Magazine

The screenplay for Mama, Love Me Once More was sold to the Beijing Film Studio, once again priced at two thousand yuan. Before screenwriting fees were commercialized, compensation could not be handed out casually. The state had explicit regulations; even in the absence of new guidelines, one had to follow the old ones. Paying less was fine, but paying more constituted a violation. For instance, when Zhang Yimou was making Red Sorghum, he invited Mo Yan to help adapt the script. To pay him a bit more money, they split Red Sorghum into two parts so he could draw two portions of the fee. After reading it, Wang Yang agreed to let Wang Haowei direct. Word leaked out that the great screenwriter Chen had a new work. Centered on female characters and moving beyond measure, every female comrade who read it was reduced to tears—wherever there was well water, Chen's lines were sung. Liu Xiaoqing, Li Xiuming, and others knew they stood little chance, but they threw their hats into the ring nonetheless. True to form, the lead role went straight to Gong Xue. Her role in Tai Chi 2 was small; she could wrap up and seamlessly transition into the new production. After all, Romance on Mount Lu and Tai Chi 1 had broken film copy distribution records twice, won her both major awards, and showered her with honors. Before Tai Chi 2 had even started filming, here came Mama, Love Me Once More, casting a long, dark shadow over every actress at the Beijing Film Studio. This drove home to everyone just how vital it was to have someone backing you, inadvertently opening the floodgates to shameless favoritism and backroom dealings. One should never assume the artistic circle back in the eighties was conservative simply because of ideological constraints. Plenty of actresses knocked on directors' doors in the dead of night, and just as many directors slipped into actresses' bedrooms. Take Gai Lili, for example. Back when she was at the Beijing Film Studio, a cinematographer once walked right into her room, sat on the bed, and started carrying on about private, personal matters. Gai Lili fled outside, while her female roommate, dressed in flimsy clothes and half-tucked beneath the quilt, chatted away with the cinematographer in high spirits. Later, she noticed that whenever they shot scenes, her own close-ups turned out hideous, while that other actress looked gorgeous. Apart from the leads, the other roles in Mama, Love Me Once More hardly mattered; the heart of the film lay entirely with the mother and son. Child actors were rare these days. Without a second thought, Wang Haowei directly cast a young boy named Fang Chao, whose notable credits included Ah! Cradle, The Herdsman, and Bubbling Spring. He had started acting at age two and was now five, having played quite a few sons already. Historically, Gong Xue had also played mother and son with him in Under the Bridge. However, the script for Under the Bridge had already been completed and was currently in the hands of Shanghai Film Studio, which meant Gong Xue would likely miss out on it this time. *** While preparations for Tai Chi 2 proceeded in an orderly fashion, Chen Qi divided his attention, bustling about other matters as well. *Thump, thump, thump!* "Lao Liang? Lao Liang?" "Just a moment! Just a moment!" In the corridor of the tongzilou, Chen Qi knocked with an amused look, listening to the muffled commotion inside. After a short wait, Liang Xiaosheng finally opened the door, wearing an extremely unnatural expression. "What are you up to, hiding a woman in your golden... Hey, you really hid one!" Chen Qi's eyes went wide. Standing inside the room was indeed a delicate, pretty young woman. A blush colored her cheeks, but she greeted him generously nonetheless. "Hello. My name is Jiao Dan. I'm a friend of Xiaosheng's." "Oho!" "Oho!" "Well, well, well!" "Cut out the 'oho's! She's my partner!" Liang Xiaosheng couldn't stand his teasing and laid it out plainly. Chen Qi rolled his eyes. "Isn't that obvious? Of course she's your partner. If she weren't, you'd be in real trouble... Hello, hello. Lao Liang and I are old buddies, so I'm used to speaking freely. Don't mind me." "Not at all. Xiaosheng talks about you all the time. I've been wanting to meet you for a while!" Jiao Dan replied with a smile. Liang Xiaosheng knew Chen Qi must have come for business, so he said to her, "Why don't you head back first? The two of us need to talk." "Since we've just met, why not eat together? I'll go buy groceries. I won't get in your way." Jiao Dan departed briskly. Chen Qi clicked his tongue in admiration. "What a wonderful woman! Lao Liang, you're a lucky man. Does she know about your situation?" "I told her everything, and she's still willing to be with me. Her family is well-off, and she comes over whenever she's free to clean up and cook for me. I have nothing to my name; all I can do is treat her well," Liang Xiaosheng sighed. In history, the two indeed ended up married. Jiao Dan provided him with immense support behind the scenes, helping him endure hardship until he became a renowned author. Liang Xiaosheng earned a decent income, but his heavy family burdens kept him perennially strapped for cash. In the nineties, his younger brother and sister would both be laid off, his eldest brother suffered from mental illness, and his parents were chronically ill. He supported an entire extended family all on his own. Chen Qi pulled over a chair, sat down, and cut straight to the chase. "Remember how I talked about starting a magazine? The publication permit has been approved. It's registered directly under my company, so we don't need an external sponsor. "I'm heading to Hong Kong soon. Before I leave, I want to set up the framework. Ideally, we'll publish the inaugural issue next January." "Back then, you said you wanted a comprehensive magazine—novels, jokes, curiosities and bizarre tales, overseas digests... Gathering so much content into a single publication might turn out messy, don't you think?" "Let's start with novels plus curiosities and bizarre tales, focusing mainly on wuxia, detective stories, entertaining anecdotes, and the weird and wonderful. Once that takes off, we can launch specialized branch editions—like a digest edition, a UFO edition, a romance edition." Liang Xiaosheng nodded, grasping the concept. He felt a bit embarrassed to speak up. Knowing full well that Chen Qi had come to poach him, he was too shy to ask about compensation. Chen Qi, being thoroughly perceptive, brought it up himself. "My company is state-owned, a proper work unit. I won't shortchange you. Right now, your salary is forty-seven yuan. Come work as my editor-in-chief, and I'll double your pay, with writing fees calculated separately. How about that?" Seeing him hesitate, Chen Qi added, "What are you being so bashful about with me? If you have demands, just name them!" "What about housing?" Liang Xiaosheng asked. "At Beijing Film Studio, I at least have a dorm room. If I move to your company, I'll have to vacate it. Right now, you're still renting office space from the studio, and you want to launch a magazine on top of that. Where are you going to house your staff?" "My courtyard home in Lechunfang is almost finished. It'll serve as an editorial office and dormitory for the time being. Don't you trust me? Sooner or later, I'll have everyone living in modern apartment buildings where you can take a shit indoors!" "..." Liang Xiaosheng fell silent for a long moment before saying, "Let me think about it." "Fine! You know a lot of literary folk. Ask around for me and pull in a few editors. For a brand-new magazine, five or six people will be enough." "What about distribution?" "My parents, of course! Freelance distribution staff, free of charge!" Liang Xiaosheng chuckled, having nearly forgotten that Chen Qi's parents worked at Xinhua Bookstore. As they talked, Jiao Dan returned from grocery shopping and nimbly whipped up four dishes and a soup. After eating and drinking his fill, Chen Qi scrammed. While tidying up the room, Liang Xiaosheng laid out the situation. Jiao Dan asked, "I don't know much about these things, but do you trust him?" "I do!" He nodded without hesitation. "We've known each other for over two years. Back then, he was still selling large-bowl tea, and I went to his house on behalf of the studio to negotiate Romance on Mount Lu. Through all our interactions, Xiao Chen might talk loosely, but his actual work has never faltered once. "He even asked me to co-write a novel and gave me half the royalties. Thanks to him, I'm not scraping by as hard as before. "I'm just a little anxious about switching to a new environment, not knowing what the future holds." "Are you afraid his company will go under?" Jiao Dan asked. "He's giving me a formal state post. Even if it goes under, they'll have to arrange a position for me. I'm not worried about that..." "Then what are you worrying about? You're young, talented, and in the prime of your career to make a name for yourself. You'd be going over as the editor-in-chief! Could you ever become an editor-in-chief at the Beijing Film Studio?" Liang Xiaosheng reflected on her words and realized she was right. At the Beijing Film Studio, he would have to tough it out until at least age forty before he could hope to become director of the Literary Department. Over at Chen Qi's company, he would step right into a leadership role. Having witnessed Chen Qi's endless stream of brilliant ideas, he was already inclined to accept. *** Liang Xiaosheng pondered it for two days before agreeing. For now, he remained at the Beijing Film Studio, secretly scouting recruits for Chen Qi, since transferring out immediately would leave him with nowhere to live. Chen Qi's requirements were straightforward: they needed the discerning eye and professional skills of an editor, paired with the diligence and discipline of a prolific writer! For a magazine, content was everything. His head was packed with novels, but he couldn't write them all himself. This team of editors would essentially double as his writing workshop. They could adopt pen names and earn extra writing fees on the side—there were bound to be people eager to do it. Chen Qi had briefly considered Yu Jiajia, but decided against it. Her value was far greater if she stayed at the newspaper. Besides, her career was currently flying high; she wouldn't necessarily look twice at his tiny, fledgling outfit.