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

Chapter 21, Mrs. Zhou

"What call from Beijing? I don't know anyone in Beijing. I can just stay away. That's not your sister-in-law. I'm divorced from her, and I've never seen her reply to my letters before. Do you still think she would call?"

In the room, Wang Duoyu looked at his two sisters and spoke speechlessly, but they were quite excited and analyzed the situation clearly: for example, sister-in-law Chen Qingwan suddenly came to her senses and knew that their ninth brother was now a writer and wanted to get back with him.

Seeing that their words were getting more and more outrageous, Wang Duoyu didn't bother to pay attention to them and went out first.

"Uncle Nine, wait for me!" Xue Yuqing and the other little kids immediately followed him quickly, and the two sisters Wang Meili and Wang Meihe quickly closed the door and followed him out.

At the production team, when Wang Duoyu arrived, many people had already gathered there. When many people saw him coming, they smiled kindly and greeted him politely.

In the past, this would have been almost impossible, but now he is a great writer, so many people are willing to be friendly to him.

Team leader Kong Huayi said the call was from a magazine in Beijing. From the sound of the voice, it sounded like an old lady. He didn't remember the name of the magazine or the company, but he was told that they would call again in about an hour.

Wang Duoyu politely thanked the other party for helping to pass on the message, but Kong Huayi was even more polite than him and repeatedly said that there was no need for that.

After waiting in the production team office for about half an hour, the phone finally rang again and Wang Duoyu picked it up immediately.

It was really difficult to make a phone call in that era, because it required many rounds of transfers before the call could be connected. Otherwise, it would be unlikely, especially for calls to the production team, which was even more difficult.

Just as Wang Duoyu answered the phone, Kong Huayi and a group of people came closer and stared at him eagerly, especially his two sisters and nephews and nieces, all of whom looked at him very quietly.

"Hello, I'm Wang Duoyu. Yes, my name is Wang Duoyu, and my pen name is Yu Wang. Yes, hello, Editor-in-Chief Zhou."

The voice coming from the other end of the phone did sound like that of an old lady, but it was gentle, elegant and soft-spoken. Wang Duoyu was a little surprised when he heard the other party's self-introduction. He didn't expect that it was Zhou Yanru, the editor-in-chief of "Beijing Literature and Art", who called him personally.

The purpose was to invite him to Beijing to revise the manuscript. In fact, at the end of May, he had already received the request for revision from "Harvest", but Wang Duoyu was unwilling to revise the manuscript and directly sent the manuscript to "Beijing Literature and Art".

The reason is very simple. In this era, "People's Literature" and "Harvest" can be said to be the first-tier magazines, "Beijing Literature and Art", "Magic City Literature and Art" and others are the second-tier, and behind them are some local magazines such as "Heilongjiang Literature and Art".

Magazines of different levels have different requirements for manuscripts. Top magazines like People's Literature have very high requirements. Otherwise, Lu Xinhua's article "Scars" would not have been rejected.

"Editor Zhou, I'd love to go to the capital to revise the manuscript, but you don't know that I'm just a farmer right now. Without a pass and a letter of introduction, I can't go at all. Furthermore, there's no one to help arrange accommodation and food there. I'll be starving there."

What Wang Duoyu said was true; he did have money now. Since he sent out the manuscript in early May, he had received several remittance slips for royalties, the highest of which was a whopping 480 yuan. But having money wasn't enough; the real problem was the lack of coupons. Did he have to buy food coupons and other forms of coupons on the black market?
It was okay in Shuanghe County, as this was his hometown. Wang Duoyu was very familiar with this place and dared to go to the black market to exchange food coupons and other tickets. But in the capital, he didn't dare to do anything rash.

As he said this, Kong Huayi, the production team leader, immediately whispered, "I can help you write a letter of introduction and apply for a pass."

However, Wang Duoyu quickly covered the microphone with his hand, fearing that the other party's voice would be transmitted to the other end of the phone and heard by Mrs. Zhou.

Goodness me, Kong Huayi was very enthusiastic and willing to help, but how could Wang Duoyu be willing to let him help? This was just making trouble. The reason he made a request to Mrs. Zhou was not because he was broke, nor was it because he couldn't take the initiative to apply to solve these problems. It was because Mrs. Zhou took the initiative to ask for help. As a country of etiquette, Wang Duoyu must reciprocate and make another request.

Wang Duoyu also believed that the other party was willing to make this call because he must know his personal information and would be willing to solve these problems. After all, his mailing address clearly stated that it was Dahonggou Village, Qingshan Township, Shuanghe County.

In order to prevent Kong Huayi from causing trouble again, Wang Duoyu covered the microphone with one hand and asked the other party to stay away with the other hand. Although the other party was kind-hearted, this kind of kindness was not what he needed. In short, he couldn't let the other party ruin his big plan now.

"I'll write you a letter of introduction and send your passport along. Once you arrive in the capital, I can arrange accommodation and meals for you. If you come, I'll give you a dollar a day reward. How about that?"

Zhou Yanru didn't hesitate and immediately made arrangements. She praised him again, saying, "Your writing is excellent, and the emotions are simple, but the ending is too bright. So I really hope you can come to Beijing to revise the manuscript."

In fact, light is a good thing, but if Wang Duoyu wrote the beginning too darkly and the ending too family-friendly, it would be even more ironic.

We should not underestimate the people of this era. The metaphors written by Wang Duoyu are indeed subtle enough, but any cultured person can notice them, because people of this era read letters very seriously, and good articles are even carefully considered word by word.

Zhou Yanru is the editor-in-chief of "Beijing Literature and Art". She began publishing her works in 1947 and has written many short stories, such as "Harmony", "My Son", "At Qinglongqiao Station", etc. She has extraordinary qualifications and abilities.

Wang Duoyu agreed immediately after hearing this. Zhou Yanru was also very happy to hear this and immediately said:
"Okay, I'll write you a letter of introduction right away. I should be able to mail it tomorrow morning, and you should receive it in two days. I wish you a safe journey."

"Okay, thank you, Editor-in-Chief Zhou."

After hanging up the phone, Wang Duoyu jumped up with joy. In the afternoon, he was still thinking about going to Ice City after the college entrance examination. He didn't expect that he would now have the opportunity to go to Beijing to revise the manuscript.

At this time, Kong Huayi complained, "Duoyu, how can you make demands on a magazine? I can help you with letters of introduction and passes. You are just making people look down on you."

(End of this chapter)