1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 92 Taking Over
Although I mentioned rejecting the manuscript a few days ago.

However, Cui Daoyi and Zhou Ming showed the manuscript to the editor-in-chief, Zhang Guangnian, who shook his head and decided to completely abandon the novel.

Zhou Ming found it a bit tricky: "Which magazine should we give it to?"

Cui Daoyi pondered for a moment; "Should I give it to 'Contemporary' magazine?"

In June of this year, Contemporary published its first issue since its establishment.

On July 6, Guangming Daily, Xinhua Daily, and Wenhui Daily simultaneously published a Xinhua News Agency dispatch dated July 7, announcing the launch of the major literary magazine "Contemporary".

The magazine was published by People's Literature Publishing House and was originally a quarterly publication.

That is, the novel will only be published in March, June, September, and December.

However, since it is a magazine published by the People's Literature Publishing House, the most authoritative publishing house in the country, its influence is naturally not low, so this new owner is not bad.

Zhou Ming thought for a moment; "They only published it this month, and there are still three months until the next issue. Isn't that a bit late?"

"What about *Beijing Literature*?"

"What about 'Beijing Literature'? They rarely accept long novels!" Zhou Ming shook his head.

The works in "Beijing Literature" are mainly short and medium-length stories, so "Lurking" is indeed not very suitable.

"Then who can we choose?" Cui Daoyi rolled his eyes at Zhou Ming, shaking his head instead of offering any opinion.

Zhou Ming said slowly, "The next company needs to be able to accept novels, but it can't be a very small magazine."

"Aren't you talking nonsense?"

"So I think there's a magazine that would be suitable!?"

"who is it?"

“October!” Zhou Ming replied.

Upon hearing this, Cui Daoyi suddenly realized and laughed, saying, "How could I have forgotten 'October'?"

With that thought in mind, the two hurriedly ran to the office of "October" magazine.

The October magazine was founded in August of 1978.

At that time, the short story group of the literary editing department of the Capital Publishing House encountered a problem in its work: it could not find any author with enough short stories to publish in an anthology. The veteran writers had just been "liberated," and the amateur writers were not strong enough.

Wang Shimin, the head of the literary and art group, decided to create a large-scale literary magazine similar to the former "Harvest" magazine, based on practical considerations, in order to solve the work problems of the short story group.

That's how "October" came about!
Among them are writers of the middle and younger generation, such as Liu Xinwu and Su Yu, who are quite quick-witted.

Moreover, the reason why "October" is more suitable than other magazines is that "October" mainly publishes medium and long novels!

October magazine has never favored short stories; it prefers medium-length and long stories, and the longer the better.

We arrived at the editorial department.

Upon seeing Liu Xinwu, Cui Daoyi greeted him familiarly, "Xinwu, I've brought you the manuscript!"

Liu Xinwu even doubted his ears. Submit a manuscript? Editor, are you kidding me?

But he actually saw a novel manuscript fluttering in Cui Daoyi's hand: "No, you're serious, Lao Cui!"

Cui Daoyi nodded, not hiding anything: "The author of this novel is Zhou Xu, who wrote 'Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain' last time. Do you think your magazine would be willing to accept his novel?"

Liu Xinwu was even more puzzled. How could a competitor send him a copy of a novel by a popular young author?
Is this strange?

of course!

Isn't this a myth?

"Really?" Liu Xinwu asked tentatively.

"Why did I lie to you?"

Liu Xinwu reached out and took the manuscript directly: "Why doesn't your magazine want it?"

Cui Daoyi frankly stated, "Some parts of this novel do not meet the needs and background of our People's Literature magazine, so our novel section rejected it! But we don't want to let the author down, so we're showing it to you!"

Liu Xinwu was fairly satisfied. If Cui Daoyi had lied, he wouldn't have wanted a manuscript thrown to him by someone else, but now that he thought about it... he was somewhat interested.

"Then let me take a look."

"Alright, if the manuscript is approved, contact Comrade Zhou Xu. If it's not approved, remember to let him know."

……

Liu Xinwu nodded, thinking to himself, "Do you think I'm one of you?"

He took the manuscript of his novel to the magazine office.

As we walked and observed, our understanding deepened.

"Xinwu?" Zhang Shouren glanced at Liu Xinwu: "Where did you get this manuscript?"

Liu Xinwu replied slowly, "It was just that Cui Daoyi and his group were bored and threw a manuscript at us!"

Liu Xinwu was so engrossed in watching that he didn't even notice Zhang Shouren's noise.

After reading for a while, Liu Xinwu finally found the problem: he felt that People's Literature magazine thought the novel was too vulgar, and that "Lurking" contained some descriptions about love.

So I'm a bit sensitive.

After finishing the novel, Zhang Shouren asked curiously, "You've been reading it all morning? What do you think?" Liu Xinwu is the author of "The Class Teacher," a leading figure in "scar literature," and he was afraid of making a big fuss!

The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish!

Thinking of this, Liu Xinwu said, "This novel is daring, it writes about love and espionage, and it's already two hundred thousand words long! It's huge! I think..."

"What's wrong?" Zhang Shouren asked.

“I think it’s perfect for our October magazine! Magazines these days need this kind of exciting book,” Liu Xinwu said with a smile.

"Oh! Old Su is in her office! You can go find her later!"

In 1979, Su Yu was transferred to become the first editor-in-chief of "October".

With her profound scholarship, extraordinary courage, and dedication, she led the editorial department to compile and publish a large number of important works in the history of contemporary Chinese literature, such as "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain," "Black Stallion," and "The River in the North."

I arrived at the office.

Liu Xinwu handed the novel to Su Yu and said slowly, "Editor Su, I've found an excellent novel. It's just..."

"What is it?" Su Yu looked at Liu Xinwu, who was stammering.

The old woman adjusted her glasses, took the manuscript of the novel, and looked at the two big characters "Lurking" on the cover.

"There are some sensitive parts in this novel, and I'm unsure what to do. I'd like to ask you, the editor-in-chief, to make the decision!"

On a side note.

The editorial department seems to review manuscripts and finalize them in one go... but when has the editor-in-chief ever done anything?

Actually, the editor-in-chief has a broad perspective, but she's the key person in reviewing these problematic manuscripts! She makes the decisions! If this kind of manuscript goes viral, it's her achievement; if it has a negative impact, she'll take the blame!
To give another example, Liu Xinwu finally managed to become the editor-in-chief of *People's Literature* in 86. He thought his future was bright!
In 87, the combined first and second issues of *People's Literature* published the full text of Ma Jian's novel, "Show Your Tongue or Empty Space." This novel caused serious problems due to its violation of ethnic and religious policies. Liu Xinwu, as the editor-in-chief of *People's Literature*, was held accountable for his lax review of the manuscript and was therefore suspended from his duties pending investigation.

Why do you think Liu Xinwu went on to work on "Dream of the Red Chamber" in his later years?
That's because there's really no other way! His career in literature and editing is already set! With this stain on his record, what kind of editor can he still be?

Pooh!
Generally speaking, the magazine's direction is determined by the editor-in-chief.

Su Yu looked at the article "Lurking" and waved for Liu Xinwu to leave.

"Lurking" boasts a tight plot, rigorous logic, and well-developed characters. It uses details to showcase the thrill of underground work, combining the excitement of espionage with depth of human nature, making it a benchmark work of spy novels!

Without a doubt, Su Yu was engrossed in reading the novel for a long time, pondering the manuscript without saying a word.

the next day.

When Liu Xinwu arrived at the editorial department, he saw Su Yu with dark circles under her eyes. Liu Xinwu asked cheerfully, "Editor-in-chief, what do you think of this novel?"

"Excellent writing! It flows smoothly, and the writing style has become quite mature," Su Yu gave her final evaluation.

"I remember Zhou Xu wrote a piece called 'Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain' last time, right?"

Liu Xinwu nodded vigorously: "It's Comrade Zhou Xu!"

“In that case, I think this novel still has the potential to surpass ‘Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain’!” Su Yu’s vision was far-reaching.

"only……"

Liu Xinwu said, "You're also worried about things related to love, aren't you? But didn't the leaders say a few years ago that there's no room for ambiguity?"

Su Yu stood up and slammed her hand on the table: "Fine! Let's give it to them! Next month!!!"

"...How do we send it?" Liu Xinwu shouted the slogan from below.

"Of course, we should remove all other works and publish this novel all at once!!!" Su Yu declared domineeringly.

Su Yu had the courage to publish "Wreath Under the Mountain" in her previous life, and now she has the courage to publish "Lurking"! It's the same principle; she saw that the novel had the potential to become a hit.

Of course, this is not because People's Literature couldn't see it, but because People's Literature, a long-established magazine, was seeking progress while maintaining stability.

Their new-style magazine needs to strive for the top to have a chance.

"..." Liu Xinwu clapped his hands: "Good, that's bold! Editor-in-Chief Su, the reason I followed you back then was because I admired your spirit!"

The editorial office of "October" also has many elderly people.

But overall, it is much younger and more energetic than publications like "Contemporary Literature" and "People's Literature".

Liu Xinwu also made a phone call to Zhou Xu.

"Comrade Zhou Xu, hello!?"

"you are?"

Liu Xinwu said, "I am Liu Xinwu from the editorial department of 'October' magazine. We have received your novel manuscript and have decided to publish it in the October issue of 'October'! Do you have any questions?"

Hearing this, Zhou Xu breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He's not a saint, so of course he was worried that the novel wouldn't find a suitable magazine. Now that October is willing to accept his novel, he's quite pleased, at least he'll have done October a favor.

"No problem! No problem!"

"As for the royalties, we'll send them to you after the novel is published, shall we? According to the standard for veteran writers, it's seven yuan per thousand words!" Liu Xinwu continued.

Zhou Xu was slightly touched again. He immediately replied to the timely help from *October* magazine, "No problem, thank you *October*."

"Our editorial department also wants to thank you for bringing us such an excellent novel!"

(End of this chapter)