Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 15 You Too...

After listening to Jiang Xin's explanation, Zhang Yan finally understood what had happened.

Dou Wei was actually the second lead singer of Black Panther, while the first lead singer was Ding Wu.

When Ding Wu was in the Black Panther band, he had thought about combining Tang poetry with rock music, which is why he named his own band the Tang Dynasty Band when he later formed his own band.

This morning, Ding Wu overheard that Dou Wei had released a new song called "Dreaming Back to the Tang Dynasty." He immediately assumed that the old members of the Black Panther team had revealed their thoughts to Dou Wei, so he angrily went to Dou Wei's door to confront him.

In fact, Black Panther rarely discusses Ding Wu, and Dou Wei had never even heard of such a thing, so naturally he could not admit to plagiarizing the other party's idea.

Neither of them had a good temper, and they soon started fighting. Dou Wei's leg was broken by Ding Wu. Although the injury wasn't very serious, it would take two or three months to heal.

Dou Wei was already seriously injured, so Zhang Yan was naturally embarrassed to ask him for help again. He asked Jiang Xin to pass on his regards and then hung up the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yan looked at the bookseller's contact information in his hand and thought it over. In the end, he couldn't resist the temptation and dialed the number.

Although the magazine proactively raised the payment to the maximum of 30 yuan, everything should be considered in comparison. Zhang Yan's novel increased the sales of "Popular Fiction Newspaper" by at least 15 copies, not to mention the special issue to be published next.

In comparison, the increased total royalties are only 15,000.

At the beginning of the year, this would have been an unimaginable number for Zhang Yan, but human greed knows no bounds.

Since it's not like we're signing a contract right away, let's find out what terms they can offer first. If it's similar to what the magazine is asking for, Zhang Yan will definitely choose the magazine. But if it's significantly different...

In any case, let's make a phone call and ask first.

After the call was connected, Zhang Yan introduced himself: "Hello, is this Mr. Hu? I am Zhang Yan, the author of 'The Great Detective of the Red Chamber.' I heard you wanted to talk to me about publishing the novel separately?"

A deep male voice came from the other end of the line: "Your call saved my conscience and saved me from a huge loss."

WTF? !
Zhang Yan was taken aback for a moment, then subconsciously asked, "You play rock music too?"

"What do you mean, get out?"

This time it was the other side's turn to make a mistake.

After a series of nonsensical exchanges, the two finally got into a normal conversation.

Hu, the bookseller, enthusiastically introduced himself: "Teacher Zhang, I used to be the editor of Great Wall Literature and Art. I worked at the magazine for seven years. I have connections to get the publishing license, and I also have a sales network of hundreds of bookstores of all sizes. The printing plant is readily available. As long as you are willing to sell the copyright to me, we can get everything done immediately!"

Great Wall Literature was the largest popular fiction magazine in Hebei Province in the 1980s, with a peak monthly sales volume of 400,000 copies. However, it was shut down last year due to the anti-vulgarity campaign.

If the other party really was a senior editor of Great Wall Literature, it wouldn't be surprising that they had access to such connections. However, the inexplicable statement mentioned earlier gave Zhang Yan a bad feeling.

After a slight hesitation, he cautiously asked, "If I may ask, what are you planning to do with all these connections and networks if I hadn't made this call?"

After a moment of silence, the person on the other end said frankly, "I will first pirate Wang Shuo's novel, and after you finish writing your novel, I will pirate 'The Great Detective of the Red Chamber'."

Zhang Yan was right!

Hu the bookseller continued, "Even without me, pirated books would still be rampant in the future. After all, last year's crackdown destroyed many people's livelihoods. People like us still have to find ways to support our wives and children." As he spoke, he began to mock himself, "I'm one of the more sentimental ones among these people. For a moment, I'm still a bit reluctant to lower myself and want to struggle on the right path a little longer."

Hearing that the piracy industry had welcomed a large number of legitimate players, Zhang Yan couldn't help but gasp in shock.

Will I still be able to make money from publishing books in the future?
Magazines may be less affected, but the problem is that magazines' payment for articles is fixed. It's not hard to make a living, but it's difficult to get rich.

It must be said that Hu the bookseller was a good conversationalist. Although his approach was somewhat unconventional, after listening to him, Zhang Yan did become interested in this quasi-pirate bookseller who still had a conscience.

Of course, it's too early to talk about cooperation now; we need to see if what he said is true or false.

So after communicating, Zhang Yan decided to go to Beijing to meet with this Mr. Hu – after all, he had already submitted more than 300,000 words of manuscript, which was more than enough to handle the special issue in half a month.

Just then, Wang Zhongqi returned after applying for the subsidy. Seeing Zhang Yan making a phone call at the hotel front desk, he came up and said with a smile, "Teacher Zhang, the finance department heard that you and the president are from the same hometown, so the subsidy was approved without any problems."

"sorry to bother you."

Zhang Yan looked embarrassed: "However, I'm afraid I won't be able to use this subsidy for the time being, because I have to go to the capital tomorrow and may stay there for a few more days."

"what?!"

Wang Zhongqi was dumbfounded: "Why are you suddenly going to the capital? Is there something important?"

Zhang Yan, of course, wouldn't tell him that he was going to meet a private bookseller. Instead, he came up with another reason: "Do you remember Dou Wei, the lead singer of the Black Panther band? I've kept in touch with him ever since, and we even collaborated on a song. As a result, he got his leg broken because of that song, so I definitely have to go and check on him."

The idea of ​​collaborating on songwriting wasn't said by Zhang Yan, but by Dou Wei himself. This is probably a kind of recognition from fellow artsy young people to each other.

Upon hearing what had happened, Wang Zhongqi didn't want to offer any advice, so he said, "It's alright, you'll need it sooner or later when you get back—by the way, thanks to 'The Detective of the Red Chamber,' our 'Popular Fiction Newspaper' has finally made a name for itself in Beijing. I heard that orders for September have increased several times over, and the launch tomorrow will definitely be a huge success!"

Beijing is considered the toughest market to penetrate in North China. If we can make a breakthrough in Beijing, it seems that sales in September can still increase significantly.

The more this was the case, the more Zhang Yan felt it was necessary to meet with Boss Hu.

Of course, this is on the premise that Mr. Hu did not lie.

So he asked Wang Zhongqi to book a train ticket for the next morning, and went to the nearby area to buy some tonics for visiting the patient—since he had already decided to go to Beijing, he would definitely visit Dou Wei on the way.

night.

Zhang Yan packed his luggage, leaned against the headboard, and stared out the window, lost in thought.

I wonder how Zhou Nan is doing now.

Actually, when I chatted with Dou Wei a while ago, he also inquired about the situation in Beijing's film and television industry. Well, although it wasn't as chaotic as the rock music scene, it was still...

At that time, Zhang Yan had already made up his mind that if Zhou Nan really fell into depravity, he would not hesitate to bury Zhou Nan in his memory, as if Zhou Nan had died on the way to Beijing.

Whether it's good or bad, we need to find the person first to determine the outcome.

(End of this chapter)