The literary era since 1979

Chapter 22: First Day in the Editorial Office

October 1th, Sunday.

On his first day at work, Fangyan took the bus to No. 7 West Chang'an Avenue and met the doorman, Uncle Qin.

Wang Jie took him to go through the entry procedures, and from then on he would be an assistant editor like her, assisting the editors of various groups.

Back to the editorial office, it is usually empty, but now, except for Li Qingquan, all the staff are present to welcome the new colleagues.

"From this moment on, Fangyan is a member of our Yenching Literature and Art, and also a comrade and comrade-in-arms on our cultural front. We will learn from each other and help each other in the future..."

As soon as Wang Meng finished speaking, it was Fang Yan's turn to give his introductory speech.

Applause broke out following these passionate words.

"Clap clap clap."

Zhou Yanru put down her hand and kindly told him, "From now on, you will work at the table opposite Xiao Wang. You can ask Xiao Wang or us for specific instructions on what to do and how to do it."

Fang Yan nodded, "I will, Teacher Zhou."

"Don't rush into work, clean up the table first." Zhou Yanru looked at Wang Jie, "Xiao Wang, help him."

"Okay, Master!"

Wang Jie agreed readily.

As soon as the welcome party was over, Fang Yan, under Wang Jie's guidance, fetched some water, wrung out the rag, and wiped the table while asking:
"Why haven't I seen Mr. Li?"

"Mr. Li has been transferred. The current editor-in-chief is Mr. Wang."

Wang Jie said in a low voice.

Fang Yan asked in surprise: "Transfer?"

"correct."

Wang Jie said bluntly that years ago, Li Qingquan received a commission from Ding Ling that the Literature Institute had resumed operations, and he was invited to be the director, with full responsibility for preparations, enrollment and other work.

"Literature Institute?"

The dialect feels strange.

"The Literary Institute was founded in the second year after the founding of the People's Republic of China."

Li Yue's voice came from behind, "Mr. Ding Ling was the first director, but it was a pity that the institute was closed after only four sessions."

"Yes, it was mentioned at the Literary Congress last year. Given the current situation in the literary world, there is an urgent need to cultivate new literary forces and expand the literary team. Enrolling students at the Literary Institute is imperative."

Huang Zhongguo also gave some popular science information about Fangyan, the "newcomer in the literary world".

"It is said that this round of enrollment is biased towards young and middle-aged writers who have stood out in recent years. Yanzi, you have great hope."

Li Yue narrowed his eyes into slits.

"I?"

Fangyan was stunned.

"That's right. Your works The Horse Herder and Loess Plateau have received enthusiastic responses from readers and the literary world. In particular, you fired the first shot of 'reflective literature'. If I were in charge of admissions, I would definitely recruit you."

Huang Zhongguo folded the newspaper.

"Thank you then!"

Fangyan just smiled and said nothing more.

This indifferent look surprised Li Yue and others. They thought he would be excited and ask questions to the end, but they didn't expect him to be so down-to-earth. They had a higher opinion of him in their hearts.

"Don't think too much, wipe the table! Wipe the table!"

Wang Jie said with her hands on her hips.

Fang Yan smiled, wiped the tables and chairs, packed up his things, and saw Wang Jie holding a pile of letters, teaching them step by step:
“You have to be careful about how you handle the manuscripts.”

"For example, our editorial department has a rule that printed manuscripts will not be returned, but handwritten manuscripts must be returned... The most work is to review readers' letters. We have to pick out typos and modify sentences that are not smooth in the letters that need to be published..."

"understood."

The dialect gradually became familiar with the work.

It’s not as difficult as you imagine, but it’s not that easy either.

For example, when correcting typos, the current simplified characters are different from the later ones. They are divided into "first-batch simplified characters" and "second-batch simplified characters", that is, the first and second-batch simplified characters, especially the second-batch simplified characters.

People who haven't learned it basically can't recognize it.

"Egg" can actually be written as "jidan", "Fu迠" is "Fu, Jian", and "魺厅" means "restaurant".

Even the word “桔子” is the simplified Chinese character for “橘子”.

One of the tasks of the dialect section is to identify all these simplified Chinese characters and correct them all back to the original simplified Chinese characters. Fortunately, the government believes that the simplified Chinese characters are very inappropriate, and the official media and textbooks have stopped using them. Literary journals are also gradually implementing this. Only some letters from readers and authors still use the simplified Chinese characters.

"Let's just stop here first. You learn pretty quickly."

Wang Jie sorted out the scattered letters.

Fangyan joked: "That's because Teacher Xiao Wang taught well."

"Hmph, although you didn't learn as fast as my master taught me, you're pretty close. Keep working hard next time."

Wang Jie pretended to be mature and gave a few compliments.

"Oh, now Xiao Wang has become a master, not bad, not bad, he really looks a bit like Mr. Zhou back then."

"If you hadn't told me, I really wouldn't have noticed it. It's true, but I remember when Teacher Zhou was teaching Xiao Wang, the one with the headache, and Xiao Wang, who was holding a dictionary all day long..."

As Li Yue and Huang Zhongguo were tearing down the stage, Wang Jie blushed and stamped her feet in shame: "Teacher Li! Teacher Huang!"

"You guys just like to bully Xiao Wang."

Ji Xiuying looked at Wang Jie lovingly, "Stop making trouble, it's almost time for dinner." Then she turned to Fang Yan, "Yanzi, did Xiao Wang tell you that everyone gets 1 yuan of meal allowance every month?"

"said."

Fangyan took out the rice bowl from the drawer.

As the meal was about to start, everyone washed their lunch boxes and arrived at the cafeteria. It was already packed with people, with long queues forming in front of the two windows.

The men and women all did the same thing, raised their arms high, stretched out their lunch boxes containing the meal coupons, and handed them into the small window together.

The chef probably couldn't tell who was Zhang San and who was Li Si. He took a lunch box, poured the meal ticket into a basket, scooped a spoonful of food, and sent one person away without even shaking the spoon.

While waiting in line, Wang Jie continued to teach:

"Another very important point is that you should never give comments to the author casually, and when pointing out shortcomings, you should avoid being too specific."

"why?"

Dialects are very curious.

"Because this will make the author think that as long as they revise according to the comments, the novel can be published. For example, I once..."

Wang Jie said that under the guidance of Zhou Yanru, she wrote a rejection opinion for a handwritten manuscript of a novella, which was over a thousand words long.

I pointed out in detail the shortcomings of the article, stamped it with the editorial stamp and sent it off. Unexpectedly, the result was -

A few months later, the author sent back the manuscript.

"I was shocked when I received the letter. They actually revised it point by point according to my suggestions. At the end of the letter, they asked me if it could be published?" There was a hint of disbelief in her tone.

“Have you published it?”

Dialects are becoming more and more interesting.

"It's not up to me to decide whether to publish it or not."

Wang Jie pouted, "I showed it to Master and Teacher Ji, and they said that it was modified, but the quality is still not good enough to be published."

"and then?"

"Teacher Li taught me a trick. I wrote back to the author and told him that the work was not suitable for publication in our company and asked him to submit it elsewhere. This way, the author would give up. I followed this trick and I never encountered a case of someone revising the work and then sending it back. You should do the same in the future."

"It's better to suffer a short pain than a long one?"

"That's what I mean!"

Wang Jie's eyes lit up. "But this trick works only for manuscripts that are mailed in. It's more difficult to deal with manuscripts that come in person."

Fangyan asked: "Can I still submit my work?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid of encountering a difficult author."

"How to say?"

"You haven't seen it, so you don't know. Some literary creators are very sensitive. An unintentional word could hurt them." Wang Jie said helplessly, "Unless we meet someone who refuses to leave, we usually speak tactfully. If he can't be published in Yenching Literature and Art, we will recommend him to other publishing houses."

"learned."

"But this trick doesn't always work. Many times, the authors I met said, 'I just went to People's Literature and Contemporary Literature, and their editors asked me to come to your place.'"

"Hahaha~"

The two smiled at each other, and their laughter attracted the attention of others.

Fangyan suppressed his smile and suddenly thought of the manuscript he had agreed with Lu Yao. He wondered if "A Thrilling Scene" had been revised.
Or maybe, has it already been mailed to Yenching Literature and Art?

(End of this chapter)