Chapter 341 Standing in front of you is
Chapter 341 Standing in front of you is
"Editor-in-Chief Xue, we really have to pay a high price to sign Zuo Ge's Sword. Although he writes online novels, his style is very suitable for our electronic version. This is a good opportunity for us to transform!" said editor Xiaolong.
Familiar tone, familiar demeanor, Chief Editor Xue seemed to see himself a few years ago, rushing forward recklessly.
"I'll think about it again. The electronic version hasn't been produced yet, so we need to consider it carefully," said Editor-in-Chief Xue.
"Editor-in-chief, this concerns the survival of our magazine. I think we should do it as soon as possible. Although the price he wants is a bit high, 300 per 1,000 words." Editor Xiaolong said hurriedly, as if he would not give up until he achieved his goal, "But his supernatural suspense novels are really good. He is really a genius in this field! It is definitely the most successful contract for our magazine."
"What you said reminds me of a writer who is even more talented than a genius." Editor-in-Chief Xue said, "He is undoubtedly the most talented writer in our New Reading series."
"Who?" asked the editor Xiaolong.
"We have a champion article mode... Oh, it has been stopped now." Editor-in-Chief Xue thought of the Tears of the Times again.
Although he was a new editor, Xiaolong had some understanding of the general reform of the magazine before he applied for the editorial department of New Reading. The competition article was discontinued in July 2017 because fewer and fewer readers were willing to send in the survey form to vote, so it was meaningless to continue.
"I know about this." Xiaolong quickly replied. I don't know why, although Editor Xue is only 34 or 35 years old, at the age of striving, he always gives people a sense of decline of an old man.
"He wrote the article with the longest record, and he also wrote the second longest record," said editor-in-chief Xue. "He turned horror novels into literature."
“???” Three question marks are needed to express Xiaolong’s confusion. Has there ever been such an awesome person in “New Reading”?
It doesn't matter if it takes first and second place, because the editor Xiaolong thinks that the "Sword of Zuo Ge" he recommended is equally good.
But it is incredible to write horror and suspense to the level of literature. How many authors have this ability?
If you have this ability, why do you submit to toilet literature? That's nonsense.
"Hey, what do you mean by the look in your eyes? You still don't believe it?" Editor-in-Chief Xue opened his mobile phone to search the Internet and showed the search results to the other party.
[Raffle reading comprehension answers]?
Xiaolong looked at his phone, then at the editor-in-chief.
"This text was previously tested on reading comprehension exams, but later parents complained that it seemed too scary, so it was banned from appearing on exam papers," said Editor-in-Chief Xue.
The article that can be included in the reading comprehension test is indeed of certain literary quality. The key point is, this is a horror and suspense theme! It is outrageous that it was selected for the test paper.
If Xiaolong wasn't currently talking to the editor-in-chief, he really wanted to take a look at it right away.
"Who is it? I've never heard of such a great writer in the domestic horror and supernatural circles." Xiao Long asked.
Editor Xue looked at the other person's inquiring eyes, and the more anxious he was, the slower he moved. It was strange, too. You know, he no longer has the drive of his twenties, but he doesn't like to tease people. Today was really strange.
He said slowly, "Have you read The Little Prince and Flatland?"
"Of course I have, everyone knows this, it can't be Gu Lu, right?!" Xiao Long came back to his senses, "I know he has written science fiction short stories, but he also wrote horror and supernatural stories?"
"Not only horror and supernatural works, he also wrote detective stories. Teacher Gu knows so many topics." The scene from a few years ago emerged in Editor-in-Chief Xue's mind.
Hearing this, Xiaolong kept saying "awesome" and "fuck" over and over again.
"Oh, yeah, I remember when I was in college or high school, Teacher Gu Lu was very famous, why didn't he make any news later?" Xiao Long wondered. He still remembered that when he was in school, Gu Lu was definitely a top-ranked teacher.
Generally speaking, when parents see other children of the same age being excellent, they will say, "Look at that child." This is the child of another family. But Gu Lu has gone beyond this limit. Parents with some sense will not compare their own children with him. For those born in the 1990s, no one can compare with him in terms of excellence.
"Could it be..." Xiaolong's face suddenly changed. He felt that if such a genius had not died young, he would definitely become more famous in a few years.
"Don't let your imagination run wild." Chief Editor Xue interrupted, "Teacher Xiao Gu is alive and well, but he hasn't produced any new works in several years. We haven't been in touch for a long time, and I don't know if he has graduated yet. He went to Peking University."
"That's not bad. I thought something had happened." Xiao Long added, "Then why didn't you write any more books? Did you go to Peking University... Did you do scientific research? That would be a huge loss to the literary world!"
Most people's first reaction might be that he has run out of talent, but Xiaolong believes that it is quite impressive that he is so talented at the age of 16 or 17. For someone like Jiang Yan, the most likely reason for running out of talent is that he has reached a high level in his career and has no time to create.
"Wait, Chief Editor Xue, we've gone off topic." Although the editor Xiaolong was shocked, he still brought the topic back.
"We definitely can't ask Teacher Gu Lu to come out again now. We must get Brother Zuo's sword." Xiao Long said.
"Can the price be lowered? You can discuss the details." Chief Editor Xue nodded in agreement.
Xiaolong was very excited, "I'll go tell him right away!"
"Don't be impatient, the day's work has just begun," said Editor-in-Chief Xue.
"We still have to sign the contract as soon as possible to avoid any unexpected changes. It would be best to finalize the draft today." Xiaolong was full of energy, and it seemed like he had stepped on the accelerator with his legs and couldn't stop at all.
"Get some rest." Chief Editor Xue patted Xiaolong on the shoulder, as if he was patting his own shoulder.
"No problem." Xiaolong was perfunctory about resting. He left in a hurry after saying this.
The office fell into silence, not the dead silence, but the silence of a nursing home. Just like the real industry, 50,000 words is now the standard for bestsellers, and this standard continues to decline...
"I haven't contacted Teacher Gu for a long time." Editor Xue took out his phone and scrolled through the WeChat list for a long time before coming to his senses. At that time, they communicated with Penguin via text messages.
A lot can change in five years, for example, Editor-in-Chief Xue even forgot his Penguin account.
So just text.
[Teacher Xiao Gu, I'm Xiao Xue. How are you doing recently? Do you have any creative plans?]
When sending the message, Editor Xue deleted the last sentence.
"Why is it still so cold during the day at this time of year?" Editor-in-Chief Xue sneezed.
In previous years, people in the Ice City could wear a long T-shirt during the day, but in early May 2019, the temperature was generally low, including in the city.
People come and go in this city, busy with their lives.
The delivery guys are speeding along on the streets, and the number of people addicted to their phones has reached its peak, ranging from 11 or 12 years old to 40 or 50 years old.
The only ones who have some free time are college students who have not yet entered society.
Wudaokou——
The Peking University May Fourth Literary Society is one of the most famous societies in the college. Since the last century, it has produced a large number of poets and writers. Even the subsequent "Our Literary Society" and "Eagle Literary Society" cannot compare to it.
Any Peking University student who has a career plan to pursue in publishing or has a literary dream will definitely join.
The current president, Zhao Xin, joined the company due to career planning, but career will eventually defeat dreams.
"President, Gu Lu...Although you were once brilliant, you are not so brilliant now." Xiaoze adjusted his words, "The most recent (published book) is the science fiction short story collection "The Wandering Earth" from several years ago."
He was only one or two years older than me, so it was hard to call him Teacher Gu Lu. Even if it was a bit outdated, I couldn't say it. After all, I grew up listening to the legend of the other person in junior high and high school.
Xiaoze continued, "Why not invite Teacher Ding to name our new magazine. "The Sweetheart", "If a Snail Has Love", "He's Coming, Please Close Your Eyes". The dramas adapted from Teacher Ding's works are all very famous."
None of Gu Ludu's works have been adapted. According to information revealed on the Internet, Neon TV was originally planning to purchase Flowers for Algernon five years ago, but the reputation of the work later deteriorated and the adaptation was shelved.
President Zhao Xin was silent for a while before he continued, "Let me ask you, in ten years, what will be the most famous school literature club publication?"
"Our Drawer is very famous, but I don't think it's the most famous."
The May Fourth Literary Society has created many magazines in its history, such as "Unnamed Lake", "Tian Fang", "The Third Person", "Yan Tu", etc., which have always been the top magazines of the society. However, the problem is that the "Tsinghua Weekly" of its arch-rival Tsinghua University is really powerful and has continuously produced powerful writers.
Tsinghua Literature Society is known as the cradle of writers, but strictly speaking, Tsinghua Weekly is much more famous. Peking University and Tsinghua University are like this, and whenever they can tie with the other party, they will declare themselves to have won an overwhelming victory.
"It's 'Youth', the school magazine of Fog City No. 8 Middle School." Zhao Xin saw the confusion on the other person's face and sighed slightly in his heart. After all, he was the president.
He explained: "About two years ago, in 2017, the Chinese textbooks for primary and secondary school students were adjusted. Do you know what the eighth lesson in the first semester of the second year of junior high school is?"
I am confused, very confused. College students don't even care about their own textbooks, let alone junior high school textbooks.
"You wait--" Zhao Xin was searching in the social office.
Students who have studied at Peking University should all know that the activity room of the May Fourth Literary Society is in the Fifth Courtyard of Jingyuan, which is much larger than the activity room of our literary society in Yanyuan.
After a while, Zhao Xin took out the new version of the eighth grade Chinese textbook and handed it to Xiaoze for him to read.
Ozawa went straight to the eighth article, which turned out to be "On Youthful China".
I have to say, this is really amazing. You should know that Chinese textbooks are being revised to "de-live" the texts. That is, the selections are increasingly inclined to deceased writers. It may also be because the deceased is the final word and there is no room for error.
Despite such great headwinds, he was able to achieve one of the highest achievements as a writer before he turned 30.
But what does this have to do with the company magazine that the president mentioned?
Turning to the back, Ozawa understood that there is a "cumulative expansion" after each text. Mr. Fujino's expansion of this text shows the original manuscript before Mr. Lu Xun's revision. Let the students talk about the benefits of such revision.
[Cumulative expansion
"On Youthful China" was written by Gu Lu, a young Chinese writer, when he was 16 years old. At that time, he was keen on individual expression, but firmly loved his motherland. "The prosperity of the youth leads to the prosperity of the country" is the common goal of Gu Lu, as well as our million Communist Youth League members and million young people. "On Youthful China" was published in the school magazine "Youth" of Wudu No. Middle School. In connection with reality, let's talk about why Gu Lu made such a choice. ]
Zhao Xin’s junior high school textbook was purchased second-hand on the Internet, so there are also answers written by students.
The unnamed student answered: Because the school magazine represents the school, and "Youth" is the school magazine, Gu Lu wants to use his behavior to inspire students to work hard.
The words are crooked and even there is an extra period, but these are not the point. The point is that "Youth" was directly put into the textbook, even though it appeared in the later expansion.
"Why is it that during holidays, the Culture and Tourism Bureaus of Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces not only do not start publicity, but instead repeatedly order them not to do any publicity? Because the publicity in textbooks is absolute and cannot be compared to anything else," said President Zhao Xin.
"Senior Gu Lu... No. 10 Middle School is so lucky." Xiaoze agreed with the president's words. Just wait another years, when the current group of junior high school students grow up, the reputation will be awesome.
"The name of the new magazine still needs to be chosen by Senior Gu Lu, even though he, the honorary president, has never appeared in the club," said Zhao Xin.
"President, what you said makes so much sense. If we can invite Senior Gu Lu to write an article..." Xiaoze fell into a fantasy moment.
Obviously, Zhao Xin had thought so too. Therefore, he visited the thatched cottage three times, even when he was still the vice president. Unfortunately, after several attempts, the answer he got was - "temporarily stop writing."
Why did he stop writing for the time being? Was it because he was too famous and tired of it? Was it because he wanted to concentrate on studying? Countless possibilities flashed through Zhao Zhaoxin's mind, but since he didn't even continue writing novels, he didn't think he was so confident that Gu Lu would give him the green light. "You can try to invite contributions. I'm optimistic about you." But Zhao Xin was an open-minded president.
Sophomore students are full of energy. Upon hearing that, Xiaoze ran over excitedly.
Even though Peking University is full of great people, Gu Lu is also very famous. Almost half of Peking University students know where to find Gu Lu.
……
The Kaijuan National Book Retail Market Observation System has released the book sales list for 2018. This list was established in the last century, observing tens of thousands of bookstores in China, and has not been left behind in the Internet era to collect statistics on online data.
The top ten are: "A Small Shop at the Edge of the Clouds", "Splendid Song 2", "The Little Prince", "Half-Hour Comic History of China", "Ordinary World", "Six Records of a Floating Life"...
This is the general list, with fiction and non-fiction mixed together. There are more detailed lists available.
I won’t publish more details because Wang Ban didn’t click in to see it.
"Didn't they say the book market is sluggish? I feel like the sales are pretty good," Wanwan said. She often hears her boyfriend sighing, saying that the publishing industry is not doing well, that physical stores are not doing well, and that online shopping has brought down physical stores.
But based on this data, the store also sold 2018 million copies in 76, and the tenth-placed "Did the Fatty Eat Your Grilled Squid?" also sold copies. It seems like a lot.
“If the books at the top of the pyramid don’t have this kind of sales, this industry wouldn’t just be in decline, it would be doomed,” Wang Ban said.
That makes sense, Wanwan suddenly realized.
"Besides, even the books at the top of the pyramid have good sales, but it actually has little to do with the sales of the book itself." Wang Ban's words were a little sarcastic, "Or it just took advantage of the favorable conditions and suddenly became popular all over the Internet. It's like grilled squid. Suddenly, the Internet said that women have freedom of body shape and fat people are beautiful too."
"Yes, yes, that's right." Wanwan was very supportive at the time, but she still maintained a figure just over 100 pounds.
"Another category is old actors who want to buy a few books for decoration when they move, or buy a book for the high-speed train. To put it bluntly, they are decorative items." Wang Ban said, "Like "The Little Prince" and "Six Records of a Floating Life", they are basically bought as decorations."
"Who said that? The Little Prince is good. I've read it." Wanwan also posted on WeChat Moments. If you don't post on WeChat Moments while reading, it's like reading in vain.
"Then do you think my summary is wrong?" Wang Ban asked back.
That’s right, Wanwan said to herself.
"The Little Prince has been printed in three versions in the past five years. The first one was published by the Children's Literature and Art Publishing House, and later it was changed to our New Youth Publishing House. The current version should be published by the Magic City Publishing House, and it sells very well every year." Wang Ban said.
"So, there's no need to write other books. Just this one book can support your retirement! That's too profitable." Wanwan said.
"What do you think? Let alone sales, Gu Lu can be said to be one of the richest writers in China in terms of the Little Prince's peripherals, such as refrigerator magnets, bookshelves, music boxes, small ornaments, etc." Wang Ban is very clear about this. He gets angry when talking about peripherals, for example, he still hasn't collected all the Little Mouse key chains.
So young, but he has so much money? How can he spend it all? Wanwan muttered to herself, thinking that this rich bachelor would be given to that little girl in the future.
"What are you mumbling?" Wang Ban didn't hear clearly.
Wanwan shook her head and said it was nothing. Talking about the surroundings, they happened to walk to the Sisyphus Bookstore.
Sisyphus always likes to open in shopping malls. The two walked in, saying they were going to buy books, but Wanwan was probably just picking out some peripherals.
[A fairy tale work comparable to The Little Prince]
[The second genius praised by Yu Xinyao, "Little Gu Lu" Cao Yi]
Wang Ban glanced at the two books. "When Gu Lu was around, no one dared to say who was the most talented. Gu Lu stopped writing for a few years, but on the sleeves of these books, there are people who say that there are geniuses who can rival Gu Lu. Ha."
"Hahaha, I seem to have heard this sentence somewhere before. Wait, let me think about it..." Wanwan thought, "Right, right, after Lu Bu's death, everyone has Lu Bu's courage."
The joke didn’t land because boyfriend Wang Ban wasn’t laughing.
"Well, when Gu Lu comes out, all these evil ways will be swept away." Wan Wan comforted him. She knew very well that Gu Lu had a special meaning in her boyfriend's heart.
"It's difficult. The money I earn is enough to last a lifetime. And I haven't written for so many years." Wang Ban sighed. Looking at the bookstore again, the bestseller section used to be dominated by Gu Lu. "Flatland" and "Flowers for Algernon" were both hot sellers. Now only the lonely little prince is left.
The Little Prince remains popular because it is suitable for posting on WeChat Moments and its surrounding areas are constantly being updated.
It also reminded me of when I went to Xinhua Bookstore three or four years ago, the distinctive "Gu Lu Corner" had also been demolished.
"It's hard to reproduce the past glory!" Wang Ban thought to himself.
…………
There are a total of 13 people in the Bilibili Hall of Fame.
Tutuwan, Jiaoshou Xiaoxing, the blind girl, beijizhulily, hank, NINII, King Guru, New World Audiovisual Culture Research Department, Face Covering Princess, AUER, Hao, The Wind Dragon, The Nightmare on Christmas Eve.
As a post-22 student who has just started middle school, Meng Jiao knows very well that the Hall of Fame is a memorial to the up masters who made great contributions to the early establishment of Bilibili. The only two she knows are Jiaoshou Xiaoxing and AUER and Hao. The latter two count as one because they designed Bilibili 33 Niang and Niang.
After taking a quick look, Meng Jiao returned to the page that she had to browse when entering the site. It was like this. When she got bored, she liked to browse some old stuff. For example, she had watched "The Legend of Zhen Huan" so many times that she didn't know how many times. Meng Jiao still loved it. Because she was young, she couldn't understand the deep meaning of many lines. Later, Meng Jiao saw the comments and realized that it had nothing to do with her young age. Many adults couldn't understand it either...
It’s so boring to be at home during the May Day holiday!
There are 103 videos that must be watched upon entering the site. She looks for videos that interest her, such as the spoof videos like "【Mianjin Ge×Bolan Ge】My grilled gluten will melt your heart", which she is not interested in.
"Hmm? King Gollum again!"
The videos that must be watched when entering the site are basically those that have led a certain trend. There will also be official orange certifications below: "The true source of all evil, the origin of the word "ghost animal"" and "ghost animal videos that made two grassroots singers famous." Therefore, they are not adjacent to the Hall of Fame... There is one exception, and that is King Guru.
King Guru has two videos selected as must-watch videos before entering the site: "Practice of reciting "If There Was No Li Bai"" and "Interview with King Guru | Methodology of Success".
And the labels of bilibili are also very strange, "Official Repost Recommendation of Xinxia Society and Renren Daily" and "The King's Prophecy".
Out of curiosity, Meng Jiao clicked on the first one.
"Ahem - if Li Bai wasn't there, it wouldn't seem to have much of an impact, but if there was one less writer a thousand years ago, the Complete Tang Poems would become a little thinner..."
After a few minutes, I realized that it was just a video of practicing recitation. Although the content of the recitation was indeed quite impressive, it couldn't be more ordinary. Bilibili also has people reciting in the snow and taking off their clothes. In comparison, this is nothing new.
Meng Jiao posted a video on Douyin asking, "Who is this Guru King and why is he in the Bilibili Hall of Fame? Also, why are his videos so popular that everyone has to watch them even though they are obviously not that good?"
These contents were also cut out.
My cousin Mu Xue, who was not bored and was scrolling through Tik Tok, saw this message during her meal break during her foreign trip.
What? Mu Xue's eyes widened. You will know the answer if you click on the homepage and look at the website certification.
She immediately clicked on the comment section to see how netizens would teach the blogger a lesson.
result……
“He’s probably one of Bilibili’s early developers. I don’t know most of the up-loaders on the Hall of Fame, but he has two videos that you must watch when you enter the site. It’s really outrageous!”
“Hahaha, congratulations to you, blogger, for discovering the highlight of Bilibili.”
"Where is the Hall of Fame? Why can't I find this section?"
"An interview with King Guru. It seems that this interview is a series."
Wait for the message.
Not seeing what she wanted to see, Mu Xue rolled up her sleeves and wrote it herself.
The content is quite exciting, because after all, we are relatives and I feel proud of it!
"The person standing in front of you is the first student in Fog City to win the first prize of the Leaf Cup, the ceiling of popular science novels, the youngest best-selling author with over a million books, a representative of the post-90s generation, and China's first talented writer - Gu Lu. @毛毛鱼博客主, do you know?"
Well, now we know everything.
The discussion in the comment section became even more heated.
“Oh my god, I just knew Gu Lu has a Bilibili account”, “It’s more than just an account. He’s in the Hall of Fame”, “Gu Lu… sounds like a really old name”, “Check in, check in, the last video was posted on December 2013, 12”, “What videos did he post?”, and so on.
Many netizens went to Bilibili to do some archaeology.
The first video is nothing special, just practicing poetry recitation.
But when the second video started, which was the interview series with King Gollum, the archaeologists were stunned.
Fifteen students and a writer were interviewed, covering all aspects.
The key is that in every interview chat, something is revealed casually.
[The takeaway industry will emerge and change people’s eating habits (Interview with Lv Ping)]
[The music market will pay more attention to singers rather than works due to the development of the Internet (interview with Li Guyuan)]
[In the automotive field, it is possible to overtake European and American countries, such as electric vehicles (interview with Li Yimeng)]
[The pension problem will be very serious. I think the national atmosphere of Japan and South Korea will be worse. I think I have said this before (Interview with Zheng Yuanjie)]
[Do you know Uber abroad? It is what I call online car-hailing. Therefore, what I said is not what I imagined. In the future, food, clothing, housing and transportation in China will all rely on the Internet (Interview with Lu Yi)]
After reading this, the archaeologists exclaimed in their hearts, “WTF?”
On the surface you are a writer, but secretly you are a prophet? !
In an instant, the hot discussion of #Prophet Gu Lu# spread all over the Internet, and even the Gu Lu bar, which had long been dead, became active again...
(End of this chapter)