Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 572 Taking a Boat
May 24th, Wednesday, the 5th day of the fourth lunar month, is an auspicious day for praying for blessings and offering sacrifices; there are no taboos.

At Yunhu Qingshan Cemetery, in front of the graves of Chen Fan's parents, a dozen people stood in several rows, bowed slowly after completing the memorial ceremony, and then left in an orderly manner.

Only Zhou Zhengdong's family and Chen Fan's four people remained in the same place.

There aren't many strict rules for worship in the Yunhu area. Generally speaking, people can come to worship at any time on special days like Qingming Festival and Lunar New Year's Eve. Especially on Lunar New Year's Eve, there are no taboos even at night.

However, on other days, if you want to pay respects to deceased relatives, it is best to do so before 3 p.m., and the best time is when the sun is just rising in the morning.

That is now.

After Chen Fan and the others left, he uncovered the cloth covering the basket, took out several bundles of yellow paper and a string of firecrackers, and calmly prepared to start over.

He untied the yellow paper, scattered it, and piled it into a small mountain in front of the tombstone. He then placed firecrackers on the grave and circled them a few times. He walked back, took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, looked at his uncle's family who seemed somewhat surprised, lit it, and said softly, "If I don't burn paper money and set off firecrackers, it just doesn't feel like I've come."

Zhou Zhengdong chuckled, turned to look at the tombstone, and sighed, "I heard that they've been cracking down on feudal superstitions here. I thought we couldn't burn paper money."

As he spoke, he took out a cigarette, lit it, exhaled a puff of smoke, squatted down, lit the paper with a lighter, turned around and waved to his daughter, "Come and burn some paper money for your aunt and uncle."

He himself squatted in front of the grave, muttering something softly.

Zhou Yali said "Oh" and immediately stepped forward. Seeing that there were two bundles of yellow paper in the basket, she took them out and burned them with her mother.

They'd done this before in their ancestral home in Chinatown, so they were very familiar with it.

Chen Fan stood behind and said softly, "It used to be forbidden, but starting last year, people started visiting graves on their own initiative and no one cared. It was quickly reinstated across the country. Now burning paper money and setting off firecrackers are allowed."

That's what they say, but the accompanying personnel from the province certainly can't do that; it's incompatible with their identities and beliefs.

This kind of thing is only suitable to be done by family members.

That's why Chen Fan waited until they left before taking these things out and using them.

Those who were about to leave the cemetery turned back and saw people burning paper money there, but they only thought it was an illusion.

The fog was quite thick this morning.

Zhou Zhengdong didn't turn around. He squatted on the ground, looking at the tombstone and speaking softly. After a while, he stood up, turned around, and said, "Even this has been restored. Now I'm starting to believe that the policy won't go back to normal."

Chen Fan pursed his lips and remained silent.

After a few seconds, Zhou Zhengdong said to him, "Xiao Fan, come to America with us."

Zhou Yali immediately turned around, grinning, "Little brother, although you're doing well here, it's still a long way from New York. When you go to America, you'll live with us. There will be lights and telephones upstairs and downstairs, and a full set of household appliances..."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow, smiled, and shook his head. "Don't try to tempt me. I can withstand this kind of temptation."

Zhou Zhengdong frowned slightly. "You're not willing?"

Chen Fan shrugged and laughed, "I'm doing pretty well now. Although I can't say I live a life of luxury, I'm well-fed and clothed, and I'm never bullied no matter where I go."

He looked at Zhou Yali with a mischievous grin and said, "That's impossible in America."

Zhou Yali was speechless.

She can't just deceive herself, can she?

Looking at his nephew who was laughing heartily, Zhou Zhengdong could only sigh regretfully and said softly, "According to your grandfather's last wishes and the Zhou family's rules, one-tenth of the Zhou family's current assets belonged to your mother, and now it is natural for you to inherit them."

Hearing this, Chen Fan immediately raised his hand to interrupt, "Thank you for your kindness, Uncle, but it's alright, I don't need it. Besides,"

He spread his hands and said, "Here, at least for now, having too much money is not a good thing, but a bad thing. You should leave that part of the family property in the Zhou family."

Zhou Zhengdong looked at him helplessly, "Do you know how much this ten percent of your family fortune is worth?"

Chen Fan pondered for two seconds, then looked up and smiled, "More valuable than the set I designed?"

After his daughter, Zhou Zhengdong had nothing more to say.

Just last year, Star Wars swept the globe, grossing $7.75 million and shocking the world.

This is $7.75 million in 1977! Back then, my country's foreign exchange reserves were only $9.52 million. That's terrifying!
From Zhou Zhengdong's perspective, as long as Chen Fan doesn't underperform, there's a greater than 90% chance that he can write a novel of above-average quality based on the Western fantasy setting Zhou Zhengdong designed yesterday, which could become a bestseller in Europe and America, and even worldwide.

The average price of a novel in the United States today is around $5.

(The Whole Earth Epilog mentioned by Jobs in his speech, the cover says this is the first edition printed in September 1974, priced at $4. Another slightly thicker one is priced at $5, the two together make a set.)
At that time, American writers were paid roughly $1 per word... This was also the standard income for magazine contributors, one dollar per word. It wasn't until 1984, when Tina became an editor at Vanity Fair, that this standard was raised to $2 per word.

As for now, based on this standard, a 30-word novel would have a basic royalty of $30.

And this is just a small amount of money.

The real bulk of the profits come from royalties.

The royalties in the United States are ridiculously high. For a newcomer, the royalty share is between 7.5% and 15%, while for well-known authors, it can be negotiated.

In addition, they also set different royalties for different printing versions. For example, the hardcover version is generally 15%, which seems reasonable.

However, if it is a paperback, a book exclusively for book clubs, or a reprint, the royalties can be increased further.

For this type of book, later generations even discussed giving up to 50%, meaning that half of the book's price should be given to the author upfront.

That's why there are so many billionaire writers in America.

These were all secured by the Authors Guild of America from publishers.

Compared to our Writers' Association, Chen Fan said he felt like crying.

And look at his Western fantasy novel, which hasn't even been published yet. Since it has the potential to be a bestseller and it's published by his own publishing house, giving him a 20% royalty isn't unreasonable, is it?

At $5 a book, he would get $1 for every book sold. If it were a two-volume set like Yunhu Lian, he would get $2.

The minimum standard for a bestseller in the United States is 10 copies for a hardcover edition and 30 copies for a paperback edition.

For example, The Godfather sold 2100 million copies. As the first Western fantasy novel in history, could the number be lower than that?

This single transaction alone could earn him over 4 million US dollars in royalties.

It doesn't stop there.

Adapting a bestselling book into a movie yields a share of the profits; adapting it into a game also yields a share of the profits… Moreover, such adaptations are subject to time limits, typically 5 years or less.

You can choose to buy it outright or take a cut.

It can be resold after the expiration date.

It keeps coming in.

How much wealth does the Zhou family possess?
It's less than $1 million. Zhou Zhengdong suspects that if he hadn't been in control of the book, Chen Fan could have accumulated wealth far exceeding that of the entire Zhou family in a short period of time with just one book!
Therefore, he could only remain silent in the face of Chen Fan's question.

After a two-second pause, Zhou Zhengdong sighed and said, "Xiao Fan, the system you envisioned is indeed a great treasure, but it hasn't been realized yet, right?"

Secondly, this isn't about how much money is involved, but rather a rule your maternal grandfather established for the Zhou family: sons inherit the family business, but daughters must also receive a dowry when they get married.

This is your mother's estate; you can't just give it up.

Zhao Wanru stood up and came over to persuade her, "In any case, you still have to inherit your mother's estate. If you're worried about trouble, there's no need to worry. We can handle it in the United States, separate your share, have your cousin hold it on your behalf, and then transfer it to you when the time is right. This way, it definitely won't cause you any trouble."

Chen Fan chuckled and turned to Zhou Yali, "Then let my cousin hold it for me."

Anyway, he didn't intend to take this wealth; letting Zhou Yali hold it was no different from having it in the Zhou family's own hands.

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Yali jumped up and ran to his side, hugging his arm and laughing, "Daddy, Mommy, Xiao Fan is calling me sister!"

Chen Fan and the other two immediately turned pale.

Zhou Zhengdong flicked her forehead, his face darkening, and said, "Don't you know where you are?"

Zhou Yali stuck out her tongue and immediately shrank her neck to continue burning paper money.

Not long after all the yellow paper had burned, Chen Fan took out a bundle of incense from the basket.

Speaking of incense, one has to admire the resilience of the local economy. This stuff had disappeared for more than a decade, but not long after the revival of tomb sweeping last year, incense makers secretly started up workshops again at home.

The same method is used to make yellow paper, and since everyone is from the same village, there is no need for advertising. The word spreads throughout the surrounding area almost overnight, which is why the custom of burning paper and incense was able to return smoothly.

Each person placed three incense sticks in the soil in front of the tombstone, bowed again, and then the three members of the Zhou family left, turning back every few steps.

Chen Fan lagged behind, and only after they had gone far away did he take out a cigarette, light it, walk to the grave, and light the firecrackers that had been laid out earlier.

Amidst the crackling sounds, Chen Fan glanced at the three people who had stopped to wait for him, and quickened his pace to walk over.

……

After spending three days at the prefectural committee, Zhou Zhengdong also visited the cemetery three times. It wasn't until Zhao Wanru persuaded him that he should also visit his hometown in Northeast China that he agreed to go to the next stop.

Saturday, October 5.

The morning river breeze felt quite pleasant on my skin.

Zhou Yali stood by the river, spread her arms wide, and shouted happily, "The Yangtze River is so big!"

Chen Fan spat out a mouthful of soy milk and coughed several times.

Zhou Zhengdong and Zhao Wanru both raised their hands to cover their faces, feeling too ashamed to face anyone.

Section Chief Lü, who had accompanied him, walked up to Chen Fan and, before he could even speak, offered him a cigarette, smiling warmly, "Director Chen, with so many vehicles, can the cargo ship at Lujiawan really accommodate them all?"

Chen Fan was also very polite to Section Chief Lü.

He also works in the provincial propaganda department and is a colleague of Section Chief Zhao, who came last time. I heard that the two have a good relationship. However, Section Chief Zhao is mainly responsible for liaising with Asia and Africa, while this Section Chief Lü is responsible for liaising with Europe and America. So this time, he was the one who accompanied my uncle throughout the entire trip.

His rank was also higher than Section Chief Zhao's, being a full section chief. This reflects the province's greater emphasis on Zhou Zhengdong.

Chen Fan took the cigarette, lit it on the lighter handed to him by Section Chief Lü, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, the cargo ships that came to pick us up today, in addition to the large wooden boat from Lujiawan, the Nanhu Commune also arranged for two iron-hulled boats from the water transport company, which will ensure that all these vehicles can be loaded."

Section Chief Lü laughed and nodded, "That's good, that's good."

To be honest, he was actually a little scared.

According to the original itinerary, they were supposed to cross the Yangtze River at the ferry, go to Gufeng County first, and then travel by land to Nanhu Commune.

The last time, Hideo Takahashi and his team took this route.

Although we had to cross two rivers in between, it was still much more reassuring than spending more than an hour floating on the water.

It's not that he's afraid of water. As a resident of the provincial capital, he's been in the water since he was a child, so there's no reason for him to be afraid of water.

However, when Chen Fan said that a boat would be sent from Lujiawan to pick him up, he became apprehensive.

He knew Lujiawan. There were three wooden boats that ran water transport, and those three boats were used to transport goods every day. One of them was made up of small sampans pieced together, and he didn't know when it would be washed away.

Well, although that boat usually only runs around the village and hasn't traveled far, I'm still worried about the other two wooden boats.

Only after hearing from Chen Fan that he had arranged for two iron-hulled boats to be transferred from a shipping company did I finally feel relieved.

Before he could finish his cigarette, Chen Fan saw three boats approaching from downstream, so he threw away his cigarette butt and said, "The boats are here, get ready to board."

A dozen minutes later, the three boats docked one after another.

The people on the two iron-hulled boats knew each other; the one who was piloting the boat was the old master who had previously trained helmsmen for Lujiawan.

Over there, the experienced drivers carefully drove their cars onto the gangplank, while over here, Chen Fan bounced back and forth between the three boats, offering cigarettes and greeting people he knew and didn't know.

After exchanging pleasantries, he waved to Zhang Wenliang, who had been waiting for half a day, and said, "What are you looking at? Come and lend a hand."

Zhang Wenliang's face darkened, and he beckoned several militia sailors to come over, "Move the things from the vehicle up."

They were talking about Chen Fan's little Jeep. He was too lazy to drive it back, so he just left it at the dock.

Then Zhang Wenliang leaned closer to Chen Fan and said in a low voice, "Your relative is here today, so I'll give you face. A meal!"

Chen Fan frowned slightly. "When did you become so petty? That's not very generous of you."

Zhang Wenliang was furious and almost rolled up his sleeves. "Hey, you're not allowed to get angry when I order you around like that."

Chen Fan frowned even more. "You're being stingy. Is this what you call bossing people around? You have no class."

Zhang Wenliang's face fell, and after a couple of seconds of contemplation, he said, "Xingxiu is right. I shouldn't have tried to reason with you. It would have been better to just take action."

Chen Fan shrugged and gently nudged his shoulder. "But, Brother Sanhu, you're even less capable of fighting."

Zhang Wenliang was so angry he almost choked on his own blood.

Watching the militiamen load the luggage from the car onto the large ship, Zhou Yali carefully stepped onto the gangplank and shouted, "Little brother, is this the ship we're taking?"

Chen Fan immediately stepped off the springboard, saying, "Anything is fine."

He then pointed to a small yacht covered by tarpaulin next to him, saying, "There are big boats and small boats. The big boats are stable, and the small boats are fast. See which one you prefer."

(End of this chapter)