1980 My literary era

The sky is gloomy, the north wind is howling, and snowflakes are falling. This is the first snow in Yanjing this year.

Lin Weimin parked his bicycle in the shed, hunched his arms, and ran quickly into the red brick building with his black briefcase in hand.

"Put, pew, pew!"

The thick curtain at the door blocked out the wind and snow. Lin Weimin took a few mouthfuls of air, as if he wanted to spit out all the wind and snow in his mouth.

"Damn weather! It's so damn cold! My feet are numb."

Deng Deng ran up to the second floor and pushed open the door of the editorial office, "Hey, don't let me go get manuscripts from now on. This weather is so miserable!"

Several old editors who were immersed in reviewing manuscripts raised their heads and looked at his kind smile.

Lin Weimin understood the subtext of this group of people. You, a newcomer, don't know how to behave well?

Newcomers have no human rights!

Lin Weimin put his briefcase on his desk, picked up the enamel jar, picked up the thermos bottle and poured himself a glass of water. After drinking the warm water, his body finally felt a little warm.

He took out the manuscript he had just received and prepared to take a good look at it.

The manuscript is from an old Yanjing writer who has been writing in the 1950s. He has just joined the editorial department of "Contemporary" and is still in the learning stage. Apart from amateur writers, there are basically no invitations to submit manuscripts. The editorial department will give He assigned two old writers to familiarize themselves with the business first.

Lin Weimin made an appointment with an old writer today to come to pick up manuscripts. He didn't want it to snow heavily in the morning, which would make Lin Weimin suffer this time.

Looking at the contents of the manuscript, he frowned, feeling that all his sins today were in vain.

He put his eyes on the manuscript, looked at the page as if he had toothache, and sighed, causing other people in the office to pay attention to him and salute him.

"Is that what you're talking about?" Xiao Yao, the one without a name at the table opposite, asked him curiously.

"I don't know if it won't happen, but this novel has too many problems. Every step of its development is just like an eight-legged essay, with no surprises."

Xiao Yao said: "Cliché doesn't mean it's bad."

"That's true, but the problem is that people can guess the ending at a glance, which is boring. Who wants to read such a lukewarm article?"

"Bring it to me and see."

Lin Weimin handed over the manuscript in his hand, and then looked out the window.

Heavy snow is falling, which is rare in Yanjing in November. It seems that next year will be a good harvest year.

He couldn't help but think of his hometown in Northeast China.

After graduating from the Literary Research Institute in October, the job transfer order for "Contemporary" was sent to Northeast China. He went back and worked hard for half a month to complete the transfer matter.

The house in his hometown was dilapidated because no one had lived in it for many years. Lin Weimin asked his neighbors if anyone had written or sent a telegram to him, but the neighbors said no.

Lin Weimin was disappointed. His parents had passed away, and logically there was still an eldest sister, but he had lost contact with her over the years and could not get in touch with her.

He sold his family's old house for 800 yuan. Oh, we can't sell it these days. I exchanged it for 800 yuan and returned to Yanjing.

He had no place to stay in Yanjing, so the editorial department arranged a separate room for him in the guest house on the second floor as a dormitory.

Since then, Lin Weimin's work and life have been locked in the red brick building at No. 166 Chaonei Street, occasionally going out to party with friends.

The atmosphere in the office was quiet, and steam was rising from the hot water in the enamel tank on the table. Xiao Yao's sudden voice interrupted Lin Weimin's thoughts.

"The content is indeed unsatisfactory. I will talk to my old comrades later and see if I can change it."

Lin Weimin shook his head, "That's terrible. As a writer, the scary thing is not that your writing is poor, but that your thinking has fallen into a fixed pattern. No matter how you change it, it will always be the same thing."

By chance, Tan Chaoyang walked into the office at this time, holding a magazine in his hand.

"what's the topic?"

Lin Weimin stood up and said, "Director, we are discussing the manuscript we just received."

Qin Chaoyang nodded noncommittally, "Be patient with old comrades. I've learned that you are no older than me."

"Leader, you can't listen to the old comrade's words. I just discussed with him the direction and method of creating the novel. There is no disrespect for the old comrade!"

"Okay, don't get excited. My old comrade didn't say anything to you, so don't be guilty of being a thief here."

Lin Weimin said without confidence: "I don't have one."

At this time, he noticed the magazine in Tan Chaoyang's hand.

Tan Chaoyang put the things on the table, "Let's take a look, the album sample is out."

Lin Weimin was immediately filled with surprise. He picked up the sample issue and saw a subtitle on the familiar solid color cover of "Contemporary", ""Contemporary" spy novel album".

The album title did not use the one originally suggested by Lin Weimin, but this did not hinder his excitement.

It took more than four months from the time the idea came up in his mind to the publication of the sample. Not only did he have to wait hard, but so did the classmates in the class. Several people wrote letters and asked about it a while ago. this matter.

This time I finally have an explanation!

Lin Weimin flipped through the sample magazine, and the more he read, the more he liked it.

"This is the first time our magazine has released an album, and it was also the only time before it became a bimonthly magazine." Tan Chaoyang sighed.

Lin Weimin raised his head and said, "Director, is the bimonthly issue really settled?"

Other colleagues in the office also paid attention.

Qin Zhaoyang nodded, "It's settled. Starting from January, we will officially change from quarterly to bimonthly."

"Contemporary" was a quarterly magazine when it was first published. The first issue was published in June 1979. It was warmly welcomed by readers. 70,000 copies of the first issue were printed and sent to bookstores, and they were quickly sold out.

The second issue was printed to 100,000 copies and sold out quickly again.

Seeing that bookstore sales could not meet the growing subscription demand of readers, the publisher decided at the end of 1979 to switch to post office distribution from 1980. After implementing the post office distribution policy, the circulation of "Contemporary" continued to rise. , by the third issue this year, the circulation had exceeded 300,000 copies.

Over the past year, readers have continued to write in, saying that they feel that reading the quarterly magazine is not enough, and that waiting for three months is too long. They have expressed their opinions to the editorial department and requested that the issue be shortened.

Recently, the agency and the editorial department have been discussing the possibility of shortening the publication period, and now it has finally been decided.

From a quarterly publication to a bimonthly publication, the workload of the editors in the editorial department suddenly increased by half. However, everyone was not dissatisfied at all when they heard the news. Instead, they all showed joy and excitement.

The popularity of the magazine means that our work has been recognized by readers. The higher the sales volume, the better the company's efficiency will be, and their work will be valuable.

In the early 1980s, people's ideas were still simple.

In the evening, I received a temporary notice from the editor that in order to avoid review risks, the names of characters and organizations in the book would need to be modified. The changes were finally completed at two o'clock in the middle of the night. From now on, the names of people and organizations will be subject to the new ones. If there are any mistakes or omissions, if you see them, you can help point them out.