1978 Synthetic Writers

Is Chapter 542 banned from broadcast?

Zheng Xiaolong was still immersed in Mao Amin's singing when the first episode of "Stories from the Editorial Department" premiered. The episode's title was also quite imposing: "Who Will Prevail?"

"Hey, I'm Liu Shuyou from 'Human Guide'."

As soon as he came up, Liu Shuyou held a phone and said, "Yes, yes, of course it's Xiao Liu. I'm not much older than you."

"Old Liu, why do you act so subservient to everyone?"

Hou Yaohua's character, Yu Deli, disapproved, saying, "This kind of civility and politeness requires a sense of proportion."

Liu Shuyou, holding the receiver, explained, "Old Wang, Wang Lin, I commissioned an article from him."

"That child isn't even as old as me."

Yu Deli retorted, "If you keep doing this, I'll call you Little Liu from now on too."

What do you know?

Liu Shuyou grew impatient, then realized he hadn't hung up yet, and quickly explained with a humble smile, "Hey, I wasn't talking about you, how could I possibly be talking about you, haha, I just wanted to ask how that manuscript is going. The word count can't be too high or too low. Hey, it's not up to me. Hey, that's difficult. Okay, okay, we'll talk about it later, goodbye."

"Bah."

The phone hangs up.

Liu Shuyou's face showed annoyance. "Oh dear, this is terrible. Normally, it shouldn't be that hard for a novelist to reach a word count."

Liu Bei, who plays Ge Ling, says calmly, "Old Liu, we don't need to be so stubborn. If we have something to say, we can say it at length; if we don't, we can say it briefly. Who reads articles that are just padding the word count? Besides, we can't write them anyway."

"Hehe, why can't I write?"

Liu Shuyou said, "Look at all the manuscripts in my group, they're all like this. When it comes to work, you should have a sense of responsibility, otherwise what's the point of having editors?"

Sister Niu then appeared: "Editors not only need to ensure the word count, but more importantly, they need to ensure the political correctness of the content! You young people should learn from the older generation, otherwise how will you take over the revolutionary cause in the future?"

"."

From the very beginning, each character's lines are distinct and memorable, and the style of each line is very different from that of previous TV dramas.

To use literature as an analogy, older TV dramas were all traditional literature in a rigid and formal way, while "Stories from the Editorial Department" is like a novel in the style of "The Troubleshooters".

Every sentence was witty, novel, and trendy, and Zheng Xiaolong was immediately engrossed in it.

The content of this first episode is very simple. Regardless of whether it is Liu Shuyou, Yu Deli, Ge Ling, or Sister Niu, they are all editors of "Human Guide".

Every editor has a different attitude towards the publication.

Liu Shuyou felt that as long as there was a manuscript that could reach the required word count, it would be fine.

Ge Ling, however, felt that the focus of the manuscript should be on the content.

Sister Niu, however, felt that the manuscript should serve politics.

Yu Deli stood by, trying to smooth things over.

After arguing for a while, Liu Shuyou finally spoke up: "It doesn't matter what we write, the key is that someone has to write it."

Sister Niu wouldn't listen to Liu Shuyou at all, thinking he was wrong: "What is work? Work is struggle. If manuscripts were so easy to collect, what would be the point of having an editor like you?"

On the contrary, Ge Ling was more inclined to agree with Liu Shuyou's words:
“These days, it’s hard to get submissions. Famous magazines don’t want our work, and we don’t want the unknown ones. There are so many magazines these days, but we’re the only ones who really care about ourselves.”

As they were talking, Li Dongbao, played by Ge You, pushed open the door and came back.

"Isn't that the Chess King?" Zheng Xiaolong exclaimed excitedly, pointing at the television.

He had seen the TV series "The Chess King" starring Ge You, and was particularly impressed by his portrayal of the "Chess King" Wang Yisheng.

Dressed in standard journalist attire, Ge You casually put down his camera bag and plopped down on the sofa in front of Yu Deli.

"It's over, the whole plan is ruined."

As he spoke, he expertly pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "They said the rehearsal schedule was too tight, and they couldn't find the time."

"Then let's change the time," Yu Deli said.

"Yes, it wasn't a big deal to begin with."

Ge You, who plays Li Dongbao, first hands Yu Deli a cigarette, then shakes the cigarette pack, takes out another one, and puts it in his own mouth.

"They were very polite, and kept apologizing."

"After inquiring later, I found out..."

"My feelings were stolen away by other publications."

"Huh?" Yu Deli quickly asked, "Is it because our royalties are low?"

"That's not it."

Li Dongbao shook his head and sat up. "People say our publication is beneath us."

"What?" Sister Niu's eyes widened. "What's wrong with our publication? Is it losing face? Oh dear, if she says that, we don't even want to film her. Xiao Li, don't get angry with her."

"Yes, I'm back now."

Li Dongbao lit a cigarette. "But we have to take pictures, we can't just grab someone off the street and start taking pictures."

“Then we might as well film our own Ge Ling,” Yu Deli laughed.

Ge Ling turned to look at Li Dongbao, her expression suggesting she wasn't someone to be trifled with. "Do you think I'm suitable?"

"."

Li Dongbao chickened out and didn't dare to reply, looking to Yu Deli for help.

Yu Deli quickly patted his head, "It's my fault, it's my fault, Dongbao, my carelessness, my carelessness, don't cause trouble, but here's the problem, it has to be a woman, right?"

After thinking for a while, Yu Deli came up with an idea: "Let's talk about Sister Niu!"

"Forget it, I might as well just pick one up off the street." Li Dongbao looked utterly hopeless.

"Hey?"

Sister Niu called him to a stop, "Wait a minute."

Li Dongbao was stunned. "What's wrong, Sister Niu? You really want to step forward?"

Yu Deli gestured from the side, "You can see it, right? When it comes to work, Sister Ren Niu will definitely not care about personal gains or losses at critical moments."

Sister Niu ignored his sarcastic remarks and quickly moved closer to Li Dongbao, saying, "Little Li, we have to be responsible for the publication. You can just go out on the street and pick someone up. Do you know if they're a good person or a bad person? If they're a bad person, won't that ruin our reputation?"

"She doesn't need to smash it, she'll smash it right now."

Li Dongbao ignored Sister Niu's words, "Do you know how many setbacks I've encountered outside?"

"Yes."

Ge Ling then spoke up, "We used to receive letters from the public, mostly criticisms and few praises. But now, we don't."

“Isn’t it good that there are no letters of criticism?” Liu Shuyou didn’t understand. “That means the public is satisfied with our publication and has no complaints. Why are you still complaining?”

"Satisfied? No objections?"

Li Dongbao laughed when he heard this, "That's because they didn't have any hope. Look at me now, am I still talking? Why? It's the same principle."

"What kind of logic is this? Who do you have a problem with?" Sister Niu, who was busy with political work, became anxious.

"Including everyone, including me."

Li Dongbao said something bluntly, then realized he had gone too far and quickly tried to smooth things over, "Of course, that doesn't include you, Sister Niu. If you exclude Lao Liu, Lao Yu, and Ge Ling, cough, I didn't even count them."

Liu Shuyou turned around abruptly and understood the meaning behind Li Dongbao's words.

"So, you mean Old Chen?"

"."

The scene shifts, and just as we mentioned Old Chen, the gray-haired man gets off the bus, briefcase in hand, and walks to a newsstand. Old Chen glances at the various magazines on the stand, "Do you have 'Human Guide'?"

The young man looked up at him and said, "We don't have this issue, but would you like the first two issues?"

Old Chen raised an eyebrow and said smugly, "They sold out as soon as they came out. Looks like they're quite popular."

Where?

The young man rolled his eyes. "I didn't even dare to enter this round. I've had several rounds stuck with it, see?"

As he spoke, he pulled out a stack of "Human Guide" from a box next to him. "See this? Nobody buys it. Even with the price reduction, nobody wants it. If you like it, you can give me a little money. Here you go."

Old Chen's expression was complicated.

"How much is it? Please give it to me, I'll take it." An older woman next to her came over.

The young man counted, "Eleven books in total, how much do you want for them?"

The older woman tentatively asked, "Would two cents a book be okay?"

"Okay." The young man handed the magazine to the older woman.

The woman smiled and handed him two yuan, saying, "These are all I need."

"Oh dear, that's it."

The young man looked impatient, as if he was in a hurry to get rid of the magazines, saying, "Two yuan it is."

On the other side, the old lady had only taken a few steps with her grandson when Old Chen chased after them.

"Big sister, big sister! Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Old Chen caught up, panting.

The woman turned around and glanced at him. "Where are you asking? I know this area like the back of my hand."

"Oh, I don't know where."

Old Chen smiled sheepishly, "I was just wondering, do you often buy 'A Guide to Human Life'?"

The woman glanced at the eleven copies of "Human Guide" in her hand. "I can't buy this book? It's unhealthy too?"

"Oh no no no."

Old Chen quickly shook his head, "This is encouraged."

"Oh."

"I just want to know, with so many magazines out there, why did you only buy 'Human Guide'?"

"Haha, oh, that's how it is."

The woman laughed. "I thought I'd been fooled. I also joined the local community security team. But I've never heard of banning the book 'Human Guide'."

"Then tell me, why do you like 'A Guide to Humanity' so much?"

"Ha ha ha ha."

The woman laughed heartily, "What do you mean by 'like' or 'dislike'? I can't read."

"Then you."

"It's cheap! I bought it for my grandson to cover his books. Grandson, let's go, say goodbye to Grandpa."

"Goodbye Grandpa."

"Uh"

Old Chen felt as if a knife had been plunged into his heart, and he gave a complicated reply.

"Xiao Yang, what do you think?"

Upon seeing this, Zheng Xiaolong asked his subordinates at the Television Art Center for their opinions.

"Well, how should I put it?"

Xiao Yang thought for a moment and briefly shared his feelings. In short, after watching this far, he felt that the story in the TV series was not complicated.

It's clear that all that was said at the beginning was to set the stage for the magazine "Human Guide" facing difficulties in soliciting articles. How to solve the magazine's current problems is obviously something that will be addressed in the later part of the story.

At the same time, Xiao Yang was also very curious about how this "Human Guide" would turn things around.

"Besides, this style is quite captivating," Xiao Yang said.

He felt that the screenwriter had clever ideas in every detail of the plot, using plot twists to create humor.

At the same time, the dialogue is also very witty, with each line having the authentic flavor of old Beijing.

But while being humorous, it also has a strong sense of immersion.

For example, when Old Chen stopped the old lady earlier and asked why she bought "Human Guide", the old lady explained that it was just to cover the book. Old Chen was visibly disappointed, and even Xiao Yang felt a little sorry for him.

This clearly proves the excellence of the TV series "Stories from the Editorial Department".

The plot, which is less than half an episode long, is neither pretentious nor artificial. While it may not be exactly filled with laughter and tears, it has already captivated the audience.

After listening to Xiao Yang's answer, Zheng Xiaolong nodded, and then continued to look at the film. The more he looked, the better he felt it was filmed.

He couldn't help but be surprised, "Wasn't Zhao Baogang an actor before? How come he has such a talent for directing?"

After watching the three episodes quickly, Zheng Xiaolong immediately decided that this drama must be broadcast on CCTV, as it was definitely a great show.

However, such a big decision as buying TV dramas cannot be made by him alone. No matter how bold or open-minded Zheng Xiaolong is, he still has to follow the established procedures.

Soon, the Television Arts Center began discussions about the series "Stories from the Editorial Office".

To Zheng Xiaolong's surprise, several leaders above him expressed strong opposition.

"How can a show like 'Stories from the Editorial Office' be shown?"

"Making jokes and joking around is really not serious about life!"

"Furthermore, they actually included a Marxist-Leninist old lady in a TV series! They're actually satirizing Marxism-Leninism! This is a serious political issue!"

"And how can someone like Liu Shuyou be the main character?"

"Oh right, and there's Yu Deli, who actually said, 'Money isn't everything, but you can't do anything without it.' How can people like this become major figures in real life!"

Zheng Xiaolong was severely criticized and had no choice but to suppress his desire to broadcast "Stories from the Editorial Department".

When Jiang Xian came to him, he expressed his helplessness in a roundabout way, "There is a lot of resistance from the station. Let alone buying it, money is not the problem now, the biggest problem is whether it can be broadcast."

"You won't let us broadcast it?" Jiang Xian frowned.

Careless.

He had a preconceived notion that "Stories from the Editorial Department" was a TV series broadcast on CCTV, so he never expected that CCTV would consider the show risky and refuse to broadcast it.

This has caused a problem.

He grinned.

This time, the investment in "Stories from the Editorial Department" is quite large. With so many people involved in its production, this show cannot be left unbroadcast; it must be broadcast immediately, without a moment's delay.

Despite the difficulties, Jiang Xian remained confident. After all, "Stories from the Editorial Department" had been broadcast on CCTV once, which proved that he must have connections, but he hadn't found them yet.

"I'll go talk to your boss."

Led by Zheng Xiaolong, Jiang Xian went directly to the Broadcasting Station, No. 2 Fuxingmenwai Street, a prime location.

After I identified myself, the people from the broadcasting station were quite polite and tactfully indicated that they couldn't broadcast it.

"It is a gross exaggeration of reality, and the problems are quite significant."

(End of this chapter)