no one can cause trouble. If anyone dares to, the police station is right next door. Just one phone call and the police will be there within minutes, guaranteeing they'll be in deep trouble.”

He took out a match, lit it, and exhaled a puff of smoke. At that moment, his face was flushed and he looked very spirited.

This is just one bookstore, but there are more than eighty Xinhua bookstores in the entire province. This small example shows how popular "Yunhu Love" must be.

The publisher made a net profit of 4 to 5 yuan. They then reprinted the book, printing another 30 sets. This was equivalent to the correspondence center recruiting more than 1 people. It was a windfall!
The key is that the cycle is shorter and the cost is lower.

Compared to the "old guys" who can only sell tens of thousands, or even thousands, of copies, this kid is indeed a lucky star in the cultural circles of Jiangnan!

With so much money, how many things could you accomplish?!
Chen Fan ignored He Qingsheng's arrogance and complacency, and listened with some curiosity, "How do bookstores usually handle this?"

He Qingsheng shrugged. "If there's stock, we'll get more stock; if not, we'll place additional orders. We'll try to persuade those in line to stay in line. If there are few people, we won't bother them. If there are many, we'll give them a stamped number slip so they can buy the new book first when it arrives."

Chen Fan grinned and said, "That's pretty humane, huh?"

He Qingsheng took two quick puffs, threw the half-finished cigarette on the ground and crushed it, then patted his arm. "Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and go to the publishing house to reprint it."

Chen Fan was pushed into the car by him, and the car started and drove away. He was still a little puzzled. "Why don't you arrange the reprint? What am I supposed to do?"

He Qingsheng sat comfortably in the passenger seat. "You have a car? Take me there."

Chen Fan: "...? Hey, I was saying the Writers' Association is so rich, can't they buy two cars?"

He Qingsheng said, "Who doesn't want to buy a car? The problem is that the permits are hard to get. Factories are the first choice, followed by public institutions. Our kind of unit may seem to have good benefits, but in reality, we are at the bottom and have no status."

Chen Fan: "That bad? But it's okay, you don't need a permit to buy a car from me. I have sedans and minibuses. Just tell me if you want one or not."

He Qingsheng: "That's amazing? Then we can get two to try. But how much do they cost? They're too expensive, I can't afford them."

Chen Fan said, "You're joking, Uncle He. We just made over 200,000 yuan. How could we not afford it? Don't worry, we'll definitely get a discount since we're all family."

……

A Xinhua Bookstore near Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Anquan took a piece of paper from a staff member, squeezed through the crowd, and handed it to Yu Keying, saying, "Here, this is all we have."

Yu Keying turned around and handed it to Jiang Lili without hesitation, laughing, "There's nothing I can do. Blame it on your man's great abilities. When he heard that his new book was on the market, hundreds of people from our school alone rushed over to line up. But we didn't expect that this store only had 300 sets, and they were all sold out as soon as the store opened."

He then handed over the number slip, saying, "Take it. When the next batch of books arrives, at least you'll be guaranteed priority purchase."

Jiang Lili accepted the gift with both hands without hesitation, saying, "Thank you, Sister Ying."

Yu Keying put her arm around her shoulder and chuckled, "No need to thank me, it's nothing. Xiao Fan has helped us so much, we haven't even said thank you."

Safety nodded. "Exactly."

Then he clicked his tongue and said, "If you ask me, you don't need to come all the way here to buy it yourself. Just mention it to him when you write to him later, and he'll surely send you a sample copy."

Jiang Lili grinned and said, "It's different. This is his first novel published independently. I want to buy a copy for my own collection."

Upon hearing this, Anquan shuddered. "Ugh, that's so cheesy."

Yu Keying slapped him on the back, "If you can't speak properly, then don't speak."

Then, he put his arm around Jiang Lili and whispered, "I support you. It's his way of giving you the gift, and you buying it is your way of supporting him. They're not the same thing."

Seeing that Sister Ying supported her, Jiang Lili grinned happily.

As the crowd dispersed, the three of them waved goodbye.

Today is a rare day off, so they all want to go home to clean and tidy up their houses.

Jiang Lili rode her bicycle back to the small courtyard on Panyu Road, took out her key to open the door, pushed the bicycle into the yard, and Banjin, who had been sitting on the back seat, had already darted into the yard. He sniffed at Balang a couple of times, and then disappeared in a flash.

She didn't care, but as soon as she turned her head, she saw a bicycle parked against the wall. Her eyes lit up immediately, and she quickened her pace to enter the house. After locking the door, she pushed the bicycle and walked over quickly. "Sister, is that you back?"

He parked his bicycle and then pushed open the door to go inside.

Inside the house, Jiang Tiantian was wearing work clothes, with sleeves on her arms and a blue cotton cloth covering her long hair. She was diligently mopping the floor.

Seeing her younger sister come in, she leaned on the mop, took a couple of breaths, and said with a smile, "I came back early this morning and didn't see you. Did you go to queue up to buy books?"

Jiang Lili changed into slippers, pouted, and walked over, "I couldn't buy any."

Before she could finish speaking, she smiled broadly again, "Sister, you didn't see it! Xiao Fan's books are so popular! Lots of people were lining up outside the bookstore, and they sold out in less than ten minutes!"

Jiang Tiantian glared at her with a smile, "Yes, your Xiao Fan is the most capable. Look how capable you are."

Jiang Lili wrinkled her nose shyly, then pouted, "I don't know what the bookstore was thinking. Which of Xiao Fan's works isn't popular? In the end, they only ordered 300 sets, of course, that's not enough to sell."

Jiang Tiantian raised her hand to wipe her sweat and laughed, "You can't blame the bookstore for this; no one expected the book to be so popular."

After a pause, she explained, "Normally, when an author publishes a new book, the first print run is usually around 5000 copies, and sometimes as few as 3000. Even well-known authors print around 50000 copies. Only great authors like Mr. Mao Dun and Mr. Ba Jin print 10 or 20 copies. But do you know how many copies Xiao Fan printed for his new book this time?"

Jiang Lili blinked and took her sister's arm. "How much?"

Jiang Tiantian held up two fingers, "20 sets!"

Jiang Lili first widened her eyes, paused for two seconds, and then her eyes formed two crescent moons. "The publishing house really has good taste!"

Jiang Tiantian looked at her helplessly, raised her hand and poked her forehead, "You're so shameless."

Jiang Lili chuckled dryly twice, then her mind raced. "Wait a minute, if so many were printed, why did the bookstore only have 300 sets?"

Jiang Tiantian smiled and said, "Don't you think about how many bookstores there are nationwide? And of the 20 sets, half of them will be distributed within Jiangnan province. I heard from the editors that the distribution manager of Shanghai Xinhua Bookstore placed an order for 1 sets, but only 8000 sets were delivered. That was only because the leaders of Wenhui Daily spoke with Chairman He; otherwise, there would have been at most 5000 sets. So, the store you went to had 300 sets, which is already considered a lot."

Jiang Lili sighed softly, "But I still couldn't buy it."

Jiang Tiantian glanced at her and couldn't help but smile.

Jiang Lili looked at her and asked, "What are you laughing at? Are you gloating?"

"Am I that bad?"

Jiang Tiantian glared at her and pointed to the tea cabinet not far away, "Hey, I bought the book you wanted, it's right there."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lili quickly turned around and ran over. Sure enough, there were two brand-new books on the tea cabinet, namely the two volumes of "Yunhu Love".

She held the book, smiling from ear to ear, reading it over and over again. After a while, she finally came to her senses, turned around, ran to her sister's side, and gave her a big kiss. "Sister, you're so sweet."

Jiang Tiantian looked at her, shook her head and laughed, "Oh, it's so nice of you now, sister. Just now you were all sullen and saying I was gloating."

Jiang Lili chuckled dryly, hugged the book to her chest, and looked at her, asking, "Sister, did you go out so early this morning just to buy books?"

Jiang Tiantian smiled and said, "It's about buying books, but not at Xinhua Bookstore. If you want to buy books at a bookstore, you'll have to go there in the middle of the night to queue up, otherwise don't even think about getting a front row seat."

Queuing up in the middle of the night was obviously out of the question. Before leaving, Chen Fan repeatedly told them to be extra careful and absolutely not to go out at night. Even if they went out during the day, they should only walk on main roads and not on secluded side streets, and try to travel in groups. Although there weren't any serious security problems yet, there were more and more trendy young people, and a noticeable "restlessness" was gradually emerging in society.

People tend to think that those who conform are "good," while those who dress strangely or "don't follow the rules" are repulsive or even frightening.

These two sisters belong to the group that is afraid.

Because of their experiences over the past three or four years, they had been trying to play the fool and had developed a cautious personality. Even if Chen Fan hadn't told them, they would never dare to go out at night in this unfamiliar city.

Even so, they still habitually bring their raccoon dogs with them when they go out during the day, only then do they feel a little safe.

Jiang Tiantian continued, "That's what I thought of, so I asked the editors to help me find acquaintances and friends at Xinhua Bookstore to buy it, and that's how I managed to buy two sets."

The editor didn't tell you beforehand because they didn't want to be too definitive, so they decided to wait until they got the book and then let you know.

Under Mr. Ba Jin's arrangement, whenever she doesn't have classes, she goes to the editorial departments of Shanghai Literature and Art and Wenhui Daily to study. Sometimes she also attends on Sundays. Almost everyone in the editorial department is her teacher, which is why she is called an editor teacher.

After hearing her sister's explanation, Jiang Lili hugged her tightly, saying, "Sister, I love you."

Jiang Tiantian poked her again, "You. You haven't learned anything else from following Xiao Fan, except how to be cheesy."

Jiang Lili hugged her sister and giggled foolishly.

She would never have dared to say such things before, not even to her family. But lately, she's been writing to Xiao Fan every week. I don't know why, but she dares to write anything in her letters that she wouldn't normally say, and she doesn't even feel embarrassed about it.

Unfortunately, Xiao Fan was too busy. Apart from making a few phone calls and sending a few telegrams, he hadn't written her a letter yet. But that's alright; as long as he kept writing, he would eventually write back.

How can a letter that isn't handwritten be called a "love letter"?!
She just didn't know it. It's just that the current transportation is too slow; it would take at least a week for a letter to arrive from Jiangnan. Otherwise, she should have received someone's first love letter by now, and they could have seen who could be more cheesy.

But it will happen soon, in the next day or two.

Jiang Tiantian looked at her silly younger sister, smiled and shook her head, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, did you copy 'Yunhu Love'?"

Jiang Lili immediately shook her head, "No."

He then explained, “Yunhu Love was written after he went to the provincial capital. At that time, we were all working at the prefectural committee and were busy with our studies, so we didn’t have time to help him copy it. It seems that Xiaoju, Xiaoying and Xiaodan copied the book together, and it wasn’t even the whole thing, only the first half. Later, they went to school and couldn’t finish copying it.”

"Oh."

Jiang Tiantian nodded in realization, a hint of regret in her eyes, "This is Xiao Fan's first romance novel, what a pity."

Jiang Lili smiled and said, "No, Xiao Fan told me that his first romance novel was 'The Ferryman,' which I copied."

Jiang Tiantian blinked. "The Ferryman? Hmm, isn't that a novel about educated youth sent to the countryside?"

Before Jiang Lili could speak, she finally realized, "That's right. Although the protagonist of the story is an educated youth sent to the countryside, and there aren't many scenes that directly depict love, the core story is about how the male and female protagonists meet, get to know each other, and fall in love. It's definitely true that it's a romance novel."

She turned her head and smiled, "Did Xiao Fan tell you the story of the Cloud Lake Romance?"

Jiang Lili shook her head regretfully, "No. I never disturb him when he's creating."

Then, looking at her older sister curiously, she asked, "Haven't you seen it yet?"

Jiang Tiantian picked up the mop in her hand and said irritably, "I just bought the book, do you think I've read it or not?"

Jiang Lili immediately put down her book, ran back, and picked up the mop from her sister's hand. "Let's do it together."

……

After arranging the reprint, He Qingsheng urged Chen Fan to drive back to the Writers' Association. His first words were, "Have you done the homework I asked you to do for the story of Yunhu Love?"

Chen Fan sat down on the sofa, took the cigarette he was tossed to him, and said seriously, "It concerns a matter of stance, so of course I've done my job well."

To be honest, among the men in the Writers' Association, none of them don't smoke, especially during creative meetings, the smoke is so thick it could make you taste the smoke.

female?

Most of the women were smoking too!

Now Chen Fan doesn't like going to work anymore. Although he doesn't mind smoking, he can't stand smoking two or three packs a day like those old writers.

But when you have no choice but to come, you can only "do as the Romans do".

It's better to inhale fresh smoke than secondhand smoke.

Lighting a cigarette and exhaling a puff of smoke, Chen Fan continued, "The core of this novel's creation is based on the main ideas of the CPPCC meeting at the end of last year, so from beginning to end, it's a process of moving from differences to integration..."

His novel, "Love of Cloud Lake," borrows heavily from the film "Romance on Lushan Mountain," yet it is quite different.

First of all, "Romance on Lushan Mountain" is a movie and has never been adapted into a novel. The movie is known for its "beautiful scenery, beautiful people, and beautiful emotions".

"Emotional beauty" is fine, but how can the other two be expressed in words?

Does the book include illustrations?
Huh?
Why didn't I think of that before?

Chen Fan scratched his head and continued, "Integration cannot be done casually. It must be based on reason and evidence, have human factors, and, more importantly, have historical and cultural origins."

Therefore, I devoted a large portion of the text to describing the characters' backgrounds, psychological changes, and the clash of emotions and ideas. In other words, I wrote more about "emotions" to show how difficult it was to go from division to integration. In this process, there were also our own reflections and the other side's reflections. Finally, we came together, and that's when the significance of the united front came into play.

The choice of Yunhu as a location was also based on this core point.

Yunhu has been a strategic location fought over by military strategists since ancient times. No matter which dynasty or era, anyone who wanted to conquer the world could not ignore Yunhu. Therefore, the red and blue teams once fought fiercely here.

On the other hand, the red and blue teams had cooperated here before, jointly resisting foreign aggression. Both team captains had also visited Yunhu. The grudges and entanglements here are strikingly similar to the backgrounds of the two families mentioned in the text. ..."

The decision to write this story was made during the Jiangnan Writers Association's reconstruction meeting.

At the meeting, many writers from the province raised questions about some of the novel's settings. However, given Chen Fan's confidence and He Qingsheng's strong support, they changed their attitude and stopped opposing it.

Therefore, Chen Fan was prepared from the very beginning to deal with the doubts that would arise after the novel was published.

The homework He Qingsheng asked him to do was precisely this kind of thing.

After Chen Fan finished speaking, He Qingsheng flicked off his cigarette ash, raised his head, and said seriously, "As the saying goes, one should not fight a battle unprepared. The literary world has not produced a romance novel for many years, let alone a romance novel with such a complex background setting. Controversy from all sides is inevitable."

Chen Fan nodded and smiled, "I'm prepared to be scolded. Besides, 'Shanghai Spy Shadow' is also part of the preparations."

He Qingsheng was slightly taken aback. "I didn't expect that."

After a two-second pause, he suddenly realized something and looked at Chen Fan with a strange expression. "You wouldn't happen to be thinking of becoming a pioneer of literary reform, would you?"

Chen Fan waved his hands repeatedly, "That's not what I meant, it's just a matter of circumstances."

He looked at He Qingsheng and smiled, "Whether it's 'Love in the Cloud Lake' or 'Shanghai Spy Shadow,' they are different from traditional serious literary novels, and they will be criticized if they are published."

If I had written popular literature from the beginning, like the authors of "Story Club," that would have been fine; it's all a joke anyway, and nobody would have taken me seriously.

But I started with serious literature, and suddenly switching to writing 'romance' and 'espionage' was seen as 'rebellious' by some. Since I was going to be criticized anyway, I might as well go big and directly change their impression of me.

He Qingsheng looked at him for several seconds before suddenly smiling and saying, "But you can't not transform yourself. There are too many rules and regulations that need to be broken. Whoever can break them will be the leader of 'new literature.' If you don't come, then you will have to hand over the position of representative of the younger generation of writers."

"It's better to break this sooner rather than later, and this is a well-prepared action. This time, use your two works to thoroughly stir up the literary world, which has been stagnant for over a decade!"

Chen Fan blinked. What? There's such a saying?

(End of this chapter)