Literary Master 1983

Chapter 144: Two Weeks after the Book Release (Wednesday)

The Wenhui Daily article was relatively short, as if it was a piece of gossip, and it opened up a new space in the newspaper:
The new book by mainland young writer Yu Qie has caused a rush for publication. The first print run was 10,000 copies in Beijing and Tianjin, but it turned out to be far from enough. It will take another week for the next 300,000 copies to be distributed nationwide. Readers in Hong Kong can wait another two weeks to see this work.

The Ta Kung Pao wrote an article analyzing the current situation:
“The Lion Rock Spirit is everywhere!”

"Hong Kong has a kind of Lion Rock Spirit, which is a spirit of hard work and diligence. It has been associated with Hong Kong since the 70s. A generation of people changed their destiny through hard work in adversity, but it must be said that it is definitely not only found in Hong Kong, it is a good quality that people can possess."

"The novel "Big Scatter" by a young mainland writer tells the story of an honest man who, in the face of various temptations, chooses to stick to his heart, build his hometown, and finally succeeds. This novel has received a great response, especially among the international students, and it is also appealing to us Hong Kong people."

Some Hong Kong literary critics who have connections with the mainland have managed to get the original text of Da Saba, hoping to write a more in-depth review and introduce this novel, which was prefaced by Wang Meng and represents a new trend in mainland literature, to Hong Kong.

People in Hong Kong have long been paying attention to the thoughts and trends in mainland China.

It is said that one in five people in Hong Kong at that time was from the mainland. If you count two or three generations back, they were all from the mainland without a doubt.

The latest news about the mainland appears in the hands of Hong Kong citizens every day. Due to its developed cultural and media industry, it sometimes even spreads faster than in the mainland.

Yangcheng, Guangdong Province in the south.

Here, many people did not pay attention to Mandarin news, but preferred to follow the prosperous and interesting reports of Hong Kong at that time. The wealthy families who bought televisions at that time would turn on the TV to watch Hong Kong's TVB Jade Channel as soon as they finished their dinner.

The Jade Radio Station is also very popular in Guangzhou and even in the whole Guangdong Province. On the morning of July 7, Jade Radio Station just finished broadcasting Zhang Guorong's dance music "Monica" and immediately switched to the morning current affairs report.

The female host talked about an interesting thing that happened at Yenching University: "A book caused a rush among mainland students, and some even paid a premium to buy it. Yu Qie has become one of the most popular writers in mainland China. Considering that he is very young and a highly educated person, only he can create some literary themes. We believe that the pursuit of Yu Qie has some spontaneous attraction..."

“For example, Yu Qie’s personal image, his unique identity as a student writer, and his appeal as a well-known patriot.”

"But is that a bad thing? Of course it's a good thing."

The first print run of the single volume did sell very well.

Judging from the feedback from Beijing and Tianjin, there are at least millions of copies to be sold. This is a simple mathematical multiplication.

At the editorial office of October in Beijing, Yu Qie attended a brief celebration party. Zhang Shouren excitedly shouted, "It's sold out, all 10,000 copies are sold out!" He pointed his finger, "10,000 copies are the first print run, just the beginning, we will have 300,000 copies next, and 1 million copies!"

"'The Wreath Under the Mountain' is a very popular novel in recent years. The single volume sold 1.8 million copies that year. Because of a shortage of pulp, a total of nine publishing houses across the country printed the book one after another. We try not to encounter this situation and fully enjoy the beautiful fruits of 'new realistic literature'!"

Wang Shimin, who had not been seen for a long time, was also at the celebration party. Generally speaking, Wang Shimin was responsible for the overall situation, and he rarely came out to celebrate a certain category of works.

But Yu Qie’s novels are different. The success of this series of books represents the most fundamental purpose of the magazine: to lead the literary trend.

“Are we setting the trend in literature?”

Here, Wang Shimin raised this question again. "In 81, I founded the magazine with a few old friends. As a magazine man, I missed the trend-setting "Class Teacher" and "Scars", which I feel very sorry for..."

He looked at Yu Qie and sighed: "But I didn't expect that something new could appear so quickly. I think if I can't carry it forward, I will regret it many years later."

Wang Shimin said affectionately: "I hope that history will remember us in the future, not because we wrote some commentary articles, but because we were magazine people, editors, and because of our eyes." "So, are we leading the literary trend? It is not for us to judge, but for readers, other authors, and the times to judge!"

When Zhang Shouren heard this, he stood up suddenly and was unable to speak. Instead, he held Wang Shimin's hand tightly.

Yu Qie had not experienced the entrepreneurial process of these two editors who risked imprisonment, so his excitement was certainly far less than theirs. But Yu Qie was a key figure in the process, and they did not forget Yu Qie, but insisted that Yu Qie stand in the front row, and all of October took a big group photo.

The location of October Magazine is quite remote. When it was founded two or three years ago, it was still a farmland with wheat and some peach trees. We didn’t expect it to be so successful. At the beginning of the publication, because there were too few articles, the review team had nothing to analyze, so they analyzed the poems written by great men every day.

Hence the name “Office for Analysis of Great Man’s Works”.

But Wang Shimin was obviously proud of it: "We have just finished the first of the three major battles, crossing the Yangtze River and chasing the enemy. We have seen some momentum of victory. It is not over yet, not over yet."

"It's not the time to be proud yet, it's not the time to make the final decision yet!"

Many people excitedly wrote articles about what happened that day or wrote letters to other writer friends. It was like a swearing-in ceremony, and the entire magazine was ready for battle.

On the 4th, the new issue of People's Literature serialized part of "Da Saba". Wang Meng once again wrote a review for the article: "I plan to make a thorough reform of People's Literature, let go of my hands and feet, and go into battle lightly. So I asked which writers have the hope of going international, and wrote down a name. Therefore, the magazine held a secret ballot, and I counted the votes myself."

"At that time, six of the first ten votes were from the same person. I was very surprised. I looked up to confirm with everyone, and everyone looked at me and laughed..."

“This is the kind of writer you see, writing this kind of work.”

People's Literature is the real leader of literary journals, with millions of copies sold each issue, and its position is unshakable. Its introduction of Yu Qie triggered further pursuit of the single volume.

The new 300,000 copies were released a week later. This was the first reprint after the first printing. However, judging from the feedback from the front line, it was far from enough!

At that time, any unit that used public funds to purchase a large number of books had to have an approval slip of "social group purchasing power". Therefore, state-owned bookstores, mainly Xinhua Bookstore, set a monetary limit. If the limit was exceeded, they had to take out the approval slip and apply to the higher authorities to allocate paper pulp for printing.

At the same time, front-line bookstore clerks fill in the order quantity based on their experience and previous sales records. The numbers filled in by each bookstore are summarized to the Beijing Institute, which then feeds back to the publishing house. Generally, the numbers filled in are conservative because the business unit will bear the loss if the books cannot be sold.

These are the two criteria that determine the number of books to be printed!

Therefore, authors often sigh: The print run of my book is decided by a middle-aged man who holds a note and puts the money in his crotch. If there is anyone else who can decide, it can be the girl with two pigtails behind the counter of Xinhua Bookstore.

After 300,000 copies were published, many units from other places heard the news and came to Yenching to purchase books, and specifically asked for the book "Da Saba". These outsiders sewed a pocket on their underwear, put money in it, and when paying, they unbuttoned their pants to take out the money on the spot.

"'Da Saba', five thousand copies, here's the note."

"Gone."

"How can there be none? The new ones came in yesterday, and I came today. There are 300,000 copies."

"Comrade, it was gone yesterday afternoon. If it's convenient for you, just wait, put the money back in your crotch, stay in Yanjing for a few days, and wait for the next round of reprinting."

(End of this chapter)