Exciting 1979!

Chapter 40 Reader Letters and Illustrations (Please Read!)
Xizi's face showed a variety of expressions: disappointment, depression, and bitterness, as if the sky had fallen, and his eyes were even wet.

Xizi: Do you know how much I missed you these days? And this is the result!

Seeing that the brotherhood was about to break down, Wei Ming quickly stuffed an unwrapped candy into his mouth.

"Ah, Big White Rabbit!" Xizi then stopped crying and laughed. After all, he was just a four-year-old child, and a candy was a big deal.

Xizi has one, and of course Lele has one too, and it’s packaged. Lele doesn’t eat it. She will wait until she’s in a bad mood to eat it.

The two candies were certainly not gifts for them, and then he took out a stack of books from his bag.

"Xizi, this is a complete set of Nezha Conquers the Dragon King comic books for you, and they are in color."

Ever since watching this animation, Xizi has been obsessed with the character of Nezha and often cosplays as him.

He mistook his mother's silk scarf for a Hun Tian Ling and stepped on his father's leather shoes to pretend to be a Hot Wheels. There was also a very elastic balloon at home, which he punctured and put on his wrist, making it look like a Qian Kun Ring.

The set that Wei Ming bought for him was produced by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. It was a movie derivative product, beautifully made and very popular, and of course not cheap.

Xizi fell in love with it at first sight, and was so excited that he swallowed the White Rabbit in his mouth.

He was about to cry again: I haven’t even tasted the sweetness yet!
Then he turned his gaze to his sister. Lele, who had originally wanted to save the food for later, decisively tore open the package and ate it now, otherwise it would be too late!

Seeing this, Xizi humbly said, "Can you give me your candy wrapper?"

Lele was still very generous. He gave the candy wrapper to Xizi, letting him lick it as he pleased, and then looked at Brother Ming with expectant eyes.

Of course she also has her own special gift.

Wei Ming took out a well-made small gift box from his bag. When Lele opened it, he saw a harmonica with a metallic luster.

She had seen this thing before. Kindergarten music teachers had it and it could play moving music.

Wei Ming couldn't afford the brands from big manufacturers like Modou or Guoguang, so he only bought an ordinary one, but it was worth half a month's salary for him, and more expensive than Xizi's picture books and his aunt's silk scarf.

Lele couldn't help but play the flute. Although there was no melody, the sound was nice, clear and pleasant. This gift from Brother Ming really touched her heart.

~
After Wei Ming left, Wei Pingan told his wife about him: "Xiao Ming will be able to become a regular employee next month. I originally thought that this temporary job would last for two to three years."

Lv Xiaoyan: "Xiao Ming is from another place after all. I thought he would never be able to get a permanent job in this lifetime."

"It's up to the child to work hard. When his novel is published in Harvest in November, we can even consider raising its rank."

Lv Xiaoyan: "But he's a writer, and you want him to work in the logistics system of Peking University forever? What a waste of talent."

"Xiao Ming talked to me about this problem. He said he wanted to gain some experience at the grassroots level, otherwise he might have nothing to write. So, do you have any ideas?"

Lv Xiaoyan: "I have thought that if he publishes a few more articles in our company, can we transfer him to our unit as an editor?"

It is normal for writers to serve as editors as well. Ba Jin founded "Harvest" and Lao She founded "Yenching Literature and Art". They were editors while being writers and discovered many young writers.

Wei Pingan was very happy that his wife could think of this for his nephew, but he said: "Xiao Ming is only 18 years old after all, and I guess he can't sit still in your office. Besides, I actually hope he can have a higher academic background."

Although a high school diploma is not considered low these days, anyone with a discerning eye can see that there will be more and more college students in the future, and maybe high school students will be worthless in the future.

"You want him to take the test again next year, but what about his problem of being biased in one subject?"

Wei Pingan smiled and said, "It's not that kind of college entrance examination. Let me tell you, the school is considering resuming correspondence education recently. It's a two-year system and it doesn't take up too much time and energy. Plus, he's an employee of Peking University, so getting a diploma shouldn't be a problem."

"Hey, that's great!" Lu Xiaoyan said, "Tell Xiao Ming later, he will definitely be very happy when he finds out."

Wei Pingan: "Let's not talk about it for now. After all, the school is just discussing it and hasn't made a final decision yet. And even if it is finalized, it will take until the second half of next year at the earliest."

As they were talking, Wei Ming came back with the two little ones, accompanied by the sound of Lele's harmonica. Lu Xiaoyan was stunned: "Lele, you really can play it?"

Now it's not just a sound, there's actually a melody to it.

Wei Ming was also amazed: "Le Le asked me to teach her, I am just a half-baked one, but she can do it after I teach her casually."

Lv Xiaoyan picked up her precious daughter and said, "I didn't expect my daughter has musical talent, haha!"

As for her beloved son, he suddenly saw a wild Hun Tian Ling and immediately waved it excitedly.

Lu Xiaoyan was furious: "Wei Xi, put him down!"

After a lot of chaos, the five people sat down to eat a very sumptuous meal, with fish, meat and wine.

Wei Ping'an opened the bottle of Shengui Yangrong Wine, which was twice as expensive as Maotai, and gave half a liang to each of the three adults.

"On this happy day, let me briefly say a few things. First..."

Lv Xiaoyan kicked him, and Wei Pingan immediately changed his words: "Let's eat first!"

While eating, he said to Wei Ming: "Xiao Ming, your regularization can be processed next month, and the reward will be given to you at that time. As for the settlement, you have to wait a little longer."

"It's okay. Even if I get a household registration, I won't get a house." That household registration was of no use to him for the time being, but it was also something he had to fight for. He struggled for many years before he got it in the future.

"And," Wei Ping'an added, "the Li family told me that they would come to thank you after the National Day holiday. You know, soldiers can't stay idle during the National Day holiday."

Wei Ming nodded, raised his glass and clinked it with Uncle Ping'an. It was also the first time for him to drink this kind of medicinal wine, which had a special taste. The two uncle and nephew smiled at each other and both felt that it was not as good as the Laobai Gan from their hometown, so after drinking the half liang, they switched to the hometown wine that Lao Wei brought.

Lv Xiaoyan took a sip and liked it very much. She remembered something: "Oh, by the way, after the September issue of Children's Literature was published, your article "The Toothless Tiger" received a good response and received many letters from readers. I brought it back to you."

"Oh, really?" Wei Ming was a little excited.

He thought of the legend of Zheng Yuanjie, who bought ten houses in Yanjing to store readers' letters. This was simply the highest level of pretense.

I want to buy twenty sets!

Then when Wei Ming saw Aunt Xiaoyan coming over with a stack of envelopes, his ambition suddenly waned. It wasn't much.

Probably about ten.

Wei Ming asked: "How many letters do other authors receive from readers? For example, Zheng Yuanjie, who wrote about ants?"

Lu Xiaoyan thought for a moment and said, "Five or six."

Wei Ming was immediately happy, thinking that what he had was not too little!
In fact, Children's Literature receives a lot of letters from readers, but most of them are addressed to the editorial department, and only a few are specifically addressed to a certain author.

But Zheng Yuanjie is the only author of "The King of Fairy Tales", and he would publish letters from time to time in magazines and reply publicly, which stimulated the children's enthusiasm for letter writing, and naturally there were more letters.

After dinner, Lu Xiaoyan showed Wei Ming the illustrations of "If I Were Wu Song" and she took them home for Wei Ming to review.

Because "The Toothless Tiger" was temporarily scheduled for the September issue, the illustrations were rushed and rather sloppy, and there were only three of them.

The manuscript of "Wu Song" was submitted very early, and the illustrations were also worked on carefully. The quality has been significantly improved, and the number is also large, with a total of eight pictures.

Lu Xiaoyan said: "So if you can give me the November draft as soon as possible, we can find an outside artist to tailor it to your needs and make it more refined."

You can also find an artist from outside to tailor it for you. Wei Ming suddenly became curious: "Are there any writers who bring their own illustrations when they submit their works?"

(End of this chapter)