1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

Chapter 105: A thousand-yuan bill for the manuscript, thrown directly in the face of my wife
"Teacher Li, why are you here too?"

At No. 166 Chaonei Street, the office building of People's Literature Publishing House, when Cheng Xuemin just arrived, he happened to see Li Qingquan waiting at the door. He couldn't help but step forward to greet him and ask in confusion.

"Xuemin, here I come! I've been waiting for you!"

Li Qingquan from Yenching Literature waved to Cheng Xuemin and greeted him as well.

"Wait for me?! Teacher Li, if you need anything, just ask De Ning and the others to pass on a message to me. Can you please wait here?"

Now Cheng Xuemin was even more confused. Li Qingquan must have heard what Mr. Zhang from People's Literature said yesterday before he left, asking Cheng Xuemin to come over this morning, so he was waiting here on purpose.

Is there any urgent matter that could trouble Li Qingquan, a senior editor-in-chief, to wait for a junior like him here so early in the cold morning?

"It's nothing serious! I just heard Lao Zhang mention it to you yesterday. We are going to come to Renwen Press to talk to Li Shuguang about the single volume of The Shepherd!"

"By the way, this time Lao Li plans to combine your "The Horse Herder" and "The Grass Heart" and publish a separate volume!"

Li Qingquan explained that it is not impossible to publish a single volume just for "The Shepherd"!

But it seems a bit too thin!
It just so happens that their "Yenching Literature" has a new issue, and Cheng Xuemin has another short story on the front page headline, so it's just right to put them together and make a single volume!

"Really? That's a great feeling!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Xuemin nodded happily.

"One more thing, Xuemin. We have reviewed your novella. Here is your payment slip. Take a look!"

Li Qingquan then took out the manuscript fee for the novella from his briefcase, handed it to Cheng Xuemin and said, "It's still the same as before, I'll settle it with you at 7 yuan per thousand words!"

"Huh?! So fast?"

This was beyond Cheng Xuemin's expectations. He took the payment slip with some surprise and was stunned when he saw the 1,623 yuan payment on it.
"Not fast, not fast. If it goes any slower, I have a feeling that I might not be able to keep this novella!"

Li Qingquan shook his head repeatedly, saying everything that was in his heart!
Now that the money and goods have been paid, Li Qingquan finally feels relieved. Otherwise, he would be really afraid that Cheng Xuemin's mother-in-law, Teacher Gu, would come directly to their "Yenching Literature" and ask for her son-in-law's novella.

So she thought of paying the royalties to her son-in-law as soon as possible, and then when his mother-in-law went to Yenching Literature to make trouble, she could use this as an excuse.

The royalties have been paid, and the manuscript belongs to Yenching Literature. Li Qingquan always tells this to everyone who comes.

"Teacher Li, this... no one is competing with you for it!"

Cheng Xuemin was dumbfounded again on the spot. He didn't expect that this could motivate Li Qingquan to quickly settle the royalties with him!
"I'm just in case!" Li Qingquan said with a smile, "I had a drink with Lao Liu yesterday, and he said he wanted to rob it, so I had to wait!"

"Not at all. Teacher Liu must have been talking drunkenly. He must have been talking drunkenly!"

Li Qingquan was not worried about Liu Xinwu, but his mother-in-law. Thinking of this, Cheng Xuemin smiled bitterly.

I wonder if his mother-in-law will really come to rob him?
Probably not!
Although my mother-in-law seems arrogant and overbearing at ordinary times, she is actually quite understanding. When I heard the manuscript was given to People's Literature yesterday, she did not lose her temper in public.

"It's really drunken talk!"

Li Qingquan smiled and nodded, motioning for the two to go in together, then pointed upstairs and said, "Mr. Li from Renwen Publishing House is on the third floor, and Mr. Zhang from People's Literature is on the second floor. Let's go find Mr. Zhang first!"

Li Qingquan was naturally familiar with this place. After talking to Cheng Xuemin, he brought him to Zhang Guangnian's office with ease.

"Lao Zhang, I finally understand. Lao Liu and I fought over it, but in the end, you got the advantage!"

He didn't even knock when he entered, and started with jokes and joking. It was Zhang Guangnian who was holding a sample magazine in his hand!

"Uh...Xuemin, you're here. I've been waiting for you!"

Zhang Guangnian first greeted Cheng Xuemin, and then said to Li Qingquan in a bad mood, "Go away, Old Li, why are you here?"

"What do you mean by giving us a bargain? This is a mission from above. Can you understand the pressure we are under?"

"Old Zhang, you are so ungrateful!" Li Qingquan put down his briefcase and was about to sit down on the sofa, but when he saw the sample magazine in Zhang Guangnian's hand, he couldn't help but exclaimed, "Is this Old Liu's darling?!"

"A sample issue is out!? Give it to me, give it to me, I still don't know what I'm grabbing for!"

Li Qingquan has been thinking about this manuscript for a long time, but he has never been able to get any information about it. Now the sample issue is in front of him, how can he not be anxious to take a look!

"Hey, I just won't give it to you. I'm going to make you, Li Qingquan, anxious to death!"

Li Qingquan was anxious to see it, but Zhang Guangnian just teased him and refused to give it to him, which made him very anxious!
Cheng Xuemin, who was watching from the side, couldn't help laughing. Aren't there several books on the table? Was there any need to snatch the one in Lao Zhang's hand?

But the fun didn't last long, as Li Qingquan finally got the sample issue as he wished, and he sat down and started flipping through it!
“Not the front page?”

After opening it and seeing that it was not the front-page headline, Li Qingquan curled his lips and asked a question.

"Old Li, you are crazy but I am not. Can't you see what is ahead?!"

Zhang Guangnian rolled his eyes at Li Qingquan. Didn’t he see whose important speeches were given before him? Who dared to cut in line and make the front-page headlines?
Originally, this issue of "People's Literature" was the first shot in their propaganda campaign, and the front-page headlines would definitely be important speeches and the spirit of the meeting.

Put a novel directly at the front, as the front-page headline?

He Zhang Guangnian is not crazy!

Even if Li Qingquan dared to typeset and print it in that way, would he, Li Qingquan, dare to submit it for review?
"Ahem, I'm used to it!"

Li Qingquan was speechless after being confronted. He smiled awkwardly and continued to read his sample magazine.

"Xuemin, what do you think?"

After glaring at Li Qingquan, Zhang Guangnian's gaze fell on Cheng Xuemin again, and asked after he finished flipping through the pages.

"Teacher Zhang, I don't think there's anything wrong! In fact, there's no need for me to see it!"

Cheng Xuemin said modestly. "Yes, yes, you are the original author!" Zhang Guangnian nodded repeatedly and continued, "Then I will send it to Mr. Wu for review. Xuemin, you come with me. If Mr. Wu has other instructions, you can listen to them as well!"

Then Zhang Guangnian invited Cheng Xuemin to go to the ministry for review.

"Let's go together! This place is not far from Old Wu's place!"

Seeing that Cheng Xuemin was a little hesitant and shy, perhaps feeling that it was not proper and a little unconfident, he had no idea that now he, Cheng Xuemin, was the number one pioneer in the department.

"Okay!" Cheng Xuemin nodded. After dealing with Zhang Guangnian, he went to the third floor to find Old Li from Renwenshe.

But now it is obvious that Mr. Wu’s side is more important and we cannot be careless.

"Fuck! This...Xuemin, when did you finish the manuscript?"

Not long after, Li Qingquan, who was concentrating on looking at the sample issue, suddenly slapped his thigh, looked up at Cheng Xuemin with surprise and asked.

"Maybe in the middle of the month!" Cheng Xuemin replied!
"No wonder!"

Li Qingquan also nodded repeatedly and said.

"Old Li, what's the problem?!" Zhang Guangnian was packing up the materials for review, and when he heard Li Qingquan saying such a confusing thing again, he asked.

"No wonder Lao Liu came to the department three times a day in the middle of the month. I now know the reason!"

"Xuemin, you are so awesome!" Li Qingquan couldn't help but sigh, and in his heart he said that he was so awesome and bold. No wonder Liu Xinwu ran around the department every day during that period!
Liu Xinwu was also very courageous. Wasn't the plenary session being held in full swing in the middle of the month? How dare he, Liu Xinwu, submit the manuscript for review at this critical juncture!
If it were Li Qingquan who came, he would not have the courage to do so and would definitely wait and see until the meeting was over before making a decision.

"Old Li, what do you want to say? What's so strange?"

Zhang Guangnian, still confused and not reacting, asked.

"What I want to say is, if Lao Liu was a little bit braver, or a little bit less courageous, there would be no chance for you, Lao Zhang!"

Li Qingquan said to Zhang Guangnian with a smile.

It is indeed just as Li Qingquan said, if Liu Xinwu had been a little braver, he would have made the decision himself and not waited until now. How could Zhang Guangnian have any chance of getting involved?

Or if Liu Xinwu was a little less courageous, he would keep the manuscript in his hand and wait until the meeting was over before presenting it. Then Zhang Guangnian would have nothing to do with it!

But Liu Xinwu's courage was neither big nor small, and in the end it benefited Lao Zhang's "People's Literature"!
"How to say?!"

Before leaving, Zhang Guangnian still wanted to ask Li Qingquan, what he said was neither big nor small, what did he mean?
"Can't you do the math yourself? This manuscript was obtained by Old Liu in the middle of the month. If anyone was brave enough to do it himself, or was a little less courageous and kept it to himself, how could it have happened to you, Old Zhang?"

Li Qingquan whispered to Zhang Guangnian.

"Uh!" Zhang Guangnian was stunned at first, then he smiled and nodded, saying, "Indeed, I should treat Lao Liu to a meal later!"

"Let's go! I'll take Xuemin to the trial first, Lao Li, you go do what you need to do!"

Just like that, Cheng Xuemin was drafted into the army by Zhang Guangnian again and went to the department to meet Mr. Wu!
Mr. Wu was highly satisfied with the publication speed of this sample issue of "People's Literature", and was also very satisfied with the content selection. He only made some adjustments to some details, and then approved it for review and publication immediately!

Afterwards, he joked out of curiosity and asked Cheng Xuemin whether he knelt on his mother-in-law's washboard after returning home last night. This made Cheng Xuemin want to laugh but didn't dare to, so he reported his mother-in-law's attitude last night in detail!
"Very good! Comrade Xiao Gu is very conscious and knows the big picture!"

Upon hearing this, Mr. Wu nodded repeatedly and gave instructions to "October", suggesting that an additional issue could be published this month, and that the manuscript from "People's Literature" could also be reprinted, as a small compensation!
While rushing back to People's Literature, Zhang Guangnian suddenly said to Cheng Xuemin:
"Xuemin, Mr. Wu thinks highly of you! The instructions for approving the additional issue of October were not given to Old Liu in person yesterday, but were given to you to convey today. Mr. Wu tried hard to make Old Liu think of you!"

"So that you can report to your mother-in-law, Teacher Gu!"

"Ah?!" Cheng Xuemin felt that what Lao Zhang said made a lot of sense. Did Mr. Wu really want him to go to October and be a good guy?

"Anyway, today, Xuemin, you can report to your mother-in-law and don't have to kneel on the washboard!"

Zhang Guangnian also teased Cheng Xuemin with a smile, but what son-in-law would kneel on his mother-in-law's washboard? If he was kneeling, he should kneel to his own wife.

"Teacher Zhang, the royalties from October have been paid!" After returning to People's Literature, Zhang Guangnian took out a royalty slip and handed it to Cheng Xuemin, asking him in confusion.

"October is October, and we are ours! Besides, Lao Liu is going to reprint it soon, so won't he have to pay you for it?"

"Go find Lao Liu later and he will refund you more and make up for you less!"

Since they are going to reprint it in October, People's Literature can't just get it for free, they still have to pay the royalties!

As for what was given before October, just consider it as reprint fees, but the price will definitely be lower.

But that is a matter between Cheng Xuemin and his mother-in-law, and has nothing to do with People's Literature!

"Then...then I'll keep it for now and settle the matter with Teacher Liu later!"

Cheng Xuemin was not polite. He took the payment and took a look. It was 216 yuan, the same as the payment slip his mother-in-law's October magazine gave him, the maximum price of 7 yuan per thousand words.

"That's right! If you have any good manuscripts in the future, remember to give priority to our People's Literature!" Zhang Guangnian nodded, and said to Cheng Xuemin, "This time it was a task from above, so we started it temporarily!"

"Otherwise, even if it's just Xuemin, we in People's Literature will definitely make your manuscript a front-page story. We will never be more stingy than Li Qingquan!"

"But fortunately, there is still a long way to go. We will definitely do it again next time we have the chance!"

Before the article was officially published, Zhang Guangnian began to make big promises to Cheng Xuemin! Cheng Xuemin, who was honest, was flattered and nodded repeatedly to indicate that he would definitely submit the manuscript to People's Literature.

Then Cheng Xuemin went up to the third floor and found Old Li, who was drinking tea in the office of Li Shuguang, the editor-in-chief of Renwen Press. With the invitation of the two Old Lis, Cheng Xuemin received another sum of royalties!
It is worth mentioning that the royalties for publishing a single volume are also calculated at 7 yuan per thousand words, so you can earn double the money for one manuscript, how cool!

With this calculation, Cheng Xuemin is more looking forward to the novella in Li Qingquan's hand. After it is published in "Yenching Literature", if nothing unexpected happens, Renwen Press will follow suit soon, and it will also be more than 1,600 yuan!
nice!
It will definitely be more beautiful and satisfying to throw these royalty receipts on Feng Jiayou's face tonight!

……

(End of this chapter)