Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

The car dealer's words stirred something within Han Fei.

He squinted at the car dealer and smiled, "Brother, your full name is Liu... Liu..."

"Liu Dong".

"Oh right, Liu Dong." Han Fei put a cigarette in his mouth, opened his briefcase, and pulled out the first few pages of the manuscript of "Li Yuanyuan". "If you ask me, if you want to be a cultured person, just publishing an ordinary article is not enough."

"Then... what kind of thing would it be?"

Han Fei handed him the manuscript: "Of course we have to publish something this exciting! This is the topic our magazine will be promoting next, take a look."

Liu Dong took the manuscript, looked at Han Fei with suspicion, then casually pulled up a chair, sat down, and began to read it with a cigarette in his mouth and squinting eyes.

When he saw the "Four Whites," a grin spread across his face; when he read the part about Li Yuanyuan and the principal sneaking into the grove, he couldn't help but chuckle, tapping his finger on the paper: "This is interesting...quite wild!"

Han Fei pressed his advantage: "Brother Liu, think about it. If you tell a girl you published an article in a magazine, she might just think you're a bit literary. But if you say you wrote a really exciting story about things that can't be said openly in the village, wouldn't she be more curious? And once she's curious, wouldn't that be the perfect topic of conversation?"

Liu Dong swallowed hard.

Han Fei leaned forward and lowered his voice: "Besides, this story, on the surface it's about the things between men and women, but if you think about it more closely, it's actually about human nature and fate. That's what you call appealing to both the refined and the common. If you talk about it when you're in a bar, it will make you seem like you know how to live, without lowering your standards. On the contrary, it gives you a kind of... worldly-wise sense of vicissitudes."

Liu Dong blinked, his mouth slightly open, listening in a daze.

He re-examined the manuscript in his hand, then looked at Han Fei: "President Han, what you said really resonates with me. So... could you have someone write an article based on my experience? I also come from the countryside, and there are actually a few young widows in my village!"

Han Fei smiled hesitantly, straightened up, exhaled a puff of smoke, and watched the smoke rise and dissipate.

"But Brother Liu," he hesitated for a moment before continuing, "this kind of commissioned article is really time-consuming. The author has to talk to you, dig into your story, and then make it both realistic and engaging..."

Liu Dong jumped up from his chair: "Got it, got it! President Han, how about this, you said you'd add 5000 more, I'll add another 5000! Find a reliable ghostwriter to write me as handsome, as profound, and preferably with a bit of that... that..."

"The contradictory feeling of seeing through the illusions of the world yet being unable to resist making mistakes," Han Fei said.

"Hey, right, right!" Liu Dong laughed a few times, "President Han is truly cultured!"

Han Fei was secretly overjoyed, but on his face he still wore that troubled yet sincere expression, and sighed.

"Alright then, since Brother Liu is so agreeable, I'll arrange it for you even if I have to work overtime." He took the last two puffs of his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, and casually mentioned, "By the way, Brother Liu, you have a wide circle of friends, do you have any friends who also like this kind of thing? If there are a lot of people, we can do a customized column, and we can all be cultured together, so we can have something to talk about when we go to bars, wouldn't that be great?"

Liu Dong clapped his hands: "You've really hit the nail on the head! I know several small business owners who have some money, but they're just short of face! You wait, I'll make a call right now!"

Liu Dong's phone call indeed summoned four friends: a clothing dealer, a stall owner in the building materials market, an internet cafe owner, and a small restaurant owner.

Just as dusk was falling, Liu Dong suggested that they meet at the restaurant owner's place. As the initiator of this "New Culture Movement," he felt it was only right to be a good host and treat everyone to a meal.

Han Fei and Liu Dong walked into the small restaurant, and were immediately greeted by the kitchen heat coming out of the vents, the clanging of spatulas against each other, the football commentary on the TV, and the tired faces at the tables.

The restaurant owner gave Han Fei a fawning smile.

Once everyone had arrived, they sat down around a greasy dining table, with a fan slowly turning overhead, and a few flies hovering over it.

Liu Dong asked the boss to bring out two cases of beer and several stir-fried dishes.

After a few rounds of drinks, Han Fei followed the same method, using the essay "Li Yuanyuan" as a sample. With a combination of "accessible to all," "deep human nature," and "a tool for picking up girls," he received four more custom orders, each priced at 2500, totaling 1 yuan.

Because Liu Dong's case was rather special, it was Han Fei who used the car as collateral, causing Liu Dong to increase the collateral amount from 2 yuan to 3 yuan, rather than Han Fei selling the manuscript to Liu Dong for 1 yuan.

Liu Dong knew that Han Fei's car was worth far more than 3 yuan. Moreover, if Han Fei wanted to redeem the car, he would have to pay 3 yuan for it as well. In that case, Liu Dong would essentially have gotten a manuscript for free. Therefore, he didn't feel like he was at a loss and didn't say anything more.

In the end, Han Fei earned a total of 4 yuan, which was equivalent to the magazine's net profit for almost half a year. Now he had 8 yuan in hand.

Han Fei watched as the five men leaned back in their chairs, uttering satisfied murmurs, and then gave them a nickname: "The Alliance of Cultural Figures."

When Han Fei returned home with the fresh cash and the pledge contract, it was already past 10 p.m.

Exhaustion washed over him, but he roused himself, locked the cash and contracts in the safe, took off his clothes, and went into the bathroom.

After taking a shower, he made himself a cup of coffee, turned on his old computer with a large CRT monitor, logged into QQ, and saw that the icon of the publisher's author group "Bluebird Author's Home" was flashing wildly, with over 99 unread messages.

Han Fei took a sip of coffee and scrolled through the chat history, only to find that the rumors of the publishing house's planned transformation had reached the author's ears.

Shan Shi: "Gentlemen, I heard that Qingniao is going to completely shift towards popularization? How popular? Don't you think you'll kick out all of us who write serious literature?"

Hongxiu: "Teacher, don't worry, the specifics are not clear yet, but I heard that the payment standards will be adjusted."

Hedgehog: "Up or down?"

White Stripes in the Waves: "With print media declining, transformation is inevitable. I just hope they don't write those cheap, low-brow novels; it'll lower their standards. (Facepalm)"

Old Huai: "I think being able to survive is the most important thing. We still need to eat, don't we? (sighs)"

Shan Shi: "You can't say that! Literature has its dignity! If it's just about making a living, why not just write about porn?"

......

Han Fei took a deep breath as he watched the heated discussion in the group chat.

This shift will inevitably draw dissatisfaction from many authors, and some may even leave as a result. He certainly can't convince every author. But the die is cast, and what's meant to happen will happen.

He opened the Word document, took out the manuscript of "Li Yuanyuan" from his briefcase, and began to copy it.