Chapter 68: Smoke Rising from the Ancestral Graves

Fang Zailian was utterly baffled and even began to question his life choices. Being ostracized by a group of veteran colleagues at the film studio was one thing.

He had expected that this young man would be thrilled upon hearing that his comic book was going to be adapted into an animated film.

To his surprise, however, he was met with a bucket of cold water. He simply could not understand why the young man in front of him would refuse him.

Mo Changshan was equally bewildered, failing to comprehend why Zheng Fei would reject such a windfall dropping straight from the sky.

The publishing house was currently striving to build its reputation. If Zheng Fei's comic book were adapted into an animation and broadcasted on national television, the Advanced Publishing House would truly establish a firm footing, and Zheng Fei's personal fame would soar as well. With such a fantastic opportunity, there was no reason to refuse.

......

Yet, what they failed to realize was that the young man before them, who looked as innocent as a blank sheet of paper, was actually a master of worldly sophistication at his core.

After a brief conversation with Section Chief Fang, Zheng Fei had already deduced this comrade's current predicament.

Moreover, this Section Chief Fang likely suffered from the so-called "study-abroad sickness," a high-incidence condition among early returnees who had studied overseas.

Especially for those who had returned from abroad, they often experienced a strong sense of tearing, always feeling as though the entire society was working against them.

If Section Chief Fang had any sense, he wouldn't have recommended his comic *Stormriders* to this art film studio.

Judging by the studio's historical animation style, it was a complete mismatch with *Stormriders*. The fact that the leadership had even asked him to hold a pitch meeting was already a tremendous show of respect.

It could only be said that this Section Chief Fang was still too naive, revealing all his cards within just a few sentences.

If you are barely able to keep your footing within the film studio yourself, cooperating with you would simply be seeking unnecessary hardship.

Zheng Fei had seen far too many people like him in his past life—full of grand ambitions, yet utterly clueless about interpersonal dynamics and lacking a clear understanding of themselves and their employing institutions.

Domestic society placed a heavy emphasis on human relationships and social etiquette, and all strength and ideas were built upon this foundation.

To put it bluntly, if a collaboration were to happen, Zheng Fei would rather look for someone who actually had the final say.

Furthermore, if Zheng Fei guessed correctly, at this current stage, the people at the art film studio were likely holding the same exclusionary and suppressive attitude toward emerging mediums like comic books as traditional sequential artists did.

If Section Chief Fang couldn't even see through this much, it could only be said that he needed a lot more practice.

Besides, the Shanghai Animation Film Studio at present was probably in its most pampered era: it had all the projects it wanted, plenty of money, and full state funding.

They were only responsible for producing the animations and didn't even need to worry about distribution, since the motherly state would always cover the bottom line.

A film studio with zero economic pressure and no box office targets—if they didn't pursue "art," were they expected to pursue commerce instead?

And if *Stormriders* had to be categorized, it was a commercially driven story. How could such a group of high-art purists possibly look down favorably upon it?

Fang Zailian asked with bewilderment, "Teacher Zheng, such a brilliant subject matter—why won't you cooperate with our film studio?"

Zheng Fei smiled faintly as he glanced at Chief Editor Mo, and then said, "Here is the thing, Section Chief Fang. I would genuinely love to collaborate with you all, but I’ve already promised Chief Editor Mo that both *Stormriders* and *The Rural Teacher* are going to be taken to Hong Kong for an exhibition. As for the adaptation rights, I won't be partnering with anyone for the time being."

Hearing Zheng Fei put it this way,

Mo Changshan let out an "Aiya!"

"I'm so sorry, Section Chief Fang. I truly apologize. How could I have forgotten about this? Teacher Zheng's two comic books are scheduled to be exhibited in Hong Kong."

Fang Zailian felt utterly depressed. Could the two of you please not make your double act quite so obvious?

Through the brief interaction just now, Fang Zailian could still distinctly sense that this young man named Zheng Fei seemed to harbor some prejudice against their film studio.

Yet Zheng Fei's reaction actually piqued Fang Zailian's interest even further. "Very well then, Teacher Zheng, let's strive for a collaboration next time."

"Certainly."

......

After sending the visitors away,

Chief Editor Mo asked with perplexity, "Teacher Zheng, why didn't we cooperate with Section Chief Fang?"

Zheng Fei countered with a question, "Do you think the leaders at the film studio would ever listen to Section Chief Fang's suggestions?"

"This..."

Mo Changshan fell silent for a good long while. Come to think of it, he actually did know a few leaders at the film studio.

Director Yan lived right next door in his lane and occasionally bumped into him on the street. Based on his understanding of Director Yan's character, even with Section Chief Fang lobbying for it, the probability of this collaboration happening was not zero, but it was infinitely close to it.

Mo Changshan shook his head, yet what baffled him was how Zheng Fei, a mere youngster, had managed to see through all this.

This kid was simply too uncanny.

......

In truth, Zheng Fei had several other reasons for not wanting to cooperate with the film studio at present. First of all, film studios often gave off an aura of condescension.

Even with Section Chief Fang, Zheng Fei could sense the attitude of: *My coming to adapt your comic is your supreme honor*, without even mentioning money from start to finish.

For Zheng Fei, any project that didn't talk about money was simply pure hooliganism.

Moreover, copyright ownership at present was far too chaotic. Whenever he thought of this Shanghai Animation Film Studio, Zheng Fei immediately recalled that animated series *Black Cat Detective*, which only ran for five episodes.

The real reason that animated series was cut short was not what the internet rumored—that it was too bloody and violent and thus reported by parents.

The genuine reason lay entirely within copyright issues.

The *Black Cat Detective* animation was adapted from Mr. Zhu's novel of the same name. The Shanghai Animation Film Studio adapted the book into an animation and released it nationwide.

After the animation exploded in popularity, the film studio collaborated with several publishing houses to release *Black Cat Detective* animated comic books and standalone picture book volumes.

Yet none of these works credited the "original author, Mr. Zhu." Even worse, all the adaptation royalties and print-run remuneration for these derivative works were entirely handed over to the animation producer, Mr. Dai.

Because of this issue, the two sides engaged in a protracted lawsuit, and it was only eventually that the original author, Mr. Zhu, won the lawsuit and received compensation.

......

To put it simply, cooperation wasn't entirely out of the question, but it couldn't be Zheng Fei begging them.

Rather, their leadership would have to approach him proactively, and Zheng Fei had to retain the initiative during the animation's production.

The ultimate destination of novels and comics was naturally film and television adaptation; the ultimate goal of so many Japanese mangaka was still to have their works adapted into anime.

Zheng Fei still harbored some ambition. If the path through the Shanghai Animation Film Studio proved impassable, branching out on his own when the time came was entirely feasible.

At that moment, Zheng Fei suddenly asked, "Chief Editor, would it be very troublesome for our publishing house to apply to launch a comic magazine?"

Hearing this, Mo Changshan snapped to full alertness. "Teacher Zheng, are you planning to apply for a magazine?"

As he said this, Mo Changshan felt rather strange. Logically speaking, he was the top authority at this publishing house.

Yet ever since Zheng Fei had arrived, he had constantly been led by the nose, as though Zheng Fei were the actual leader.

What depressed him the most was that, faced with such a breach of protocol by Zheng Fei, he didn't feel annoyed at all; on the contrary, he felt a bit excited.

In truth, Mo Changshan also desperately wanted to run a magazine. By then, they could publish standalone volumes as well as a magazine, allowing them to make money from both ends.

And once the magazine's brand established a strong reputation, the publishing house could genuinely sit back and rake in profits.

"However, our publishing house currently only has Teacher Zheng's *Stormriders* and *The Rural Teacher*. With just these two titles, it probably won't be easy to launch a comic magazine."

Zheng Fei smiled.

"If you can secure the application, I can provide you with three titles. By then, we can also have Suisui put out one."

Mo Changshan appeared outwardly calm, but his heart was pounding wildly like a beaten drum.

"Very well, I'll take charge of applying for the magazine. Many units have successfully applied for them recently, so there shouldn't be any major issues."

"That's great. However, serializing only four titles in a magazine is indeed a bit too thin. Let's simply organize a comic training workshop and see if we can unearth some more talent when the time comes."

Mo Changshan's brain short-circuited for several seconds. At that exact moment, he genuinely wanted to check the ancestral tombs in his hometown to see if the auspicious smoke was rising from them lately.