Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 108 Ma Boyong's Concerns
After the award ceremony, Zhang Chao held a closed-door meeting with the award-winning contestants and introduced his ideas on the mechanism of "Youth" magazine.

Shuang Xuetao was a little skeptical and asked, "Why does it feel a bit like a literary magazine?"

Others nodded.

Zhang Chao did not answer directly, but asked: "Who among you can write 'Look up at the sky at a 45-degree angle and your tears will not fall'?"

No one answered.

Zhang Chao continued to ask, "Who among you would let the heroines in your works suffer from terminal illnesses, multiple pregnancies, or GE, and not only be miserable and resolute, but also be charming and touching?"

No one answered.

Zhang Chao finally asked, "Who among you would let the male protagonist in the book encounter bankruptcy, cheating parents, betrayal by his girlfriend at the same time, and then drop out of school for three years and then review for three months to be admitted to Qinghua Yanda?"

All the contestants looked at each other, still not daring to speak.

Zhang Chao spread his hands and said, "That's it. There are many people who can write what you can't. So what we want to do is a literary magazine with a completely different tone. In terms of content, you can still stick to the purity of your own words; but in terms of packaging, we must show a style that is completely different from Xiao Si and others.

If readers of Xiao Si and his works seek a vain and shallow resonance, then when reading our works, readers should see the real and sharp side of youth.

But this sharpness cannot really "stab" the readers' cognition and dignity. So we need to package this magazine in an appropriate way, so that this magazine is not only a reading material, but also a fashion item in the hands of young readers.

What I want is that even many years later, when they see the book they once bought, Youth, on the bookshelf, they will not think that they were childish, but will think that it is a blessing to have encountered Youth. "

Zhang Chao's idea of ​​positioning "Youth" actually came from the most popular magazine at that time, "Popular Movies". After it resumed publication in 1979, "Popular Movies" once set a world record of 80 million copies sold in a single issue in the 947s.

At that time, young men and women always liked to hold a copy of "Popular Movies" in their hands when taking photos, and they would always turn the cover towards the camera.

In fact, from the content point of view, "Popular Movies" cannot be completely regarded as a popular reading material, and many of the film reviews in it are extremely professional. However, due to the proper column setting and content control, especially the "sexy photos" of female stars published on the cover that broke the aesthetic standards of the time, it eventually won the market.

Zhang Chao never thought that literary magazines should be aloof, nor did he think that writers had to be educated on a pedestal. Moreover, many booksellers and young writers have begun to consciously build what is later called personal IP.

Why did it take Shuang Xuetao and others nearly ten or even more than ten years to emerge in the literary world in the previous life? Is it because they did not create or submit works from the age of 20 to 30?
Obviously not. The fundamental reason is that for the entire 15 years, there was almost no niche for them in the market. They could not compete with the old writers upwards; and they could not compete with Xiao Si and Han Han downwards.

The emergence of Zhang Chao proved that the young generation could succeed in writing pure literature, or popular literature that was not so vulgar. He had already created this niche in the market in advance.

What he is doing now is no longer just a business act.

After the closed-door meeting, almost all the winning contestants agreed to become contracted authors of "Youth" - their ambitions for literature began to be aroused by Zhang Chao.

After the meeting, the contestants went downstairs one after another, each looking for their own mothers and going home. At this time, the youngest contestant, who was just 16 years old, looked back and saw Zhang Chao talking with Yu Hua and Zhao Changtian in the hotel lobby. His attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, as if he was standing on equal footing with these two literary giants.

The "young contestant" couldn't help but say: "He can take his place!"

"Pa" - another contestant who was more familiar with him slapped his round, hairy head and laughed, "You are talking nonsense again, Li Ruichao."

Li Ruichao touched his slapped head, blinked his squinting eyes, and said, "Isn't it okay to just talk about it..."

After Zhang Chao finished his work on the New Concept Competition and Youth Magazine, it was already early February of 05. He returned to Changfu quietly before the New Year's Eve and spent a quiet year there. He only met and chatted with Song Shiyu, Lan Ting and Chen Huan.

After the seventh day of the New Year, Zhang Chao returned to Yanjing because there were many things waiting for him to deal with.

At 9 o'clock in the morning on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, he drove to the house in Panjiayuan and took advantage of the one-week break before classes to work a few days as usual.

As soon as he entered the office, he saw Huang Jiefu and Ma Li sitting in their desks, while Xia Da was probably painting in the room. Seeing Ma Li, Zhang Chao felt relieved - the prince's professional ability was actually well-known in Schneider, and "the eunuch holding the pen in the Silijian" was just a joke.

If he hadn't been making more and more progress in his writing and becoming more and more famous, he actually had a chance to move into management.

Zhang Chao found a workstation and sat down. He discussed the work progress with Huang Jiefu, then turned his attention to Ma Boyong and made his first work request to him - "Old Ma, can you help me review the manuscript that was recently sent to the Youth Magazine mailbox!"

Ma Boyong heaved a sigh of relief and joined "Midnight Tide". Facing a "boss" who was a few years younger than him, he was very nervous. Only fulfilling work could dilute this uneasiness. After all, at this time, Ma Boyong's career goal was not to be a writer, but a social animal.

He asked, “What are the audit criteria?”

Zhang Chao said: "We don't want those who cry, whine, are pretentious, bitter, or curse right away. I hope the magazine will be more traditional in style, but interesting, real, and exciting. The first issue is especially important. We will cross-check each article to avoid omissions..."

With a clear work guideline and no major problems with the two people's literary taste, the work went much more smoothly, and they finished reviewing the few dozen manuscripts in the morning.

After the work was completed, Ma Boyong asked curiously, "What is the story of the new novel you said will be serialized in the first issue of Youth Magazine?"

"Stories" are what Ma Boyong loves in his life. Writing a story that no one else has told for everyone to read is one of the beliefs throughout his creative career. Therefore, at this moment, he is extremely curious about Zhang Chao's novel called "The Great Doctor".

Zhang Chao pondered for a moment and began to tell the story: "The story takes place in Shanghai more than 100 years ago, in the late Qing Dynasty. Three young people with different backgrounds, personalities and experiences, Fang Sanxiang, Sun Xi and Yao Yingzi, chose to enter a newly established hospital at the same time, and thus began their ups and downs in the medical career.

This hospital was the newly established Red Cross General Hospital. As the first generation of public charity doctors in China at that time, the three young men shouldered a heavier responsibility than ordinary doctors. Wherever there was epidemic, disaster or war, they would go there to save the dying and heal the wounded.

The plague in Shanghai, the flood in northern Anhui, the battlefield in Wuchang... From the late Qing Dynasty to the founding of the People's Republic of China, for more than 30 years, the three of them supported each other and gradually grew from three ignorant teenagers to three outstanding doctors..."

"The Great Doctor" is Zhang Chao's favorite work of Ma Boyong that he had read in his previous life.

Generally speaking, the style of the prince's works tends to be imaginative, suspenseful, and humorous, but "The Great Doctor" is a rare and heavy work. Although he still retains some dramatic coincidences, conflicts, and contradictions in this work, it is solemn and concise as a whole.

Ma Boyong's eyes lit up as he listened, and he even asked directly, "How much have you written? I want to see it."

Zhang Chao pointed to his head, then to the computer, and said, "I've finished writing here, but there's not a single word left over there."

Ma Boyong was very disappointed, but he quickly said, "Your writing style is very similar to a novel I'm writing recently. It starts with one or two minor characters, embeds them into real history, and lets them have all kinds of entanglements with the great figures in history..."

After listening to Ma Boyong's story, Zhang Chao asked, "Have you finished writing this novel? Can you show it to me?"

Ma Bo hesitated for a moment and said, "I have almost finished writing it, but I feel that there has never been such a book in the traditional publishing market. It may only be suitable for publishing on the Internet."

Zhang Chao said: "It is precisely because it does not exist that it is so precious. My first few novels were almost all of a type that was not available on the market."

Ma Boyong said, "Okay, I'll print out the first few chapters for you to take a look."

After a while, Zhang Chao got the printed manuscript that Ma Boyong had bound. The title bar had four big bold characters in black font:
The Wind Rises in Longxi

Zhang Chao finished reading a few chapters quickly. He said to Ma Boyong in surprise, "A spy novel based on the Three Kingdoms?"

Ma Boyong said a little embarrassedly: "Isn't it quite secluded?"

Zhang Chao said, "No, it's not unpopular. To be precise, it should be very fresh. The Three Kingdoms is a popular subject, and spy wars are also popular. Add the two together, as long as there is nothing wrong with the novel itself, how can it be unpopular?"

Ma Boyong showed a look of surprise in his eyes and said, "I wrote this for fun when I was writing my graduation thesis. I was under too much pressure, so I wrote it just to relieve the pressure. So I didn't consider the market - do you think there is a market for it?"

Zhang Chao nodded and said, "Of course there is a market for it, and I can push it directly to the editors of publishing houses I am familiar with."

Ma Boyong said gratefully: "That's great..."

Zhang Chao smiled and said, "Old Ma, do you want royalties or manuscript fees? Also, since you are the art director of our company, shouldn't this book be..."

After dealing with Ma Boyong, Zhang Chao was in a good mood, but it only lasted for less than two hours.

During the lunch break, he was about to drive back to Yanda, but he found that his BMW wouldn't start...

(End of this chapter)