Chapter 407 “Please ask poet Jiang to recite a poem.”

The copy of Literary Gazette that editor Xiaoyu mentioned was soon brought to Lao Fan’s desk.

“Editor-in-chief, it’s this newspaper.”

“Let me see.”

Lao Fan opened the Literary Gazette and quickly found the review article Xiao Yu mentioned.
——”Deep Thinking from the Future: Reading ‘The Hunger Games'”

Lao Fan was also familiar with the author’s name, which was Comrade Ye Yonglie from the Shanghai Writers Association.

Old Fan never expected that Ye Yonglie would come out to discuss Jiang Xian’s novel.

Over the years, after experiencing criticism and questioning, Ye Yonglie has basically given up writing thrilling science fiction novels and turned his attention to documentary biographies.

This transformation is simply a move from one extreme to another.

In the past, when Ye Yonglie wrote novels like “Little Smart Wandering in the Future”, the content was basically completely imaginary, with robots, hovercrafts, flying cars, and artificial eggs made of protein, soy sauce, and five-spice powder.

But now, Ye Yonglie’s writing has basically abandoned all the space left for his imagination and turned into a pure record of truth and narration of facts. What he writes, alas, is all on the Internet, just go and see for yourself.

Even Ye Yonglie finds it difficult to write in the domestic environment, which shows that there is not much soil for thrilling science fiction novels to survive in the country.

Thrilling science fiction is dangerous, is subject to much criticism, and is something every writer should keep a distance from.

However, in this literary review written by Ye Yonglie, he did not hesitate to highly praise Jiang Xian’s novel and commented on Jiang Xian:
“He brought the spark of science fiction!”

He changed the pattern of Chinese thriller science fiction novels with “The Hunger Games”, while breaking the shackles of the subject matter.

He made thrilling science fiction no longer just a series of fictional novels, but made it a mirror reflecting reality, allowing us to see the light and darkness deep in the human heart, and the indomitable strength in the face of adversity.

After the novel “The Hunger Games” was published in China, many people around me discussed the writer Jiang Xian and were surprised that he could write such a novel.

Worth being surprised!

Because the author Jiang Xian writes well!

His skills are admirable, his storytelling is breathtaking, and he presents clear philosophical reflections.

He contributed to Chinese science fiction a profound and almost perfect novel, The Hunger Games, whose quality is enough to stand at the forefront of world science fiction.

“This is amazing.” Lao Fan exclaimed after reading it.

Ye Yonglie definitely has a say in the field of science fiction.

When the old man’s “Little Smart Wandering in the Future” was published, 160 million copies were printed and sold out within two weeks. He then reprinted and sold 300 million copies, which set off an unprecedented science fiction craze in the country.

In the eyes of this old man, Jiang Xian is the one who brought the spark of science fiction to China and the one who can lead Chinese science fiction to the forefront of the world.

It is no exaggeration to say that this evaluation is the highest praise.

What’s more, this evaluation came from Ye Yonglie’s mouth.

“Maybe it’s because it’s set in a foreign context, so it’s safer,” Lao Fan judged.

Although he had not read it, he had already gotten a general idea of ​​the content of the novel from Ye Yonglie’s literary review.

The sick society described in the novel, where the poor work hard all their lives but can only be toys for the rich, is, in Lao Fan’s opinion, exactly what the future of those evil capitalist societies in foreign countries will look like.

Like the future where you have to show off in live broadcasts to attract rich people to give you props in order to survive.
Well, only by substituting a foreign background can this novel stand up.

It’s not like this in our country.

We are the working class that leads everything!
No matter what Lao Fan thinks, the fact that the review article of “The Hunger Games” was published in “Wenyi Bao” shows that the novel has been recognized and affirmed by the mainstream literary circles, especially official organizations.

This is a good start. Just as Ye Yonglie said, “Jiang Xian brought the spark of science fiction.” He has indeed set an example for future science fiction writing in China.

At the same time, discussions in mainstream and other publications have made the two novels published by Huacheng, “The Drifter” and “The Hunger Games”, continue to receive more and more attention.

Xinhua Bookstore Beijing Distribution Office.

At this moment, in a busy office, a distribution manager flipped through the first issue of People’s Digest over and over again.

There are not many distribution channels for books at the moment, and Xinhua Bookstore is the main channel, generally known as the “first channel” in the industry.

The distribution office of Xinhua Bookstore is currently the largest distribution office in Beijing, and even in the whole country. It specializes in wholesale business. Basically, all periodicals and books, big and small, in Beijing are distributed here, and it almost monopolizes the entire industry.

There’s nothing we can do, he has a deep foundation.

National bookstores have opened in provinces and cities across the country.

There are basically no private bookstores these days.

Wouldn’t that just let one company dominate the market?

Therefore, the distribution process for most books nowadays is generally as follows: the publishing house first wholesales the books to the distribution office of Xinhua Bookstore, the distribution office then sells them to the shipping store, and finally they are put in Xinhua Bookstore, and readers buy them from Xinhua Bookstore.

However, with the reform and opening up, the book distribution system is also changing.

In addition, some private bookstores began to emerge, so it gradually began to appear that publishing houses sold directly to readers, or directly linked production and sales, with publishing houses selling books directly to private bookstores, and then the private bookstores sold them to readers.

“The supplement of People’s Literature?”

Lao Huo, the manager of Xinhua Bookstore, put down the publication in his hand.

The size is 16-page, the cover is simple, and the text layout is concise and clear.

The name of the journal, “People’s Digest”, is prominently displayed on the cover in a large font size. The font design is simple yet dignified. Below the words is a photograph by a foreigner named Francois Lochon. This is what he took:

On the azure river, a traditional Chinese wooden boat with two sails hoisted has a simple shape. Behind it are two modern ships, forming a sharp contrast between the new and the old.

“Mr. Huo, how is it?” another manager of the issuing office came over and asked.

“The publication is indeed well-run.” Old Huo first affirmed the quality of the publication, “But I’m talking about the supplement of People’s Literature. In fact, I can’t find much connection between the two publications.”

In terms of ideological level, it is not as profound as “People’s Literature”.

But it just looks weird.

The content is all over the place, including literature, art, society, and life. In short, everything can be discussed, including life philosophy, daily trivia, and excerpts from several short stories and medium-length novels.

“So how much do you think we should order from Writer’s Publishing House?” asked another manager.

“People’s Literature” is printed by Writers Publishing House, and “People’s Digest” as a supplement is also handed over to Writers Publishing House.

“People’s Literature. Inaugural Issue.”

Old Huo considered various factors, thought about it, and filled in a number on a piece of paper, “Give it to the Writers Publishing House.”

The list was quickly sent to Writer’s Publishing House.

The people from the publishing house took a look.

“His.”

“20 copies!”

“Are you sure? This is not nonsense. Ordering 20 copies for the first issue?”

When the relevant leaders saw the order, their first reaction was suspicion. “Xinhua Bookstore, don’t fill in the numbers randomly. You ordered so many copies. Can you sell them all by then?”

“They were all filled out by the leaders. I’m just running errands. If you have anything to say, please tell our leaders. Besides, wouldn’t your publishing house be happy if we ordered a few more?”

“We have to consider the consequences!” the leader said earnestly, “If you order so much and can’t sell them all, you will have to return them to us, and we will just leave them in the warehouse to get moldy. Aren’t we the ones who will suffer the loss?”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s order 10 copies first. If it’s less, you can order more and we can print more copies later.”

The leader is also in charge of the overall situation. He is also in charge of the publishing tasks of large-scale publications such as “Wenyi Bao”, “People’s Literature”, “Poetry Magazine” and “Selected Fictions”.

The publication and distribution of these publications are national tasks and top priorities.

The magazine “People’s Digest” was somewhat insignificant compared to these publications. At that time, the Writers Publishing House also discussed it with the leaders of the Writers Association, and the first print run was finally determined to be 10 copies.

They only had 10 copies of People’s Digest in their hands, and Xinhua Bookstore ordered 20 copies from them all at once. Didn’t that mean they had to increase their publishing task by 10 copies at once?

Productivity is tight at the moment, and being able to print 10 copies of People’s Digest is already the result of coordination by leaders everywhere. If we print another 10 copies at once, how much will be delayed?

Are they going to stop printing magazines like Literary Gazette, People’s Literature, Poetry Magazine, and Selected Fictions, and instead print a little-known magazine called People’s Digest for you?
The leader’s considerations were of course reasonable, but he had never thought about how miserable the publishing house would be if the People’s Digest magazine really became popular.

The results of the coordination between the distribution office and the publishing house were quickly handed over to Wang Meng.

10 copies.

This number is neither too much nor too little.

The circulation of some provincial publications is only about 10 to 20 copies per issue. Some provinces do not even reach this number of 10. Some even have a circulation of only a few thousand copies per month, which is difficult to sustain the survival of the publication.

For a supplement to People’s Literature like People’s Digest to achieve this result in its first issue, it is already enough to be ranked among the second-rate domestic publications.

“take it easy.”

Wang Meng accepted the result.

As long as the quality of the publication is up to standard, there is no need to worry about the circulation of the publication not increasing.

Beijing Capital International Airport.

Today is the day that Zhao Zhenkai and Zhong Acheng are leaving for the United States. A large group of literary and artistic young people gathered here to see them off.

“Brother Zhao, please remember to write to us when you get there. It would be best if you could send us some photos to show us the scenery of America.”

“When I came here, I thought about bringing you something, but there was nothing good to bring from home. Finally, after discussing it with my wife, I brought you two jars of pickled Chinese mustard greens. You definitely can’t eat this in the United States.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you.”

Zhao Zhenkai kept thanking them.

He was about to go to a foreign country, and the atmosphere of parting was creating a lot of heat in his eyes.

Zhao Zhenkai is a special person.

It is not easy to go abroad.

This matter was reported up the chain of command and finally reached the big shot in charge of propaganda.

He sighed:
“Let him be.”

With these words, Zhao Zhenkai had the opportunity to go to the United States.

After receiving the gifts from his friends, Zhao Zhenkai looked at his wife again.

“Shao Fei.”

“Ugh.”

Shao Fei sighed and wiped his eyes, “Take good care of yourself when you get there. You’re prone to catching colds, so bring a scarf when it’s cold. Um, stop flirting with other girls.”

“must.”

Zhao Zhenkai nodded, hugged the child again, and promised, “When there is a chance in the future, Dad will take both of you over.”

“Old Zhao, don’t worry about having no friends on the road ahead. Who in the world doesn’t know you?”

Jiang Xian patted his shoulder at this time, “Just go with peace of mind, don’t worry about anything, don’t worry, just leave your wife and children to me, I will take good care of them for you.”

“.”

Zhao Zhenkai glanced at him with a complicated look in his eyes.

On the other side, Chen Ai Ge secretly wiped the corners of her eyes.

Once upon a time, he also said goodbye to his wife in this way and went to Canada.

Now she’s already my ex-wife.

Seeing that everyone had explained everything they needed to explain, Zhong Acheng and Zhao Zhenkai were ready to go to the security checkpoint, when Chen Aige suddenly suggested:
“Brother Zhao, today we are on this occasion, why don’t we write a poem about it?”

“Okay, good idea!”

Others clapped in agreement.

“forget it.”

Zhao Zhenkai choked up and sighed, “I’m not in the mood to write poetry right now. If I force myself to write one, I’m afraid it won’t be very good.”

After saying that, he was afraid of spoiling everyone’s fun, so he looked at Jiang Xian for help.

“How about you, Lao Jiang, sing a song for us?”

“what?”

Jiang Xian was caught off guard.

Zhao Zhenkai asked me to write poems for him?
Who dares to believe this?
Jiang Xian has always been a low-key person. He is used to avoiding unnecessary showing off in front of others.

However, looking at Zhao Zhenkai’s sincere face, I really couldn’t say no.

She left her wife and children behind to go to America to build her career for him, and now she just makes this request and he still refuses to agree?
That’s really hard to explain.

After thinking it over, Jiang Xian sighed.

Alas, I wanted to get along with you as an ordinary person.
You guys forced me to pretend.

He chuckled and said, “Since Lao Zhao asked me to replace him, I will try to write such a song in Lao Zhao’s style.”

As soon as Jiang Xian said this, everyone looked at him expectantly.

He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and said softly:
“The journey home is always longer than the journey lost.”

“Longer than a lifetime.”

After hearing this, a group of literary and artistic young people immediately fell into deep thought.

“Lost” may refer to the confusion Zhao Zhenkai fell into because of Misty Poetry.

This time he was going to the United States, and the journey back was even longer than the lost path he had taken. When they thought that it might really be a lifetime as Jiang Xian said, everyone couldn’t help but feel sad.

At this moment, Jiang Xian recited the second half of the poem:
“Reunions are always less than farewells.”

“Only once less.”

(End of this chapter)