Chapter 565: Manuscript compilation is a matter of social etiquette

The editorial department's performance appraisal system has become increasingly perfect under Lin Weimin's busy work over the past few days.

That afternoon, Lin Weimin reviewed the document again and felt that he could not see any problems. After get off work, he drove to Dongzongbu Hutong.

"old lady!"

Lin Weimin walked into a house and called out rudely at the door.

Wei Junyi was reading a book on the sofa. When she looked up and saw Lin Weimin, a smile appeared on her face.

She suffered a cerebral hemorrhage a few years ago and a stroke last year. Now she has difficulty in moving and her expressions are not as lively, which is consistent with her usual personality.

"How come you have time to come here?"

Wei Junyi has always been indifferent to the ways of the world. Whether at work or at home, she never takes the initiative to greet guests, ask for a seat, or offer tea. She just keeps to herself when there is something to talk about.

Lin Weimin came today, and she rarely asked a question.

Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Come and see you!"

He sat next to Wei Junyi and asked about her health.

Wei Junyi's health condition is not very good now, and her family wants to take her to Shanghai for treatment and recuperation after the New Year.

After chatting for a while, Lin Weimin took out the document he compiled. Wei Junyi pretended to be unhappy and said, "Is this what you said about coming to see me?"

"It's okay. I'm here to learn from you, the old editor."

Lin Weimin handed the document to Wei Junyi. Wei Junyi took the document and glanced at it. Without reading it in detail, she asked, "Are you going to be the editor-in-chief?"

Lin Weimin shuddered and exclaimed, "Isn't this inheriting your glorious tradition?"

Wei Junyi teased: "Zaochun is also blind."

"You old lady, don't you expect me to be good?"

Jokes aside, Lin Weimin is about to take up the position of editor-in-chief of Guowen Publishing House at such a young age, and Wei Junyi is happy for him from the bottom of her heart.

Lin Weimin has not been an obedient and good student since he joined the Chinese Literature Society, but at the same time he has outstanding creative talent and has done a brilliant job as an editor, so Wei Junyi looks at him differently.

The two of them argued for a few words, and Wei Junyi picked up the document and read it carefully.

More than half an hour passed before Wei Junyi put down the documents.

"Help me up and move around." Wei Junyi said.

Lin Weimin helped Wei Junyi to get up with difficulty and moved in small steps around the room.

"About the performance appraisal..." Wei Junyi said in a thoughtful tone, and Lin Weimin looked at her.

"You wrote a good document, but some old comrades may have some opinions."

"There are certainly some opinions, but the majority of people should support the implementation of this system."

Wei Junyi glanced at him and saw that he didn't realize the seriousness of the problem, so she reminded him: "Don't forget, one fish can spoil the whole pot of soup."

Lin Weimin laughed, "I've thought about it. When this matter is about to be implemented, I will find Lao Yan, Lao Meng, and Lao Tan in the community. Since you are not able to walk properly now, I won't call you!"

Wei Junyi snorted, "I'm already half buried in the ground, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning if you mess with me?"

"I didn't ask you to, so don't say weird things."

After a few words, Wei Junyi said seriously: "You can handle this matter. If you need me to show up, please drive to pick me up."

Lin Weimin smiled and said, "You are really nice, old lady!"

After chatting for a while, Lin Weimin said goodbye and left.

The next day, Lin Weimin handed the drafted editorial performance appraisal system to Cheng Zaochun.

Lin Weimin had not yet taken office, so this document was given to Cheng Zaochun so that he could familiarize himself with it and offer some suggestions.

In the afternoon, Wen Neng came to visit the Guowen Society and found Lin Weimin.

He has been in Yenching for a week, and the manuscript compilation work has been basically completed. The party is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, and Lin Weimin has agreed to attend.

The next day, Lin Weimin worked in the morning and left in the afternoon.

The party organized by Wen Neng was held in the venue of the Yenching Writers Association. When Lin Weimin entered the room, he saw all familiar faces.

"If I had known you were coming, I would have picked you up."

Lin Weimin greeted Shi Tiesheng first, and then the little old man Wang Meng.

Tang Kangmei and Huang Anyi were sitting together, holding hands and chatting. When they saw Lin Weimin, Tang Kangmei immediately frowned, turned her head and pretended not to see him.

"An Yi, why are you here too?"

Wen Neng came to Yenching to collect manuscripts and also organized a gathering of Yenching writers. Huang Anyi was from Shanghai, so Lin Weimin was naturally curious about her appearance here.

"I was invited to go to northern Shaanxi to collect folk songs, and I wanted to come and see Tiesheng. He said that Huacheng was organizing a writers' gathering and invited me to come."

"I see. If Wen hadn't invited me, I wouldn't have known about this. Your little gang can't isolate me!"

Tang Kangmei snorted coldly, Huang Anyi pulled Tang Kangmei, and Lin Weimin smiled but said nothing.

Tang Kangmei, Huang Anyi and Lin Weimin were classmates at the Institute of Literature. Normally, it was inevitable that they would get intimate when they met. However, in 1988, a group of writers visited France, and Tang Kangmei was one of them.

Lin Weimin had a very unpleasant experience with the Writers Association at that time, and even withdrew from the association because of this, thus forming a feud with this group of visiting writers in France.

Tang Kangmei and Lin Weimin were classmates. Afterwards, he explained a few things through his classmates, saying that the writers in France at that time did not deliberately slander him, but just when they talked about that, they could not help but complain a few words.

Now that the matter has passed, it can be regarded as an old case.

Lin Weimin didn't mind, but Tang Kangmei seemed a little upset.

Huang Anyi comforted the two of them, and Tang Kangmei reluctantly said a few words to Lin Weimin, and the atmosphere became harmonious.

In addition to these people, there are also Li Guowen, Chen Rong and Zhang Jie at today's gathering.

Li Guowen is the author of "Spring in Winter", a novel that won the first Yanbing Literature Award together with Lin Weimin's "The Sound of the Wind".

Many people are not familiar with Chen Rong's name, but many people are familiar with her three children - Liang Zuo, Liang Tian and Liang Huan, all of whom are celebrities in the film and television industry in later generations.

"From Liang Tian's perspective, I should call you aunt." Lin Weimin said to Chen Rong with a smile.

Chen Rong smiled and said, "To each his own."

Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

There is also Zhang Jie, who is one year younger than Chen Rong, but is also over 50 years old. Her book "Heavy Wings" was published by Guowen Publishing House and won the second Yanbing Literature Award.

The lineup for this year's writers' gathering is brilliant, and Wen was able to bring this group of people together thanks to the reputation of Huacheng.

There are so many writers here. If we have to classify them, Wang Meng, Chen Rong, Li Guowen and Zhang Jie should be considered as the older generation of writers, and the rest can be considered as the new generation of writers.

At writers' gatherings, what people talk about most, besides literature itself, is various literary anecdotes and gossip.

Everyone naturally divided into small groups of three or two, and occasionally these small groups would be disrupted and regrouped.

Shi Tiesheng and Wang Meng were talking about the books they had read recently, while Zhang Jie and Huang Anyi were talking about raising cats.

Lin Weimin can chat with anyone and change places from time to time. Now he is sitting with Li Guowen. They have a common friend, Liang Xiaosheng, and they are also chatting about Liang Xiaosheng.

At the beginning, Liang Xiaosheng specifically consulted Lin Weimin about this issue because Yanying Studio wanted to promote him to be the director of the studio's art and literature department. Finally, at Lin Weimin's suggestion, he gave up this promotion opportunity.

But two years ago, Liang Xiaosheng was transferred to China Children's Film Studio as deputy director of the Art Committee.

The reason is very simple. The China Children's Film Studio can help him solve his housing problem.

A group of people chatted enthusiastically for an entire afternoon, and Wen was able to organize a dinner party in the evening. It was obvious from his behavior that he was an experienced editor.

Article compilation is not simply a commission, it is about human relations and social etiquette.

If you don’t have good relationships, how can you get the freshly-written manuscripts from writers?

During the meal, Huang Anyi asked Lin Weimin, "You are very familiar with Lu Yao, right?"

"Well, did you meet Lu Yao when you went to northern Shaanxi this time?"

"He was the one who received me." Huang Anyi said.

Huang Anyi went to northern Shaanxi to collect folk songs at an invitation, and the Literary Association was responsible for the reception, so it was reasonable for Lu Yao to come forward.

"I had a little unpleasantness with him!" said Huang Anyi.

Lin Weimin asked: "What's wrong?"

Huang Anyi then talked about the situation in northern Shaanxi, and there were actually no major conflicts.

Huang Anyi has lived in places like Shanghai since she was a child and has never been to northern Shaanxi, which is much poorer than the place where she went to the countryside, and the natural conditions are even worse.

Huang Anyi was surprised and said to others: "This place in northern Shaanxi is so desolate. It is hard to imagine how people can live here! Why don't they migrate people away from the Loess Plateau?"

Unexpectedly, this sentence offended Lu Yao. Lu Yao had lived in northern Shaanxi since he was a child. From his writings, one can know his feelings for this land. After hearing Huang Anyi's words, Lu Yao felt that she was disrespectful to her hometown, so he scolded Huang Anyi unhappily.

Huang Anyi recalled the scene at that time, her face looked a little distressed, Lin Weimin smiled and said: "I thought it was nothing, you didn't mean any harm. You don't know him, he has a strong self-esteem, I'll call him later and tell him."

"It's best if you can talk it out. I didn't mean to look down on northern Shaanxi by saying that."

Lin Weimin nodded. He knew that Huang Anyi didn't mean to belittle him, but she had lived in the city since she was a child and came from a wealthy family. Sometimes her careless words would hurt others unintentionally.

When Contemporary Magazine held a writers' meeting in Yantai, Huang Anyi teased Mo Yan, saying, "Why must the Transparent Carrot be a carrot? Red sweet potato will do, too!"

Because of this joke, Huang Anyi offended Mo Yan.

Northern Shaanxi is the hometown where Lu Yao grew up. "Transparent Carrot" incorporates Mo Yan's real experience. The only thing to blame is Huang Anyi's lack of knowledge of the details.

"It's just a misunderstanding. It can be explained after a few words." Lin Weimin comforted Huang Anyi.

After the party hosted by Wen Neng ended, Lin Weimin went to work as usual the next day. As soon as he arrived at the office, the phone rang.

"Weimin, come to my office."

On the phone, Cheng Zaochun's voice was serious and urgent, and it was obvious that it was something important.

Lin Weimin put down the phone and hurried to the front building.

(End of this chapter)