As a result, the sound just now was a bit loud, and the students in front who were packing their things also heard it. Everyone looked at each other and whispered, "You don't even have the money to go out to play. What are you pretending to be here?"
The crowd was bustling outside after school. At this time, there was a relatively conspicuous old man wearing a simple cotton shirt, but he had an outstanding temperament and was energetic. He didn't know who was waiting at the school gate.
"Why does it look so familiar to me?"
"I can't remember, it seems a bit familiar."
For junior high school students, they may have seen Mr. Zhou on some news, but it may be a bit difficult for them to remember such a distant figure who is not a celebrity or anything.
Ren He had done his homework after receiving the call from Mr. Zhou, so when he saw the real person, he greeted him: "Hello, Mr. Zhou, I am Ren He."
After hearing this, Mr. Zhou smiled and looked at Ren He: "Young man is very energetic. You should exercise regularly. Let's go, let's talk while walking."
Only Mr. Zhou came here, without a luxury car or a driver. As a result, just such a detail made Ren He very fond of him. When he walked with him, he suddenly changed from an imposing old man to someone who just came to pick up his grandson from school.
Grandpa.
Simple and down-to-earth, this is Ren He's first impression of Mr. Zhou. It's not like those famous figures in the imagination, who are always crowded around when traveling, and don't even have a special car. Maybe they got off the train and took the bus.
.
After receiving the call from Mr. Zhou, Ren He carefully collected news about this old gentleman: He is famous for his simplicity. It seems that most of his social activities are devoted to promoting classic literary works. When he discovers good works, he is simply
Sparing no effort to support.
Nowadays, it is not an exaggeration to say that Zhou’s disciples can be found all over the country. There are even many dignitaries and businessmen who hope to become his students.
However, he never accepted students, but the writers he supported or the people who admired him were willing to call him Teacher Zhou.
"Why did you want to write the Three-Character Classic? Did you really write it?" Zhou Laoxiao asked. In fact, it was still difficult for him to calm down after a week: something as classic as the Three-Character Classic was written by a 14-year-old
If a child writes it, then everyone who has grown up to be dozens of years old will simply live in the belly of a dog.
"Can I not answer this question?" Ren He smiled bitterly: "I believe you must be surprised, but what I can guarantee is that if there is a copyright dispute, all the consequences will be borne by me alone. Mr. Zhou does not need to worry about this.
"
To be honest, even though he copied classics, Ren He just wanted to make money and nothing else. He didn't need to be famous, and he didn't need others to recognize his literary level. He just wanted to make money, it's that simple.
In the final analysis, Ren He is just a rough ordinary person. If you really want to say that he has so many resources to use but doesn't use them in his life again, that is not in line with the character of ordinary people. Is there any psychological pressure? Yes, but only a little.
.
Ren He actually thought about it carefully. In fact, if most people went through the same thing as him, he didn't believe they would leave the classics alone.
We are all common people, and there is nothing to be noble about. However, it is another thing to insist that it is your own creation and be intoxicated with it.
Mr. Zhou thought for a while and shrugged: "Since you don't want to talk about this, forget it. The main purpose of coming here is to talk to you about copyright issues and then decide on royalties."
"I've thought about this, 6% is fine, but it's 6% of the price, not the wholesale price," Ren He said firmly.
The so-called royalties are a method of payment of royalties that have been used around the world for hundreds of years. That is, the royalties that Ren He can get = book price x circulation number x 6%.
In fact, the more common royalty rate is 8%, but that is based on the wholesale price of 65%. From this point of view, 6% is too high for Ren He.
Mr. Zhou stopped and looked at Ren He deeply. He couldn't say who suffered the loss in this 6% decision. He could only say that everyone still made money. He suddenly smiled and said: "Okay, just do as you say. This
This is my first time negotiating with a 14-year-old boy, and I don’t know where to start. If the negotiation goes too far, people will say that I’m a lot older and bullying you.”
"Mr. Zhou will definitely not bully me," Ren He said cheerfully.
"Let's go, find a place where you can treat me to dinner and sign the contract. I brought the contract."
"There is a noodle shop in front of you that has good food, and...the royalties for the third page of the Kyoto Daily News..." Ren He rubbed his hands in embarrassment.
Mr. Zhou's eyes suddenly widened: "You just want to treat me to noodles?"
"That's it, I still have to pay for the royalties you gave me." Ren He turned around in his pocket and showed that there was only 5 cents in it: "If I said that I wrote the Three Character Classic for money, would you believe it?"
Mr. Zhou laughed heartily: "If you want noodles, just eat noodles! When I was in Kyoto, I always wanted to have a bowl of noodles with soybean paste but I never got around to it. I'm thankful to you today!" As he said that, he handed an envelope from
He took it out of his pocket and patted it on Ren He's hand: "A-level poetry manuscript fee, I'll give you 48 yuan per line."
Poetry manuscript fees have always been calculated based on the number of lines, but most of the so-called literati that I saw only paid 100 yuan for a poem, and there were even works that cost 1 yuan per line, so Ren He was a little unsure about the manuscript fee for the Three Character Classic.
, because he doesn’t know how much money the other party can give.
Ren He started counting the money directly in front of Mr. Zhou, a total of more than 8,000!
"It's 48 yuan per line. If I had known, I could have split a few more lines..." Ren He muttered softly.
"I kind of believe it now."
Ren He was stunned for a moment: "What do you believe?"
Mr. Zhou said with a complex expression: "I believe you wrote the Three Character Classic for money. This is the first time someone has counted the royalties in front of me. Those writers are afraid that this action will make their works smell of copper. They hope
In the eyes of others, I am always aloof and unconventional."
Ren He chuckled: "Don't mind, I'm just a vulgar person. How can I be so pretentious? But have you heard this sentence? vulgarity means elegance."
"The vulgarity is the elegance..." Mr. Zhou pondered the meaning of these words: "Hahaha, what a vulgarity is the elegance!" To be honest, this was the first time he heard this sentence, and he was not surprised, because it was just like that.
Even this sentence was brought over from the parallel world by Ren He.
In this way, Zhou Wumeng brought Ren He more than 8,000 yuan in royalties and possibly a steady stream of royalties in the future. As a result, Ren He treated Zhou Wumeng to a meal of egg noodles at a roadside restaurant.
Zhou Wumeng seemed a little happier.
Before leaving, Zhou Wumeng asked: "There will be works like the Three Character Classic in the future, and we can continue to cooperate. In the history of literature, we have experienced too many burning books and enforcing Confucianism, and the establishment of literary prisons, which led to the beginning of our literature from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
Until now, there has not been much progress, and too many historical masterpieces have been lost in the long river of history.”
Ren He rubbed his chin and thought that the cultural trajectory of this parallel world might have been derailed by some acts of destroying knowledge in history. There were probably great works like those in his previous life, but they were all wiped out.
.However, he was copying classics at the risk of his life. He did not plan to risk his life frequently in the short term. He replied: "No more for now. This is a life-saver."
"Huh?" Zhou Wumeng was puzzled. What did he pay for his life?
"It's okay, I mean just writing this is almost killing me." Ren He couldn't tell others that he had already fallen into the Heavenly Punishment System...
When sending Mr. Zhou away, Ren He didn't even notice that he was behind them. Duan Xiaolou had already taken in this scene.
There was a doubtful look in her eyes. She always felt that she had seen this old man somewhere, and it seemed that he was in the news a few days ago.
When Duan Xiaolou returned home and ignored her parents' greetings, she went into her room and turned on her computer to search for the news she remembered. It wasn't until half an hour later that she finally found: "Kyoto Daily News" Editor-in-Chief Zhou Wumeng's Exclusive Interview: The Three-Character Classic is an important part of the education of young children.
