1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 609 "Borrowing a Knife"

"Jiang Xian?"

Upon hearing this name, a strange sense of foreboding welled up in Hu Xunbi's heart.

"He submitted an article? What kind of article did he submit?"

"You should take a look for yourself," the editor said after hesitating for a moment.

"."

Hu Xunbi took the manuscript, opened it, and frowned deeply. After reading it, his heart sank.

"threaten!"

"This is a blatant threat!"

Jiang Xian's submission was about the recent events in Wuhan caused by the novel "Tongue Coating" published in the previous issue of "Zhiyin" magazine.

Jiang Xian offered some comments on these matters, but these comments were more like a show of support for the students.

To be honest, this article wasn't particularly well-written; it was just a simple news report.

But who is the author of this article?

It's Jiang Xian!
Therefore, Hu Xunbi immediately understood what Jiang Xian meant.

What they at Zhiyin are most afraid of right now is that the influence of what the leader just told him will continue to expand, so Hu Xunbi is praying in his heart that the matter will be suppressed as soon as possible.

And once Jiang Xian's article is published...
That's it, we're doomed.

Jiang Xian's influence in the country is enormous.
Every novel and article of his, every time it is published, quickly attracts great attention from readers.

Hu Xunbi could certainly foresee the amount of attention his article would attract once it was published.

And they, Zhiyin, are now doing everything they can to suppress the matter.

At this critical juncture, the fact that Jiang Xian sent this article to their magazine, "Zhiyin," was too much of a coincidence. However, Hu Xunbi couldn't figure out the key point. He only felt that the letter was too threatening, and this submission was clearly not Jiang Xian's real submission.

Regardless of the minor conflicts that occurred between them and Jiang Xian before, given Jiang Xian's status, his article could have easily appeared in newspapers and magazines like Wenyi Bao or Wenhui Bao. Instead, he simply submitted the manuscript to Zhiyin, a second-rate publication that attracts readers with popular fiction.

The implications of this are quite thought-provoking.

Hu Xunbi could easily see that this was Jiang Xian using the incident to threaten their "Zhiyin" magazine.

The article in front of them was like a bomb, a bomb strapped to their magazine, "Zhiyin".

Jiang Xian controlled the explosive device of the bomb, deciding where and when it would detonate.

At this critical juncture, he sent this article to Zhiyin magazine. Do we even need to guess what that means?
Clearly, it's about getting "Zhiyin" magazine to show its own attitude and the same attitude it took to resolve the previous "Little Prince" incident!

"What a kick to the ass!" Hu Xunbi cursed, showing no remorse whatsoever for acting inhumanely first.

"Editor-in-chief, should we publish this article?" the editor asked cautiously from the side.

"hair?"

Hu Xunbi was so angry that her mouth twisted in disbelief. She held her forehead with one hand and slammed her other hand heavily on the table. "How am I supposed to send it? Don't you understand what he means by sending this article?"

"."

"Besides, we don't even know if we can successfully release the next issue!"

Hu Xunbi sat at the table, thinking it over and over. Originally, she wouldn't have been so passive in front of Jiang Xian, but their magazine "Zhiyin" gave her this opportunity, and Jiang Xian found out about it so quickly. Now, the initiative was completely in Jiang Xian's hands.

"Make a call for me, call Jiang Xian," Hu Xunbi said after standing by the window, feeling depressed for a long time.

It took a while to get through on the phone, and finally the call went to People's Literature. The staff there were initially quite enthusiastic, but when they heard that the editor-in-chief of a magazine called Zhiyin was looking for Jiang Xian, they became a little colder. Compared to the readers, the leaders of these unknown magazines were really nothing to People's Literature.

Hu Xunbi nervously gripped the receiver, waiting in front of the phone. There was no seat, so she stood there, not daring to leave, alternating between her legs for support. Her legs were starting to ache when a slightly magnetic male voice came from the other end:

"Hello, this is Jiang Xian."

"Hey!"

Hu Xunbi paused for a moment before realizing what was happening, then immediately perked up and put on a fawning expression. “Hello, Comrade Jiang Xian. I am the editor-in-chief of Zhiyin magazine. My name is Hu Xunbi. You can just call me Xiao Hu.”

"Oh, 'Zhiyin' magazine."

The tone on the other end of the phone wasn't very friendly. Jiang Xian didn't give Hu Xunbi a chance to make excuses and went straight to the point: "You called because of that article, right?"

"Yeah yeah."

Hu Xunbi wiped the sweat from his temples. "I never expected you to submit an article to our magazine. It's truly an honor for our little publication. I've read your article; it's very well written, insightful and penetrating."

"Oh."

Despite Hu Xunbi's string of compliments, Jiang Xian's tone remained blunt: "I thought your 'Zhiyin' magazine's address was fake. I noticed you didn't receive the letters I wrote to you before, but you received this article very quickly."

"Oh, that letter."

Hu Xunbi laughed awkwardly twice, "We received it, how could we not have received it?"

"Received it, why isn't there any response?"

"This"

Hu Xunbi swallowed hard. "It's not a big deal. We need some time to investigate and handle it internally. Please forgive us."

"Investigation? How's the investigation going?"

"Uh, Comrade Jiang Xian, after our investigation, we found that this article does indeed contain slander and fabrication! Our editorial department failed to discover this in time during the manuscript solicitation and review process, allowing such an article to be published. This is our editorial department's responsibility. As the editor-in-chief of 'Zhiyin,' I sincerely apologize to you here. I will personally visit you in Beijing another day to apologize on my behalf."

"No need for that."

Jiang Xian's tone carried a hint of amusement that Hu Xunbi found annoying, "What I want is not just an apology, but also your attitude, approach, and methods in handling this matter, as well as the attitude and methods used by your 'Zhiyin' magazine."

"This"

Jiang Xian used the words "method" and "way" with heavy emphasis, and Hu Xunbi knew that arguing with Jiang Xian here was useless, so she had no choice but to quickly state her position:

"Rest assured, we will definitely handle this matter in a way that satisfies you. Next, I will require the author of the article to provide a reasonable explanation. In addition, on behalf of myself and the editorial department, I, Hu Xunbi, and the magazine 'Zhiyin' will publish an apology letter in a leading print media outlet, apologizing to you and the novel 'The Little Prince.' The author's explanation will also be published at the same time to thoroughly clarify the matter."

Jiang Xian listened quietly to Hu Xunbi for a long time, and seeing his voice gradually fading, he still couldn't help but remind him:
"Anything else?" "Anything else."

Hu Xunbi felt a little upset, knowing that Zhiyin (a popular Chinese magazine) couldn't avoid this ordeal.

But upon reflection, he realized he really had no other choice. If he couldn't get past this hurdle with "Zhiyin," everything he had done before would have been nothing but a fleeting illusion.

"Furthermore, we will completely stop printing that issue of 'Zhiyin' and recall all copies from our readers. Rest assured, we will ensure that all copies are returned to us and that no one remains on the market."

"Ah."

Hearing this, Jiang Xian was finally somewhat satisfied. "Then get on it as soon as possible. Making a promise is one thing, but how to do it and how efficiently is it done is another matter entirely."

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Hu Xunbi's face was full of smiles. The phone call was finally disconnected, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

But the thought of having to withdraw the publication later made my heart bleed as if it had been slashed.

That's hundreds of thousands of copies of the publication!

The complete withdrawal would undoubtedly be devastating for the publication!

But what can be done?

Hu Xunbi clearly understood that if Jiang Xian's article was published and things really escalated, according to industry practice, "Zhiyin" magazine might have to withdraw at least three issues!
Hu Xunbi is quite clear about whether one or three parts are more important.

He stood by the phone for a long time before swaying back to his office, looking rather absent-minded.

Looking at the words "Zhiyin" (a literary magazine) hanging on the wall, Hu Xunbi felt that the little bit of business he had painstakingly built up over the past few years was unlikely to survive this crisis.

Everything was clearly developing in a positive direction, the circulation was increasing, and the publication was getting better and better, and he was receiving more and more praise. How did it suddenly turn out like this?
In a daze, a sentence Jiang Xian had just said on the phone echoed in Hu Xunbi's ears again.

Just thinking about those words made him feel a tightness in his chest and as if he wanted to vomit blood.
"Taking too big a step can easily lead to a groin injury."

this day.

As usual, Fan Yong arrived at Sanlian Bookstore early in the morning. The weather in Beijing was getting cooler and the heating was not working properly. The editorial department was so cold that you could see people breathing out.

"The weather is getting colder every day."

"Isn't it?"

After chatting with his colleagues for a while, Fan Yong sat down, picked up the thermos and poured himself a cup of hot water. While warming his hands, he read through the newspaper on the table.

In terms of international affairs, the situation in South Korea is the most turbulent.

First of all, Xiao Quan is no longer capable, and the Seoul Spring of that year has come to an end.

In addition, there's another very alarming incident happening over there called FiveBigOcean.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its peak. Fan Yong didn't understand what the Dow Jones Industrial Average was or the stock market, but the newspapers said it was a stock market crash, and the crash was fierce. The globalization of financial markets also affected other financial markets around the world.

However, the impact was not too great, and people's fates were not so tragic. Unlike people sixty years ago, stock investors at this time had put into practice the principle of diversified investment, and their investment in the stock market was only a part of their asset portfolio.

Domestically, a set of commemorative stamps for the International Year of Housing was issued, consisting of one stamp with a face value of 0.08 yuan.

Another point is that Shandong recently experienced a heavy rainstorm with a rainfall of 270 mm.

Another interesting example is that recently, 13 Chinese and German scientists used a Siemens 7760 mainframe computer in a small building at the Beijing Ordnance Industry Computer Application Technology Research Institute in Chedaogou to test sending an email.

The email was written in both English and German, and its content was "Crossing the Great Wall, Heading Towards the World".

The email failed to be sent the first time due to a minor vulnerability in the data exchange protocol.

It took another week to solve the problem, and the first email to be sent to China was successfully sent.

"Email? You can deliver letters like this now? Won't all postmen be out of a job?" Fan Yong smiled, thinking it was unlikely.

These news stories are all quite attractive and useful.

In an inconspicuous corner, there is also a sign that Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. was registered and established in Shenzhen.

"."

Fan Yong put down the newspaper he was holding and picked up a copy of the "New X Daily". An article on one page caught his attention.

"The Book of Friends? The Little Prince? Jiang Xian?"

Fan Yong immediately perked up and stared wide-eyed at the article.

In summary, this article is an apology statement from Zhiyin magazine to Jiang Xian.

In the article, Zhiyin first stated that the author of the article had no relation to Zhiyin. The article was submitted to the editorial department after being received by the editor. Subsequently, during the review process, the reviewing editors of Zhiyin made a mistake, allowing such an inaccurate article to be published. These reviewing editors have now been disciplined.

Fan Yong also knew that no one could admit that they published such an article just to attract attention.

The explanation given by "Zhiyin" is just a nice-sounding way of putting it; everyone knows the truth in their hearts.

Afterwards, Hu Xunbi, the editor-in-chief of Zhiyin magazine, solemnly apologized to Jiang Xian in an article and promised to stop printing the current issue of Zhiyin magazine and recall the sold issues. She also appealed to readers to stop spreading rumors and misinformation about the incident.

In summary, everything in this article seemed reasonable to Fan Yong.

This is exactly what you, Zhiyin, should do!
The appearance of such an article still surprised Fan Yong.

He felt that unless some extraordinary measures were taken, Zhiyin magazine would definitely not be willing to spend such a high price to recall the issue in question.

Conscience discovered?
Fan Yong thought this was completely impossible.

If it was a change of heart, then it came too late and came at too high a price.

Clearly, there were some behind-the-scenes maneuvers he was unaware of. It was obvious that *Zhiyin* magazine was under pressure that Fan Yong was unaware of, and had to apologize to Jiang Xian and take so many actions.

Thinking about this, Fan Yong felt that the writer Jiang Xian was becoming increasingly unfathomable.

Previously, he had also suggested that Jiang Xian deal with this matter head-on by writing a book about his creative process, which would dispel the rumors and slander.

But now it seems that Jiang Xian has chosen a more clever way to put an end to this matter.

What does it mean to win a war without bloodshed?

That's what you call winning without bloodshed!
(End of this chapter)