Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 20 Responses from Submissions

As soon as Ma Qing finished speaking, a seemingly endless list appeared in his mind, and he suddenly felt overwhelmed.

"Don't worry so much. In fact, if we do a few more land raids like the one we did in Xishan, we will basically have what we need. It will just take time."

"I'm afraid something might happen if I do this kind of supernatural scene too much."

"What are you afraid of? As long as you are not caught on the spot and there is no evidence left at the scene, there is nothing to be afraid of. You want to get things done but don't want to take any risks. All good things will be yours." Xiao Qi said contemptuously.

Ma Qing quickly admitted his mistake, ate his breakfast, and went to school.

In this way, Ma Qing continued his peaceful life. Four days later, on Saturday, after the third class in the morning, Ma Qing's stomach started to growl as usual. Without oil and protein, relying only on the steamed bread in the morning, Ma Qing's stomach was growling in protest. It was ridiculous that a millionaire in the 1950s was still hungry. "Stomach, stomach, I really don't have any other options. Just bear with it for a while. In a few months, I will definitely feed you."

Ma Qing stroked his belly with his hand, as if comforting a begging puppy. Most of the students in the classroom sat quietly, only a few weird ones were bragging, as if using their mouths to divert the attention of their stomachs.

"Ma Qing, go to the principal's office." The head teacher standing at the door shouted to Ma Qing.

Ma Qing came to the principal's office for unknown reasons. He saw that in addition to the principal, there were two middle-aged men in Mao suits sitting in the office. They looked like typical cultural cadres of this era. "Come and sit down, Ma Qing. These two are editors of the People's Daily and the Workers' Daily. They want to see you." The principal pointed at the two middle-aged men and introduced them, "This is Editor Li from the People's Daily, and this is Editor Qian from the Workers' Daily. This is Ma Qing from our school. There is only one student named Ma Qing in our school. He should be the one you are looking for."

Editor Li said, "Student Ma Qing, did you submit an article to our daily newspaper last weekend?"

Editor Qian then said, "You also submitted articles to our newspaper, right, Ma Qing?"

So that was what happened recently. It was so bizarre that Ma Qing almost forgot about it. Ma Qing regretted it very much now. If Xiao Qi had contacted him one day earlier, he would never have submitted the article to "My Motherland and I". He originally wanted to get some benefits, but with the emergence of the system, this benefit became meaningless. Instead, it became a trouble and a constraint. People are so fickle. As long as the conditions change, the former sweet girl will immediately become Mrs. Niu.

It’s been 6 days and you just came to me. Ma Qing complained in his heart: “Ah, it’s me. I submitted my article “My Motherland and I”. Is there any problem?”

"No problem, no problem, it's very well written. I'm an editor at People's Daily, mainly responsible for the review and editing of social requests. I saw your letter on Wednesday. I personally feel that in this poem's simple and delicate brushstrokes, the words reveal the attachment and love for the motherland, which makes my heart surge and my whole body filled with the power of emotion.

I reported it to the editor-in-chief immediately, and the editor-in-chief agreed with it. We plan to publish it on the front page of the People's Daily next Monday. Because you said in your letter that you wrote a song and wanted to find a suitable tune to match it, the editor-in-chief sent me to contact you. We, the People's Daily, are willing to help follow up on this event. After the music score is ready, we will republish the complete song as a tribute to this year's 10th anniversary of the National Day." Editor Li finished in one breath.

Editor Qian glanced at Editor Li with resentment, thinking, "You've already said all my lyrics, what the hell can I say?" So he said, "I'm the editor of the Workers' Daily. My situation is similar to Editor Li's. Our editor-in-chief has given me a political task, asking me to assist Ma Qing and publish the whole song again as a tribute to this year's tenth anniversary of the National Day. I didn't expect that Ma Qing also submitted a manuscript to the People's Daily. I happened to run into this colleague when I came to school to look for you this morning."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. This is my first time submitting a manuscript, too. I didn't know you couldn't submit to multiple publications. I just thought the chances of success would be higher if I submitted to more publications. I'm really sorry for causing you trouble." "I don't mean to blame you at all. It's normal to submit literary works to several publications at the same time. Now please give the exclusive rights to us, the People's Daily. We are the largest newspaper."

"Old Li, this is not very fair of you. Is our Workers' Daily bad?" The two editors couldn't help but argue.

"Stop arguing, both of you. Because of me, I sent it to you at the same time. It's hard for me to decide who should be given the exclusive rights. It's up to you to decide whether to publish it or not. In fact, I also sent it to China Youth Daily." Ma Qing was determined not to offend anyone. It didn't matter if one published it or both published it.

The two editors looked at each other and reluctantly accepted this reality.

What followed was nothing more than some polite words. The two editors gave Ma Qing some commercial flattery, arranged some follow-up contacts, and then said goodbye and left, leaving Ma Qing to accept the principal's bombardment.

The two editors walked out of the school gate side by side, and started chatting with each other.

"What do you think?"

"I see with my eyes, how do you see, what do you mean?"

“Was it written by Ma Qing?”

"If it wasn't written by Ma Qing, how could someone else write it? How could an orphan of a worker have such great power? You know, it's the 10th anniversary of the National Day. Which person would be so stupid and great to give this article to someone else? In fact, after reading this poem, I found out that the sender was a junior high school student. I couldn't believe it, but after reading it carefully again, I found that it should really be written by a teenager. The narrative angle and wording of the whole article are all pure and innocent. I really can't write it at my age."

"Haha, it's your age that's the problem. You're really good. Ma Qing said he also submitted articles to China Youth Daily. The work processes of our publications are similar. I didn't see the editor of China Youth Daily today. Do you think it's possible..."

"I don't know about that. Anyway, our newspaper will publish it on the front page on Monday. What about you?"

"Since we haven't got the exclusive publication, we can only put it on the front page on Monday as planned. What if it's China Youth Daily... Haha, that would be a lot of fun." The two editors chatted all the way to the bus stop and then returned to their respective units.

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(End of this chapter)