Chapter 163 It has always been like this, is it right?

Chapter 163 It has always been like this, is it right?

Chapter 163 It has always been like this, is it right? (5k)

Zhao Peilin ignored Xiao Mengyin's sarcastic remarks and consoled her, "To be honest, I don't think Ancient City is suitable for you. Ancient City seems to be more liberal and has been promoting those sappy articles. It doesn't match your style at all. I don't know why you want to submit to this magazine."

Of course, I submitted this article to this magazine because of Shi Tonghe. Of course, it was hard to say this, so Wang Zixu just asked, "What is a sugar water article?"

"It's the kind of writing that is very petty bourgeois, very superficial, very popular, and very much caters to the narrow-minded vision of the petty bourgeoisie."

Wang Zixu slowly moved his gaze towards Xiao Mengyin. Xiao Mengyin, who was wearing a black lace semi-transparent skin-tight dress, obviously met all the above descriptions. Xiao Mengyin noticed his gaze and immediately felt particularly insulted.

Zhao Peilin also glanced at Xiao Mengyin and immediately laughed, "Don't get me wrong, she doesn't write syrupy stories. Don't look at her like that, in fact, her writing is very hardcore, with the old industrial style of the Rust Belt. The stories she writes are all cruel and inhumane. After reading her writing, no one would have expected that she is such a person."

"Hehe." Xiao Mengyin sneered again and rolled his eyes.

Wang Zixu asked: "If you are not afraid of offending people, can you give an example?"

Zhao Peilin said: "If I must give an example... uh, Shen Qingfeng."

Zhao Peilin added: "Don't get me wrong, Ancient City has never published Shen Qingfeng's manuscripts. Although it has never been published, they have promoted several authors who are like Shen Qingfeng, and some are not even as famous as Shen Qingfeng."

Wang Zixu said: "Now that you put it that way, I understand."

Zhao Peilin smiled and said, "So it's okay to get rejected. Even great writers have had their manuscripts rejected before. So what if it's rejected once or twice? Although we are thinking reeds, we should be tenacious and not break at the slightest touch."

Wang Zixu said: "Don't worry about that. I am also a copper pea."

The two looked at each other and smiled. Before they finished laughing, Xiao Mengyin said:
"To prevent people from comforting themselves, I'll share a little-known fact: the popular belief that great writers generally get rejected many times before finally becoming a blockbuster is wrong. Gauss was a math prodigy when he was a teenager, Mozart composed at the age of four, performed in the palace at the age of seven, wrote operas at the age of 4, and Picasso's paintings at the age of 7 were already better than those of other masters.

"The art of writing is not fundamentally different from other subjects. They are all games of genius. Hard work can make up for clumsiness, but it can never make you a genius, especially since geniuses work harder than you do. Don't comfort yourself if your manuscripts are rejected several times. There are always talented people in the world who are not appreciated. Unless they have personality problems, those writers who shine in the starry sky are all very... explosive when they write."

Wang Zixu was stunned when he heard this. At first he felt that she was humiliating him to the extreme. But when he heard the last word "explosion", he suddenly understood what she meant. He decisively threw a bomb, which stunned Chen Qingluo, the player above him.

Zhao Peilin could no longer bear it: "Who says hard work can't make up for lack of talent? Wasn't Balzac a literary giant whose submissions were repeatedly rejected? And Proust, he published his works at his own expense! And it's against the rules for you to pass on information like this! Wang Zixu, you are really crazy, where is your dignity?"

Wang Zixu said: "It's fried wonderfully here."

Xiao Mengyin covered her mouth with her cards and laughed secretly: "I didn't ask him to explode, I just said that the literary masters are very explosive when they make a move. How he interprets it is his business."

Zhao Peilin said in a serious tone, "Nanjing University Rule No. 13: Chatting during the meal cannot involve playing cards, and you cannot use vague or suggestive words to hint at your teammates. If the opponent's questioning is valid, you can use more than one card."

After that, he brilliantly passed on an extra card.

Xiao Mengyin waved her hands in astonishment: "Wait, wait, where did you get this village rule? I've never heard of it!"

"This is what that woman decided. It's pinned on the NTU forum. If you don't believe me, take a look."

He immediately took out his mobile phone, opened the page and showed it to Wang Zixu and Xiao Mengyin. It was exactly as he said, word for word.

And the first rule clearly states:

“Anyone who plays the game of throwing dan in NTU must abide by these rules. Even if international throwing dan competitions are held in NTU in the future, the rules of throwing dan in NTU must be followed.”

Xiao Mengyin's eyes widened: "It's unbelievable that our school actually put the rules of throwing eggs at the top, and they are such weird rules, and you actually memorized them!"

"Humph, this is the tradition left by that woman. How can a clever poker player like you understand it?"

That woman? Wang Zixu raised his head and looked in the direction of Chen Qingluo. He was startled when he noticed that her face was terribly dark.

Because he had an extra useless card, Zhao Peilin showed his advantage. While playing, he asked, "Let's continue with the previous topic. Have you submitted your manuscript elsewhere?"

Wang Zixu whispered, "The Yangtze River."

"Yangtze River is good, so let's submit it to Yangtze River." Zhao Peilin also lowered his voice, "Do you know that the first prize of the last Feishi Literature Award was published in Yangtze River?"

Wang Zixu said: "The last term? Isn't that Xiao Mengyin?"

"Who else but her?"

"I'm sitting here, can you please stop talking about other people in front of me?" Xiao Mengyin played a card, "I published "Yangtze River" in order to speed up the manuscript review. The upper limit of my novel is not the Yangtze River. Considering that you can't get the first prize, I suggest you don't be so anxious and look for another one."

Xiao Mengyin kept saying "I can't win the prize", which finally irritated Zhao Peilin. He said angrily: "Just wait, I will definitely win the first prize."

"There is only one first prize."

"If my junior brother is just a little bit behind me, I will be sorry for him and can only blame myself for not being as skilled as him."

"With all due respect, neither of you stand a chance."

"Sister Mengmeng?"

A light cry was heard from not far away. Everyone looked over and saw Shi Shuqiu and a group of friends looking for seats.

Xiao Mengyin whispered, "The opportunity has come."

When Shi Shuqiu saw Wang Zixu, his memory of being drunk instantly came back to him. His expression was a little stiff, as if he was still in fear.

Then, his eyes flickered to Chen Qingluo's face again, and his eyes lit up, but when he saw her expression, he felt that she was a thousand miles away and not easy to approach. He sat down in a seat one meter away.

"I made a mistake last time at the table. I later looked up the pair and found that there are many online. I didn't expect that someone would go out of their way to remember it."

Shi Shuqiu was still upset about this matter, and Wang Zixu realized that he was childish. Because of the matter of "Ancient City", he didn't want to coax the young master anymore, so he just said lightly:
"I didn't memorize it specifically, I just glanced at it. As long as you follow the rules, it's easy to do it on the spot. Of course, the result is the same, so you can think whatever you like."

The second person Shi Shuqiu hated was people who pretended to be cool, and the one he hated the most was people who pretended more than he did. So his expression suddenly turned ugly.

His two friends looked at each other and sat down beside him. One of them said, "I heard that Shi Shuqiu recommended you to Ancient City, but your manuscript was rejected?"

Zhao Peilin frowned: "Recommended by Shi Shuqiu?"

Wang Zixu also frowned: "How do you know that my manuscript was rejected?"

……

Editor-in-Chief Wu was in the editor-in-chief's office for ten minutes, and Editor Yang spent the next ten minutes in anxiety.

During this period, he kept urging the editors in the same group to review the manuscript quickly, wishing that they could finish reviewing and approve the manuscript before Editor-in-Chief Wu came out.

Of course, this is impossible. Wang Zixu's manuscript is 60 words long, which is considered a large book anywhere. It may take more than a week to read it, let alone review it.

The editor in the same group sighed as he watched, then turned around and sighed:
"Damn, so strong, Editor Yang, this Wang Zixu has something."

Another editor also joined the conversation: "His last article 'Wild Creepers' was very good. I heard that he submitted it to other magazines but no one wanted it. So he submitted it to us and we found a treasure. I didn't expect he had such an amazing article. Editor Yang, sometimes I really envy your luck."

One of the editors asked, "What magazine did he submit his paper to but was rejected?"

"He was a newcomer at the time and didn't know the rules, so he voted for "Get" and "Modern Times."

The editor stuck out his tongue and said, "That's really a rookie's move. Fortunately, we submitted it to these two magazines. If it was a lesser magazine, we would have had a hard time accepting it."

“So it can be said that we have found a great bargain!”

Editor Yang whispered, "If you knew it was a leak, you should review it quickly, otherwise it will be a long wait. We may not even be able to accept this manuscript."

A colleague held up his draft and said, "Just looking at the beginning, I can see the clues. What's going on? Is there any resistance in the department?"

Yang said in a low voice: "It's too long."

My colleague lowered his head and glanced at it again, and also lowered his voice: "The length is indeed a problem, but we can't always stay in our comfort zone. Isn't it too conservative to reject such a good manuscript just because it's too long?"

"That's right!" Editor-in-Chief Shen's voice suddenly sounded behind the two of them, startling them. They turned around and found that Editor-in-Chief Shen had a frown on his face.

"Our magazine used to be known as the 'artistic vanguard' and discovered so many new talents, but because of that incident, it suddenly became more and more conservative."

Yang Yin and his colleagues were silent. The incident that Chief Editor Shen mentioned almost caused the fall of a writer who was at the peak of his career, and also made the magazine's style more and more conservative, so that incident has always been a scar in the department, and few people usually mention it.

Finally, the door of the editor-in-chief's office opened, and Editor-in-Chief Wu walked out arrogantly.

His face was expressionless and his eyes flickered, but Yang Yin always felt that he was up to no good and felt a little uneasy.

"Editor-in-Chief Shen, and Yang Yin, the editor-in-chief invites you in." Editor-in-Chief Wu walked over and said.

Yang Yin nervously followed Editor-in-Chief Shen into the editor-in-chief's office. Editor-in-Chief Wu did not enter the room but closed the door for them. As soon as they stood still, the editor-in-chief said:

"Please suspend the manuscript collection process for that article, take it back from other editors, and don't spread it."

"Why?" Chief Editor Shen cried out. He knew that the chances of the article being published would be reduced by eight out of ten after the editor-in-chief said this.

The editor-in-chief said: "Editor Wu just received the news that this manuscript was not the first one submitted to us. It was first submitted to Ancient City and was rejected, so it was submitted to us."

Yang Yin was silent, and Editor-in-Chief Shen spread his hands: "Isn't this normal?"

The editor-in-chief said: "It is normal for authors to submit their manuscripts to different magazines. We are not a feudal dictatorship and we do not engage in personal dependence. But you have to know that Ancient City is a magazine of the same level as ours. They must have a reason for rejecting this manuscript."

Editor-in-Chief Shin asked, “What’s the reason?”

The editor-in-chief shook his head. It was not easy to spread the news of manuscript rejection, which was a taboo in the field of literary magazines. It was already unusual to know this news.

Editor-in-Chief Shen said: “I have been working as an editor for 20 years and have personally experienced many rejection incidents. Many later masterpieces were rejected, which was not a good ending for both the editor and the author, not to mention the tragic endings of Lu Yao and Ordinary World.

"Editor-in-Chief, no matter whether other publications reject the manuscript or not, if we follow suit, it would be equivalent to the manuscript being rejected by both the first submission and the original magazine. If this gets out, it would be a heavy blow to the author and the manuscript, and it might even be buried. Think about it, this is a 60-word manuscript. How much effort did the author put into it?"

The editor-in-chief was a little impatient: "You are an idealist, you always naively want you and me to be good, but the reality is that this manuscript was first submitted to "Ancient City" and then rejected. You sincerely want to accept it, and you haven't even read it to the end. You should also pay attention to the impact!"

Editor-in-Chief Shen said: “I don’t know what the impact will be. I only know that if we don’t accept this manuscript and the experience of “Ordinary World” is repeated, it will be very bad.”

The editor-in-chief said: "Who would want to repeat the tragedy of Lu Yao? Who doesn't know that rejection of a manuscript is a great blow to the author? But can the tragedy of that year be blamed on the new editor? Rejecting manuscripts is the right of every editor. Which writer has not had his manuscript rejected? Was there any reason for the blow Lu Yao suffered after his manuscript was rejected?"

Editor-in-Chief Shen couldn't stand it any longer: "But the reason for rejecting the manuscript shouldn't be 'Ancient City also rejected it'! Then we should just not review the manuscript and hand it over to the editor of Ancient City for review!"

The editor-in-chief slammed the table in anger: "Shin Min-haeng, you have overstepped the line!"

After cursing, he realized that he had lost his composure and lowered his voice: "I didn't say we want to withdraw. I said that you should take back the manuscript first, don't let too many people review it, and don't expand the impact. This will be better for us and the author. Do you understand?"

Editor-in-Chief Shen apologized with a sullen face, turned around and left the editor-in-chief's office. After he walked away, he shook his head and said to Yang Yin, "This is ridiculous."

Yang Yin lowered his head and said, "When each magazine accepts manuscripts, it will refer to the rejections of other magazines. This is also a common practice."

Editor-in-Chief Shen turned to look at him: "It has always been like this, is that right?"

Yang Yin was speechless.

Editor-in-Chief Shen added: "It sounds very high-sounding, but in reality, it's nothing more than a feeling that we are all magazines of the same caliber, and if I accept the stuff you return, it would make me look bad. This idea is ridiculous."

Yang Yin said: "No one dares to say that."

"Yeah, it's something that I'm embarrassed to talk about publicly, but everyone does it this way. Don't you think it's ridiculous?"

……

"I grew up in a family of scholars, and my family was in constant contact with literary masters and predecessors. This was not my own choice, but I had no choice. So I had no choice but to get to know many writers and editors. I call the editors of many well-known magazines, such as Modern and September, "uncles and aunts", so, you know, I always get some news the fastest."

Shi Shuqiu shrugged at Wang Zixu, as if to say, so what if I know that your manuscript was rejected?
Wang Zixu really couldn't do anything. He lowered his head and said, "Your helplessness is what others only dream of."

The offering was being made at this time. Chen Qingluo stared at the cards in her hand for a long time. When she heard these words, she raised her eyebrows and picked up a card and handed it to him.

Zhao Peilin was surprised and asked, "Is this also a hint?" Then he turned to Chen Qingluo and asked, "You surrendered to the enemy?"

Chen Qingluo said: "It's ridiculous and not worth refuting. The questioning failed, and I have one more card."

"I object!" Xiao Mengyin immediately slammed the table, "How can you have such rules on your team!"

"Oh, so we are on the same team."

Shi Shuqiu asked again: "After your manuscript was rejected, where did you submit it to?"

Wang Zixu and Zhao Peilin looked at each other and kept silent in tacit agreement. However, Xiao Mengyin at the side spoke for him: "The Yangtze River."

Shi Shuqiu slapped his thigh and said, "Oh, then he will probably be rejected."

Wang Zixu suddenly had the idea of ​​strangling him to death, so he used Xiao Mengyin's collar.

Shi Shuqiu said, "Let me make it clear in advance that I am not trying to do anything wrong, so that you won't misunderstand me and blame me for it. Yangtze River and Ancient City are magazines from the same series, and we have a lot of exchanges with each other. Your manuscript was just rejected by Ancient City, and if Yangtze River knows about it, I'm afraid it will also reject it."

Zhao Peilin stared: "Why is this?"

"No reason. It's just a common practice. You can understand it as an unspoken rule." Shi Shuqiu took a sip of tea.

“Why is there such an unspoken rule?”

"Of course there is a reason. I don't know the specific reason, but there must be a reason."

After Shi Shuqiu finished speaking, he looked at Wang Zixu and shook his head: "What a pity."

"If you withdraw, you can invest again. It doesn't matter."

After Wang Zixu finished speaking, he threw a bomb on the table, and Chen Qingluo shuddered again.

Shi Shuqiu narrowed his eyes and smiled: "You are quite open-minded. Okay, I thought you liked to show off before, but I was narrow-minded. You also have a scholarly side. What happened at the wine table last time is over. We have reconciled after a fight."

Wang Zixu held the cards in both hands and looked at the hand he extended. He began to doubt: Was the rejection of the manuscript by Ancient City Shi Tonghe's personal behavior or his idea? Did he know about it? Did he not know how much trouble the rejection of the manuscript caused him, or did he simply not care? Did he extend his hand with a sincere desire to reconcile, or was it a bit of a charity?

Regardless, he felt slightly nauseous.

"I'm sorry, but you shouldn't offer to settle while a player is playing cards."

The smile on Shi Shuqiu's face gradually disappeared.

"If your manuscript is rejected, where are you going to submit it next time?" Shi Shuqiu asked casually.

No one spoke and there was silence at the table.

Zhao Peilin secretly looked up at Wang Zixu and Shi Shuqiu. Even though he was carefree, he realized something was wrong.

In the silence, Chen Qingluo suddenly spoke up: "Vote for "Get"."

"Wow!" Shi Shuqiu's eyes widened in surprise, "Sister, do you know what level of magazine "Get" is?"

"I know."

Shi Shuqiu said, "Then why are you still talking about submitting to De Dao? Ancient City has already rejected your manuscript, so how can you submit it?"

"Because I said so." Chen Qingluo said.

(End of this chapter)