1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 4: Prejudice in People's Hearts is a Mountain

Jiangcheng University, School of Foreign Languages.

"Teacher Chen, you're here early today. You're only here at 7:30. Usually, I don't see you until 8:00."

"Teacher Li, this is slander against me. Be careful, or I'll report you to the director for defamation."

Chen Fusheng then asked another older teacher in the office, "Professor Wu, has the director arrived yet?"

"It seems they've arrived, but what brings you here to see the director so early in the morning, Xiao Chen?"

"I'm going to sue Teacher Li for defamation."

Li Meili, also a foreign language teaching assistant, rolled her eyes at Chen Fusheng: "Teacher Chen, aren't you bored? Professor Wu, you be the judge for us. Am I telling the truth?"

Chen Fusheng yawned and waved his hand, saying, "Never mind, I'm not joking with you anymore. Actually, I went to the director to ask for a day off."

"Taking leave?" Professor Wu noticed that Chen Fusheng's mental state was not good. Considering that he had just gotten married last month, he gave a meaningful reminder: "Young Chen, you young people should be more mindful of moderation!"

Li Meili also responded with an "oh".

Chen Fusheng was immediately speechless.

"Professor Wu, I did stay up late last night, but it's not what you think."

"I understand, I understand. I'll tell the director right away, and then go back and get some rest. Health is the foundation of everything."

"..."

A moment later, after hearing Chen Fusheng's purpose, the director looked at his dark circles and said, "Young man, you should be careful to exercise restraint!"

"..."

At this moment, Chen Fusheng couldn't help but ask: Why is prejudice in people's hearts like a mountain?

However, Chen Fusheng, who had taken leave, did not go straight home to sleep. Instead, he took his nearly 40,000-word novel, "Bullfighting," which he had written all night the previous night, to the "Jiangcheng Literature and Art" magazine, with which he had previously collaborated.

"Jiangcheng Literature" later became "Fangcao," and if Chen Fusheng remembers correctly, the name will probably be changed next year.

Its organizer is the Jiangcheng City Federation of Literary and Art Circles, which is undoubtedly the most prestigious literary magazine in HUB Province.

However, when looking at the national picture, it naturally lacks the influence of top-tier magazines like People's Literature, Harvest, Flower City, Contemporary, and October.

However, it can still compete with second-tier domestic magazines such as "Mengya", "Youth", "Zhongshan", "Writers", and "Yanjing Literature".

As soon as Chen Fusheng entered the editorial department, an editor who recognized him stood up and greeted him:

"Teacher Chen, it's been a while since I last saw you, you look much more haggard."

"It's all because of it!"

Chen Fusheng took out the book "Bullfighting" that he had brought.

"what is this?"

The editor asked curiously.

"I had a burst of inspiration last night, and my thoughts flowed like a spring. I spent the whole night writing a novel. Lao Xiao, would you like to take a look?"

"Really? Aren't you a translator? You can write novels too?" Xiao Xinghai asked with some suspicion.

"If you translate a lot of foreign works, you'll naturally be able to write your own. There's no conflict between the two."

"That seems to make sense. I'll take a look for you, but let me make it clear first: if the quality isn't up to standard, I might not approve your manuscript."

"Don't worry, I know the rules." "That's good."

Then, Xiao Xinghai took the manuscript of "Bullfighting" from Chen Fusheng's hand, roughly estimated the number of words and said: "Your manuscript should not exceed 50,000 words. If you are not busy, you can go to the reception room next door to rest for a while. I will give you some feedback after I have reviewed the manuscript."

"I'm busy going back to catch up on sleep. I'll see if I have time this afternoon. If I do, I'll come and check it myself. If not, then it'll be the same as always. Could you please have your postman deliver the results to the entrance of my community?"

"also!"

Xiao Xinghai nodded, saw Chen Fusheng out of the editorial department, and reminded him to be careful while riding his bicycle.

He then turned back to his workstation. Since he wasn't too busy at the moment, he picked up the book "Bullfighting" that Chen Fusheng had given him and started reading it.

Judging from the messy state of this manuscript, Xiao Xinghai could tell that Chen Fusheng's thoughts did not stop during the creation process, which was consistent with his statement that his thoughts flowed like a spring.

However, based on his years of experience as an editor, Xiao Xinghai did not have high expectations for "Bullfighting," a novelist who was writing for the first time like Chen Fusheng.

The result was, unsurprisingly, a slap in the face.

He didn't even finish reading it the first time; he only read less than a third of it before turning back to the first page and starting to read from the beginning.

The reason was that he read it too quickly the first time and missed a lot of 'details'.

Xiao Xinghai's colleague, who was sitting across from him, noticed his movements and asked curiously, "Old Xiao, how's that Teacher Chen's novel? Did it meet the censorship standards?"

Xiao Xinghai said without looking up, "Don't bother me yet, I'll answer you after I finish reading it."

"Wow, looks like you've struck gold."

Upon hearing Xiao Xinghai's answer, his colleague exclaimed in surprise.

Their conversation also drew the attention of the other editors in the office.

Soon, news that Xiao Xinghai had received a good manuscript spread throughout the entire "Jiangcheng Literature and Art" magazine, and even the editor-in-chief was alarmed and came to take a look.

Forty thousand words isn't a long time, and as an editor, Xiao Xinghai's reading speed is undoubtedly much faster than that of ordinary people. So, it didn't take long for him to finish reading Chen Fusheng's "Fighting Bull".

He had just looked up when he found a crowd surrounding him, which startled him.

Why are you all surrounding me?

"I heard you picked up a good manuscript, is that true?"

"Yes, it is indeed a good article, but I just finished reading it. How did you know?"

"When the editor-in-chief came looking for you just now, you said 'Don't bother me' as if you were swatting a mosquito, so how do you think we knew?"

"..." Xiao Xinghai: These people conspired to deceive me!
No one had time to care about Xiao Xinghai's bewilderment, because they were more interested in the movie "Cow" that he had just finished watching.

This is also a tradition in the editorial department—after discovering an excellent and amazing manuscript, the editors will circulate and share it among themselves!
Soon after, as more and more editors read "Cow," they finally began to discuss it.

"Since Liu Xinwu's 'The Class Teacher' was published last year, a trend called 'Scar Literature' has emerged in the literary world. Including this year, most of the manuscripts we have received are scar novels. Of course, I am not saying that scar literature is bad. I just feel that our literary world should not only have this kind of work, but should have a hundred flowers bloom. Fortunately, this 'Bullfight' has made me see the resurgence of serious literature and war literature. I hope this is just the beginning and not a coincidence."

"Old Xu, your question is too broad. Let me ask you something related to the novel. Did everyone understand the ending of 'Cow'? The whole article tells the reader that Niu Er was helping the Eighth Route Army keep the cow safe, hoping to return it to them someday. But when the Eighth Route Army came, why didn't Niu Er hand the cow over to them?"

"Team Leader Li, that's a good question. But in my opinion, although the novel doesn't give a clear explanation at the end, it does hint at it. When the Eighth Route Army asks Niu Er, 'What's the name of this cow?' Niu Er struggles for a while before answering, 'Jiu'er.' My personal understanding of this dialogue is that it wasn't until the moment he was about to hand over the cow that Niu Er realized that this cow was no longer the Eighth Route Army's cow, but his Jiu'er, and even more so, his belief and meaning in living."

"Sigh, that's true. Against the backdrop of a brutal war, an individual's fate is both insignificant and magnificent! What surprised me even more was how vividly the author portrayed the story of a man and a cow. Is this really just Mr. Chen's debut work? I feel like it's the work of a great writer."

"By the way, where's Lao Xiao?"

"It seems he went to find the author."

(End of this chapter)