Chapter 162 Wen Leyu: Give them a salary at most
"Two Ks."
"Two Aces."
"Don't play anything below 9! Li Ye only has two eights left."
"Old Wu, you peeked at my cards again, didn't you?"
"Who peeked at your cards? Do you still need to look at your and the youngest's cards?"
In dormitory 209, Li Ye was playing poker with several roommates.
Ever since Wu Runfu and several other roommates collectively expressed their dissatisfaction with Li Ye for "not being around all day" a few days ago, Li Ye would go out with them to eat, drink and play cards every now and then.
He came to Peking University to build relationships with his classmates. How could he be too distant from his roommates?
However, Li Ye did the right thing when it came to eating and drinking. Young people could quickly get along well with each other, but when it came to playing cards, he shot himself in the foot.
Because Wu Runfu and the other two were from the Department of Mathematics. Even though they looked dull and stupid all day long, they were very accurate in counting cards, and it was like they were cheating, making it impossible to resist.
Anyway, now whenever Li Ye shows up in the dormitory after class, he will be grabbed by a few guys to play a few cards and have them bully him, the "number one guy in the dormitory", for fun.
Who made Li Ye so "flashy"?
If you are rich, good-looking, and have a girlfriend, and you are the best at everything, how can people survive?
"It's the last round! After this I have to go out for a walk and get some fresh air. I'm almost being crushed to death by you guys."
As expected, he lost again. Li Ye admitted defeat while shuffling the cards.
But his teammate Sun Xianjin said, "Brother, we didn't win a single game all night, are you willing to accept that?"
Li Ye glared at him and said, "Why are you competing with these digital monsters? They can figure out your cards with their eyes closed. Admit defeat and give them your stakes."
Sun Xianjin turned around reluctantly, took out two bags of candied peanuts from his bed, and threw them on the table in a huff.
Wu Runfu and Chen Sihai took the peanuts with a wink and deliberately bit them with a crunching sound.
A bag of candied peanuts costing a few cents is nothing, the main thing is the feeling of “pride”.
"Draw the cards, draw the cards. Shit, are we done already?"
In a new hand, Li Ye has 456, 789 in his hand. What's the point of playing this?
He wanted to refuse to play, but the two animals on the opposite side had been eyeing them covetously, determined to get the last bit of snacks from Li Ye and Sun Xianjin.
"Li Ye, Li Ye, a letter came, a letter came from the publishing house!!"
Li Huaisheng's voice was suddenly heard outside the door, and then the door of dormitory 209 was pushed open violently.
Li Ye and Sun Xianjin both threw away their cards decisively and successfully cheated.
Wu Runfu and Chen Sihai did not get angry because the people who came in were Li Huaisheng and Yang Yumin. As freshmen, they were still a little reserved when facing the juniors.
When Li Huaisheng saw Li Ye when he entered the room, he said happily, "Li Ye, look, the publishing house has sent us a letter."
Li Ye smiled and said, "You can write to me if you want, but hasn't the novel been officially published? Why write to me now?"
"You don't understand this," Li Huaisheng said with some pride, "This is a letter from a reader that the publishing house forwarded to us. Our "Hometown Lonely Soldier" already has loyal readers."
"oh!"
Li Ye agreed, looked at the pile of letters in Li Huaisheng and Yang Yumin's hands, and subconsciously asked, "Are these the only letters?"
“.”
Li Huaisheng and Yang Yumin were stunned, and the smug expressions on their faces froze for a moment, just like the lake water in early winter, which suddenly froze into pieces of ice.
"What do you mean by just a few letters? Do you know how difficult this is?"
Li Huaisheng said with a sullen face: "If you want to get letters from readers, you must at least publish your work successfully first, right? Then readers will write to you to communicate with you if they think you write well."
Li Huaisheng gave a long lecture to Li Ye and others. Both Sun Xianjin and Wu Runfu were so happy that their eyes were full of stars.
After all, Blue Ocean Press is also a regular domestic publishing house, and the sales and reputation of New Wind have skyrocketed in the past few months. For a student to publish a work in it is definitely something to be proud of.
"Oh, oh, I was wrong. It is indeed very rare."
Li Ye tactfully admitted his mistake, which made Li Huaisheng and Yang Yumin's faces turn rosy again.
After all, these two classmates really treated him as a younger brother.
If Li Ye said - you two look down, yes, there are two big boxes under the bed, which are full of letters from readers to me,
They were all sent in bulk by the hundreds in large mail parcels, some with photos in the envelopes! I had no time to read them, let alone reply.
It is estimated that after Li Ye finished speaking, the friendship between the few people would end from then on.
"Come on, let's go to the activity room and reply to our readers together."
Li Huaisheng pulled Li Ye away, completely ignoring the fact that Li Ye was still wearing slippers.
Li Ye's younger brother Sun Xianjin naturally went along.
After the few people left, Wu Runfu asked in confusion: "Why did the junior students ask Li Ye to help reply to the readers when they published their works?"
Chen Sihai said uncertainly: "I heard from the youngest that Li Ye seems to like literary creation, so he might have participated in the co-creation!"
"It's over. It's not easy to defeat his title as the top brother!"
Wu Runfu threw away the good cards in his hand and suddenly felt bored.
. . . . .
Li Ye followed Li Huaisheng to their literary activity room and found that everyone was already there.
It seems that authors nowadays still attach great importance to readers' opinions, unlike some authors in later generations who, as soon as they see readers asking for more frequent updates, more extra chapters, or a harem, start to turn a blind eye.
"Come on, everyone, read one letter each, and then carefully reply to the reader."
Li Huaisheng and Yang Yumin distributed more than a dozen letters to the students present, and Sun Xianjin, who came with them, received one.
Li Huaisheng opened the letter first, and as soon as he saw the beginning, he began to read happily.
"Hello, author. I love history very much. After reading your novel, I feel really happy. I hope to see more and better novels of this kind in the future."
“Pah pah pah~”
Li Ye was surprised that everyone applauded together, and Li Huaisheng's face was full of joy, as if he was more intoxicated than a poet reciting a good poem.
Yang Yumin and others also opened the letters, reading them silently or aloud, feeling the readers' enthusiasm.
But Li Ye suddenly found that Sun Xianjin's face looked wrong, and he looked as if he was constipated.
"What's wrong?"
Sun Xianjin handed his letter to Li Ye. Li Ye took a look at it and put it in his pocket.
But Li Huaisheng had already noticed something strange about them, so he walked over and took the letter.
"Author, are you writing a novel? Why do I feel like I'm reading a history textbook? Who is the protagonist? Is your novel pieced together?"
This is a "bad review letter" with vicious wording. The reader who wrote the letter thought that the characters in "Homesick" were not lively enough, the main text was filled with a lot of historical knowledge, and was boring like chewing wax, etc.
Li Huaisheng read the letter twice from beginning to end before looking up at Li Ye.
"Li Ye, why is the suggestion made by this reader so similar to the one you originally proposed?"
[Do you think readers will only give good reviews and not bad reviews? ]
Li Ye smiled and said, "You don't think I pretended to be a reader and wrote this letter, do you?"
Li Huaisheng quickly said: "Li Ye, don't misunderstand me. I don't believe you would do such a thing."
At this time, the tall girl spoke
"The letter I opened from a reader is similar. He thinks what we write is not a novel, but historical knowledge."
“This is mine too.”
Four or five consecutive letters from readers all reflected the same problem.
Letters from readers are actually equivalent to book reviews in later generations. There are no always positive words in them, and many readers can be very sharp and critical.
Everyone looked at Li Ye.
Before sending out the manuscript of "Homeward Bound", Li Ye reminded Li Huaisheng and others that the beginning of the novel contained too many world settings, which might affect the reading experience.
What year is the Tang Dynasty at this time, what is the origin of the reign title, is the emperor a good emperor or a bad emperor, who is the leader of the lone army in the Western Regions, who is his father and who is his grandfather,
It can be said that Li Huaisheng and others wrote the novel very carefully, and there is a lot of historical knowledge in the novel. But it is indeed too boring to read.
Li Ye suggested at the time that they should learn from the writing style of the beginning of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, using the perspective of a storyteller from Niujia Village to slowly unfold the era setting of the novel.
But Li Huaisheng and others did not follow Li Ye's advice, and now they are being questioned by readers.
Finally, Yang Yumin said solemnly: "Li Ye, what do you think we should write for the next issue?"
Li Ye no longer hid his incompetence and directly took a piece of paper and started writing on it.
"First, make it clear who the protagonist of the novel is, and all other supporting characters should be described as 'green leaves'.
No matter how good, strong, or how much you like this supporting role, it is just a little brother who assists the protagonist. The stronger the little brother, the stronger the protagonist.
"Second, all historical knowledge can only be selectively incorporated into the content of the novel. If it is not necessary, it will not be used at all."
"Third, there must be a heroine. The main readers of our novel are not monks. Novels without romance are not popular."
Li Ye gave everyone a free writing skills lesson. Li Huaisheng and Yang Yumin seemed to be thinking about something after listening to it, while Sun Xianjin and the tall girl who had just joined were stunned.
Li Huaisheng suddenly said, "Li Ye, how about you be the main writer of the next novel?"
Li Ye quickly shook his head like a rattle and said, "I can't do that. I just have a lot of ideas and thoughts, but my writing skills are far worse than yours."
"What you said does make sense. After class, come over and give us some advice. When we get paid for our manuscripts, I guarantee you'll get a share of it."
Li Huaisheng and the others were sincere, but Li Ye said awkwardly: "I can only say that I will try my best, because I am really busy recently and I really don't have time."
Seeing that Li Huaisheng and the others were about to insist, Li Ye said again: "I have agreed with others to study and improve together. You can't ruin my big event!"
“.”
Everyone was speechless, because they all knew who the girl Li Ye had agreed to be, and Li Ye's lifelong event could not be delayed.
. . . . .
In fact, Li Ye is really busy, because he recently "double-opened" his second novel.
Li Ye made an appointment with Wen Leyu in the evening. After arriving at the library, he handed over a manuscript.
"Remember last time I told you that I was going to write a 'masterpiece' and I would need your help a lot. Now the time has come, see if you are willing to earn royalties with me."
Wen Leyu, who was rummaging through Li Ye's lunch box looking for the sweetest fruit, suddenly became happy.
She picked up the manuscript and began to read it carefully, but after just a few minutes, she looked at Li Ye in surprise.
"A Song of Ice and Fire? Are you writing a Western fantasy novel? I have never seen a similar subject matter. Will our domestic readers like it?"
Strange Stories novels are similar to "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio". Wen Leyu has read many Western novels and feels that Li Ye's stories are unique.
"You can call it Western fantasy fiction, but I think it should be called 'fantasy fiction'."
Li Ye said: "You don't have to consider whether domestic readers like it, because I need you to translate it into English and then publish it in Hong Kong Island."
“.”
Wen Leyu stared at Li Ye blankly, his big eyes wide open, and he didn't blink for a long time.
After a long while, Wen Leyu said with a smile: "Li Ye, do you know that literary translation is not data translation? It is a very rigorous job and ordinary people can't do this kind of thing."
Li Ye nodded and said, "I know that. You just need to use accurate words and straightforward descriptions to translate it into English."
"That won't work! It's not the same thing at all."
Wen Leyu didn't know how to tell Li Ye, because for a person whose native language is Chinese, the difficulty of translating a pile of literary manuscripts from Chinese to English is much higher than translating from English to Chinese.
Otherwise, there would not be the title of “translator”.
In the process of translating a world classic, the translator not only needs to have a high level of foreign language proficiency, but the literary level of his native language is also very important.
Translators need to use their own mother tongue to re-render and reconstruct the artistic conception, emotions, and thoughts in famous works, rather than simply and straightforwardly presenting a list of events like translating materials.
For example, a high school student who grows flowers has the same English level as an excellent writer.
If two people translate a foreign work at the same time, will the Chinese versions they translate be of the same level?
On the other hand, Wen Leyu’s Chinese level is okay, but her English level is not up to the level of a translator. Even many English professors cannot meet that requirement.
The plots they translated may be correct, but foreign readers will not buy into it if they think it is "not good to read".
Li Ye waved his hand and said to Wen Leyu, "If you really can't handle it, ask Teacher Ke if he can help."
"My mother?"
Li Ye knew that Teacher Ke had a very high level of English and literary literacy.
Wen Leyu thought for a moment and said, "My mom may not be able to do it. Even if she is, she may not have the time now. But she has a classmate who is very good."
"No, we can't find outsiders," Li Ye flatly refused. "In fact, there is no need to strive for perfection. Just follow my detailed instructions to make an accurate preliminary translation, and then I will find a foreigner to do the secondary translation."
When "The Lord of the Rings" first entered the Chinese-speaking area, the translation level was not good. It was an electrician who retranslated it, which made the book even more popular.
That's why Li Ye had a similar plan.
Wen Leyu asked curiously, "Then why are you looking for my mom? Can't you just ask a foreigner to translate for you?"
Li Ye whispered helplessly: "If that happens, there may be a copyright dispute. Do you want a foreigner to take away most of the royalties that originally belonged to us?"
Wen Leyu was stunned for a few tenths of a second, then blurted out, "That's not possible. The most we can do is give them a salary."
I have to accompany my wife to do some work tomorrow, so the update tomorrow night will be a little late. I’m letting you know here in advance and hope you can understand.
I would also like to thank book friend 33021208824673 for the reward of 1,000 coins. Thank you, brother.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
