Two-in-one
"Nothing is missing, just take it and go. I'm closing the door." Qin Yao coldly ordered the guest to leave.
Qiao Jie felt humiliated with the things in her hands. Her face turned pale and blue. She didn't know whether to leave or stay. Finally, she gritted her teeth, took the things and turned back angrily, like a drowned dog running away in a panic, looking miserable.
After getting the things back, Qiao Jie sat on the sofa and realized that she had acted inappropriately. She had the audacity to ask for the things she had given away back. Where would she put her face in the future? Who knows how others would laugh at her behind her back.
When Meng Xian came back, Qiao Jie told him about the incident, and her tone was still unrepentant: "Who made her so excessive? She asked me to choose her but she didn't, and she even wanted to take my things for free. This time I'll teach her a lesson."
"A dog would eat a bone from you and still look good. These people are just dogs that cannot be tamed. They dare to scold me at night..."
Meng Xian, who was originally good-tempered, couldn't help it now and yelled, "Who told you to do this? Who is the guy who was born by a mother but not raised by her?"
Qiao Jie's eyes widened: "How dare you scold me?"
"Heh--" Meng Xian's eyes went dark. Marrying a woman like Qiao Jie was probably the most wrong thing he had ever done in his life. Over the years, he had been careful in every step, built up a good network of relationships, and his position had risen rapidly. He was just in the prime of his life, but he got carried away and married a woman like Qiao Jie.
At first, he thought that she came from a well-off family and could bring him some support. But now it seems that God saw that he had a smooth life in the first half of his life and deliberately sent him twists and turns.
How long have you been married? Qiao Jie is about to offend everyone, so how can she have good relationships with people?
"Qiao Jie, let's get a divorce. Even if it means offending our boss, I will still divorce you." Meng Xian was a man who acted decisively. Seeing Qiao Jie like this, he didn't even want to coax her. He still wanted to make friends with Gu Cheng. Qiao Jie offended Gu Cheng's wife... She had offended more than one family. With this mouth and the way she treated people, who knows how she would make enemies for herself in the future.
If this marriage does not end, this will be the end of Meng Xian's life.
Meng Xian quickly weighed the pros and cons. Even if divorcing Qiao Jie at this time would offend his old leader, her father was about to retire a long time ago. So he might as well offend him. It would be better to keep a low profile for a few years than to be dragged down for the rest of his life.
"Do you really want to divorce me?"
Meng Xian took out a cigarette from his arms and said, "Let's get a divorce. We can't live like this anymore. It's better to get a divorce sooner. I can't afford to marry a wife like you."
Qiao Jie locked herself in the room. The next day, Meng Xian still insisted on divorcing her. Qiao Jie became scared and dared not to take Qiao Jie away because she could not afford to lose face.
Although Meng Xian is ugly, he has a good temper. When his father's friends mention him, they all praise him. It doesn't matter whether a man is ugly or not, what is important is his career.
Qiao Jie thought that marrying Meng Xian was a downgrade, but marrying Meng Xian brought her a lot of face. Her parents were also very happy, knowing that Meng Xian had a bright future after coming here for further studies.
In the past, Qiao Jie thought Meng Xian didn't dare to divorce her, so she was fearless. But now that Meng Xian insisted on divorcing her, Qiao Jie realized what a big mistake she had made.
"Go and apologize to Xiao Qin. If you don't apologize, we will get a divorce."
Meng Xian was very annoyed when this matter was mentioned. He had finally found a way to establish a good relationship with Gu Cheng, but his wife ended up offending people behind his back. Marrying such a thing was like marrying a plague god.
"I apologize..."
At night, Meng Xian and his wife took two bags of things and knocked on the door of Room 301. When they saw Qin Yao, Meng Xian apologized with a big smile on his face: "Xiao Jie is young and doesn't do things well. Sister-in-law, don't be too picky with her."
Qin Yao finally let them in. Gu Cheng was also at home. When he saw Meng Xian and his wife, he frowned slightly.
He didn't really like Meng Xian. He thought that this man was too sociable and scheming, had no real ability, and now he had gone astray. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to go far.
Qin Yao sneered, "I think she's not young anymore. I'm only 24. If we really count by age, I should call her sister."
Meng Xian just smiled when he heard this, but Qiao Jie couldn't help but say, "My family is well-off, I have someone who loves me or not, so the children I raise are different."
The smile on Meng Xian’s face froze.
Gu Cheng crossed his arms and said coldly, "It turns out that your wife has been unloved at home since she was a child. No wonder she has such a prickly temper. She is not like my wife, who is loved by her father and mother and has four older brothers. This is my first time to her house, and I have to pretend to be a grandson at my father-in-law's house."
"Yaoyao, since her father doesn't love her and her mother doesn't care about her, don't bother with her."
Qin Yao nodded and sighed, "No wonder she kept saying dad and mom last night. It turns out she felt the same way."
Meng Xian couldn't laugh now. The couple in front of him were mocking his wife in front of him. No man could laugh, but he felt comfortable in his heart.
Damn it, he said out loud the words that he had been cursing in his heart for eight hundred years. This woman was born by a mother but not raised by her. What kind of education is that? If she didn’t have a good father, he would have wanted to smash the table a long time ago.
"Mr. Meng, you just watch them bully me? Are you still a man?" Qiao Jie stomped her feet. She couldn't stay in the Gu family anymore, so she turned around and ran over.
Meng Xian apologized to Gu Cheng and his wife, and then chased after them.
Qin Yao pointed at the things the two had brought and asked in confusion, "Should we send these things back to them?"
Mr. and Mrs. Meng brought some cigarettes, alcohol, tea, cakes, canned ham, canned syrup and other things.
"Take it." If he accepted it, that would be the end of it. If he returned it, it would cause more trouble. Gu Cheng said, "Don't have any more contact with his family in the future."
Qin Yao nodded: "I can't stand this woman, so I won't associate with her."
I don't know what Meng Xian said to Qiao Jie afterwards, but Qiao Jie behaved well for a few days and they didn't divorce. Meng Xian is a man who really knows how to deal with people.
After settling down in Yangcheng, Qin Yao began to organize her own editorial department. The unit found her a place on the first floor of an office building, where there were offices of other state-owned enterprises. The place was not big, only about 80 square meters, and it could be considered an office of the cultural center.
The late 1970s and early 1980s were a period of vigorous development for periodicals and magazines. Various periodicals emerged one after another, and some magazines even sold millions of copies per month. Many well-known magazines were founded at that time.
When it was first published, there were only three or four people with a capital of several thousand to twenty thousand yuan to start a magazine. If the sales were good, it would change from a single monthly to an upper and lower monthly, and then to a weekly.
The 1980s was the golden age of magazine development.
It is still the late 1970s, and there are more popular science magazines on the market, such as plant encyclopedia, aerospace, mathematics and physics, geography and environment...
In the mid-1970s, aviation knowledge was the most popular science column. Qin Yao had read many aviation knowledge magazines and also navigation magazines, but none of them were popular with aviation.
After 20 years, many people wanted to study computer finance or become internet celebrities, while in the mid-1970s, people most aspired to work in aerospace and become scientists.
When the college entrance examination was resumed in 1977, aerospace was a popular major at that time.
Many children from the compound, even if they don't do well in school, buy a lot of aviation magazines on a daily basis. These aviation magazines can actually be said to be military magazines, with many pictures of fighter jets on the cover, which is a huge attraction for ordinary children.
The contents of these aviation science magazines are not boring. They introduce the origins of fighter jet development and the competition among various models...
Qin Yao flipped through some of them, but she couldn't say she was fascinated by them. There were too many models and she couldn't really tell what they were. But her husband knew them all.
There are many popular science magazines, but few magazines such as Story Club, Emotional Stories, and Youth Digest. There are even fewer magazines related to composition. Therefore, many students now have poor composition skills. Even if they want to copy a model essay, there is no place to copy it because there are no composition books, let alone essays that will get full marks in the college entrance examination.
This topic has gone too far and there is no need to analyze it. The magazine market in the 1980s was so vast that even if Qin Yao did not make the lifestyle and entertainment magazine she had imagined before, but instead made magazines about intimate relationships, storytelling, ancient and modern legendary novels, movies... these types of magazines could all become hits.
However, it is not the 1980s yet, so neither romance nor martial arts novels can be put on the stage. We have to wait a few more years, but Qin Yao can’t wait any longer.
Publishing a lifestyle and entertainment magazine is the easiest way to avoid crossing the line at this time, and there will basically be no problem. This is something Qin Yao has considered carefully.
She invested 10,000 yuan of her own money to set up the editorial department, and gradually recruited about ten people. Including her, there were a total of twelve people forming the editorial department, with each person having their own division of labor.
Several of them are fans of her books and have read her books and the movies adapted from her novels.
Zhang Feng, a young man in his early twenties, is a fan of Qin Yao's books. He published poems in a youth magazine at the age of twelve and is a member of the Writers Association. He went to the countryside less than a year ago and returned to the city. Last year, he failed to get into university and worked as an assistant in a normal school.
Qin Yao corresponded with him several times. When Zhang Feng learned that she was going to publish a magazine, he responded very positively and even recommended himself, saying that he had published a campus newspaper before, and if Qin Yao didn't mind, he would be willing to come and "work for free."
When Qin Yao saw the words "working for free" written on his letter, she almost vomited blood. She thought that the literary and artistic youth in the 1970s and 1980s really regarded money as dirt. She was completely convinced.
When they met, Zhang Feng said to her, "Are you still short of people? I know a lot of young people who are interested in literature. They don't have jobs now, and they haven't been admitted to university. If we can recruit people here..."
Many literary and artistic young people have good grades in Chinese, but their grades in mathematics, physics and chemistry are terrible. Very few of them can be admitted to university... At this time, there are many educated youth returning to the city. They can't find jobs in the city at all, and they can't bear the hardship in the countryside. Many people can only set up stalls to sell herbal tea and ice jelly to make a living.
"We don't need a salary, just food. Everyone is interested in this."
After hearing these words, Qin Yao thought to herself, my God, what is a demographic dividend? This is what a demographic dividend is. There are too many young people who do nothing. Hearing this, the capitalists would cry and say they don’t want any salary and want to work like slaves.
"Then help me find a few suitable candidates. It would be best if they have talents, such as those who know how to take photos or photography. Also, find someone with personality, such as those who privately perm their hair and wear strange clothes."
Many people think that young people in the 1960s and 1970s all wore grey clothes and were very honest. In fact, this is not entirely true. There were many flirtatious people in every era. For example, men and women had strict rules and would be accused of being hooligans if they got a little closer. However, there were still many young men and women flirting in the park. If they were discovered, they would run faster than rabbits...
For example, since you are not allowed to perm your hair or put on makeup, many people secretly use pliers to heat their hair and perm it, and also apply shoe polish or sesame oil on their heads as hair oil.
There is nothing that people nowadays cannot do, only things that people in the future cannot think of.
Zhang Feng was a little dumbfounded: "Weird clothes, permed hair?"
Zhang Feng, this simple and good comrade, did not expect that Qin Yao actually needed this kind of standard "youth". Of course, he knew some of them. On the contrary, those who were interested in literature were really "weird". There were men with strange long hair, women with shaved heads, and young men who secretly permed their hair... He knew several of them.
Yes, at that time, most of the people who permed their hair privately were young men, and fewer were women, because it was not very obvious after the men permed their hair, and since their hair was short, they would say that their hair was “naturally curly” and that they were born that way.
Women can't be so shameless, unless they also keep their hair like a bird's nest, like men.
"Yes, we need people with personality and vitality. Our journal is newly established, so we need people with an adventurous spirit, not conservative ones. If you find a suitable candidate, bring him to me for an interview."
Zhang Feng nodded: "Okay."
Zhang Feng quickly found a group of people, Qin Yao selected a few of them, and followed the advice of the Writers Association and selected a few more people, gathering about ten people. After assigning the work, the small and sloppy editorial department started to operate.
Qin Yao is the founder of "Southern Life Journal" under the Island Cultural Center. He is also the general manager and editor-in-chief, and has various titles.
As the general manager, the highest-ranking official, equivalent to the "factory director of a branch", she brought her own people to build her own empire.
It was during this period that management was chaotic, efficiency was low, and everything was being done by trial and error, which gave Qin Yao such an opportunity. At the same time, there were people like Qin Yao, big and small, in the country who were starting their own entrepreneurial journey.
"When we launch our new Life Magazine, I plan to set these twelve theme columns first. The first three pages will be planned as 'Quick Overview of Domestic and International News', which will select the latest domestic and international interesting stories. They will not be detailed reports, but brief news summarized in a few sentences. The purpose is to let readers know the latest words and news without reading the newspaper."
"The second column is 'Life Bits'. We will interview specific people and write related articles. The main purpose is to record the fragments of life. It does not need to be written in the form of beautiful prose. Ordinary sharing is enough. It must have the flavor of life. In the future, we can also receive letters from readers and let readers share their lives."
"The third column is called 'Beautiful Life', which shares some tips on how to be beautiful, and teaches life methods such as how to match clothes, trim eyebrows, and braid hair."
"The fourth column is about 'Good Items in Department Stores'. It introduces the user experience of some department store products, including their advantages and disadvantages. It should be 'real' and provide readers with experience to help them buy items. For example, if a reader wants to buy a radio, we will collect some user experiences of some common radios on the market..."
"The fifth column is Zhiyin Life, which is used to answer readers' requests for help on life and emotional issues, and also includes articles on emotional sharing..."
"The sixth column is our life topic. I have already thought about it. The first life topic of our first issue is 'Long-distance Train Memories and Stories'. We will interview various long-distance train passengers at the train station to learn about the stories of all kinds of people taking long-distance trains. One person will interview and one person will write the main article. We will interview about seven or eight articles to form a topic collection."
"The seventh column is about sharing good books, the eighth is about fable comics, the ninth is about sharing and introducing movies, and then there will be three short stories, a novella, and a serialized novel."
…
Zhang Feng frowned: "Isn't this too messy? It seems to have everything. Can we handle it with just the people around us?"
He was very hesitant. If it was a beautiful essay or an excerpt, there would be many readers, but with so much messy content, would anyone really buy it? Zhang Feng wasn't sure.
"It will definitely work." Qin Yao said confidently. She believed that such a magazine could definitely be produced. It is currently just a test run, but as long as it is produced, they will be at the forefront of the times and be the first to make a name for themselves.
In addition, Qin Yao has another trick: "Leave two or three lines of space under the page number of each magazine page. Humorous jokes are published under the odd-numbered pages, and pen pal communication information is published under the even-numbered pages."
Zhang Feng asked in confusion: "Pen pal communication?"
"Yes, don't you think it's too difficult to find pen pals at this time? Many people who want to make friends with stranger pen pals can only paste their address information on the wall of the post office, which is not safe... Our magazine provides a platform, a pen pal communication platform, where everyone can leave their address and their own friendship declaration to facilitate everyone to make pen pals."
No matter what generation people are from, they all want to chat and communicate with strangers, meet new people, and learn about new things. This is different from the later era when Internet media is well developed, unlike Weibo, Penguin... and various dating software apps, everyone has become accustomed to joking with strangers on the Internet. Meeting netizens in person and finding partners online in the same city are even more common things.
In the 1960s and 1970s, if you wanted to make pen pals with strangers, you had to rely on coincidence and accidents. Many people took the initiative to post their information at the post office in the hope that someone would happen to send them a letter one day... This was purely fate, while others were introduced by friends or the wrong letter was sent.
It is not safe to post your information at the post office. Every once in a while, the people at the post office will tear off the pen pal information. Many people also post it in places like train stations. Everyone is eager to make friends.
Qin Yao's proposal to publish dating information at the bottom of magazines was also a method derived from the development of periodicals in the 1980s. She is now the first person to try it out.
This method flourished in the future, and it is still very new now. Things like friendship declarations and leaving detailed contact information were also very popular in the 2000s. All kinds of friendship information were at the bottom of magazines and comic books, some leaving real addresses and some leaving email addresses.
After social software became well developed, the practice of sending letters to make pen pals in real life completely disappeared, and everything became online chatting.
"A friendship declaration? This is new. Indeed, if we have this, many people will be willing to buy our magazine."
Even if a magazine only costs 80 cents, most young students can afford it. It also contains various information on making pen pals... Many people will be tempted. Even if they don’t read the content of the magazine, the information on making friends alone is enough to make their hearts excited.
Get to know strangers from all over the world, find like-minded friends... just a few simple words can spark people's imagination.
“But our first issue had no letters from readers and no information from pen pals.”
Qin Yao: "If there is no one, then go find them. At worst, we can keep our own address first and leave a few different addresses. Send letters to us. We can reply to them in a unified way, focusing on emotional support."
Zhang Feng was stunned: "Ah?"
Qin Yao: "We also leave an email address for the magazine's confidant sister. Whenever readers have difficulties, they can send us a letter to express their emotions."
"That's fine, but leaving our address, isn't that fake?"
Qin Yao: "We are also human beings, we can be pen pals, how can it be considered fake?"
Qin Yao thought that starting a business was difficult, and this was normal. Even in the future, any chat room or social software would have official sponsors.
Even if you are a big boss, when you start your business, you have to pretend to be a female character in the chat room and chat with netizens.
The important thing now is to build the platform and create hype. Once the platform is established, it will naturally be able to operate in a healthy and orderly manner.
The first issue of the magazine was scheduled to be published in June, and the time was very tight. Everyone started working overtime because the magazine was very fresh and everyone was very enthusiastic about participating.
Zhang Feng even took people to the post office and the train station, asking in public if anyone wanted to make pen pals and leave messages. He also interviewed various passers-by and tourists at the train station.
There was a big brother from the Northeast who was very talkative and had a strong desire to share. He talked to Zhang Feng for two hours. He was so drunk that he even missed the train. He didn't care at all and planned to stay for a day or two to talk to Zhang Feng in detail.
"You want to write an article about me, right? I've taken at least 80 long-distance trains over the years, if not a hundred. I even ran into a spy once. Really... it can be called an adventure."
"Another time, on a sleeper night, I passed by——"
…
"When your journal is released, I will definitely buy it and subscribe to every issue!"
…
During the interview, there were many people like this big brother from Northeast China. They were very surprised that such an ordinary person like themselves could be interviewed, share their experiences of taking long-distance trains, and even have them published in magazines. Everyone wanted to tell a lot.
Mao Lina, who was taking notes beside Zhang Feng, said with emotion: "I feel this job is really meaningful."
In newspapers, we are always used to seeing reports of interviews with various celebrities and leaders. Mao Lina never thought that she could hear so many interesting stories when interviewing ordinary people. It seems that everyone's life experience is ordinary yet extraordinary.
Zhang Feng said: "Our general manager is really thoughtful and has a far-sighted vision."
The general manager he mentioned is Qin Yao. Now everyone in the editorial department calls her Manager Qin. Actually, you can also call her editor-in-chief, but calling her manager is more stylish. She is the head of the editorial department and receives the highest salary.
Qin Yao was also very moved when looking at the thick interview materials. Unlike the later period when Weibo and Moments became popular, everyone can share the latest news with their mobile phones "anytime and anywhere", and there are many channels for sharing and expressing.
However, there are too few channels for ordinary people to talk and share at this time. Everyone has the desire to talk and share, and they long to be "seen", "discovered", and "noticed".
It is not shameful for life to desire to be seen, greatness can be found in smallness.
When Qin Yao first started the magazine, she didn't think too much about the big ideas. She did it mainly to experience the taste of entrepreneurship and to make money through advertising. But looking at so much interview material, she also interviewed two travelers herself and wrote two articles by herself. The more she wrote, the more she felt emotional, and she felt that what she was doing became more meaningful.
Everyone in the editorial department became more confident. They believed that once this magazine was published, it would surely amaze the world!
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