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Chapter 7: When Happiness Knocks on the Door

In the office of People's Literature magazine in Chaoyang District, Beijing, editor Zhu Qingli was not in a very good mood today. Last year, Liu Xinwu published the short story "Class Teacher" in the eleventh issue of People's Literature. As a result, many novels were submitted based on this template. They were all the same and without any novelty, which made Zhu Qingli very dissatisfied.

"Old Zhu, are you feeling down again? Why can't you find the manuscript you're looking for? I think you're too obsessed with perfection. There aren't that many eye-opening articles out there."

My colleague Chang Xiaodong came in from outside, carrying a pot of boiling water in his hand. He walked to his seat and quickly put the stack of manuscripts under his arm on the table. After putting the kettle down, he hurriedly took out a bag of tea from his messenger bag and said as he made tea:
"Don't look at the manuscript anymore. Come on, come on, I'll make you a pot of tea. I guarantee you'll feel refreshed after taking a sip. Maybe you'll get lucky and find a good article."

Zhu Qingli rolled his eyes and said, "Drink it yourself. I'll go out for a walk."

"That's fine. Going out for a walk to relax and clear your mind is good. But are you sure you don't want this kind of tea? I'll tell you in secret, this is the best tea I brought from my father-in-law's house. It's a special product from the Special Supply Department No. 34 of the department store."

"Just brew it first. Without good writing, even the best tea will be bland and tasteless."

Upon hearing this, Chang Xiaodong snorted and said that the other person was ungrateful. He then started to make tea by himself and didn't bother to pay any more attention to the other person.

After he brewed the tea, he took two sips and let out a long sigh. Then he opened the submissions on the table and read them one by one.

After a while, Chang Xiaodong also frowned. Just as Zhu Qingli said, without good articles, no matter how good the tea is, it will be tasteless. Until he opened a letter of submission from Shuanghe County and saw the words on it, he was stunned for a moment.

The characters are very beautiful. They are not the graceful and elegant handwriting of women, but are clear and smooth like flowing clouds and running water. Not only are they beautiful and elegant, but the strokes are strong, light and free-spirited.

It’s okay that the handwriting is beautiful, the key is that the text above is very spiritual. The first sentence of the opening attracted Chang Xiaodong: Life is never smooth sailing. Some people overlook the sky, some people fall into the abyss, but even if we are in the dark, we must look up at the stars. When happiness knocks on the door, all efforts are worth it.

Just this one sentence made Chang Xiaodong think of himself, because he was an educated youth who went to the countryside. He finally received a notice last year that his father was wrongly accused and he could finally return to the city. His father also arranged for him to be an editor at the People's Literature magazine.

Compared to the years he spent in the countryside, he felt like a fish in water during the past six months in the city. He had fewer white hairs and looked younger.

The short story "When Happiness Knocks on the Door" tells the story of a young man who went to the countryside to graze sheep in the Helan Mountains, experienced unfair treatment in those dark years, and finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. He married Li Xiuzhi, who fled to the Helan Mountains to escape famine, and was admitted to university.

This novel is actually a combination of Wang Duoyu's distillation and combination of the story of the horse herder, and some chicken soup words about when happiness knocks on the door. It took him three and a half days to write this novel.

Since this is the opening novel to break the deadlock, Wang Duoyu put a lot of effort into the wording, story layout, etc., for fear of being rejected. Why?
Because Lu Xinhua's novel "Scars", which caused a sensation this year, was rejected by "People's Literature" before it was published. Later, Zhong Xizhi, editor of "Wenhui Daily", learned about the novel "Scars" from an old friend from Fudan University. After reading it, he asked Lu Xinhua to revise some of the "innuendo" parts. After that, it was submitted to the Propaganda Department of Shanghai for review before it was published in August.

Chang Xiaodong was both happy and sad. Zhu Qingli, who had just returned from a walk outside, was stunned when he saw this scene: "Old Chang, what's wrong with you? You're crying and laughing at the same time, it's creepy. Wait, have you found a good article? Let me see it." "Old Zhu, take a look. I think this is the best novel in the past few months. The text is full of spirituality, the story is told very well, and the emotions are simple and real. This is not just a story, it is a true portrayal of us educated youth."

Hearing such a perfect evaluation, Zhu Qingli did not respond, but lowered his head to read Wang Duoyu's novel.

Time passed quietly. Zhu Qingli was deeply attracted by the story. Other colleagues in the office came in and out. After a long time, someone finally noticed the abnormality of Chang Xiaodong and Zhu Qingli, so the editor-in-chief Xu Hansheng came.

When the editor-in-chief arrived, Zhu Qingli and Chang Xiaodong quickly stood up and strongly recommended the novel "The Pursuit of Happyness" to Xu Hansheng, because it was really perfect, from the text to the story, it was very perfect and hit the nail on the head.

Although it is not the most popular scar literature in recent times, it is definitely a breath of fresh air in the current literary world.

"The ending is not a tragedy. The family comedy lacks some connotation. This is a flaw. Although it does not affect the story line of the whole novel, it is not perfect after all."

After reading it, Xu Hansheng commented with some regret. Zhu Qingli and Chang Xiaodong immediately became furious. The latter spoke first:
"Editor Xu, I think this ending is more in line with the theme. We've already endured ten years of hardship. Isn't that enough? Must we go through eighty-one trials and tribulations like the Journey to the West?"

"This story fully recounts our experiences as educated youth in the countryside. The eloquent narrative style is enough to cover up any flaws. I think it is very good. I think this kind of story is better than other novels such as "Class Teacher". What we need now is not scars, but positive energy to move forward."

Zhu Qingli also nodded in agreement, "Editor-in-Chief Xu, I agree with Lao Chang. I also think this story is perfect and should be published. Many educated youth have returned to the city now, and many are very lost. This novel might be able to bring some warmth to them."

Seeing the two of them getting angry, Xu Hansheng couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. He was just expressing his own opinion, but they ended up "opposing" it together. This was indeed rare, and it was enough to show that this novel was indeed very good.

When the other comrades in the office saw this scene, they couldn't help but gasp in amazement. Then they came over to read Wang Duoyu's novel, and everyone fell in love with it.

Most people praised the article, and no one criticized it. However, there were still a few people who thought the ending should be tragic. Unfortunately, they were not the creators, so the article could not be changed. Moreover, Editor-in-Chief Xu was persuaded by Chang Xiaodong and the others, so he published it without changing a single word.

Coincidentally, in the office of "Science China·Mathematics", mathematics editor Yang Dachun was stunned after reading a paper, because this paper "Connection Number of Graphs" was very good, the results were quite profound, and it should be at the international leading level.

"I should talk to Lao Wang. This paper is amazing."

(End of this chapter)