Chapter 191 I Want to Publish a Separate Book for You

"If The Sixth Sense really loses all its money, then I will be embarrassed to spend the money." Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"Don't worry, this won't happen."

Although Xu Feng said that even if he lost all his money on "The Sixth Sense", he would fully support Zhou Yan's next movie, but in fact Xu Feng is still very confident in "The Sixth Sense".

She believes that even if the box office of this movie is not as good as "Farewell My Concubine" and "The Piano Boy Who Wants to Fly", it will not lose money.

"Actually, if I hadn't had something to do at home that kept me away from the Berlin Film Festival, I would have gone there and taken this opportunity to promote "The Sixth Sense."

Xu Feng mentioned the Berlin Film Festival because "Tree Hole" was shortlisted.

After the filming of "Tree Hole" was completed, I aimed at the Berlin Film Festival in Germany, and finally got my wish and was shortlisted.

Xu Feng asked Zhou Yan last time if he wanted to attend, but the Berlin Film Festival happened to be during the Chinese New Year, so Zhou Yan didn't go.

Moreover, he is the screenwriter and the author of the original book, so there is no need for him to go there normally.

Xu Feng really wanted to go, but there were a lot of things going on in her family recently and she couldn't move away.

In addition, Tomson actually does not attach as much importance to "Tree Hole" as to "Farewell My Concubine". Although "Tree Hole" was shortlisted for the Berlin Film Festival this time, it is not very competitive.

The two most popular films at this Berlin Film Festival are "Philadelphia Story" and "In the Name of the Father." "Philadelphia Story" is directed by the great American director Jonathan Demme, who is a well-known figure in major film festivals. A frequent visitor, he won the Berlin Film Festival's Best Director Award a few years ago for "The Silence of the Lambs."

With such experience, Jonathan Demme once again hit the Berlin Film Festival with "Philadelphia Story", which naturally attracted much attention from all parties.

In front of these two movies, "Tree Hole" doesn't have much advantage.

At this Berlin Film Festival, two people were invited to the main creative team, director Wu Ziniu and heroine Chen Hong.

The reason why Chen Hong was able to go was entirely because of Zhou Yan's relationship. After all, she was an actress of the Zhou family. Even if Tomson didn't arrange for her to go, the Zhou family would find a way to let her go.

Zhou Yan joked, "We won't vote for the Berlin Film Festival in the future. Times are not very friendly."

In fact, many film festivals are held in February and March. For example, the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival that Zhou Yan won before was also held at this time.

Xu Feng followed Zhou Yan's joke and said, "Okay, we will focus on Venice and Cannes from now on. This time the Berlin Film Festival will be held on the 10th, the news will come to us on the morning of the 11th. Please pay attention to receive the news then."

"OK, all right."

…

After talking to Xu Feng on the phone, Zhou Yan took a short rest at home and then went to his grandparents' house.

The door was closed, so Zhou Yan pushed it open and went in. The younger brothers and sisters in the living room looked expectant at first, but then they became a little disappointed when they saw clearly that it was Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan took off his scarf and said with a smile, "Why, you are quite disappointed to see me coming back."

Lao Sizhou Qian explained: "Sister-in-law is coming today, and we thought it was her."

When he heard that his sister-in-law was coming, Zhou Yan said unexpectedly, "Brother, didn't he say we won't meet until next summer? Why is it so early?"

"I don't know. Anyway, eldest brother said he would bring sister-in-law back today."

"Then I made it just in time and didn't miss our sister-in-law's first visit to the house."

Zhou Yan hung the scarf on the hanger, went to the kitchen to say hello to his grandmother and the others, and then went to the meeting hall. Everyone in the family arrived except his eldest brother Zhou Yu.

Including Zhou Yan's father Zhou Yaowen and his brother Zhou Hong, they also came back very early this year.

Today, the future eldest grandson's daughter-in-law is coming to the house. Although the men in the meeting hall did not talk about it, Zhou Yan could feel that everyone was looking forward to it.

In particular, grandfather Zhou Minnong and uncle Zhou Yaohua glanced at the door from time to time.

Zhou Yu's marriage is a big event for the Zhou family.

It is said that everything is difficult at the beginning, and Zhou Yu is like this. Everyone feels that as long as Zhou Yu gets off to a good start, others will have a much smoother time later.

Zhou Yan looked at Zhou Hong. As the second child, Zhou Hong was under great pressure. Zhou Yan knew that after the boss's affairs were settled, it would be his turn as the second child.

At about half past five, the living room door was pushed open again.

Zhou Yu came in first, followed by a tall girl.

Seeing this girl, many people in the Zhou family were dumbfounded, especially Zhou Qian, who jumped up from the sofa.

"Fangfang, why are you here?"

Zhou Yu said sternly, "No matter how big or small you are, I want to call you sister-in-law."

Gu Fangfang pinched Zhou Yu's arm. Just as she was about to talk to Zhou Qian, grandma and the others came out of the kitchen, and aunt Zhao Lan was also stunned for a moment.

She knew this Gu Fangfang, she was her daughter's classmate, and she had been to their house before.

He was stunned for a moment, and then a smile appeared on Zhao Lan's face.

Before her daughter-in-law came home, Zhao Lan was also worried about what kind of girlfriend her son was looking for, and what to do if she was an immoral girl.

Now that she saw it was Gu Fangfang, she was no longer worried. Gu Fangfang was Qianqian's classmate. She didn't know her thoroughly, but she knew her well. She was a nice girl. She had met her a few times, and Zhao Lan felt good about her.

When she saw her elders, Gu Fangfang stopped talking to Zhou Qian and quickly said hello to her elders.

"Grandma, aunt, third aunt, hello."

Grandma smiled from ear to ear, "Okay, okay, girl, don't be restrained, just treat it as your own home."

Zhao Lan said from the side, "Mom, she is Fangfang, Qianqian's classmate."

When she heard that she was Qianqian's classmate, grandma nodded repeatedly, "That's good, Qianqian, go and make a cup of tea for Fangfang."

After greeting grandma and the others, Zhou Yu took Gu Fangfang to the meeting hall.

"This is my grandpa."

"Hello grandpa."

"This is my dad."

"Hello, uncle."

When Zhou Yan was introduced, Zhou Yu curled his lips and said, "You know Third Brother, so I won't introduce him."

Zhou Yan was ready to say hello to his future sister-in-law, but he didn't expect Zhou Yu to do this, and he was a little confused.

What he didn't know was that his future sister-in-law was his music fan, and Zhou Yu had always been worried about this.

Gu Fangfang rolled her eyes at Zhou Yu, then greeted Zhou Yan, "Hello, Zhou Yan."

"Hello."

After saying hello, Zhou Yu took Gu Fangfang to watch TV next to the sofa.

As soon as Gu Fangfang came over, Zhou Qian pulled her and whispered, "Fangfang, you hid it too deeply, not even telling me."

"I never knew how to speak."

The main reason is that Gu Fangfang set a flag before. She said that all the men in the world would not look down on a playboy like Zhou Yu.

Now that she is with Zhou Yu, it's like a slap in the face.

Zhou Qian curled her lips, and her good sister suddenly transformed into her future sister-in-law. This feeling was too strange.

But because of Zhou Qian, Gu Fangfang felt much more comfortable coming to Zhou's house.

…

After dinner in the evening, Gu Fangfang sat for a while, and then Zhou Yu sent her away.

After they left, grandma looked at Zhou Hong and Zhou Yu.

"Xiaoyu is married now. You two have to work harder and stop being idle all day long. Especially Hong'er, you are not much different from Xiaoyu. You are already twenty-seven."

Zhou Yan added next to him, "Second brother is now twenty-eight years old."

The old lady nodded, "Look, I'm twenty-eight. I'll be thirty in a blink of an eye. There's no rush."

"Grandma, I usually work in an environment with few girls, so I need you to introduce me to more blind dates." Zhou Hong looked at Zhou Yan again, "Unlike Xiaoyan, there are so many girls around him that he is spoiled for choice."

Zhou Yan's expression froze, good guy, he hit a flat A, and Zhou Hong immediately used a big move. He regretted a little, he shouldn't have stabbed his brother in the back just now.

Sure enough, after hearing Zhou Hong's words, the old lady said sternly, "Xiaoyan, your grandfather and I are not old-fashioned people, and we don't care about being well-matched, but you can't play with the world."

The old lady said it more euphemistically, but the meaning was obvious, that is, to tell Zhou Yan not to mess with the relationship between men and women.

Although the elderly usually don't pay much attention to entertainment news, they have also heard some tidbits about Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan twitched the corners of his lips and said, "Grandma, don't worry, I will never mess around."

"Ah That's good."

After that, they stopped talking about Zhou Hong and Zhou Yan's marriage, but Zhou Yan felt that after his future sister-in-law came home, his issues with Zhou Hong should also be put on the agenda.

Fortunately, Zhou Hong doesn't have a girlfriend now, otherwise Zhou Yan would be even more stressed.

…

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Zhou Yan arrived at his grandparents' house early in the morning.

Every year on the second day of the Lunar New Year, his two aunts go home. On this day, they don't go anywhere, they just stay at home.

This year is different from previous years. My aunt’s family had a grandson last year, and everyone else’s seniority has moved up a level.

The happiest person is Xiao Jiu Zhou Qing. She is no longer the youngest in the family. Now she has been promoted to aunt at a young age.

Seeing Zhou Qing and the others gathered around the child to play with him, the old lady was also mumbling about when the Zhou family would be able to add a great-grandson.

While muttering, the old lady's eyes unconsciously glanced at Zhou Yu, Zhou Hong and Zhou Yan, because they were the three most promising.

At the same time, the old lady was also lamenting that the space in her home was still small. She didn't feel it before, but this year there were suddenly more small people, and it seemed to become crowded all of a sudden.

She also plans to visit the second child's house on the second day of next year, because the second child's house is the largest.

The old couple's house is not small, but there are indeed too many people. If all generations are present, there will be a family of twenty-six.

If Zhou Yu could get married this year, there would be a family of twenty-seven. With so many people crowded into this house, it would indeed seem very crowded.

The second child's family, that is, Zhou Yan's father and Zhou Hong live in a three-story small foreign-style building. The place is very large.

In fact, Zhou Yaowen wanted to buy a new house for the old couple, but they had lived in this house for a long time and were already in love with each other, so they were unwilling to move.

Zhou Yan followed the others and played with his nephew for a while. The pager in his pocket rang. He took it out and looked at it. It was Xu Feng calling.

There was no other information on it, just the name and number.

Zhou Yan guessed that Xu Feng wanted to tell him about the Berlin Film Festival, so he used the phone in the living room to call him.

After the call was connected, Xu Feng's excited voice came over, "Zhou Yan, good news, "Tree Hole" won the Special Jury Award."

Zhou Yan also laughed when he heard that "Tree Hole" won the award.

The biggest award at the Berlin Film Festival is naturally the Golden Bear, but the Special Jury Prize is also very good. If I had to count, it should be the second prize.

"Which film won the Golden Bear?"

"It's In the Name of the Father, best actor Tom Hanks, best actress Chrissy Rock."

Zhou Yan nodded. There was nothing special about these awards. The popular "In the Name of Father" and "Philadelphia Story" both won awards.

"Director Wu and the others didn't make the trip in vain."

"When I talked to him on the phone, he was very happy. After school starts and you arrive in Yanjing, we will hold a celebration banquet to celebrate. "Tree Hole" will be released later, and there will be a premiere."

"This movie shouldn't be a loss."

"Haha, the broadcast rights are enough to pay for it."

The investment cost of "Tree Hole" is more than 4 million yuan. This investment can indeed be recovered quickly by selling the broadcast rights.

Now that "Tree Hole" has won the Special Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, it will definitely attract the attention of a large number of copyright dealers, and it can be sold in any number of countries.

In fact, even if it doesn't win the Special Jury Prize, just because it is shortlisted for the Berlin Film Festival, there is no need to worry about losing money.

It's a pity that I didn't win the Golden Bear Award, otherwise, it would have been another wave of huge profits.

After sharing the good news, Xu Feng asked if Zhou Qing was around, and then she chatted with Zhou Qing for a while.

This girl was so sweet that she made Xu Feng reluctant to hang up the phone. The two chatted for more than ten minutes before ending.

…

The fact that "Tree Hole" won the Special Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival quickly spread throughout the country, and this was naturally promoted by Thomson Company.

Originally, it was a very eye-catching thing for a Chinese film to win awards at the three major film festivals. As long as Tomson gave it a little push, the news would spread very quickly.

After the news spread, it also triggered a series of chain reactions.

On the morning of the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Zhou Yan received a call from Hua Yang.

"I just heard the news that the movie "Tree Hole" won the grand prize at this year's Berlin Film Festival. Congratulations."

After congratulating Zhou Yan, Hua Yang added, "The People's Literature Publishing House has contacted us and said that it hopes to help you publish a single book."

"Single volume?" Zhou Yan's face was full of surprise, "Is it a separate volume for "Tree Hole"?"

"Well, that's what they mean."

"The number of words is not enough."

"Tree Hole" is a novella with a total of more than 40,000 words.

Theoretically, more than 40,000 words can be turned into a single book, but usually, if you want to make a single book, it will take at least 80,000 to 90,000 words.

A normal book is between 100,000 and 300,000 words.

More than 40,000 words are made into a single book. Unless the font size is made very large and a large number of illustrations are included in the novel, the book will not be readable.

"What they mean is to add "Death of the Mayor" and "Knife in Clear Water" to the list," Hua Yang said.

"That's not enough."

"Death of the Mayor" has 10,000 words, and "Knife in Clear Water" has more than 6,000 words. The three novels combined are less than 60,000 words.

"How about you add two more articles?" Hua Yang said with a smile. He had been thinking about the manuscripts in Zhou Yan's drawer.

"Uh...what did the publisher say?"

"You didn't tell me the specific details. You just wanted me to leave a message. How about this? I'll give Editor Lin your phone number and ask him to contact you. How about that?"

"That's okay too."

Then the two hung up the phone. About ten minutes later, Zhou Yan's phone rang again.

No surprise, it was Editor Lin from People's Literature Publishing House calling.

After the call was connected, the other party introduced himself first, "Mr. Zhou Yan, I am Lin Haikuo from the modern literature group of People's Literature Publishing House. You should already know the purpose of my call to you. Our publishing house hopes to help you copy "The Tree" "Cave", "Death of the Mayor", "Knife in Clear Water" and "River Wet by Rain" are combined into a single book, what do you think?"

Zhou Yan didn't expect that the publishing house would also add "The River Wet by Rain", but this novel is only more than 3,000 words, so adding it is not much.

"Editor Lin, these four novels together only have more than 60,000 words. Are they suitable for being turned into a single book?" Zhou Yan expressed his doubts.

"The number of words is really not much, so we are going to add some movie stills in the book. It should be no problem. Of course, if you have new works, Mr. Zhou Yan, you can also add them in. Or, have you published works under other pen names? ?”

"No, I have only used the pen name Zhou Wen."

"That's okay. We've done the math. With the preface and postscript, the text is about 70,000 words. Plus the stills, it's enough to make a single volume."

If Lin Haikuo calculates it this way, it can indeed be made into a single book. It can barely be made into a single book with only 70,000 words. With the addition of stills, it is not so shabby.

And not only "Tree Hole" can add photos, but "Knife in Clear Water" can also add stills. "Knife in Clear Water" will be released in a few days.

But there is a problem, that is, if you want to add these stills, it will involve copyright issues. Although Zhou Yan is the original author, it does not mean that the stills can be used casually.

In addition, Zhou Yan felt that 70,000 words was still too few.

After all, this is his first single book, so it would be a bit embarrassing if the number of words is too small.

He thought for a while and said, "The movie hasn't been released in the mainland yet, so the stills are hard to use. How about we talk about this again after I go to Yanjing?"

"Of course there is no problem. You can do this at your convenience. Our publisher is very sincere and hopes to publish these excellent novels so that more readers who love literature can see them."

Zhou Yan smiled. Although Lin Haikuo's words were high-sounding, he knew that if it hadn't been for the movie "Tree Hole" that won the award, they would not have mentioned it.

Nowadays, even the People's Literature Publishing House is very economical. Generally, film and television novels are favored by these publishing houses, because film and television versions mean that they are more likely to be sold.

"Thank you very much for your favor. I will contact you as soon as possible after I go to Yanjing."

"Okay, then I'll just wait for the good news."

Zhou Yan then took down Lin Haikuo's phone number, made an appointment to meet later, and hung up the phone.

A Berlin Film Festival award made People's Literature Publishing House notice Zhou Yan's novels, and the chain reaction didn't end there.

On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, when Zhou Yan was about to leave for Yanjing, Zhou Hong called him again.

Zhou Hong told Zhou Yan that Yang Guohui from Caixing Company called him and said that he hoped that Chen Hong could play the role of Mrs. Niu in "Westward Journey".

When Cai Xing invited Zhou Yan to serve as the soundtrack director of "Westward Journey", they mentioned that they wanted to invite Chen Hong to participate in "Westward Journey". However, at that time, they did not want to give the role of Mrs. Niu to Chen Hong. Let Chen Hong play the role of Niu Xiangxiang, the sister of the Niu Demon King.

Now they have changed their thinking and invited Chen Hong to play Mrs. Niu, also because "Tree Hole" won the award.

Although Chen Hong did not win an award at the Berlin Film Festival, she was still the heroine of "Tree Hole" after all, and Chen Hong is also among the photos of the film festival in news reports.

Caixing Company also believes that after "Tree Hole" is released, Chen Hong's popularity will definitely increase significantly. It will definitely be good for them to finalize Chen Hong's role at this time.

If you wait until after the movie is released to see Chen Hong, the price may rise again by then.

In this way, they all regretted it. If they had confirmed that Chen Hong would play Mrs. Niu from the beginning, the salary would definitely not cost much.

"Do you think the role of Mrs. Niu is okay?" Zhou Hong asked.

Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "No problem, she can take on the role of Mrs. Niu."

In fact, apart from Zixia and Bai Jingjing, the most outstanding female character in "Westward Journey" should be the spider spirit Chun Sanniang, but Chen Hong is not very suitable for the role of Chun Sanniang.

On the other hand, Chen Hong should have no problem playing the role of Mrs. Niu.

"In that case, I will ask Xu Junrong to talk to Caixing."

"no problem."

"Also, I'm going to let Xu Junrong sign He Saifei. What do you think?"

"sure."

In fact, He Saifei's commercial value is not particularly high, but Zhou Yan is still willing to sign her because she is indeed an excellent actor.

Zhou still needs to sign more capable actors so that it will be more convenient for Zhou Yan to use them in the future.

Moreover, actors like He Saifei, even if they cannot become popular, are still very stable and will basically not cause any trouble to the company.

In fact, if He Saifei had more opportunities, she might not be able to go further. After "Raise the Red Lantern", many people invited her to play the role of concubine, which narrowed her acting career.

Zhou Yan asked her to act in two dramas. Although they were supporting roles, they were important roles. This broadened her acting horizons. Now He Saifei can receive more types of dramas than before.

If there is any role that is more suitable for her in the future, Zhou Yan will give priority to it.

"Okay, since you agree, I'll let Xu Junrong do it."

…

On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, Zhou Yan arrived in Yanjing, took a short rest, and then went to the studio.

The layout of the studio has reached the final stage. If nothing happens, it will be put into use in mid-March. The reason why he came here early is because the recording studio will start to bring in instruments.

The studio today is completely different from what it was just a few months ago.

This was originally a warehouse, but the exterior walls are already somewhat mottled and look dilapidated.

Now it has a completely new look, completely different from the other buildings in the electronics factory.

The only drawback is that there is not much land outside the studio building. After planning more than fifty parking spaces, there is basically no open space.

In fact, now it seems that more than fifty parking spaces are more than enough. After all, there are still very few cars today. Not to mention their studio, even the entire electronics factory, there are not so many cars to park.

Generally speaking, everyone's means of transportation is bicycles, and those with better conditions will ride a motorcycle.

The name of the studio is also very straightforward, just "Zhou Yan Music Studio", without any twists and turns.

When Zhou Yan arrived at the studio, the members of the "Baojia Street No. 43" band were all there.

Although the studio has not yet been fully put into use and the large instruments have not yet been brought in, the large piano room used for rehearsals is already available.

Anyway, there is no piano at No. 43 Baojia Street. They bring their own musical instruments, and they even brought the drum set here.

Seeing Zhou Yan, Wang Feng immediately ran up to him.

"Senior brother, this practice room is really exciting."

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "Of course it's exciting. This is a concert hall without seats. Although it is not as good as those top concert halls, it is much easier to use than the piano room in our school."

After all, it was modified based on the warehouse. There is no way to change the large structure, so there is no way to achieve the ultimate sound structure.

But for Wang Feng and the others to practice, this is more than enough.

There are two studios like this one. Now Zhou has signed contracts with the Piano Youth Orchestra and No. 43 Baojia Street. The resources are very sufficient. This practice room is basically exclusive to Wang Feng and the others.

In fact, the Piano Youth Orchestra usually doesn’t come here. Most of the time, they still rehearse in the Yangyin Concert Hall. Unless the concert hall’s schedule is full and the orchestra needs to rehearse intensively, they will come here. Come by.

At this time, several other people also came over and greeted Zhou Yan one after another.

Zhao Muyang is still so cool, but when facing Zhou Yan, he smiles all over his face, "Zhou Yan, happy New Year."

"Well, happy New Year, I think this practice room is satisfactory."

Zhao Muyang touched his head, "It couldn't be better. It's like a dream. Being able to practice singing in a place like this every day is worth dying for."

Zhou Yan laughed and said, "Happy New Year, don't talk about immortality, I will create the conditions for you, you just need to make music with your heart."

Hearing Zhou Yan's words, Wang Feng came up and said, "We happened to have made a new song and we are going to put it into "Growing Up" later. Brother, please help me take a look."

Zhou Yan also became interested, "Really? Let me listen."

Seeing that Zhou Yan wanted to listen, Wang Feng quickly called the others and quickly took their places.

There were no chairs in the practice room, so Zhou Yan was leaning against the window, looking at Wang Feng and the others with a smile, waiting for their new song. (End of chapter)