The farce of Lady Xun ended with the artist himself choosing to keep things quiet. Chu Li therefore had a good weekend. When he went to the weekly meeting on Monday, he felt refreshed.
Ah Xiang has almost become her little fangirl: "To be honest, I thought that Queen Yu would not admit it even if she had to pay the money. She doesn't need this little money."
"She doesn't need this little money," Chu Li smiled with narrowed eyes, "but she claimed that Yuanyueshe cheated her. If she was right, why should she pay compensation? This circle is really small. There are only a handful of illustrators who have been asked by publishers to return deposits and compensate. If she did this, the news would definitely spread quickly... You underestimated the communication and summary capabilities of the Internet circle. Maybe today everyone is still spreading "Niangniang was cheated by Yuanyueshe and returned double the deposit", and tomorrow it will become "Niangniang returned double the deposit to Yuanyueshe". If one word is missing, how much information is lost, you can imagine it yourself."
Ah Xiang nodded, not quite understanding.
At this time, the two of them came to the outside of the conference room. Yu Yao had already taken the lead and sat inside. When he saw them, he waved his hand to signal them to come over and sit down. Chu Li stepped in first and sat down next to Yu Yao.
Yu Yao held in her hand the summary of today's meeting speech, which certainly included a description of what happened to Yu Xun last week. She handed it to Chu Li and said, "I saw you saving the chat history that day, and I thought you saved it to post on the official Weibo and confront Xun head-on."
Chu Li said "Oh" and flipped through his folder. "It's so embarrassing to keep cursing at each other. Our Yuanyue Society is a big society with a long history and a leader in the industry. Is it necessary to quarrel with an ignorant painter on Weibo over such a trivial matter and make people laugh at us?"
Yu Yao smiled: "That's right."
Chu Li: "And those who can become fans of the Queen are all very dirty. The fact that she doesn't show the draft to the editors and doesn't cooperate with the editors to revise the draft won't make them stop being fans."
Chu Li paused and said, "Let her swallow back what she said. It would be best if she is disgusted to death."
Yu Yao laughed even louder, and Lao Miao rolled his eyes beside him.
After a while, Teacher Xia arrived and the Monday meeting officially began.
At the regular meeting, Teacher Xia emphasized on praising Chu Li's handling of the incident with the Goddess of the Silkworm. Teacher Xia believed that Chu Li not only protected the rights and interests of Yuanyue Society and its authority as a leader in the industry, but also achieved the greatest possible publicity effect for "The Divine Book of Luo River"... After all, if the Goddess of the Silkworm had not been so excessive, Yuanyue Society would still have valued her own fan resources and publicity effects.
After praising Chu Li, the discussion about the matter of the goddess came to an end. After all, there was a more important announcement to make. Teacher Xia, a mature and stable senior, was not very interested in this kind of fight between young people...
At the next regular meeting, Teacher Xia announced two more things:
The first thing is that the four-year-old authoritative domestic literary award "Huazhi Award" is about to start a new selection stage. This award is specially established for Chinese-language novels. The scope of selection is all works with more than 200,000 words that are publicly published and published within the selection quarter period, can reflect the complete artistic conception and creative requirements of full-length novels, and have more than 200,000 words.
This is a major event held every four years in the domestic fiction literature industry. Yuanyue Publishing House, as a leading traditional literary publishing house, is of course never absent - the person who won the award last time was none other than "Red Eagle", one of the representative works of Mr. Zhao Guxuan, the father of Zhao Chuan, and the publishing house that submitted the work was Yuanyue Publishing House... After winning this award four years ago, it not only made Zhao Guxuan's reputation rise to a higher level, but also had the important significance of completely allowing Yuanyue Publishing House to firmly establish its position as the leader of the traditional literary publishing industry.
...The above is what Chu Li learned from listening to Teacher Xia's chattering about the past.
This time, Teacher Xia still asked and hoped that all monthly magazine branches could cheer up, look at the number of publications in the past four years, try to submit more works, and successfully keep this award in Yuanyue Society... Hearing this, Chu Li was a little confused at the moment: after all, this fashionable traditional literary award did not seem to have much to do with "Moonlight".
As Teacher Xia was talking, her face turned towards Chu Li and the others, and she said something startling: "Try to send one or two articles to Moonlight magazine as well."
Chuli: “…………………………”
Chuli: “????”
Everyone in the editorial department of Moonlight magazine suddenly had question mark faces - this traditional literary award seemed to have nothing to do with the categories that Moonlight mainly focused on, such as online novels and modern fantasy novels.
Teacher Xia: "Times are progressing. Even the old feudalists in the selection committee should accept the trend of modernity. We should catch up with this trend and reject the old traditional rigid thinking."
……………………Teacher Xia, when you said this, a smell of staleness already came over me, did you know that?
You probably don't know.
Everyone in the editorial department of Moonlight magazine nodded in agreement with great shock, and began to think in their minds: Is it possible to produce a work that is somewhat decent and can be handed over?
Chu Li was also roaring in her heart: Ah ghost!!!!!! I never thought!!! There will be a day when your gay article will be selected for the "Squid Award" hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Surprising or not? Unexpected or not? !
While everyone was stunned by the shock, Teacher Xia took the opportunity to announce the second thing -
The annual Reader-Author Interaction Cultural Festival of Yuanyue Publishing House is here. In order to encourage editorial departments of major magazines to increase their interaction with readers, Yuanyue Publishing House is holding an event called "Story Relay" this year.
Therefore, each monthly magazine must select two issues with a total of four to six authors, each of whom writes the beginning of a story and publishes it in the October and November issues. Then, readers are asked to submit a sequel, and the best sequel is selected and announced and published in the December issue and the January issue of the following year...
As soon as this news was announced, everyone in the editorial department of Moonlight magazine naturally turned their attention to Lao Miao and Chu Li - because now within the editorial department, as editors-in-chief, they are the only two who actually supervise the authors.
Lao Miao brought Nian Nian, Suo Heng and Hippo with him.
Chu Li brought Zhuchuan, Jiang Yucheng, and Guiwa with him.
Yu Yao himself was transferred directly from "Star Track" to "Moonlight". Most of the authors he brought with him followed the traditional literary routine, and they were all left in "Star Track" as "legacy"... Later, he came to "Moonlight" to serve Zhechuan with Lao Miao. Now Zhechuan has also found Chu Li, the person he tortures, so Yu Yao has nothing to do with this event this time.
The war only took place between Chu Li and Lao Miao.
Chu Li obviously realized this, so when Teacher Xia suggested "dividing it into two phases" and "starting with two to three authors in each phase", she immediately raised her head and looked at Lao Miao, and then they both saw a spark in each other's eyes.
…
Back in the editorial office, Chu Li opened Q and began a daily game with her cute authors.
First is Ah Gui——
[The water army hired by Monkey: Comrade Guiwa, according to the information from this morning's weekly meeting, our company will submit your article that combines the profound educational significance of "modern network media social atmosphere and whether the personal privacy of public figures should be protected" for review and competition.]
[The Ghost Behind You: I have written one? Which one?]
[The navy hired by the monkey: "I heard it."]
[The ghost behind you: What competition are you participating in? ]
[The navy hired by the monkey: the flower award. ]
[The ghost behind you: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!]
【The ghost behind you: Stop it. 】
[The monkey’s hired navy: Really.]
[The ghost behind you: Who are you scaring? ]
[The Monkey’s hired soldier: When I heard Teacher Xia say this, I had the same reaction—Teacher, who are you trying to scare? …Then I realized he was serious. Are you ready? The Flower Award will wave to you again. From now on, you are not a ghost, but Mr. Ghost.]
[The ghost behind you: ...]
Taking advantage of the good mood (which it wasn't), Chu Li assigned Ah Gui the task of planning the front matter for the October issue. Of course, Ah Gui would have to take part in the reader-author collaboration event: according to her information, Ah Gui had various stories that had already been written but had only a beginning, so she urged Ah Gui to sort them out and package them up and send them over. Chu Li would select them herself, and the matter would be done.
It is called waste recycling.
After drawing a big cake called "Gay Wen Wins the Squid Award", which even the magic brush Ma Liang dared not to draw casually, and forcing Ah Gui to face the pit he dug all those years and now dared not to face, Chu Li ruthlessly sent Ah Gui away, took a deep breath, and began to tackle the other two unshakable mountains -
Chucheon and Jiang Yucheng.
When Teacher Xia first announced the news, the editorial department's attention naturally fell on Chu Li and Lao Miao. Of course, people naturally thought that Chu Li had gained a lot of face in this event.
Just like on today's literary websites, readers who buy genuine books and write reviews are true fans, but in the fast pace of study, work and life, those who can take a little time out to sit down and carefully write a 1,000-word review or short story for their favorite authors are not true fans. To the authors, they are living Bodhisattvas.
You should kneel down and kowtow to express your gratitude.
Therefore, this "Author-Reader Interactive Story-Writing" activity is not testing anything else, but actually competing to see who has a bigger temple and more Bodhisattvas - compared to Suo Heng and Niannian, Zhuchuan and Jiang Yucheng are naturally the type with a big temple and a big family, but the abbot of such a big temple is also very difficult to deal with...
Teacher Xia was very anxious to assign the task; the October issue had to be included in the front-page plan, which meant that they had to get the manuscripts from the authors before September.
Chu Li immediately found Jiang Yucheng and asked him to write this opening paragraph. At around 2pm, Jiang Yucheng replied very quickly:
【Jiang Yucheng: Okay, no problem, it will only start at 2,000 to 3,000 words.】
【Jiang Yucheng: Who told me that I am your author now? Of course I have to obey the editor’s orders: (】
【Jiang Yucheng: Is there any royalties? 】
Chu Li suddenly felt a little embarrassed. How could he get the money for the front matter project? How about I just give him two or three hundred? Putting both hands on the keyboard, Chu Li thought about it, but before he could think of how to answer, Jiang Yucheng's Q popped up a new line of information -
【Jiang Yucheng: I am lying to you. I will write even if I have no money.】
【Jiang Yucheng: Over the years, Xiao Houhou has written countless long reviews and analyses for me, which should add up to 70,000 to 80,000 words. How can I ask you for money for 2,000 to 3,000 words now...】
【Jiang Yucheng: I figured it out. I am sitting here now just to pay off your debt:)】
Chu Li: "..."
A simple [：（] and [：）] has already made the girl sitting in front of the computer's heart jump twice - she originally thought she no longer had this thing...
No one can resist when a person they like helps them with their work and at the same time says something like "I'm here to pay off your debts" with a smile... It's simply killing me. I wish I could light a firecracker under my butt and soar into the sky!
[The Monkey’s hired naval officer: Teacher, don’t say that. It makes it seem like I wrote reviews for you all for today! ]
【Jiang Yucheng: Yes, it doesn’t matter. Thanks to you, since the decision to serialize “The Lost Amusement Park” in “Moonlight”, my Weibo hasn’t been so active for a long time. Many people come to ask when the official serialization will begin! 】
[The sailors hired by Monkey: It’s almost time, the September issue—I’m also very nervous, the teacher’s comeback work is handed over to me. ]
【Jiang Yucheng: Huh.】
【Jiang Yucheng: Will there ever be a day when I can make a comeback?】
Chu Li placed his hands on the keyboard and typed the words "I will" carefully. When he saw Jiang Yucheng stop teasing and replied solemnly, "Then I'll leave it to you," Chu Li raised his hand and touched his chest. He felt like standing up and bowing to the computer in a solemn manner.
——At this time, Chu Li had already forgotten the fact that Jiang Yucheng had almost tricked her once. As the saying goes, once the wound has healed, the pain is forgotten. Jiang Yucheng agreed to it so readily, it was definitely not a good thing.
At this time, Chu Li, who hadn't thought too much, felt that she had conquered Jiang Yucheng again, and finally went to find Zhuchuan with a nervous heart.
Zhuchuan had been staying in City C for almost a week. Chu Li didn't know how long it would take for him to come back. Lao Miao had indeed said before that City G, where Yuanyue Society was located, was just one of Zhuchuan's many places to stay...
Now that Er Gouzi has Chu Li to take care of him and is living a happy life every day, he is even more carefree and wants to come back whenever he wants. Chu Li is almost worried that if this continues, he will have the idea of traveling around the world...
For Zhuchuan, typing is not enough to communicate with him.
According to Chu Li's experience, men are usually more reserved and talkative when they are on the phone than when they are typing on QQ. At least they don't keep saying "I don't want it", "I don't do it", "I don't listen", "I don't" all the time.
So Chu Li decided to call Zhu Chuan.
The phone rang twice and then someone picked up the phone. It was very quiet on the other end. A man said "Hello". His voice was deep and seemed different from his usual voice, as if his throat and chest had just been moistened by water and had a particularly wet feeling... Well, this is a very strange metaphor.
Chu Li didn't know why he had such an association.
"Hello, Mr. Chuchuan."
Chu Li whispered the man's name, clutched the phone, looked up at her colleagues who were still working, grabbed the phone and walked out to the empty corridor - Chu Li remembered that every time she and Zhu Chuan talked on the phone, she would come to this corner. The last time was to ask him not to tell anyone about signing the "Luohe Divine Book" to Yuanyue Society for the time being, and the last time was to ask him to release her from the blacklist, otherwise she would jump out of here with a note saying "Zhu Chuan forced me"...
Thinking of this, Chu Li laughed out loud.
"...You idiot, you called me without saying anything, and then let me hear you giggle?" The man on the other end of the phone was very rude, accompanied by a sound similar to the collision of ceramics, "What's the matter? I'm hanging up now."
"No, I have something to do, something to do!" Chu Li shouted hurriedly, "During the regular meeting this morning, Teacher Xia talked about the Squid Award. You know the Squid Award, right?"
…
Thousands of miles away.
City C.
Sitting in a tea house with retro decoration, the aroma of tea lingers in front of you. In the small teacup in the man's hand, the tea soup sways gently. It has a strong fragrance, a mellow taste, a clear soup and a moist color. These four characteristics are exactly the Huangshan Maojian tea that is highly priced.
He held his cell phone in one hand, and from time to time he would raise his brown eyes to glance at the middle-aged man sitting opposite the tea table. The latter was wearing simple home clothes and was slowly flipping through a seemingly old book in his hand...
No matter how old you are, you will always have the temperament of a scholar.
The man suddenly became interested.
"Oh, the Flower and Blossom Award? Of course I know, my dad won it, and the trophy is still in my study, getting dusted off every day," he said, his lips slightly raised, "What, you want to submit "Luohe Divine Book" to participate in the selection?"
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the middle-aged man sitting opposite him put down the book in his hand and raised his head.
The mischievous smile on the corner of Chu Chuan's lips widened: "Sure, the Flower Blossom Award, it's very high-end, how much does it cost to buy it?"
While the other end of the phone fell silent, the expensive thread-bound book flew towards him from across from Chuan! Mr. Chuan Guxuan, who was sitting there quietly drinking tea and reading, suddenly put down his teacup, pointed his finger at his son's face in a warning, then stood up, slammed the door and left!
There was a loud bang.
After a brief silence fell in the tea room, the smile on Zhaochuan's lips disappeared.
He picked up the phone and said "Hello" lazily: "I was just joking. Don't send the "Luohe Divine Book". How can it be selected if you are sick? I don't want to humiliate myself."