Chapter 488 Are you still short of lackeys?
Zhou Shanhu, editor-in-chief of "Yellow River" magazine, pen name Shanquan, was a student of the first batch after the establishment of the National Academy of Literature. It is said that he has some connection with Lin Weimin.
Of course, Lin Weimin was not stunned because he saw his name, but because of the name mentioned by Zhou Shanhu in the letter.
He read a few lines of the letter and flipped through the manuscript. The title of the book was "The Golden Age".
After reading Zhou Shanhu's letter again, Lin Weimin put his things down and asked Tong Zhonggui to go and do his work first. He carefully asked the visitor about the details of the manuscript.
It turned out that the person who came was called Ding Dong, a friend of Wang Xiaobo. He came here purely to help his friend submit an article to see if it could be published.
"Contemporary" was not the first magazine that Ding Dong approached. He approached many magazines, but many editors rejected his manuscript without even reading two pages.
There are some editors who appreciate Wang Xiaobo's works, but his works are so over the line in terms of sensuality that no one dares to use them.
The manuscript was submitted to the Yellow River magazine some time ago. After Zhou Shanhu received the manuscript of the novel, he wanted to publish it, but the editorial department had strong objections and it could not be published.
He wrote a letter to Wang Xiaobo, giving him advice and suggesting that he publish his work in a magazine with stronger backing.
When Lin Weimin heard what Ding Dong said, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It turned out that "Contemporary" was able to receive this manuscript because of its strong background.
"Our Contemporary is a publication under the Guowen Publishing House. You must know what Guowen Publishing House represents. It has a strong backing, but it is even more taboo in some aspects." Lin Weimin said to Ding Dong.
"Of course I know that. But the question is, aren't you the editor-in-chief of Contemporary?"
Ding Dong's words made Lin Weimin feel very relieved. This was probably the attraction of a great writer.
“If a novel like The Lover can be published in Contemporary, why can’t The Golden Age be published?”
Lin Weimin: ???
The good impression I had of Ding Dong was instantly wiped out. This guy looked so hideous!
Like "Lover"? What? What? Tell me, what?
Mine is a pure love story, a novel for serious people.
What is this you brought? It’s a romance novel!
Lin Weimin pinched the edge of the manuscript with his fingers, complaining wildly in his heart.
Anyone who has read "The Golden Age" should know how pornographic it is, but Wang Xiaobo is really awesome and what he writes is really damn good.
In fact, it is very simple to judge whether a novel is SQ literature. You just need to see whether the description in it is just a simple description or whether it conveys other information through the description.
If it is the former, it is vulgar SQ literature, and if it is the latter, it is not SQ literature but QS literature.
These four words look exactly the same, but when the order is reversed, the meaning is completely different.
The connotation of "The Golden Age" is far more than what can be summarized by QS literature. The questioning of human nature and the concern about the living conditions in the novel are most commendable.
After a moment's silence, Lin Weimin decided to forgive Ding Dong, the fool, for the sake of the novel.
"How about this, leave the manuscript with me first, and then ask your friend to come to the editorial office and I'll talk to him."
"Can the novel be published?" Ding Dong asked.
"This needs further discussion." Lin Weimin said.
"What is there to discuss? Look at what is popular in the literary world today? Scars, reform, root-seeking, reflection, as if you can't write a novel without a layer of skin.
You can imagine the level of these writers and their works. Compared with my friend’s novels, they are nothing.”
Ding Dong sat there and spoke out loudly, which made Lin Weimin look at him with new eyes. It was obvious at first glance that he was an old angry young man.
These should be considered the first batch of lackeys, right?
"Do you think publishing a novel is just a game? You have visited so many magazines and publishing houses. Don't you know the difficulty and risk of publishing this novel?" Lin Weimin said with a stern face.
Ding Dong was intimidated by his aura. He was so unscrupulous just now because he thought he was easy to talk to. Now that he became serious, Ding Dong did not dare to act rashly.
"Okay then, I'll ask him to come over tomorrow."
"Okay. Also, tell him that he can bring any manuscripts he has."
Lin Weimin's words made Ding Dong's face reveal a hint of joy. It seemed that Lin Weimin admired Xiaobo's novel very much!
Ding Dong left the Chinese Literature Society happily and was about to find Wang Xiaobo to tell him the good news, but suddenly the scene in the office just now came to his mind.
It seems that Lin Weimin didn’t read the manuscript?
Then he gave up the idea.
Xiaobo's novel is so amazing that just one glance is enough. Didn't he just glance at it twice? That's enough!
After Ding Dong left, Lin Weimin handed the manuscript to Tong Zhonggui, "Please review this manuscript and write your review comments in detail."
"Okay, Teacher Lin."
Tong Zhonggui took the manuscript and recognized it at a glance as the one the man had just sent. Based on his understanding of Teacher Lin, he must be very optimistic about this manuscript.
Tong Zhonggui carefully read the manuscript.
After a while, his face turned red, and he looked down and saw that his cock was hard.
Teacher Lin asked me to read this. What kind of novel is this?
As a socialist five-good youth, Tong Zhonggui instinctively rejected the manuscript that made him feel uncomfortable, but for some reason, his hands continued to flip through the manuscript, and his eyes stared at the words on the paper greedily and uncontrollably.
After reading another page of the manuscript, he raised his head guiltily and looked around.
Fortunately no one noticed.
Tong Zhonggui glanced at everyone and then lowered his head to continue reading the manuscript.
"Xiao Tong!"
The sudden shout scared Tong Zhonggui so much that he shuddered. He raised his head, his cheeks were red, his breathing was a little rapid, and his eyes were panic-stricken.
"Yao...Sister Yao, what's the matter?"
"What manuscript did Weimin give you just now?" Yao Shuzhi asked.
Tong Zhonggui's heart skipped a beat. This was the question he feared the most. "It's... it's nothing. It's just about educated youth... well, a novel that reflects the lives of educated youth."
When he said this, he glanced at the manuscript guiltily, saying... there should be nothing wrong with it, right?
"Really? Let me see it when you're done."
Tong Zhonggui swallowed his saliva. Is this something you can see?
"Um... um, okay!" He agreed with a grunt.
After reading it, I quickly returned it to Teacher Lin. If Sister Yao wanted the manuscript, she could ask Teacher Lin for it herself.
Lin Weimin had no idea what kind of ups and downs in the emotional journey of Tong Zhonggui would be triggered by the manuscript of "The Golden Age" he casually handed over to this young boy.
In the afternoon, Tong Zhonggui finished reading the novel while suppressing his anger, and then wrote the review comments with difficulty and returned the manuscript to Lin Weimin.
"No need to give it to me, pass it on for everyone to see."
Tong Zhonggui took the manuscript back to the editorial office with an embarrassed look on his face and handed it to Yao Shuzhi, "Sister Yao, Teacher Lin said to circulate it to everyone."
Yao Shuzhi immediately became interested when she heard this. "I said that since he came here personally to deliver the manuscript, there must be something behind it."
She took the manuscript with joy, and after reading it for less than two minutes, Tong Zhonggui heard Yao Shuzhi spit fiercely.
He glanced over and was glared at by Yao Shuzhi.
Tong Zhonggui is more resentful than Dou E, what does it have to do with me?
The next day, a young man with a haggard face and a slightly gaunt look walked into the editorial office of Contemporary Magazine.
The first impression of everyone in the editorial department was that he was so ugly that they couldn't bear to look at him.
But this person was enthusiastically invited into the editor-in-chief's office by Lin Weimin.
"Xiao Tong, is he the author?" Yao Shuzhi asked.
Tong Zhonggui nodded, "It should be him. Teacher Lin asked him to come to the editorial office today to have a chat."
"I really didn't realize that he doesn't look that good, but he has such wild thoughts." Yao Shuzhi teased.
"Actually, actually..." Tong Zhonggui stuttered, and finally said: "I think the novel is actually very well written!"
Yao Shuzhi rolled her eyes at him and said, "I didn't say he wrote badly. It's just that some parts were too explicit. It could have been more subtle."
"The Golden Age" has been circulated in the editorial department since yesterday. Tong Zhonggui and Yao Shuzhi have just finished reading it. They are the editors with the most say.
"Maybe... this just happens to be his style!" Tong Zhonggui said.
"I think this is the style you men like?" Yao Shuzhi said sarcastically.
Tong Zhonggui blushed a little.
Liu Yin, who was reading a novel nearby, said in a tone that showed she had experienced many vicissitudes of life: "Young people are full of energy, and they always need a way to vent it."
After hearing what Liu Yin said, Tong Zhonggui's face turned even redder, as if she was talking about him.
Liu Yin and Yao Shuzhi couldn't help laughing.
Flirting with young boys is the biggest hobby of some married lesbians.
Wang Xiaobo is 36 years old this year. He is not good at speaking and is introverted and shy. When he was a child, his family even suspected that he had a mental problem and called him "Silly Bozi".
He went to study abroad at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States with his wife Li Yinhe in 1984. He just returned to China this year and is now a teacher at Yanda University.
While studying in the United States, he wrote "Tang People's Stories", an antique novel based on several legendary stories of the Tang Dynasty. In 1989, his second sister paid a publishing house to publish it for him, and 4,000 copies were printed. In order to attract attention, the editor changed the title of the novel to "Tang People's Secret Stories".
At this point in time, "Tang People's Stories" has not been published yet. Yesterday, his good friend Ding Dong found Wang Xiaobo and told him that the editorial department of "Contemporary" was interested in publishing his "The Golden Age". Lin Weimin also specially invited him to the editorial department for detailed discussions. Wang Xiaobo was very excited and brought the manuscript of "Tang People's Stories" with him.
As for "The Golden Age", this novel has been started since 1982. In fact, it is still a work-in-progress. Wang Xiaobo has been revising it since he finished writing it.
Wang Xiaobo was very nervous when Lin Weimin warmly welcomed him into the office.
He particularly liked Lin Weimin's "The Lover". When he was in the United States, he read the novel no less than five times. He once told his wife Li Yinhe that it was only after reading "The Lover" that he understood the art of modern novels.
Now that Lin Weimin was in front of him, he didn't know what to say. After sitting down, he just stayed there woodenly, staring fixedly at the floor of the office, as if waiting for Lin Weimin to speak first.
Lin Weimin looked at him for a while, and seeing that he had no intention of speaking, he shook his head helplessly.
"Your novel..."
When Wang Xiaobo heard his voice, he focused his attention on him and looked at him.
“The content is a bit sensitive.”
Wang Xiaobo nodded, "Yes!"
“It’s not easy to operate!”
Wang Xiaobo nodded again, "Yes!"
Lin Weimin frowned. This guy is not very good at CPU!
Since this approach was blocked, Lin Weimin decided to change direction.
"Or else, let's publish and publish at the same time!"
Wang Xiaobo's expression finally showed a slight change. "What do you mean?"
"I'm afraid your novel won't even have a chance to be published after it's published. But if you publish it first, at most a few thousand or ten thousand copies will be sold, which won't have much influence. It's better to publish it at the same time as it's published, for double insurance."
Wang Xiaobo's expression became vivid, and he asked excitedly, "Can it really work?"
“It’s definitely a little troublesome, but it’s not impossible to operate.”
Wang Xiaobo read a bit of self-praise on Teacher Lin's face.
Because his novel was too unrestrained in some aspects, he had tried many times to publish it, but now someone finally agreed to publish it. Not only did they agree to publish it, they even wanted to arrange the publication of it.
Wang Xiaobo looked up at Lin Weimin who was standing there, and wanted to ask a question from the bottom of his heart.
Teacher Lin, are you still short of lackeys?
(End of this chapter)
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