Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 794 Shifting the Blame Eastward?

You don't have money to buy meat? You need the money urgently?

He Qingsheng grabbed a cigarette from the table, defiantly pulled one out, put it in his mouth, lit it with a match, and exhaled the smoke along with his pent-up anger.

After letting out a long sigh, he finally felt a little better. He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked at Chen Fan, saying, "This time, I arranged for five translators to translate simultaneously. The translation was completed last week, and the manuscript has been proofread and revised multiple times before being sent to Xiaoben."

He glanced at the calendar. "If all goes well, you'll receive your first payment in a couple of days."

This is a project that can bring a lot of foreign exchange to the company, so he couldn't ignore it. Naturally, he put it as the top priority, and all other work had to take a backseat.

Chen Fan nodded and said, "When you contact Takahashi again, remember to remind him that if he thinks it looks good, he can set the price a bit higher. Anyway, the Japanese economy is developing rapidly now, and many ordinary families are buying cars and houses. Adding an extra one or two hundred yen won't mean much to them."

He Qingsheng looked at him with some doubt, "Is this... okay?"

Chen Fan said with certainty, "Can we remove the word 'ma'? This book is written for young people, especially teenagers. These people have never experienced the hardships of postwar reconstruction and have no concept of making money. However, they are spoiled by their parents who have suffered in the previous generation and have an enormous amount of pocket money."

Instead of letting them waste their money on arcades or renting comics, they'd be better off contributing to our royalties. Dragging them out of the arcades, they'd be thanking me; what's a little price increase?!

He Qingsheng clicked his tongue and looked at him strangely, "You've never been to Benxton, but why do I feel like you know more about it than those of us who have been there?"

Faced with the doubts, Chen Fan was not intimidated at all and raised his head to say, "Although I have never been there, my uncle and cousin have been. They are agents for a brand of switches called 'Little Notebook.' I heard that they stayed there for more than half a month in order to get the agency."

You know we creative people love collecting materials. My cousin told me all this stuff; she likes to wander around and knows so much about books than you guys who only have three or four days on a trip, with meetings every day and only half a day to shop. Isn't that much better?!

He Qingsheng suddenly felt that the cigarette in his mouth had lost its flavor.

He took a sip of tea with a wistful expression, thinking to himself, "Who wouldn't want a relative overseas who is both wealthy and willing to spend money?"

He paused for two seconds, then suddenly remembered something, "Didn't your cousin leave you any living expenses this time she came over?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "What do you mean? Why should I take their money? Am I crippled, disabled, or unable to work? Why should I take their money?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant."

He Qingsheng quickly raised his hands to comfort her, and smiled very sincerely, "What I mean is, you have a lot of expenses and often go to foreign-related stores to buy things, which requires foreign exchange, right? And then you said you were short of money, so you can borrow a little bit, and then pay it back when your royalties arrive."

Chen Fan snorted twice, "I don't want to. I'll just wait for the royalties to arrive. Anyway, I've been through hardship before. I can live a good life or a hard life. At worst, I'll go fishing every day and support myself!"

Goodness, they've even come up with the slogan of solving the food ration problem.

If you didn't know that Chen Fan's family still had a lot of cured meat stored up, you would really think he was a hardworking young man after hearing what he said.

The scam ended before it even began, and He Qingsheng completely gave up on the idea of ​​swindling someone out of foreign exchange.

Actually, he had no choice. Just two months ago, the provincial capital installed the world's most advanced 10,000-line telephone exchange. You don't know until you compare, and once you do, you're shocked.

Since installing this switch, long-distance calls are no longer congested; it's even easier than local calls.

Seeing such good results, the higher-ups must be tempted.

Ideally, another one should be installed in the provincial capital, and then one should be installed in each of the other regions to completely solve the problem of difficulty in making phone calls.

The idea is great, but the problem is I don't have the money!

A single program-controlled exchange costs $420 million, and even if it's paid off in six years, the pressure is still immense.

Moreover, the first piece of equipment was installed because of Chen Fan's influence; they only let him cut in line and install it first.

If you want to install it again, you can only do so in the order of your orders.

Unless you pay in full!

It's cheaper to pay in full, only $380 million, and you'll also enjoy priority installation.

I heard that the three northeastern provinces are very wealthy and have ordered three units from each province. They also offer cash on delivery and priority installation, which makes other provinces green with envy.

Envy is useless; no matter how much you think about it, it's pointless if you don't have money!
What if the superiors run out of money?
Of course, you should ask the people below!
As a result, the provincial writers' association, which had a "cash cow" hidden in its home, was targeted.

Why would a cultural institution need so much foreign exchange reserves, with 30% to 40% retained?
As the saying goes, "a higher-ranking official can crush a lower-ranking one." Chen Fan had no power to fight back against He Qingsheng, and He Qingsong could only struggle with a bitter smile in front of his superiors. In the end, they were forced to take away 80% of the shares, leaving them only 20% for use in overseas exchange visits.

Based on the highest percentage of 40%, Chen Fan first takes 5%, and the remaining part is then divided 20/80, with the province taking 80% and the unit keeping 20%, turning 35% into 7%!

He Qingsheng felt heartbroken just thinking about it.

If I had known this would happen, I would have treated everyone equally and given a share to other writers as well, so that at least the meat would be kept in the same pot.

Now it's all gone.

So when he heard Chen Fan mention his uncle and cousin, he secretly started plotting something.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened his mouth, he was shut down.

Feeling blue and sad, like a mushroom.

Chen Fan was unaware of this inside story, and seeing He Qingsheng's dejected and saddened expression, he felt somewhat puzzled.

but…….

Although he was very curious, he managed to hold back and not ask!

Master Lin had repeatedly warned that meddling in other people's business could easily lead to physical harm and financial loss, and in severe cases, even death.

As long as I don't ask, no trouble will come my way!

Not only that, Chen Fan took a deep breath, finished the half-smoked cigarette, then exhaled the smoke, threw the cigarette butt into the ashtray, picked up his teacup, took a big gulp, and stood up, saying, "You're busy, I have to go."

He Qingsheng snapped out of her daze and looked at him with displeasure. "What could you possibly have to do? Go home to write lesson plans, or are you filming a movie? Even if you really have something to do, does it matter if it's just a little while?"

He then tossed him a cigarette and said, "Sit and chat for a while, then we'll have dinner together tonight. Unless Professor Xu summons you, we'll talk about everything tomorrow."

Seeing that He Qingsheng wouldn't let him leave, Chen Fan became even more wary. He picked up a cigarette, slowly sat down, and asked, "Uncle He, just say what you have to say. I'm scared of you like this."

He Qingsheng chuckled and rolled her eyes at him. "What's wrong with me looking like this? If you were in my position, you'd definitely have a bigger headache than me."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow, finally unable to hold back, "What happened?" He lit a cigarette, his face full of melancholy as he exhaled a puff of smoke, his voice trembling slightly, feeling extremely aggrieved, "Eighty percent of our unit's foreign exchange reserves were taken by the province."

Chen Fan gasped, staring at him in horror. "Such a thing actually happened? Is this even possible?"

He Qingsheng glanced at him, not wanting to say anything at all.

Chen Fan could only cough twice and comfort him, saying, "Actually, if you think about it from a different perspective, you might feel better."

He Qingsheng was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Chen Fan made a gesture and lowered his voice, saying, "Think about it, if the province wanted 90% or even all of them, wouldn't it be even worse? But now they only want 80%. Thinking about it this way, you should feel a little better, right?"

He Qingsheng's face fell, and she turned her head away, not wanting to look at him. "It's even more upsetting."

Chen Fan was puzzled. "Why would it be even more upsetting?"

He Qingsheng snorted twice, "Now we only need 80%, and the unit keeps 20%. Do you think the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Department of Culture will be interested? Will the General Association be interested? Will the province think 80% isn't enough, so they'll keep eyeing it?!"

Chen Fan was immediately stunned and speechless.

Then he could only sigh, "I was naive."

Looking back now, I realize that my company even left me 5% of my salary; they were actually pretty nice people.

Two cigarettes burn facing each other, two eyes gaze at each other.

After finishing his cigarette, He Qingsheng threw away the butt and looked at him, asking, "You're so smart, don't you have any ideas at all?"

Chen Fan hesitated for two seconds, "How about I publish my books separately through my sister's company from now on? That way I can keep all the money, and you can just ask me for foreign exchange when you need it?"

Upon hearing this, He Qingsheng couldn't help but shudder and quickly said, "Then it's better to leave it as it is."

Just kidding. If people find out that I let "Chuanghuibao" go, I'll be lucky if they expose me; they'll probably bombard me with bullets.

Chen Fan leaned back in his chair, feigning helplessness as he spread his hands, "Well, there's nothing I can do about it. I can't just give up eating meat, can I?"

He Qingsheng completely gave up on the idea of ​​taking something from him, adopted the same posture as the person opposite him, raised his head and said, "Don't move things from my office anymore. Those are for currying favor with the leaders. Please ask them to be lenient and leave some for our unit."

Chen Fan was shocked to hear this. He was actually forbidden from taking advantage of the situation?

Can you tolerate this?!
He immediately frowned, his mind racing faster than ever before.

A few seconds later, his eyes suddenly lit up. He looked at He Qingsheng and asked, "Uncle He, if there is another company that can generate foreign exchange, and a lot of foreign exchange, then...?"

He Qingsheng sat up straight and looked at him, his brows furrowing slightly. "Which organization?"

While shifting blame eastward is a good strategy, the organization in question needs to be attractive enough.

Chen Fan smiled slightly, knowing that his suggestion had worked, and said, "Jiangying Film Studio."

"Jiang Film Studio?"

He Qingsheng first frowned, then his eyes flickered, and suddenly he saw the light. He looked at him and asked, "Does your uncle's company also run a film business?"

Chen Fan waved his hand dismissively, "Hey, it's just a small business, nothing compared to big companies."

There is no film business, at least not for the time being.

However, since the beginning of this year, all eight major Hollywood studios have extended cooperation invitations to Qianfan Publishing House, hoping to acquire the adaptation rights to "Legend of the Dragon Knight".

Zhou Yali also discussed with Chen Fan whether to sell the adaptation rights directly or to establish a professional film company to co-produce with industry giants.

Chen Fan's answer was that he would either produce it independently, or, given the current popularity of "Legend of the Dragon Knight," he wouldn't have to worry about finding a suitable publisher.

While the Big Eight are certainly formidable, not being able to make money is even more terrifying. There are plenty of fearless individuals willing to come knocking on our door for cooperation, so there's absolutely no need to rush.

If you don't want the hassle, just sell the adaptation rights to a company for a fixed price. How they operate it and how much money they make afterward is none of our business.

The only option that cannot be chosen is "cooperation".

If they can even make Harry Potter a loss, what else can't they do?
Zhou Yali hadn't decided on a specific choice at the time, but no matter which one she chose, she could be associated with the American film industry, or rather, she could be considered a part of the American film circle.

Once I finish filming "Monk Comes Down the Mountain," getting it released in the US will be a piece of cake!
Chen Fan won't get this overseas copyright fee. Just like when Chen Qi made the movie and all the profits were confiscated, it belongs to the company. At most, he can get a small bonus, maybe a few hundred yuan. Don't even think about getting more.

Since that's the case, it would be better to let He Qingsheng report this matter to higher authorities, so that the province's attention would shift from the Writers Association to the Jiangxi Film Studio, and incidentally, it would also help protect his own film production.

The difference between something that is essentially "personal show-off" and something that is actually a prestigious "foreign exchange earning project" is obvious.

This achieves multiple goals at once, how wonderful!

When He Qingsheng saw that Chen Fan had confirmed his guess, he was overjoyed and leaned on the table to look at him, asking, "Then estimate how much foreign exchange they can generate?"

Chen Fan thought for a moment and said, "I think it should be at least a few hundred thousand US dollars."

Hearing this, He Qingsheng's eyes twitched, and he said irritably, "I call you uncle! Hundreds of thousands of US dollars? Do you know how much foreign exchange our exported films have earned since the founding of the People's Republic of China?"

Chen Fan blinked and cautiously gave a guess, "Over two million?"

Forget about other places, we should at least have some market in Africa, Eastern Europe, and South America, right?
He Qingsheng grabbed a teacup, took a sip of water, then grabbed a cigarette from the pack, put it in his mouth, lit it, exhaled a puff of smoke, and looked at him expressionlessly. "An extra zero."

Chen Fan's eyes widened instantly. "Only two hundred thousand?"

He Qingsheng waved his hand, "No need to say more. As long as you can actually sell the movie to the United States, it won't cost too much money. Tens of thousands of US dollars is fine, a hundred thousand would be best. Then you will be the best model worker in the eyes of the leaders of Jiangnan Province. I will invite you to... but you can't ask for credit. This little bit of credit is nothing."

He Qingsheng, who had misspoke, took a puff of his cigarette and continued nonchalantly, "But I can guarantee that if you want to make a movie, you can have no obstacles in Jiangnan Province. There will be people helping you, and no one will dare to trip you up!"

This isn't about how much money can be made, but about Jiangnan Province being able to bypass China Film Group's overseas distribution department and independently establish a channel for communication with the overseas film industry.

The importance of this is evident in the fact that the provincial writers' association has independently established channels with countries and regions such as Japan, the United States, and Europe. Even the general association needs to rely on the Jiangnan Provincial Writers' Association to successfully carry out international exchange work.

The achievements here are beyond the comprehension of a young man like Comrade Chen!
Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly. He hadn't expected that taking his film overseas would have such a great impact.

So is this a case of shifting the blame or bringing good fortune to someone's doorstep?
(End of this chapter)