Literary Master 1983

Chapter 1 The Decision of Cotangent
The summer of 1983 was quite hot. At the foot of Taibai Rock in Wanxian County, a group of citizens gathered in front of a yellow jasmine tree, all looking up at the notice posted on the tree trunk.

The notice said: "Hongyan" magazine is soliciting literary works, starting at 5 yuan per thousand words, and there was a big bright red seal below.

For five dollars, you can buy three pounds of pork, or ten pounds of eggs.

As the gateway to eastern Sichuan, the monthly wage level in Wanxian area is between 30 yuan and 60 yuan, which is the level in towns and cities, and it is even lower in rural areas.

A copy of Red Rock magazine costs 40 cents, which is not cheap, but in front of the notice, there are many citizens who regularly buy Red Rock magazine, and of course other literary magazines, such as Contemporary, Kunlun, and Sichuan Literature, etc.

This was an era when serious literature like "Anna Karenina" easily sold millions of copies, a large number of "pure" literary magazines were best-sellers, and the general public's enthusiasm for literature was unimaginable.

No matter how poor their material conditions are, people are willing to buy some entertainment.

Many families saved money to buy radios and televisions. It was not just a matter of hunger, but also included a complex pursuit of the spiritual world.

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Yu Qie squeezed out of the crowd, found his 28-inch bicycle, rang the bell, and hurried to the post office.

What he was going to send was the submission for this essay contest, a novella titled "A Moment of Romance", which was about 100,000 words long.

Thanks to changes in publications and publishing conditions, a large number of literary journals with 200 to 300 pages have been established, and novellas are very popular.

For example, Guan Moye's "Red Sorghum", Li Cunbao's "Garland under the Mountain" and A Cheng's "The Chess King" are all works from this period.

The money paid for writing was also very good. Writers were rich people at that time.

Yu Qie has a soul forty years later.

In his previous life, he was a well-known online writer who was pursuing a doctorate in economics; in his predecessor's life, he was an unlucky guy with the same name who tried to take the entrance exam to Yanjing University twice but always failed by one step. On the eve of the college entrance examination, he suddenly felt dizzy and died on his desk.

Yu Qie inherited this person's last wish and memory. A few days ago, he received the admission letter from Yan University as he wished.

Reading and writing are very cost-effective in this era.

This year, the mainland graduated the first batch of doctoral students trained entirely locally, who later became the leading figures in the academic world.

The literary world has produced a series of well-known writers and is in its best era in history, developing an unprecedented close relationship with readers.

The "A Moment of Romance" I submitted this time is an ordinary business story in the eyes of later generations. The plot and characters are quite procedural, but it will have a miraculous effect when put in the present:

[Hua Di kidnapped Qiao Qiao, a wealthy girl from Hong Kong who came to invest, and they fell in love unexpectedly. ]

[Despite the disparity in status, Qiao Qiao still chooses to follow Hua Di. However, their lives are in crisis and they are forced to flee...]

The original plot comes from the movie of the same name released in Hong Kong in 7, seven years later. Yu Qie retained the main line of love and deleted too much violence and gang-related elements. Wah Di is no longer a gang member, but at best a fierce and brave gangster.

In the last scene of the story, the rich girl is preparing to marry Wah Di, but Wah Di dies from a blunt object injury to the brain during a fight that night.

Explain what?
Those who get involved in gangsterism will not have a good death.

It is attractive as a novel, not because of Yu Qie's writing style and polish, but because it conforms to the political correctness of 1983:
Be an honest person and don't commit suicide.

If there really is a gangster who reads the novel and changes the trajectory of his life, then I will have done a great deed.

I don’t ask to marry a rich woman from Hong Kong, but at least I won’t eat peanuts.

Thinking of this, Yu Qie pedaled the bicycle pedals hard with both legs!
"Give way!"

At present, the large roads that are common in Wanxian city have not yet appeared. What passes by the post office is a narrow dirt road, and from time to time you will see a small number of buses, trucks and bicycles.

Transportation between Wanxian city and rural areas relies more on ferries or small trucks, while long-distance transportation is mainly carried out via waterway transportation on the Yangtze River.

Locals who go south to Pengcheng to work have to grab a boat ticket before they can grab a train ticket. Even ten years later, if an adventurer goes to the Magic City, he has to pray that the countless reefs under the water will not destroy his boat and kill everyone.

This situation could not be significantly improved until the Three Gorges Project was proposed and countless reefs from Wanxian to the neighboring provinces were blasted.

This is his current hometown, the place where He Qifang and Liu Mengkang were born. If the vast counties and districts under its jurisdiction are also counted, there is also a literary big brother, Ma Shi Tu.

As a small place, this place seems to have some bloodline of the great emperor. However, now the bloodline of the great emperor is showing signs of drying up.

As far as he knows, forty years later, the most famous local is the live-streaming influencer Feng Timo.

literature?

Will there still be literature in forty years?

The road to the post office was particularly long and as it was getting dark, Yu Qie turned on the flashlight to get some light.

Streetlight?

Stop dreaming.

People coming towards him didn't think he was using high beams, but rather thought he was willing to use the battery since it was not completely dark yet.

White Elephant brand batteries cost only 20 cents each, and two batteries stacked together only last for three or four hours. What a luxury.

Now, the bicycle is the only belonging in his family. Not only that, the only flashlight in the house has also been borrowed and left for Yu Qie to travel at night.

Yu Qie is the treasure of this family and perhaps the treasure of this county.

Since the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1977, he was the first student from this small place to be admitted to Yanda University. The news spread quickly and everyone around him knew about it, which caused a sensation. So, who is the most famous person in this county now?

Unfortunately, it is not the cotangent.

In the small Wanxian County, there are many talented people.

Passing by a place with the words "Wanxian Sino-German Store" written on it, Yu Qie stopped to look for a while. A middle-aged man with a bald forehead, wearing a white shirt and a big belly came out and called him in, mysteriously, "Would you like to see the goods?"

"No."

The middle-aged man introduced, "We sell table clocks here, which are exactly the same as the '555' brand in Shanghai, but the price is much cheaper. You can buy them with confidence, nothing will go wrong, and you can also give them as gifts, they are classy."

"It's unlucky to buy a clock as a gift for someone." Yu Qie waved his hand.

The middle-aged man immediately became alert, "What are you looking at?"

"I heard this place is famous, so I stopped by to take a look."

The middle-aged man immediately chased him away: "Don't bother me. I have a big business. Don't bother me or mess with me."

"You look pretty, why do you like to tease people?"

Yu Qie: "I'm a fortune teller. I see that the feng shui of your store is not good. You may be in trouble."

"climb!"

Yu Qi laughed and waved goodbye.

The middle-aged man is Mou Qizhong, and it is possible that he and this Yanda student will appear in local newspapers in the near future.

Because Mou Qizhong is going to go to jail soon.

"Blow up a big hole in the Himalayas and turn the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau into a land of fish and rice" is a famous saying of Mou Qizhong. This person was once the richest man in the mainland in the future. He may have a histrionic personality and be addicted to showing off.

But seriously, who doesn't like to show off?

Nine years ago, Mou Qizhong worked as a worker in a boiler factory. Because he liked to discuss and publicize his own views, he was thrown into prison. Later, he realized the truth and was released early in 9. He founded the Wanxian Sino-German Store, which became the earliest version of a department store and distributor. Its best-selling product was rattan chairs.

At the beginning of this year, Mou Qizhong asked the arsenal to imitate the "555" brand table clock in Shanghai. He bought it for 25 yuan and sold it to dealers for 32 yuan. He made 7 yuan in a few months. Later, he was about to go to jail again for "taking illegal means, short selling, and making huge profits."

Master Yu was absolutely right when he said that he had bad feng shui.

The so-called personal destiny depends on one's own efforts, but it also requires consideration of the course of history.

The business of reselling corn is full of talented people. In the Pengcheng Special Zone in the south, Wang Shitou, who later became famous, is also looking for opportunities to resell corn and make money, which is said to be millions.

How did Wang Shitou get away with it?

It’s because he is in Pengcheng, special things can be done specially, and there are big guys who are willing to appreciate him.

So, let’s just write novels!

Go and earn the literary money by working with your own hands, exploiting yourself and not relying on anyone else.

During the honeymoon period between China and the United States, maybe I can even win a foreign literature award! At least, I can earn some money!
Yu Qie was thinking this, and soon, the sign of the post office appeared in front of him. Getting off his bicycle, Yu Qie walked in, holding a manuscript of more than 100,000 words.

The person at the counter was packing up and preparing to leave. He grabbed a handful of broad beans and shooed him away: "Put it in the mailbox. It's time to get off work."

There was a clock in the hall. Yu Qie looked at it and said, "Five minutes left."

"I'm off work." The other party wanted to emphasize this matter.

Not only did he need to emphasize it, but he was already doing other things. He took a bimonthly novel and opened it. It had a folded page, indicating that he had not finished reading it. The cover of the magazine was black and white with two big words on it.

It was the "Red Rock" magazine.

How could there be no "Red Rock" in any unit in Chongqing City or even in Sichuan Province?

It is possible that this person also studies and criticizes popular literature at his workstation throughout the day.

"I'm here to submit an article." Yu Qie raised the manuscript in his hand, "I'm submitting it to Red Rock magazine."

"Submission?"

The other party was stunned for a moment, and his tone couldn't help but become a little polite.

At that time, China had 20 million unemployed young people, the so-called vagrants. Most of them had the dreams that vagrants should have, for example, to write novels and make a name for themselves.

But most people would not choose Hongyan as their first stop for their dreams, as it is a provincial publication.

This superficial politeness finally became serious after seeing Yu Qie's precise, neat and vigorous handwriting.

He picked up the paper, glanced at it roughly, touched his glasses, put them on his nose, read a few pages, was attracted, looked up and said, "Comrade, do you want to bind it? Your article looks good."

"Thank you for your help." Yu Qie said.

Obviously, "A Moment of Romance" has a good appeal.

(End of this chapter)