On the way to meet the night watchman, Yang Jinglun imagined the night watchman's appearance many times. Through his interpretation of "Rat Eyes Look Down on People", he believes that the author who wrote such a profound work of thought should be a well-educated mature man with open-minded and progressive thoughts. He must have a certain amount of experience and a deep humanistic concern.
Gradually, the image of a gentle and elegant young or middle-aged scholar emerged in his mind. He should have been to college and maybe even studied abroad, which could explain why he had been unknown before.
As the first person to discover this talented person, he and the others may establish a close and friendly relationship after this meeting. He will discover and cultivate the Night Watchman, make him famous, and turn him from an unknown newcomer into a world-famous writer. Their personal friendship will also be passed down as a good story. Of course, he will also be promoted to a senior editor, and have more and more say in the newspaper. It is not impossible for him to become the editor-in-chief of the newspaper one day...
With all his beautiful fantasies and expectations for the future, he stood in front of the courtyard door marked with the address of the letter and knocked on the door excitedly and nervously. The door was soon opened, and the doorman stuck his head out with a vigilant look: "Who are you looking for?"
"Has your master ever submitted a manuscript to the Literary Newspaper? I am the editor of the Literary Newspaper. After receiving his manuscript, I came to visit you specially."
"Wait a minute." The doorman closed the door, and Yang Jinglun heard the messy footsteps getting farther and farther away. A few minutes later, footsteps were heard again in the yard. The doorman opened the door again, and finally smiled: "The master asked you to come in."
Yang Jinglun followed the doorman to the front hall, where he saw a young man in a blue shirt smiling and bowing to him: "Sir, thank you for coming all the way here. Please take a seat."
Yang Jinglun sat down in confusion, looking at the strange boy in confusion. He looked like he was not yet twenty, thin and frail, with a face as white as jade and lips as white as colorless. Only his eyes were shining, and the amber eyes seemed to contain infinite vitality, diluting the sickness on him. This was a person with a weak body but a firm mind. This was Yang Jinglun's first impression of him.
Seeing the young man greeting him like a host, Yang Jinglun wondered: "My name is Yang Jinglun, and I'm the editor of the Literary Newspaper. What's the name of this young man?" At this age, could he be the younger brother or son of Mr. Night Watchman?
The boy replied, "My last name is Li, Muzi Li, and my given name is Jingran. I haven't taken a given name since I was 20, so you can just call me by my name."
"I am a few years older than you, so I dare to call you my brother." Yang Jinglun asked impatiently: "Brother Jingran, I am here to visit Mr. Night Watchman this time, you see..."! When will you let your father or your brother come out to see me?
Then Yang Jinglun saw the young man blinking his eyes, looking at him with a strange look, then raised his eyebrows in his anxious eyes, and replied slowly: "I think you may have made a mistake. I am the night watchman."
What?
This boy who looks younger than him is the night watchman? In other words, such a profound and meaningful article as "Rat Eyes Look Down on People" was written by a teenager?
Is he kidding? He thought so and asked.
The boy shrugged, his eyes somewhat helpless: "What's so funny about this? And there's no need for me to tell such a lie that can be easily exposed."
Yang Jinglun's reason slowly returned. He smiled awkwardly, realizing that he had asked a stupid question. Thinking about how he had just shamelessly called the night watchman "brother", he regretted it so much that he wanted to bite off his tongue. Since he was the night watchman, then the title of "brother" was naturally unacceptable. He solemnly bowed and said, "I am sorry for being rude, sir."
"I didn't expect that such an excellent work could be written by a teenager. I am too narrow-minded."
Yang Jinglun could not help but look at the young man in front of him with a new perspective, and could not help but sigh: "Young people are really to be feared, young people are really to be feared."
Obviously, he was just a young man in his early twenties, and it was really funny that he spoke in such an old-fashioned way. However, Yang Jinglun did not realize this. At this moment, he could not wait to tell the original author about his insights gained from the book. He said a lot. Although he didn't know why the gentleman looked at him strangely, the gentleman affirmed his interpretation of the article. For a reader, there is no more gratifying thing than the affirmation of the original author!
After venting his excitement, Yang Jinglun finally got to the point: "I think your writing style is sophisticated and the plot structure is ingenious. You don't look like a novice. Have you published articles in other newspapers before?"
"I only published an article once in a tabloid in my hometown. It's not a very famous newspaper, so I won't mention it." Le Jing replied: "I have always admired the Literary Newspaper, so the Literary Newspaper was the first and only newspaper I submitted my articles to in Peking."
Yang Jinglun and Rong Youyan nodded, then said sheepishly: "Our newspaper has always offered newcomers a price of one yuan per thousand words. Although your work is excellent, you were an unknown newcomer after all, so..."
Le Jing nodded in understanding, "I understand. One yuan per thousand words is a fair price."
Yang Jinglun breathed a sigh of relief. "It's great that you understand. I will discuss it with the editor-in-chief when I get back and try to get your article published in the newspaper as soon as possible so that more people can see it."
Le Jing smiled and nodded. To be honest, he was also very excited. This was the "Literature Newspaper" which was famous in the future. It was known as the cradle of modern Chinese literature. Its writers included half of the Chinese literary world and influenced the thoughts of people of the entire era.
Le Jing can still remember a passage from the inscription delivered by the then editor-in-chief at the celebration of the centenary of the Literary Gazette, which he watched on television when he was a child: "One hundred years since its founding, one hundred years of ups and downs, one hundred years of good reputation, looking up to the heavens and the earth, with no regrets. In times of national crisis, you went through fire and water, risked your life for justice and sought universal peace. Whether you succeed or fail, be imprisoned or die, no one knows about it. How can you say it is silent? History will bear witness to it! How can you say it is silent? The mountains and rivers have made their names!"
This heroic and tragic inscription deeply touched the joyful scene at that time, and he was deeply fascinated by the beauty of humanity imbued in every word.
In the 100 years since the publication of the Literary Newspaper, countless fighters who used pens as guns and swords have been born. They clenched their pens and bit by bit broke through the darkness over the country for nearly a hundred years, allowing hundreds of millions of people who have become accustomed to living in the darkness to see the light! Le Jing admires these pioneers who go against the current. They are the sparks of the world, the glory of mankind, the spears of the times, and are destined to be enemies of fate. Each of them is so beautiful that Le Jing is suffocated. Now, let him and them raise the torches in their hands, let the light shine through the paper into the hearts of readers, and let the light rise across the country.
The flames will burn away all the darkness and decay of old China, and eventually the new China that is reborn from the ashes will stand upright on the remains of the old era.
"If I'm not mistaken, your novel 'Rat Eyes Look Down on People' is a series of novels, right?"
After Le Jing nodded, Yang Jinglun said earnestly: "Please be sure to choose our Literature Newspaper for your next work. With your talent, the one yuan per thousand words fee is only temporary. I believe that after the novel is published, your fee will rise to two yuan per thousand words at the lowest."
Le Jing nodded readily. Even if Yang Jinglun didn't say it, he would have chosen the Literary Journal. The Literary Journal represented a kind of sentiment for a senior literary youth like him.
"But I have one condition."
Yang Jinglun was startled, "What conditions?"
Le Jing said: "I hope your newspaper can assign me a dedicated editor, and all my personal information must be kept confidential from anyone except the dedicated editor."
Firstly, he is still young and doesn't want to be too high-profile and cause trouble. Secondly, he is afraid that Li Tingye will find him. He is only 16 years old this year, not yet an adult. Li Tingye's discipline of minors is impeccable both legally and morally. When he becomes an adult, Li Tingye's restraint on him will only be moral. So he must at least keep a low profile until he reaches adulthood.
This request made Yang Jinglun a little embarrassed. "I have to ask our editor-in-chief before I can give you an answer."
"Then I will look forward to hearing from you."
…
Yang Jinglun left in a hurry, came back triumphantly, and walked into the editor-in-chief's office with a swagger. He was not afraid of the editor-in-chief's face as dark as the bottom of a pot, and handed him the manuscript paper of "The Night Watch" in a proud manner.
The editor-in-chief looked at him strangely, took the manuscript and glanced at it quickly, and then his expression changed immediately.
His eyes moved slower and slower, and deep thoughts flashed in his eyes from time to time. Finally, after reading it, he sighed and looked thoughtful. "Whose manuscript is this?" His eyes sparkled. "Such a good work is enough to cause a certain response."
When the editor heard that the author of the article was just a teenager, his face changed drastically.
He looked Yang Jinglun up and down, and exclaimed: "Good boy, you have found a treasure." He patted Yang Jinglun on the shoulder encouragingly, "When you have nothing to do on weekdays, spend more time with the author and cultivate a good relationship in advance. Got it?"
Yang Jinglun nodded in understanding. He didn't expect the editor-in-chief to be so optimistic about Li Jingran. It seemed that he had really discovered a good horse this time!
He quickly told the editor-in-chief about Li Jingran's last somewhat strange request. The editor-in-chief hesitated for a while, then looked up at Yang Jinglun and made the decision: "Since Mr. Li wants to keep a low profile, then we will help him conceal it. As for the editor-in-chief... let's choose you."
"Me?" Yang Jinglun was a little flattered. Although he also wanted to be Mr. Li's editor, he really admired Mr. Li's talent. He was still gathering up the courage to recommend himself to the editor-in-chief, but he didn't expect the editor-in-chief to choose him so easily!
"The fact that you received this manuscript proves that you and the author are destined to meet, and the author obviously has a good impression of you. It is quite appropriate for you to be in charge of Mr. Li." The editor-in-chief patted his shoulder, with a kind look that he had never seen before. "This is a challenge for you, you have to work hard."
Yang Jinglun's face flushed with excitement, and his steps were floating as he walked out of the editor-in-chief's office. He naturally saw the potential in Li Jingran, and now the editor-in-chief's special regard for him only proved this point. Authors and editors are meant to complement each other, and he had a hunch that Li Jingran could bring him more than he imagined.
Three days later.
"Hey, brother, hurry up."
Le Jing slowly swallowed a mouthful of porridge, glanced at Li Shuran who was running around anxiously, and said disapprovingly: "Why are you in such a hurry? Can the newsstand grow legs and fly away?"
Li Shuran jumped up and down anxiously, "Brother, this is your first article published in the Literary Newspaper. I want to buy it and frame it at home. If I'm late, the newspaper might be sold out!"
Le Jing sighed, put down his bowl, stood up, straightened his clothes, looked back at Li Shuran who was still a little dazed, and said, "Are you not leaving yet?"
"Ah? Oh!" Li Shuran excitedly took Le Jing's arm and couldn't wait to go out.
As Le Jing expected, there were still a lot of copies of the Literary Newspaper left at the newsstand. Le Jing saw Li Shuran, who was always careful with her money, generously gave the store owner a dime and bought more than a dozen newspapers.
Le Jing was speechless: "Why did you buy so many identical newspapers?"
Li Shuran answered as a matter of course: "Of course I buy it to give as a gift and as a collection!"
Le Jing hurriedly whispered, "Shu Ran, I mentioned to you before, don't tell others that I'm writing a novel."
"I know, but I won't tell anyone that this is an article written by my brother." Li Shuran smiled slyly, "I'll just say it's an article by an author I like very much, and I'll promote it to all my classmates!"
Le Jing: ...Are you sure that your elementary school classmates who can barely read can understand my article?
However, seeing Li Shuran's excited smile, he swallowed his complaints, took out a newspaper and flipped through it, and soon found his article on page 3. The full text was not long, only about 6,000 words, but it couldn't fit on one page of the newspaper, so Le Jing's article took up two pages of the newspaper.
It feels really amazing to see my own words turned into lead type and appear in a newspaper from a hundred years ago. To future generations, these will be precious historical and literary materials with great collection value.
Le Jing pondered for a few seconds, "Boss, give me ten more copies of today's Literary Newspaper."
Li Shuran: “???”
Le Jing patted her head and said earnestly, "Don't give your newspaper away. Keep it for yourself. You are still young and don't understand. These will be antiques in a hundred years and will be very valuable."
Even if you can't sell it for money, it's still great material to brag about when you're drunk.
The author has something to say:
Li Shuran: Brother, you are too narcissistic, what should I do?
Hahahahahahaha suddenly I had an idea:
Li Jingran's great-great-grandson takes a Chinese language class
one
Teacher: The article "Rat Eyes Look Down on People" talks about a lot of things, reflects... thoughts and feelings, and reflects... social reality...
Li Xuansun (whispering): Teacher, my ancestor said in his memoirs that he didn’t think that way…
Teacher: You are just his great-great-grandson, what do you know, Li Jingran!
two
Teacher: It is said that the first edition of the newspaper that published "Rat Eyes Look Down on People" is now being sold for × million at auction!
Li Xuansun (shocked): Teacher, my house is full of these things, they are worthless!
Teacher: ...But you still failed Chinese. Hehehe
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