Chapter 902: Half of "Li Jianguo", a History of China
This year's Spring Festival came late, and it was already March after the Lantern Festival.
It's still chilly in spring and people haven't taken off their winter clothes yet.
The third issue of "Contemporary" in 1999 was quietly placed on the bookshelves of bookstores. Over the years, this magazine has accompanied the growth of countless readers. Many loyal readers have already developed the habit of going to bookstores or newsstands to buy a copy of "Contemporary" on the morning of the day the magazine was released.
And today, there are especially many readers buying Contemporary magazine in bookstores and newsstands everywhere.
The bookstore salespeople or newsstand owners were not at all surprised by this phenomenon because Lin Weimin's new novel had been published.
"Li Jianguo".
An extremely simple book title, which is also the name of the protagonist of the novel.
Many readers who saw the title of this book were puzzled at first glance, wondering why Lin Weimin gave the novel such a simple and ordinary name.
Li Jianguo, this name was so common in the 1950s and 1960s that there might be two students with this name if the roof of the school collapsed and they fell down.
But this is Lin Weimin's new novel after all, and readers will not dwell on the title for too long. The most important thing is to have a quick look at it.
"Li Jianguo" is a very long novel. Although it draws on "The World" in character creation and plot setting, it does not use the panoramic writing style of "The World". There is only one real main character in the whole novel - Li Jianguo.
Li Jianguo's life spanned various major events in New China. Many people gradually understood as they read the book that this novel is more about the development history of New China than the story of a man named Li Jianguo.
Li Jianguo, after reading the novel, these readers finally understood the meaning of this name.
The sufferings faced by the protagonist of the novel seem to represent everything that this ancient yet young country has experienced.
When reading the second half of the novel, the story enters the period of reform and opening up, and the plot becomes full of ups and downs, gradually giving rise to a magnificent and turbulent atmosphere.
Finally, I read that in 1997, the old man passed away, Hong Kong returned to China, and the new China was developing better and better. At this time, the protagonist was almost forty years old. The sufferings of the first half of his life had passed, and his life, like the country, was gradually becoming smooth.
But a layoff notice shattered Li Jianguo's beautiful life.
The novel ends here, and countless suspense is left unresolved, leaving many readers with a sense of loss after reading it.
The novel is so well written, but why hasn’t it been finished?
Soon, the readers' grievances turned into letters that flew into the editorial department of "Contemporary". The editors who received the letters were all smiling.
“The response from readers has been overwhelming!”
Yang Xinlan looked at the piles of letters from readers and felt a sense of happy worry.
"How can it not be intense? This is the chairman's new novel!"
When Yao Shuzhi said the three words "Chairman", she emphasized the tone very much, fearing that others would not be able to hear the joking and mocking tone in her voice.
"Everyone's comments are very high." Yang Xinlan said as she flipped through the letters from readers.
Zhu Changsheng raised his head and said, "Domestic readers still prefer this kind of realistic writing style, which has the widest audience. Weimin's creation this time can be said to be the pinnacle of realistic works, with an extremely epic temperament. Don't you think so? His novel is similar to Forrest Gump."
Yang Xinlan clapped her hands and said, "Yes, there are some similarities. But Li Jianguo is still a little different from Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump's experiences are a bit superficial, while every experience of Li Jianguo is closely related to the growth of the Republic!"
"But..." Zhu Changsheng tapped the table with the cap of his fountain pen, "This guy wrote up to 1997 in the first part, how is he going to write the second part?"
Upon hearing this, many editors in the editorial department fell into deep thought.
"Weimin's writing style is indeed unexpected. If it goes on, it will definitely be a future timeline. If it is not handled well, it will easily deviate into science fiction and destroy the reader's sense of immersion."
“It’s not easy to write. In my experience, this approach is too easy to fall into traps.”
"Writing this way is indeed risky, but the benefits are also obvious. Once it is written, it will almost become an epic. White Deer Plain is nothing compared to it."
Everyone was discussing the novel "Li Jianguo" with great interest.
Zou Changyi asked: "When will the second part of this novel be submitted?"
Everyone looked at each other and said, "I don't think we've heard Lao He say that!"
Yao Shuzhi said, "Look, leaders get special treatment. He dares to publish the first part, but the second part is still a long way off. If it's published a year later, won't the readers overthrow the editorial department?"
She couldn't suppress the gloating on her face. "Anyway, I didn't hear him writing anything during the Chinese New Year."
The crowd was shocked.
Doesn’t that mean the next part hasn’t been started yet?
This is really intended to last for a year!
While the editorial department of Contemporary was discussing the creative progress of the second part of Li Jianguo, Lin Weimin was accepting Zhang Chaoyang's thanks.
At the end of last year, Zhang Chaoyang came to Lin Weimin to discuss Sohu's financing. In addition to urging him to go public as soon as possible, Lin Weimin also reminded him to hurry up and obtain the qualification to publish news business.
But this thing is under the jurisdiction of the State Council, and Sohu has no ability to handle such a thing. CEO Zhang Chaoyang has even less ability to handle it, so he can only ask Lin Weimin for help.
Guowen Group is a shareholder of Sohu. Although its shares have been reduced after two rounds of dilution, it is still the third largest shareholder after Zhang Chaoyang and Goldman Sachs. Lin Weimin will definitely help with this little favor.
After making two phone calls, Sohu easily obtained the qualification to publish news. Sohu had just obtained the qualification a few days after the New Year, and didn’t Zhang Chaoyang immediately come to express his gratitude?
Lin Weimin's help once again made Zhang Chaoyang realize how much support and help Sohu would get from having Guowen Group as a shareholder in their domestic development.
Goldman Sachs is in charge of overseas listings, while Guowen Group is in charge of domestic development. With this combination, Sohu is simply more powerful.
"I didn't dare to come to your house to disturb you during the New Year. I'll treat you to dinner tonight." After expressing his gratitude, Zhang Chaoyang extended an invitation to Lin Weimin.
Lin Weimin looked at Zhang Chaoyang's expression and said, "If you have something to say, just say it!"
Zhang Chaoyang smiled a little embarrassedly, "I really can't hide anything from you."
"That's what's going on. Aren't we in a hurry to go public? Gaosheng is already helping us pave the way for the US, but we have to handle the domestic side on our own.
Sohu is an Internet company. If it wants to go public, it must first get approval from the Ministry of Information Industry. Do you know Zhao Zhiguo?"
Lin Weimin shook his head. "I don't know him. What does he do?"
"Deputy Director of the Telecommunications Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Information Industry."
"The one who is in charge of your business?" Lin Weimin asked.
Zhang Chaoyang nodded. "He has a good relationship with Sina. He was much happier to meet Wang Zhidong than to meet me."
What Zhang Chaoyang said is a bit like a primary school student complaining to his teacher.
"I'll make a phone call and ask."
Lin Weimin had no scruples and picked up the phone and started calling in front of Zhang Chaoyang.
He made several phone calls before he finally found someone who knew Zhao Zhiguo.
Zhang Chaoyang was shocked when he heard Lin Weimin talking on the phone. He had called leaders of three ministries in such a short period of time. Looking at Teacher Lin's tone and expression, he did not seem to be restrained at all when talking to leaders on the phone. His attitude was relaxed and it was obvious that they were very familiar with each other.
"Okay, okay, thank you, boss. I'll treat you to dinner later."
Lin Weimin put down the phone and said to Zhang Chaoyang, "Are you free tomorrow night?"
"When I'm free, I'm free!" Zhang Chaoyang nodded hurriedly.
Teacher Lin asked someone to help Zhao Zhiguo and asked him to have dinner with him. Tomorrow he has to go even if he has to crawl!
"Teacher Lin, I'm sorry to trouble you again."
Lin Weimin waved his hand and said, "Don't say that."
"Tomorrow night you..." Zhang Chaoyang asked hesitantly.
"Help others to the end, I will go there tomorrow too."
Zhang Chaoyang showed a relaxed smile on his face, "I feel relieved with you here."
The next evening, Zhang Chaoyang hosted a banquet for Zhao Zhiguo at the China Hotel.
Zhao Zhiguo is a scholar-type cadre with a refined temperament. The fact that he came to the appointment today actually expressed an attitude, so the atmosphere was very harmonious when he chatted with Zhang Chaoyang.
As the banquet came to an end, Lin Weimin toasted Zhao Zhiguo.
"Director Zhao, I'm leaving Sohu's matter to you!"
Zhao Zhiguo raised his glass, "Teacher Lin, you are too polite."
Zhang Chaoyang also followed suit with a glass of wine. He knew very well in his heart that Zhao Zhiguo was usually not as approachable as he was today. The reason why this matter could be accomplished today was because of Teacher Lin's face.
More than a week later, Sohu officially obtained approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to go public in China.
At this point, Sohu has cleared all domestic obstacles on its journey to listing in the United States. What follows next will depend on Goldman Sachs' operations in the United States.
The time for Sohu to enter Nasdaq and complete the bell ringing ceremony is getting closer and closer.
In recent days, the response caused by "Li Jianguo" in the domestic literary circles has been growing.
Although only the first part of the novel has been published, Lin Weimin paid great attention to the overall structure when he was writing it. Looking at the content of the first part alone, it is still a very complete novel.
Moreover, the novel has outstanding writing style and a grand structure, and can be called a magnificent epic.
The 470,000-word book incorporates the growth and development of New China from the perspective of an ordinary person like Li Jianguo, and shows the unique tenacity and self-improvement of the Chinese people in the face of hardships and setbacks in life.
During this period, "Li Jianguo" received numerous praises from the literary world, made the critics cheer, and the press marveled.
Since the 1980s, there have been many works that have caused a sensation in the literary, critical and journalistic circles, such as Farewell My Concubine, Ordinary World, Ancient Ship, The Dust Settles, and White Deer Plain.
But a work like "Li Jianguo" that can make everyone applaud and praise it is almost unique.
Even "White Deer Plain" is still criticized by some people for its "historical view" and "QS description" problems.
But when it comes to "Li Jianguo", these people seem to think that any praise is not too much, and overwhelming praise pours down on Lin Weimin like a tide.
Even though he had long been indifferent to fame and fortune, he was still somewhat flattered by such overwhelming praise.
Readers' love for this novel is beyond words. The third issue of "Contemporary" which published "Li Jianguo" sold 3 million copies in just one month, and the sales volume is still increasing at a rate of tens of thousands of copies every day, which seems to break the historical sales trend of "Contemporary".
The enthusiasm of readers is no less than that of the literary, critical and journalistic circles, and is even more intense.
Countless readers wrote to the editorial department of Contemporary Magazine to express their love for the novel, and Lin Weimin received numerous praises for it. He was no longer criticized as he was when Don’t Knock on the Door Tomorrow was published.
Even many radical readers wrote to the editorial department of Contemporary Magazine, describing Li Jianguo as:
Half of "Li Jianguo" is a history of China.
Such high praise fully demonstrates the readers' love and respect for this work.
(End of this chapter)
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