As soon as Zhou Hexuan walked into the room, Li Shoumin said to him happily: "Brother Hexuan, are you willing to be a proofreader for a newspaper? The monthly salary is 36 yuan. I will be promoted to editor in a few days, and there is a vacancy for a proofreader. With you
I can definitely hire someone with my abilities. It’s just that I’m a bit unqualified.”
"Congratulations to Brother Shoumin for your promotion." Zhou Hexuan said with his fists clasped.
"I'm just a small editor, so what's the point of congratulations?" Li Shoumin waved his hand and smiled. He really doesn't care about being an editor. The only thing he's happy about is that his salary has increased a bit, which can ease his family's financial situation.
Zhou Hexuan took out his novel manuscript: "Since Brother Shoumin has become the editor, please help me take a look."
"I must read the masterpiece." Li Shoumin took the manuscript and was quite curious about what kind of work Zhou Hexuan would write.
Mrs. Zhou had already put the food on the table and said, "Let's eat first."
After everyone finished eating, Zhou Hexuan chatted with Mrs. Zhou for a few words, then left and returned to his bedroom to continue typing.
Li Shoumin held the manuscript and read it. "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" started with a storytelling plot, which gradually introduced the loyalty of Guo and Yang, and mixed with the feelings of home and country invaded by barbarians. Zhou Hexuan's more than 10,000 words only wrote
Qiu Chuji came on stage and named his two unborn children Guo Jing and Yang Kang.
After reading the manuscript, Li Shoumin felt it was a bit interesting, but that was all. Because the plot of the story had not yet been developed, he could only guess from between the lines that Guo Jing and Yang Kang should be the protagonists of this book.
About four years ago, Pingjiang Buxiaosheng (Xiang Kairan)'s "The Legend of Jianghu" came out, marking the birth of China's first true martial arts novel. It broke away from traditional chivalrous novels in terms of story content and became popular in the south.
provinces.
Among northern martial arts novelists, Zhao Huanting is the representative figure at this time, but his works are still based on the Three Heroes and Five Righteousness style.
These two people are collectively known as "South to North Zhao" and are regarded as the top martial arts writers.
In Li Shoumin's view, Zhou Hexuan's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" follows the "southbound" path of Pingjiang's unfavorable lives. This kind of novel is very popular now, and it will be no problem to serialize it in newspapers. He is ready to wait for Zhou Hexuan to write more
Write a few words and then take it to the newspaper office to find the editor-in-chief.
The next morning, Li Shoumin practiced breathing skills in the yard on time. When he finished, he saw Zhou Hexuan walking over with a smile, holding a few manuscripts and saying: "Brother Shoumin, I went back last night to finish the first chapter.
It has been completed, with a total of more than 26,000 words."
"So fast." Li Shoumin was a little surprised.
He didn't think much about it, and went to work at the newspaper office with the manuscript. By the time he finished the work at hand, it was almost noon, and he finally had time to read the next half of the chapter.
Guo Xiaotian died fighting to protect his brother from escaping. In order to save his sister-in-law, Yang Tiexin resolutely abandoned his pregnant wife in tears. After being seriously injured, his life and death were unknown. This paragraph was written with great passion, which may have become commonplace for later generations of readers, but in the Republic of China in the 1920s, it was
Extraordinarily wonderful.
Li Shoumin felt proud after reading this, and at the same time he felt sad for the characters in the book.
The wives of the two martyrs both survived and were pregnant with their children, which made the readers look forward to it.
Li Shoumin put away the manuscript and went directly to the deputy editor Tao Jincheng: "Mr. Tao, please read this novel."
Tao Jincheng put on his glasses and read carefully. He quickly finished the manuscript and asked happily: "Which master's work is this? It's a bit similar to Pingjiang's Unforgettable Life, but with his own unique style."
Li Shoumin said: "It was written by a friend of mine who just returned from studying abroad."
Tao Jincheng said: "The series of "The Thirteen Heroes of Jiangnan" is about to be finished, and this "Legend of the Condor Heroes" will just pick it up."
"How to determine the royalties?" Li Shoumin asked.
Tao Jincheng thought about it and said, "The manuscript is of high quality. What do you think of it, 8 cents per thousand words?"
"It's less." Li Shoumin took the initiative to help Zhou Hexuan negotiate the price.
Nowadays, the fee for publishing articles in newspapers and magazines is generally 1 yuan to 3 yuan per thousand words. The fee for a master like Lu Xun can reach 5 yuan per thousand words, or even 6 yuan per thousand words. But that is prose, poetry, and commentary.
, the prices for essays and novels are generally lower.
Tao Jincheng smiled and said: "Let the author come to the newspaper office and I will talk to him face to face."
…
"New Tianjin News" was founded two years ago by Liu Yangong. The newspaper's policy is to be civilian. To put it bluntly, it is a newspaper for ordinary people and does not mix with political and academic disputes.
This newspaper has grown rapidly. Its sales volume has increased from more than 1,000 copies at the beginning to more than 20,000 copies. It is considered to be the largest newspaper in the Beijing-Tianjin area. Liu Yangong struck while the iron was hot and successively added "New Tianjin"
Evening News" and "New Tianjin Xiaobao", the sales volume of the two new newspapers has also reached 5,000 or 6,000.
Of course, the rapid development of the "New Tianjin" series of newspapers was due to the closure of "Ta Kung Pao".
"Ta Kung Pao" was originally a royalist base, and the newspaper's headquarters was located in Tianjin. Later, it had close ties with the Anhui warlords and had a huge circulation in the Beijing and Tianjin areas.
Three years ago, the second boss of "Ta Kung Pao" was killed in the earthquake in Japan. In addition, the Anhui warlords were defeated in the Zhi-Anhui War. "Ta Kung Pao" lost its sponsors and backers one after another, and finally ceased publication last year. Taking advantage of this
During this period, the newspaper series of "New Tianjin" rapidly expanded and occupied the newspaper market in the Beijing-Tianjin area.
It was already the fourth day when Zhou Hexuan came to the newspaper office. He also brought the manuscripts of Chapters Two and Three, which totaled more than 70,000 words.
"Mr. Tao, this is Zhou Hexuan, a young talent who returned from the West." Li Shoumin introduced.
Tao Jincheng shook hands with Zhou Hexuan enthusiastically and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhou is really young."
Zhou Hexuan is actually 28 years old. Due to his long-term travel around the world, he is often exposed to wind and sun in the wild, so his skin is dark and slightly rough. But for some reason, after traveling through time, his skin has become much whiter, even his face.
All the wrinkles on my face have disappeared, and I feel like I have returned to my boyhood.
"Hello, Editor Tao," Zhou Hexuan greeted, took out the manuscript he brought and said, "This is the follow-up content, please take a look."
Seeing that he got straight to the point, Tao Jincheng smiled and said: "Then forgive me for being negligent. Mr. Zhou, please sit down. I'll talk about it after reading the manuscript."
After Li Shoumin brought the person here, he went to deal with the work at hand. Only Zhou Hexuan and Tao Jincheng were left in the office. The secretary brought a cup of tea, and Zhou Hexuan sat on the sofa and slowly drank the tea, looking at the furnishings in the room.
In the novel, the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan and Temujin appeared one after another. These plots made Tao Jincheng's eyes light up. After reading the manuscript, he smiled and said: "Sir, you are a great talent. Compared with the current martial arts novels, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" has indeed written a masterpiece."
New ideas.”
"Editor Tao is so complimentary." Zhou Hexuan said modestly.
Tao Jincheng took the initiative to introduce the current manuscript fee situation in China, and then said: "I hope that "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" can be serialized in the "New Tianjin Evening News", how about 1 yuan for 1,000 words?"
For martial arts novels, this is a relatively high price, not to mention that Zhou Hexuan is still a newcomer and has no reputation at all. He did not bargain any more and nodded: "Okay."
As for the price increase after the novel becomes popular, that's for sure. Even if Zhou Hexuan doesn't say it, the newspaper will take the initiative to mention it, because they have to use high salary to trap Zhou Hexuan to prevent other newspapers from coming to poach the author.
