1979: My fiancée is a goddess

Chapter 165 A Shepherd Boy Came to the Editorial Office
The next morning, the sky was dark, like a house with no lights on.

Light grey clouds were hanging low and a heavy rain was falling from the sky.

The streets of the entire city of Beijing were almost flooded by rain, and people had to wear rain boots and hold umbrellas to complain.

Children's Literature Editorial Department, Zuojiazhuang North, Chaoyang District.

There are two four-story buildings standing side by side in a large courtyard. Two poplar trees are planted at the door, one is bare and the other has lush branches and leaves.

There was a small wooden house under the editorial building, with a local dog tied up inside, lying in a kennel. The dog's dark and bright eyes were staring at a young girl holding an umbrella in front of it.

The girl was pouring the unfinished breakfast from the bowl into the dog bowl, very carefully, for fear of being seen.

"Xiao Hu, do you have an umbrella? Lend it to me. I was in a hurry to go out today and forgot to bring an umbrella."

Just as the girl was pouring the rice, she heard a young woman's voice not far away. She looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was editor Xu Dexia from the editorial department.

"Sister Xu, it's you! You scared me! I thought it was my dad!"

Miss Hu breathed a sigh of relief, handed over the umbrella in her hand and said with a smile, "Here, I give it to you. I just got here a while ago and was about to go upstairs."

"Da da da~"

Xu Dexia came over wearing a pair of women's leather shoes. The hard soles of her shoes made a crisp sound on the marble floor. She took the umbrella and opened it. "Calculating the time, the comrades from the post office should be here by now. Don't go upstairs. Come with me to get some manuscripts."

"Manuscript? What kind of manuscript requires two people to carry?"

The little Hu girl scratched her head, looking not very smart.

"This is your first time here as an intern. It's normal that you don't know anything. Manuscripts like this are packed in plastic bags in our editorial department. Two people have to carry them back and forth several times."

Xu Dexia explained that the little girl in front of her had the surname Hu, as in Editor-in-Chief Hu. She was the new intern this month, so Editor-in-Chief Hu had assigned the task to her.

"Oh, Sister Xu, didn't you say last time that Teacher Cheng Kaiyan would submit her manuscripts during this period? How come there has been no movement for so long? Could it be a lie?"

The two of them, wearing rubber boots, waded through the bumpy puddles in the editorial department without any harm. Girl Xiao Hu even jumped a few times excitedly in the water.

If your father wasn't Editor-in-Chief Hu, I would have slapped you on the back of the head.

Xu Dexia sighed and continued, "Don't worry, Cheng Kaiyan won't break her promise. She's not made of iron. Love Letter was just published last month. The earliest she can publish her new children's literature work is the middle of this month, right?"

"That's good."

Miss Hu patted her heavy, sturdy chest and shook it. "I'm really looking forward to Teacher Cheng's new work, the first place winner of the Children's Literature Award... the savior of our children's literature!"

Xu Dexia gritted her teeth at the sight, what a brainless girl with big breasts!
But even though I am jealous, what Xiao Hu said is true, he is the savior of children's literature.

Before the New Year, the sales of "Children's Literature" fell below 20, but in March and April, the sales of "Children's Literature" have reached more than 600,000. It is expected that the sales in May will maintain this level. After all, this level is achieved with the blessing of Cheng Kaiyan and the first National Excellent Children's Literature Award.

The editors in the editorial department all gave Cheng Kaiyan a nickname, calling him the Little Savior.

Of course it's just a joke.

But it just shows the preciousness and rarity of Cheng Kaiyan's works in this era when children's literature has just been revived after being destroyed by buzzing.

There are very few works like Cheng Kaiyan's, which have both the fun of children's literature and the profound literary quality of pure literature.

So much so that the editors in the children's literature department were all looking forward to the fact that Xu Dexia successfully asked Cheng Kaiyan to write an article at the award ceremony at the People's Hall.

"Isn't it time to come?"

Xu Dexia was thinking in her heart, and the two of them quickened their pace and came to the message room at the door.

"Uncle Ye, will the comrades from the post office come today?"

Xu Dexia kicked the stool of the half-asleep security guard.

"Come on... um... let me check the time, eight fifty, I'll be here at nine."

Uncle Ye looked up dazedly at the clock above his head, then said.

After a while, in the heavy rain on the street, a small truck with a postal logo painted on it stopped at the door, and a young man wearing a black raincoat got out of the car.

"Children's literature, here are your letters! Two bags."

"Here I come! Don't sleep anymore, get up and help!"

Xu De and his two companions "sheltered" the three bags of manuscripts to the message room, then went back and forth several times to carry them into the editorial office.

At the entrance of the editorial department, three people left wet footprints on the dry floor.

"Another manuscript? There are so many manuscripts these days."

An editor asked curiously.

"Perhaps it's because of the first Children's Literature Award that inspired these writers. Oh, and last time I discovered a newcomer named Cao Xuan, who has quite a talent!"

"Congratulations, train well."

"Let's look through the manuscripts. Xiao Xu said Cheng Kaiyan's manuscript will be arriving soon."

"Yes!"

……

Several idle editors squatted beside the snakeskin bag and searched.

After a while, Xu Dexia put the last bag at her feet and started to search. After a while, a rather thick manuscript caught her attention. "Could it be that guy's?"

Xu Dexia took it and looked at it. Hey! Guess what?

"It really is!"

Holding the manuscript in his hand, he proudly glanced at the editors who were looking for it, "No need to look for it, I have found Cheng Kaiyan's manuscript. This is the bond between the two of us!"

"Tsk, what's so great about that?"

"Xiao Xu, show it to me when you're done!"

"I'm third."

……

The editors started arguing, but Xu Dexia returned to her seat with the manuscript in her arms, and said comfortably: "Xiao Hu, make a pot of strong tea." On a rainy day, drinking hot tea, reading the beautiful manuscript, sitting by the window and listening to the sound of raindrops, it was really comfortable!

Xu Dexia stretched, then opened the manuscript, and a familiar font appeared before her eyes.

"Hmm... still so neat."

Then he looked down and the title of the book appeared in front of him: "The Alchemist's Adventures".

"The Shepherd Boy... a fantasy journey, an adventure novel? It looks pretty thick, probably around 70,000 to 80,000 words, right?"

Xu Dexia sat up straight and flipped through the pages one by one.

The beginning of this story is relatively loose, but the text is told in a leisurely manner, making it seem like the feeling of sitting by the fire and listening to the stories told by the elders at home when you were a child.

It tells the story of a shepherd boy who worked in a church for two consecutive nights. He tells the story of a pyramid in a distant continent where there is a lost treasure.

For this reason, the shepherd boy, in his ignorant love of youth, makes conflicting choices between reality and the pursuit of his dreams.

When I sat down to read a book in the town square, an old man with a white beard who called himself a prophet came over.

"Because you wanted to pursue your destiny, but you were on the verge of giving up, so I showed up..."

The Prophet said so.

"Destiny?"

"Destiny is what you have always hoped to do. Everyone has a destiny. It is the thought that comes into your mind after you become an adult and become free."

"Shepherding sheep, traveling around, and marrying the wool shop owner's daughter?"

"Of course!"

"But I can't."

"No! When you desire something, pursue it with all your might, and the whole universe will shine for it."

……

“Will the whole universe shine for it?”

When these words appeared in Xu Dexia's eyes, her expression finally changed. She thought this was just an ordinary and simple fairy tale, but now things have turned around.

Even though she was calm, she was inspired by the prophet's words at this moment. She became a little excited and full of energy.

"Sister Xu, your tea is here."

Miss Hu came over with a porcelain pot and asked with concern, "How is it? Teacher Cheng's work?"

"Hmm~ Not bad, pretty good so far! It's another work suitable for all ages, and the simple language contains philosophy."

Xu Dexia recalled the story described by the prophet in the book just now. It was about a miner who was digging for gems. During the process, the character wanted to give up several times, but he persisted. In the end, he chose to give up when he was about to dig up the gems, and failed.

It just echoes what the prophet said: "But you were on the verge of giving up, so I appeared..."

The shepherd boy's situation at this time is of course the same as that of the miner.

"It's another good work. You are worthy of being Teacher Cheng. Take your time to read it."

After editor Xiao Hu left, Xu Dexia drank tea, listened to the sound of raindrops outside the window, and immersed herself in the world of fairy tales.

During this time, the rain was getting heavier, and Xu Dexia felt more and more touched.

Santiago embarked on a journey. All his belongings were stolen and he was penniless. He faced a choice: go back or continue?

He worked in a crystal shop and saved a large sum of money, enough for him to return to the small town and marry the daughter of a wool shop. Should he go back or continue?

The choices made again and again are just like the 81 difficulties faced by the four masters and apprentices in Journey to the West. They are faced with various choices: continue or stagnate?
Xu Dexia tried to put herself in the other person's shoes and felt extremely conflicted.

The same goes for Santiago in the story. Unlike the protagonists in other stories who are omnipotent, he has an indomitable wisdom and moves straight towards his ultimate goal. He also has very real struggles.

Pursuit? Choice?
Xu Dexia prefers to use trade-offs as an alternative, which is both real and realistic.

Unconsciously, time slipped away quietly at my fingertips, and the pot of hot tea gradually turned cold.

It was not until lunchtime that Xu Dexia finished reading the work.

"A shepherd boy came to the editorial office?"

She said with a chuckle.

"The Shepherd Boy? How do you like this novel, Xiao Xu?"

Editor-in-Chief Hu, who had been waiting for a long time, asked curiously.

"Very good. If you only read it once superficially, you will definitely be deceived by its fatalistic shell. What the author wants to describe is that when you have a wish, you have a mission to realize it. This mission seems to come from heaven, but it actually comes from your heart. In other words, your heart is your heaven."

“That’s why there’s a saying: the whole universe will shine for you.”

Xu Dexia's face flushed and she spoke in an excited voice.

Seeing her like this, Chief Editor Hu undoubtedly became even more curious.

"Let me see it too!"

"Hiss... the stories he wrote are still so simple and delicate. Santiago... this name in Spanish seems to be St. James, one of the twelve saints of Jesus, representing the persistence and pursuit of dreams."

Editor-in-Chief Hu said to himself after reading it.

In the following days, the editorial department of Children's Literature was impressed by this article. The quality of this story was definitely among the best.

On the morning of the 7th.

In the meeting room of the Children's Literature Editorial Department, Chief Editor Hu stood in front of the stage and said, "Since no one has any objection, The Alchemist will be published next month!"

Unfortunately, the people in the editorial department don’t know that, in this era when the buzz has just ended and scar literature and reflective literature are everywhere, what kind of power will burst out and the role it will play is unimaginable.

It can be said that it inspired a generation!

(End of this chapter)