After the winter vacation, Yu Dong was not in a hurry to go home. He wanted to stay with Cheng Yanqiu at his parents' house for a few days.
Although they haven't held a banquet yet, he and Cheng Yanqiu are already legally married. Since they are husband and wife, they can't spend the New Year separately.
So they faced the first problem after getting married, whose house should they go to celebrate the New Year?
After much discussion, we finally decided to spend time in Shanghai this year and then come to Jinling next year, but before going home to celebrate the New Year, I would first stay in Jinling for a few days.
In fact, Yu Dong’s idea is that after the house in Jinling is built, he will take his parents over and spend the New Year together. Anyway, both parties are only children, so it is relatively simple. Then he will bring Grandpa Cheng Yanqiu over.
Grandma took over, and the Chinese New Year was also lively.
Yu Dong had tested his parents' ideas before, and they were not opposed to moving. The main reason was because there were no elderly people to support and they had fewer worries in their hometown.
These days, Yu Dong has been staying at his parents-in-law's house, and his life is very fulfilling.
After getting up in the morning, I first find a book to read. The morning passes quickly. I have a drink with my father-in-law at noon, and then in the afternoon the father-in-law and his son-in-law sit in the study and discuss calligraphy.
In the evening, after Chen Yuqing got off work, the four of them gathered around for a traditional cultural exchange, commonly known as playing mahjong.
Cheng Liye likes to play mahjong with his son-in-law, because he can always feel like a victorious general. He doesn't win much every night, only about ten yuan at most, but no matter how much he wins, as long as he wins, he will feel happy.
.
"Are Yu Hua and Bi Feiyu going home for the New Year?" Cheng Liye asked while shuffling the cards.
Yu Dong smiled and replied, "Yu Hua will definitely not return. Bi Feiyu will have to look at the situation. There are quite a few teachers who will not return to their hometowns, and they are quite lively at school."
"Where is your student Ruan Xiaohu?" Cheng Liye asked again.
"He didn't reply either."
Ruan Xiaohu's family has been separated. There is only a dilapidated mud house in his hometown and he has no place to live. The eldest brother is married and has a child, and the house is not big. He cannot squeeze in, otherwise he will definitely be looked down upon by his sister-in-law.
The younger brother lives with his father, and there is only one bed. When he goes back, the three of them will have to squeeze in together. If he doesn't go back this year, he won't go back next year. His younger brother got a wife when he was fourteen, and he will have a daughter-in-law next year.
After passing the door, his father will have to find another place by then.
"This child looks clean and quite polite. It's not easy for him to be alone in a foreign land. As a teacher, you should take more care of him. Please invite him to play at home these two days."
Yu Dong said in surprise, "Dad, have you seen Ruan Xiaohu?"
Cheng Liye nodded, "He went to Jinling University a few days ago, and I happened to meet him. But he probably didn't know about my relationship with you, and he didn't even talk to me at that time."
"Who is Ruan Xiaohu? A student of Yu Dong? He has too many students, right?" Chen Yuqing asked curiously.
Regarding Ruan Xiaohu, Cheng Yanqiu had mentioned it to Cheng Liye before, but Chen Yuqing didn't know about it. The main reason was that Chen Yuqing didn't usually pay attention to things in the literary circle, so he told her that she didn't know who Ruan Xiaohu was.
Yu Dong explained with a smile: "He is indeed my student. Unlike other students, this student has some special fate. At that time, I went to Chengdu..."
Then Yu Dongyan briefly and comprehensively told the story of his encounter with Ruan Xiaohu and Ruan Xiaohu's encounter with Hu Yueming. After listening, Cheng Liye sighed and said, "Before, I only heard from Luoluo that the newly signed writer-in-residence of your school is your student, but now
I never thought there would be such a fate."
"I didn't expect it myself, especially when my teacher actually met him later."
Chen Yuqing smiled and said, "Human life is very strange. It is this child's luck to meet you and Hu Yueming. Ask him to come home tomorrow night, and I will cook a delicious meal."
Yu Dong nodded and smiled, "Okay, I'll ask him to come tomorrow."
…
When Ruan Xiaohu heard that Yu Dong wanted to take him to his father-in-law's house, he was a little excited and a little embarrassed. The teacher's father-in-law is also his master, just like Hu Yueming.
"Teacher, Master, what do they like? I can't go empty-handed."
"You can't be empty-handed, buy some fruit. Your master likes to play mahjong, so you can just go and play mahjong with him."
"But I'm not very good at playing mahjong."
"It's better if you don't."
Ruan Xiaohu followed Yu Dong anxiously carrying fruits. When he arrived at Cheng's house and saw Cheng Liye, his eyes almost popped out of his head.
Dean Cheng is actually the teacher’s father-in-law?
Speaking of which, the master's wife is indeed surnamed Cheng, but there are so many people surnamed Cheng in the world, how could Ruan Xiaohu think of this relationship.
Cheng Liye saw Ruan Xiaohu's surprised face and said with a smile, "Come in, this is not the first time we meet, so I won't introduce myself."
Ruan Xiaohu carried the fruit bag into the house. He was not sure where to put the things. Yu Dong pointed to the kitchen and said, "Put it on the chopping board in the kitchen, and then come over and drink tea."
Then Yu Dong asked his father-in-law, "Where is Luoluo?"
Cheng Liye pointed to the room, "I've been talking on the phone for ten minutes inside. It's different now that I'm married. I don't worry about the phone bill at home at all."
Just as he was talking, Cheng Yanqiu opened the door and came out, "I'm used to using the phone at home... Xiaohu is here."
"Hello, Master."
Cheng Yanqiu waved his hand, "You're welcome, just treat this place as your home, sit down."
Ruan Xiaohu sat down straight, and Yu Dong poured him a cup of tea over there. He quickly stood up to pick it up, and then stared blankly at the coffee table while holding the tea cup.
Cheng Liye saw that he was a little restrained, so he took the initiative and said, "Xiaohu, what are you reading recently?"
“I’ve been reading Kafka’s The Castle and The Trial recently.”
"What do you think?"
"Kafka's books are a bit special to read. I don't read many books by German writers. I don't know if many German writers have the same style. Anyway, they are a bit difficult to read."
Cheng Liye smiled and said: "I don't blame you. In fact, the translated version is not bad, but the original version is more obscure. Kafka is a pioneer of expressionist literature. His works are very jumpy and the symbolic meaning of language is very strong..."
Maybe it was a professional habit, but Cheng Liye started taking classes as soon as he talked about literature. He usually didn't talk about this when chatting with Yu Dong, because Yu Dong was also a top student in the Chinese Department, and Yu Dong had already learned this knowledge in school.
.
But Ruan Xiaohu is different. His writing method is somewhat similar to that of Mo Yan and Yu Hua. He relies on talent and reading, but he doesn't know much about these professional things.
Cheng Liye told him that Kafka's works had great leaps and symbolic meanings, and he could still understand it, but when Cheng Liye talked about modernism and expressionism, he was confused.
Yu Dong never told Ruan Xiaohu this, but he didn't object to the opportunity for him to listen.
The father-in-law was giving Ruan Xiaohu a small class, and Cheng Yanqiu pulled Yu Dong aside and whispered to him, "I just called Kan Tingting. She seemed to be in bad condition, but she didn't say anything when I asked her. And I
I received a call from her home, but no one spoke and she hung up after a while."
"It should be his husband calling."
"I think so too. Kan Tingting's husband seems to be very strict with her."
Yu Dong looked at his wife, "What are you going to do?"
"I wanted to help her, but she didn't say anything. I don't know what the situation is between them."
Yu Dong nodded, "Don't just help with this kind of thing when you don't understand it clearly, otherwise you will be a bad person in the end. If something really happens, the person who can help her the most is actually herself."
"Well, I know, it's just that sometimes it makes me uncomfortable to see her like this."
Yu Dong understood Cheng Yanqiu's feelings. Even if they were classmates, just seeing that something bad might happen to another woman would make both women feel worried.
But as outsiders, it is really hard for them to interfere in this kind of thing. Yu Dong has seen too many cases of interfering in other people's couples. In the end, the couple became so good that the person who helped became the bad guy. Moreover, Kan Tingting herself was unwilling to say anything.
What can they do to help?
Cheng Liye gave Ruan Xiaohu a lesson for a while, and realized that it was not good for him to have an occupational disease, so he said no more and suggested playing mahjong.
Ruan Xiaohu was afraid that he would not perform well in a while, so he took a vaccination first, "I'm not very good at it, Master."
"It doesn't matter if you don't know it, you can learn it." Cheng Liye laughed and said, "Your teacher is not very good at it, and after studying for so long, he is still half-assed. He plays cards, even if Confucius moves, he always loses."
A table of mahjong was quickly set up. Considering that Ruan Xiaohu was not very good at it, he played the simplest game of knocking down Hu without blasting.
But after a few rounds, Yu Dong and the others felt that something was wrong, because Ruan Xiaohu's playing style was so good. After four or five rounds, except for Cheng Yanqiu who made a mistake, the rest were Ruan Xiaohu's mistakes.
Ruan Xiaohu is indeed not very good at playing, and sometimes he can make mistakes when looking at cards.
There was one card that he actually made a fool of, but he didn't understand it, so he played out a three-shot card first. In the next round, it was his turn to draw a card, and he drew another three-shot card, but he still made a fool of himself.
It's simply impossible not to be stupid.
From the time they started playing cards to the time Chen Yuqing came back from get off work, less than two hours had passed. Ruan Xiaohu was the only one who won money. After all, he won more than 20 yuan.
Because they have to take care of Ruan Xiaohu, who can't play, their winnings are very small, only 10 cents for the butt, 10 cents for the concealed bar, and 30 cents for a win. If you are lucky, it won't exceed one yuan.
And because Ruan Xiaohu was not familiar with the game, he often played the wrong cards, otherwise he would definitely have won more than twenty dollars.
As soon as Chen Yuqing came back, Cheng Liye breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Let's stop playing and cook."
It doesn't matter if you lose some money, but the problem is that it's really depressing for the whole audience to watch Ruan Xiaohu play cards by himself, and there's no sense of participation at all.
After listening to their report on the battle situation, Chen Yuqing smiled and said, "Novices are like this, their cards are very good."
…
Jimmy rushed to the United States to celebrate Christmas and then started his busy work again.
Now he has many things on his hands, including the publication of "Fatal Identity", licensing negotiations for the "Resident Evil" game, co-promotion of the "Resident Evil" movie, and the sci-fi unit drama plan he worked on before. Things are happening one after another.
pile.
In addition, because the movie "The Second World" is a hit in the UK, several major bookstores in the UK are inviting Yu Dong to hold book signings.
Seeing more and more things piled up in front of him, Jimmy knew that he should find some help.
It's not that Deep Space America hasn't hired people. The company now has more than thirty people, but these people can only do some of the work he assigned them, and they can't do it alone.
It is impossible to cultivate slowly like Deep Space China. He needs to find some experienced and well-connected experts to help him.
The first thing that came to his mind was Dante, who had just become the vice president of Bantam Books. From all aspects, Dante was a very suitable candidate.
Dante is very experienced in book distribution, sales, and marketing. He has been immersed in the book industry for so long and has a wide network of contacts.
Jimmy's idea is that the company will divide the books and movies and TV series into two major parts, and then set up two teams to help him take charge. If Dante can be recruited, at least he will not have to worry about the books.
But now there are two problems.
First, Dante occupies a high position in Bantam Company, with good salary and status, so the possibility of poaching him is zero.
Second, after poaching Dante, their company's cooperation with Bantam may be affected.
So after thinking for a long time, Jimmy focused on Dante's assistant Cambot.
Canbote has been with Dante for seven or eight years. There will be no problems in business. His connections may be worse than Dante's, but they won't be too different. In addition, if Canbote is recruited, at least he will be able to follow Banji in the future.
The chicken's cooperation can all be given to him.
But you must talk to Dante about this matter first and see what his opinion is. If Dante resists, Jimmy will not forcefully dig it.
To this end, Jimmy called Dante.
Dante on the other end of the phone seemed to have just woken up. As soon as the call was connected, he complained, "Jimmy, is it too late to give me New Year greetings now? I'm on vacation. If you don't have anything particularly important, I'll do it next time."
You want to treat me to dinner."
Jimmy laughed: "You can eat as many meals as you like. I won't talk nonsense to you anymore. I called you because I wanted to ask you to borrow someone."
"Who to borrow?"
"Cambot."
"I thought you were borrowing someone. If you need Cambot to do something, just tell him. You are already familiar with him." Dante said with a smile.
"The time I borrowed may be a bit long."
"How..." Dante suddenly reacted, "You want to poach people from me?"
"That's right, it's just poaching people."
"You are thinking too much. Canbot has been with me for so many years. Soon I will put him under me to manage a department. Even if I am willing to let him go, do you think he is willing to go?"
"You don't have to worry about whether he wants it or not. I'll just ask you if you agree."
Dante was silent for a while and asked, "Jimmy, tell me the truth, have you already told Cambot about this?"
"No, you know what I do, I always follow the rules. If you don't nod, I won't go to him to talk about this matter. If you don't agree, just treat it as if it never happened." Jimmy said.
"I believe you." Dante thought for a moment and continued, "But, Jimmy, let me tell you the truth, I don't want to let Canbot go. He is a good helper. Even if he is not by my side later, he will always be there for me."
The support within the company.”
"You have more than one assistant, and there are many people you can train."
"But Cambot works best."
Jimmy knew that this negotiation would not be easy, so he thought about it and said, "Do you remember the last time I brought the manuscript of "Fatal Identity" to you?"
"Remember, of course I remember, I wasn't very optimistic about YU's transformation at that time. Later, after reading the manuscript, I realized that I was wrong. Because of this, you won't let me give you Cambot as compensation, right?"
"Of course not." Jimmy smiled, "What I want to tell you is that I actually had two manuscripts in my bag at that time, namely "Resident Evil 2" and "Deep Space"."
As soon as Jimmy said this, Dante knew what he meant.
"What is Deep Space?"
"A full-length science fiction novel."
Jimmy didn't say much, but it was enough. With YU's current reputation, as long as his science fiction novels were published, it would be impossible for them to sell poorly.
After a while, Dante spoke again, "I'm going to end my vacation early tomorrow, so you can come to the company. As for Cambot, go talk to him yourself. If he doesn't want to leave, don't blame me."
Jimmy knew that the matter was done, and said with a hearty smile: "Don't worry."
After hanging up the phone, Dante shook his head. He didn't know what Jimmy meant by "don't worry" at the end. Did he mean that he wouldn't be blamed, or that he would definitely be able to poach Cambot?
However, if Cambot can really develop well in Deep Space Company, Dante will also be very happy. Yu Zi, they have been good friends for many years, and of course he will be happy if his friend can develop well. Yu Gong, Kan
Porter is with Deep Space Company, and the cooperation between the two companies will be closer in the future.
…
Jimmy finally poached Cambot. He was such a big liar, and the Deep Space Company was developing rapidly during this period. It was really difficult for ordinary people to stand up to it.
As soon as Cambot arrived, he took over the negotiations for the two novels "Deep Space" and "Resident Evil 2".
Jimmy suddenly felt much more relaxed, and began to gradually focus on film and television dramas and peripheral development.
In the end, "The Second World" only received 331 million U.S. dollars at the North American box office, which was 20 million U.S. dollars behind "Jurassic Park." Universal Pictures couldn't bear to make it, so it stopped making any more efforts.
There's no point in trying hard, after all, "Jurassic Park" was also produced by them.
Rushing to the end, even if they can rush through, it will not affect the result. Anyway, first and second place belong to their family.
However, although it did not win the box office championship in North American film history, it is very likely to win the global box office championship. At present, the box office performance of several subsequent places where it was released is good, and most of them have surpassed "Jurassic Park".
Moreover, there is a box office like China. Although the box office is not large, it still has more than 10 million US dollars.
If this momentum continues, "The Second World" is likely to surpass "Jurassic Park" and become the world's first movie with a box office of over one billion US dollars.
Since the release of the "Second World" movie, more and more people have come to Jimmy to inquire about the copyrights, but Jimmy has put them on hold because he is in no hurry to throw away these copyrights.
In addition, he is still collecting copyrights.
Previously, he asked people in the company to collect new comics published in the past few years, hoping to find gold from them and completely build the industry chain.
The staff also worked hard to collect comic information in the past five years, whether it is well-known or unknown.
Jimmy planned to first screen out some works that were not very good at all, then screen out some works that were unavailable, and finally show the remaining works to Yu Dong.
Unknowingly, Jimmy has become somewhat dependent on Dong in the selection of works. It seems that as long as the works that Yu Dong thinks are good, they can always sell well. People who Yu Dong thinks are good can always give him some surprises.
The writers signed before have proven this time and time again.
So even if Yu Dong doesn't draw comics, Jimmy still wants to show these comics to Yu Dong so that he can have confidence in his heart.
…
Jimmy arrived in Shanghai the day before New Year's Eve. The reason he came at this time was because he wanted to celebrate the Chinese New Year. He has always liked the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year.
After arriving in Shanghai, Jimmy quickly contacted Yu Dong.
Yu Dongye had just returned to Shanghai with Cheng Yanqiu, and before he even put down his luggage, he received a call from Jimmy.
If Jimmy hadn't said that he had already arrived in Shanghai, it would have been impossible for Yu Dong to see him. It's almost the Chinese New Year. Are you talking to me about work?
But Jimmy didn't stay long and threw a laptop to him. "The comics are all in it. You should take some time to read it."
After putting down the computer, Jimmy was about to leave. Yu Dong wanted to stay with him for dinner, but he smiled and said, "It's too boring for you to go to Shanghai to celebrate the New Year. I'm going to find a lively place to play. I'm leaving today. I'm in a hurry."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After Jimmy left, Yu Dong put the computer aside. He planned to spend the next two days with his family to celebrate the New Year, and other things would be discussed later.
And this year is also his first year after getting married, so it will definitely be different.
The new daughter-in-law celebrated the New Year at home for the first time, which made Yu Dong's parents extremely excited. After so many years, the family finally had a new member.
The new house has been decorated a long time ago, and there are all kinds of red inside.
The bed is red, the quilt is red, the curtains are red, and even the slippers are red.
There is also a large 29-inch color TV. As soon as Yu Dong saw this color TV, he laughed: "The two of you really spent a lot of money on it."
Cheng Yanqiu also laughed, "It's a pity that we are not here often, so the TV is wasted here. I will tell my parents later to move the TV to the living room downstairs and use it on a regular basis."
"Okay, tell them later."
It’s not just a TV that I spent a lot of money on. There is also an air conditioner installed in the room. Just these two appliances cost more than 10,000 yuan.
The original cement floor was replaced with a wooden floor, which was polished to a high shine. There was also an exquisite dressing table placed next to the bed, which looked expensive.
Yu Dong knew that these were his wife's books that his parents had saved for him. He probably thought that they would not be able to spend their money later, so he spent all the money in advance.
…
The next morning, Qin Fang stuffed a stack of red envelopes into her daughter-in-law's hands.
Cheng Yanqiu looked at the pile of red envelopes in his hand and wondered, "Mom, what does this mean?"
"Keep it, you'll need it tonight." Qin Fang said with a smile, "There will definitely be a lot of children coming to visit in the evening. If you come to one, you will give a red envelope. There are about thirty here."
"Will there be so many children here?" Cheng Yanqiu asked in surprise.
"Thirty is not necessarily enough. You will know that tonight."
Not long after the New Year's Eve dinner in the evening, people began to come to the house, including adults and children. Cheng Yanqiu remembered what her mother-in-law had told her in the morning, and quickly took out the red envelopes and gave one to each child.
Gradually, more and more people came, and seeing that the red envelopes were not enough, Qin Fang was prepared and gave dozens more to Cheng Yanqiu.
It wasn't until eleven o'clock that the people who came to visit gradually dispersed.
Cheng Yanqiu probably counted and gave out more than forty red envelopes.
More than forty red envelopes represent more than forty children, and if you add adults, there will be hundreds of people.
When no one came again, Cheng Yanqiu asked, "Are there so many people in our family every year?"
Qin Fang smiled and said, "There weren't so many in previous years, but this year is a little different. First, Yu Dong is famous now, and second, you are here."
There wasn’t much money stuffed in the red envelope, it was only one yuan, just for the sake of it. The children came over and took the red envelope from the new wife’s hand, which was a blessing and acquaintance at the same time. Regardless of whether they have met before or not, next year
They are all acquaintances.
Cheng Yanqiu laughed while looking at the red envelope in her hand. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt like she was having a good time. Only then did she have a profound understanding. Marriage is not only a matter between her and Yu Dong, but also between family.
Fusion.
…
It wasn't until the seventh day of the first lunar month, when his relatives were almost gone, that Yu Dong finally had time to open the computer Jimmy left for him.
There is nothing else in this laptop, just the comics collected by Jimmy and the others.
Jimmy thoughtfully created a directory, both in Chinese and English, with a brief introduction to each comic.
Yu Dong flipped to the bottom of the list and couldn't help but curl his lips, "Hey guys, there are 348 comics. If you read them one by one, you will see the years and months of the monkey go by."
However, Yu Dong didn't read them carefully one by one. He just looked at the names of the comics to see if there were any that he was familiar with.
I first looked at the Chinese directory, but I didn’t have any clue. The main reason was that the Chinese translation was too confusing and all kinds of nonsense.
Then he looked at the English directory again, and he found a familiar one after just a few of the English directories.
"Men in Black", translated into Chinese is "Men in Black".
Yu Dong frowned, why didn't he see it in the Chinese directory just now? He turned to the Chinese directory again and found the corresponding entry, only to see "Alien SWAT" written on it.
When he saw this translation, he almost cursed. A literal translation of this name is enough. What kind of trick is it? It's also an alien SWAT, and it smells like a low-budget science fiction movie.
However, the introduction to the comic was pretty good. Yu Dongxun took a look at it. He first read the plot summary to make sure it was indeed the "Men in Black" he thought of, and then looked at the current situation of the comic.
The comic was created in the 1990s, but the response has never been very good. It was first published by Aircel ics, and later the company was acquired by Marbury Comics.
After arriving under the new owner, the comic only lasted for one season and then ceased publication.
Marbury Comics was acquired by Marvel last year.
Marvel has been frantically selling copyrights to raise money in the past few years, but not all of their copyrights can be sold. So when they couldn't sell them, they came up with an idea to buy other comics at low prices and then sell them.
"Men in Black" is one of them. Now Marvel has clearly marked the price of this "comic" and is selling it.
Seeing this, the first thought that came to Yu Dong's mind was that he must buy it.
Then a second idea popped up. Marvel has been selling copyrights in the past few years...
It seems that he has to ask Jimmy how much money the company has now. If possible, he wants to take the rights to adapt these characters into his own hands. After this wave, he will wait for Marvel to reorganize in a few years.
A wave of robbery.
He immediately called Jimmy.
After the call was connected, Yu Dongxian said, "First, take down "Men in Black."
"Man in black?" Jimmy was a little confused.
"It's just a comic in the catalog."
"Oh, there are so many comics, how can I remember the name? Men in Black, right? I've written it down now, and I'll arrange it later."
"Then, try your best to win the adaptation rights of the characters that Marvel has sold and will soon sell." Yu Dong added.
"Marvel?"
"It's Marvel Comics."
Jimmy on the other side of the phone was stunned, "Dong, don't you understand Marvel comics?"
"well enough."
"Dong, Marvel Comics is indeed selling copyrights, but the character adaptation rights they sell are not cheap. If you want to buy one or two, our company can still do it now. If we buy them all...then we will buy the others
Don't do anything - you can't buy it even if you don't do anything."
"How much money can our company make now?" Yu Dong asked.
"More than 20 million US dollars, but I can't all use it to buy the copyright, because I plan to invest in the "Resident Evil" game project. In addition, if "Resident Evil 2" is going to be a movie, we also need to invest. We can't just take it every time.
Click on royalties.”
Yu Dong thought for a while and asked, "What if I give you another three years?"
"Three years." Jimmy thought for a while, "If the development goes smoothly, there will be no problem."
Yu Dong smiled and said, "It will go well."
Suddenly, Yu Dong became very interested in making money again. He felt that it would be better to have these entertainment shells in his hands.
Chapter completed!