Chapter 156: Life is a Hit
In October, Pierre Cardin, a Frankfurt native with a slicked-back hairdo, held the first fashion show in China at the Yanjing Hotel.
However, since the Yanjing Hotel was not open to the public at that time, this incident did not leave a very deep impression on the people of the country and Yanjing City. Only some newspapers and magazines tried their best to hype the impact of this incident.
Lin Weimin was reading Lu Yao's letter in the office.
“After the publication of the novel Life, my life was completely messed up.
Countless letters came pouring in from all over the country, with a wide variety of contents.
In addition to discussing our thoughts after reading the novel and various life and literary issues, many people also regarded me as a "mentor" who understood the mysteries of life and asked me for advice: "How should people live?" This made me laugh and cry.
There are also some frustrated young people who demand that I write to them by a certain date to enlighten them, otherwise I will die. At the same time, strange visitors come one after another to discuss or "discuss" various issues with me.
Lu Yao was at a loss for words when faced with the various requests from readers, and his life became filled with more troubles. He wrote to Lin Weimin to complain.
Over the past month, the impact of "Life" has grown since its publication, even surpassing the impact of Lin Weimin's "Farewell My Concubine" in the first half of the year.
The biggest difference between the two novels is that "Farewell My Concubine" focuses on individual destiny and unfolds a grand narrative based on individual destiny; while "Life" also focuses on describing small people in a big era, but because of its overly realistic plot, it has aroused strong resonance and crazy pursuit among readers.
In fact, it was not just Lu Yao. The editorial department of "Contemporary" was also once again occupied by readers' letters. People didn't even need to tear open these letters, as almost every one of them was about "Life".
After reading Lu Yao's letter, Lin Weimin wrote a reply.
What should I do when my author becomes famous?
Remember, when things are high, step on the low, and when things are low, praise the high. This is the editor’s golden advice to everyone.
In his letter, Lin Weimin first affirmed the achievements of "Life" and the readers' love for the book.
Then he questioned Lu Yao's current complaints.
"Who was it that said that if 'A Thrilling Scene' could not be published, I would stop writing? You have achieved what you want. Now that you have made some achievements, it is time to work hard. It is too hypocritical to complain and act like a child.
You are a writer cultivated by Contemporary Magazine. From top to bottom, everyone has extremely high hopes for you. You must not lose yourself in self-admiration.
It’s been more than a month since Life was published, and nearly three months since you last submitted a manuscript. Do you have any ideas for new works? Have you started writing?
I hope to see information about your new work in my next letter..."
Lin Weimin was writing his reply when he heard someone making a "tsk tsk tsk" sound next to him.
He turned around and saw Liu Yin.
"Weimin, you are now better than your teacher."
Lin Weimin said: "Didn't I learn all this from you seniors?"
Liu Yin shook his head and said, "Don't say that. We are not as cruel as you. You are simply using Lu Yao as a donkey pulling a millstone!"
When her colleagues heard her say this, they all smiled, and Lin Weimin couldn't help but laugh too.
"If the publication wants to develop, we can't let these writers live in peace..." Lin Weimin was talking when Meng Weizai came in to deliver a manuscript. Lin Weimin said, "Ask the director. Our fifth issue has sold nearly 900,000 copies in the past month, right?"
Meng Weizai smiled and said, "Yes, we will print another 300,000 copies soon."
Today, the sales of each issue of Contemporary magazine has stabilized at more than 800,000 copies. The fifth issue of this year, which published Lu Yao's Life, has sold nearly 900,000 copies in just over a month. It is just around the corner to break one million copies. The foreseeable ceiling should be around 1.2 to 1.3 million copies.
In the past two years, the ceiling of domestic pure literature magazines is "Harvest", with a single issue selling no more than one million copies.
The performance of the fifth issue of "Contemporary" is enough to defeat "Harvest".
I just don’t know if such huge sales can be maintained in the future.
Lin Weimin said, "Look! What do you call this? This is the influence that good works bring to a publication. As soon as Life was published, the sales of our magazine increased by hundreds of thousands of copies. If there was no Life, how could our magazine increase these sales? Without editors like us to spur these writers, could they write such excellent works as Life?"
Meng Weizai laughed and scolded: "You are full of heresy, kid. You can't let outsiders hear this."
Lin Weimin naturally knew who Meng Weizai was referring to as the "outsider". "Don't worry, leader. I definitely wouldn't say that in front of those writers."
Yao Shuzhi said faintly: "Weimin, is your butt a little crooked? Have you forgotten that you are also a writer?"
Lin Weimin said disdainfully: "How can I be the same as them? Do I need others to urge me to submit my manuscript?"
Colleagues nodded one after another. From this point of view, Wei Min is indeed a role model for all writers.
Not only is the quality of their work stable, but their efficiency is also high.
Not to mention "Farewell My Concubine" this year, "The Whistleblower" is about to be published in the November issue of "People's Literature". It is another long novel, and everyone has read the manuscript. It is as excellent as ever.
Not to mention that he also wrote the TV script for "The Cliff" and the drama script for "Farewell My Concubine".
Young man, you have great physical strength!
After work, Lin Weimin rode his bike to Shi Tiesheng's house.
"Tie Sheng! Tie Sheng!" Xiao Jian pushed Shi Tie Sheng out of the house.
Lin Weimin greeted Xiaojian; they had made an appointment in advance.
Today's gathering was arranged by Shi Tiesheng, firstly because it is close to the Mid-Autumn Festival, and secondly because "Autumn Memories" has been published. Its publication in "People's Literature" is a milestone for Shi Tiesheng.
Since the beginning of this year, Shi Tiesheng has not gone to work in the street factory due to his worsening health. He has been feeling uneasy about losing his meager salary.
But fortunately, he made considerable progress in his creation this year.
Several of his works have been published in magazines. The short story "The Hope of a "Fool"" was published in the first issue of "Hebei Literature"; the short story "God in the Woods" was published in the first issue of "Nanfeng"; and the short story "Green Dream" was published in the second issue of "Zhongshan".
"Green Dream" was the article that was previously eliminated by Lin Weimin. After Shi Tiesheng revised it, he submitted "Zhongshan", which was actually selected.
There is also "Autumn Nostalgia" published in "Contemporary" this month. Four works were published in one year. Not to mention anything else, the income from royalties alone made Shi Tiesheng smile.
Three novels and one essay, totaling less than 30,000 words, brought Shi Tiesheng more than 200 yuan in royalties, which was equivalent to his hard work in the street factory for a year. This income was of vital importance to Shi Tiesheng's family.
While Lin Weimin was chatting and laughing with Shi Tiesheng, Qu Xiaowei came in carrying something, accompanied by his girlfriend Liu Haiyan. She has now been officially transferred to Yanjing No. 44 Middle School and has become a high school teacher.
After a few jokes when they met, everyone started chatting and laughing.
Many people came today, including Xiaojian, Gan Tiesheng, the Liu Shuhua brothers, Zhou Meiying and his wife, Lin Weimin, Qu Xiaowei and Liu Haiyan, and the two couples Zheng Guo and Yao Shuzhi.
Shi Tiesheng asked Lin Weimin, "Why didn't your nephew come today?"
"He went to the Peking Opera Theater for training. He was almost dying from training. How could he have time to come and eat for free?"
Because the play "Farewell My Concubine" contains a large proportion of Peking Opera scenes, in the spirit of professionalism and seriousness, the People's Art Theatre sent all the actors in the group to the National Peking Opera Theater for training for a period of three months.
Han Zhuangzhuang joined the People's Art Theatre later than anyone else. Normally, a youngster like him would have to study for a period of time after joining the theatre. However, Ouyang Shanzun suggested that he go to train with everyone else, and also gave Han Zhuangzhuang a small supporting role to let him experience the feeling of acting. This was all to give Lin Weimin face.
Lin Weimin repeatedly warned Han Zhuangzhuang to be low-key in the People's Art Theatre. He was lucky to be admitted to the Theatre because of his own reasons. After entering, he would inevitably be observed under a magnifying glass by some people. The best way was to be low-key and act honestly.
Many people came to Shi Tiesheng's house today, and Shi's father was busy cooking, but in fact he didn't need to do anything, not even Shi Lan.
Everyone started fighting, and the father and daughter had no chance to perform at all.
While Lin Weimin was kneading the dough, everyone started talking about the recently popular movie "Life".
Lin Weimin was an editor at "Contemporary" magazine, and this work was published in "Contemporary" magazine.
Qu Xiaowei said: "Weimin is the editor of this work."
Several people present were surprised. They had not had much contact with Lin Weimin. Zhou Meiying smiled and said, "Weimin is not only successful as a writer, but also an excellent editor."
"This work has little to do with me. It's all thanks to the author Lu Yao," Lin Weimin said modestly.
Qu Xiaowei interrupted, "How can it have nothing to do with you? Didn't you go all the way to Shaanxi to bring him back?"
When everyone heard this, they thought there was something else going on?
Seeing everyone's curiosity, Lin Weimin waved his hand and briefly explained Lu Yao's situation at that time.
Everyone sighed after listening to this. It is no wonder that such a crazy writer could write such an excellent work as "Life".
“So, sometimes a good editor is not only someone who can discover good works, but also a mentor and friend to the writers,” Zhou Meiying said with emotion.
While Zhou Meiying was speaking, Yao Shuzhi couldn't help but smile. Liu Haiyan, who was sitting next to her, caught a glimpse of her expression and asked her curiously what was going on.
The two girls whispered a few words to each other, and then they both burst out laughing.
"What are you two laughing at? Say it out loud and make us happy!" Qu Xiaowei asked.
Yao Shuzhi was about to shake her head when she heard his words, but Liu Haiyan laughed and said, "Shuzhi told me how Weimin tricked Lu Yao. It was very interesting."
"What's the trick?" Everyone became interested and asked.
Yao Shuzhi quickly stopped Liu Haiyan and said, "I should have known not to tell you."
She looked at Lin Weimin guiltily. This was an internal secret of the editorial department and it would be a bit embarrassing if she accidentally let it out.
Lin Weimin probably guessed what Yao Shuzhi said, but he didn't take it seriously. Everyone was just joking within the editorial department. In fact, more CPUs and KTVs were all to encourage and spur the authors so that they could create better works.
Well, that’s a good reason.
If Lu Yao hears this later, I’ll explain it this way. Perfect!
Now that we have come to this point, there is no need to hide anything. Lin Weimin took the initiative to talk about the routines that editors use to "pamper" and "scold" the authors, which made everyone laugh.
Zhou Meiying and his wife also have a deep understanding of this. “Some creative people really won’t write anything for you unless you push them hard enough!”
"It would be great if everyone was like Weimin." Xu Xiao said.
Shi Tiesheng laughed and said, "It's not good if everyone is like him. Will other writers survive?"
Everyone burst into laughter.
With Zhou Meiying and his wife around, everyone couldn't help but talk about the discontinued "Today". Whenever they talked about "Today", everyone's tone revealed too much regret and reluctance.
Zhou Meiying talked about when Today was first published a few years ago. All the members of their makeshift editorial department went out, carrying publications and paste, and posted the publications at the gates of some publishing houses in Yenching and major universities.
The most interesting thing was when they posted publications at the entrance of the university. Their publications were private publications, not formal publications. The school security department knew this, but many of them were college students. College students at this time were the treasures of the whole society. The whole society had high hopes for them, expecting them to contribute to the construction of the motherland in the future.
With these college students around, the security department had to wait until they left before removing the items in order to avoid conflicts with them.
Zhou Meiying said with a nostalgic tone: "It was so good back then!"
Shi Tiesheng blurted out, "It's good now, too!"
The others agreed and everyone raised their glasses and drank.
After a whole night of fun at Shi Tiesheng's house, the party ended and everyone dispersed.
Lin Weimin was in the same direction as Qu Xiaowei and Liu Haiyan. He asked about their marriage. During this period, Qu Xiaowei had already made a trip to Jinling to settle down with his future father-in-law and mother-in-law.
"Let's wait until after the New Year. Haiyan's job will be stable, and I can also take care of the family."
After Qu Xiaowei finished speaking, he asked in a teasing tone: "How are you doing? I heard that there is a sequel to your story about that female foreign student. She even chased you to the door of your workplace and brought you food!"
"Don't spread rumors about things that don't exist."
Since the last time she went to the community to deliver a lunch box to Lin Weimin, Xiao Heiyangzi has never appeared again, and her lunch box is still in Lin Weimin's house.
Lin Weimin later realized that Yoko must have understood what he meant a long time ago, but she had just been pretending to be confused in an attempt to get away with it.
Seeing that I was about to talk to her seriously, she immediately disappeared, like a cute rabbit with its head stuck in the snow, deceiving herself and others.
(End of this chapter)
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