Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 85 How long have I been away?
In this era that has not yet been corrupted by fame and fortune, the behavior of several teachers while eating in the tube building of Yanshi University is very consistent with the Chinese people's imagination of the image of intellectuals.

After coming out of Teacher Hou’s house, Lin Chaoyang couldn’t help but sigh. How fast the world changes!
"Why are you sighing?" Tao Yushu asked him.

"I feel pity."

"What's a pity?"

"Several teachers just talked about it, but they didn't bother to write down their ideas and publish them to give my novel some momentum."

Tao Yushu was amused by him and laughed out loud, "You'll be so happy!"

"They can also get royalties, right? This is called mutual benefit."

The couple chatted and laughed as they returned to Yanyuan under the starlight.

It was Monday morning again, and the entrance to the library was already lined with students who had come to reserve seats. The weather in Yenching has been getting hotter recently, and it seemed that more and more students were coming to the library. Many of them were holding breakfast in their hands, and it seemed that they were going to eat breakfast while studying.

Du Rong looked at the crowd of people at the door and sighed in her heart. She was going to be busy this morning.

For the whole morning, the front desk was busy with registration and the library was busy looking for books. Everyone was busy with their own things.

Lin Chaoyang is in the library on the sixth floor today. He is so busy that he doesn't even have time to slack off. He is eagerly looking forward to the arrival of summer vacation.

It was finally afternoon and he had some time to rest. He picked up a pen and wrote a novel for a while, but before he could get into the mood, he was off work.

After packing up my things, I went downstairs. As soon as I reached the door, I saw Zhang Dening waiting there.

"When did you come? Why didn't you call me?"

"You seem to be very busy. I just got here a while ago." Zhang Dening explained.

The two walked and talked, and Lin Chaoyang asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"I'm not looking for you, I'm looking for your wife."

"Looking for Yu Shu?" Lin Chaoyang was a little surprised.

Zhang Dening smiled and said, "Remember the collection of reviews that Lao Li mentioned when you went to the editorial office?"

“Will it be published?”

Zhang Dening proudly took out a book from his bag and said, "Take a look!"

Lin Chaoyang took the book and exclaimed, "You guys really figured it out?"

"Collection of Reviews on "The Horse Herder"" is a blue booklet. It doesn't look very thick, with at most 60,000 to 70,000 words. This is understandable, as a review is at most 3,000 to 5,000 words. A collection of reviews may include at most 20 articles, and the critics have to be somewhat famous to be included.

"It's not us, it's mainly the support of Writers Publishing House. As you know, Comrade Ding Ling has made a comeback now..."

Zhang Dening did not explain it in detail, but Lin Chaoyang understood that the Writers Publishing House's agreement to publish this collection of reviews must have a lot to do with Ding Ling's review of "The Shepherd".

"Comrade Yushu's review has also been included. I came here today to give her a sample copy. The manuscript fee invoice should also be mailed to her in the next two days."

Lin Chaoyang laughed and said, "She will definitely be happy to hear this news. Let's go, let's have dinner at home."

Zhang Dening looked at Lin Chaoyang's performance and smelled a sense of being dominated by his wife.

"After so many visits, this is the first time you let me have dinner at your house."

"The previous times the time was not suitable, but today it happened to be after get off work."

He tells lies with open eyes, no wonder he can write such good novels, Zhang Dening thought to himself.

After returning home, Tao Yumo heard that Zhang Dening was the editor of Yenching Literature and Art and that he had come specifically to deliver sample issues to his sister Tao Yushuo. She was very excited.

"Brother-in-law, can you let me see it?"

Lin Chaoyang handed the booklet to Tao Yumo, and she happily flipped through the collection of reviews. The article by Tao Yumo included in the collection was the one she had previously published in "Yenching Literature and Art".

The collection of reviews of The Horse Herder is mostly from famous critics or people in the literary world, such as Hu Depei, Yan Gang, Ding Ling...

Logically speaking, with Tao Yushu's current fame and the influence of his reviews, he is in no way qualified to appear in the same collection of reviews with the above-mentioned figures, but who can blame Tao Yushu for having someone above him?

The husband writes novels and the wife writes reviews, and it becomes a good story when it spreads.

Who dares to say this is a backdoor?

There were guests at home, and Tao's mother had to cook more food, so she called Tao Yumo to help. She reluctantly put down the collection of reviews in her hand.

Lin Chaoyang chatted with Zhang Dening for a while before Tao Yushu came back. When she heard that Zhang Dening was here to give her a sample copy of his collection of reviews, she also looked very happy.

They chatted for a while, and when it was almost time to eat, Zhang Dening asked Lin Chaoyang, "Have you come up with any new novels recently?"

It's more than just an idea, it's almost finished.

Lin Chaoyang decided to strike first, "Tell me about you, how long has it been since you last talked to me about your creative work?"

Zhang Dening looked confused. What do you mean? Do you think I have nothing to do?
“I’m almost done with my new novel. But Lao Liu from October came to talk to me twice before and gave me a lot of ideas.

This novel... is for them."

With a bolt from the blue, the expression on Zhang Dening's face froze.

Finished the new novel?

New novel for October?

How long have I been away from home? And you were taken advantage of by someone when I wasn't here?
"You gave it to me after two times?" Zhang Dening squeezed out these words from between his teeth with difficulty.

"Well! We are all acquaintances, what can I do?" Lin Chaoyang said without any psychological burden, and then turned to complain about Zhang Dening, "You are the same, you didn't even think to come to me to urge the manuscript. The novel is out, and people come to ask for manuscripts. Can I still lie and say I don't have it?" Zhang Dening felt a mouthful of blood stuck in his chest. So he blames me, right?

The fierce look in her eyes did not last for two seconds, and finally turned into a plea, "Chaoyang, you are an author trained by our Yanjing Literature and Art, you can't just turn to October like this!"

"How can you say you are leaning towards October? Look at what you said." Lin Chaoyang refilled her tea and comforted her, "It was a coincidence that I gave the manuscript to Lao Liu. I will definitely think of your Yanjing Literature and Art when I have manuscripts in the future."

Lin Chaoyang's promise made Zhang Dening feel more at ease, and he asked again, "What is your novel about?"

"A war novel set against the backdrop of that battle over there."

"Tell me more about it."

"Probably..."

Lin Chaoyang briefly recounted the content of the novel to Zhang Dening. After listening, she looked thoughtful and said, "The structure is very good, but you have never come across war themes before. Can you grasp it well?"

Lin Chaoyang felt that she just wanted to trick him into reading the manuscript, "I'll finish it soon, and I'll hand it over to the editorial department for a decision when the time comes."

"How about I help you check it first?" Zhang Dening suggested.

At this moment, she behaved like a lazy man who was obsessed with the widow at the village entrance.

"No need." Lin Chaoyang refused, "Come on, let's eat first, let's eat!"

After coming to Yanyuan several times, Zhang Dening finally had a meal at Tao's house. However, this meal made her lose her appetite. All she could think about was Lin Chaoyang's novel, and she felt filled with regret.

If I had known...if I had known...I should have come more often!
The next morning, Zhang Dening told Zhou Yanru the bad news as soon as he got to work, and she was furious.

"I knew it! I knew it! Last time when I attended the May Fourth Literary Society of Yan University, I could tell that Liu Xinwu had bad intentions. He really took advantage of our unpreparedness to steal our manuscript!"

Zhou Yanru was so anxious that she kept pacing around in the office. She complained again, "You too. You went to Chaoyang so often before, why haven't you gone there more recently?"

Zhang Dening looked aggrieved, "I'm busy too!"

"You..." The accusatory words stopped on her lips. Zhou Yanru thought about the usual workload of the editorial department. Everyone has indeed been very hard in the past six months.

"Oh! Never mind. We can't take all the benefits. We also got "Little Shoes"."

After hearing what Zhou Yanru said, Zhang Dening felt much better.

She listened to the synopsis of Lin Chaoyang's new novel yesterday and felt that it was not as moving as "Little Shoes". Moreover, Lin Chaoyang had no experience in writing war-themed works, so the response might not be very good.

On the contrary, looking at "Little Shoes", which was released more than a month ago, its sales alone directly boosted "Yanjing Literature and Art".

Before Li Qingquan came, the sales volume of Yanjing Literature and Art was stable at 200,000 to 300,000 copies per month, with little fluctuation.

Then Li Qingquan came, and "Yanjing Literature and Art" first published "The Shepherd", which had a great impact among domestic readers in the name of scar literature; then it successively published the works of Wang Meng, Fang Zhi and others, consolidating the sales and influence of the magazine.

It was not until last month that "Little Shoes" was officially published, which boosted the sales of "Yenching Literature and Art" to one million copies.

This figure not only broke the sales record of "Yanjing Literature and Art" since its inception, but also was the highest sales achieved by a domestic literary magazine since Buzz Buzz Buzz.

Including the 20 additional copies printed last week, the print run of the fifth issue of Yenching Literature and Art this year has reached 110 million copies. Based on observations from the previous stage, Zhang Dening is not worried at all that these additional copies will be unsalable.

This was the late 1970s when printing paper was in short supply, and the sales of over one million copies undoubtedly proved the influence and appeal of "Little Shoes".

"What are you talking about? It's so lively?" While Zhou Yanru and Zhang Dening were talking, Li Qingquan passed by the office and asked.

Zhou Yanru then told him about Lin Chaoyang's manuscript being intercepted by October. Li Qingquan shook his head and said, "No one can avoid this kind of thing. Just communicate more frequently with the writer in the future."

His words were not a criticism, but they were more like criticism. Zhang Dening nodded with grievance.

After finishing the topic of the manuscript, Li Qingquan said to Zhou Yanru: "I have been considering whether to publish a separate volume of "Little Shoes" these days. Recently, readers have been calling for this matter."

"Little Shoes" has been widely welcomed by readers since its publication, as can be seen from the exaggerated increase in magazine sales.

Thousands of letters from readers flew into the editorial department of Yenching Literature and Art like snowflakes, most of which were readers' praise and compliments for the works and writers.

Li Qingquan recently looked through these letters from readers and found that many people expressed their wish to purchase the single volume of "Little Shoes" for reading and collection.

Zhou Yanru frowned when she heard this, "Still looking for the Writers Publishing House? They are not even willing to publish a collection of reviews. If it weren't for Ding Ling's sake..."

Nowadays, printing paper is allocated by the state according to the plan, and the annual printing volume of each publishing house is planned. Writers Publishing House is a well-known domestic publishing house, and the annual paper consumption is as high as hundreds of tons, but there are also many publications to be printed.

The last time Yenching Literature and Art planned the "Collection of Commentaries on <The Shepherd>", it used the planned printing paper of the Writers Publishing House, which was equivalent to occupying the printing volume of the season. It was very troublesome to coordinate, thanks to the article by Ding Ling in the collection of comments.

"Well... I've also thought about this. We won't take the lead this time. I'll say hello to Renwen Publishing House and see if they're willing to publish this single volume."

At present, "People's Literature" is under the management of the China Literary Association, but its publishing is undertaken by the People's Literature Publishing House. Li Qingquan is a veteran of "People's Literature" and can have a say with the People's Literature Publishing House.

Zhou Yanru nodded. Although doing so was a bit like helping others, after all, Lin Chaoyang was the writer that their "Yenching Literature and Art" strongly supported.
"This brat really needs to thank us!"

Li Qingquan smiled and waved his hand, not at all proud of himself.

"It's mutually beneficial. Look at how good our magazine sales were last month!"

Hearing his words, Zhou Yanru couldn't help but smile, "That's right, the popularity of Little Shoes is a big part of it."

"De Ning, you..." She turned around and was about to say something to Zhang Dening, but then stopped and said to herself: "Forget it, I'll go talk to him."

Zhang Dening naturally knew who the "he" Zhou Yanru was referring to. Feeling her leader's distrust, she felt angry and bitter.

If I had nothing to do, I would harass Lin Chaoyang every day!

(End of this chapter)