Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 375 Wu Zuxiang’s Recognition
It has been four or five days since the publication of "Crossing the Guandong". The sales of "Huacheng" have been very good, but it will take some time for the outside world to respond.

That evening, Tao Yushu returned home from get off work. While eating, she told Lin Chaoyang, "Our colleagues in the editorial department responded very enthusiastically to your novel Crossing the Guandong, and they praised you highly."

Lin Chaoyang asked with a smile: "Then they didn't give you any pressure to compile the manuscript?"

Lin Chaoyang is now both an editorial board member of People's Literature and a family member of the editorial department. When everyone talks about this matter, they can't help but say something half-true and half-false, which puts some pressure on Tao Yushu.

She laughed and said, "Of course there is pressure. But too many lice won't bite, and too many debts won't worry you. A while ago, Dening asked me if I had written anything recently."

Although Tao Yushu would ask Lin Chaoyang to help write some reviews to promote new writers she wanted to discover and cultivate, she was not yet so dedicated as to let Lin Chaoyang contribute to the magazine she worked for.

"Actually, I'm not incapable of doing this, as long as you're willing to pay a little."

Lin Chaoyang's eyes were meaningful, and his wolfish ambitions were obvious.

Tao Yushu raised his eyebrows slightly and rolled his eyes at him, "You are so unruly."

When the couple was enjoying the romance, Lin Erchun walked into the yard. He first picked up the running little Dongdong and admired him for a while, then said to Lin Chaoyang: "Are you going to renovate the East Courtyard? If so, I'll find someone to do it for you later."

Listening to Comrade Erchun's tone, for some reason Lin Chaoyang could always think of the contractors of later generations.

The landlord plan has been implemented for half a year. Comrade Erchun has bought two courtyard houses. Together with the courtyard house in Mianhua Hutong, he has dozens of tenants and has to hire two odd jobs every two days.

After a while, the style of a production team leader returned to him.

Lin Chaoyang said lazily: "Okay, you can find someone to do it."

Seeing him like this, Lin Erchun was a little displeased, "Look at you, how can you be so lifeless when you're in your twenties?"

"Try it for a day, kid!"

Lin Chaoyang hasn't been working much in the past few months. Tao Yushu and Tao Yumo both have to go to work, so he takes care of the child during the day. Zhang Guiqin only takes care of the child for one or two days a week.

Before, Xiao Dongdong was too young and needed careful care, so she often helped.

Now that the child can jog, Lin Chaoyang gave her a vacation so that she can enjoy a peaceful life.

"What's the big deal about babysitting? My grandson is so cute, he can play all by himself."

The father and son had no idea what was going on, so Lin Chaoyang decided to change the subject and asked him about his recent rental business development.

"Great! The situation is not just good, it's extremely good!"

When talking about the things he was busy with, Lin Erchun became excited, with a kind of passion of "an old man reminiscing about his youth".

"After half a year, I have finally come to understand that the housing conditions of ordinary people in Yanjing City are indeed extremely poor.

There are many families of five or six people living in a house of more than 20 square meters. Some young couples cannot get a house from their work unit after they get married, and they have to queue up even to live in the dormitory. They have no choice but to rent a house.

The tenants in the courtyards around our house include not only ordinary factory workers but also many intellectuals.

There are also people from other places who come to Yanjing to work. I didn’t know it before if I hadn’t met them, but in the past two years, many people from surrounding Changping, Daxing and even all over Hebei have come to Yanjing to work.

After the land was distributed to each household, farm work was no longer as demanding as before. The land was handed over to the elderly and women, and the young and strong came out to work, and some couples even came out together..."

Lin Erchun talked incessantly about the people and things he encountered in the past six months while working in the house rental business.

Lin Chaoyang also likes to listen to these things, and it can be regarded as collecting writing materials. He asked: "What do these people do here?"

"There are many people who can do this. They deliver coal to coal factories, work as waiters in private restaurants, set up small stalls... There are all kinds of people. Some of them are good at their jobs and earn as much as those working in factories."

……

After chatting with Lin Chaoyang for more than an hour, Lin Erchun left in a hurry after dinner.

According to him, the three courtyards he owns have been almost rented out, and he can make a net profit of about 3,000 yuan per year. The rent of the three courtyards plus the renovation costs are only 24,000 to 25,000 yuan. Lin Erchun does not know how to calculate the rental return rate, but he is quite satisfied with this figure.

In his words, this deal is doable!
Next he has to get a few more courtyard houses to rent out. The old man is very pleased with the rent he earns, but he doesn't know that his son is after the house price.

The size of these courtyard houses will skyrocket in the future, and even if Lin Chaoyang experiences it again, he will still find it terrifying.

At night, Xiao Dongdong had already fallen asleep. Tao Yushu leaned against the bedside and read the manuscript. Lin Chaoyang advised: "Take a break. You will have to work at home too. Aren't you tired?"

"It's just reading a manuscript, what's so tiring about it?"

For someone like Tao Yushu who has extremely high demands on herself, involution has become the norm for her, so there is no question of being tired or not.

She pulled Lin Chaoyang and said, "Hey, look at this manuscript, it's well written, and the author is my junior fellow apprentice."

"Junior brother? Is he also from Yanshi University?"

"Yeah, saying he's a senior, I think he has a lot of potential."

As she spoke, she handed the novel to Lin Chaoyang, who took a closer look and said, "It's not bad, and it has some ideas. But if it's to be published in People's Literature, I'm afraid it's still a little bit off."

"There is potential. Every magazine says they want to train and discover young writers, but how many are really willing to give young people opportunities?
I heard from others that some editors of provincial literary magazines rarely read unsolicited manuscripts anymore.

Our People's Literature is even worse in this regard. As a big brand and well-known, the editors also have burdens. They are afraid that the works they publish will not be of high enough quality and will be criticized.

In fact, I think this is unnecessary. If we want the magazine to maintain its vitality over the long term, it is only natural to create some conditions for young people. "

Lin Chaoyang said: "That's why Lao Wang gave you the job of Friends of People's Literature!"

During the Chinese New Year, Lin Chaoyang went to Chen Rong's house for a gathering. Wang Meng talked to him about setting up a correspondence center for creative writing, which included the creation of a supplement to People's Literature, Friends of People's Literature, and handed the matter over to Tao Yushu. Last month, the matter had been discussed within the Literary Association, and Tao Yushu became the deputy editor-in-chief of Friends of People's Literature, with Wang Meng still the editor-in-chief.

Appointing a young editor like Tao Yushu as deputy editor-in-chief, even if it is just a supplement, is enough to show how much Wang Meng values ​​her. However, this matter did not cause any discussion within People's Literature.

The main reason is that the temporary positioning of "Friends of People's Literature" is just a supplement founded to cooperate with the Correspondence Education Center, and it is not certain when it will be cancelled. Tao Yushu only has the title of "Deputy Editor-in-Chief" and his treatment has not changed.

In addition, since Tao Yushu joined the editorial department, his work attitude and achievements have indeed been recognized by his colleagues.

Apart from anything else, she beats everyone in the editorial department in terms of the amount of manuscripts she reviews.

After all, overtime work is not popular these days. Only people like her who are used to self-involution would be happy to work overtime.

“Of course it would be better with the People’s Literature Friend, but the strength of the supplement is far from enough.

The sales volume of each issue of our People's Literature is 1.4 to 50 million copies, and the sales volume of 50,000 copies for the supplement is probably a big hurdle. The influence is incomparable to that of the main magazine.

Although it does provide some room for young writers to practice, the intensity is still too low.

If people really want to practice, wouldn't it be easier to publish a small local publication?"

After taking over the work of "Friends of People's Literature", Tao Yushu was under a lot of pressure and did not quite agree with his leader's ideas.

“Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. You and Lao Wang are standing in different positions and looking at the problem from different angles.

From Lao Wang's perspective, stability is the most important thing. The role of "Friends of People's Literature" is more like a backup hematopoietic machine.

If we really start by digging up a large number of new writers and new works at once, it will easily go wrong.”

Tao Yushu thought about what he said and nodded, "Yes, I just want to promote two young writers who are famous all over the country. Maybe when I become a leader, I may be more conservative than him."

Lin Chaoyang asked with a smile: "Then how about supporting this junior brother this time?"

Tao Yushu took the manuscript back and said, "Forget it. You said you lack some skills, and I can't always fight with the leader. I should keep in touch with him and give him some guidance."

Time passed quickly and it was May Day. Since the publication of "Crossing the Guandong", the outside response has gradually become enthusiastic. Lin Chaoyang went to the Tao family for dinner and ran into Xie Mian downstairs of the Langrun Lake Apartment Building. Xie Mian even discussed the novel with him for a while.

Wu Zuxiang, who lived upstairs, heard that Lin Chaoyang had arrived and ran to the Tao family on purpose.

When he saw Lin Chaoyang, he praised with a smile on his face: "You are really good! This novel is really extraordinary."

Wu Zuxiang was a leader in the literary world nearly half a century ago. The fact that he couldn't help but talk to Lin Chaoyang about it shows how important "Crossing the Guandong" is in his mind.

At least this is the first time for Lin Chaoyang, who has been writing novels for so many years.

"It feels like writing this novel was not in vain to receive your praise." Lin Chaoyang said with a laugh.

Wu Zuxiang then took him aside and talked with great interest about some details in the novel. Listening to his explanation, Wu Zuxiang nodded continuously.

"Yeah. You've really matured in your creation. There are some things I haven't even thought of."

"I learned this from you!"

Lin Chaoyang complimented the old man a few times, which made him feel proud and smile.

In fact, his compliment was true. Two years ago, when Lin Chaoyang lived in the Tao family, he would go upstairs from time to time to communicate with Wu Zuxiang. He could be said to have been cultivated by Wu Zuxiang.

Not only the current students, but even the students of Class 77 have never enjoyed such treatment. It is almost like the level of a direct disciple.

After chatting for a while, Wu Zuxiang couldn't help asking about the second half of Lin Chaoyang's story. This issue of "Huacheng" only published half of the novel "Crossing the Guandong". Not only Wu Zuxiang, but all readers were full of curiosity and expectations about the second half of the story.

Lin Chaoyang briefly told Wu Zuxiang the general direction of the subsequent plot. Wu Zuxiang listened and waved his hand, saying, "Okay. I feel relieved to know the general idea. I was worried that it would start well but end badly. Now it seems that the story is still complete and maintains the high standard of the first half."

The two chatted for a while. The Tao family was ready to have lunch. Tao's father invited Wu Zuxiang to stay for dinner, and Wu Zuxiang gladly agreed.

During the meal, he said to Tao's father: "Old Tao, your son-in-law was not found in vain. He brings honor to you! No, before people said Chaoyang was your son-in-law, but now they should say you are Chaoyang's father-in-law."

Wu Zuxiang and Tao's father have been neighbors for twenty years. They live upstairs and downstairs and have a very good relationship. Listening to his jokes, the pride on Tao's father's face was very restrained.

"Chaoyang has talent and is willing to work hard. He has come this far by himself."

"Sure enough, it's my own son-in-law who praises himself!"

After finishing his meal, Wu Zuxiang was about to say goodbye when there was a knock on the door.

Tao Yumo went to open the door and found that it was Xie Mian, Hong Zicheng and other middle-aged lecturers from the Chinese Department.

It turned out that Hong Zicheng and others had just heard from Xie Mian that Lin Chaoyang appeared in Yanyuan, and they immediately gathered a large force and came to the Tao family.

Since becoming the library's mascot, Lin Chaoyang has appeared in Yanyuan much less frequently than before, and basically only appears when he comes to the Tao family for dinner.

Normally, Xie Mian, Hong Zicheng and others had no need to meet him, but after the publication of "Crossing the Guandong" these days, a trend of chasing after him immediately emerged on university campuses.

This novel caused an especially enthusiastic response among students and received extremely high reviews. Hong Zicheng and others are teachers in the Chinese Department and they have also read the novel and found it to be truly worthy of its reputation.

They happened to catch Lin Chaoyang today, so they naturally wanted to have a good chat with him about this novel.

After understanding the situation, Wu Zuxiang laughed and said, "This has become a relay race! You guys go talk to him, I'm leaving first."

(End of this chapter)