Back to 80: My Literary Life

After the Spring Festival, Fang Minghua became busy.

First of all, the first draft of "Crossing Guandong" has been completed, about 500,000 words, and he first handed it over to Lu Yao to help check it.

Lu Yao agreed and said that he would take it home and take a good look at it during this period.

Xiao Dai from "Harvest" magazine in Shanghai also made a long-distance call to inquire about the publication of Fang Minghua's "The Legend of Wukong" in the mainland.

This time Fang Minghua did not refuse and readily agreed.

Since the country introduced the latest royalties system this year (1984) and increased the royalties, the royalties for Fang Minghua's novel also increased from 9 yuan per thousand words to 16 yuan per thousand words.

What he didn't expect was that people not only at home but also abroad were reading his book.

Tokyo, Uchiyama Bookstore.

In Tokyo, where land is at a premium, most ancient bookstores are located in remote corners. There are only a handful of spacious stores. The only one that occupies an entire building is Uchiyama Bookstore.

In the entire three-story store, new books from RB, China, including mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are available in a complete range, and the update rate is also very fast. They often appear here shortly after they are published.

A man wearing black-rimmed glasses was flipping through books in the bookstore. He looked very young and was less than thirty years old.

His name is Akira Toriyama, a cartoonist in Tokyo who has become somewhat famous. His comic "Arale" has been serialized in "Weekly Shōnen Jump" since 1981. It is very popular among readers and is the magazine's number one flagship work.

But now he's bored and wants to end it.

This request was immediately rejected by "Weekly Shōnen Jump". In Japan, the end of a comic book largely does not depend on the author himself, but on the magazine - how can such a hen that lays golden eggs be killed at will?

Not even if you are the hen owner!

In the end, both parties made concessions after many negotiations, and "Arale" could be completed, but Akira Toriyama had to launch a new comic series containing "Chinese flavor" and "Kung Fu" elements within three months of its completion.

He chose the Chinese classic "Journey to the West", with four masters and apprentices. Except for Bulma, the image of the protagonist Sun Wukong is completely the Q version of the Monkey King in the comics.

The name of the comic is "Dragon Ball". In "Journey to the West", the four masters and apprentices of Tang Monk were shot in the west, so I asked him to collect dragon balls and defeat monsters to upgrade in the same way.

Unfortunately, the "plagiarism" this time was too obvious, and the editor directly rejected it, saying that you didn't write an application before using this kind of persona, and you are not an international superstar. If you use this kind of saucy operation, you will have to spread it to the whole country, including China. The people apologize!

He is now continuing to look for inspiration in this bookstore that has a deep connection with China.

Inadvertently, he discovered this "The Legend of Wukong", he picked it up from the bookshelf and flipped through it.

It is in traditional Chinese and published by Xiangjiang.

Toriyama clearly understands Chinese. Although he is not very proficient, he can barely understand it. He flipped through the book and was immediately attracted to it.

Wow. He saw a completely different style of Sun Wukong from "Journey to the West".

This hot-blooded young man is a bit of a middle-class boy!

Isn’t this kind of character and persona what I want?

Yes, the Sun Wukong in my comics needs to be hot-blooded and perfect!

Also, "Journey to the West" can be so magically modified, so why don't I completely subvert the original work?

Why do you have to collect dragon balls like Tang Monk's Xitian scene?

change! Complete change! Change boldly!

Toriyama Akira bought the book and left in a hurry.

Hey. It would be great if there was a Japanese translation! After all, there are some contents that I can’t understand.

Of course Fang Minghua didn't know the impact this "The Legend of Wukong" would have on the creation of the island country's classic comic "Dragon Ball", but he received a call from Xiangjiang Ming Pao.

It was Chen Jiawei calling.

"Mr. Fang, hello, we have settled the preliminary royalties account for your "The Legend of Wukong" and have remitted all the money to you."

"Thanks."

Fang Minghua felt regretful.

It was really a loss to convert Hong Kong dollars into RMB, but there was no other way. He had to open an account in Hong Kong himself.

This is the early 1980s, and there are quotas for places in Xiangjiang!

It is said that the number of visits to Xiangjiang in the entire Xijing City does not exceed 10 targets a year. In principle, it is limited to visiting immediate family members such as parents, husband and wife, or going to funerals, etc. Visiting cousins ​​is not allowed, let alone tourism and business activities, which are rare. And little.

Moreover, the application procedures are extremely complicated. You have to submit an application report, unit opinions, supporting materials for the application, and at least two invitation letters from overseas. You will not be able to get it done within a few months.

Of course, if it is not an individual application but one sent out by the state, it will be relatively simple.

But Fang Minghua estimates that the country will not allow him to go to Xiangjiang to open an account. He will wait until he has the opportunity in the future.

On the phone, Chen Jiawei still said: "Mr. Fang, we are preparing to print 50,000 additional copies. Are you interested in publishing this book to Baodao and Japan? Can our Mingshe serve as the publishing agent?"

Published to Treasure Island, RB?

Of course you can have this.

However, Fang Minghua didn't know much about agency publishing. He couldn't talk about such big things on the phone all the time, and it wasn't easy to meet in person, but he thought of someone.

Isn't Song Tangtang's aunt in Pengcheng?

She works in the cultural department and is very close to Xiangjiang. How about entrusting her to handle this matter?

Of course, this matter still needs to be discussed with Song Tangtang.

Tonight is Wednesday. Song Tangtang is going to attend classes at Night University, so Fang Minghua rides directly to the gate of Night University to wait.

At half past nine, students came out of the school gate one after another. Not long after, he saw Song Tangtang and a girl walking out of the school gate each pushing a bicycle, talking and laughing.

"Oh Tangtang, the great writer is here to pick you up." The girl immediately said to Song Tangtang when she spotted Fang Minghua pushing a bicycle.

This girl's name is Liu Xiaohui, a salesperson in a state-owned store. Her family also lives near Houzaimen. She met Song Tangtang at Ye Da, and the two often go to and from classes together.

Fang Minghua walked over with the cart and smiled at the girl as a greeting.

"Okay, I'm leaving now. I won't be a light bulb anymore. Goodbye." The girl bid farewell to the two of them on her bicycle.

"Let's take a walk." Fang Minghua said.

"Um"

As the two pushed their bicycles slowly down the street, Fang Minghua told Song Tangtang the call he received from Xiangjiang during the day and his thoughts.

"Okay, I'll call my aunt when I get back in the evening. I think she will definitely agree!"

In the evening, as soon as Song Tangtang got home, he put down his schoolbag and couldn't wait to pick up the phone at home and dial the number.

The father was reading the newspaper and the mother was knitting a sweater. Seeing her daughter like this, the mother Zhou Yunjuan couldn't help but ask:

"Tangtang, it's so late, who are you calling?"

"My aunt."

"What do you want from your aunt?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Auntie, this is Tangtang. I'm calling you so late and I want your help with something." On the phone, Song Tangtang explained the whole process in detail.

"Okay." Song Tangtang's aunt on the other end of the phone agreed: "Our unit still has some business dealings with Xiangjiang, so I'll leave this matter to me. I'll make sure you don't let you suffer!. Oh, Tangtang, I've got it. When are you going to bring such a capable boyfriend to Pengcheng and show it to your aunt?"

"When I have the opportunity, Minghua and I will visit you and your uncle." Song Tangtang felt a little hot.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yunjuan who was waiting impatiently asked quickly: "Tangtang, are you planning to publish Ming Hua's book in Baodao and Japan?"

"Yes, Xiangjiang's "Ming Pao" offered to be an agent. I asked my aunt to help. I won't say any more, I'm exhausted from class." After saying this, Song Tangtang walked into her boudoir.

"Xiaojuan, let me tell you, Fang Minghua is a very talented young man. His books can be sold to treasure islands and even abroad. This is also creating foreign exchange for the country!" Dad was very satisfied with this.

"Hey" Zhou Yunjuan sighed.

It's not necessarily a good thing that this man is too talented.

Especially writers and poets, they have a lot of fun!

Zhou Yunjuan became worried about her daughter again.