Chapter 903: Pushed to the altar (Silver Alliance Extra 4)
"Li Jianguo" brought a huge shock to the Chinese literary world as soon as it was published. While readers, peers, critics, and literary researchers were shocked by the novel, they were also curious about one thing.
How is Lin Weimin going to write the second part of this novel?
After Contemporary published the first part of the novel, it should have announced the publication date of the second part, but Contemporary did not mention it. When readers wrote to inquire about it, the editorial department's answer was ambiguous, which was really depressing.
It is hard for readers not to suspect that this is not the case of Contemporary Magazine deliberately whetting the readers' appetite. How shameless! How can people be so shameless?
The editors in the editorial department were questioned in letters from readers, and they also felt wronged. This was all done by Old He, so what does it have to do with us?
Why did Lao He dare to do this? It’s because the author is the president, no, he is now the chairman, and he can do whatever he wants!
Of course, everyone dared to curse in private, the sales of the third issue of Contemporary were about to reach 4 million copies. The performance of the editorial department this year depends entirely on this novel, no, not only this year, maybe next year's performance will also depend on it.
We have to appease Chairman Lin. If the second part of "Li Jianguo" is delayed for several years, it will be a heavy blow to the vital interests of all the editors in the "Contemporary" editorial department!
In less than 40 days, the third issue of "Contemporary" carrying "Li Jianguo" has exceeded 3.6 million copies. The blessing that a famous work brings to a publication is enormous.
Apart from publishing Lin Weimin's works, Contemporary Magazine has not tasted the sweetness of such a surge in sales for many years. This feeling is so intoxicating that one can't help but indulge in it and find it difficult to extricate oneself.
On April 12, an article was published on the front page of People's Daily.
"As Heaven moves with vigor, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement - Reading by Li Jianguo".
The front page of People's Daily always publishes national affairs, and rarely contains content other than political and economic issues. The sudden appearance of an article about novels surprised many readers who are familiar with this newspaper.
The article is not long, only about 400 words, occupying about a quarter of the front page. The content is plain and unpretentious, just a brief summary of the novel and some feelings added, but the most surprising thing is the signature of the article.
"Huangfu Ping".
In the spring of 1991, a series of commentary articles were published in the People's Daily, including "Be the 'leader' of reform and opening up", "Reform and opening up need new ideas", "The awareness of expanding opening up should be stronger", and "Reform and opening up requires a large number of cadres with both moral integrity and ability".
After the publication of this series of commentary articles, it caused a strong response in the media at home and abroad at the time, and also triggered a fierce confrontation in the domestic ideological and theoretical circles over the direction of reform. This series of commentary articles is said to have been published under the leadership of Zhu Tiexiang, the then mayor of Shanghai.
Today, Huangfu Ping has returned to society, not to express new reform ideas, but to endorse a novel. This has shocked all those who know the inside story.
If someone reads this short review article carefully, it will not be difficult to find that its focus is precisely on the reform content and positive core power reflected in the novel.
As the title and content of the article explain, the story of "Li Jianguo" embodies the Chinese people's spirit of self-improvement.
When people think of the policies that Zhu Tiexiang has been promoting, it is not surprising that Huangfu Ping published this article in the People's Daily, linking the two together.
This article in the People's Daily undoubtedly brought another huge wave of attention to Li Jianguo. The most obvious reaction was that civil servants went to bookstores in unison to contribute to the sales of Contemporary.
This is not the first time that Lin Weimin's works have received this kind of treatment, but most of the time it happened after the novels were published. It is rare for a work to be so popular during the publication stage like this time.
The day after the article in People's Daily was published, Lin Weimin was in a meeting. His subordinate came in and said there was a phone call, then whispered something in his ear. Lin Weimin quickly got up and returned to the office.
“Hello, leader!”
“It’s true that I haven’t written it yet!”
"It's hard to say. Creation is not something that can be rushed. It can't be rushed."
"I will definitely write it when I have time. The key is that I am busy with work now. The unit just restructured, and it was you who agreed to it. You won't forget it, right?"
"Yes, yes, I'll be the first one to show it to you after I finish writing it."
…
After answering the phone, Lin Weimin continued the meeting. After the meeting was over, Cheng Zaochun asked curiously, "Which leader called?"
More than 90% of the calls received during meetings are from leaders. Unless it is urgent, there are very few calls about personal matters. If it is a matter involving peers or subordinates, there is no need to interrupt the meeting to answer it.
"Leader Zhu."
Cheng Zaochun was a little surprised, "What instructions does the leader have?"
"Don't ask nonsense questions and don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask." Lin Weimin said.
Comrade Lao Cheng hit a snag and is unhappy. Can you disrespect me just because I haven't retired yet?
"Alas, the tea is getting cold even though the person is still here!"
He sighed in a sarcastic tone, which immediately attracted the attention of others.
Lin Weimin was about to stand up but had to sit down again. "Can you change your habit of gossiping about your wife?"
Old Cheng was not angry even though he was mocked by him. He knew that the boy had given in, so he pricked up his ears and waited for Lin Weimin's words.
"He was asking about the next part of the novel and when it would be published. I haven't even started writing yet, so how can I be sure?"
After Lin Weimin finished speaking, Cheng Zaochun looked doubtful, "Really?"
"You asked the question, but you don't believe it when I tell you." Lin Weimin said impatiently.
Old Cheng then smiled and said, "I believe it. If you ask the big boss to urge you to submit your manuscript, you will be the top writer in the literary world!"
As he spoke, he patted Lin Weimin on the shoulder, looking very pleased.
Lin Weimin warned: "Don't spread this nonsense!"
Old Cheng looked solemn, "How can I tell anyone about this? Don't worry."
Lin Weimin felt that he had said too much. Old Cheng had had this problem for a long time, so it would be strange if he could believe his words.
Zhu Tiexiang called personally to urge for the manuscript. I guess this matter can't be kept secret. Not to mention Lao Cheng, how could he not know the character of his subordinates?
Sure enough, less than half a day after the meeting ended, when it was almost time to get off work, Lin Weimin heard the security guard Xiao Zhou discussing this matter.
Originally, the influence of the novel "Li Jianguo" was limited to the scope of literature. Even though it was popular in the literary and critical circles and related articles often appeared in the media, they were only focused on the content of the novel itself.
However, the appearance of this commentary in the People's Daily seemed to have sounded a clarion call for attack. For many days in a row, articles about the novel "Li Jianguo" appeared in many heavyweight media outlets such as Guangming Daily, Reference News, and Economic Daily.
Moreover, the perspectives chosen by these media outlets are beyond the scope of literature. They analyze the novel from multiple angles such as history, politics, economy, and people's livelihood, but do not start from literature itself. When Lin Weimin saw the content in these newspapers, he once doubted whether he had written the novel.
Holy shit, this sentence has this meaning? This character represents this group? This plot describes this historical event?
I’m awesome!
These media's interpretations of "Li Jianguo" gave Lin Weimin the illusion that his novel had been included in textbooks ahead of time, even though he had already been in the textbooks.
In any case, the attention of a large number of heavyweight media outlets has made Li Jianguo's half-finished novel one of the hottest news stories in the country in April.
"Contemporary" was sold out successfully, with sales exceeding 5 million copies, and the printing factory was almost unable to print more copies.
Readers wrote letters of petition, asking Guowen Publishing House to publish the novel as soon as possible. In the face of strong calls from the masses, Guowen Publishing House did not dare to be negligent, and the editors worked overtime to edit and proofread the novel.
Towards the end of the month, the General Office suddenly contacted the Guowen Publishing House and invited it to hold a work seminar at the People's Hall.
When Guowen Publishing House received the notice, its first reaction was confusion. Since when did the General Office start to be in charge of organizing seminars on novels?
This is obviously another special treatment. I guess it must be some senior leader who has given him special care.
Lin Weimin hasn't held a proper seminar on his works for several years. He had not originally planned to do it this time, but the General Office has already notified him. If he doesn't cooperate, he will immediately appear in an awkward position of "the emperor is not anxious, but the eunuch is", which will offend people.
Let’s do it. Not only must we do it, but we must also make it a grand event. They have already found a venue, and if the event isn’t grand enough, it won’t be worthy of this venue!
Upon hearing the news, the Writers Association rushed over to contribute manpower and resources to the National Literature Society, and invited a bunch of literary giants without them having to make any arrangements.
As the saying goes, don't hit a smiling person. When people show goodwill, Lin Weimin and Guowen Society cannot refuse them.
Before May Day, the seminar on the first part of "Li Jianguo" was held as scheduled in the Yanjing Hall of the People's Hall.
The seminar was hosted by a deputy leader, and several minister-level leaders participated in the meeting. The meeting not only invited many domestic literary giants, but also well-known writers, critics, experts and scholars who are currently active in the literary world. The scale of the event was unprecedented.
Many media outlets conducted interviews and reports on the meeting, and CCTV recorded the entire process, leaving behind valuable video footage.
During the seminar, Zhu Xiang attended the meeting and delivered a speech.
That evening, news footage of Zhu Xiang attending a seminar on the work "Li Jianguo" appeared on the "News Broadcast", which immediately attracted the attention of people across the country.
The next morning, the People's Daily published in full the speech Zhu Xiang gave at the seminar on Li Jianguo's work on its front page.
——"Learn from Li Jianguo's spirit and strive for a better new journey"
The influence of "Li Jianguo" has spread across China like a gust of wind under such large-scale and powerful publicity. From the government to the public, everyone knows "Li Jianguo". Reading and studying this novel has become a task for countless ordinary people, either actively or passively.
At this time, the first part of "Li Jianguo" was finally published and put on the shelves of major bookstores in China.
On the day the novel was put on the shelves, readers lined up in long queues outside the bookstore, attracting many interviews from local media.
After the 1980s, the phenomenon of people lining up in front of bookstores to buy books has become less and less common. It is rare to see one, so the media naturally flock to it.
On this day, bookstores in many cities saw their stocks being sold out by readers. While bookstores were urgently reallocating their stocks, they also called the Guowen Publishing House, urging them to print more books and ship them as soon as possible.
The first print run of the first volume of Li Jianguo was 1 million copies, which were sold out in just one week. It not only broke the fastest sales record for Lin Weimin's works, but also became the fastest sales record in the history of Guowen Publishing House and China's publishing industry.
Guowen Publishing House had thought that "Li Jianguo" would be popular, but did not expect it to be so popular. Faced with the readers' enthusiastic support, the printing factory was in a panic and rushed to reprint the book. At this time, their efficiency had to be fast, otherwise they would be giving time for piracy.
The faster the delivery efficiency of genuine books, the less likely readers are to choose pirated books. This has gradually become the principle of printing factories in recent years.
When readers rushed to buy the work, the author Lin Weimin was also surrounded by various public opinions.
It is unprecedented in the history of Chinese literature that a leader of Zhu Tiexiang's level personally endorses a novel. Lin Weimin was also placed on a high platform, having to face interviews from various media and a large number of event invitations every day.
After participating in interviews and activities for nearly half a month, he felt exhausted and helpless.
With official support, the novel "Li Jianguo" has completely departed from the category of literature and is being pushed to the altar step by step.
This is something he doesn't want to see.
Chapter 841 has been reviewed. I didn’t check the time when I posted it, so I got the chapter order wrong.
(End of this chapter)
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