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

Chapter 82: Exposed, Cheng Xuemin is the horse herder Lao Xu (asking for monthly ticket)
"Xuemin, haven't you finished writing that novella yet?"

Cheng Xuemin had no plan to go to the affiliated high school. If he went there anyway, he would just go for classes for three days and rest for two days.

At the beginning, the teachers at school had a lot of complaints about him.

However, Cheng Xuemin spoke directly with his grades. The scores were there, and he also explained to the head teacher of the repeater class at Yanda High School that he had a pregnant wife at home to take care of.

In this way, the head teacher just agreed.

You can skip classes occasionally, but you must attend the monthly exams. This is the time to bring honor to their repeat class, and you should not miss the exams unless it is absolutely necessary.

So today I just didn’t bother to go there again and continued to stay in the library.

Just sat down!
The library administrator, Chen Shumin, came over and asked straight to the point.

Calculating the time, Cheng Xuemin should have finished writing the novella in his hand! Although he was caught by Zhang Dening of Yanjing Literature when he helped People's Literature to steal the manuscript last time, Chen Shumin still wanted to fight for it.

"Teacher Chen... I just finished writing that novella..."

As soon as Cheng Xuemin opened his mouth, Chen Shumin couldn't wait to say, "Finished writing? Then hurry up and read it to me!"

"This... I just submitted it to Yanjing Literature this morning, and I don't have the manuscript in my hands now!"

“Ah?! You have already submitted it to Yenching Literature?!” Chen Shumin was dumbfounded. Wasn’t Cheng Xuemin’s action too fast?
He had just finished writing it, and he submitted it directly to Yenching Literature? This means that he had no intention of listening to his own advice and submitting it to People's Literature from the beginning?

"Ahem! Teacher Chen, you know that De Ning from Yenching Literature. He keeps an eye on that manuscript almost every day. I can't do anything about it!"

Cheng Xuemin smiled awkwardly and put the blame directly on Zhang Dening.

In fact, from the very beginning, when Chen Shumin suggested that he submit to People's Literature, he was very tempted. After all, it is the highest level of the magazine, and being able to publish articles in People's Literature is a kind of strength and fame.

With the achievement of being published in People's Literature, no matter which magazine or newspaper Cheng Xuemin submits his article to in the future, as long as he mentions this achievement, he will be guaranteed a minimum price of six yuan per thousand words.

But then again, it’s still a question of the price of royalties.

Even if Chen Shumin recommended him to submit his manuscript to People's Literature and it was directly accepted, so what?
Can People's Literature pay Cheng Xuemin, a complete newcomer, the maximum fee of seven yuan per thousand words?

The highest you can get is five or six yuan per thousand words!
If Cheng Xuemin only had a short story of 20,000 or 30,000 words, it would be fine and he could give it to People's Literature. At five or six yuan per thousand words, he wouldn't lose much.

But Chen Shumin was eyeing his own novella of more than 200,000 words!

More than 200,000 words!

The difference of one or two yuan in the unit price of manuscript fees would mean a difference of three or four hundred yuan in manuscript fees. Cheng Xuemin would have to lose all the royalties from the two short stories "Female College Students' Dormitory" and "Loess Plateau".

A scholar cannot be too materialistic, but can Cheng Xuemin be considered a scholar?

Whether it was Cheng Xuemin in the previous life or Cheng Xuemin in this life, they were all obsessed with money. Wouldn't it be more painful to make him lose three or four hundred yuan than to kill him?
So I’m sorry, Teacher Chen, I have already given this novella to Yenching Literature, and they pay the maximum fee of 7 yuan per thousand words, which is really good!
"Oh! That's right!" Chen Shumin nodded and whispered, "Now Yanjing Literature is very fond of you, the author of The Shepherd, Old Xu. They will definitely send someone to keep a close eye on you!"

"Don't look at me like that! Am I, Old Chen, that blind? Zhang Dening from Yanjing Literature comes here to look for you every day, guarding against me like a thief!"

"In addition, the horse herder Lao Xu who has been making headlines recently is actually a student at Yanda University!"

"If the horse herder Lao Xu isn't you, who else could it be?"

When Chen Shumin saw Cheng Xuemin looking at him with a surprised look on his face, he laughed and scolded him in annoyance!
Don't think you are hiding well, in Old Chen's eyes, you are the emperor's new clothes, he can see through you even if you are running naked!
"Hehe! I still can't escape your sharp eyes, Teacher Chen!" Cheng Xuemin was indeed dumbfounded. He didn't expect that the horse herder Lao Xu, who was hidden tightly by Feng Jiayou, had already been seen through by Chen Shumin in front of him.

Then he asked with a wry smile: "Teacher Chen, I am Lao Xu, the author of The Wrangler. You didn't tell anyone else, did you?"

If Chen Shumin has already passed it on, then it doesn't really matter. He doesn't really want to keep it hidden anyway.

"That's not the case! I, Old Chen, am pretty tight-lipped! You yourself don't want to reveal the identity of this cool Wrangler Old Xu, so there must be some hidden story. I'm sure I won't tell anyone about it!"

Chen Shumin shook his head and denied it immediately, sighing, "You are really amazing, you are so calm! You don't show off even in such a big spot. You don't act like a hot-blooded young man at all!"

"On the contrary, I am Old Chen. I am in the library every day, listening to those students' discussions. They are either guessing this or talking about that. I am so anxious that I want to point at you and curse you. Isn't Old Xu, the author of The Wrangler, sitting right there?"

"Just thinking about that scene, it must be very exciting!"

Chen Shumin is indeed a chatterbox, but it is really hard for him to be such a chatterbox!
I had already guessed that the author of The Horse Wrangler, Lao Xu, was Cheng Xuemin, but I didn't point it out. This is really not easy for a chatty person!

"Thank you very much!" Cheng Xuemin was very moved, but when it came to the so-called hidden secret, he smiled bitterly and shook his head, explaining, "Actually, there is no such thing as a hidden secret!"

"At the beginning, my husband and I submitted the manuscript of The Horse Herder to Yanjing Literature without telling my mother-in-law. We really didn't expect the response to be so great, so we didn't dare to let my mother-in-law know!"

"So, I didn't dare to let my classmates know, so I just kept it a secret!"

"What does your mother-in-law do? Why did you hide it from her? Now that it's so popular, why don't you dare tell her?"

Chen Shumin was confused!

Chen Shumin now has some understanding of Cheng Xuemin's situation. His wife is a freshman at Yanda University, but he did not take the college entrance examination and was accompanied by his family members.

The daughter is a college student at Yanjing University, but the son-in-law is a man from northern Shaanxi. It is understandable that the mother-in-law looks down on them.

Cheng Xuemin wrote and published articles without telling his mother-in-law in order to work hard to prove that he could understand. Anyone would be able to hold their breath and work hard to make progress.

But now, Cheng Xuemin's article "The Horse Shepherd" has achieved considerable success. Logically, he should tell his mother-in-law about it as soon as possible to prove that he has the ability!
Why don't you dare tell his mother-in-law? This doesn't make sense!

Shouldn't Cheng Xuemin be proving himself in front of his mother-in-law by writing and publishing the article?
After achieving results, he is no longer brave enough. He doesn’t understand. Chen Shumin shook his head and became more curious. He wants to eat melons!
"My mother-in-law... is the editor-in-chief of October Magazine... Old Li from Yanjing Literature. She used my article "The Shepherd" to challenge October Magazine!"

Cheng Xuemin continued to smile bitterly. This was what he heard from his mother-in-law later. He had never expected that behind this article "The Shepherd", there was actually an underground competition between Yenching Literature and October. No wonder at the beginning, his mother-in-law went crazy and asked Feng Jiayou if he had said bad things about October behind her back, so that all the high-quality manuscripts from Yenching University were lost and transferred to Yenching Literature.

"Oh shit...Xuemin, your mother-in-law is Teacher Gu Xueqing from October?"

"Uh... yeah!" Cheng Xuemin was dumbfounded, looking at Chen Shumin in confusion. How could he guess this? Is his mother-in-law really that famous?
But he quickly realized it and smiled bitterly! With just one word from him, Chen Shumin could directly reveal the identity of his mother-in-law. It can be imagined that there is almost no secret behind this competition in the circle!

"No wonder you don't dare to say anything. At the beginning, your mother-in-law, Teacher Gu, and their editor-in-chief Liu Xinwu asked us about the situation of the shepherd Lao Xu!"

"I didn't expect you to be so secretive, right under your mother-in-law's nose, and to help the tyrant and work against her. If she knew, she would definitely do something to you, a traitorous son-in-law!"

Big melon, big melon!

Chen Shumin didn't expect that even though he failed to get the novella, he actually heard so many secrets behind "The Shepherd"!

If this were a manuscript, Chen Shumin could strike while the iron is hot and write a long novella first!

He has already thought of the title of the book, which is "Reading the Shepherd - The Untold Story Behind the Son-in-law and the Mother-in-law"!
After it is written, it will definitely be more popular than Cheng Xuemin’s "The Shepherd".

"Teacher Chen, you won't sell us out, will you?"

Cheng Xuemin looked at Chen Shumin, who was full of excitement, with contempt. Was it really so funny and exciting?

"Uh... No, no, I am a pretty tight-lipped person! Don't worry, Xuemin, I will definitely keep this secret for you!"

"Mr. Li from Yanjing Literature is really dishonest. He is just adding fuel to the fire. Isn't he afraid of getting into trouble?"

Chen Shumin waved his hands repeatedly, promising to keep Cheng Xuemin's secret. He was dissatisfied with Li Qingquan of Yanjing Literature and continued, "I think this old Li just wants to tie you down and focus on providing manuscripts for Yanjing Literature!"

"Xuemin, you too, have really been controlled by Li Qingquan. I gave him the novella I just finished writing!"

After thinking about it, it all clicked for me at once!

It’s not that Cheng Xuemin had deep feelings for Yenching Literature, but he could even ignore the highest temple of newspapers and magazines, People’s Literature, and finally handed the novella to Yenching Literature.

It turns out there are some unspeakable and dirty things going on here!

"No, no! Teacher Chen is joking. Mr. Li from Yenching Literature is actually quite nice. He gave me 7 yuan per thousand words as the manuscript fee, and he didn't say that I had to give him this novella!"

Chen Shumin must not be misunderstood. Regardless of whether Li Qingquan of Yanjing Literature has other intentions, he would not use such means as a threat.

If this gets out, Cheng Xuemin will be in trouble for slandering the editor-in-chief behind his back.

"That manuscript was originally yours, it's worth the price!" Chen Shumin was still indignant for Cheng Xuemin.

"I heard that Li Qingquan is going to hold a symposium for you? And he also said that you, the author of The Wrangler, Lao Xu, have a new work?!"

"Not that novella?"

Chen Shumin thought of another thing. Not only did he not talk about the symposium, but he also published a new article! But wasn’t the novella in Cheng Xuemin’s hand just submitted this morning?
"It's not this novella, it's another short story. The sample issue of this publication has come out!" Cheng Xuemin nodded and said!

"Damn it, Xuemin, what's wrong with you? Is your output so high? Another short story?!"

"It seems like you've been in Beijing for less than a month. How did you write a horse herder, a short story, and a long novel?"

You wouldn’t know until you calculate it. After doing this calculation, Chen Shumin was dumbfounded.

In less than a month, I wrote three manuscripts in succession, including a long novel of more than 200,000 words. The most outrageous thing is that all three manuscripts were approved!
All of it was given to Yanjing Literature. Isn't this enough to prove that Li Qingquan of Yanjing Literature is an old thief who is plotting to exploit Cheng Xuemin, a young new author? !
"It's okay, it's been over a month!"

Cheng Xuemin nodded and humbly corrected himself again and again, saying that it was not less than a month, but more than a month!

"That's too fast and too amazing, isn't it?" Chen Shumin continued to be dumbfounded and amazed.

"As you practice, your writing speed will improve and you'll be faster as time goes by!" Cheng Xuemin continued to nod shyly and modestly.

"That's fine! Xuemin, can you write me a manuscript for anything? Don't make it too long, just give me a short story of 20,000 to 30,000 words, okay?!"

Chen Shumin didn't expect that this guy's writing speed was so terrifying. If he had known earlier, he should have directly asked for the manuscript instead of waiting to pry that novella!
"Uh... Teacher Chen, isn't this... for People's Literature?"

Cheng Xuemin was puzzled. Wasn't Chen Shumin the librarian of Yanda University? Why did he ask him to write a manuscript?
"Xuemin, actually! A few like-minded friends and I are also planning to publish a magazine. We have even decided on a name for it: Today!"

"So we are in urgent need of a few good manuscripts. If you, Xu Xuemin, the author of The Wrangler, can write one yourself, I think our Today magazine will definitely be a big hit in its first issue!"

Chen Shumin rubbed his hands and said embarrassedly.

"Today?!" Cheng Xuemin was also surprised. He didn't expect that the Today magazine, which was once popular among major universities in Yenching, was actually founded by Chen Shumin in front of him!
"Xuemin, have you heard about it?" Seeing Cheng Xuemin's reaction, Chen Shumin asked in confusion.

"no!"

Cheng Xuemin shook his head decisively and said that it was the memory in his mind and this was indeed the first time he heard of it.

"What about the manuscript?" Chen Shumin couldn't help showing regret, but still asked another question.

"Okay! Teacher Chen, you hold so many of my secrets, aren't you the second Lao Li? It would be a bit unreasonable for me not to write an article for you!"

"How is the fee calculated?"

……

(End of this chapter)