Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 231 sold over one million copies.

In the courtyard, Liu Yimin went to the kitchen and saw signs of cooking. It seemed that Zhu Lin would cook for herself here when he wasn't around.

Liu Yimin pushed open the doors of several rooms to let the smells dissipate. He went into his bedroom, turned over the covers, and a fragrant aroma wafted out.

"Ok?"

The smell is familiar; it's Zhu Lin's scent. It seems this bed had a temporary new owner while I was away!

The desk in the study was exactly as it was when I left Yanjing, but I don't know when my photo from Aba was placed on the desk, with a copy of "People's Literature" underneath it, on the page with Xu Chi's reportage.

It must have been Zhu Lin who saw it; he went to work and didn't tidy up.

I turned on the tape recorder, inserted the only two cassette tapes, sat in the rocking chair, and started listening to music.

In the evening, there was a knock on the door of the courtyard house. Liu Yimin opened the door and saw Zhu Lin.

"Teacher Liu, you're back? Why didn't you tell me when you'd be back so I could pick you up!" Zhu Lin said excitedly.

When Zhu Lin saw that the lock was gone, she knew that Liu Yimin had returned, and she knocked on the door much harder than usual.

Seeing her excited expression, Liu Yimin couldn't help but get excited too, and reached out to hug Zhu Lin.

Zhu Lin did not struggle. He closed the wooden door of the courtyard with his right foot, leaving only a faint crack.

She took the initiative to kiss Liu Yimin's cheek, and Liu Yimin chuckled and kissed her back.

"Hmm."

After a while, Zhu Lin, panting heavily, sat down on the floor of the doorway, supporting his legs. He waved his hand and said, "Teacher Liu, my legs are a little weak. I'll rest for a while, just a while."

"Where love leads, where love leads..."

Liu Yimin also sat down, and Zhu Lin leaned on Liu Yimin's shoulder, laughing as he recounted the events that had recently occurred in Yanjing.

After the two had rested enough, he patted his bottom, helped Zhu Lin up, closed the courtyard gate, and walked into the courtyard.

"Meow~" Sanhua squatted in front of the screen wall and watched the whole exciting process of the two.

"If you keep peeking, you'll get a sty!" Zhu Lin warned.

With a "whoosh," Sanhua jumped onto the wall and disappeared from their sight.

"Teacher Liu, what would you like to eat?" Zhu Lin asked.

"Let's have the shredded pork noodles instead!"

"Row!"

In the kitchen, Zhu Lin asked about her older brother's wedding, and Liu Yimin recounted his entire story from arriving home to getting married to Zhu Lin.

"It's snowing? Teacher Liu, you've worked hard!" Zhu Lin said while rolling out noodles.

"My sister-in-law told me to thank you. She really likes the scarf, sheets, and duvet cover you gave me!" Liu Yimin said, remembering what his sister-in-law had asked him to say.

"If you like it, that's all that matters, no need to thank me!" Zhu Lin pursed her upturned lips.

While eating in the study, Zhu Lin suddenly asked, "Are the girls on the grasslands very beautiful, and very passionate and uninhibited?"

"Ok?"

"Teacher Liu, isn't that right!" Zhu Lin's tone was tinged with a hint of coquetry.

Liu Yimin glanced at the photos on the table and said calmly, "They're clear about love and hate!"

"Ha! A writer from the capital, and you can only give me four words of evaluation!"

Liu Yimin lowered his head and started eating, not saying anything more. It wasn't a good thing that Lao Xu wrote so many words; he wrote in a bit too much detail.

After dinner, Zhu Lin pulled Liu Yimin into the study to study the photos taken in Aba again: "I will study the photos carefully and make sure I can play Dawa in 'Red River Valley' well!"

"Dawa herself is Han Chinese!"

"But after spending so much time in Tibet, she has changed a lot."

When it was time for work, Liu Yimin saw Zhu Lin off. As he was leaving, Zhu Lin turned around, stood on tiptoe, and whispered in Liu Yimin's ear, "Let's go, writer from the capital!"

Feeling the warm breath on his ear and hearing a voice that was five parts gentle, three parts mischievous, and two parts alluring, Liu Yimin gritted his teeth and said, "You're having a good time now, but be careful you'll be held accountable later!"

Zhu Lin covered her mouth and giggled, then ran to her bicycle. When she reached the door, she burst into laughter, hopped on the bicycle in a few steps, and rode towards the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

Liu Yimin shook his head and returned to the courtyard house with a sigh. He went to his study, put away the photos and the magazine "People's Literature" in a drawer.

The next day, Liu Yimin brought gifts to Cao Yu's house to express his gratitude to Cao Yu and Li Yuru on behalf of his elder brother and sister-in-law.

Wan Fang was also there. Upon seeing Yi Min, he jokingly said, "Yi Min, your nose is quite long! I just set up the pot and you're here!"

"The aroma of your cooking is so strong that I can smell it all over Henan Province. That's why I took the train here. Senior sister, the food today has to be better than usual, or I won't eat it."

Wan Fang chuckled and said, "Yes, sir! A writer from the capital!"

"Hey, you two, stop joking around and you'll burn the food," Li Yuru said hurriedly.

"Master's wife, thank you for the wedding gift you prepared for my elder brother and sister-in-law."

Li Yuru said nonchalantly, "It's nothing valuable, no need to keep saying thank you. Yimin, I improved the way I make tofu during the New Year, try it later."

Your teacher and Xiao Fang both said it was delicious!

Li Yuru recounted that during the Lunar New Year, her family was constantly visited, which gave her a huge headache. Fortunately, Wan Fang helped entertain the guests, otherwise she really wouldn't have been able to handle it all.

"Can we send out the scripts for Yi Min's 'Mountains High and Rivers Long' and 'Red River Valley' now?" Wan Fang asked.

"Senior sisters, you can publish your presentations now!"

"Alright, even the editor-in-chief is getting anxious. He also wants to take advantage of the good sales of 'People's Literature' and 'Yanjing Literature' to boost the sales of our 'Script Monthly'!"

After Wan Fang finished speaking, as if remembering something, she turned around and said again, "Actually, the script and the novel should be published in the same month, so that those sour people who say you write fast can see that publishing two novellas at the same time is not your limit, there are two scripts following behind!"

"Haha, during the Chinese New Year, many people who came to see your teacher were talking about this. Two articles a month, and both of them were excellent. Everyone was talking about it!"

After Li Yuru finished speaking, Cao Yu returned home and, upon seeing Liu Yimin, jokingly asked, "The writer from the capital has arrived?"

Liu Yimin said helplessly, "Teacher, you're teasing me too!" Cao Yu laughed like a playful old man in the living room, "Old Xu's reportage is well-written, I'm even a little envious!"

The meal was ready, and the group began to eat. Li Yuru placed a piece of tofu on Liu Yimin's plate and asked him to try it: "How does it taste?"

"It's even more flavorful than before!"

“If it’s delicious, eat more!”

Many people already knew that Liu Yimin had returned from Henan Province. When Cui Daoyi arrived at the courtyard, he saw a young man already sitting in the courtyard chatting with Liu Yimin.

After Liu Yimin introduced him, he realized that this was Huang Chunyu, a young editor from the Commercial Press. He looked him over and exclaimed, "It has to be a young person! If Li Shu from People's Literature Publishing House were here today, the courtyard would be very lively!"

A sense of crisis rose in his heart. This young man was running faster than him. Fortunately, it wasn't a magazine, so the two of them weren't in direct competition.

This young man!

"Deputy Editor Cui, I still have a lot to learn from you in the future. I've always wanted to get to know you, but unfortunately I haven't had the chance. I've only been an editor for a short time, and there are still many things I don't understand."

Huang Chunyu said modestly.

"To be so capable so soon after becoming an editor, these young people are truly formidable. When I was an editor, I could select a dozen or twenty manuscripts a day for the initial screening, only to have them all thrown away by the second-stage editor," Cui Daoyi remarked, recalling the past.

"The magazine editors have it much harder than us, and it requires a keen eye. We publishing editors just pick the pieces; if we see a good piece in a magazine, we just talk to the author."

Liu Yimin washed some apples for the two of them, and they chatted happily in the yard.

"You're planning to publish 'Red River Valley' and 'Mountains High and Rivers Long,' aren't you?"

Huang Chunyu nodded honestly.

"These are two excellent novels. Together with 'The Kite Runner,' these novels have brought both profit and fame to The Commercial Press!"

Cui Daoyi was relieved that he hadn't brought Li Shu with him today. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been just a lively affair; after losing those novels, he would have received a lot of criticism from the editor-in-chief, Wei Junyi, when he returned to the People's Literature Publishing House.

It'll come to a head-on confrontation!

"People's Literature and Art is in the same boat as us. I heard that your sales in February are expected to reach one million copies?"

Huang Chunyu praised "People's Literature and Art," which tickled Cui Daoyi's itch, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up.

"We're not far from reaching one million copies!"

"How much is left?"

"We still need about 50,000 copies!"

"Fifty thousand copies short isn't a bad number. There are still almost ten days left. I think we can definitely reach our sales target!" Huang Chunyu said.

Cui Daoyi took a sip of tea, gently stirred the teacup with the lid, and said calmly, "These are the figures from five days ago!"

Seeing Huang Chunyu's expression as if he wanted to curse, he curled his lips into a smile: "There should be a million copies by now! Ah, this tea is quite good!"

Huang Chunyu had cursed inwardly several times, but because Cui Daoyi was a senior, he couldn't lash out. He still smiled and said, "Congratulations! I hope our publication will achieve such great results."

Ah! Cui Daoyi listened to Huang Chunyu's congratulatory words with a smug look on his face, feeling as if he were now the best editor in the country.

"We printed about 1.5 million copies of the February issue. The amount of paper consumed was too much for the paper mill and planning department to handle. But since we are the national publication, such a good work should have its influence maximized."

Moreover, the theme of "Red River Valley" pleased the Ministry of Culture and many higher-ups, who specially approved additional printing. A special fund was also allocated to purchase a batch of copies to be sent to libraries and schools in Tibet.

I believe *Yanjing Literature and Art* also received relevant instructions.

"That's not right, we should buy the standalone edition!" Huang Chunyu said urgently.

"It's because the individual volumes came out late. Besides, our magazine is cheaper and has more novels, so that children in Tibet can read more literary works."

Seeing Cui Daoyi's smug look, Liu Yimin couldn't help but say, "Senior brother, aren't you afraid of getting beaten up when you go out and talk to editors from other magazines?"

"What are you afraid of? Lots of people want to beat me up! During the Spring Festival, I met and chatted with some editors from 'October' and 'Contemporary' magazines. You have no idea what their expressions were like, Yimin. Let me tell you."

Huang Chunyu watched Cui Daoyi from the side. Is this what a senior figure in the editing industry is like? Later, when Huang Chunyu bragged to everyone, he thoughtfully used his teacher Cui Daoyi as a shield.

After signing the publishing contract, Huang Chunyu hurriedly left. He needed to rush back to the publishing house to let the leaders know about the special funds for procurement and see if the ministry could also purchase a batch of their standalone books.

Watching Huang Chunyu's departing figure, Cui Daoyi said to Liu Yimin, "The younger generation is truly formidable!"

"Senior brother, your sense of crisis is too advanced. Old Huang is not like you at all!"

"I was just saying, did you have a happy New Year? Are you satisfied with the New Year's gift Xu Chi gave you?" Cui Daoyi asked with a smile.

"To be honest, it really surprised me. Old Xu's New Year's gift is a bit too big."

"Haha, that's what you call a big hand when you don't act. Let me tell you, at the beginning of the year, quite a few readers came to our editorial office asking us to pass on letters to you. Some even wanted to find out your address, saying they wanted to cook for you!"

Why are you cooking for me?

"Someone will cook for you, so you can concentrate on writing!"

Cui Daoyi gestured wildly to Liu Yimin how lively it was in the editorial department back then.

"When 'Göchbad's Conjecture' was published, the editorial department did the same thing. We sent packets of letters from readers to Comrade Chen Jingrun's home. Young female comrades all wanted to marry Comrade Chen Jingrun, and it was because of this article that Comrade Chen Jingrun finally got married last year."

Cui Daoyi told Liu Yimin about this interesting story. At that time, Chen Jingrun was hospitalized in the army hospital, and the female military doctor You Kun often visited him. Over time, the two became acquainted.

Chen Jingrun was fluent in many foreign languages, and You Kun would ask him to teach her English in the hospital room. It is said that it was during English lessons that Chen Jingrun finally couldn't hold back and expressed his love to You Kun.

A man who had been single for over forty years and a young, beautiful military doctor, naturally got together without much trouble, given their mutual affection.

After Huang Chunyu left, the courtyard gate was not closed. Zhu Lin went straight to the courtyard after get off work and happened to hear it. So he remained silent and listened quietly from the side.

It was Sanhua who exposed Zhu Lin. Cui Daoyi said awkwardly, "Comrade Zhu Lin!"

"Senior brother, please sit down. What's wrong? Is it inappropriate for me to come?" Zhu Lin asked.

Cui Daoyi patted the stone table and said, "No, no. I told the readers who came to the editorial department that Comrade Yimin already has a girlfriend, so don't get your hopes up."

After Cui Daoyi left, Zhu Lin looked at Liu Yimin with a smile: "Teacher Liu, foreign languages ​​are great! I want to learn foreign languages ​​too. When will you teach me?"

(End of this chapter)