1987 My Era

Chapter 137, Cultural Journey (Subscribe!)

For several hours, Editor-in-Chief Liao and Zou Ping were like sculptures, maintaining the same rhythm and concentration, and reading the new book's essays carefully, word by word, with their heads down.

Even if they went to the toilet once, they would calculate the time, with their minds full of the words they had just absorbed.

Afraid of wasting it.

Afraid of interrupting the rhythm, Editor-in-Chief Liao thought: This has never been so urgent.

This state lasted from 8 a.m. to around 12 noon. The petrified Editor-in-Chief Liao finally moved. His expressionless face disappeared, and his heavy and serious expression disappeared.

Editor-in-Chief Liao read the last word, put down the manuscript, took a deep breath, and said to Li Heng: "Good! Very good!"

After saying this, Editor-in-Chief Liao smiled to himself, a smile of satisfaction, and shook Li Heng's hand with satisfaction: "Young people are formidable! My trip was not in vain."

Listen! Listen! How can you praise someone in person like this?

After all, he is the editor-in-chief of a magazine. If you want to praise him, praise him behind his back and praise him as much as possible.

Li Heng's face turned red from the compliments, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile, "Thank you."

Zouping also breathed a sigh of relief. Teacher Li's level is as high as ever, and he is full of expectations for the future.
While looking forward to it, Zou Ping couldn't help but have a hint of envy in his eyes when looking at Li Heng. He was a circle younger than himself, but his cultural background was so high. He was really amazed and convinced!

It's impossible not to admit it. He couldn't even write a paragraph on his own.

Editor-in-Chief Liao looked at the manuscript lovingly and couldn't help asking, "How many chapters are there?"

Li Heng has already made a detailed plan for this: "The full text has 41 chapters in total, 6 of which have been completed so far, and there will be about 35 more to come, with an estimated word count of around 32."

Editor-in-Chief Liao exclaimed happily: "There are still so many?"

Li Heng nodded and gave a brief account of the materials and documents he had currently collected on Zhao Jing, his experience of reading the local county annals whenever he went to a place, and some of his ideas and thoughts.

Finally, he said: "These have been decided since the beginning, and it is expected to be completed in November."

Editor-in-Chief Liao nodded repeatedly. No wonder Li Heng could write such a profound article. It turned out that there was a famous scholar behind him to support him. He was completely relieved. He immediately stopped hesitating and asked, "How about giving this work to our Harvest?"

There are some things that both of them know very well, and this is just a routine question.

At present, Li Heng cannot do without "Harvest" magazine, and even more so, he cannot do without the strong support of Mr. Ba.

You have to know that due to royalties, those who are pessimistic and against him are still active, and their number is not small. If he is asked to handle it alone, he will probably follow the same path as Lao Wang in Beijing in his previous life and be forced to leave his hometown.

Facing the looks of Editor-in-Chief Liao and Zou Ping, Li Heng said, "Of course I will leave it to Harvest Magazine and you. I am familiar with you."

With this witty answer, the three of them smiled knowingly at each other, and they officially reached an agreement.

Editor-in-Chief Liao weighed the manuscript and said solemnly, "The manuscript fee remains the same, 5 yuan per thousand words. The royalties are the same too. If it is published in the future, it will be calculated at %. How about that?"

Li Heng subconsciously wanted to refute, 5% is too damn disadvantageous, it should be at least 10%.

But after weighing the pros and cons, he changed his mind.

Now he couldn't rush into anything, he had to get through the difficulties first. Besides, Mr. Ba supported him so much, he couldn't just leave a bad impression of being profit-seeking.

Although it is not shameful to pursue wealth, he has always believed in the principle of eating as much as one can afford. But some things really require human feelings and the affection of the people. Only by giving enough face to others can they continue to support him and give him face without any effort.

Anyway, with so many good works, he didn't worry about running out of ideas, so he said cheerfully, "No problem, let's do it according to the old rules."

The most important thing was settled, and Editor-in-Chief Liao felt relieved. He pulled him to sit down and asked, "Does this essay have a title?"

Li Heng thought for two seconds and asked, "How about calling it "Cultural Journey"?"

Editor-in-Chief Liao savored the name and his eyes lit up. "Not bad, this title is meaningful and fits your writing style. I'll choose it."

In the following time, the two talked about the inspiration of "Cultural Journey", the creative direction and historical culture.

Seeing Li Heng talking eloquently and hearing Li Heng's long speech, Editor-in-Chief Liao was deeply moved: This is not like facing a young man, it is clearly facing an old scholar, and a very awesome one at that.

No wonder he has achieved such success at such a young age. He is a real talent and his reputation is not in vain.

At this moment, Editor-in-Chief Liao acknowledged what Zouping said after returning from Shao No. 1 Middle School in the first half of the year: In front of the writer December, I feel like a clown, and my shallow knowledge has nowhere to hide.

Editor-in-Chief Liao and Li Heng were the ones communicating and chatting throughout the whole process, and they chatted for more than four hours. The two of them seemed to feel like they had met too late and were still not satisfied, which made Zou Ping, who couldn't get a word in, envious again.

When Zou Ping learned that Li Heng planned to read more than 3 books in the next three months, his blood boiled, and he secretly made up his mind to buy a lot of books when he went back to catch up on his cultural knowledge, otherwise he would not be able to say anything in occasions like today, standing there like a wooden man, which was so fucking painful.

As the sun was setting, Li Heng, who had forgotten to eat lunch due to the lively conversation, finally felt hungry. He immediately stood up and said apologetically:

"Editor-in-Chief Liao, Editor Zou, look how careless I am. I didn't even think of treating you to a good meal when you came to Xiangnan. Let's go find a restaurant outside and chat while we eat."

Editor-in-Chief Liao was very happy to be able to chat with Li Heng unexpectedly, and he didn't bother to be polite with him: "Okay, you are the host, I will follow your arrangements."

Zhang Zhiyong and Li Ran still hadn't come back, so the three of them called their English teacher and left together. Before leaving the hotel, Li Heng specifically asked the front desk clerk where there were good restaurants in the area. Unexpectedly, the clerk was so enthusiastic that he personally took them to a husband-and-wife shop 200 meters away.

The waiter introduced: "Although this restaurant is inconspicuous, we locals all know that the owner of this restaurant used to be the head chef of a state-owned restaurant in Chang City."

As for why the chef returned home to open a restaurant, the waiter was hesitant and couldn't give a reason, so they simply stopped asking.

After finding a table and sitting down, Li Heng didn't even bother to look at the menu and just extended his hand to greet:

"Boss, bring five or six of your signature dishes here quickly. I'm hungry."

The boss asked: "Are you from other places? How about the whitebait and three fresh dishes? They are from Dongting Lake."

Now that they have come to Dongting Lake, of course they have to eat fish. Li Heng and his four companions were naturally eager to try.

With the boss's strong recommendation, Linxiang tea oil chicken, Junshan golden turtle, wind-cured wild duck and vinegar tofu were served later.

Finally a soup was served.

"You know what, the fish here really tastes unique, different from sea fish." As soon as Editor-in-Chief Liao took a bite of the whitebait, he praised it repeatedly, and it was obvious that he was quite satisfied with the dish.

"Come on, Editor-in-Chief Liao, Editor Zou, and teacher, let's have a drink." The four of them ordered Erguotou, and Li Heng took the initiative to raise the glass to toast.

When Editor-in-Chief Liao heard Li Heng calling the sexy woman in red "teacher", a flash of surprise flashed across his eyes. However, there are some things that cannot be asked, and there is no need to ask too much. After finishing the glass, he began to persuade her to drink like an old friend.

Because of Li Heng's talent, Editor-in-Chief Liao was determined to make friends with him this time. The topic at the table was endless and the atmosphere was very good. Even the English teacher, who rarely spoke, opened his mouth and helped Li Heng entertain the distinguished guest.

Time passed quickly as we drank and talked. The meal lasted for more than two hours in the blink of an eye. If we hadn't ordered two more expensive dishes in the middle, the restaurant owner would have wanted to kick us out.

At the end of the meal, Li Heng asked Editor Zou to do him a favor, asking him to use his connections to get the more than 140 books and documents that Zhao Jing had given him to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Zouping asked: "Where are these books now?"

Li Heng said: "In Shao City, with one of my elders."

Zou Ping, who was very satisfied with the trip, patted his chest and said proudly: "No problem, leave this little thing to me, you can focus on the next creation, I will go to Shao City tomorrow."

"Thank you!" Li Heng toasted with the last glass of wine.

After paying the bill and leaving the restaurant, Editor-in-Chief Liao hurried back to the hotel and excitedly called Mr. Ba's home.

"Boom. Boom.!"

The phone rang three times and a voice came from the other end: "Hello, who is this?"

"Xiao Lin, I'm Liao Hua."

Hearing that it was the voice of Mr. Ba’s daughter, Editor-in-Chief Liao introduced himself.

"Editor-in-Chief Liao, I heard from my father that you went to Xiangnan. How was your experience there?"

When Li Xiaolin heard that Editor-in-Chief Liao went to southern Hunan specifically for Li Heng, he immediately became curious.

Editor-in-Chief Liao drank some wine, chewed his tongue and said excitedly: "Great! A rare masterpiece. This time, I really opened my eyes and realized that there is always something better than what you have."

When Mr. Ba, who was reading a newspaper nearby, heard this, he reached out and pressed the hands-free button and asked, "Is the prose really that good?"

Hearing that it was Mr. Ba, Chief Editor Liao looked more serious, "Teacher, when have I ever boasted in front of you?
When I read "Cultural Journey", I was still thinking that if the quality of this book can be guaranteed in the future, it will be worthy of your personal preface. "

Hearing this, the father and daughter looked at each other, and Mr. Ba became interested: "When will you return to Shanghai?"

"There is a train tonight." He originally wanted to go back tomorrow, but Editor-in-Chief Liao felt that the teacher was so old and it was rare for him to have something he longed for, so he changed his mind temporarily.

Sure enough, the next second, Mr. Ba said, "Come to my place for dinner first when you come back."

"Hey, okay."

The three of them talked on the phone, and after Editor-in-Chief Liao hung up, he went back to his room and started packing his things. Then he said goodbye to Li Heng and the English teacher and rushed to the train station.

After seeing off Editor-in-Chief Liao, Li Heng stood by the road and asked, "Teacher, are you drunk?"

"It's okay, I'm used to drinking Erguotou." The English teacher said with his hands on his chest, looking at the setting sun in the sky.

"Then I'll accompany the teacher for a walk to help digest the food?" Li Heng felt too full, so he made a suggestion.

The English teacher looked around and said, "Just walk around the area. It's getting dark. Don't go too far."

"Row."

(End of this chapter)