I met with the leader in the morning and went to see the land in the afternoon.
As for the undeveloped land parcels around Chengdu, Xiao Wu promised that with an investment of only NT$99, you can choose whatever you want.
Yao Yuan laughed and passed. Although the agreement has not yet been reached, Yao Yuan personally prefers Chengdu because it is the only source of Chinese science fiction here.
Renmin South Road, "Science Fiction World" magazine.
Editor-in-chief Yao Haijun and deputy editor-in-chief Yang Feng have been busy since the morning, leading the editors to clean up the dead corners. No debris is allowed on the table, and no garbage is allowed in the trash can...
The window sill was full of flowers, and a banner saying "Warmly welcome Mr. Yao Yuan to visit" was hung on the old wall.
Everything is full of the flavor of "Space Exploration Editorial Department".
As a result, he didn't come when he waited until noon, and when he waited until the afternoon, he still didn't come. Yao Haijun called someone anxiously: "Why hasn't there been any movement? It's already three o'clock, and I will get off work any later. Editors are old and young, and it's not easy."
"
"I was looking at the land just now, I was delayed a little, and I'm heading towards you!"
"Already here? OK, OK!"
Yao Haijun hung up the phone and immediately prepared to greet him.
About 20 minutes later, a low-key business car parked downstairs. Yao Yuan got out of the car and took a look. His first impression was that he was old and broken.
Walking up the stairs, the corridor is cramped and the light is dark, not cool at all. The only thing that can be called a sci-fi element may be the LED light strip that extends to the end of the corridor.
Yao Haijun had been waiting for a long time and strode forward.
"Mr. Yao Yuan, welcome!"
"Teacher Yao, it's too exciting to stir up a lot of people. I just came up with a temporary idea. I'm sorry for you doing this."
"Yes, you have helped us a lot in the past few years, and everyone wants to express your gratitude!"
"I accept your wishes. There is no need to be so polite. You and I are still the same family."
Yao Yuan was surrounded into the room and got to know the editorial team.
The place is not big and there are not many people. "Science Fiction World" is still a subordinate unit of the SC Science and Technology Association. It receives a small allocation every year and makes some hard money through advertising and selling magazines.
But since Yao Yuan's 10th anniversary meeting, 99-series companies have taken turns giving money in the name of advertising sponsorship, and life has been much better.
About 4-5 years ago, which was the most difficult time, the monthly salary of an editor was only 1,000 yuan.
After exchanging pleasantries, we moved to the conference room.
Yao Haijun asked: "Why did you suddenly want to come to our magazine? Are you in Chengdu for business?"
"It's not a big deal. I want to build a theme park and visit various places."
"Theme park? Is there any science fiction?"
"certainly!"
“Please definitely consider Chengdu!”
Yao Haijun became excited, and Balabala began to make amends: "Although we are located in the southwest, we are one of the regions with the most science fiction activities in the country, more than Shanghai and Shenzhen, and second only to Beijing.
We have seven science fiction associations officially registered at the university, with a total of thousands of people in each session, definitely number one in the country, we..."
"Okay, okay, I'm still researching, it's still early."
Yao Yuan didn't want to talk about this kind of thing with him. He came here today just to look at the magazine and asked: "What is the current circulation of "Science Fiction World"?"
"It's stable at around 150,000 copies per month."
"That's quite good. The physical magazine can sell 150,000 copies, which shows that you have a very strong foundation."
Yao Yuan was surprised and thought he could sell tens of thousands of copies, and asked: "Are there any serialized issues of "The Three-Body Problem" left?"
"Yes!"
Yao Haijun immediately asked someone to get it. After a while, he came back with a thick stack of magazines and spread them out on the table, starting with the 5th issue of 2006 and ending with the 12th issue.
This is the first part of "The Three-Body Problem".
The second part will not be serialized and will be published directly.
"Is there still another issue of "The Wandering Earth"?"
"some!"
So I rummaged around again and got a magazine from July 2000.
On the cover, which is dominated by red, there is a woman in national costume riding a white horse, with weird science fiction buildings in the background. This is the illustration for the short story "I Want to Go Back to Guilin". And "The Wandering Earth" was released
In the lower left corner of the cover, it is recommended to readers as the "Galaxy Award Essay Call".
"I was deeply impressed by this issue. The full text of "The Wandering Earth" was published. Liu Cixin's royalties at that time were more than 2,000 yuan, which was the highest standard."
“Well preserved!”
Yao Yuan caressed the cover, as if he couldn't put it down. Seeing this, Yao Haijun hurriedly said: "Since you like it, a small gift cannot be considered as respect!"
"Then I would be disrespectful."
He collected this issue of "The Wandering Earth" and said with a smile: "I came to Chengdu and stopped by here to take a look, and I happened to have something to talk about.
When will the Galaxy Awards be held this year?”
"September 12th!"
"at Chengdu?"
"right!"
"That's perfect! If "The Three-Body Problem" wins the Hugo Awards in August, you invite Liu Cixin, and the popularity will naturally rise."
"Can a Chinese writer win the Hugo Award?" Yao Haijun was shocked.
"Hey, don't underestimate yourself. "The Three-Body Problem" is slowly spreading in the Western world, and many cultural celebrities are recommending it. It is not impossible to win awards.
This year I will be the sponsor and all aspects will be left to us, but what about the bonus?"
Yao Yuan thought for a while and said: "1 million for long stories, 500,000 for medium and short stories, and 100,000 for others. From now on, we will follow this standard. I will not interfere with your selection, I will just pay.
In addition, it would be best to add an online science fiction literature award, a science fiction game, and animation award starting next year. What do you think?"
"..."
Yao Haijun and all the editors were speechless, please, the highest we have now is only 100,000! If you start with 1 million, and you have to do it every year, well, this little money is not worth mentioning to you.
"If you want to strengthen the power of science fiction, you can't just rely on love to generate electricity. You must give heavy rewards to arouse everyone's enthusiasm. Since you don't object, then it's settled."
From the time Yao Yuan entered the house to now, in less than an hour, he has made many decisions.
"Science Fiction World" has backbone, but backbone also requires money. When I meet a sincere sponsor, I simply accept it.
Just when he was about to leave, Yao Haijun suddenly said: "Mr. Yao, you love science fiction and want to make many film and television works. I know there is a novel with a very amazing setting. I think it will be very interesting to make a movie."
."
"Oh, what novel?"
"The author of "BJ Folding" is Hao Jingfang. I have her book here, you can take a look."
With that said, I brought out a collection of novels, one of which was "BJ Fold".
"..."
The content was very short, and Yao Yuan flipped through it with a subtle expression.
"BJ Fold" won the Hugo Award for Best Short and Novelette in 2016. Logically speaking, it should have received a great reputation. However, it ended up with a poor reputation in China and many people criticized it.
First of all, its story is very bland, and the whole point of interest lies in the setting:
It is said that in the future capital city, the entire city is divided into three spaces. The first space has a population of five million, and the living time is from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. the next morning.