Chapter 88: Ming Dynasty published
At around seven or eight o'clock in Hong Kong, the commercial streets were much quieter, with only a few young people wandering around.
Shop owners all hated RTV. When Justice Bao was broadcast, Hong Kong was at its quietest, with people staying at home to watch TV. Even those who were out on business and couldn't go home would go to nearby restaurants, order some food, and watch the TV.
The whole of Hong Kong was caught up in the craze for Justice Bao. Even the number of people going to the San Taizi Temple to burn incense increased a lot. In a rare situation, the number of incense offerings for the accompanying deities exceeded that for the main deity.
The popularity of Justice Bao made Green Island jealous, and they quickly negotiated with Huang Qiang on the terms of introduction, and directly purchased the broadcasting rights for 10 million Hong Kong dollars. They only needed to wait for dubbing before broadcasting on Green Island.
Regions such as Southeast Asia have also purchased copyrights one after another, hoping to replicate the popularity of Justice Bao and earn advertising fees.
Good news came from Hong Kong. Xu Xiaoming was in high spirits and energetic on the set. The success of Justice Bao made him a popular director in Hong Kong. If he cooperated with Liu Hongmin now, he would have the confidence to get 20% of the shares, or even more.
However, Xu Xiaoming has no intention of regretting. Liu Hongmin has made great contributions to his current status. If it weren't for Shao Bao and Justice Bao, he would be just a slightly famous director. There are many such directors in Hong Kong.
If the director is in a good mood, the whole crew will be in a good mood, and even if they make mistakes, they can be resolved peacefully. The people sent by Beijing Film Studio this time are all elites, and as long as the communication is clear, they can do a good job.
The crew was not without conflicts. The big difference in treatment between the two places made many people feel unbalanced. However, Liu Hongmin was not as stupid as the crew of "Shaolin Temple" who treated people differently even when eating. He provided good food and drink to the people from Beijing Film Studio, and his salary was twice that of the Beijing Film Studio. If these people continued to find fault, he would have to ask Lin Yong to replace them.
After the twin stars' acting skills got on track, it took only half a month to complete the filming of all the scenes. The three giants returned to Hong Kong with the crew to film the scenes in Hong Kong.
Before leaving, Zou Shifang used his royalties to buy a courtyard house in Shichahai. Then, he registered his family members in the name of living with relatives. However, there were still many procedures to be completed, so he handed them over to Liu Hongmin.
Liu Hongmin handed this matter and the finishing work of Zou Shifang's purchase of the courtyard house to Ma Weidu.
He returned to the guesthouse and began to revise the manuscript in seclusion. It took nearly a month, so the progress of the revision had to be accelerated.
He Qizhi found two editors to help him review the manuscript, which made him revise the manuscript much faster. In mid-November, the manuscript was finally revised.
At the end of November, He Qizhi came again and gave him the royalties.
"The Ming Dynasty 1566 will be published in the sixth issue and the first issue next year."
Liu Hongmin took the payment slip and signed it.
Seeing his indifferent look, He Qizhi couldn't help but ask, "This is your best novel."
Liu Hongmin: “My best novel is the next one.”
"Cough cough!"
He Qizhi started coughing violently; he was tricked.
Liu Hongmin returned the receipt to He Qizhi and said, "Don't be so excited. Whether it is good or not will depend on the readers' evaluation after it is published. Our opinions don't count."
"That's true, but this is a novel - oh, this is not the first time you have published a novel."
He Qizhi then remembered that although "Da Ming" was Liu Hongmin's first novel published in "Contemporary", it was not his first novel.
However, He Qizhi always subconsciously ignores the two previous novels. "Shao Bao 2" is very famous in Hong Kong, so it is normal that it is not well known in the mainland. But "The Great Song" is quite famous! After being adapted into a TV series, it is also very popular. It was only after watching "The Great Song" that He Qizhi decided to ask Liu Hongmin to compile the manuscript. The reason why he subconsciously ignored "The Great Song" is that "The Great Ming" was too well written.
This is not just what he thinks, but what the entire editorial department of Contemporary Magazine thinks.
The editors thought that Liu Hongmin was completely wasting his talent. Look at what he wrote before? Shao Bao? My Brothers and Sisters? They even looked down on Song Dynasty. Only Tang Dynasty was good.
However, compared with "Da Ming", these novels have to take a back seat.
After seeing He Qizhi off, Liu Hongmin went to Ma Weidu with the remittance slip. During this year, Ma Weidu helped Liu Hongmin buy a lot of antiques. Now the entire antique industry in Beijing knows that Liu Hongmin likes to collect ancient books and is generous. Many people who want to sell ancient books will take the initiative to contact Ma Weidu. Ma Weidu has become a celebrity in the antique world.
This time, Liu Hongmin received another 5,000 yuan, and he was going to exchange it for antiques.
"What's going on with Old Zou's house?"
The family that sold the courtyard house to Zou Shifang had just moved out, so Liu Hongmin paid for Zou Shifang's renovation. Although it cost some money, as long as he could win Zou Shifang's heart, it was better than anything else.
"Almost there," Ma Weidu said, "but it will be finished by mid-December. During this time, I will find someone to light the boiler and remove the moisture. When Zou's parents come, they can move in."
Liu Hongmin nodded, "Be sure to pay attention to the time."
"I'll be watching!"
Ma Weidu quickly assured.
Early in the morning on December 12, after having breakfast, Ma Weidu went to a nearby bookstore.
"Give me a copy of Contemporary."
"I want one too."
There were already quite a few people in the bookstore, all buying magazines, and they all seemed to be literary youths. After a short while, seven or eight copies of Contemporary were sold.
Ma Weidu also bought a copy and immediately saw the words "The Ming Dynasty 1566" written on the cover. He often went to the courtyard and had heard from Ge Chaoguang and others that Liu Hongmin's novel was extraordinary. He turned to the novel according to the catalog and walked towards the courtyard while reading.
But as he walked, he stopped, sat on the curb, and watched intently.
I don’t know how long it took, but suddenly a hand reached out and said, “Don’t turn the page yet, I haven’t finished reading it yet!”
Ma Weidu was startled and turned his head to look, only to see a stranger standing behind him with his back bent.
The man smiled and said, "I just saw you were absorbed in reading and listening, so I came over to take a look out of curiosity. I didn't expect that this novel was so well written."
Ma Weidu breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry, I have something else to do. If you really want to read it, you can buy a copy of Contemporary."
The man smiled shyly and said, "You go ahead and do your thing. I have to go to work too."
(End of this chapter)
