Chapter 147 Chapter 147
Ye Qing was very surprised.
As mentioned before, during this period, domestic resources were scarce and paper production was very limited. Even the distribution of newspapers was strictly controlled, let alone other publications.
So now, Ye Qing was really surprised that a publishing house actually called her and wanted to publish her novel.
The main reason is that the entire "Beginning of Autumn" is nearly 300,000 words, and the "Women's Daily" is still a weekly magazine, and the length of articles published each week is no more than 4,000 words. In the past few months, the entire serialized novel has less than 60,000 words, and the plot is still in the stage of just unfolding.
Ye Qing was well aware of her own creative level. The reason why "Beginning of Autumn" was appreciated and favored by Hang Tingfang and published in newspapers was entirely due to the avant-garde and clear theme of women's awakening that runs through her novel.
The topic that the public is concerned about during this period is still about how to carry out construction. Ye Qing's book "Beginning of Autumn" focuses on a rural woman who is in dire straits and has a bad fate but still continues to fight against her fate with perseverance. This is indeed a pioneering work.
But to talk about how good the writing of Ye Qing's novel is, or how ingenious the plot design is, that is certainly not the case. What is more important about this book is that it looks at the world from Ye Qing's perspective decades later, and uses Li Qiu's tone to enlighten the women of this era. Even if they are farm girls with a miserable life, as long as they are clear-headed and dare to make progress, and never bow to fate, their efforts will pay off, and they will always have a chance to come out.
This was the first time Ye Qing wrote a novel, and a novel of such length, so her original intention was to have more female readers read it after it was published in newspapers and be infected and inspired by it, then the mission of her novel would be accomplished.
As for compiling and publishing it into a book, that was something she had never thought about, nor dared to think about.
But she did not expect that a publishing house would pay attention to this novel so soon and even call her to inquire about publishing matters.
The editor-in-chief of the publishing house on the other end of the phone spoke earnestly and expressed endless opinions when talking about Li Qiu. When he asked about the follow-up of Ye Qing's novel, he became more excited and moved after learning that Li Qiu would make a comeback and help the rural people rise. He repeatedly asked Ye Qing to entrust the book to their publishing house for publication.
“You may not know much about our publishing house, but I am calling you with sincerity.”
"Our publishing house has published novels almost every year in recent years, and each novel has been highly recognized by scholars and received widespread attention from the society after its release."
"Like the earlier works "The Sun Shines Brightly", "The Female Soldiers on the Island", "The Boulevard of Sunshine", and even last year's "Boiling Mountain" and "Red River", they are all phenomenal works that are familiar to the public."
"Our editorial department has a keen sense of smell when it comes to manuscript review. As soon as they saw your book "Li Qiu", they were immediately attracted by the plot and the special character Li Qiu. All editors believe that your book has the potential to become a dark horse in this year's publishing season!"
Ye Qing was not overwhelmed by the other party's sweet talk. She really knew nothing about the current publishing world, but she had Hang Tingfang as her connection. If she didn't understand something, she could just call Hang Tingfang for consultation. Anyway, she would not force the publication, so there was no need for her to reply so quickly.
Therefore, Ye Qing tactfully told the other party that she still needed to think about it for the time being and asked the other party to wait for a few days for her reply.
As soon as the call was hung up, Ye Qing immediately called Hang Tingfang.
After the call was connected, Ye Qing told the whole story without hiding anything, and also asked the other party about the specific situation of the Jicheng People's Publishing House, wanting to know whether this matter was reliable.
Unexpectedly, when Ye Qing mentioned the name of the publishing house, Hang Tingfang was also stunned.
"This People's Publishing House is indeed a long-standing brand in Jicheng. From the 1950s to the 1960s, it published hundreds of novels, many of which are classics."
"A few years ago, the entire publishing industry was completely shut down due to the policy. It was not until the beginning of last year that the Propaganda Department officially issued a document allowing the publication of long novels."
"As soon as the policy was relaxed, Jicheng People's Publishing House took the lead. Last year, they recruited many new people and invited many workers, peasants, soldiers and educated young people to contribute. In the past year alone, many excellent authors emerged."
"So it's not surprising that they came to you to discuss publishing matters. After all, your novel "Beginning of Autumn" has been gaining momentum recently and has received widespread attention in the industry. The newspaper receives calls from all over the country every day, and more than half of them are inquiring about and discussing topics related to the plot of "Beginning of Autumn" and the author. This shows how popular your novel is."
"The fact that Jicheng People's Publishing House was able to respond so quickly shows that the people in their editorial department have a sharp eye and a high standard."
"But I don't know the editor who called you. I'll ask someone to find out what the rules for publishing novels are there."
Hang Tingfang didn't know much about novel publishing, but if Ye Qing's "Beginning of Autumn" could really be published, she would definitely raise her hands in approval.
However, the publishing policy during this period was still very strict, and the control over the authors' royalties was particularly strict, so Hang Tingfang felt that he had to say the ugly words in advance so that Ye Qing would have an idea of the situation.
"If Jicheng People's Publishing House really has this intention, I can help you negotiate this matter, but you have to know that publishing a novel is the same as publishing it in a newspaper. The author does not get royalties. If you agree to publish, just sign a letter of authorization with the publishing house. The newspaper will at most give you some tickets or other subsidies, give you some industrial coupons or department store redemption coupons, but definitely not more."
"If you mind this, I can contact the publisher directly on your behalf. If there are new policy changes someday, it will be in time for you to consider publishing this novel."
Is it too late? After Fang Xiaotao's incident, Ye Qing felt more and more that women's awakening is a long and arduous journey, and it is never too much to race against time. How could she put aside such an important matter as the publication of the novel for such a small amount of royalties?
Her original intention in writing this novel was not to earn money from writing, but she only hoped to contribute to the feminist movement and to do her best to contribute her own limited strength.
Although this novel has been serialized in the "Women's Newspaper" with the help of Hang Tingfang, due to the limitation of the newspaper's circulation, the number of readers who can read the novel from beginning to end is quite limited.
But it would be different if it were compiled into a book and published directly.
Paper books can be circulated and borrowed, and the number of recipients can increase exponentially.
Moreover, readers do not have to wait for updates, they can read the entire novel from beginning to end in one go, and the reading experience will be much better than reading a newspaper serial.
If one more copy of this novel is published, several or even dozens of female readers will get to know Li Qiu.
These female readers may have felt discrimination, oppression and exploitation in their daily lives since childhood, but no one has ever told them that if they want to eliminate gender gaps and pursue equal rights to education and employment, it is useless to rely on meekness, submission, compromise and obedience. The only way to break these shackles is to fight.
Ye Qing's novel may be a wake-up call for these female readers, allowing them to completely wake up from their confused and confused situation.
Since there was no problem with the Jicheng People's Publishing House, Ye Qing no longer hesitated. She knew nothing about publishing anyway, and the manuscripts had been handed over to Hang Tingfang. She simply took the role of a hands-off manager and asked Hang Tingfang to negotiate with the publishing house on her behalf.
Ye Qing's focus was on the new scientific research project that Zhao Yuliang and his team had applied for. It took only half a month from the time Zhao Yuliang told her about it to the final approval.
Before Han Yabo officially entered the laboratory, Ye Qing went to the farm to meet Song Chunhua and Han Yabo for the last time.
Over the past few months, Han Yabo's health has gradually improved under Ye Qing's care. His originally skinny body has gained a lot of flesh, and his sunken cheeks have become fuller. He is no longer as haggard and weak as before, and he coughs at the slightest provocation.
This scientific research team is said to be a research group of four people, but in fact, only Han Yabo is engaged in experimental research. The remaining three are Song Chunhua, who takes care of Han Yabo's daily life, and the other two are arranged by Zhao Yuliang. In name, they are assistants to Han Yabo, but in fact, they are here to guard and monitor Han Yabo.
Ye Qing also knew that once Han Yabo and his wife entered the laboratory building, they would definitely not be able to come out until the final results of Han Yabo's restarted project were achieved, or until someone overturned Han Yabo's case and rehabilitated him.
So taking advantage of this meeting, Ye Qing specially prepared several large bottles of medicinal pills for regulating the body, and prepared them in a very complete manner by category. Even the method of taking the pills was carefully written and pasted on the bottles, for fear that the two people would get sick after entering and would not receive timely treatment.
Song Chunhua's work at the school was also temporarily suspended. The couple had been living apart for years, and her husband had suffered a lot in the labor camp. This made Song Chunhua especially cherish the hard-won opportunity to be together. She was afraid that being separated from her husband again would make this meeting a farewell forever, so no matter how her husband persuaded her, she was determined to follow Han Yabo into the experimental building.
No one knew how the couple negotiated, but Han Yabo finally compromised. The couple simply packed their bags and were secretly sent to the experimental building by Zhao Yuliang on the same night after their quick meeting with Ye Qing.
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