1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 11: Shock in the Editorial Department
"The east is red, the sun is rising"

"He seeks happiness for the people, he is the people's savior"

Early in the morning, Li Tuo listened to the song "The East is Red" broadcast from the Telegraph Building and rode his 28-inch bicycle towards Liubukou on West Chang'an Avenue.

Liubukou on West Chang'an Street. In the past, living here meant being neighbors with the emperor.

The provincial publication "Beijing Literature and Art" is located in the courtyard of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture.

The names of provincial publications at that time were very distinctive, and one could guess the province just by listening to the name.

"Beijing Literature and Art" is about Beijing, "Yanhe" is about Shanxi, "Hongyan" is about Sichuan, and "Zhongshan" is about Jianghuai.
So guess where the "Yellow River", "Strait", "Flower City", "Hibiscus" and "Dianchi Lake" are from?
"Brother Li!"

As soon as Li Tuo got off the car, he heard a shout. He turned around and saw a pretty and dignified female comrade.

"Comrade Denin."

Zhang Dening is currently the youngest editor of "Beijing Literature and Art". He is the novel editor of the editorial department. He has known Li Tuo for a long time and has sent several manuscripts to him for review before. One of them was Shi Tiesheng's "Death", but it was ultimately not adopted.

This article "Death" was later renamed "The Law Professor and His Wife" and published in "Contemporary".

"Have you eaten?"

"I ate it. How about you?"

The two exchanged formal greetings.

After asking about the recent situation, Li Tuo got straight to the point and took out a stack of manuscripts from his bag.

"Take a look first. It's a rare good manuscript."

Zhang Dening quickly freed his hands, took the manuscript and took a quick glance at it.

"Jiang Xian? I've never heard of this name. He must be a newcomer."

Li Tuo did not comment and smiled mysteriously.

"If there is a result, please let me know as soon as possible."

After seeing Li Tuo off, Zhang Dening walked into the office holding the manuscript.

There is still a festive atmosphere throughout the editorial department.

Some time ago, their magazine "Beijing Literature and Art" followed the literary trend and published a manuscript rejected by "People's Literature" with great courage. Zhang Jie's "The Child from the Forest" took advantage of the "scar literature" trend and caused a great sensation and response in society. The circulation of the current issue increased a lot.

"Xiao Zhang, these are the manuscripts we received yesterday." Zhang Dening had just sat down when the security guard came in with a thick stack of manuscripts.

"Put it over there first. Thank you for your hard work, Brother Zhou."

Special matters should be handled specially. Zhang Dening planned to take a look at the manuscript sent by Li Tuo first.

With Li Tuo's keen eyes, he must be extremely talented to be able to write an article that received such high praise.

"Beijing Literature and Art" has a rule that novels must be reviewed and proofread three times before they are published. Zhang Dening, the editor-in-chief, happens to be responsible for the first review of novels, and it does not violate the rule for her to preview "The Chess King" first.

"The handwriting is quite neat." Zhang Dening flipped through the short story titled "The Chess King".

It was still early, and editors were already arriving at their posts in the small office.

"De Ning, you came so early today." Editor-in-chief Liu Zhao, who had just arrived at the office, greeted her enthusiastically.

However, Zhang Dening acted as if he didn't hear anything. He said nothing and sat motionless in his seat reading the manuscript, immersed in the world of literature.

When the novel group leader Zhao Jinjiu saw her like this, he raised his eyebrows.

"It seems like I've found a good manuscript."

Liu Zhao smiled helplessly.

We are all editors, and we have all experienced the experience of being obsessed with reading manuscripts, so we will naturally understand.

【The crowd gradually dispersed, and Wang Yisheng was still a little numb. I suddenly realized that my left hand was still holding the chess piece, so I opened my hand to show Wang Yisheng. Wang Yisheng stared blankly, as if he didn't recognize it, but there was a sound in his throat, and suddenly he spit out some mucus with a wow sound, and said in a sob: Mom, I'm going to die today.】

Zhang Dening's eyes were already moist and his nose felt sore.

Those vulgar and emotionless words contained a strong appeal and emotion. She read the last line of the text with tears in her eyes, raised her head and looked around with a sense of loss, and had a great desire to share or discuss this article with others.

“What kind of author can write such a good article?”

According to the rules, the manuscript reviewed by Zhang Dening must be handed over to her superior leadership group members, and finally to the main person in charge for a third review.

The chilling effect is still at work. At this moment, "Beijing Literature and Art" does not have an editor-in-chief, only a main person in charge.

Zhang Dening turned into another large office, searching for his leader, when he was suddenly called.

"De Ning, do you have a manuscript?"

It was Li Qingquan, the newly appointed head of Beijing Literature and Art. They had not worked together for long, but Zhang Dening had a good first impression of him, saying he was pragmatic and responsible.

After taking office, the first thing he did was to risk the public's condemnation and personally return a "novel" written by a veteran cadre, writing on the rejection slip: Comrade xx, writing a novel is not like writing a report, and yours is not a very good report either.

"Lao Li, I'm here to submit a manuscript for second review."

Li Qingquan took the manuscript from her.

"The quality of how?"

Zhang Dening took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

“Excellent!”

"Then I'll deliver it for you." Li Qingquan is not used to sticking to procedures when doing things. He doesn't like to wait for the manuscript. He often reads the manuscript at the same time as the second review, expresses his attitude, and deals with it as soon as possible.

Fu Yonglin, the editor in charge of the second review, finished reading "The Chess King" almost at the same time as him.

"Yonglin, what do you think?" Li Qingquan asked quietly without showing any expression.

Fu Yonglin's chest was still heaving, as if he was still immersed in the story of "The Chess King", his heart surging and his emotions were difficult to calm down.

“The subject matter is novel, the plot is simple and pure, with complete emotional clues to support the development of the plot. The text is simple, but the expression is extremely vivid.”

Li Qingquan seemed very satisfied with Fu Yonglin's statement and nodded twice.

"Most writers today are still immersed in the craze of 'showing off their courage' and breaking into 'forbidden zones', and only stop at showing 'scars' and 'reflecting'. In my opinion, it is good to face the subject matter of life and society directly, but efforts to explore literary characteristics are also indispensable. In this regard, this article "Chess King" does a good job."

Zhang Dening listened carefully from the side, and while he felt approval, he also had a strange premonition.

The next issue of "Beijing Literature and Art" may produce another good work that will attract national attention.

Li Qingquan did not immediately indicate whether to use it or not. Instead, he organized a discussion in the editorial department, asking everyone to pass "The Chess King" around and read it, and asked everyone to write their own review comments at the back.

“It has a lot of Taoist legacy.”

"It's been a long time since I've seen such words, such style, and such narrative style."

“It is different from the current popular writing styles, but not unfamiliar.”

"The Chess King" immediately created a whirlwind in the editorial department.

“Definitely a veteran.”

"To be able to write such refined words, the author must be quite old."

"I always feel that this Jiang Xian is the pen name of some great person."

"."

The editors discussed it eagerly.

Zhang Dening stayed by Li Qingquan's desk, waiting for him to make the final decision.

Li Qingquan read all the editorial opinions patiently before leaning back and making the decision.

"Leave the manuscript with us for now, and write a letter to inform the author."

(End of this chapter)