Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 422: Harmless Lin Chaoyang

The person who came from "Contemporary" was the editor-in-chief Qin Chaoyang. When he entered the courtyard and didn't see Lin Chaoyang, he couldn't help but ask a question.

"Chaoyang ran out this morning and hasn't come back yet."

Li Tuo's words made several old comrades and bosses unhappy.

"He held a salon, invited us to come, but he ran away?"

This group of people came with such aggressiveness that those who didn't know might have thought they were here to start a fight. There must be a reason behind this.

"I'll be back soon. You guys can chat first, and look at the writers in the academy. There are dozens of them."

As soon as Li Tuo said this, the editors-in-chief and deputy editors-in-chief of the magazines who came didn't care about finding trouble with Lin Chaoyang anymore, and their eyes were frighteningly bright.

Why did they come today?

In addition to giving face to Lin Chaoyang, another fundamental reason is the poaching attack and defense.

The writers who came today have just won awards. Not to mention those who have been famous for a long time, the newly famous writers are all sought after by major literary magazines.

Given such an opportunity, of course they have to come and win over people's hearts and minds, and also ask for manuscripts. This is poaching.

On the other hand, nearly half of the award-winning works among the writers present today were published in literary magazines where Wang Meng and others work.

They come to poach other people's talents, and others also come to poach their talents, so naturally they have to be on guard and keep an eye on the writers they have trained.

Everyone is wary of each other, covets each other, and checks and balances each other. Whoever doesn't come will suffer anyway.

They are all thousand-year-old foxes, how could they not see the coolness of Lin Chaoyang's actions? He knew all their little tricks clearly.

The most important thing is that they had to let Lin Chaoyang control them.

Because everyone is afraid that if they don't come, their own writers will be poached by other magazines.

Usually, this group of old guys are the ones who scheme against others. This time, they were led by Lin Chaoyang. It would be strange if they had a good attitude, so Lin Chaoyang hid away early.

Anyway, the real salon in his mind was still yesterday's gathering. As for today's activities, why did the brothers give him the yellow robe? Wasn't it just to make him a marquis and a prime minister? Could he still stop it?
Just let them do what they want, as long as they don't break the rules.

The afternoon's activities became a complete battlefield for these editors-in-chief and deputy editors-in-chief. Everyone had to protect their own authors from being poached, and at the same time, they had to rack their brains and fight with their wits and courage.

In a warm atmosphere, Zheng Wanlong chatted enthusiastically with Shao Zhenguo, the author of "The Wheat Harvesters", which was published in "Contemporary".

Zheng Wanlong is the deputy editor-in-chief of October. This time he not only represents October but is also one of the organizers of the cultural salon.

Qin Chaoyang had been staring at him for a while and knew that the old man had evil intentions. While Shao Zhenguo was drinking water, Qin Chaoyang blocked Zheng Wanlong.

"Mr. Qin!" Zheng Wanlong nodded politely to Qin Chaoyang. After he finished speaking, he wanted to turn around and look for someone else, but was stopped by Qin Chaoyang.

"Why didn't Su Yu come?"

"Editor-in-Chief Su has been ill these past two days..."

Qin Chaoyang asked again, "I saw that you and Shao Zhenguo had a good chat. What's going on? Do you want to ask him for an article?"

Zheng Wanlong looked embarrassed. "Mr. Qin, you misunderstood me. I just like the work "The Wheat Harvester" and had a chat with Comrade Zhenguo for a while."

Qin Chaoyang nodded in satisfaction. "I can't say that. We are brother publications after all, and we are fighting side by side. How can we do such a thing of quarreling among brothers? Don't you think so?"

Zheng Wanlong was held up by him and had no way to refute. He could only smile awkwardly and nodded, "Yes!"

What Qin Chaoyang meant by “fighting side by side” was that Contemporary had recently jointly issued an announcement with more than 40 literary magazines across the country, including October.

The main purpose of the notice is to warn local domestic publications against the illegal reprinting and publication of works published in the above-mentioned magazines in recent years.

The domestic cultural industry has always had little copyright awareness. However, in recent years, the journal industry has developed rapidly, and there are numerous magazines in various places.

However, there are actually not many organizations that are truly capable of publishing independently. Some newspapers and magazines have no funds, no author resources, and cannot put together decent manuscripts, so they come up with some clever ideas and directly move works from well-known magazines to their own publications.

Private individuals are not allowed to publish newspapers or magazines in China. Although these magazines are small in scale and unknown, they actually all have their own backgrounds.

Even if many large magazines discover that works have been illegally reprinted, the most they will do is send a letter to inquire and show concern. The other party will then say a few polite words and promise that there will not be a next time, and then they will continue to reprint the work in another magazine. No one can do anything about these small publications.

As a result, the illegal reprinting of articles by many small publications became more rampant.

In recent years, many domestic writers and well-known publications have suffered greatly, including Lin Chaoyang.

Almost every one of his works has been illegally reproduced, the most exaggerated of which is "The Garland under the Mountain", which has become extremely popular since its publication.

It was once reprinted by many domestic media, and many of these media were quite sophisticated. They contacted Lin Chaoyang for his opinion and paid the reprint fee.

But there are even more publications that just use the materials directly without asking for any royalties.

Tao Yushu once helped Lin Chaoyang make a rough calculation and found that the number of newspapers and periodicals that illegally reprinted "The Wreath under the Mountain" was likely to be more than those that were reprinted through normal channels. This shows how rampant these newspapers and periodicals were in their illegal reprinting attitude.

Otherwise, it would not have been possible for Contemporary Magazine to issue such a joint announcement with more than 40 well-known domestic literary magazines.

Qin Chaoyang patted his shoulder with relief, "Wanlong is good. I think it would be best for you to take over this class after Su Yu retires."

Zheng Wanlong: ...

Qin Chaoyang is older, has more experience, and has great literary achievements. No matter which aspect, he is much better than Zheng Wanlong. Faced with his trap, Zheng Wanlong is unable to resist and dares not to compete with him. He runs to the corner in shame and reunites with Li Tuo.

Li Tuo said: "This old Tan is too arrogant! You are the deputy editor-in-chief of October. Aren't you just bullying others by relying on your seniority?"

Li Tuo's words seemed to be speaking up for Zheng Wanlong, but how could Zheng Wanlong not hear the sarcasm in them?

He said unhappily: "Then go and teach him a lesson for me."

Li Tuo immediately laughed, "How can I be qualified? If you want to teach someone a lesson, you have to come to Chaoyang."

Zheng Wanlong sighed, "Ah, this is what happened. Do you understand the atmosphere today? It's really full of swords and sabers!"

"Isn't this the effect Chaoyang wants? I really can't tell. This guy usually keeps silent, but if he really wants to use some tricks, even if you and I are tied together, we are no match for him.

These old guys are as cunning as ghosts, but they still have to drink his foot washing water?" Zheng Wanlong's expression brightened when he heard him say this.

In the evening, Lin Chaoyang finally showed up at the buffet. By this time, the editor-in-chief and deputy editor-in-chief who were planning to find him and call him to account had completely lost their energy after a whole afternoon of fighting.

Of course, there are some benefits for these people coming to the salon.

For example, some people managed to get the authors of magazines who were not present, and some people negotiated with the authors about the publication of their works on behalf of their own publishing houses.

After this afternoon, the participating writers, editors and critics also discovered the benefit of the cultural salon, which is its platform attributes.

Moreover, unlike the official activities organized by the Cultural Association, the atmosphere in the salon is more casual, and discussing things is more relaxed and enjoyable, with less constraints and concerns.

Wang Meng and Lin Jinlan were whispering while eating, "At this rate, there will probably be even more publications next year. Who would want to let their own author resources go to waste? Who wouldn't want to get some good manuscripts?"

Lin Jinlan sighed and said, "That's right. How could Chaoyang come up with such a dirty trick?"

"I used to think he was a simple and honest person, but now I see that he has a dark heart."

"Why can't the Cultural Association organize an event like this?"

Wang Meng showed a shrewd look of seeing through the world. "In an occasion organized by the Cultural Association, bureaucracy and formalism are inevitable. Who can pour out their heart in such an occasion?"

Lin Jinlan nodded, agreeing with what he said, "So it's not unreasonable for everyone to show their support!"

While the two were chatting, Li Tuo was also asking Lin Chaoyang, "Where did you go today? You didn't participate in such an important occasion, just to avoid the quiet?"

"Just a few of you will be enough." Lin Chaoyang said casually.

In his heart, today's activities are not important. Only the gathering on the first day is the real salon, and it is also their core competitiveness in organizing cultural salons.

As for where he went today, Lin Chaoyang did not tell Li Tuo in detail.

Actually, he went to meet Li Hanxiang. After a period of waiting, New Kunlun Pictures had already sent Tao Yushu's employment letter. Today, Lin Chaoyang went to discuss the specific details of his trip to Hong Kong with Li Hanxiang.

"By the way, a reporter from China Youth Daily came today and I sent him away." Li Tuo told Lin Chaoyang this information and asked him, "Chaoyang, it's not a bad thing to have a reporter come to interview you."

Lin Chaoyang said: "It's not a bad thing to keep a sense of mystery and keep a low profile. You will understand it later."

After hearing this, Li Tuo said nothing else, but became thoughtful.

At this time, Song Fan from the Yanjing Literary Association suddenly came over. He was about to speak, but Lin Chaoyang made an excuse to leave, leaving Li Tuo here.

"Li Tuo, I heard that Lao Zhang came to see you?"

"Who did you listen to?"

"Don't worry about who told me this, but it's true, right?"

Li Tuo nodded awkwardly.

Song Fan's face flashed with anxiety, "What did he tell you?"

"What can I say? You want to 'help' us organize an event."

His guess was confirmed. Song Fan gritted his teeth secretly and asked, "Then how did you guys get back?"

"Chaoyang disagreed, saying that if the Cultural Association got involved, the matter would be distorted."

When Song Fan first heard this, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief, but then he thought about it and realized something was wrong.

What do you mean by "the matter has changed when the literary association gets involved"? Isn't the Yanjing Literary Association also a literary association?

Song Fan was about to ask, but when he looked at Li Tuo's expression, he immediately understood.

"Are you going to kill the donkey after it has done its job?" Song Fan asked angrily.

Li Tuo spread his hands and said, "We have no other choice! Either let Lao Zhang and his family take responsibility, or neither of you two families should take responsibility. Lao Song, you have to understand that we are powerless, and this is the best way right now."

Song Fan opened his mouth. Although he was filled with reluctance, his reason told him that this was the only way.

"They...how could they do this?" Song Fan asked angrily.

Li Tuo said, "We can't help it. They are from a higher-level department. Fortunately, this is a private event. Old Song, you can't participate because of our relationship. How can I let them participate?"

Song Fan took a deep breath and controlled his emotions, "I'm sorry for putting you in such a difficult situation."

"Well! What's wrong with that? It's nothing more than wasting more time, energy and money."

Song Fan slapped his thigh in annoyance, "What Old Zhang and his gang did was so unkind!"

Li Tuo sent Song Fan away and found Lin Chaoyang again, "You're running really fast!"

He added, "Old Song asked Old Zhang about what happened to us."

Seeing that Lin Chaoyang was waiting for him to continue, Li Tuo had no choice but to continue, "I just brought out your story, and he didn't say anything else. Chaoyang, this isn't considered as sowing discord, right?"

Lin Chaoyang's expression was calm. "How can this be called sowing discord? We are just seeking truth from facts."

For some reason, Lin Chaoyang's tone was very serious, but Li Tuo heard a sense of gloating.

He observed Lin Chaoyang's expression, and suddenly an idea came to his mind.

"Hey, when I asked the Yanjing Literary Association to help, you disagreed at first, but you didn't say anything. You didn't do that just to stop this situation, did you? You shut up the National Literary Association and kicked the Yanjing Literary Association out."

Lin Chaoyang sneered, "I don't understand what you are saying?"

After saying that, he turned around to find someone to talk to. Li Tuo looked at his back and inexplicably recalled the process of this salon, where they were jumping up and down the whole time and were busy and having a lot of fun.

But after the salon was over, Li Tuo suddenly realized that Lin Chaoyang seemed to have planned everything without making a sound. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shudder.

This was no longer the harmless Lin Chaoyang he knew, but an old fox who would eat people without leaving any bones behind!

(End of this chapter)