Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 20 New Publishing Regulations
[New book coming out at the end of the month, seeking all sorts of requests...]

Hearing the loud voice outside the door, Shi Tiesheng gave a helpless yet happy smile and said to Zhang Yan and Guo Chuanlin, "It's a friend of mine, Yu Hua—you should have heard of him, Xiao Zhang, right?"

Zhang Yan hurriedly replied, "I've read Yu Hua's 'Going Out into the World at Eighteen'!"

"To Live" was published in 1992. At that time, Yu Hua was just a somewhat famous emerging writer born in the 1960s. Yu Hua was born in 60, while Shi Tiesheng was born in 1951.

It seemed that Chen Ximi and Yu Hua had said something, because Yu Hua shouted from outside again, "Then I'll go first. After you finish meeting the guests, Ximi will push you over."

"wait!"

Shi Tiesheng called out to Yu Hua, then said to Zhang Yan, "Yu Hua should know more about the publishing matter than I do. If you don't mind..."

Zhang Yan certainly didn't mind, so Shi Tiesheng called Yu Hua in.

Yu Hua had a soccer ball tucked under his arm and was wearing a pure blue Argentina number 10 jersey, revealing two pale, bare thighs.

This is the jersey Maradona wore when he lost the World Cup this year. His heartbreaking sobs after the match made it the best-selling jersey in China—though most of them are counterfeit.

After Yu Hua entered, Shi Tiesheng asked first, "What time does the show start this afternoon?"

"That depends on what time I arrive."

As Yu Hua spoke, he patted the soccer ball under his arm: "The ball is with me."

Before Shi Tiesheng could say anything more, he spotted the Popular Fiction Newspaper on the table and asked curiously, "You also read 'The Detective of the Dream of the Red Chamber'?"

Shi Tiesheng glanced at Zhang Yan and asked with a smile, "So you've seen it too?"

"Some people at school are reading it. I heard that this novel has recently sparked a trend of traveling through time to copy poems, so I took a look too—copying poems is quite novel, but it's a pity that this novel was born at the wrong time."

Yu Hua is currently pursuing a postgraduate degree in a literary creation class jointly run by Beijing Normal University and Lu Xun Academy of Literature. His classmates include Mo Yan, Liu Zhenyun, Chi Zijian, Yan Geling, and others.

Shi Tiesheng glanced at Zhang Yan again, and seeing his curious look, he pressed on, "What do you mean by that?"

"This book was obviously written last year."

Yu Hua said with certainty: "It's probably because they ran into a major crackdown on popular novels, so they had no choice but to start over. But they couldn't bear to give up the exciting parts of the original story, so some parts are awkwardly connected, and you can also see that many exciting parts have been cut."

It's like squeezing out the filling from a steamed bun, sprinkling sesame seeds on it, and baking it into a flatbread, but you can still taste the chive and egg flavor. So, words can't withstand close scrutiny.

And then…

At this point, he suddenly frowned: "No, you should be able to see that too, right?"

As he spoke, he looked at Zhang Yan and Guo Chuanlin with suspicion.

Shi Tiesheng laughed and pointed at Zhang Yan, saying, "This is the author of the novel, Zhang Yan—Little Zhang. He's always been sharp-tongued and sarcastic, so don't take him seriously."

"You were definitely setting a trap for me!"

Yu Hua glared at Shi Tiesheng, then extended his hand to Zhang Yan and said, "I really like the case of the Heavenly Dog Devouring the Heart in your book. I was discussing it with Mo Yan just a couple of days ago. How did you come up with the idea of ​​the murderer hiding behind the door and shouting?"

"Teacher Yu, you flatter me."

Because Yu Hua casually exposed the truth, Zhang Yan was a little flustered: "You're absolutely right, I did rewrite this book. If there's anything else wrong, could you tell me so I can try to avoid it next time?"

"This……"

Yu Hua hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Zhang Yan was indeed earnestly seeking advice, she said, "Besides the patchwork left by tearing it down and starting over, another problem is that many good sentences seem to be embedded in, as if they were just preludes for the purpose of the sentence, rather than being spontaneous and logical."

After saying that, Yu Hua quickly added, "However, the most important thing about popular novels is that the story is novel and exciting, so these issues are not really big problems."

And when you revised it, your writing style clearly improved, which is great! Young people aren't afraid of having shortcomings, they're afraid of not making progress.

At that moment, Zhang Yan felt a chill run down his spine.

He thought he had concealed it well, but he didn't expect that people would find out the problem just by flipping through the pages.

Is this the true strength of literary veterans?
Moreover, Yu Hua is just a rising writer born in the 60s. What if he encountered an even more powerful figure...?

Zhang Yan sat back down next to Guo Chuanlin in a daze until Shi Tiesheng brought up publishing and personal booksellers, which rekindled his enthusiasm. "Speaking of publishing..."

Yu Hua said excitedly, "We've caught a good time. I heard that the government is going to abolish fixed royalties and allow writers and publishers to negotiate on their own. I estimate the policy will be released in a few days."

"real?!"

Just from that one sentence, Zhang Yan felt that the trip had been worthwhile.

Shi Tiesheng nodded and said, "It should be true. In fact, Wang Shuo asked the publisher to pay royalties back in 88. I remember that it caused quite a stir at the time. I guess the higher-ups were already considering opening up the right to negotiate prices in contracts back then."

Yu Hua chuckled: "So I've decided to write more novels in the future, since novels have more room for negotiation."

As he spoke, he winked at Zhang Yan and said, "You'll understand once you've been in this industry for a while. All those so-called writers and masters are just ordinary people at heart. Only Tie Sheng..."

Shi Tiesheng interrupted, saying, "I am just an ordinary person."

Then he said to Zhang Yan, "No matter what that Mr. Hu says, I suggest you don't rush things. At least wait until the new regulations are implemented before making any decisions."

Just then, the phone on the table rang. Shi Tiesheng said "Excuse me" and picked up the receiver, but before he could speak, he heard someone on the other end shout, "Tiesheng, tell Yu Hua that whether he plays it or not is up to him, just get the ball over here first!"

Upon seeing this, Zhang Yan and Guo Chuanlin quickly got up to say goodbye.

Shi Tiesheng tried to persuade them to stay, but to no avail. He then wrote a signature and a blessing for Zhang Xingguo at his desk, and had Yu Hua push him along. He personally escorted the two of them to the front door.

"I'm so sorry, Xiao Zhang, I made you come all this way and I haven't been able to properly entertain you." As he was leaving, he invited with apology, "If you have time before you leave, come over and we can have a proper chat. By then, I should have already read your novel."

As they drove away in the van, Zhang Yan saw in the rearview mirror that Yu Hua was pushing the wheelchair with long strides, while Shi Tiesheng was gripping the armrest tightly with one hand and holding a soccer ball tightly in his arms with the other, laughing like a carefree child.

Zhang Yan began to understand why his father held Shi Tiesheng in such high esteem; the man himself, like his writing, was deeply moving.

"Brother Tiesheng is someone I truly admire."

Guo Chuanlin, who was driving, said, "You can come and chat with him again if you have the chance in the future. He actually likes to communicate with young people, especially since you are in the same industry."

He had said this before, but Zhang Yan still seriously agreed.

Knowing that Zhang Yan would be spending the night at Dou Wei's house, Guo Chuanlin simply took him to a place near Dou Wei's house.

This is a courtyard house 'hidden' in a hutong (traditional alleyway). If it weren't for Guo Chuanlin pointing the way, Zhang Yan might not have been able to find it.

The doors and windows of Dou Wei's house were covered with newspapers, making the room somewhat dim. It took Zhang Yan a while to adjust before he could clearly see the layout.

The room is a one-bedroom apartment. In the outer room, there is a dusty old sofa, a bright red solid wood coffee table, and a 21-inch color TV.
Nearly half of the bedroom was occupied by a double bed, and the walls were covered with posters, musical instruments, and colorful women's underwear.

Oh~
These two really don't shy away from it.

Zhang Yan walked around the bedroom and came out, throwing his luggage on the sofa, intending to spend the night there—after all, a sofa is softer than a wire bed.

Seeing an old book that was almost worn out on the coffee table, Zhang Yan picked it up and glanced at it. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw the title: "How to Identify Pornographic Songs".

This book, published by People's Music Publishing House in 1982, lists many classic songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

As a result, after its release, many people treated it as a guide to popular music, using it as a prescription for their own remedies.

Zhang Yan bought a copy when he was in junior high school, but he has long since lost it.

That night, after tossing and turning until he fell asleep, Zhang Yan dreamed of the middle-aged author again, who had already begun to develop the outline for his new book.

It was only at this point that Zhang Yan realized he wasn't writing a true historical novel, but rather a story about the resurgence of spiritual energy and rampant demonic activity at the end of the Jiajing era, in which the Ming Dynasty, led by a time-traveling protagonist, rebuilds a new order in a world where magic and history intertwine.

This subject matter...

Why can't you write something modern?

For example, traveling back to the 90s and figuring out how to make a fortune through speculation and profiteering.

(End of this chapter)