1985, the year of the great writer, began with Infernal Affairs!

Chapter 121 An Initial Exploration of French Literature

After parting ways with Zhao Wanwan, Xie Lu returned home.

I had previously communicated with Zhou Shaoyuan about the essay contest for "Ordinary World".

"Xiao Xie, don't worry too much about this essay contest. I know people on the judging panel, so just write with confidence."

Xie Lu recalled Zhou Shaoyuan's earlier guarantee.

Regardless of whether or not there were actually any acquaintances, "Ordinary World" is a great work in itself.

Looking back on his transmigration to this world, he had neither a powerful system nor the desire to turn his life around through excellent literary works. He needed to seize this crucial juncture.

Once you achieve success and fame, you can easily interact with people in the literary world.

Besides his breakout role in Infernal Affairs, he now aims to conquer not only the domestic literary scene but also traditional literary works.

Adding some foreign literature is also something that needs to be done later.

His relationship with Zhao Wanwan had just progressed to the kissing stage, so he definitely lacked dating experience.

Thinking about this, he suddenly had an idea. At the same time, a famous French writer wrote a novel called "The Lover," which had not yet been promoted in China.

Moreover, at Wuhan University, there is a specialist in French, which is something that other students don't know.

That was An Shaokang, the father of Liu Feifei, who would later become a sensation across the country.

How to get in touch with him is an art.

However, at this stage, he doesn't understand French very well.

So now is a good time to learn some French.

For the next week, Xie spent his days either in class or in the library studying French-related topics.

During the day, you can't see him anywhere in the dormitory.

Even those people like Chu Yunfei who wanted to hang out with him before couldn't find him.

Everyone was curious about what Xie Lu had been up to.

However, since Xie Lu is now a famous writer, he must have his reasons for doing this.

So the people in the dormitory didn't disturb them.

On the other side, the judging panel for the essay competition.

The manuscript for "Ordinary World" was piled up among a mountain of submissions.

This time it was different from before, the judging panel chose to adopt a group review method.

An open audition that doesn't involve everyone being seen at once.

There are four groups in total, and each editor is responsible for one group.

From this pile of manuscripts, select the 100 manuscripts that pass the screening.

A total of 400 articles were selected, and then four groups of people took turns reviewing them.

In the second round, the top 20 from each group were finally selected.

The final 80 qualified manuscripts will undergo cross-review.

After selecting the top 10, the editor-in-chief will make the final ranking of the top 10.

Su Miaoke, a young woman who had just graduated from the publishing major at the Communication University of China, had only been working in the editorial department for a short time.

Among a group of older Dengs, she always stood out.

So she basically handles all the good work in the department.

A youthful, energetic, and beautiful woman is indeed very likely to be liked in the workplace.

"Hey, Xiao Su, you can handle this manuscript submitted through special channels."

The editor-in-chief gave this coveted position to the only young woman in the department without a second thought.

The other veterans and the central team naturally had no objections.

Su Miao smoothed her long, flowing hair and accepted the editor-in-chief's invitation.

They called it a special channel, but in reality, it was all known to Su Miao, and it was basically a group of people with connections.

Therefore, she had to be extra careful when dealing with these manuscripts.

It's unclear which forces are behind these contributors.

She neatly reorganized the manuscript.

Then she placed it on her clean, tidy, and fragrant desk.

She only drank two sips of water that morning, spending the rest of the time immersed in reviewing these manuscripts.

The first key point in reading this story is to read the first three chapters.

As a young editor, she believes that if the preceding chapters are not engaging, readers will not have the patience to continue reading.

I reviewed about 20 articles, but only two or three were approved.

The low acceptance rate wasn't because Su Miao didn't want her manuscripts to be accepted; she simply couldn't stand it.

Ok?

What is this?

Just when she was overwhelmed by the manuscripts from these special channels.

A simple envelope caught her eye.

This envelope is unlike any other fancy packaging.

It was wrapped in old, wrinkled kraft paper.

Su Miao opened the manuscript and then unfolded the letter.

The powerful and vigorous words immediately come to mind.

The first thing that catches the eye is how beautiful the handwriting is.

Then she looked at the beginning.

"The Loess Plateau, with its harsh and long winters..."

'

She frowned as she looked at the text.

How can such strong and beautiful characters be written in such an unpleasant way?

Is it relevant to this era?

Does it align with the thinking of the new generation of young people?

It doesn't seem to fit at all.

The title of this submission is "Ordinary World".

If you watch it patiently for a while, it does seem rather ordinary.

It describes the lives of farmers.

Although Su Miao had never experienced it, the overall writing of this submission was smooth and the narrative was strong.

Overall, it meets the preliminary selection standards.

As a modern woman, she can at least keep reading.

So she continued reading, flipping through the pages, and what followed completely shocked her.

Why am I getting more and more engrossed in watching it?

How could such a seemingly ordinary world be filled with so much suffering?

The only true heroism in the world is to know the truth of life and still love it!

For some reason, the more Su Miao looked, the more sensitive her tear ducts became.

For some reason, those big, bright eyes suddenly welled up with pitiful tears.

The drops fell onto the letter paper, soaking the contents of the manuscript.

"Oh, what's wrong with me?" Su Miao suddenly realized her inappropriate behavior in the office.

She quickly took out a handkerchief from her bag and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"? Xiao Su, why are you crying while reviewing the manuscript?" The editor-in-chief noticed something was off when he saw Su Miao reviewing the manuscript.

So he went up and asked.

When Su Miao saw the editor-in-chief asking her a question, she quickly put away her manuscript and composed herself.

"It's alright, Editor-in-Chief. When I was looking through the submissions, I came across one that was so realistic that it brought tears to my eyes," Su Miao replied after calming herself down.

"There are manuscripts like this?" The editor-in-chief has been in the industry for so many years, and when it comes to reading articles, he must have read countless ones.

When it comes to understanding story structure, he claims to be among the top ten in the country.

In traditional literature, the words that can stir people's emotions need to be savored slowly and carefully.

How come it's so easy for young editors to get emotionally swayed by a little fancy language?

He absolutely would not allow this kind of manuscript to be selected for the essay contest.

After all, if something flashy and superficial like this passes the writing contest, and it has no substance, no story, only emotions and selling anxiety, wouldn't people laugh at the contest?

Thinking of this, the editor-in-chief walked over to Su Miao's side.

"Well, in that case, let me see what kind of story this essay you've been reading is, what emotions it expresses, and how much of a shock it will bring to literary history. Come on, let me see it."

The editor-in-chief gestured to Su Miao, inviting him to also take a look at the call for submissions.

I took the heavy letter.

The entire text is written in a vigorous and powerful style, with the pen leaving deep marks on the paper in various places.

The editor-in-chief glanced at the text and immediately knew that it was a submission from a man who was about the same age as himself.

Before even reading the story, he reached back to check the postmark on the envelope.

Applications from special channels can usually be identified by the mailing address, which the editor-in-chief can usually tell where they come from.

"Oh? From Wuhan? Wuhan University..."

Isn't this easy to guess? An old friend from Wuhan University.

Who else could it be? This must have been written by that old geezer Zhou Shaoyuan! Look at how he made this little girl cry; I'll really make fun of him later.

The editor-in-chief was secretly pleased; he had solved the case of the submission in one fell swoop.