Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 6 High Praise
Zhou Zhenhua has made two trips to Beijing in an effort to find his daughter, but both trips have been unsuccessful.

The exhaustion from all the traveling, coupled with my low spirits, left me feeling somewhat dazed and confused.

So he didn't ask why, and simply picked up the manuscript on the table as his old friend suggested, and muttered, "The Great Detective of the Dream of the Red Chamber".

After reading the title, he looked up at Zhang Xingguo and asked, "Is this an article from the allegorical school?"

The so-called "interpretive interpretation school" refers to the school of Redology that focuses on minor details in the original Dream of the Red Chamber and tries to conjecture them as prototypes of important figures.

They wanted to research more than a dozen emperors based on just the Rongguo Mansion.

"What allegorical interpretation school!"

Zhang Xingguo said irritably, "You'll find out what it says once you keep reading."

"Hmm~"

Zhou Zhenhua responded and then looked down at the manuscript in his hand.

Seeing Zhou Zhenhua's submissive attitude, Zhang Xingguo felt a little embarrassed and awkwardly sat back down in his seat. However, he couldn't stop thinking about Zhou Zhenhua's reaction, so he craned his neck and stared intently at his old friend's face.

Seeing this, some people couldn't help but curiously approach Zhou Zhenhua to investigate, and then the news that Zhang Yan had written a novel quickly spread throughout the entire editorial department.

"You've really started writing a novel?"

One editor wondered, "Didn't you say that this kid was upset because of Zhou Nan's incident, and that the factory took away his business selling paper money, so he took leave and quit in a fit of pique?"

"I told you Zhang Yan wasn't like that."

Someone else offered hindsight advice: "This kid has always been arrogant, otherwise would he dare to covet Zhou Nan? This time he's probably planning to bide his time and show everyone his true abilities."

Zhang Yan had a crush on Zhou Nan for so many years, and his old colleagues at the newspaper had long known about it.

Zhou Zhenhua and his wife saw this, but never mentioned it to the Zhang family, clearly feeling that Zhang Yan was not good enough for their precious daughter.

This is also the real reason why Zhang Xingguo insisted on making a copy last night and bringing it to the editorial department to "pull strings"—he just wanted to prove his son's talent and that Zhang Yan was worthy of Zhou Nan.

As everyone was whispering among themselves, they suddenly saw Zhou Zhenhua pull out paper and pen from a drawer, quickly scribble a line of small characters, and then continue flipping through the novel.

His colleagues in the editorial department all know that this is Zhou Zhenhua's habit when he comes across good words and phrases. After all, he works with words and phrases, and he always collects good words and phrases so that he can use them when writing articles in the future.

Someone joked to Zhang Xingguo, "Your little Zhang has finally caught the eye of Editor-in-Chief Zhou, it's just a pity he's a step too late."

Just as Zhang Xingguo was about to reply, he saw Zhou Zhenhua stop again and copy another passage onto the paper.

Then, not long after, he copied the third paragraph.

Everyone was puzzled by this. It wasn't like they were copying famous works—and even if they were, the frequency shouldn't be this high.
Two more people then curiously approached, wanting to see what Zhou Zhenhua was copying.

As soon as they arrived, they saw Zhou Zhenhua copying down three large characters on a piece of paper, and then deliberately drawing a circle around them.

"Catch-all crime?"

Editor A, who had come closer, asked in bewilderment, "What does this mean?"

Zhou Zhenhua then noticed that there were two more people beside him, but he was in a state of excitement and explained without asking why: "Based on the context, this should refer to those vaguely defined crimes that are like a big bag into which anything can be put."

The term "catch-all crime" was coined by the domestic legal community in the mid-1990s, and it was naturally quite novel in 1990.

"Catch-all crime..."

After listening, Editor A, who was in his forties, first muttered the same thing to himself, then slapped his thigh hard and said, "That's a good word, isn't it just a catch-all charge!"

The others, who had been listening intently, couldn't help but gather around after hearing this exchange. Most of these people had experienced the 70s and witnessed the 80s, so they could empathize with this new term.

When they discovered that the other entries copied by Zhou Zhenhua were also unprecedented golden sentences and new words, everyone could no longer contain themselves and hurriedly asked for the first few pages to pass around and read.

Although the time-travel setting initially made them a little uncomfortable, the novel story structure, the endless stream of witty remarks, and the jokes still kept everyone entertained.

Seeing that his colleagues in the editorial department were all impressed by his son's "masterpiece", Zhang Xingguo was so excited that his face turned red and he didn't know what to say.

It wasn't until he discovered that many people were trying to copy the 'quotes' that he suddenly realized what was going on and hurriedly shouted, "Gentlemen, gentlemen, my son is going to submit an article in a couple of days, please don't spread these things out without knowing the truth!"

"Don't worry, Lao Zhang."

Someone replied with a smile, "Everyone here is a veteran editor; surely you understand these basic rules?"

Someone else exclaimed exaggeratedly, "Brother Zhang, your family has produced a great writer! We must celebrate properly later!"

Some people exclaimed, "Zhang Yan is truly amazing; his writing style has a bit of Wang Shuo's flair."

Some even lamented: "It's a pity that this novel is written too much for entertainment, trying too hard to please readers, which has ruined these thought-provoking sentences."

"He originally wrote a popular novel! I have to say, young people are really quick-witted. This is about someone coming back from the dead to live in the world of Dream of the Red Chamber, and combining detective novels with the plot of Dream of the Red Chamber. I really don't know how he came up with this idea!"

“I think the part where the protagonist amazes everyone with Nalan’s poetry is the most interesting part—if we traveled back in time to ancient times, could we also become a famous scholar by doing this?” “‘Three of the twelve hours are occupied by Shen, Zi and Xu (weak body)’, ‘Kneel down, I beg you to do me a favor’, these descriptions are really interesting.”

"The dialogue is too plain and lacks the charm of the original Dream of the Red Chamber."

"This isn't about adding a bad ending to a classic; some differences are normal."

As the crowd read and discussed, some pointed out shortcomings, but the vast majority praised the novel—especially its frequent use of memorable quotes and its use of copied poetry to appear sophisticated, which were the most talked-about aspects.

Those who were close to Zhang and Zhou couldn't help but sigh inwardly, thinking that if Zhang Yan had displayed such literary talent earlier, the Zhou family would probably have been rushing to match him with Zhou Nan!
"Brother Zhang."

At this point, Editor A asked curiously, "Is this novel going to be submitted to 'Legends of Today and Yesterday'?"

These words struck a chord with Zhang Xingguo, who shook his head helplessly and said, "I'm afraid they won't accept 'Legends of Today and Yesterday'."

"What's wrong."

Editor A exclaimed in surprise, "This novel is quite well-written, with so many memorable lines and new words. I think it's better than most of the articles in 'Legends of Today and Yesterday'!"

Zhang Xingguo shrugged and said, "It's precisely because the later plot is more exciting that I couldn't be on 'Legend of Today and Yesterday'."

…………

Just as everyone in the editorial department was enthusiastically discussing the novel, an uninvited guest arrived at the Zhang family's residence.

Having stayed up late the night before, Zhang Yan planned to take a nap after seeing his parents off, and then continue writing his novel in the afternoon.

As a result, Zhang Yan slept until about nine o'clock in the morning. In his drowsy state, he heard someone knocking on the door. He got up, opened the door, and saw that the person who came was Liu Weidong, the notorious scoundrel in the printing factory.

Because this guy always liked to cheat and shirk responsibility, Zhang Yanding looked down on him and usually didn't have much contact with him. So when he saw Liu Weidong come to his door this time, he was a little confused.

When Liu Weidong saw Zhang Yan's disheveled hair, bloodshot eyes, and listless appearance, he immediately exclaimed, "Look at you! Look at you! They can't just bully you like this!"

It turned out that Liu Weidong had heard that Zhang Yan had been robbed of his paper money business and, in a fit of pique, had taken leave and quit. So he came here to stir up trouble and encourage Zhang Yan to cause a scene at the factory so that he could also take a share of the profits.

Zhang Yan was a smart man. After listening to the other party's pretentious words, he quickly understood what was going on and said disdainfully, "If you want to get involved in selling paper money, go directly to the factory manager and discuss it. Don't bother me."

They used to be colleagues in the same workshop, seeing each other all the time, so there was always some courtesy between them. But now Zhang Yan is determined to make a name for himself with his writing skills, so he naturally doesn't give Liu Weidong any kind of treatment.

However, Liu Weidong misunderstood these words, thinking that Zhang Yan harbored resentment towards the factory director but dared not go against him. So he quickly encouraged him, "Brother, don't be afraid. I'll back you up, we..."

Touch~
Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Yan closed the door again.

Liu Weidong nearly got his nose bumped, and staggered back half a step, asking in astonishment, "Why did you close the door?"

"Go away, I don't have time to waste on your nonsense."

"How can this be considered utter nonsense?!"

Liu Weidong was so anxious he was jumping up and down: "Do you know that the factory manager just instructed us yesterday to strictly control the quality? It's obvious he wants to expand this paper money business!"

"None of my business."

"How can it not be your business? You single-handedly built this business, and now the factory needs to harvest the peaches..."

"none of your business!"

"you you you……"

Seeing that Zhang Yan was unmoved by reason, Liu Weidong was so angry that he wanted to kick the door, but when he thought about Zhang Yan's height of 1.8 meters and his own second-class disabled physique, he finally left while cursing.

Because he had specifically asked for leave to stir up trouble, Liu Weidong didn't return to the factory but went straight home.

He grew angrier the more he thought about it at home, feeling that Zhang Yan was like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, ungrateful for a kind heart.

hum~
No wonder Zhou Nan looked down on him!

By the way, isn't the Zhang family trying to find him a partner recently?

He later said that he had been subjected to continuous stimulation and was no longer mentally stable. He would curse people for no reason and slam doors and smash things when he got emotional.

Hehe ~
He really did swear and slam the door; let's see how he explains it!

Liu Weidong spent the whole night composing a set of lines, and the next day he went to the printing factory eager to give Zhang Yan a hard time.

Before he could even open his mouth, he heard some big news.

It turns out that Zhang Yan took leave from work to write a novel. The editors at the daily newspaper had already read it yesterday and said it was particularly novel and exciting.

Now everyone at the newspaper is praising it, saying that a true writer is finally going to emerge from among the newspaper's employees' children.

(End of this chapter)