1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

Chapter 137: The arrogant Shanghai "Harvest", all copies are invalidated!
"what?!"

Liu Xinwu was stunned when he heard what Teacher Gu said! He didn't expect that he would have to choose between the two again?

Moreover, this time, the novella that had been scheduled in advance was something that Teacher Gu took the initiative to give to People's Literature in order to boost its momentum.

"Lao Liu, I have this novella right here. I've almost finished reading it! Bring it over to me later and you can review it first!"

After Feng's mother, Teacher Gu, finished speaking, her eyes fell on the landline phone on Liu Xinwu's desk!

"That's great!" Liu Xinwu nodded repeatedly. Since they were given October for both manuscripts, that would be the best.

Seeing that Teacher Gu's eyes were fixed on the phone, he asked, "Teacher Gu, do you want to make a call?"

"Then I'll go out for a while?"

Knowing that Teacher Gu was going to make a phone call, Liu Xinwu was so angry that he didn't know who to call, so he decided to avoid him for the time being.

"No need for Lao Liu, I'll just call Li Xiaolin in Shanghai!"

Feng's mother, Teacher Gu, shook her head. The call was not private, so there was no need for Liu Xinwu to avoid it.

"Call Li Xiaolin in Shanghai!?"

"Teacher Gu, is this Mr. Ba's beloved daughter? She should be working in the arts in Shanghai now, right?"

Liu Xinwu's thoughts flashed, and he quickly remembered the identity information of Li Xiaolin mentioned by Teacher Gu, and asked.

"Yes! Xiaolin has now transferred to Ba Lao's Harvest as the chief editor!"

Feng's mother, Teacher Gu, nodded, replied to Liu Xinwu, and then dialed a number. The person on the other end of the line shouted, "Hello, where do you want to go?"

"Hello, help me connect with the Harvest magazine in Shanghai!"

In October, they installed a landline telephone for work needs, which can be used to make long-distance calls!

However, landline telephones in this era were still the kind that required manual switching and plugging, and long-distance calls had to be connected layer by layer to the switchboard room of the Post and Telecommunications Bureau in Yanjing.

After being connected to the switchboard room in Shanghai, it had to be connected layer by layer until it connected to the landline of "Harvest" in Shanghai before the call could be made.

Therefore, this long-distance call cannot be synchronized in real time and you have to wait for a while.

If the line is busy, this long-distance call may take a whole day.

Before the 1980s, telephone switches had not yet been upgraded, and it was common for a whole day of long-distance calls to be spent just to say a few words!

"Did Li Xiaolin transfer Ba Lao's "Harvest"?!" Liu Xinwu knew that long-distance calls would require waiting, so he curiously asked why Teacher Gu called today.

"It happened not long ago, at the beginning of last month. Xiaolin was indeed assigned to Shanghai Literature and Art before that!"

Feng's mother, Teacher Gu, waited for the call to be connected, nodded to Liu Xinwu, and replied.

"No wonder!" Liu Xinwu nodded upon hearing this. He had just heard that Li Xiaolin was assigned to Shanghai Literature and Art. How come she was suddenly working for Harvest? She must have been transferred recently!
"Teacher Gu, you care about Li Xiaolin a lot! Are you calling because you want Harvest in Shanghai to help out and support the scholars?"

At this time, Liu Xinwu couldn't figure out the purpose of Teacher Gu making this long-distance call, except to ask for help!

"I guess so! At the end of last month, Xiaolin accompanied Mr. Ba to visit in person and asked Xuemin to write an article. This issue should be published soon!"

Feng's mother, Gu Xueqing, nodded. She had indeed gone to Li Xiaolin to express her support. There happened to be a scholar whose manuscript was ready to be published, so it should be just a matter of saying hello.

"What!?"

"At the end of last month, Mr. Ba came to visit Xuemin in person and asked him to write an article?! I, I, I...how come we didn't know about this?"

Liu Xinwu nodded at first, but then he looked at Feng's mother with an incredible expression and asked in surprise.

What a joke! ?

Even Ba Lao came personally to ask Cheng Xuemin, a junior, to write an article for him?

Come to your door in person!
How come I haven't heard from Teacher Gu about this? How come the newspapers and magazines in Yanjing haven't heard any news about this?

"Not long after that meeting, Xiaolin brought Ba Lao to my house to ask for an article!"

Feng's mother nodded and mentioned it casually! Before Liu Xinwu continued to ask, the long-distance connection was very smooth this time. This was also related to the fact that the levels of their two units were relatively high, and there were no two levels above them, which was related to the bus room.

Soon the call was connected again, and Li Xiaolin's voice came from the other end: "Hello, is this Teacher Gu?"

"Yes, hello Xiaolin, I'm Gu Xueqing!"

Feng's mother Gu Xueqing nodded to Liu Xinwu, and then greeted Li Xiaolin on the phone.

"Hello, Teacher Gu! I should have guessed why you called me!"

"I've read yesterday's Tianjin Daily and today's newspaper from your Yanjing area!"

"I didn't expect something like this to happen at yesterday's symposium! I was originally planning to go there in person, but my dad was not feeling well recently, so I was delayed!"

When Li Xiaolin heard that the call was from Yenching October, she guessed that it must be from Teacher Gu.

Just as she said on the phone, she has been paying attention to the newspapers these past two days.

"It's okay, it's okay! Xiaolin, Mr. Ba's health is the most important thing right now. As his children, we really need to pay more attention to him!"

"Is Mr. Ba healthy?"

Hearing Li Xiaolin say on the phone that Ba Lao was not feeling well, Feng's mother hurriedly asked with concern.

"It's nothing serious, just caught a cold and he's old!" Li Xiaolin added on the phone, "By the way, my dad also read the newspaper today and angrily accused them of trying to cause trouble!"

"Teacher Gu, don't worry. We will publish Xuemin's article as scheduled. My father even asked for Xuemin to be on the front page of the article!"

"Okay, okay, thank you, Xiaolin, and thank you, Mr. Ba! Xiaolin, please tell Mr. Ba that our whole family thanks him!"

When Feng's mother, Teacher Gu, heard this, she couldn't help but choke up and said.

Front page headlines!

Harvest, the most influential newspaper in Shanghai, directly supported her son-in-law. Not only did it publish the article about her son-in-law as scheduled, it also temporarily changed it to the front-page headline.

It can be seen that Mr. Ba in Shanghai is indeed optimistic about his son-in-law and is indeed supporting him.

Front page headlines?!
Liu Xinwu, who was standing nearby with his ears perked up, vaguely heard from the phone what the front-page headline was, which was personally decided by Ba Lao. He couldn't help but look horrified on the spot.

The front page headline of "Harvest"!
How strong is this support? Is the relationship between Mr. Gu and Ba Lao and his daughter so strong?
But given Ba Lao’s status, it would be impossible for his manuscript to be featured on the front page of Harvest unless it was written very well and with great weight.

Could it be another "Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office"?
Thinking that Ba Lao's "Harvest" would be followed by "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office", what burden would Liu Xinwu have that would prevent him from taking up the manuscript in his hand?

When the time comes, there will be a response from the north and the south, and the support will be directly increased, and the greater the momentum, the better.

Not to mention supporting Cheng Xuemin, the influence of their "October" is bound to continue to rise.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes. The commotion in Tianjin this time is quite big. Xiaolin, you can also read the newspaper about the situation in Yanjing!"

"I'm calling you, Xiaolin, because I hope that this issue's manuscript will be signed under the pseudonym 'Lao Qiao' by Xuemin. Is that okay, Xiaolin?"

The reason why Feng's mother made this phone call was indeed to achieve the effect of echoing between the north and the south, so she made this call specifically to let Li Xiaolin directly give Cheng Xuemin the pen name Lao Qiao in "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office"!
Otherwise, why use the pen names of "Kuang Yalan" and "Lao Tian"? Who knows it was written by her son-in-law? Who knows it is the new work of Lao Qiao in "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office"?
Kuang Yalan was the pen name used by Xue Min for his article “Female College Students’ Dormitory” which was published in Shanghai Literature and Art, while Lao Tian was the pen name used for his article “Traitor” which was published in Li Xiaolin’s Harvest shortly before the beginning of the month.

The male protagonist in "The Traitor" is named Tian, ​​and his pen name inherits Cheng Xuemin's usual style.

According to the sample issue that Li Xiaolin had sent over before, we knew that Chen Huansheng's Entry into the City was published under the same pen name as the Traitor, Lao Tian. Feng's mother was not sure whether Li Xiaolin had started the official printing.

That's why we use long-distance phone calls instead of sending letters which is too slow.

"Ah!? Teacher Gu, you mentioned this point, we indeed didn't consider it!" Li Xiaolin on the other side was stunned when she heard the words, and then replied stupidly.

"Xiaolin, have you officially published it?" Teacher Gu, Feng's mother, felt a sharp pain in her heart, but she still finished her words. But she couldn't blame them, after all, what happened at the symposium yesterday was a sudden event!

Who could have predicted this?
Originally, when the father and daughter of Ba Lao came to ask for an article, they were targeting Lao Tian, ​​the author of "The Traitor". Therefore, the pen name "Lao Tian" in the new work is different from Lao Qiao of "People's Literature". In fact, there is a bit of competition for sales.

So I never thought that such a thing would happen, and I never thought that Feng's mother, Teacher Gu, would be willing to change her identity temporarily.

"Two hundred thousand copies have been printed!" Li Xiaolin on the other side reported a number.

Sure enough, it had been printed, and there were 200,000 copies. Upon hearing this, Feng's mother's face turned red with embarrassment.

She knew that she had made this request too late, and now it was too embarrassing and awkward for others!
But soon, Li Xiaolin on the other side followed up and said: "But it doesn't matter, Teacher Gu, we will change it right away!"

"Immediately change the pen name to 'Old Joe' and print 100,000 copies as soon as possible!"

Mother Feng was instantly moved when she heard this, and she choked up and said, "Forget it! Otherwise, Xiaolin, the first 200,000 copies of yours will become waste, right?"

"No way! Teacher Gu, do you totally look down on the sales of our Harvest?"

Li Xiaolin on the other side said nonchalantly, "With the sales of our Harvest, plus your son-in-law's influence, this issue will definitely be a hit, and we will definitely have to print more copies later!"

"What I mean is, we should use the pseudonym 'Old Joe' to lead the charge, and then when we need to reprint, we can use the previous 200,000 copies to make up for it!"

"Of course, if there is a discrepancy between the two pen names, it will expose the fact that Xuemin has two pen names. I hope that you and Xuemin won't take it too seriously!"

"Yes, yes, yes! I underestimated the influence and sales of our Harvest!" Teacher Gu was delighted when he heard this, and nodded repeatedly while choking up, "Then Xiaolin, let's put it this way! Whether it's a pen name or not, it's no big deal now!"

After listening to what Li Xiaolin said, Feng's mother indeed underestimated the influence and sales of "Harvest".

They are all top magazines that can compete with People's Literature, and sales of 200,000 copies are definitely the minimum sales volume for them.

It’s not comparable to their “October”!
So as Li Xiaolin said, they will definitely print more copies later, and the sales volume will not be much worse than that of People's Literature.

This is also the reason why Feng's mother, Teacher Gu, made this long-distance call to ask for help for her son-in-law's future.

What is promising is that "Harvest" has one of the highest influences in the country.

As for whether it is a pen name or not?
It's not that important anymore.

"Teacher Gu, has Xuemin already published his article in Harvest?"

Liu Xinwu pricked up his ears and understood that Teacher Gu made a special long-distance call to Li Xiaolin of "Harvest" in Shanghai to ask Li Xiaolin to help her son-in-law change his pen name!
It was changed to "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office" under the pen name of Lao Qiao, to compete with the tabloids in Tianjin and Yanjing!

Since she changed her pen name, it means that her son-in-law Cheng Xuemin must have already had a pen name at "Harvest"!
Since you have a pen name, you must have published articles.

This made Liu Xinwu feel itchy. Why did her son-in-law secretly submit his works to other places again?
But as the 'mother-in-law', October has not really used any article about 'good son-in-law' so far!

"Indeed, an article has just been published. It's that one..."

Teacher Gu, Feng's mother, nodded. When she was about to say the name of the manuscript, Liu Xinwu waved her hands to stop her and said, "Teacher Gu, don't say anything yet. Let me guess, let me guess!"

"This is the issue of 'Harvest', right? Then then then... that's the article 'The Traitor', right?"

"The author's name is 'Lao Tian'. According to the habit of naming by scholars, it is the article 'The Traitor', right?"

This is so easy to guess!
After all, the manuscripts in this issue of "Harvest" did attract a large number of readers.

As one of the top magazine publications in the country, Liu Xinwu must have read every good article in every issue!

With the pen name "Lao Tian", he is a new author who suddenly emerged.

If it weren't for the recent emergence of a large number of new authors who followed the trend of using "old" pen names, Liu Xinwu would have guessed that it was her son-in-law Cheng Xuemin when she finished reading the manuscript.

Now that Teacher Gu has explained it so clearly, Liu Xinwu must have hit the nail on the head and guessed it!
"Yes, Lao Liu, it's the article "The Traitor"!"

Mother Feng nodded with a smile. After hanging up Li Xiaolin's phone, she dialed another number: "Hello, connect me to Yenching Literature!"

After making an appointment with "Harvest" in Shanghai, the next one is "Yenching Literature"!

Over there, Li Qingquan was holding a novella written by her son-in-law, which would also be finalized and published soon!

So Feng's mother also had to make a phone call and ask Li Qingquan of Yenching Literature to change his pen name as well.

Don’t use Lao Xu from “The Horse Wrangler”, just use Lao Qiao from “Director Qiao’s Taking Office”.

"Teacher Gu, is this the novella that Lao Li has in his hand?"

Seeing that Teacher Gu was directly speaking to Yenching Literature again, Liu Xinwu quickly knew what Teacher Gu was going to say to Li Qingquan of Yenching Literature!

Because it was in the same area of ​​the city, the call was connected quickly this time. After a while, Li Qingquan's voice came from the other end: "Hello, is this Lao Liu? What's up? Are you going to treat me to a meal?"

"Old Li, it's me, Gu Xueqing!" Feng's mother greeted directly.

"Ah! Teacher Gu, it's you!" Li Qingquan was surprised when he heard that it was Feng's mother, but he quickly reacted and comforted her, "Teacher Gu, they really were unreasonable this time! I was planning to go to your house in person to talk to Xuemin in the next two days!"

"Go ahead! Teacher Gu, just give me your instructions! As long as I, Li Qingquan, can do it, I will go through fire and water and fight them to the end!"

"Old Li, you haven't finalized Xuemin's novella yet, right?" Feng's mother nodded secretly. She believed what Old Li said and then asked another question.

However, it almost scared Li Qingquan on the other end of the phone, and he quickly emphasized on the phone: "It's settled! Teacher Gu, our sample issues are already out, and we are working overtime to print them!"

"It's already being printed?!" Feng's mother also looked disappointed. Everyone knew that this week was the day for magazines to finalize manuscripts and publish, so it was still too late to give this greeting!

"What's wrong, Teacher Gu!?"

Li Qingquan on the other side asked in a panic.

"Nothing, nothing!" Feng's mother said repeatedly, and then tried to ask, "Old Li, can you give Xuemin a new pen name?"

"Ah?!" Li Qingquan on the other end was obviously stunned. He certainly didn't react. What did Feng's mother mean by this?
"It's the novella by Xuemin. If possible, change the pen name to 'Lao Qiao' instead of Lao Xu from 'The Shepherd'. Do you think it's okay, Lao Li?"

Not to mention the problem of already being published, just having Li Qingquan of Yenching Literature abandon his main pen name "The Shepherd" Lao Xu is embarrassing enough.

After all, Lao Xu, the author of "The Shepherd", is now the signature of "Yanjing Literature" and his sales are guaranteed.

Although the old Qiao in "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office" also caused a huge sensation and received a greater response.

But that was the Old Qiao of People’s Literature, not the Old Qiao of Yenching Literature.

"Hey, Teacher Gu just changed his pen name?! You scared me, I thought you were the one who suddenly changed your mind and wanted to steal your son-in-law's manuscript?!"

"Scared me!"

Soon, Li Qingquan came over and said that it was a false alarm.

Then he continued, "No problem, no problem. Just change the pen name to 'Old Joe', right? That's totally fine!"

"Teacher Gu, you've got to say it. This time I really should change my pen name to 'Lao Qiao'. We have to form a united front!"

When Mother Feng heard Li Qingquan's straightforward agreement, she nodded and said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you, thank you! Lao Li, thank you!"

"Hey, Mr. Gu, please don't say that! Our Yenching Literature is Xuemin's 'mother's home'. If we, as his godmother, don't support him, who will?"

"It's a pity that Xuemin has been too distracted recently and hasn't written many articles. Otherwise, if Lao Zhang were to join in, the effect would definitely be better!"

"How about...if it really doesn't work, I can give this novella to Lao Zhang's People's Literature? Lao Zhang has a great influence, and Mr. Wu has even mentioned it!"

As they were talking, Li Qingquan on the other end became too generous and directly handed over the finalized manuscript!
"No, no! Thank you, Lao Li. Thank you, Lao Li. Just your words are enough!"

……

(End of this chapter)