Two days later, Editor Wang came to pick up the follow-up manuscript of "Dynasty Rise". Le Jing submitted the manuscript of "Dynasty Rise" almost once a week. He would write 20,000 to 30,000 manuscripts every week and submit them to the "Peking Fiction Newspaper", and then the newspaper would publish a chapter in the newspaper every day. It was precisely because of this habit that "Dynasty Rise" did not have a blank during his imprisonment.
Le Jing took the opportunity to hand over the reply letter he had written to Editor Wang, so that the newspaper could forward the letter. Normally, Editor Wang was also a department boss, and he was busy every day, but not too busy. Trivial matters like collecting manuscripts and forwarding readers' letters to authors should be handled by editors who run errands. There was really no need to bother this big Buddha.
But Editor-in-Chief Wang is always happy to run to Le Jing. He gets angry if anyone tries to steal his job. It’s all because “Dynasty Rise” is so good! Since he started following the serialization of “Dynasty Rise”, he has lost his appetite and even his new mynah bird is no longer interesting. He is always anxious and curious about the subsequent plot of “Dynasty Rise”. So every time the author submits a manuscript, he runs more diligently than anyone else, just to take advantage of his convenience as an editor and read the next plot first.
Even if it was not the manuscript collection day, he would often come to Le Jing in the name of delivering readers' letters, hoping to take a look at the author's manuscript box from time to time to ease his pain of keeping up with the latest updates.
So this time, when Le Jing handed over the manuscript, Editor Wang did not even bother to say anything and started reading it eagerly. Le Jing saw that Editor Wang looked solemn at first, then his brows relaxed and he smiled happily, looking as happy as if he had drunk a bowl of hot mutton soup in the heavy snow in the cold winter.
"I didn't expect it, I really didn't expect it!" Editor-in-Chief Wang looked at Le Jing with shining eyes, "It turns out that only a wise and brave man like Xu Wangmu, who has compassion for the people, can save Dahua, which is in turmoil and has been devastated by the storm!"
Le Jing:……???
Editor-in-Chief Wang looked at him expectantly and asked, "Xu Wangmu has proven his strength by successfully defending the city and defeating the wild barbarian army. Next, the court should issue a recruitment order to recruit him to serve as an official, right?"
He let his thoughts run wild and imagined with a fascinated look on his face: "With Xu Wangmu's talent and strategy, he will surely win the emperor's trust and compose a beautiful story of mutual understanding between the monarch and his subjects. In the future, history books will surely record his great achievements in leading the army to repel the invading army of the wild barbarians and saving the imperiled Dahua Dynasty!" When he said this, his face turned red with excitement. Leaving a name in history is the ultimate dream of all scholars, and this is also the most perfect ending he, as a die-hard fan of "Rise of Dynasties", has imagined for the protagonist Xu Wangmu.
Le Jing: ...
It is no wonder that Editor Wang has such an association. Take the representative of rebellion novels, "Water Margin", for example. The Liangshan heroes drank and ate meat with big bowls, which seemed heroic, but the final solution was to be recruited. The rest became monks, died in battle, and left, with a bleak ending. Although most of the recruiting faction did not have a good end, such an ending also exposed the author Shi Naian (who was once an official appointed by the court) and the overall concept of society at that time. Influenced by thousands of years of monarchy and Confucianism, the Chinese people, from the princes and nobles to the peddlers and hawkers, were instilled with a "common sense" - learn the arts of literature and martial arts, and sell them to the emperor. To put it bluntly, you study and practice martial arts just to become an official.
Although it is a new era now, and the president is the leader instead of the emperor, this concept that has lasted for thousands of years has already become part of the cultural bloodline of China. Even in modern times, many older generations still believe that only civil servants are serious professions.
So it is normal for Wang Xiguan to have such thoughts. Le Jing can also imagine how horrified many readers will be when they find out that Xu Wangmu pointed the knife at Dahua and cut off the fate of the Dahua Dynasty with one stroke.
Out of consideration for the old man's fragile heart, Le Jing just smiled and said, "When the plot progresses to that point, you will know."
After reading the new manuscript, the satisfied Editor-in-Chief Wang also told Le Jing another important purpose of his visit.
"Published?" Le Jing was a little surprised: "So soon?"
"In fact, our newspaper should have contacted the publishing house to publish your article a long time ago, but our editor-in-chief Mr. Xie wanted to serialize it for a longer period of time to make the author famous first, so it was delayed until now. Your "Rise of Dynasties" has been serialized for more than 200,000 words so far, and the plot has also reached a small climax. It's a good time to strike while the iron is hot and publish the book!"
While the two were discussing publishing matters, Yang Jinglun came to the door.
The fact that Le Jing submitted his articles to two newspapers under the pseudonyms Night Watchman and Lin Zhongqi could be concealed from readers, but not from editors. At first, Le Jing wanted to conceal this matter, so he set a rule that "Dynasty Rise" would be submitted once a week, deliberately staggering the submission date with "Rat Eyes Look Down on People", which really concealed the two newspapers for a period of time.
However, the truth will eventually come out. The photo of Le Jing after he was released from prison was widely circulated. Others might not recognize who he was, but Editor-in-Chief Wang could not hide it. After all, Le Jing was one of the mainstays of their newspaper. If Editor-in-Chief Wang really didn't recognize him, his eyes would be in vain.
By the way, his step-brother Li Jingliang seemed to recognize him and even went to the Literary Newspaper to inquire about him, but was fooled and dismissed by Yang Jinglun. Le Jing never heard any news about Li Jingliang afterwards. Perhaps he himself did not want to believe that his good-for-nothing brother, who was inferior to him in every way, had suddenly become a well-known new writer.
Since the matter had been exposed, Le Jing no longer wanted to hide it, so half a month ago he openly told Editor-in-Chief Wang that he was the Night Watchman.
When Editor Wang learned that Le Jing was the night watchman banned by the authorities, his first reaction was that their newspaper must be more careful to conceal his personal information. If people knew that Lin Zhongqi was the night watchman and the authorities banned him again, their newspaper would have no place to cry. "Dynasty Rise" is now their newspaper's absolute cash cow.
As for Yang Jinglun, Le Jing planned to wait until he discovered the truth like Editor Wang did before telling him the truth. He was always fair.
So when Yang Jinglun came this time, he saw Le Jing and Editor-in-Chief Wang chatting happily. He asked in confusion, "Who is this?"
Le Jing said with a smile: "Let me introduce you, this is Mr. Wang Xiguan, the editor-in-chief of the Peking Fiction Newspaper."
Yang Jinglun certainly knew about the Peking Fiction Newspaper and had also heard of Wang Xiguan.
As the saying goes, colleagues are enemies. While Yang Jinglun warmly shook hands with Wang Xiguan, he muttered in his heart, "Why did Wang Xiguan come here? Could it be to invite him to write an article? This is not right. Mr. Li's style is obviously not suitable for "Peking Fiction Newspaper".
The audiences of the Literary Newspaper and the Peking Fiction Newspaper are different, so their functional positioning is also different. The former’s audience is the cultural elite, so the articles published are mainly political commentary and serious literature that criticizes current social problems. The latter’s audience includes people from all walks of life, and its functional positioning is entertainment and leisure, so it publishes popular literature with strong interest. Therefore, the two have always kept their distance from each other, and the authors of the two have never circulated.
Yang Jinglun asked tentatively, "Mr. Wang, are you here to ask Mr. Li for an article?"
Wang Xiguan smiled and glanced at Le Jing, a hint of mischief flashed in his eyes, and he deliberately answered slowly: "I am here to collect the manuscript from Mr. Lin."
"Mr. Lin?" Yang Jinglun was stunned for a moment, then he seemed to have thought of something and asked in a lost voice, "Could it be Mr. Lin Zhongqi?" He looked around in surprise, "Mr. Lin is here too? Where is he?"
Le Jing coughed and said slowly, "It's far away in the sky, but it's right in front of us."
Yang Jinglun's gaze suddenly jumped to Le Jing, and he laughed dryly, "Could it be...?"
Le Jing smiled and said, "That's right, the Lin Zhongqi you mentioned is just me."
Yang Jinglun's next expression was particularly interesting. According to Le Jing's observation, his mood at this time was similar to that of fans in the entertainment industry in later generations who discovered that their idol, who they thought was pure and innocent, was actually a shirtless Northeastern man who picked his feet. This was a serious collapse of the idol's image that was enough to cause countless fans to quit and turn against him.
Le Jing patiently gave Yang Jinglun some time to react, but after the initial shock, Yang Jinglun actually had a shy blush on his face?
Yang Jinglun said shyly: "Actually, I am also following "Rise of Dynasties"..."
Le Jing was really surprised now, "I've never heard you say that before."
Yang Jinglun lowered his head in embarrassment. "Well, I was afraid that you wouldn't like to read these novels, so I didn't dare to tell you. I didn't expect that "The Rise of Dynasties" was actually written by you."
Okay.
Now the plot has developed into a bizarre development in which the big man from Northeast China turns out to be his new crush.
Although Yang Jinglun said it in a tactful way, Le Jing understood what he meant. There is also a chain of contempt in the literary circle. Many serious literati actually look down on those authors who write popular novels. Because throughout the ages, those authors who wrote popular novels that were worthy of being handed down from generation to generation were mostly poor students who failed in the imperial examinations. Let alone Jinshi, Xiucai was considered a cultured person among them. Among the authors of the four great classics, only Shi Naian was a Jinshi. "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" is famous, right? But Pu Songling was just a poor tribute student who failed in the imperial examinations many times and could not squeeze into the mainstream literary circle.
Of course, this is not to promote the uselessness of studying. Because the top cultural elites all chose to study classics and history. Some shrewd people, such as Sima Guang, a veteran official, wrote "Zizhi Tongjian" to study political black art and the mind of the emperor. Occasionally, there are some brilliant people, such as Wang Yangming, who promoted his heart-learning philosophy of conscience through writing, and had many students.
The mainstream cultural circle's contempt for popular novels did not improve until the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.
The so-called division between serious literature and popular novels actually came from the West. Today, modern Chinese literature is just starting out. Although it is popular to write vernacular novels under the influence of the vernacular movement, China is too deeply influenced by the West, and the mainstream cultural circle attaches importance to tragedy. They believe that tragedy is the only artistic value. Therefore, in the eyes of many people, the Night Watchman who writes serious tragedies is naturally more impressive than Lin Zhongqi who writes refreshing novels. In addition, "Literature Newspaper" is originally the base camp of serious literature, so it is not surprising that Yang Jinglun likes "The Rise of Dynasties" and is as sneaky as a closet.
Yang Jinglun now admires Le Jing very much. In his opinion, Mr. Li has written serious literary works with profound ideas and sharp words such as "Memoirs of a Famous Courtesan", "Rat Eyes Look Down on People" and "The Last Man Who Doesn't Take Drugs", and he can also write popular novels with wild imagination and fun such as "The Rise of Dynasties". He can switch between different styles and use them freely, which really makes him a great writer.
At the same time, he also had a sense of crisis. During these days when Mr. Wang had not decided on a new series, the series of "Dynasty Rise" had not stopped for a single issue! What if Mr. Wang switched to "Peking Fiction Newspaper" because his pen name "Night Watchman" was banned? !
Although he also likes "Dynasty Rise", as a fan, he still hopes that Mr. Li can continue to create serious literature, because only in this way can Mr. Li squeeze into the mainstream literary circle and obtain a higher social status.
Because of this worry in his heart, Yang Jinglun quickly told Le Jing the purpose of his visit, regardless of the fact that the editors of other newspapers were still present: "Sir, good news! Just now a film company in Shanghai contacted our newspaper and wanted to make your "Memoirs of a Famous Courtesan" into a movie!"
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