Chapter 28: Justice Bao's craze
Although Cha Jianying could not empathize with Liu Hongmin, based on her understanding of the three-year famine, she could understand Liu Hongmin's obsession with money.
Her maternal instinct made her feel pity for Liu Hongmin's situation and she became more tolerant towards him.
"Redmin, I didn't expect you to have experienced this."
Liu Hongmin smiled and said, "It's all in the past."
Cha Jianying immediately thought that Liu Hongmin was an optimistic person. No matter what kind of hardship he faced, it could not defeat him, but instead made him successful.
Liu Hongmin didn’t know what Cha Jianying was thinking, otherwise he would be ashamed.
How could he be so good? He was just an ordinary person.
Liu Hongmin sent Cha Jianying to the guesthouse of Beijing Literature and Art, and then returned to school alone. Cha Jianying did not stay in the guesthouse for many days. After all, it would not take many days to rewrite a short story from scratch. More than ten days later, Cha Jianying finally finished revising the manuscript and hurried back to school.
Although it was only the 17th, she still went to the message room, "Master, is there any letter from Hong Kong?"
"Hong Kong?" The old man in the reception room frowned and thought for a moment, "No."
Cha Jianying returned to the dormitory somewhat disappointed, and ran over to ask again after class the next day.
After asking for more than ten days, he finally got a letter from Hong Kong. After receiving the letter, Zha Jianying immediately left Wang Xiaoping and ran to the boys' dormitory.
Wang Xiaoping was speechless. "You said you two weren't dating. Who were you kidding?"
Liu Hongmin went downstairs and saw Zha Jianying carrying a letter. He hurried over and said, "Jianying, is there any news from Hong Kong?"
Cha Jianying nodded and handed the letter to Liu Hongmin.
Liu Hongmin was about to take it, but stopped, "You should open it first!"
Cha Jianying directly stuffed the letter into Liu Hongmin's hand and said, "Why are you being so polite to me?"
Liu Hongmin smiled awkwardly. This was the first time he had ever opened someone else's letter. But since Cha Jianying had said so, Liu Hongmin would not be polite.
After opening the letter, Liu Hongmin's smile grew wider.
"How is it?" Cha Jianying asked excitedly.
"not bad!"
Liu Hongmin tried to remain calm. "Your uncle went to the surrounding newsstands for three consecutive days. There was no change on the 15th, but Ming Pao sold much better than usual on the 16th, and there were many more on the 17th. He said that if this trend continues, Ming Pao will probably be sold out by the 20th, which is about one-third more than usual."
"One third?" Cha Jianying was pleasantly surprised. "Ming Pao is very influential in Hong Kong, with an average of 60,000 to 70,000 copies published every day. An increase of one third means that they sold 20,000 more copies."
For the huge market of China, even copies is just a small number, let alone more than 6000 copies. But in Hong Kong, 18 copies is already a huge number. Each newspaper costs Hong Kong dollars, so copies is Hong Kong dollars, which is more than the monthly salary of local teachers. It is Hong Kong dollars a month. If all the increase is brought by "Famous World", then Ming Pao will make a lot of money.
Liu Hongmin: "The next step is to see if Mr. Luo will contact me." Cha Jianying thought for a moment, "Even if Mr. Luo contacts you, it will take some time. Maybe my uncle's next letter has already arrived."
Soon, Cha Jianying's words were verified.
The second letter from her uncle arrived three days later, saying that a Bao Qingtian craze had emerged in Hong Kong. Hong Kong people already liked Bao Qingtian very much, and after seeing the lesser Bao, they liked him even more. Many Hong Kong people said that Bao Qingtian was so smart when he was a child!
On the fifth day after the publication of "Famous Throughout the World", Ming Pao's daily sales exceeded 100,000 copies. Mr. Jin Yong was so happy that he called Luo Baoming to his office and asked, "You said before that there are still six episodes of "Young Justice Bao" left?"
Luo Baoming nodded, "That's right. But sir, if we negotiate a contract with Liu Hongmin now, I'm afraid he will ask for too much."
"Big opening?" Mr. Jin Yong asked with a smile, "How big can it be? Bigger than Ni Kuang?"
"That's not the case!" Luo Baoming replied with a smile.
Ni Kuang's remuneration is the fastest in Hong Kong's literary and artistic circles. In a few months, it has increased from 10 yuan per thousand words to 80 yuan per thousand words. If he really can't afford it, it is estimated that it would be 120 yuan per thousand words.
"Sir, your distant relative who is studying at Peking University has a close relationship with Liu Hongmin. I'm afraid that she will tell Liu Hongmin about the situation here through her connections in Hong Kong."
Mr. Jin Yong thought for a moment and said, "Well, you can first give him 30 yuan per thousand words as a fee. If he is not satisfied, you can increase it..."
Hearing the upper limit given by his boss, Luo Baoming was relieved. If his boss had not delegated his authority, he would not have dared to negotiate with Liu Hongmin. Once the negotiations failed, he would probably lose his job.
At the same time, he also had to sigh that Liu Hongmin was good luck, as his writing of Justice Bao just hit the sore spot of Hong Kong people.
In Hong Kong, people often worship Guan Gong, but there is no Guan Gong temple. On the contrary, Wong Tai Sin Temple is very popular, and people say that Wong Tai Sin will answer any prayer. The beliefs of Hong Kong people are very strange, and they are not clear about the status of gods. There is a doctor who specializes in treating prostitutes' diseases. After his death, he was revered as Er Bo Gong and worshipped in the temple. Bao Qingtian is also part of the beliefs of Hong Kong people, but he is not the main god of the belief, but a companion deity of Nezha. Another companion deity of this Nezha temple is Guanyin.
"Famous in the World" is equivalent to praising the faith of Hong Kong people, and Liu Hongmin's writing is indeed good. The novel has suspense and martial arts, two elements that Hong Kong people love to read, so it will definitely be a hit.
This is also why the 93 version of "Justice Bao" caused a craze in Hong Kong. Liu Hongmin's Shao Bao only caused this craze more than ten years earlier.
However, no one expected it to be so popular. So popular that TVB has already started a project to make a TV series about Justice Bao.
Luo Baoming did not dare to delay for a moment and immediately set off for the capital.
Liu Hongmin, who was thousands of miles away, was stunned when he saw Luo Baoming. Then he was overjoyed. It seemed that Shao Bao was very popular in Hong Kong! Otherwise, Luo Baoming would never rush to Beijing in the first place.
Although it was only a flight of more than ten hours, the airfare was more expensive than the royalties from "Famous World".
Seeing Liu Hongmin's expression, Luo Baoming's heart sank. It seemed that Liu Hongmin already knew about the situation in Xiangjiang, and this negotiation might be difficult.
When he signed the contract, he did not notice the loophole. After returning to Hong Kong, the legal department of Ming Pao had reminded him that once "Famous World" became popular, Liu Hongmin would have the capital to raise the price. Although he said that the Shao Bao series would only be published by Ming Pao, it did not include the publishing house's distribution rights and the adaptation rights for movies and TV series.
Even if Ming Pao could pay Ni Kuang the royalties, the royalties for the remaining six volumes would be less than 50,000 Hong Kong dollars. But if the distribution rights were purchased, at least 100,000 Hong Kong dollars could be obtained. Not to mention the adaptation rights, which would be at least 100,000 Hong Kong dollars.
(End of this chapter)
