Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 343: Notes on Reading Novels (Part )

The biggest advantage of being a teacher is that you have a lot of holidays, including national holidays and winter and summer vacations.

During the National Day holiday, Tao Yumo took a holiday and went to Lin Chaoyang's house to eat and drink, and also took on the task of taking care of Xiao Dongdong.

After working for more than a month, her cheeks had become visibly thinner.

At first, Tao Yumo still took the school bus to and from get off work every day, but he couldn't keep going for less than a week.

The Haidian Campus of China University of Political Science and Law is more than 40 kilometers away from the Changping Campus. She has to get up before six o'clock every morning to go to work, and she gets home at almost seven o'clock in the evening.

If this were a college student in the future, they would probably be happy to do it, after all, it is such a good job.

But college students in the 1980s never received such treatment!

She had no choice but to live in the school dormitory during work hours and return to Yanjing on weekends.

"Alas! Not only is it far from work in Changping, but the food is also much worse than in Haidian. No wonder none of the teachers in my school want to go there. I've been starving and losing weight for more than a month."

Tao Yumo's cheeks were puffed up, and he did not forget to complain about the treatment he received at his unit.

Tao Yushu had been introverted all his life, so how could he listen to her words?

"Do you think you go to work to enjoy yourself? The current difficulties are only temporary. Working hard is the right thing to do."

"Didn't I say I didn't work hard? Now I'm talking about the work environment!"

After working for a month, Tao Yumo has become much bolder than before and has begun to learn to refute her sister.

"With so many complaints, how good can your work attitude be?"

Tao Yushu exposed his sister's logical flaws in one sentence. Tao Yumo muttered in dissatisfaction: "You are the only one who loves your job and is dedicated to it!"

What Tao Yushu said was actually correct. She was indeed not very motivated at work.

She and Cha Haisheng were admitted to the School of Political Science and Law, and were both assigned to the school magazine. They both had to stay here for a full year before they could be hired as full-time employees.

Tao Yumo was interested in literature when she was in high school and college, mainly influenced by her family and classmates. Now that she is working, her hobby has become a job and she has no motivation anymore.

"After I get through this year and get a full-time job, I will apply to the school to return to the Haidian campus." Tao Yumo said with determination while chewing his rice.

Tao Yushu shook his head upon hearing this, expressing his deep disgust for his sister's laziness.

Seeing her expression, Tao Yumo felt indignant and muttered, "You are amazing! You work hard! Isn't it because of my brother-in-law's help?"

The mosquito-like sound fell into Tao Yushu's ears, attracting her cold eyes.

"If you have the ability, find one too!"

Tao Yumo shut up obediently, but was talking back in his heart.

I'm not like you, I make a living by my own ability!
"Hey, brother-in-law, I heard that a western restaurant opened on Chongwenmen West Street." Tao Yumo said to Lin Chaoyang.

This past September, a French restaurant with an inconspicuous facade officially opened at No. 2 Chongwenmen West Street, not far from Cuihua Hutong.

This restaurant named Maxim's is Pierre Cardin's first investment in China and also the first Sino-foreign joint venture restaurant in China. The Chinese investor is the Yanjing City Second Service Bureau.

Lin Chaoyang, who was flipping through a newspaper, said calmly, "What's so special about a Western restaurant? It's not like you haven't eaten there before."

"It's a proper French restaurant, what's its name? Oh, yes, Maxim's.

Lao Mo's food is all Russian, not proper Western food."

Tao Yumo and her generation's impression of Western food basically remains on a few Russian restaurants such as the Moscow Restaurant, the Peace Hotel, and Dadi.

In the past, it was certainly prestigious to go to Lao Mo or Peace Hotel to have a Russian meal, but after Maxim's appearance, the quality of these Russian meals suddenly dropped.

Lin Chaoyang glanced at her, and when his sister-in-law stuck out her butt, he knew she was going to shit something, but he didn't say anything.

Tao Yumo continued, "In two months, my oldest nephew will be one year old, so we should celebrate it properly."

"The average cost per person at Maxim's is 100-200 yuan. You really know how to pick a place."

Seeing that his little thoughts were exposed, Tao Yumo chuckled twice and said, "I was just saying it casually."

"It's no use just talking about it, we have to go eat."

Lin Chaoyang's words made Tao Yumo's eyes light up. She was about to say "brother-in-law is wise" when she heard Lin Chaoyang say: "When you make money in the future, you must treat me and your sister to a meal. Oh, and your eldest nephew!"

Tao Yumo's face suddenly fell, and he said timidly: "I...how much is my salary!"

Tao Yushu looked at her mockingly, "Let me show you how it feels to be eaten and drunk for free!"

"Hmph!" Tao Yumo snorted in dissatisfaction after being jointly punished by her sister and brother-in-law.

After National Day, Lin Chaoyang received a letter and several sample books from Li Shifei sent from Guangzhou.

Two months ago, Li Shifei came to Yanjing to discuss with Lin Chaoyang the publication of "The Boat Crossing", "The Little Shoes" and "The Garland under the Mountain", but the sample books he sent this time only contained "The Little Shoes" and "The Garland under the Mountain".

Lin Chaoyang finally understood what was going on after reading the letter.

The reason lies in the content of "The Story of the Boat Crossing". Although the novel does not explicitly describe the plot of matricide, the implicit meaning has been criticized by some readers since its publication. Especially married female readers with children, who are the most critical of this part of the plot.

Originally, this kind of voice was limited to rational debate and did not have much market or influence. After all, the vast majority of critics and readers gave very high praise to "The Crossing".

But problems arose when Huacheng Publishing House had completed three reviews and three proofreadings of the manuscript and were preparing to apply for a book number from the Publishing Bureau.

At a provincial meeting in late August, a leader of the Avengers publicly criticized the content of "The Ferryman" that alluded to matricide.

After the meeting, the magazine "Family" sponsored by the Guangdong Fu Lian also wrote an article based on the leader's speech, criticizing the unfriendly value orientation towards women reflected in "The Boat Crossing".

The publication volume of "Family" is not large, and its coverage is limited to GD Province, but its readers are mostly women. This article caused a great response after its publication.

Huacheng Publishing House did not take the article seriously at first. It was not until their application for a book number for "Crossing the Boat" to the provincial publishing department was rejected that they realized the seriousness of the problem.

The application for book number was rejected. This is the first time such a thing has happened since the establishment of the publishing house.

Huacheng Publishing House is a professional publishing house spun off from Guangdong People's Publishing House. It is also one of the few large publishing houses in GD Province. It certainly cannot sit idly by when something like this happens.

After some communication, the publishing house found out that the female comrade in charge of the review was influenced by the article and believed that "The Boat Crossing" promoted matricide, so she rejected the application of Huacheng Publishing House.

After learning the reason behind the incident, Huacheng was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

But this is not a big deal after all. Given Huacheng Publishing House's status and strength in Guangdong's publishing industry, it is naturally impossible for it to be stumped by such a small matter.

After communication, we reached a tacit understanding and just reapplied.

But in this case, the publication of "The Boat Crossing" will probably have to be postponed to November.

There was no need to explain what had happened, but the new book "The Boat Crossing" was not published, while the two old books "The Little Shoes" and "The Wreath under the Mountain" were published instead. Li Shifei wrote to Lin Chaoyang to explain the situation.

After reading the letter, Lin Chaoyang was a little amused and confused. Fortunately, it was just a misunderstanding and it didn’t matter if it was published later.

Lin Chaoyang wrote back to Li Shifei, and did not say anything about the delay in the publication of "Crossing the Boat", but instead brought up the issue of royalties again.

Li Shifei's letter also mentioned the sales of "Little Shoes" and "The Wreath under the Mountain" nearly a month after their release. According to feedback from Xinhua Bookstore, the sales of "Little Shoes" were around 18,000 copies a month.

"The Garland under the Mountain" was much more impressive. The first print run of 10 copies sold out in the first month, and its performance was as strong as before its publication.

The fact that these two old books, which have been published for more than four years, are still able to achieve bestseller status is enough to demonstrate the excellence of the works themselves and the recognition of readers. Lin Chaoyang will naturally not miss this opportunity to brainwash and put pressure on Li Shifei.

In addition, what Li Shifei was most concerned about in the letter was the progress of Lin Chaoyang's new novel, given the success of "The Boat Crossing".

Both Li Shifei and Huacheng Publishing House are full of expectations for Lin Chaoyang's new work.

After all, a novel can equal more than half a year's efforts for Huacheng, so their attention and urging are understandable.

Lin Chaoyang has been working on his new novel for several months, but the progress has not been very fast. The main reason is that Lin Chaoyang writes it very carefully.

It is not an easy task to write a work like "One Hundred Years of Solitude". Although he can learn from the wisdom of later generations, he dare not be careless.

In the first few days of his creation, he could write more than 10,000 words a day, and he wrote until his middle finger and shoulders ached. That was because he was supported by the preparatory work in the previous months.

After a week, after the accumulated material and passion had been released, he slowed down.

When it is busy, I write six to seven thousand words a day, and when it is slow, I write one to two thousand words a day. From time to time, I have to take time out to conceive the subsequent plot and character arrangements, and review the previous loopholes.

Fortunately, after a few months, the amount of text he created has exceeded 40 words, and Lin Chaoyang is getting closer and closer to the goal he planned.

Lin Chaoyang did not mention the specific content and progress of the creation in his reply. Some writers like to discuss these things with editors, but Lin Chaoyang does not do so.

Therefore, Li Shifei always believed that it would take Lin Chaoyang three to five years to write this novel. Every time he wrote to inquire about the progress of the novel, he would ask Lin Chaoyang not to be anxious at the end of the letter, as Lin Chaoyang planned to give him a surprise after the novel was finished!

Three to five years is impossible. Even the longest novel can’t last more than a year for me.

A few days later, a new issue of "Yenching Literature" was published. Tao Yushu bought a copy on his way to work and brought it to the office.

Putting down her briefcase, she wiped the table and watered the flowers in the office before sitting down.

After sitting down, he did not review the manuscript immediately as usual, but opened this issue of "Yenching Literature".

Her eyes passed over the "Prose", "Novel", "Poetry" and other columns at the front of the catalog and stopped at the "Review" column.

Notes on Reading Novels (Part 1)

The title of the article was simple, but the person who signed it was unusual—Xu Lingjun. This article was the one that Tao Yushu asked Lin Chaoyang to write for her a few months ago.

Since the article is named "Notes" and contains the word "one of", it is naturally not one article, but an indefinite series of comments.

This is Lin Chaoyang's little idea. Since he wants to promote writers that his wife values, he might as well promote more of them. This title is just an opening. He can write an article about whoever he wants to promote in the future.

After writing the article, Tao Yushu did not publish it in "People's Literature", but gave it to Zhang Dening, asking her to help publish it in "Yenching Literature". The effect of self-praise is definitely not as good as the praise of others.

The content of "Notes on Reading Novels 1" is not long, only about a thousand words, and it records the reading experience of two short stories.

One of these two novels is from the local magazine "Lian Chi" and the other is from "People's Literature", but the author is the same person.

(End of this chapter)