The unparalleled talent of the country started from Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 15, Salmon

In late May 1978, the weather in Dahonggou Village was getting hotter and hotter, but it was still cool at night, even a little cold.

Wang Duoyu, who has no internet, no mobile phone, and is reluctant to go out, lies on the bed like an idle salted fish. Sometimes he lies on his back with his limbs stretched out, shaped like a Chinese character "木", and sometimes he lies in the quilt, shaped like a Chinese character "太".

There were no entertainment activities in that era, so Wang Duoyu went to bed very early, around eight o'clock. After waking up at five in the morning, he couldn't fall asleep again.

In his previous life, Wang Duoyu usually slept for a maximum of six and a half hours, and even less when doing scientific research. The reason why he became a professor at Peking University was not only because of his talent, but also because he was able to work hard.

But in this day and age, the lack of entertainment is not the only problem. The key is that there are no light bulbs at home. At night, we can only light candles or kerosene lamps. However, the brightness of candles is very low and it is very harmful to the eyes.

Therefore, Wang Duoyu tried his best to write papers and copy books during the day, and stopped working after dark.

Even so, nearly ten hours of darkness was still a little too long for Wang Duoyu.

Ever since his eighth sister came over and made a scene on the night of the 21st, Wang Duoyu's house has become much quieter, because his eighth sister gave those little brats an order: they can only stay at his house for half an hour at most every day, and are not allowed to disturb him while he is reviewing his homework.

Based on this order, Wang Duoyu's life became completely regular. He was busy every day with various papers including mathematics papers, copying books, and studying.

Before June, he was already fully familiar with the types of questions in last year's college entrance examination, and was basically able to ensure that his college entrance examination score would be above 450, so he planned to adjust his strategy after June and use the original review time for mathematical theory research.

On the last day of May, Wang Shouyi sent three letters, two letters confirming the acceptance of the manuscripts and a remittance slip for the royalties, the total amount of which reached 485 yuan.

Why is the manuscript fee so high?

Because "Dawn in Snow City Volume 1" has passed the review and can be published, and this is a novel, the first volume has a total of over 160,000 words. Based on the manuscript fee of three yuan per thousand words, the total amount here is 480 yuan.

The second acceptance letter was for a mathematics paper, the one that Du Jianping and his team saw last time, "Properties of Moment Estimation of Parameters of Ek/EI/C/Queuing Systems." It had very few words, so the manuscript fee was only five yuan.

Fortunately, Wang Duoyu had foresight. He could not earn much royalties by writing mathematical papers, so he chose to earn royalties by copying books, especially novels. Once the manuscripts were approved, it would be a stable income.

But he certainly cannot stop writing mathematical papers. This is not only his interest and hobby, but also a long-term plan for the future.

Lu Xun once studied medicine, and later he took up pen to lead by example and awaken the people of that era. Wang Duoyu does not want to be Lu Xun, he does not want to be a doctor who cures diseases and saves lives, nor does he want to rely solely on literary works to influence others. He just wants to use what he has learned in his previous life to do something for the land under his feet.

To be honest, the influence of literary works is really very limited, but if we can be like scientists like Qian Xuesen, then the younger generations will be able to stand up straight and live their lives as human beings.

The last one was a request for manuscript revisions. The article written by Wang Duoyu had met the publication requirements, but the magazine hoped to modify the ending. In other words, it still hoped to follow the mainstream of scar literature.

"Fuck! Short stories are so troublesome. The pay is low, and there's so much work to do. It's really fucked up!"

Wang Duoyu cursed, but he didn't bother revising the manuscript. Even though it was a 20,000-word novel, a slight change to the ending would earn him 60 yuan, which wouldn't make all his hard work go to waste. But he refused to revise it! He submitted the manuscript directly to Beijing Literature and Art, gave it to Sun Shouyi to mail, and then he didn't bother with it anymore.

Recently, Sun Shouyi would go to his house every now and then. His purpose was very simple, which was to show off his "talent" and ask Wang Duoyu for some guidance.

Just then, at noon on the first day of June, Sun Shouyi came to ask for advice with the manuscript, and he also brought a salmon with him.

"Great writer, thank you for helping me revise this. I bought this fish in the county town this morning. It's still fresh."

Salmon is a specialty of Fuyuan, because it is located at the easternmost tip of the mainland, at the confluence of the Heilongjiang River and the Ussuri River. It is a veritable "cold water fish capital" and is about 400 kilometers away from Shuanghe County.

From Fuyuan along the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River to Jiamusi, there are also salmon in the rivers here, and Jiamusi is only a little over 100 kilometers away from Shuanghe County.

There are also many salmon in the Jiamusi River section, but much less than in Fuyuan. Even so, it is still relatively convenient to eat salmon in Shuanghe County, and the price is not very expensive.

But the flesh of salmon is pink, tender, delicious, and nutritious. It is a high-protein, low-fat fish. Although this thing is not salmon, it is used as salmon both at home and abroad.

"Brother Sun, you are too polite. Please take it back. I can't accept this salmon." Wang Duoyu looked at the salmon in front of him and was very tempted, but he knew what he should accept and what he should not accept.

He was just helping the other party revise the article, and it might not necessarily help the other party pass the magazine's review requirements, so he could not accept this gift.

However, Sun Shouyi was well prepared. After putting down the fish and the manuscript paper, he ran away: "Great writer, thank you for your help. I will come to see you in two days. Cook the fish while it is fresh. It is almost summer now, and it will go bad if left for too long."

The sound became farther and farther away until it could no longer be heard. Wang Duoyu was speechless. It seemed that the other party was well prepared.

The neighbors nearby had heard the noise a long time ago and came out of their houses to look towards Wang Duoyu's house. When they saw Sun Shouyi carrying a salmon weighing six or seven kilograms, they all looked envious.

"This Sun Dapao is really stupid. He just edited the article, but he actually bought such a big fish for Wang Duoyu. Is he crazy?"

"A salmon that big must have cost two or three yuan, right? Sun Dapao's salary is only about forty yuan, right? How could he be so willing to spend it?"

"Nonsense, you'd be willing to do that if it were you. If the manuscript is approved, you'll get 30 yuan for 10,000 words, and 45 yuan for 15,000 words, which is on par with his salary."

"Tsk, Sun Dapao has been writing for so many years. If he could become a writer, he would have been one long ago. Why wait until now? Besides, Wang Duoyu just got lucky. Can he really revise someone else's manuscript?"

The neighbors were talking about it, and those who didn't know thought they were the editors, commenting and giving advice here. But in fact, if Wang Duoyu had not become a writer, they would not know that the remuneration was three yuan per thousand words, let alone anything else.

(End of this chapter)