Lin Jianming listened to the compliments of Luo and Huo, and was overjoyed, and said with the same smile on his face: "I just donated some clothes, which is not comparable to the contribution made by Miss Luo and Mr. Huo to Hong Kong education." In this way, in addition to the donation of clothes I just mentioned, I am personally donating 100,000 yuan to Mr. Fok's Education Foundation, which is regarded as a modest contribution to Hong Kong education. ”

After Luo Qiaozhen heard this, the smile on her face was even worse, and she agreed: "Thank you so much Mr. Lin." ”

Lin Jianming waved his hand and said modestly: "I just contributed some money, how can I compare to Miss Shangluo who has personally made so many contributions to Hong Kong's charity." ”

Luo Qiaozhen has worked in the Catholic Foundation for so many years, and she is from a big family, so she can be said to be much more tactful than Huo Yaowen in terms of human sophistication.

With Lin Jianming's role model, the other people sitting at a table, whether they were sincere or false, were naturally not easy to watch, and they also made a promise to Luo Qiaozhen to donate to the Hong Kong Education Foundation.

The guests who can participate in the antituberculosis meeting held by Zhou Xinian, naturally none of them are fuel-efficient lamps, and I dare not say that like Zhou Xinian or Lei Luo, it is 12 million at every turn, but 100,000 yuan is still worth it.

Huo Yaowen watched Luo Qiaozhen talk and laugh with these people, just chatted casually, and fooled over more than 400,000 donations, as well as some material donations, which made him look down on Luo Qiaozhen even more, thinking that it was a very wise decision to ask Luo Qiaozhen to be the executive director of the Education Foundation.

...

With the passage of time, the master of ceremonies on the stage has been auctioning off some items donated by the guests, except for a few items that are worth a lot of money and have been auctioned for more than 100,000 yuan, most of the rest have only been auctioned for tens of thousands.

Huo Yaowen saw that the prices of the auction items were not very expensive, and he also bid 15,000 yuan to auction a golden hairpin during the Republic of China.

It is said to be a golden hairpin, in fact, only the top is a beautiful small flower made of gold, the root is made of jasper, and the style is very beautiful, but now there are few people who don't have hairpins, and they can only be a collection.

The charity banquet lasted a total of an hour and a half, and most of the guests had already dispersed.

Originally, Huo Yaowen wanted to say hello to the host, Sir Zhou, before leaving, but seeing that the other party seemed to be very busy, and there were many people around him, he didn't have that thought.

Waited out of the Mandarin Hotel.

Huo Yaowen drove Luo Qiaozhen back.

After getting into the car, Luo Qiaozhen said with a smile: "President Huo came to participate in the charity banquet this time, and the harvest is not bad." ”

Huo Yaowen nodded while driving: "Director Luo is still powerful, just talk about it, hundreds of thousands will be in hand." ”

Luo Qiaozhen smiled: "I originally expected you to talk to people more." ”

Huo Yaowen glanced at her, then looked at the road ahead without squinting, and asked, "Director Luo, I have always been curious about something, can I ask you?"

Luo Qiaozhen glanced at him and nodded: "Let's hear it, but I don't promise to answer." ”

Huo Yaowen said: "It stands to reason that Director Luo, you have come back from studying law in the UK, and you have a law firm at home, why don't you go to work in the family company, even if it is a legal consultant in the company, it is a good choice, but you have worked in the Catholic Charity Foundation for so many years?"

Luo Qiaozhen didn't rush to answer, and silently turned sideways to look at the night view of Hong Kong outside the car window: "Before I joined the Catholic Foundation, just a few days after I returned to Hong Kong, I met a charitable organization called the Disaster Victims' Freemasonry on Central West Road on Hong Kong Island.

I stood there and watched for half an hour, except for a few who donated a little money, most of them were relatively indifferent, and there were also people who ridiculed, I thought they would have a dispute because of this, but I didn't expect that the Disaster Victim Freemason not only did not be unhappy, but continued to talk to the passers-by who mocked him, about the disaster caused by the typhoon in Tai O......"

"What happened later?" Seeing that Luo Qiaozhen didn't speak for a long time, Huo Yaowen glanced at her again.

Later, the passer-by took the initiative to donate 100 yuan. ”

Luo Qiaozhen couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "I was curious and asked him, why he was able to communicate with such an unreasonable person patiently, and that person told me; you have to be thick-skinned to do charity, they don't have the charisma and influence that echoes the crowd, so they don't care if others say that they are unpleasant, if they don't work once, they will do it twice, until they can raise money to help those affected by the disaster." ”

Huo Yaowen said: "So you went to work at the Catholic Foundation?"

Luo Qiaozhen nodded: "Yes, after that time, I paid attention to the situation in Tai O, and I was surprised to find that my impression of Hong Kong has always stayed only in the prosperous Hong Kong Island, the New Territories, Kowloon, Tai O and other places, and there are countless poor people who live in difficulty." Therefore, it is difficult to raise more money to help more people by relying on people like the Disaster Relief Freemasonry. Although I don't have the ability to raise my arms and respond to the crowd, my legal knowledge can make a modest contribution to Hong Kong's philanthropy. ”

Raise your arms and echo the ability of the crowd, you really have it!

While Huo Yaowen was concentrating on driving, the corner of his eye glanced at Luo Qiaozhen again, he had long known that Luo Cheng was the son of Luo Wenjin, one of the four major families in Hong Kong, and Luo Qiaozhen, as his younger sister, was naturally also a member of the Luo family.

As a well-known family in Hong Kong, the Luo family is also a family of lawyers, and almost all of them are lawyers, for the current Hong Kong, lawyers can take the political route, Luo Wenjin's younger brother Luo Wenhui has gone from a lawyer to a member of the City Council and the Legislative Council.

At the same time, the family is also a well-known figure in the business world, Hong Kong Commercial Radio, Hong Kong Tramway Company have their shares, and even when Fok Yiuwen lived in Kowloon, the ferry "Star Ferry" to and from Hong Kong Island every day was also their family property.

This kind of monopoly in the field of transportation is not something that ordinary people can do.

It's just that Huo Yaowen's relationship with Luo Cheng and Luo Qiaozhen is an ordinary employment relationship, and there are too many celebrities he has seen now, so he didn't have the curiosity he had at the beginning, and he just met and contacted these two people as friends.

.......

Jury of the World Science Fiction Association.

Connell Johnson, the chairman of the jury, sat on the throne and said: "According to the voting results in the meeting, Harlan Ellison's short science fiction "The Beast Calling Love at the Center of the World" received 894 votes, far more than the votes of other short story authors, so there is no doubt that the Hugo Award for short stories will be awarded to him." As for the short and medium-length awards, Pol Anderson's "The Sharing of the Flesh" also received far more votes than similar works, and this time I gathered everyone to discuss the attribution of the long novella award. ”

Jack Vance said with a smile: "Didn't the rules of voting have been changed since the year before? Whoever has the most votes will win the prize, what is there to discuss?"

Robert Broch, who was sitting not far from the table, couldn't help but sneer after hearing Jack Vance's words: "Yes, you should be glad that there was no such voting system in 63." ”

The other 20 or so judges of the jury couldn't help but smile when they saw this scene.

Jack Vance and Robert Broch are both well-known American short science fiction writers, and both have won the Hugo Award for short stories in different years.

The first Hugo Award winner was Robert Broch, who won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1959 for The Train on the Edge of Hell.

As the saying goes, peers are enemies, both of them write short science fiction, so naturally there are some contradictions, but they have been holding it in their hearts.

But at the 1961 Hugo Awards, the two made it to the final selection of the short story award together.

That time it was Jack Vance who won the award for Best Short Story, and Robert Brocker was also angry because of this, and always thought that there was an insider.

It is precisely because of this time that the Hugo Award selection system was reformed, from the selection of the jury in the past to the members of the Science Fiction Association to conduct six rounds of joint voting.

In this way, it seems to be a lot fairer, but in fact, it is just a change of soup and not medicine, from a public relations judge to a public relations member, which also makes those authors who want to win the award spend a lot of public relations money in order to get as many votes as possible.

In the face of Robert Broch's ridicule, Jack Vance did not show dissatisfaction on his face, but said with a smile: "Even if there is no current ballot system, I have always believed in the fair and impartial attitude of the jury." ”

"Oh, why haven't I seen your work shortlisted in the past few years?"

"You don't either. ”

"That's it!"

Chairman Johnson interrupted the argument between the two and glanced at the crowd: "The most voted for the current long novella is Robert Silverberg's "Nightwings", but Evan Hoe's "1999 - Our Journey is the Sea of Stars" is the same as "Nightwings" It's exactly the same, it's all 874 votes, this is the first time this has happened in the Hugo Awards, considering that many members have left, so I thought about it for a while, so I called everyone over to vote for these two works, and at the same time, if the same situation occurs in the future, then there will be a new round of public voting by the jury. ”

Someone nodded and said, "That's fine." ”

"Reasonable. ”

"When does it start?"

The judges in attendance all agreed that this method was very reasonable.

Chairman Johnson said, "So from now on, I'll register." ”

"I support Robert Silverberg's Nightwings!"

"I'm for Nightwing!"

"I think 1999 is a great book, and I love the story and setting. ”

"I also voted for "1999""

"I abstain!" Bert Broch hated this kind of jury vote, so he simply announced that he had abstained.

Because it was a live vote, it was only a few minutes later that the results of the vote came out.

The votes for Nightwing were ten and for 1999 were eight, with two abstentions.

Chairman Johnson frowned, he was actually more inclined to "1999" in his heart, because this book is far more pessimistic and contradictory than "Nightwings" with strong pessimism and contradictions.

It's just that Robert Silverberg, the author of "Nightwing", is the owner of the American "Spaceship" magazine, and many people present have published it in "Spaceship" magazine, plus Evan Ho is an Asian author, and no Asian has ever won the Hugo Awards in the more than ten years since its establishment, these two factors will inevitably lead to the bias of some people.

But the matter has come to this point, Chairman Johnson is not saying anything, the rules are just formulated by him, naturally to be followed, although I like "1999", but more people vote for "Nightwings", which is also a helpless thing.

"Then I will announce that in 1969, the winner of the Hugo Award for mid-length length was Robert Silverberg's Nightwings!"

......

Although the results of the Hugo Award will not be announced until the award ceremony in a few days, someone will always know in advance what the fruit looks like and belongs to that person.

"Fack!"

After spending $500 to get the results in advance, Christopher Littor angrily scolded: "How can this group of Bichi be privately selected, even if it is a tie, they should be re-voted, they do this for the justice of the Hugo Award, I very much doubt that there is any insider trading!"

Mark and Thomas, who were sitting next to him from Bantan Books, were also disappointed when they heard the result.

"1999" went all the way, went through the first five rounds of voting, and successfully entered the sixth and final round of voting, but I didn't expect to miss the Hugo Award for Best Novella because of the tie vote, which led to the internal voting of the jury.

Not to mention that Huo Yaowen's manager, Christopher Lito, was not satisfied with this result, Mark and Thomas, who were sent to help by Bantan Books, were also unhappy.

You must know that if Huo Yaowen wins the Hugo Award, then his new book "Virtual World" can play the gimmick of the Hugo Award winner's latest masterpiece, and with the previous fame, the sales will definitely be higher.

But now it's all in vain.

Lituo looked annoyed at this time, he had promised Huo Yaowen that he would definitely win the award, but now not only did he not win the award, but he also spent a small amount of 300,000 US dollars in vain, and suddenly the whole person was as lifeless as a frosted eggplant, and he said to himself in frustration: "I should have known that I shouldn't have saved the last public relations fee, if I had a little more, it would not be the result of a tie." ”

Mark heard him talking to himself and comforted: "Don't blame yourself, Lito, this public relations cost is indeed a bit much, far more than the previous 200,000 US dollars, although we can continue to help pay this money, but the result has come out, everything is late." ”

Thomas frowned: "Can't we do public relations now? Although the results have come out, they have not yet been officially announced to the outside world, and there is completely room for operation." ”

Mark shook his head: "It's impossible, before the results are selected, you can do any kind of public relations, but when the results are out, if you do public relations, it will not only annoy the people of the jury, but also make other participating authors feel uneasy and dissatisfied." ”

Mark knows a lot about the PR of various awards in the United States, so he knows that this result has been decided, and it is difficult to change it.

"Alas. Thomas sighed, as a member of Bantan Books, he naturally hoped that Evan would win the award, which was also an honor.

Rito is still in a deep state of self-reproach.

"Jingle Bell ......"

At this time, the phone in the hotel room rang.

Mark glanced at Lito, and seeing that he was listless, he also got up and went over to pick up the phone.

"Hey, that one?"

"Mark, I'm Ziols. "The person on the other end of the line is the editor-in-chief of Bantan Books.

Mark hurriedly said, "Is there something wrong with the editor-in-chief?"

Ziols asked, "Is it chosen? Did Evan win?"

Mark sighed: "I'm sorry, we messed up, the last round was a tie, the jury of the Hugo Awards privately conducted a new round of voting, we didn't have time for public relations, Evan lost." ”

There was silence for more than a dozen seconds.

Before Mark could say anything, he only heard Ziols say: "Then come back, let Litu come too, he, as Evan's manager, should be present to bring Evan to receive the award." ”

Mark was stunned for a few seconds, and quickly asked in surprise: "Receive the award?"

Ziols said, "Do you know about the Nebula Award?"

Nebula Awards??

Mark pondered for a few seconds, and then desperately recalled it in his mind, and then asked uncertainly: "You are talking about the Science Fiction Nebula Award established in China (the United States) a few years ago?"

"That's right, it's the science fiction award. Although Evan didn't win a Hugo Award, it's not bad to have this small Nebula Award, and it's time for us to promote Evan's new book. ”

"Okay, I know, editor-in-chief. ”

The two chatted a few more words.

After Mark hung up the phone, he was still a little confused, how did he win the Nebula Award?

However, he was only briefly puzzled, and immediately ran to Lito's side and said, "Litu hurry up and pack your bags, we are going back to New York for an awards ceremony." ”

Lito was surprised: "Awards ceremony?"

Mark smiled: "Yes, Evan won the American Nebula Award, and I was just notified by the editor-in-chief of our company." ”

"Nebula Award?" Lito frowned, he had never heard of this award at all.

Mark himself doesn't know much about the Nebula Awards, he only knows that there is such a science fiction award, where can he tell Litu what this award is, he can only say: "It's not a big award, but since it has won the award, it's always a good thing." ”

The Nebula Award is an award established by the American Society of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers, which was first established in 1965 and is selected and awarded by the association every year.

The Nebula Awards are limited to science fiction and fantasy works published or published in the United States, and more than a decade later it is often compared to the Hugo Awards, which are collectively referred to as "double awards".

If one wins the "double award" at the same time, it marks that it has undoubtedly entered the palace of classic works.

But this is the honor of the Nebula Award more than ten years later, and now, the Nebula Award, which has only been established for less than four years, still has a little impact on the American science fiction community, after all, who doesn't like the white bonus?

Mark is now in charge of the publication and promotion of Huo Yaowen's works, but he was not an editor who focused on science fiction before, although he had heard of the Nebula Award, but he didn't know much about it, and it was natural not to know about the Nebula Award.

"Nebula Award, Nebula Award......"

Lito kept repeating the award, his face was cloudy, he looked up at Mark and said, "With this award, I think Evan should be a little happier, and the dollars spent are not in vain, are you right?"

"I don't know. Mark smiled wryly.

It's 300,000 US dollars!

This money is enough for Evan to buy a small farm in the United States and become a farmer!

....