Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 589 Arrival
A single lesson, like a pebble dropped into water, created ripples that stirred up half of the literary world.

The reason for referring to it as a "circle" is that those who were stirred up were mostly readers. The real writers in the literary world already knew about Chen Fan's background and knew that he had been seen by several masters, including Ba Jin, Mao Dun, Guang Weiran, and Chen Huangmei. So his abilities were beyond doubt.

Hearing this now, one can only smile knowingly, feeling that it was expected, and have no other thoughts.

But those readers are different.

Although Chen Fan had many readers who liked him, he was still somewhat lacking in terms of "convincing" him.

The main reason is that he is too young, not even eighteen years old, yet he has produced a series of excellent works, making it hard not to suspect that he has a master mentor behind him.

However, after this open class, all the students who attended can testify that Chen Fan only glanced at one of the students before he improvised and created a novel of above-average quality.

This ability to create spontaneously is unheard of, not to mention that the quality of the works is not bad.

With someone like Chen Fan, how could he not write so many masterpieces?!
As these students sent letters from the provincial capital to all parts of the country, Chen Fan's reputation began to spread rapidly, and wherever he went, all doubts were dispelled.

This was something he hadn't expected. A simple public lecture had dispelled most people's doubts about him, which was a pleasant surprise.

Then, everyone became interested in something else.

That's the novel Chen Fan wrote on the spot. When will it be published?
This way, everyone can broaden their horizons and learn something.

Therefore, the students petitioned Chen Fan to write the article and publish it in the newspaper as soon as possible.

……

The dinner party that evening consisted of the same few people from the break room during the morning classes; Guo Huaimin didn't bring any more people.

The staff canteen room is only so big; if there are more people, they won't be able to eat properly.

Another point is that university teachers nowadays still retain a certain degree of reserve. For such private gatherings, few people would willingly attend unless invited (except for the shameless). Unlike in the future, when bringing others along will almost become the norm, ostensibly to expand one's network, but in reality, basic etiquette will be completely abandoned.

Chen Fan felt quite at ease with old acquaintances. Despite being a generation, two generations, or even three generations younger than them, he treated them like brothers, offering cigarettes, drinks, and chatting without missing a beat.

Huh? Real age? That's still a younger brother.

Oh, the little secretary in the corner doesn't count.

Hearing Tan Yong's words, Chen Fan put down his wine glass and said with a smile, "Alright, since everyone is so supportive, I'll go back tonight and finish the manuscript. I can earn a few dollars in royalties for free."

Tan Yong nodded. "Right now, it's just the correspondence students who are participating in the course and a small number of Jiangnan University students who are auditing the classes who are calling for it. Once the news spreads, I think any young person who is interested in literature will want to see this article that you wrote on the spot."

Xu Qizhen, who was standing next to her, thought for a moment and said, "But Jiangnan Literature and Art Publishing House will not publish it until the beginning of the month. There are still half a month to go. I'm afraid readers won't be able to wait."

Tan Yong thought for a moment, then turned to Chen Fan and said, “Last time we discussed adding a new magazine called ‘Literary Youth,’ why don’t we take this opportunity to use your article as the main feature and officially launch the inaugural issue?”

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Guo Huaimin put down his wine glass, lit a cigarette, and said with a smile, "Tan Lao is still the best at seizing opportunities. Launching a new magazine while everyone is interested in this article will definitely attract the attention of literature lovers, and sales will go up."

Xu Qizhen said from the side, "This is the third face-to-face class now. The graduation exams of the first two classes produced a few pretty good articles. If this class can also produce a few excellent works, we should be able to fill the quota for a magazine."

She smiled again as she spoke, “These articles are certainly not as good as the quality of the manuscripts in Jiangnan Literature and Art, so Literature Youth can only be positioned as a primary literary magazine, and we can’t set our sights too high.”

Chen Fan leaned back in his chair, lit a cigarette, and said, "It was originally a platform specifically for students to showcase their achievements. Nobody intended to use this magazine to elevate its status."

He looked around and said, "The problem now is, back then, we positioned 'Literary Youth' to only publish students' works. Was it appropriate to put my article in it?"

Tan Yong waved his hand without hesitation, “What’s inappropriate about it? Your article was born in a face-to-face class, so you can’t say it’s unrelated to the correspondence course. In addition, you can publish it under the name of ‘teaching article’.”

As he spoke, he turned to look at Xu Qizhen, "As for your concern about the quality of the students' submissions, it's easy to solve. If necessary, just add the teacher's comments at the end of the students' articles. That will increase the amount of content, and the students might even enjoy reading them."

Xu Qizhen's eyes lit up immediately, and she couldn't help but nod slightly, "That's not a bad idea. Moreover, the comments can be used in every issue of the magazine, unlike Xiao Fan's articles, which are in this issue but not in the next."

Chen Fan said with a smile, "Since Vice Chairman Tan said it can be done under the name of teaching articles, then other teachers can write them in the future."

He could come up with such an idea in the blink of an eye. But it's best to let someone else explain it; otherwise, using his own work as a teaching article would make him seem too capable, which doesn't fit his humble and straightforward persona.

Then everyone chimed in, and before long, they had agreed on the terms of the agreement.

Tan Yong said while smoking, "That's settled then. After we get back, we'll have all the teaching sites in the province quickly gather the best works, and together with those here, we'll try to complete the review, proofreading, and printing within a week."

He turned to look at Chen Fan and said, "According to my estimate, your improvisational creations should create the first small peak in about a week, which is just in time."

At the same time, we will publish a report in the Jiangnan Daily to announce the official launch of the magazine. We can also talk to Wenhui Daily; their circulation is large, and if they give us a report, it will definitely increase our subscriptions significantly.

Then he turned to Xu Qizhen and said, "Didn't they also publish the report written by Xiao Chen about opening correspondence courses last time? Adding it this time is a way of echoing each other."

They got a taste of success last time when Wen Wei Po helped them publish advertorials, so naturally they wanted to do it again this time with the new magazine.

Chen Fan sat to the side, chuckling, but inwardly he was marveling at the benefits of having a powerful backer.

Think about how many time-traveling predecessors went through countless hardships and begged their fathers and grandmothers to publish a magazine or a book in this era.

Now, a shabby magazine meant for students to practice on has already arranged everything before even applying for an ISBN.

What if I don't have an ISSN?
Ahem, these days there are no publication numbers!
Before 1988, the management of newspaper and periodical publishing in my country was mainly handled by the provincial propaganda departments or cultural departments. There were no unified regulations on publication numbers for newspapers and periodicals. Basically, you could just submit an application, get a stamp from the competent authority, and it would be ready to be printed and published.

It wasn't until 1987, after the State Publishing Bureau, which had been established for less than two years and was under the management of the Ministry of Culture, was abolished and the Press and Publication Administration, which was directly managed by the General Manager's Office, was established, that the work began to connect to the International Serials Data System (ISDS) and the ISDS China Center was established.

Only then did it receive an official publication number.

However, as early as 1967, the state established a unified book number system. Therefore, from 67 to 88, the numbers on magazines were actually book numbers.

Therefore, once the market opens up, if Chen Fan wants to start a magazine, he doesn't need to worry about approval issues at all.

The propaganda department of Jiangnan Province can stamp it for him.

Or Shanghai would be fine, or even Beijing would be good too. He's met the leaders of all those places and knows them very well.

When the time comes, just offer a cigarette, have a cup of tea, chat with them for a bit, and the clerk below can handle all the paperwork—so easy.

……

The next day, June 17th, Saturday.

He didn't rest that day, but Chen Fan didn't have to attend classes or go to work. He got up early as usual, completed his routine exercise and meal, and then sat at his desk, listlessly picking up his pen to write an outline for a Western fantasy novel.

Going to his workplace is out of the question. Last night, Tan Yong decided to launch the inaugural issue of "Literary Youth" and complete the printing within a week. His workplace must be incredibly busy, so he's not going to join the fun.

Going there now would be like being drafted into the army.

Rather than being dragged to work, I'd rather stay in my room reading or writing.

After writing a few words, Chen Fan threw the paper aside, leaned back in his chair, and sighed, "When will my computer arrive?"
If there was no hope, that would be one thing, but now that he can type on a keyboard, he has lost the motivation to write by hand.

Even if my uncle and his family got home on the 7th and bought the computer and shipped it out on the 8th, it's been 9 days now. They promised it would arrive in 8 days. Is air freight this slow?

Then there was a knock on the door.

Chen Fan turned his head and glanced at it before getting up to open the door.

Xiao Peng stood at the door and handed over a receipt with both hands. "Director Chen, here is your package slip."

When Chen Fan took it, she peeked at it curiously, "This looks like it was sent from the United States. Is it from your American relatives who came to visit you last time?"

The fact that Chen Fan has relatives in the United States had already spread throughout various units when Zhou Zhengdong first arrived in the provincial capital. Regardless of how many people were worried, indignant, gloating, or indifferent, many people now knew about it.

So when Xiao Peng received the parcel slip from the post office, he immediately delivered it to Chen Fan.

Otherwise, she wouldn't need to personally handle such a matter; she could simply leave the letters at the front desk and let others pick them up themselves.

Chen Fan took the order and looked at it, then grinned, "Yes, my cousin sent it."

Now that Xiao Peng had become familiar with Chen Fan, he was less reserved and asked curiously, "What is it?"

Chen Fan's eyes darted around slightly. "Typewriter."

Calling it a typewriter wouldn't be wrong, would it? This kind of miniature computer doesn't seem to be able to do much else; it can only process spreadsheets and documents, and play games.

Calling it an office computer is inappropriate; should we call it a game console?

Anyway, I'm going to use it for typing, so it's a typewriter.

Xiao Peng blinked repeatedly. A typewriter?

Was it the typewriter she was thinking of? She wanted to ask more, but Chen Fan couldn't wait to go to the post office to pick up the package.

They drove off with a whoosh, and less than half an hour later, they came right back with another whoosh.

Standing behind the counter, Xiao Peng watched Chen Fan carry a large cardboard box out of the car. She even forgot about her work and ran after Chen Fan, asking, "Director Chen, why is this typewriter different from the ones I've ever seen?"

Chen Fan glanced back at her and smiled, "This is a foreign typewriter, so it's naturally different."

In the 50s, several small factories in Shanghai that produced computers and typewriters merged to form the Shanghai Typewriter Factory. At that time, they all produced mechanical typewriters, the kind of "Shu-style typewriter" that we introduced earlier.

Although the efficiency was not high, the atmosphere at the time was that "we should have what foreign countries have, and even better." The Shanghai Typewriter Factory then took on the important task of researching Chinese typewriters.

Based on the research of their predecessors, they finally developed a relatively mature product, the "Double Pigeon Typewriter".

This typewriter has 2170 lead characters and weighs about 60 to 70 kilograms.

As for the most important thing, typing efficiency, you can figure that out yourself.

(Double Pigeon Typewriter)

However, before Chinese typewriters became widespread, almost every school with the means had one of these typewriters. After its technology was improved in 78, it gradually became more common in the 80s, and it can be said to be the best-selling domestically produced typewriter.

It was only later that the computer defeated it.

Although Xiao Peng was a staff member of a guesthouse, he was also considered to be within the cultural system, so it's not surprising that he had seen this typewriter before.

Today was a workday, and most people had gone to their workplaces. The guesthouse was almost empty. Chen Fan walked unimpeded to his room, then swayed his hips and said, "Xiao Peng, open the door for me."

"okay."

Xiao Peng took out the key from his pocket, unlocked the door, and pushed it open.

Chen Fan carried the large box inside and gently placed it on the ground.

Zhou Yali was very meticulous. She not only sealed the box with tape, but also used an automatic bundling machine to tie it tightly, ensuring that it would not easily come apart.

These two things are not yet widespread in China, but they are already widely used in the United States.

With outsiders present, Chen Fan couldn't unleash his unparalleled skills, so he grabbed a pair of scissors from the table, quickly tore open the box, and took out three smaller cardboard boxes one by one.

Judging from the packaging, this should have been repackaged by Zhou Yali.

This girl doesn't seem like a carefree person at all; she's actually quite cautious when it comes to doing things.

The Apple II was a remarkable computer, almost identical to the desktop computers that became common in later generations. Because of this, the Apple II was sold from its launch in 78 until 93, accumulating sales of nearly 600 million units. Apart from the continuous upgrades to its internal components, its appearance remained largely unchanged.

Even now, this computer can still be found on some university campuses, and it can even work normally.

(Apple II)

Because of this consistent structural design, Chen Fan found no difficulty in assembling it.

After a quick inspection of the components inside the computer case, he found that all the expansion slots were full and the performance was at its maximum. He couldn't help but give Zhou Yali another thumbs up.

After quickly assembling the box, Chen Fan took out a smaller cardboard box from the main box.

Upon opening it, I found the adapter he had instructed me to use.

欧美各国的电压标准各不相同，有的是110v，有的是220v，此外还有120v、130v、230v、240v。

The US uses 120V, while my country uses 220V. You can't just plug in appliances made there; they'll definitely burn out.

No problem, the UK, France, and Germany also use 220V. They're practically inseparable, so they naturally sell special adapters. I can just have Zhou Yali buy a few and bring them over.

(End of this chapter)