Literary Master 1983

Chapter 58 Military Proclamation
On the special day of January 10th, Yu Qi handed in the first draft of "Da Saba" to the editorial department of "October".

The 10th is the publication date of October. Manuscripts submitted now can be published as early as next month.

Yu Qie's bold statement of "submitting a novella every month" shocked the entire publishing house. This was a writing speed far beyond that of his contemporaries. Ma Shi Tu took decades to write "Ten Tales of the Night", while Yu Qie took only one month. People can't, or at least shouldn't...

Wang Shimin saw the thick stack of manuscript paper that Yu Qie brought, took it out of the folder, weighed it, took a deep breath and said, "You are probably the fastest novel writer I have ever seen. I don't know how well you write it yet."

"But, just based on the speed, I will find a way to get it published."

Wang Shimin spent an entire night reading the novel without sleeping. He then passed it on to other people in the editorial department. Wang Shimin himself was very satisfied with it, but he was afraid of being too optimistic and asked others to comment on it.

Everyone took turns to look at it, and the pages of manuscript were passed to different people one after another, and in the end everyone gave high praise.

"Huang Xiu Ji, you are the senior brother in the Chinese Department and a literary critic. How about you evaluate his novel?" Wang Shimin called out.

Huang Xiuji said: "There is nothing wrong with this novel itself, and it also hits the current hot topic of studying abroad. Our mainland's overseas student literature started with the hundreds of people who were sent out in 78. However, the foreign countries they wrote about were like the Peach Blossom Spring, and they lived in paradise. It seems that they were loved by foreigners for no reason as soon as they arrived. Yu Qie's work provides another bottom-level perspective."

"Anything else? Any other opinions?"

Then, someone else got involved, and this time they mentioned what was written in Yu Qie’s story: “Gu Yan served as the translator of the negotiation team” and participated in the negotiations between the Chinese government and Volkswagen of Germany... They didn’t know whether this was true.

Some people also pointed out that the hero Gu Yan of "Great and Glorious" is from Yanda University, and the other college students who went abroad to wash dishes all studied foreign languages, foreign economics and trade... Isn't this a bad influence?

In response to these questions, the editorial team verified them one by one and finally found that they were basically true.

In the 1980s, the two best universities in China were ranked similarly to Cairo University in the world university rankings. It is conceivable that the academic qualifications of graduates were not recognized by the United States. However, the students who wrote overseas literature often further studied abroad, and their resumes after further study were recognized by Western countries.

Their situation is completely different from that of the lower-class international students who start washing dishes just to scrape together enough money for a plane ticket. They can be said to be able to move freely.

Although the concept of joint venture was proposed by General Motors of the United States, it was Volkswagen of Germany that had the last laugh - it had entered the stage of "how to establish it" rather than "whether to establish it".

The last question is why the universities of the other characters are relatively unremarkable such as foreign languages, foreign economics and trade, etc., because these universities have quotas for studying abroad.

Yes, you need a quota to study abroad. In the 1980s, some academic elites would choose to study at a university simply because the university had quotas for studying abroad.

At that time, there was a young man named Tang Jun, who later became the first generation of "working emperor". This man had no background, so in order to get a quota to go abroad, he went to the head of the Foreign Affairs Department every day to ask, "Hello, leader?" "Have you eaten?" "How was your day today?"

Finally, the leader was annoyed and asked, "Young man, what exactly do you want to do?"

"I want to go abroad, and I don't have a place."

"Here you go."

——Wang Shimin was extremely excited. He said, "Yu Qie's novels have improved compared to before. His facts are basically rigorous, and he also uses his strengths of imagination... Yes, only Gu Yan is the lucky one left, but shouldn't we be so imaginative?"

"Gu Yan lives among us. He is an ordinary intellectual who does good things and gets good rewards. He does good things without complaint about the misfortunes in life... I think the positivity of this novel goes beyond scar literature. He promotes the truth, goodness and beauty of the world. His fantasy gives people real strength!"

Spanish translator Zhao Deming asked: “Can you publish the article “Latin American Realism” from Foreign Literature Studies in our October?”

"Of course, we must go up there and criticize Liu Xinwu harshly, and explain the whole story clearly!"——————

The nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month is the day of severe cold, which is suitable for cleaning, offering sacrifices, and acupuncture. Do not do anything else.

There are already a lot fewer students at Yanda University, and all the locals have found ways to return home. Even the snow has stopped.

Everyone has gone home, and I'm the only one left here.

Yu Qie's family sent him letters and parcels, including a lot of clothes and dried fruits. His father told him that he should be careful in everything he encountered since he was a high-ranking official in Beijing. His mother complained that since Yu Qie became famous for writing novels, too many people from the factory came to propose marriage to him, and she couldn't stand it.

Hi. Is this showing off, or showing off, or showing off...

Yu Qi simply chose to take a rest on this day and reply to letters from readers, mainly those from "Military Literature and Art".

As the earliest established literary magazine with the largest number of issues published, Military Literature and Art was also the first literary magazine to resume publication during the most difficult years.

Of course they don't care about this little disturbance.

The new issue of "Military Literature and Art" contains a letter from more than 100 writers to the soldiers. It was indeed selected and published:

"When I write this letter, I feel so much respect and emotion in my heart. I have a safe desk here, which is what you are protecting on the front line of the battlefield."

“My job is to record and convey emotions, and you are the heroes who turn emotions into actions. I cannot personally feel the tension and danger of the hail of bullets, but I can imagine how resilient you are.”

"I want to tell you that the motherland remembers you and the people are grateful to you... I will always stand with you."

This was Yu Qie's true feelings, he really stood with the soldiers.

The soldier Li Hai who had sent him the letter before was only 19 years old, had just graduated from high school, and was younger than Yu Qie.

Yu Qie wrote a letter and sent it to the editorial department of Red Rock, telling them about his current situation. He hoped that after Red Rock published Letter from the Fiancée, the novel could be reprinted in Military Literature and Art.

This war novel can actually play its greatest role in "Military Literature and Art".

In order to reprint novels from the 1980s, the consent of both the author and the original publication was required. For some particularly excellent novels, the original publication would specifically recommend the novels to other publications for reprinting, which was not easy. Yu Qie wanted Huang Xingbang to help him do this.

Unexpectedly, after this day, Yu Che received news about the "October" magazine again. This matter was quite urgent. The call was made directly to Yenching University by the Beijing Publishing House, and then transferred to Yu Che.

A few comrades in military uniforms came. They were from the Propaganda Department of the General Staff and wanted to ask Writer Yu some questions.

Shit, am I going to be transferred to the front line to comfort the soldiers? Yu Qi was a little confused.

　For details, see Zhang Yitang's experience in the Department of Mathematics at Peking University. Because the boss of the research group did not write a recommendation letter for him, he lost the opportunity to continue his studies and worked as a waiter at Subway.
　　

(End of this chapter)