Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 793 Waiting for Money
After spending another day arranging everything for everyone, Chen Fan also took the opportunity to visit the Writers' Association and several bigwigs, including Mao Lao, to express his gratitude for their leniency.

The fact that Shanghai Film Studio had rejected the script had already spread throughout the industry. Almost everyone in the arts and literature circles with any standing knew about it, and Mao and his colleagues were even more aware of the cause and effect.

The scripts that even the Shanghai Film Studio wouldn't dare touch would most likely not pass the approval of higher authorities.

But who can blame them when Chen Fan is in charge now?

Many of them still have the "return gifts" given by Zhang Xuansong and his men in their homes. Looking at the spoils of war captured from the Japanese and the UN forces, they all remain silent.

Therefore, in the applications submitted by Jiangying Studio, as long as a reasonable explanation could be given for certain issues, the higher authorities would give it the green light all the way, and the approval opinions were obtained smoothly, and some were even sent back to Jiangying Studio.

Actually, the procedures for making movies now are much simpler than in later years. If Chen Fan hadn't wanted to film in Tianjin, Shandong, and other places, and had only filmed within Jiangnan Province, he would have only needed to apply to the provincial department for film project approval.

However, don't assume that the simple application process meant a more lenient review process than later ones. Before the Fourth National Congress of Literary and Art Workers this year, film production was mainly based on "self-inspection by the unit" with provincial approval as a supplement. The primary person responsible was the leader of the film studio.

Whether a film project can be approved and what its content should be are basically controlled by the production company itself. If problems arise, they are the primary responsible parties.

This is also the main reason why Shanghai Film Studio dared not easily make this film.

The approval process at the provincial level involves more of a secondary review and resource allocation, such as determining how much funding is needed and which units need to cooperate.

If something goes wrong with the film, the responsibility won't be as high as that of the film studio.

As for the "film shooting permit" and "film screening permit" that everyone is familiar with in later generations, they will not appear until the film system reform in 1993.

As a result, after the Fourth National Congress of Literary and Art Workers was held and it was made clear that literary and art workers could boldly liberate their thinking, our filmmakers, like many writers, began to unleash their creativity.

Therefore, during the period from 80 to 93, the types of films produced in my country were incredibly diverse, with many films featuring supernatural themes coexisting with those that profoundly revealed social realities.

Some art films are so profound that even leaders dare not watch them, while some commercial films are filled with supernatural elements and are far more explicit than those of later generations.

Because at that time there was no censorship system at all, as long as the film studio dared to make a film, the provincial authorities would dare to approve it.

As a result, as long as it's not an open and blatant attempt to distort the truth, there's no subject matter that film studios wouldn't dare to touch.

After all, it's a reform; if you don't allow me to film, how can it be called a reform?

At this point, Chen Fan was wondering if he had been too hasty. If he waited until next year to officially approve the project, Shanghai Film Studio would probably be more willing to film it.
That would save me so much trouble!
However, after thinking about it carefully, I felt it would be better to take the camera myself.

Firstly, I feel more confident taking the photos myself and am sure that they will be better than those taken by others.

Leaving aside the period before the founding of the People's Republic of China, at that time, no one in China had ever made a martial arts film. If someone else were to make one, they probably wouldn't even know how to design fight scenes or how to capture action sequences.

These were naturally not problems for Chen Fan.

Another option is to start filming six months in advance, which allows them to gain an advantage.

While others were still thinking about how to liberate their thinking and make movies, his own film, "Monk Comes Down the Mountain," was already ready for release.

Then I can gain another wave of reputation, perfect.

And so, with a mix of joy and curiosity, accompanied by the three women, Chen Fan headed straight for Tianjin.

Then they took a boat to Weihai, passed through Jiangsu and Anhui, which took a total of 3 weeks. By the end of August, they finally returned to Jiangnan and completed the location shooting.

What? No actors?

Ahem, how about some video editing?

After handing over the dozen or so reels of film I had shot to the Jiangying Film Studio for developing, I returned home, and it was finally time to say goodbye.

……

Chen Fan's home in Jiangnan Art and Literature New Village.

Zhou Yali slumped listlessly on the daybed, staring at the ceiling and groaning, "What should I do if I don't want to go back to school?"

Chen Fan sat on the other side, calmly sipping his tea. "I don't want to go to school to teach yet."

He put down his teacup, sighed softly, and glanced at the two sisters who had already packed their luggage and were looking sullen. He thought to himself that being a free man was much better, as he could at least play games with the two sisters.

Unfortunately, the teacher arranged it for his own good, and he really should keep a low profile and take some time to reflect.

While Chen Fan was lost in thought, Zhou Yali next door let out another long sigh, "It's only the start of the semester, and even if you apply for a graduation internship early, you still have a year to endure. It's really tough."

At this moment, the two sisters composed themselves, hid their reluctance in their hearts, and their complexions improved considerably.

Jiang Tiantian walked to the chair next to the daybed and sat down. Looking at Zhou Yali, she asked curiously, "Don't you seniors have to attend classes?"

Zhou Yali nodded, "No need. Senior year courses are generally not very important. As long as you can get a job at the company, you can apply for exemption from courses and intern at the company."

He then countered with, "Don't you guys have internships?"

Jiang Tiantian looked a little confused. "I'm not sure. We didn't have to do that before. During our time at school, we just had to study hard. After we officially graduated, the school would assign each student a job. The students would take their registration certificate to their jobs and then have a six-month or one-year internship."

As for how we will arrange things then, it's unclear yet, and there are no clear policy guidelines at present.

Zhou Yali's eyes widened. "My God, schools in China actually guarantee job placement? That's amazing!"

As mentioned before, in the 1970s, the United States experienced its first "stagflation," which meant that prices were rising while workers' incomes were falling. Under such social conditions, the employment rate was bound to suffer.

It was only after the Plaza Accord was signed, coupled with Reagan's approval of the Star Wars program in 84, that the US technology industry experienced rapid development, enabling the US economy to return to a fast track and the social environment to improve dramatically.

However, that's for later. At this stage, the fact that college graduates are guaranteed job placement is enough to shock Zhou Yali for more than half a year.

I reckon when she gets back, she'll brag about it to her classmates and friends, and I wonder if she'll cultivate a few "elite individuals".

The three girls huddled together, chattering about the differences in education between the two countries, which temporarily eased their sadness at parting.

That evening, Chen Fan personally cooked a meal to treat them. After they were full and satisfied, he was too lazy to think about anything else.

The next morning, Chen Fan took them to the airport to catch a flight to Shanghai.

Zhou Yali will also transit through Shanghai, using the small notebook as a transit point to return to the United States.

However, she also had a mission.

With a layover of nearly 10 hours, she will take this opportunity to meet with Hideo Takahashi to discuss a cross-border collaboration between the two publishing houses. If a cooperation agreement is reached smoothly, Takahashi will acquire the international distribution rights for a portion of Xiaoben's best-selling books, which will then be distributed in Europe and America by Qianfan Publishing House.

Qianfan Publishing House will also seek out some best-selling European and American works and entrust Takahashi Publishing House to publish them in smaller print.

This method requires almost no cost, yet it allows for smooth entry into the other party's market, resulting in a win-win situation.

As for Chen Fan's works, the natural approach is to jointly develop and share the results.

The difference is that, in addition to the normal royalties paid, any "excess royalties" will be arranged separately by Takahashi Publishing House and will not go through the account of Jiangnan Writers Association.

Because the Jiangnan Writers Association and Gaoqiao Publishing House signed a standardized contract, all royalties are paid according to the corresponding royalty rates based on the different levels of authorship.

As previously mentioned, in the world of small-format publishing, if a book's sales exceed a certain threshold, such as "500,000 copies" for a mystery novel, the publisher will need to communicate and negotiate a new royalty rate with the author for the excess portion.

The royalty rate for small books is uniform, meaning that regardless of the size of the author, the royalty is calculated at a rate of 10% to 14%, while any excess amount will automatically increase to 20%.

However, some well-known authors receive more in excess royalties than the combined share from publishers and bookstores. There's no way around it; their works are just that popular.

Chen Fan's previous works, "Legend of the Dragon Knight" and the upcoming "Saint Seiya," are both best-selling books that can be negotiated for additional royalties, and he can keep all of this income.

If sales are high enough, this extra income can be much greater than the previous fixed income.

This time, Zhou Yali took the opportunity to work with Hideo Takahashi to finalize these details.

This extra income was also a bargaining chip that Chen Fan had prepared in advance before the Plaza Accord was launched.

As for Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili, they have it much easier. They just need to study hard, improve themselves every day, and then wait for Chen Fan to suddenly appear.

……

Watching the plane take off, Chen Fan didn't linger at the airport and drove back to the city.

In less than an hour, he appeared in the compound of the Writers Association.

The car was parked at the gate. He leaned against the window, stuck his head out, and shouted to Grandpa Xiang in the guardhouse, "Did you miss me?"

Grandpa Xiang quickly crawled out of the house, his eyes full of surprise. "Hey, Director Chen, oh no, I should say Vice Chairman Chen, it's been quite a while since you've been here, more than half a year, hasn't it? If your name wasn't still on the list of members of the Presidium, I would have thought you had been transferred to another unit."

Chen Fan took out a cigarette and handed it to him, asking with a puzzled look, "Why did you say 'again'?"

I haven't adjusted it before.

"Because there are many work units."

Grandpa Xiang didn't stand on ceremony. He took the cigarette, lit it, and said to him, "I heard that the Shanghai Writers Association wants to transfer you, and the Jiangnan Film Studio is also applying for a transfer. Even Jiangnan University wants to transfer you to teach. They say your correspondence center is doing very well, and they want to transfer you there to help them set up the correspondence department. Is that true?"

Chen Fan's forehead creased with exasperation. "What nonsense! Jiangnan University has had a correspondence course department for a long time, okay? My undergraduate diploma was issued by their correspondence course department. Why would they transfer me there?"

Grandpa Xiang was slightly taken aback. "So you're saying it's fake?"

Chen Fan pursed his lips, "It's half true and half false. I'm going to work part-time at Jiangnan University, but it's just teaching two classes a week, nothing else."

There was also the Jiangxi Film Studio, where they were seconded to make two films and then returned.

"Think about it, at my level, what position would I sit in? Even the Party Secretary and factory director would have to make way for me. It's better to stay in the Writers' Association."

Grandpa Xiang clicked his tongue, "That's true, this rumor is quite unreliable."

He then looked up at Chen Fan and asked, "You haven't been to the office for more than half a year. Did you come here today for something? Are you looking for Lao He?"

Chen Fan looked at him speechlessly, "You call Uncle He 'Old He' and me 'Vice Chairman Chen,' isn't that inappropriate? If Uncle He hears that, he might think I have better popular support than him."

"She was better than him to begin with."

Grandpa Xiang made the final decision: "Can he give everyone bonuses, or can he allocate houses to everyone? Or can he treat an old guy like me?"
I think he's inferior to you in every way. He should just retire, and you can take his place.

As she spoke, she glanced at Chen Fan a few times and said, "You're almost 20, aren't you? Back then, there were so many leaders around your age, why couldn't you get promoted?"

Chen Fan wiped away a bead of cold sweat. "You really think too highly of me."

He didn't dare to chat idly with Grandpa Xiang anymore, and quickly changed the subject, "Uncle He, are you at work?"

Grandpa Xiang waved his hand and said, "He's here. Go find him."

Chen Fan quickly drove off, saying, "See you later."

After parking the car in the side yard, Chen Fan got out and went straight to He Qingsheng's office.

He waved and greeted those who came out after hearing the news, just like a leader on an inspection tour. He was surrounded by a group of directors and section chiefs until he arrived at the door of He Qingsheng's office. Several packs of good cigarettes in his pocket were also taken away, and then these cadres (corrupt officials) scattered.

He knocked and went in. When He Qingsheng saw it was him, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "It was so noisy outside. I thought something had happened. Turns out it was you."

He capped his pen, closed the file, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "Same as always, do it yourself."

Chen Fan: "Okay."

After saying that, he walked to the usual spot, squatted down, opened the cabinet, and took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, stuffing them into his pockets.

He Qingsheng was immediately dumbfounded. "I told you the usual way, that you should pour your own tea. Why did you start snatching it again?"

Chen Fan had two packs of cigarettes stuffed in one pocket, making his pants and shirt pockets bulge. There were still two packs that couldn't fit, so he threw them on his desk, opened one pack, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

After doing all that, he found a teacup, dropped some pre-Qingming Longjing tea into it, and poured in boiling water to brew it.

He brought over a teacup, pulled out a chair and sat down, then, with a cigarette between his fingers, said matter-of-factly, "I brought several packs of cigarettes to treat you, but a group of people just snatched them from me."

They're your subordinates, if I don't ask you for reimbursement, who am I supposed to ask?

He Qingsheng was speechless, unable to utter a word for a moment.

Chen Fan flicked the ash from his cigarette, put the butt back in his mouth, and asked, "How's the translation of 'Saint Seiya' coming along? When will it be published?"
I've almost run out of remittance certificates, I don't have money to buy meat, and I need the money urgently.

(End of this chapter)