Chapter 168: Millions of Dollars in Remuneration
In August 1985, Liu Hongmin completed his thesis defense and completed his master's degree. However, he still had to study for a doctorate under Professor Tao.
Just after finishing his thesis defense, Liu Hongmin took Chen Yu to drive Liu Hongjun to Hunan Province to report.
Liu's parents were overjoyed. They had never expected their second son to be so hardworking and actually get admitted to the National Defense University. However, they were also worried about whether Liu Hongjun would be in danger if he really joined the army.
Liu Hongmin did not have this worry. During the next 40 years of peace in the country, there was no war with any other country except Vietnam.
The Yue monkeys were well prepared at Laoshan, but we were not, so there were a lot of casualties. When we reacted and made adjustments immediately, the casualties gradually decreased. Four years later, our military industry will be more powerful, and the Yue monkeys will be weaker, and can only rely on the terrain to barely survive.
When Liu Hongjun graduates, Yue Hou will be at the end of his strength, and his chance of going to the battlefield will be very small. When Lao Su collapses, Yue Hou will withdraw his troops, and he will have even less chance of going to the battlefield.
After arriving in Hunan Province, Liu Hongmin and his team stayed at a guesthouse near the National Defense University. He took Liu Hongjun for a walk around the university to familiarize himself with the environment. On the day of registration, Liu Hongmin drove to the vicinity of the school and let Liu Hongjun walk to the school to register.
"The Red Army and the National Defense University are different from other schools. You have to restrain your habits at home and be responsible like a soldier."
Liu Hongjun raised his gift and said, "I understand, brother, don't worry! I will definitely make achievements. You and dad will see."
After saying that, he waved to Liu Hongmin and strode towards the school gate.
Looking at his back, Liu Hongmin couldn't help laughing, "You little brat, you finally act like an adult."
Chen Yu said from the side: "Hongjun only looks playful, but he actually works very hard. He is different from those playboys. He knows what can be done and what cannot be done."
Liu Hongmin: "When I was in college, he was the one who basically taught Hongying."
Children from poor families grow up early, and Liu Hongjun is indeed more mature than children from the city. However, if he had not come to Beijing to study, and Liu Hongmin had spent a lot of money on tutoring for him, Liu Hongjun would not have been able to get into the National Defense University.
The gap in educational resources cannot be made up in ten years.
"Let's go back!"
His younger brother has already started his own life in the army. Liu Hongmin can't help him. He can only take care of himself.
As soon as I returned to the capital, Ma Weidu came to me.
"Richard from Random House called you a few days ago, and your uncle answered the phone. Your uncle didn't understand English, so he notified me to answer the phone."
Liu Hongmin perked up, "What did he say?"
"He said he needs to report the sales figures to you once a month. Last month, the sales of The Grim Reaper reached million copies."
"Not bad. With the amount from the previous few months, that's 10 million copies, right?"
Ma Weidu picked up the notebook from the desk and looked at the records on it. "Just over 10 million copies. Hongmin, I didn't expect your book to be quite popular in the European and American markets."
Liu Hongmin shook his head. "It's not just the European and American markets. This time, Sanlian Publishing House is only responsible for the traditional Chinese version. The copyright of other languages belongs to Random House. They translated "Ghost Ship" into more than a dozen languages and sold it all over the world, including the Guizi and the Southern Dynasty."
"The devils won't ban you anymore?"
"It's not the first time that Random House has changed its pen name." Ma Weidu asked in confusion, "But this method may work once or twice, but if you use it too much, the Japanese will definitely know about it."
"Do you think the Japanese don't know? They know it very well, but they can't do anything to Random House, so they pretend not to know."
Ma Weidu opened his mouth and said, "The Japs...are really bullies and afraid of the strong!"
"What else do you think?" Liu Hongmin said disdainfully, "They fear power but not virtue. Only when they are hurt will they behave themselves for a while. After World War II, their economy was depressed. If the Americans hadn't launched the Korean War and confronted us, they would have supported the Japanese. But the Japanese have no gratitude to the Americans. Now that the economy is good, they gradually don't take the Americans seriously. If the Americans hadn't stationed troops in Japan, I guess the Japanese might have wanted to go to war with them."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Ma Weidu smacked his lips. "Is it that complicated?"
He rarely comes into contact with these things in normal times, so when he first heard about them, he felt it was quite novel.
"Hongmin, your book has sold 10 million copies, so the royalties must be over a million dollars, right?"
"More than that!" Liu Hongmin explained, "Books in the European and American markets are very expensive, about ten dollars a book. Books in other places are cheaper, one or two dollars, three or four dollars. All in all, I can get one dollar in royalties for each book."
"If I copy 10 million copies, wouldn't that mean I can get 10 million dollars in royalties?"
Ma Weidu knew that Liu Hongmin was worth at least hundreds of millions of dollars, but that was earned from Transformers. He watched Liu Hongmin find old craftsmen to make Transformers models, and the wages alone were tens of thousands of yuan. Ma Weidu thought he couldn't do it if he invested so much money before there was any profit.
Liu Hongmin is still shocked that he has earned tens of millions of dollars just by writing a book. Now 1 US dollar can be exchanged for nearly 3 RMB, and million US dollars is million RMB. The key is that the US dollar is foreign exchange, and million US dollars is a hot commodity, and major banks will scramble for it.
Ma Weidu was really envious. If only he could write like that. No, even one tenth of that would be fine. He was not greedy. Earning a million dollars would be enough for him to spend in his lifetime.
Liu Hongmin picked up the phone and called Richard.
"Richard, when can I get my payment?"
"Mr. Liu, the remuneration is subject to personal income tax. We will transfer the money to you after we have completed the tax filing. Should it be transferred to your account in Hong Kong or to your account in Japan?"
"Transfer the money to my account in Beijing. It will be useful to me."
"Okay, Mr. Liu, the first batch will be about two million US dollars, and it will be transferred within a week. Please check it."
"Thank you!"
After hanging up the phone, Liu Hongmin said to Ma Weidu: "Ask the finance department to pay attention to the bank these days and notify me when the money arrives."
"Okay!" Ma Weidu nodded, stood up and was about to leave, but then stopped.
"I almost forgot! Hongmin, the Central Academy of Drama wants to talk to you about something."
Liu Hongmin was stunned. "Central Theatre?"
The Central Academy of Drama is not far from Shichahai, so it can be considered a neighbor. However, Liu Hongmin and the Central Academy of Drama have never had any intersection. Whether it is books or movies, they are difficult to catch the Central Academy of Drama's eye.
(End of this chapter)
