1979 Golden Age

After a few days, readers from Beijing came every day, and the editorial department was both happy and sad.

The second issue of China Youth Daily was also published. This issue quoted a passage from "Five Phoenixes Rising Sun Blade", but stopped abruptly at the critical moment, asking everyone to buy the magazine. Not to mention other places, "World Wonders" quickly became popular in Beijing alone.

The editorial department had not yet installed a telephone, and salesmen from various bookstores came here one after another, or asked Chen Jianjun for help.

Chen Jianjun came eight times a day, all of which were additional purchases from bookstores.

After another week, Hebei, Tianjin, Shanxi and other places also responded.

…………

There is a Langya Mountain in Yi County, Hebei, which is the Langya Mountain of the Five Warriors of Langya Mountain.

There is a troop stationed in the ravine, and 27-year-old Mo Sang, ah, Mo Yan is serving as a soldier here.

His real name is Guan.

On this day, he and his comrades asked for leave to go to the city and arrived in Baoding, because the Spring Festival was approaching, and they all wanted to buy something. After walking around, he saw Xinhua Bookstore. His comrades were not interested, so he went in and looked around.

He had published his debut novel "Spring Night Rain" last year, which tells the story of a newly married young woman who misses her husband who is a soldier on an island. He took 72 yuan in royalties, bought a bottle of Liulingzui, four Ma's roast chickens, and treated his comrades to a meal...

So he felt that he was a writer.

The most popular book in the bookstore was naturally "World Wonders". The army did not allow private subscriptions to newspapers and magazines, and all were subscribed to a unified system. He picked it up and flipped through it, skipping the martial arts novels directly. He glanced at "Puppet Master" and "I, Robot" but was not interested either. He only stayed at "Journey to the Center of the Earth" for a while.

Then he put it back.

"Too vulgar! It's good to introduce more Western novels, but this magazine introduces science fiction. What's there to read in science fiction? It's not worthy of being in the upper class..."

He shook his head and finally picked a few books to send back to his hometown in Shandong in advance so that he could go home and have a look during the Spring Festival.

…………

Shanxi, Yangquan.

Last year, 19-year-old Liu was admitted to the North China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower. He was already a clear-headed and stupid university monk. He graduated from university in 1985 and was assigned to the Niangziguan Power Plant in Shanxi. Then everything was known.

It was winter vacation, and he was well fed and well-drinking. He lay on his small bed, reading a book with his legs crossed, with several magazines beside him.

Suddenly, his legs stopped shaking.

After a while, he sat up.

For a long while, he closed the book and thought about it, and couldn't help but praise: "Fuck, it's really awesome!"

He was reading the novel "Puppet Master" by American writer Robert Heinlein.

It was said to be in the distant future, in 2007, yes, in 2007, a monster called slug came from outer space.

Their means of invading the earth were very unique. They did not start wars or engage in massacres and destruction, but could parasitize on the backs of humans and directly control their thoughts. The protagonists did everything they could to convince the US government of their own judgment and mobilize the whole country to resist the invasion of slugs...

The reason why this novel is a classic is the concept of alien parasitism.

They sneak into human society cunningly and quietly, control human thoughts, and make people willingly become their slaves. This setting was later used in countless works.

Liu started to get in touch with science fiction in high school and fell in love with it immediately.

At this moment, he was also excited about "Puppet Master": "This magazine is good, is there a subscription method...Huh? There is, and there is a lottery?"

He immediately sat at the desk, filled out a questionnaire, and prepared to send it to the editorial department. He always wanted to write it himself, but he didn't know where to start, so he had to suppress his eager heart.

By the way: Liu himself is not discussed because he doesn't understand, but some of his works and ideas are very popular.

The most interesting thing is that there is a saying in later generations: The reason why "Three-Body 1" won the Hugo Award is because of the previous plot. When foreigners saw it, they thought, oh, writing this, it must be a scar!

It turned out not to be the case.

…………

Ten days before the Spring Festival.

It was the coldest time, the north wind was raging, and people's mouths were sore from the cold weather. The cold weather formed a sharp contrast with the festive atmosphere of welcoming the New Year on the streets.

Chen Qi, such a senior cadre, personally rode a bicycle and came out of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. He had just met with Mr. Liao and presented the first issue of "World Wonders". After a short chat, he was going to the Ministry of Culture to deliver another copy.

This is also a way of expression.

On the way back to Lechunfang from the Ministry of Culture, he bought some stove candy and food.

"A little to the left, a little to the left!"

"Okay, don't move, that's it!"

When he arrived at the door, he saw Ji Chunhua hanging red lanterns on the ladder, and Li Jianqun was directing below. Chen Qi took a few glances and walked in. The four editors had clear division of labor, two were receiving readers, and two were sorting letters.

There were three rooms, two of which were empty, just right for letters. After half a month of publication, several sacks had been accumulated.

Chen Qi waited for a while, and when all the readers left, he signaled to hold a small meeting.

"Have you collected the order forms from all over the country?"

"Collected!"

"What about the mail-in subscriptions?"

"They've been sorted out, too!"

"Okay, let me explain briefly. The Chinese New Year is coming up, and you all have to go home for the holidays. The printing factory also has to take a break. We'll talk about everything after the Chinese New Year. Our task today is to compile some data to see how many of our first issue has sold in the past half month!"

He waved his hand and immediately joined the battle.

Everyone was in high spirits. They all knew that the magazine was popular and there were new orders every day, but they just lacked a final and accurate number.

Liang Xiaosheng took out the abacus. Yes, the abacus! Not to mention the 1980s, there were still many places using abacus in the 1990s. The popularity of calculators depended on the specific area...

"This is 500 copies!"

"That one too!"

"Are these sent through the post office for the next issue or this issue?"

"All of them, all of them. Don't I separate them? Don't make a mistake!"

The abacus and hand calculations were busy.

Chen Qi cooked noodles for everyone himself, nestled several eggs, and bought pickles and cooked food, sausages, pig ears, a large piece of pig head meat, and a bottle of wine.

He was almost ready, so he went to the office to check and said, "Are you done? Or we can count after we finish eating, noodles tend to clump easily."

"Right away!"

"I still have a little left... done!"

An editor was sweating all over his head, and suddenly threw down his pen, picked up a piece of paper and said loudly, "The first issue of "World Wonders" was published on January 1st. In half a month, 30,000 copies were pre-ordered. Subsequent orders: 68,200 copies in bookstores around the country, and 2,092 copies subscribed by individuals at the post office!

Our first issue has exceeded 100,000 copies!"

"Wow!"

Everyone clapped their hands involuntarily. Chen Jianjun said that 70,000 to 80,000 copies for the first issue would be very good, and 100,000 copies would be even better.

Especially during the Spring Festival, there was a feeling of double happiness and joy.

Chen Qi also clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Let's eat! Let's eat!"