Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 68 The First Adaptation Copyright

On June 2004, 6, the third advanced seminar for young and middle-aged teachers of Luyuan officially started.

There are 53 students in this advanced training class, 52 of whom are selected by provincial writers' associations and provincial-level units. Most of them are between 30 and 45 years old.

Only Zhang Chao was admitted directly by Luyuan, bypassing the provincial writers' association. This shows the uniqueness of Luyuan being directly under the management of the National Writers Association.

The opening ceremony of the advanced research class was of a very high standard. The secretary, vice chairman and other leaders of the Writers Association attended and gave speeches. The whole morning passed.

I had lunch in the cafeteria of Luyuan at noon, and then went back to the dormitory to rest for a while. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the advanced research class officially began.

The courses of the advanced research class are mainly composed of expert lectures, intensive seminars, literary salons, academic forums and other activities. Students will also be organized to go on field trips, so the content is still very rich.

The afternoon class was a lecture by an old professor from the School of Literature on "The Inheritance and Development of the Realistic Literary Tradition in the New Era." The old professor was from Zhejiang and had a strong accent, so Zhang Chao didn't understand half of what he was saying.

I secretly looked around and found that the older brothers and sisters were more serious than me. I couldn't help feeling ashamed, and I perked up and listened attentively.

After the old professor finished speaking, he let everyone discuss freely for a while, and then the get out of class ended. Zhang Chao was a nobody throughout the whole process.

There was a small episode in the middle. The old professor asked a writer named "Ma Li" to speak, which made Zhang Chao excited. He thought that the prince had arrived, but he found out that it was a 40-year-old old lady. He couldn't help feeling disappointed.

When we returned to the dormitory, it was not yet 6 o'clock. Zhang Hongjie suggested not to eat in the cafeteria that night, but to call a few more people to have dinner outside.

Zhang Chao was about to agree when he received a call from Li Shidong, the editor-in-chief of Youth Literature. Li Shidong complained, "You didn't even tell me you changed your phone number."

Zhang Chao had to explain that he had just changed it and had not had time to send a text message to everyone.

Li Shidong said, "Are you in Luyuan now? Are you free tonight? Let's have dinner together and chat about something."

Zhang Chao said, "Okay. Where?"

Li Shidong said, "Don't go too far, come to Sanlitun, I'll take you to Guijie."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Chao had to apologize to several classmates and explain that he could not have dinner with them.

Hu Xuewen looked at Zhang Chao with envy and complex eyes, and said with emotion: "We spend all day thinking about how to publish our works, and your dinner is treated by the editor-in-chief of Youth Literature. What a difference..."

At 7 o'clock in the evening, Zhang Chao arrived at the agreed place on time. Li Shidong was already waiting downstairs. There were two other people with him. One was a girl with long flowing hair, quiet and beautiful, who looked to be in her early 20s; the other was a aunt with glasses and a kind face, who was probably in her 40s.

Zhang Chao always felt that the girl looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who she was.

Li Shidong quickly introduced: "This is Zhang Chao, the author of Your Name. Zhang Chao, this is Yan Baohua, the editor-in-chief of Yanjing Cartoon, who is also my good friend; this is Xia Da, a cartoonist who has published his works in Yanjing Cartoon many times."

Zhang Chao suddenly realized that Xia Da was the most beautiful female artist in China and was prettier than the female characters he drew. Seeing her in person, he could tell that she was indeed very pretty.

So he quickly greeted Editor-in-Chief Yan and Xia Da.

Li Shidong waved his hand and said, "Follow me, let's go to Guijie Street!"

It only takes 10 minutes to get from Sanlitun to Guijie by taxi. At the street entrance stands a large bronze statue of a jug, right next to the Dongzhimen Interchange Bridge.

Zhang Chao had never been here before, and asked in confusion: "Isn't it 'Gui Street'? This is a Jue, not a Gui."

Li Shidong explained: "This place was originally called 'Ghost Street', meaning ghost, because it was the first place in the city to do business all night, and the lights were on in the middle of the night. Later, people thought 'ghost' sounded bad, so they changed it to the bronze 'gui'. As for why a bronze jue was erected... I don't know, I'll ask around later."

Li Shidong found an antique restaurant with ease, went up to a quiet seat on the second floor, and asked the waiter to put up a screen for them to separate them from the noisy crowd downstairs.

Zhang Chao smiled and asked, "Editor-in-Chief Li, please tell me what you want to say. You're welcome."

Li Shidong said: "Don't worry, the emperor has plenty of hungry soldiers! Let's eat first!"

Soon, the dishes were served and they began to eat. Li Shidong was cheerful and Yan Baohua was straightforward, and they soon had a great time chatting with Zhang Chao.

Only Xia Da was eating silently, hardly saying anything, and seemed to be troubled by something.

Seeing that it was almost done, Li Shidong said, "Editor-in-Chief Yan, go ahead."

Yan Baohua thought for a while, then pushed Xia Da beside him and said, "I think you are more suitable to say it."

Xia Da's delicate face was obviously flustered for a moment, but he quickly adjusted himself and said in a soft voice: "Zhang Chao...classmate, I read your novel and I really liked the story, so I want to adapt "Your Name" into a comic..." Having said that, he seemed unable to continue and lowered his head.

Yan Baohua took over the conversation and continued, "Xiao Xia usually only draws her own original works, but this time she just finished reading the novel and told me about the idea of ​​adapting it. I also found the novel and read it, and it is indeed very suitable for adaptation into a comic.

I happened to know Shidong, so I asked him how to contact you. He said you were going to attend classes at Luyuan in Yanjing soon. I told Xiaoxia, and Xiaoxia rushed to Yanjing from her hometown in Hunan and insisted on meeting you.

At this time, Xia Da took out a large notebook from his bag, handed it to Zhang Chao, and said, "I drew these."

Zhang Chao flipped through the pages carefully. It can be seen that Xia Da's comics are delicate, refreshing, with clean lines, and he is particularly good at using brushstrokes to depict the subtle changes in the characters' hearts. Although there is still the influence of Japanese comics, he has already formed a very distinctive personal style.

Yan Baohua introduced: "Xiao Xia is the most talented painter I have ever seen in China. Her painting style is particularly suitable for a dreamlike story like "Your Name"."

After Zhang Chao finished reading the collection, he handed it back to Xia Da and said, "It is indeed well drawn. If Your Name is presented in this style, I think it is completely acceptable."

At this time, the other three people suddenly stopped talking and fell into a strange awkward situation.

Zhang Chao was a little confused. Shouldn't the next step be the quotation stage? Why, did he have to wait for the original author to speak in person? How rude...

After a long while, Xia Da whispered, "...I, I am a personal artist now. I don't have a contract with any company and I rely entirely on the royalties from my paintings. So, the copyright fees for the adaptation, I..." He spoke softly and softly until it was almost inaudible.

Zhang Chao was silent. Although he didn't know how the copyright fees for novels adapted into comics were calculated in China, given the popularity of his novel, it was definitely not a small amount.

Yan Baohua said: "Domestic comics are in a very difficult situation now. Most artists can't make much money... I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but even our Yanjing Cartoons is having a hard time staying afloat now."

Zhang Chao continued to remain silent.

Li Shidong tried to smooth things over, "Even if the business fails, the friendship still exists..."

Xia Da's face turned pale, and it was obvious that this time she, who was not good at socializing, had the most courage she could muster to meet Zhang Chao. Zhang Chao's silence undoubtedly dealt her a huge blow.

So she said to Yan Baohua: "Teacher Yan, I'd better leave."

At this time, Zhang Chao finally spoke up and said, "It's not impossible..."

(End of this chapter)