I'm not a literary giant

Chapter 61 The Story of the Editorial Department (Thanks to Alliance Leader Mo Shuimingkong)
Wang Zixu lowered his head. He vaguely grasped a thread, but the truth he deduced was too shocking. He had not yet fully accepted it in his heart, so he did not dare to face Ning Chunyan.

Ning Chunyan walked up to Wang Zixu and looked him in the eyes: "Hey, what's wrong with you? Don't you recognize me?"

Wang Zixu still didn't dare to look up. He felt that this scene was a bit like the first time Zixia met Zhizunbao in "A Chinese Odyssey". He was so inferior that he couldn't say a word unless the other party wanted to enter his important Pansi Cave.

Lin Feng beside him smiled: "Ms. Ning, long time no see."

"long time no see!"

"Do you know each other?" Lin Feng asked her.

Ning Chunyan smiled and said, "Are you surprised? I am also surprised. How come I know him?"

She waved her hand in front of Wang Zixu: "The married Wang Zixu! What are you doing here?"

Wang Zixu moved a pile of manuscripts on the table to the floor, squatted down and said, "I want to see why there is no response to the manuscript I submitted."

Ning Chunyan said, "Oh, so that's what it is. I'll help you look for it then."

At this point, she laughed again, because she realized that she knew this prince Xu too well, even knowing that he had missed the target for a long time. And they had only met twice.

She moved a small stool over from the side, sat on it with her legs together, reached out to take the manuscript, carefully read out the author's signature, and threw it aside after making sure it was not Wang Zixu.

Prince squatted on the ground with his legs spread out in a very ungraceful manner, and said in a low voice without raising his head: "You don't have to help me find it. You don't even know what my manuscript looks like."

Ning Chunyan said: "It doesn't matter. I have nothing to do anyway. I just happen to be in a good mood today. I will leave by myself if I get tired of you later."

Lin Feng also sat down and helped pass the manuscript: "Why did Miss Ning come to the Literary Association today?"

Ning Chunyan said: "I just finished attending a meeting here."

Raymond Lam said, "Oh yes, there is indeed a meeting today, I almost forgot about it."

Behind everyone's back, Chen Qiaosheng secretly glanced at his watch, calculated the time to get off work, and prayed in his heart that Wang Zixu would find his manuscript quickly.

Ning Chunyan picked up a manuscript and suddenly laughed: "Look at this, this modern poem."

She cleared her throat and said in a serious and dignified tone:

"Heart Like Bodhi

“If one’s mind is at the level of Bodhi, one will be invincible.

"When I see her, I feel relaxed and happy.

"I haven't seen you for three days, filled with sorrow and joy.

"I take off my armor and put down my sword, all for you..."

After reading it, Ning Chunyan said angrily and amusedly, "What a mess! No wonder it was rejected!"

Wang Zixu raised his head and glanced at her: "This pile has been adopted and is in the queue."

Ning Chunyan paused: "Ah?"

Chen Qiaosheng came over, took the manuscript from Ning Chunyan, pushed up his glasses and scanned it:
"There are very few poems among our manuscripts. This one is quite coherent. The rejected ones are too unbearable to even read."

He pointed to the signature on the manuscript and said, "And you see, the author of this manuscript is a retired comrade. He is so old and still passionate about poetry, which is actually very worthy of encouragement."

Lin Feng asked: "How old is this old comrade?"

"I'm 86."

Lin Feng nodded: "Most of the old comrades of that era graduated from night school. You can see that the text has traces of polishing, which shows that they really put in the effort. The level has become secondary."

Chen Qiaosheng spread his hands: "Right! You think that just based on his enthusiasm, shouldn't he be allowed to publish it? And there is another thing..." He whispered: "The family of this old comrade came to us and said that the old comrade is old and has heart disease. His greatest ideal in life is to dream of literature. If he gets angry about the rejection of his manuscript and does something wrong, he will come to trouble us."

Lin Feng and Ning Chunyan were amazed when they heard this, while Wang Zixu remained silent.

Lin Feng said: "What I admire most about Editor Chen is that he has a photographic memory. He can remember the names of the comrades in the Xihe system and which unit they work in just by glancing at them."

Chen Qiaosheng grinned and begged for mercy, "Boss Lin, please don't flatter me. I'm just a clerk, and I was forced to do this. In my position, I must be able to recognize who the manuscript is from, otherwise I will have to work overtime until 12 o'clock every day and still not be able to finish my work."

Ning Chunyan picked up another manuscript, flipped through it, and said, "This novel is normal, but I have a question——"

She opened the last page and held it up: "Why is there a color photo of the author at the end?"

When everyone looked over, they saw a woman on the paper wearing a white veil, with a serene face, holding flowers in her hands, standing gracefully. It was actually a full-body artistic photo.

Chen Qiaosheng took the manuscript and said, "This is from a beautiful writer from Xihe. She always attaches a photo of herself when she submits a manuscript."

Ning Chunyan said: "But why?"

Chen Qiaosheng said helplessly: "You can understand it as... a character setting."

Ning Chunyan asked: "Then how did you deal with this photo?"

Chen Qiaosheng said: "Publish them in the magazine together."

He turned around and took out a copy of Xihe Literature and Art from behind. In front of everyone's shocked gazes, he opened a page and showed it to everyone:
"To be honest, every time I do typesetting, her articles are the most troublesome. If I shrink her photo too small, it doesn't look good. If I enlarge it too large, it takes up space. And if the color photos have to be changed to black and white, they always become a blur."

Everyone took a look and agreed with him. When a color photo is turned into black and white, the effect is worse than not publishing it.

Wang Zixu said: "No wonder I was confused when I saw her photo in your Xihe Literature and Art magazine. Why did you choose an artistic photo to publish? I could never imagine that this was a photo of the artist herself."

Chen Qiaosheng smiled awkwardly: "Next time I will add a line of words under the photo, 'This is a recent photo of the author.'"

Ning Chunyan felt that this matter was absurd yet also had a hint of rationality. He picked up the color photo and looked around, but still couldn't find the beauty in it. He raised it and asked:

“Is she considered a beautiful writer?”

Wang Zixu looked up at the photo, then looked at her and said, "Not as beautiful as you."

Ning Chunyan was caught off guard and felt embarrassed and anxious: "Hey, you're married, what are you talking about!"

Lin Feng also agreed: "She is indeed not as pretty as Ning Cainu."

Chen Qiaosheng had a "leave me alone" expression on his face and said, "How many people in the literary field can be as talented as Ning? Not to mention our Xihe. She is already very beautiful."

Everyone continued to look for Wang Zixu's manuscript. Wang Zixu squatted on the ground and didn't dare to raise his head. Because Ning Chunyan was right in front of him, less than a meter away from him.

Every time she bent down to pick up the manuscript, Wang Zixu was frightened.

She was wearing a cool white suspender dress with a loose neckline. Wang Zixu had no doubt that if he accidentally raised his head when she leaned over, his sight would be immediately sucked in, wandering in the limbo between heaven and hell. It was like falling into a black hole.

"Found it!" Ning Chunyan suddenly stood up, holding a manuscript in both hands and waved it in the air.

"Wild Creepers, Wang Zixu. This manuscript was sandwiched between another manuscript."

Wang Zixu reached out to take his manuscript, but Ning Chunyan dodged him. She winked slyly and said to him, "I want to read it."

Chen Qiaosheng walked over and said, "Is this found in the pile that has passed? Well, that means it is in the queue and may be on the list in a few issues."

Wang Zixu couldn't help but ask, "I submitted my manuscript four months ago. Could it be that I have been waiting in line until now?"

(End of this chapter)