Back to 80: My Literary Life

"Hey, Chairman Lu." Zhao Hongjun first greeted with a smile and handed Lu Yao a "Greater China".

Lu Yao also knew Zhao Hongjun and knew that he was Fang Minghua's best friend. He seemed to have worked in a certain department of the provincial government before, but suddenly resigned and opened a publishing company. He heard that the business was good.

He also smiled and took the cigarette, and Zhao Hongjun took out a lighter and lit it for him.

Only then did Fang Minghua ask: "Brother Lu, why are you free to come here today?"

"I went to find Pan Qingping, the editor of Writers Publishing House, to write a long story for me. I passed by and heard you say that the wedding house is here, so I came up to take a look. It's nice, spacious and bright, and it's heated." Lu Yao He looked around and praised it.

"Chairman Lu, do you also want to change your house?" Zhao Hongjun interjected: "The boss who repairs this building is a buddy of mine. If you want to buy it, I will give you a preferential price of 15% off, which is the same as Minghua. How about it?"

Lu Yao shook his head.

"Forget it, the third floor costs 140 yuan per square meter, and your 80 square meters will cost 11,200 yuan. Even with a 15% discount, it will cost 9,500 yuan. I can't afford it." Lu Yao shook his head.

In fact, Lu Yao wanted to buy it.

When I first heard that Fang Minghua was buying a house here, I was very excited. After all, the 50-square-meter house I live in now is a bit small.

My daughter is growing up and needs her own room.

He specifically went to this community called Xingfu. The location is good, the transportation is convenient outside the south gate, and the layout of the houses is good.

He once made a secret calculation. If the first part of his long novel is successfully published, the manuscript fee from the magazine plus the manuscript fee from the publisher for the single volume will be estimated to be eight or nine thousand. Together, he can buy a new house. .

But now there is a problem with publishing!

Thinking of this, he felt depressed.

Fang Minghua saw the change in his expression and asked with concern: "Brother Lu, did you encounter any problems with Editor Pan?"

If it were Fang Minghua alone, Lu Yao would not hesitate to tell all the difficulties he encountered, but there was Zhao Hongjun next to him, who was not familiar with him.

He didn't want others to see his joke, so he smiled and shook his head and said, "It's okay, everything went well."

Lu Yao chatted for a while and then left. Fang Minghua looked at his back and thought that he might have encountered difficulties in publishing the book "The Ordinary World" he wrote.

Originally, the publication of this novel had many twists and turns in history, especially the first one, which was directly rejected by a screenwriter named Zhou of "Contemporary".

It is estimated that it is still the case now, otherwise why would Lu Yao take the initiative to find the editor named Pan from Modern Publishing House?

Writers with high status like Lu Yao are approached by editors on their own initiative!

But "The Ordinary World" turned out to be a great book.

Whether it is social benefits or economic benefits.

Thinking of this, he suddenly turned around and said to Zhao Hongjun: "Red Army, can you get another book number?"

"You want to publish a book? Are you going to publish that popular book you wrote in the United States?" Zhao Hongjun suddenly became excited: "I said it should be published in China!"

"No." Fang Minghua shook his head: "Lu Yao recently wrote the first part of a novel. Get his copyright and let our company publish it!"

Unexpectedly, Zhao Hongjun burst out laughing: "Minghua, are you right? Although Lu Yao is still a little behind you, he is still a famous writer in the country. Can his novels be published by our company? Those state-owned enterprises The publishing house has long been sold out!”

But Fang Minghua smiled and shook his head: "That may not mean you just need to get a ISBN right away. I'll take care of the rest!"

Zhao Hongjun thought that Fang Minghua was relying on his relationship with Lu Yao, and planned to use his sharp tongue to swindle the publishing rights. If he could publish Lu Yao's book, he would definitely make money!

Just look at that "Life" and you will know!

So he agreed: "Okay, I'll keep the book number! I'll find a more powerful publisher to avoid publishing the book and making readers laugh."

"You're not planning to find New Century Publishing House?" Fang Minghua was a little surprised.

"You can't hang yourself on a tree, right? What if someone doesn't provide us with a book number one day?" Zhao Hongjun said with a smile.

Fang Minghua did not go to Lu Yao immediately. He knew that the other party had very high expectations for the novel. How could he easily hand it over to a private company like Shengshi Books for publication.

Even if the two of them are close buddies!

Don't be in a hurry, wait for the opportunity. Have to wait for the opportunity.

Fang Minghua was not in a hurry, but Lu Yao was anxious!

Because Pan Qingping from "Writers Publishing House" read the first novel and gave him a clear answer: rejection.

Pan Qingping and Lu Yao were not familiar with each other, and they were not invited to contribute, so they did not speak as tactfully as Editor Zhou of "Contemporary" did. Instead, they pointed out the reasons directly: the story was mediocre, the writing was long-winded, and it did not conform to the trend of the times.

"Chairman Lu, if your novel was published three years ago, when you published "Life", it would have been pretty good. But now it is 1985, and your old-fashioned "earth-loving school" is outdated! What’s popular now is avant-garde novels!”

Pan Qingping's words pierced Lu Yao's heart like a needle. He wanted to argue a few words, but said nothing and silently took away his manuscript.

When he got home in the evening, his wife Linda saw him looking depressed and knew that the submission had failed again. She didn't say anything and hurriedly made him his favorite noodles.

Lu Yao held a large bowl of noodles and poured it all into his stomach. Then he briefly explained the process of meeting Editor Pan.

Finally, he sighed: "Linda, I really can't figure it out. They are both realistic works. Why did Minghua's novel win the Mao Dun Award, but no one wanted to publish my novel?!"

Linda sighed slightly after hearing this.

Minghua's novel was published in early 1984, two years ago.

At that time, realistic themes were still the main themes in China, but now the domestic literary world has undergone earth-shaking changes.

However, Linda knew that saying this would only hurt her husband's heart, so she comforted her: "Don't worry, I found your novel quite touching, and it will definitely be like your "Life" in the future!" If you don’t sing, you will already be a blockbuster!”

His wife's words made Lu Yao feel better.

"I hope so."

For Fang Minghua, apart from working to write the movie "My Journey Is the Stars and the Sea", the most important thing is getting married.

Last spring, my mother made a special trip to Daxingshan Temple on Changle Middle Road. With the birth dates of Fang Minghua and Song Tangtang, she asked a fortune teller to choose an auspicious day for them to get married on the eighth day of the first lunar month this year.

We are now only a few days away from the wedding, and we have to treat guests, book a hotel, and find a vehicle for the wedding. We also need to find a master of ceremonies to host the wedding.

In this era, there is no one-stop service for future generations, and you have to rely on yourself to run errands.

Fortunately, there is Zhao Hongjun, a close friend with a lot of magical powers. He can handle all these matters single-handedly, which saves Fang Minghua a lot of worry.

Although I am busy worrying about my marriage, I still have to go to work. I have to go and sit around every day. Of course, I am a little absent-minded.

This afternoon, Fang Minghua sat in the office for a while, and after seeing nothing happened, he was ready to leave. As soon as he left the house, he saw Lu Yao hurried over again.