Chapter 23: Articles in the Garbage Heap (Typo corrected)
It wasn't until the second-to-last program that Gu Yin and her classmates' dance performance was given. The order was actually determined by drawing lots, and their class was unlucky, ending up last. By this time, many of the audience members had already left. If their class hadn't yet performed, Gu Yin would have left long ago. Gu Yin hadn't seen the dance her class had rehearsed before, but when she saw Song Pengfei and his group go up, her eyes lit up.
There's no particular reason, it's just that their group's outfits were the only ones that were uniform, and both the boys and girls had clean faces without any strange makeup.
Gu Yin had initially thought they would also do street dance, but to her surprise, the group on stage was performing a South Korean boy band dance. Eight people, in Gu Yin's opinion, even if their dancing wasn't very formal, it was still very synchronized, fluid, and novel. Moreover, Song Pengfei pulled out all the stops. They only played the piano version of the music for their dance, but Song Pengfei himself played the violin, occasionally twirling and bending over with the group. The enthusiastic applause from the audience swept through the venue like a storm, lasting for a long time, and the female students' shouts were particularly intense.
"Holy crap! Our class monitor is so handsome! Wow, so handsome and charming! Oh my god, he's so handsome!" Wang Weiwei grabbed Gu Yin's arm and stood up excitedly, waving her hand and shouting. The others around them did the same.
Unsurprisingly, their class won first place in the talent show, but they didn't receive a certificate for the choir performance.
As soon as Song Pengfei and his group stepped off the stage and walked to their seats, they were surrounded by people. Judging from the looks of it, the love letters were unlikely to stop coming.
Gu Yin carried her stool back to her dormitory, packed her things, and went home early. She still needed to bring enough books for the seven-day holiday.
As soon as she got home and put her things down, Gu Yin took the note and dialed the number using the contact information on it.
It rang twice before the call was answered.
"Hello, this is Book Lover magazine, I'm Editor-in-Chief Liu." A man's voice came from the other end.
Gu Yin cleared her throat and said in a clear voice, "Hello, Editor-in-Chief Liu, I am Chonglai, the author of the short story 'Unrequited Love'. I submitted this story to your company last week, but I did not receive any contact from your company. However, I saw my story in your latest magazine today. How is this possible?"
"Starting over? You're starting over? Oh, you finally contacted us! We sent you a letter three days ago! There was a money order for one hundred yuan, a copy of our latest magazine, and our call for submissions! I've been waiting for your call, but I haven't received a call from you these past two days. Your mailing address is in the countryside, so we were worried you might not have a phone. That's why we sent you another call for submissions. What, judging from your tone, you didn't receive the letter?" Director Liu asked anxiously after saying that.
Gu Yin frowned: "I didn't receive it. I'll go to the post office in town tomorrow to ask if they forgot or missed sending it."
Editor Liu laughed and said, "No need! I'll just call directly from here. We have a directory of post offices all over the country. Wait a moment, don't hang up! I'll call from another phone! Please don't hang up!"
Gu Yin actually wanted to say that this was the home phone number and that he could call back anytime, but when she heard the other party dialing, she remained silent for the time being.
When Gu Hua and Gu Shu returned and saw her making a phone call, they both gathered around her.
"Are you talking to Grandpa and the others on the phone?" Gu Hua pointed to the receiver.
Gu Yin shook her head and put her index finger to her lips: "Shh!"
Gu Hua covered her mouth upon seeing this.
It didn't take long before Editor Liu picked up the receiver.
“Let’s start over. I asked them, and they checked the records. They said the postman has already put your mail at your village committee. Do you want to go check? Maybe it was missed? Call me again later. By the way, is this your village’s phone number? Can I call this number directly to find you?”
That shouldn't be the case. Usually, when letters arrive, the village committee delivers them to the villagers' homes on the same day, or at the latest the next day. It's been three days now, and she hasn't heard anything from them. Are they too busy over there to deliver them?
Upon hearing Editor Liu's words, Gu Yin said, "This is my home phone number. It was just installed recently. You can call this number if you need anything. I'll go to the village committee first to see what's going on, and then I'll contact you again later."
After hanging up the phone, Gu Shu and his sister looked puzzled: "What's going on?"
Gu Yin frowned: "I submitted a short story to the magazine before, but I haven't received any news. However, my story has been published. The editor-in-chief of the magazine said that the letter they sent three days ago had been signed for, but I haven't received any task information. I'm planning to go to the village committee to check now."
Gu Shu pursed her lips: "Was it that person again?"
Gu Hua had obviously thought of that as well; it seemed that the only person who had a grudge against their family was that person.
Gu Yin shook her head: "It's not clear yet. I'll go and take a look first."
Gu Shu nodded: "We'll go with you!" Then she stormed off ahead.
As soon as they entered the village committee, they saw Li Dashan come out. When he saw the three siblings coming over, he greeted them with a smile: "School's out? What brings you here?"
Gu Yin smiled and nodded: "Hello, Secretary. It's like this, I have a letter that the post office said has been placed here at the village committee. I was afraid you would be too busy to deliver it, so I came to pick it up myself."
Li Dashan frowned: "A letter? What day is it from?"
Three days ago.
Li Dashan asked in disbelief, "That's impossible! We have someone delivering our mail every day without fail, just to make sure it doesn't delay your business! How could it have taken so long to arrive?"
After saying that, he turned around, opened the mailroom next to him, pulled out a drawer, and asked while rummaging through it, "Are your letters big or small? What's inside?"
Gu Yin followed her in: "There's a magazine inside."
Li Dashan searched through the rest of the items but couldn't find it. Then he took out the record book and started looking through it.
"The day before yesterday, let me check, the day before yesterday~ hey, it really is there! I signed for it in the morning!" After saying that, he checked the mailroom records again, but it wasn't there even today. It was obviously still in the mailroom, which is impossible!
Li Dashan put down his notebook and continued searching, but after searching the entire office, he still couldn't find it.
"Wait a minute, I'll call someone in the office to see if anyone took it and forgot to return it." With that, he took his small black phone and went out the door.
"Hey! Xiao Li, have you seen Gu Yin's letter? It was delivered three days ago!"
Gu Yin didn't know what was said on the other end, but she saw Li Dashan's previously smiling face calm down. Then she saw him hang up the phone and dial another number. After the other end answered, she didn't know what was said, but Li Dashan seemed a little angry. After talking for a while, he hung up.
Gu Yin watched as Li Dashan walked over.
He chuckled awkwardly and said, "Wait a minute, one of my colleagues took it, but then he had something urgent to attend to and forgot about it. I'll have them bring it over now!"
Gu Shu looked at Gu Yin, who blinked and nodded with a smile: "It's okay, it's good that we found it."
After waiting for about ten minutes, Xiao Li from the office came over panting with a package. Li Dashan took it and started lecturing: "You haven't been officially hired yet, so don't be so hasty in your work. Young people, it's better to be more steady!"
Gu Yin saw that Xiao Li lowered his head and remained silent.
"Take a look, is anything missing?" Li Dashan said with a smile as he handed the items to Gu Yin.
Gu Yin took it and saw that it was indeed sent by the "Book Lover" magazine, but the seal had been opened. Gu Yin gestured for Li Dashan to take a look.
Li Dashan was a little embarrassed and scratched his head: "A couple of days ago, Xiao Li's younger brother came to visit him. When he saw this, he thought it was Xiao Li's and took it apart! You can check if anything is missing inside."
Gu Yin looked at Xiao Li and saw him pursing his lips, wanting to speak but not daring to.
Gu Yin looked down and opened the package. Of the three items Editor Liu mentioned, only one magazine was inside; the other two items were missing.
Li Dashan asked expectantly, "How is it? Nothing's missing, right?"
Gu Yin twitched the corner of her mouth and sighed: "A letter and a money order for one hundred yuan are missing."
After saying that, she looked at Xiao Li and asked, "Did your brother take it?"
Upon hearing that it was money, both men's expressions changed. If an official steals money from the masses, his career is over.
Xiao Li looked at Li Dashan: "Secretary! It's clearly not like that."
Li Dashan hurriedly interrupted, "Ayin, Xiao Li just came here and doesn't know anything. He has a grandmother and a younger brother to support. Look, how much money was lost? Let him compensate you. Can't we settle this privately? This job is very important to him!"
Gu Yin sized up the two of them and nodded, "I need to see the money tomorrow. As for the letter, you should look for it as soon as possible; it's very important to me." After saying this, she pretended to be angry and walked out without waiting for the two to say anything.
Halfway there, she led Gu Shu and Gu Hua around a corner and brought them to the back window of the office.
Sure enough, a short while later, Xiao Li's angry voice could be heard.
“It was clearly Li Sanye who took her package. He said he was going to the Gu family's place and would pick it up for me on his way, so I gave it to him. The remaining magazines were also given to me by Li Sanye, and he definitely took the hundred yuan in them. Now he wants me to pay compensation? I won't accept that! If you insist on making me take the blame, I'd rather quit!”
Then came Li Dashan's voice, a mix of kindness and sternness: "Don't worry, I'll pay for it. Just do your job well, and next month I'll find an opportunity to apply for a permanent position for you! But you can't tell anyone about this, otherwise not only will you lose your job, but if anything happens to you, I won't be able to protect you either!"
After getting the result she wanted, Gu Yin stopped listening. No matter what Xiao Li chose, it was his own business. Gu Yin just wanted to get her money back.
When the three arrived home, Gu Shu angrily gulped down a glass of water, then looked at Gu Yin and said, "Are we just going to let him keep targeting us? Can't we do anything about it?"
Seeing Gu Yin remain silent, Gu Shu wanted to pat her, but Gu Hua stopped him. Reluctantly, Gu Shu sat down and sighed.
Gu Yin wasn't actually silent; she was recalling Li Dashan's past life. The only time the school needed proof from the village committee to select impoverished students was when the school was evaluating them. He gave all those spots to his relatives, even though they weren't actually impoverished. But the villagers didn't seem to say anything, and this wasn't enough to get him removed from his post.
Gu Yin pinched her brow and looked at Gu Shu: "Let me think about it some more. If we're going to do it, we should do it thoroughly so he can't recover. Otherwise, if it's just a half-hearted effort, it will only put us in a difficult situation."
After saying that, he got up to call Editor Liu back.
After the call connected, Editor Liu's stammering voice came from the other end: "Let's start over. It's like this, our editor-in-chief just emailed me saying that your novel doesn't fit the current trends and that your writing style is still quite immature. We're not accepting manuscripts in this category for the time being, so, so, I'm sorry!"
Gu Yin asked in confusion, "I saw your magazine's editor-in-chief listed in the review process for 'Secret Love,' and there were no problems before. Why are you saying you won't accept it now?"
Editor Liu sighed, "I don't know either. It was an email from the editor-in-chief. I even asked him myself, and that's exactly what he said. I don't have the right to bypass him to receive it, after all, he's the owner of this magazine! Why don't you try submitting it to other magazines?"
Gu Yin roughly guessed what was going on upon hearing this, and said with a smile, "It's nothing, thank you for letting me know, Editor Liu, goodbye."
Gu Hua stood up: "Why don't you accept it?"
Gu Yin waved her hand: "They say my writing is immature and the content doesn't fit current trends, so it won't sell."
Gu Shu took the magazine: "Which one? Let me see!"
"Secret Love"
Gu Hua sat down next to Gu Shu, and the two of them flipped through the book together.
Gu Yin sat down, mentally contacting 001: "Did they make the move?"
001 nodded: "Yes, this is just a standard method. You need to keep it up!"
Gu Yin nodded, recalling the various magazines she had seen in her previous life. Finally, she thought of a newspaper under the Central Daily News. This newspaper was very popular and specialized in writing inspirational stories about high school and college students. However, it had very high requirements and paid very high fees. If all else failed, she would submit her work there. She refused to believe that the people behind it could control the Central Daily News!
"If the writing is bad, then the other novels in this magazine are even worse! Are they blind?!" Gu Shu angrily slammed the book on the table.
Gu Yin comforted her, "It's okay, this was just a little test. If this one doesn't work, there are other ones. I'll just try a different one next time."
The next two articles I wrote will probably be like this one—just to make a quick buck; it's impossible for me to write them again.
“It must be Li Genzi who tipped them off! Otherwise, how could they have noticed so quickly! Could the city’s essay contest be the same?” Gu Hua said, then added with some worry. Gu Yin’s family knew that she was participating in the essay contest.
Gu Yin shook her head: "Probably not, after all, this competition is not privately organized."
What Gu Yin didn't know was that her article would have been deleted if someone hadn't found it in the pile of waste paper.
In the Chinese language department office of Jiangshi Senior High School, Chen Zhiming finished organizing the articles that had advanced this time, picked up the office trash bag, locked the door and left.
"Teacher Chen, why are you leaving so late?"
Chen Zhiming turned around and saw that it was Teacher Wen from the math group next door.
Chen Zhiming smiled and said, "I can't help it, I've been busy with a lot of activities lately. What's up with you?" He then looked at a boy next to him.
Teacher Wen adjusted her glasses: "This is my cousin. He came back from Beijing and has been visiting our school for the past few days. He plans to transfer here next semester."
Teacher Wen looked at her younger cousin: "This is Teacher Chen, the head of the Chinese language group at our school. Say hello to him."
The boy smiled and bowed: "Hello, Teacher Chen, my name is Xia Tian! Please take care of me from now on!"
Chen Zhiming nodded: "Your golden hair doesn't suit our school at all. You're the first person I've asked to take care of! Young man! Your courage is commendable! Alright, it's getting late, I'll be going now! See you later!" After saying that, he turned and left the teachers' building.
Xia Tian watched Chen Zhiming's nonchalant back as he carried the trash bag, and smiled at her cousin, asking, "What did Teacher Chen mean by that?"
Teacher Wen patted him on the shoulder and said sympathetically, "He is a senior teacher with a high level of experience. He is very strict in his teaching. Students both love and hate him. Ask him to take good care of you. If he keeps an eye on you every day, you will definitely regret what you said today!" After saying that, he pointed to his hair and said, "Dye this black later!" After saying that, he closed the door and walked towards the stairwell.
Xia Tian blinked, turned around and glanced at the Chinese language group office, then smiled and followed her cousin.
Chen Zhipeng walked to the school's garbage dump, intending to throw the garbage bag in, but as soon as he lifted it up, the garbage bag broke, and the waste paper inside fell all over the ground.
Looking at the scraps of paper on the ground, Chen Zhipeng sighed, "We've come this far and you still broke it! Do you not want me to go home?" He then stopped tidying up.
"Huh? How did this article end up here?!" Chen Zhipeng frowned as he picked up the article he had personally approved, puzzled. He clearly put it in the approved folder, so how did it end up in the trash? Who put it there? Thinking of this, he quickly tidied up the trash pile, only to find several more articles he had approved. His brows furrowed even more, and he hurriedly took the articles back to his office.
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