The literary era since 1979

Chapter 75 It's time to show your true connections
"Outside the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, the green grass reaches the sky."

"The evening wind blows the willow flute and the sound of the willow flute fades, and the sun sets outside the mountains."

In the alleys late at night, dialect songs echoed.

When Yang Xia and Fang Hong heard the noise, they immediately ran out of the yard and saw him staggering and pushing his bicycle drunkenly.

"Why did you drink so much, kid?"

Yang Xia stepped forward to help him up, "Where have you been?"

"Yuebin Hotel." Fang Yan said with a smile.

"Is it the private restaurant in Cuihua Hutong?"

Fang Hong saw her brother nod, and as she took the bicycle from him, she rolled her eyes and said, "What good thing happened to you? You drank like this, did you get another manuscript fee?"

"That's not the case. I'm just drinking to drown my sorrows."

Fang Yan sighed quietly, "I am even more worried."

"Stop chatting in the alley and go home first."

Yang Xia scolded him angrily: "You drank so much and still dared to ride home alone. You are too brave!"

"Mom, Teacher Li sent me back. He, he..."

Fang Yan looked back with a dim look in his eyes, "He's gone."

As soon as the farewell party was over, he stopped pretending and, as a potential millionaire, he waved his hand and treated the entire editorial department to a meal.

Tonight's consumption will be paid for by General Fang!

The Yuebin Hotel was not very big at that time, and could only accommodate three small tables. The dishes were not rich, and we ordered everything that could be ordered.

Spicy duck, crispy duck, eight-treasure duck, etc.

At this time, you don't need a ticket to buy ducks.

One dish, one dollar.

Although it cost a lot of money, the Hero brand pens that everyone gave me were also very expensive, not to mention the friendship contained in them, which is not only priceless, but absolutely priceless.

"At the end of the sky, at the corner of the earth, there are only a few close friends."

Fangyan leaned back in his chair, humming softly.

"Yanzi, what happened?"

Fang Hong brought a cup of hot water.

Fangyan subconsciously touched the pen on his chest and talked for a while in a half-drunk and half-awake state, talking about everything from job transfer, to regularization, to separation.

"You got a permanent job so soon? This is a great thing!"

Yang Xia was delighted at first, but immediately asked in confusion: "But why not stay in Yenching Literature, Yan Zi, Yan Zi..."

"Snoring, snore, snore."

Fangyan tilted his head and let out a soft snoring sound.

It was the first time Fang Hong saw him drunk. She sighed quietly and said, "Yanzi is also nostalgic."

………………

Two days later, Fangyan rode his bike to Chongwenmen.

The doorman changed from Uncle Qin to Uncle Dong.

I went upstairs and came to the editorial office of October. Although it was called an editorial office, it actually had many offices. Each office had a small group, and each group had three to five people, or even seven to eight people.

The two groups are almost equivalent to the entire editorial department of Yenching Literature. No wonder it is a large literary journal, it is indeed large enough.

When Fang Yan came to the medium and long-length group, the moment he saw Zhang Zhonge, he finally understood why he was poached.

It turns out that you were thinking about me when you were at the training institute!

He was wearing glasses and had a kind and non-confrontational look on his face, as if he was friendly and never angry with anyone.

"This is He Xin."

"This is Tian Zengxiang."

After being introduced by Zhang Zhonge, Fang Yan and his two colleagues greeted each other. He Xin was a teacher in the Chinese Department of Renmin University. He was in his early thirties, wearing a Zhongshan suit and standing straight.

When I laugh, I like to open my eyes wide.

Tian Zengxiang was different. He smiled with his eyes narrowed into a line. He was originally an editor of Yenching Publishing House, transferred from other journals to support October, and could be considered a "local tyrant".

"Nice to meet you."

The dialect allows them to call themselves by their nicknames.

"I heard that you were coming. I've been looking forward to it for a long time."

He Xin was full of enthusiasm, "Your "Dark War" is really well written. I haven't missed a single episode of the recent radio drama."

After chatting with him about "Dark War" for a while, Fang Yan noticed from the corner of his eye that Tian Zengxiang was quietly playing with the jade, not joining in the fun. "This jade is nice."

"Why, you also know about jade?"

"I understand a little bit."

Fangyan's eyes lit up as he stared at his Hetian jade seed material.

"Then let me show you how this jade is so good."

Tian Zengxiang handed over the jade.

"The leather is very beautiful, with few flaws."

Fangyan was also a jade player in his previous life. He touched it and said, "It has a good shape and good quality."

"That's right, I think so too. Tell Mr. Tian not to waste such good material and find a good master to carve it."

He Xin shook his head and laughed.

"Teacher Tian is treating this piece of jade as a toy."

Fangyan returned the jade.

There is a saying that goes, don’t carve playful materials, and don’t carve good materials.

The raw stone has strong plasticity and has infinite possibilities as long as it is not carved. Once it is carved, its value will be limited.

“I know what I’m talking about!”

When Tian Zengxian heard the word "play material", he became closer and opened the drawer, revealing various jades of different sizes.

"Oh haha."

Fangyan was very interested and asked about the origin of the jade.

These days, individuals are not allowed to buy and sell Hetian and other types of jade privately. They can only be collected by jade purchasing stations. The current market guidance price is 100 yuan per kilogram for first-grade Hetian white jade seed material.

Equivalent to 1 cent per gram.

In twenty or thirty years, the price per gram may exceed ten thousand, or even one hundred thousand. This rate of return is visibly high!

Through chatting about jade, the two gradually became familiar with each other.

From jade to literature, once Tian Zengxiang gets to know people well, he can talk about anything, with a literary air and burning passion.

"I'll take you to have a look tomorrow."

Tian Zengxiang took the initiative to extend the invitation.

Fangyan agreed and was about to speak when he heard He Xin clear his throat and reminded him secretly that it was time to work.

"These manuscripts are now handed over to you."

"to make!"

Fangyan agreed promptly and looked at the mountain of letters in front of him without rushing to read them one by one.

According to the experience taught by Zhou Yanru, classify these first.

Usually, there are three categories. One is self-submission, that is, the author submits the article himself/herself; the other is recommended manuscripts, that is, manuscripts recommended by other institutions and groups, such as the local Federation of Literary and Art Circles, or journal editors and veteran writers who have a good relationship with October.

The last category is the manuscripts that editors commission from writers.

Often, just by looking at the third category, you can see the current quality of manuscripts and the level of manuscript compilation of the journal, which will disappoint you greatly.

Although there are many manuscripts, the quality is uneven. The novellas by young writers can only barely become the highlight of "October", and the number of famous writers is too small to fill the space of two issues.

If this is the case with novellas, novels are even worse.

I searched over and over again, but only found 2 articles.

"Hey!"

Fang Yan then understood why Su Yu and Zhang Zhonge wanted to recruit him to the group of medium-length and long-length novels, and he was instantly at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Shabby, this is too shabby...

But when you think about the fact that October has just been officially launched and its reputation has not yet been fully established across the country, it is understandable.

He took out a Hero pen from his chest and slowly took off the pen cap.

The more it is now, the more it is time for him to attack!
It's time to show off your network!
The tip of the pen was pressed on the paper, and the first line read:

"Comrade Lu Yao, my brother..."

After writing one letter, there is another one:
"My friend Purple Dragon..."

"Lao Mo..."

An arrow pierces the clouds, and thousands of troops come to meet you!

　Thanks to Maxim Xiaomianqiu for the 200 Starting Coins.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)